The Bracken Woods I feel like something will happen today

The human practice of placing collars onto other beings they'd 'claimed' was something that had been with him since birth, more or less. Once he'd been weaned off his mother's milk, a collar had been secured around his neck. That particular one had, of course, been torn off of him before his departure, but the fact remained that it had still once been wrapped around him. Perhaps that was the reason as to why the one he wore now was so easily forgotten, and not usually suffocating to him. Due to that, he could only partially agree with the woman's statement of it being awful. To him, the feel of it left his mind far too quickly for him to think it to be especially bad, but the meaning behind it's presence did irk him. Such a realization made his answer to her question that much more difficult to produce. Was he a mere dog, or a wolf? In blood, he was both, but at heart... "A wolf," the boy answered, having taken some time to think his answer over. His appearance was that of a dog, and his blood a mixture of both, but he often did not feel like he possessed even a remnant of his canine background. Running over the land, free as can be, it made him feel far more connected to his wolf ancestry than anything else.

Ragdoll managed to catch sight of the shiver that ran through the wolf's form, having reminded himself from the beginning to pay close attention. The source of the action was unknown to him, and he bothered not with any assumptions, fearing for the possibility of them being misguided. Whatever had caused it was none of his business, leaving the idea of pursuing it to seem like prodding. Having known her for no more than a few minutes at best, he restrained himself from voicing his curiosities towards her actions. Instead, he tried to keep his focus on each thing she said, every question asked. No amount of attentiveness could prepare him to answer such a question as her latest, however. Momentarily stumped on how he could answer, the yearling kept his mouth shut while he thought it over. Now that he was there, he didn't really know what he was going to do. He hadn't given it much thought, in all honesty.

After having allowed some time of silence to fill the space between them, he'd finally found his voice, as well as his answer. "Explore the area, most likely," he told her. "I want to get to know this place and those in it, and then maybe settle down somewhere. I know it won't be like the home I was taken from, but if enough are nice like you've been, I'm sure I'll like it here." With that, he offered a small smile, though the look in his eyes was one of pure excitement. To him, it seemed as if Citali had been more than nice enough, and he was sure that if anyone else he met was even sort of like her, he'd be able to get along just fine in the new area. It did not make him miss his previous home any less, but it did allow for the idea of trying to find his way back retreat to the back of his mind.