Tayui knew it was time for Claudius to begin meeting other children his age and to begin, well, interacting; unfortunately, Claudius disagreed. He disagreed to the point of hysterics, and it had taken some time for Tayui to calm him down and convince him that this was an adventure, nothing like what he had imagined! After all, the boy did spend a lot of time playing with his sisters (who, for the most part, spent a great deal of that time protecting him from Attila). Tayui was worried he would not grow up with the interpersonal skills required of most canines today, especially in Aniwaya. The tribe was not just a tribe, but a home and a family to them. So far, Claudius had been unable to connect with anyone but Tayui and Dawali. For some reason, he was deathly afraid of Honoré, and although he liked Aurèle a great deal, he wasn't willing to explore their tentative friendship any longer. Now that Aurèle had departed with her two sons, Claudius had been moping around quite a bit.



It was time for a change! Tayui led the way, setting out northwest, in the direction of Dahlia de Mai. She had heard a few other wolves discussing the puppies that lived there a few months ago. They were probably adolescents by now, but apart from his own siblings, they were the closest in age to Claudius. And so, with that in mind, Tayui had set out for the pack, hoping to perhaps find another mother who would be interested in introducing her children to Claudius, and perhaps, her other puppies. Tayui knew how restless some of her children were getting -- especially Ocèane, whom she had already tracked down and returned to Aniwaya after the girl had left.



"Alright Claudius, we're almost there!" she noted as she turned around to see how her son was doing. He was a few paces behind her, but it appeared as though his eyes were already starting to fill with tears. "It's alright, we're going to meet some nice kids your age, okay?" she offered with a smile. Claudius returned the smile tentatively, shaking his head slowly, then shrugging. "Okay," she affirmed. They continued on.

They had not even arrived in Dahlia de Mai territory, and already, there was a young girl. Tayui was not sure how to go about it -- how does one introduce their son as a lonely, fearsome boy who could not make his own friends? She winced, wishing there was an easier way to say it. But if she were to be honest, he really was quite lonely -- and quite shy, which she supposed contributed to his fears of, well, everything. Perhaps if Tayui gave him the little push he needed, he'd be able to start making friends on his own. That's all Tayui wanted -- was for Claudius to be happy.



Tayui cleared her throat and approached the girl slowly.



"Hello," she stated with a warm smile. "My name is Tayui Aston, and this young boy is my son, Claudius. We were just on our way to Dahlia de Mai," she added, hoping this girl might be from the pack. She did not want to belittle her son by telling this girl right away what the problem was, but at the same time, she wasn't sure how to introduce the situation. She glanced behind, checking to see where Claudius was. He was gone. She frowned, then turned around to see him standing on her other side, smiling shyly to the girl. "Hiya," he said quietly.

Tayui nodded in reply to the girl's question, letting her smile widen for a brief moment. She stepped back, hoping to let Claudius do the talking now. Of course, Tayui would stay nearby just in case, as Claudius wasn't nearly as adventurous as his other siblings. And she suspected it would not go over well if she just abandoned him!



Claudius recoiled slightly at the girl's words, surprised at the sheer amount of what she was saying. He blinked, trying to catch his bearings, surprised someone could pack so many questions into such a short time. He frowned for a moment, trying to process everything and figure out in which order to answer all of the questions. He hesitated for a moment, eyeing the girl curiously before speaking.



"I'm uh, ei... eight, uh, months old... almost nine, I think... since I was born in the end of December, so... uh... yeah..." he replied, quickly trailing off. He frowned, realizing he had forgot to answer her second question. He quickly added, "I was born in An-A-A-An...iWaya," he said at last. He had always found it difficult to pronounce the tribe's name.

I've never heard of the Aston family before... Addison said. He brightened up instantly at the sound of his name, quickly jumping in to say, "That's okay," before she continued. Oops, he thought to himself, frowning slightly. Tayui didn't like it when his siblings interrupted people. She had never told Claudius not to, but he didn't do it enough to warrant one of Tayui's frowns (or speeches).



As the girl continued speaking, Claudius frowned and flattened his ears against his head. Why was she making fun of how he spoke? He had tried really hard to say the name of the tribe, but everyone knew he had trouble with it. Like how he had trouble saying Dawali's name, which usually came out as simply Dwali, eliminating the first vowel entirely. Everyone knew that! Why didn't she?



Claudius's frown deepened as he tried to figure it out. Maybe she was just mean? Oh, no, but Claudius didn't like mean people, not at all! But still, he waited patiently for her to finish talking, trying very hard not to interrupt her.



"N-no, it's not... like that. It's... An...i...way...a... but I just can't say it, so you don't have to make fun of me," he corrected her, a bit of a whine creeping in to his voice at the end. It was so embarrassing! Ever since he had been a little puppy, he hadn't been able to say it, and now, he was growing up, and he still couldn't.



"We came to meet nice people," he stated firmly. "Are you nice? I'll follow you if you are, but not if you're not nice, okay." That was it, Claudius! Go, go go! he silently cheered for himself at his show of bravery.

"I th-thought you were being mean to me," he said, frowning slightly. "But it's okay if you weren't," he clarified, trying to smile, but instead, found himself blushing awkwardly. He was the mean one! Maybe he had jumped to conclusions a little and judged her when he shouldn't have. After all, people make mistakes -- lots of them! Claudius made them all the time. In fact, he made more mistakes than he did anything else! He probably shouldn't have been as proud of that as he was, but... it felt nice to be good at something no one else was (even if it was being bad).



"And I mom... doesn't have to come! She can stay here, right mom? I can go, okay? You go... uhm... bye!" he said quickly. He was certain Tayui would find something else to do or find something to occupy her time. Claudius figured she'd probably trail behind for a bit anyways, but at least this way he looked a little cooler, and less like a little kid who needed his momma to introduce him to people. He didn't want to look lame in front of the girl, despite his name's meaning (which dead mean "lame", or "crippled", but momma said that wasn't why she named him Claudius...!)

Claudius tried not to recoil, but again, her words made him flinch. Unless someone really pisses me off? Oh no! Claudius hoped he didn't "piss" her off (why would he pee on her?) because she sounded like she could be really scary if she wanted to! In fact, she looked like she was a bit taller than Claudius, and a bit, well, stronger. Claudius didn't like going outside much, so he was not as tough-looking as a lot of other wolves. He was not even as tough looking as a little coyote -- though, to be fair, the only coyotes he'd heard about sounded mean!



With this in mind, Claudius decided to try and be as pleasant and cheerful as possible. Maybe if he was nice, she would like him? (And not be mean to him...?)



"It's just dye. I'm not old enough for a tattoo, either," he replied with a shy smile. He quickened his pace to fall in step with Addison, not wanting to be left behind. "How much longer do you have to wait? You're almost an adult, right?" he asked, hoping she would notice that he had been paying attention. He had, he had! He knew she was almost an adult and her name was Addison D'Angelo-Soul (which was very long) and she was from "Dahlia".

Finally, a topic Claudius could discuss! He liked talked about things he knew -- things he understood and could tell others about. One thing he did know something about was dye; particularly vegetable dye. He Had started writing down the colours plants made, especially different shades of grey. Claudius didn't want his fur to be very bright and noticeable -- just something simple that made him feel different. In a good way.



"I looked for plants that would make grey dyes. I knew sumac could be used to make black dye -- I had to collect a lot of leaves. At first, the dye was black, but it's started to fade. I'm not very good yet, so I'm... still working on getting better," he admitted, embarrassed that he still was not that good at dying his fur. He had tried dying cloth and other materials to get used to it, but in the end, he was too clumsy, and had to ask Tayui to help him. This especially embarrassed him, since he didn't want his mom helping him all the time, especially at what he was supposed to be good at! But Tayui knew a bit about plants, so she had helped him research plant types suitable for dying.



"And, uh, I think... if you... really want a tattoo... when, you know, the time comes... you'll know... if you want one, since you're still young. K-k-ind of, right?" he added, hesitating as he spoke. He didn't want to give her any advice when he couldn't do anything himself. But maybe he could try to help? He could try!



With that in mind, he would try to keep a positive outlook -- he would keep his head held high! Or -- wait -- no, maybe not right now. He stumbled over a branch and struggled to regain his footing, not wanting to tumble in to Addison. He shot a quick glance over his shoulder, both relieved and frightened to see his mother waiting patiently by the edge of the borders. She probably didn't want to intrude -- or follow uninvited -- into unfamiliar territory. Claudius tried to squash his fear, but the prospect of venturing out somewhere by himself was scary! But he could do it! He nodded to himself, following Addison deeper into the packlands, trying not to do anything else to embarrass himself in the time being.

Claudius nodded slowly as the girl spoke, listening attentively. She was, perhaps, one of the first wolves who was not his sister, uncle, or aunt that had paid him any attention. Of course, Claudius had not met enough luperci outside of AniWaya to know whether anyone would pay him any heed, but he assumed they would not. It seemed natural to think that he would be ignored, simply because, well, it felt right. Not that he wanted to be ignored! Or, well, sometimes he did, but he could not fault anyone for not knowing when he did and did not want to be ignored. He wouldn't blame anyone if they forgot about him anyways, since it was his fault regardless.



Claudius slowly pulled himself out of his reverie, noticing that they had arrived at Addison's den. Or, what he thought was her den (why would she bring him to someone else's den?) He was about to ask, but stopped as soon as Addison continued talking. As she spoke, Claudius saw her take a bag off a shelf. Curious, he edged closer, wondering what was in the bag. But soon enough, Addison revealed to him what was in the bag: beads!



"Cool!" Claudius said emphatically, realizing only then that he had almost cut Addison off before she finished speaking. Embarrassed, he flattened his ears, trying to find a way to excuse himself. In the end, he stuttered for a few seconds and continued: "I mean, that's... neat. The beads, I mean. They're... c-cool. I dunno much about necklaces, though. Just dying stuff. I... maybe I could help you d...dye them? You usually need to boil water for it to work, too... so just eating a leaf wouldn't dye your tongue... since your spit isn't... boiled..." he ended lamely, trying to remember what he had wanted to say in reply to her first comment. He ended up trailing off into an awkward silence, unsure if he should continue or not. In the end, he decided to wait it out. Addison seemed like she was a lot more outgoing than he was, so she'd figure something out.

Claudius nodded agreeably, wondering how in the world he had gotten roped in to this dying project. Of course he knew -- he had told Addison about his talents, and now she wanted to put them to good use -- but he liked feigning innocence. It made him feel safe when he rationalized and found ways to push the blame on to someone else; or, to at least move the blame away from himself. He didn't like being the one responsible for things happening, and he most certainly did not want to be implicated later if things got messy...!



Of course, he didn't want Addison to think he was mean or weird or strange or stupid, so he decided he would go along with it. Luckily, frost had not yet set in, so Claudius figured he could probably find some plants here and there. Of course, he knew nothing about the territory. He would need Addison's help to get around.



"Uh, o-okay. But we shouldn't make... a fire until we're ready to boil... since we still need to c-c-collect the... plants. And I n-need... you... your help... to find my way around," he added. He wanted to tell her to come back fast, since he didn't want to be left alone, but he supposed it would be alright. As long as no other pack member found him, of course!