Watching with bated breath as the wolves seemed to hesitate, Misaki only found the chance to breathe a sigh of relief once they had turned to leave. Against all odds, she had scared the predators off and protected both herself and the deer from a grisly fate—a result that she was more than happy to take. It was only now that she could hear the pounding of the blood through her ears and feel her heart racing, and the foxgirl could do little else for a moment but stand by, attempting to calm herself.

After a few deep breaths, the young woman planted the pole into the ground to steady herself—and not a moment sooner, as the fawn bounded over to her side. The faintest hint of words on the wind caught her attention, but Misaki simply brushed it off as no more than that. But even so...

"You're welcome, I suppose?" she responded quietly in turn, stroking the animal's head a few times before taking another breath. "But that's probably a good a cue as any to finish gathering. Make sure you stay out of trouble, okay?"

With those parting words, the foxgirl pulled the pole back up and began to gather what stalks she had uprooted thus far; the amount she had now seemed sufficient for starting to experiment, which left the problem of grinding everything into a pulp...

"...This is going to be a long few days, isn't it?" she sighed to herself as she picked up another stalk and shakily placed it over her shoulder.

[@Rune_Alchemist]