Yumi had been listening quietly, her chin propped on the top of her scythe as Locke surveyed the fields and Aramis laid out his calm, methodical strategy. The sunrise, the drifting petals, the golden light over the crops, created a surreal scene when you considered that their enemy was, in fact, a herd of enormous poultry.

However, when Aramis gestured toward the bottleneck and said,
“It could be anyone, really.”

Something in Yumi's expression changed.

Her eyes narrowed.
Her posture straightened.
And then — slowly, deliberately — her lips curved into a small, unmistakably wicked smile.

[color=4c87bf]“Oh?”[/color] she said softly, reaching into a pouch on her belt.
[color=4c87bf]“A–ny–one?”[/color]

She rummaged for a beat.

Then she produced…
A small cloth bag.

She untied it with a flourish.

And the strong morning breeze immediately scattered the contents: seeds, cracked corn, dried berries, and other assorted turkey delicacies. A few petals drifted past as the grains glittered in the sun before tumbling down the ridge.

Yumi’s smile widened.

[color=4c87bf]“I was hoping you’d say that,”[/color] she said, tone far too cheerful for someone about to weaponize bird feed.

She hopped lightly to her feet — scythe in hand, posture still favoring the hunter she’d once been — and nodded toward Aramis.

[color=4c87bf]“You lead them through the bottleneck,”[/color] she said, as if this were the simplest thing in the world. [color=4c87bf]“Nice and steady. Don’t get trampled. And,"[/color] she locked eyes with him, her expression absurdly serious, [color=4c87bf]"don’t get eaten.”[/color]

Her gaze flicked to Locke next.

[color=4c87bf]“You wait at the ambush point. Once they charge past me, I’ll cut off their retreat.”[/color]

She dusted off her hands, entirely too proud of herself.

[color=4c87bf]“That way we can surround them, and nobody has to be bait.”[/color]
A pause.
[color=4c87bf]“Well. Except for the corn,”[/color] she finished with a devious smile at Aramis.