Verdant Basin Living your life cutthroat.

It had taken some time, but Elwood had finally gotten to the point where he understood some of X’s communications. He squinted up at the sky when he spotted the bird wheeling overhead, assuming that Towhee’s companion was simply passing by, but X swooped lower. He watched as the bird winged past his head, almost seeming to gesture for him to follow. When he didn’t immediately move to trail the bird, X gave a screech — was that impatience in his tone? — and Elwood shrugged and began to trot along in X’s shadow.

The hawk led him outside of the territory, but with no real urgency; thus, Elwood was able to infer that it wasn’t an emergency. Not surprisingly, after traveling a short distance, he spotted Towhee ahead, and she was accompanied by a stranger. Even as he approached, he could see that her body language was not particularly defensive — just her typical Towhee reaction to an outsider. His gaze slid between the two as he slowed to a halt, and then he looked up at X with a smirk as the bird announced their arrival with a cawing sound.

“You rang?” he addressed Towhee playfully, inclining his chin slightly in a wordless greeting to the unfamiliar wolf even as he glanced behind them and took note of the herd of deer down near the water.