just one move puts me by myself

[Claudius Aston]

's fine! :}
324.
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[/html]Claudius had been tending to the crops as best he could when he saw Unatsi barreling down the rows of planted vegetables. Their three sisters were doing very well: the old ways of planting still worked, even in this soil. Although many of them would not survive, as they had started late and this summer had been very warm, he thought that the hardier plants would survive. He was excited to harvest them, but he knew that he couldn’t rush it, especially since farming was not his specialty.

He straightened up as Unatsi came forward. Hurriedly, Unatsi explained that there was a coyote trespassing in the territory. Claudius felt his chest constrict when Unatsi said she was a coyote – “maybe,” he’d said, obviously uncertain – because it could mean that Inferni was here to spy on them again. Perhaps they had found the traitor Matteo. He wondered if he might be able to persuade the Infernian to trade them Matteo if he threatened to lock her up. He shook his head, thanked Unatsi for his help, and then set off to find the trespasser. That was going too far.

He shifted into his secui form as he walked, wasting no time, and pausing only when the shifting and clinking of his bones made it impossible to keep moving. He had to pause for a few minutes eventually when he realized that it was really infeasible to walk and shift at the same time—obviously.

It was not hard to find her. Her scent stuck out as the one that did not belong and he immediately discovered that she was in fact from Inferni. Once he was closer, he called out to her.

“Huh-hu-hello,” he shouted to get her attention. “Yuh-you ca-a-an’t be huh-here. Thuh-this i-i-is cuh-claimed tuh-territory. I wuh-will ha-a-ave to a-a-ask yuh-you to luh-leave,” he said. Despite his stutter, he tried to look as serious as possible. If only she would take him seriously.[html]

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