Despite all their refined culture and elegance, Claudius decided that humans were amongst one of the cruelest species he'd ever come across. He could understand humans not wanting him around. Minotaurs didn't exactly have the best track record when it came to civil interaction, but he hadn't even done anything to deserve their wrath, much less deserve the new tear they'd put in his suit.
It had only been a few hours since he'd wandered into some town to try to get a job. A simple servant's position. That's all he wanted. As usual, the townsfolk had met him with sideways glances, and nervous chatter. It was when he stopped to ask a local for directions that things went south. The man had panicked and drew a knife on him. Talking hadn't helped and one minor assault later, Claudius was back to square one.
The wilderness had always felt more like home to Claudius, and it was the perfect place to take out his frustrations.
Angrily flipping through his book on etiquette, he found a page on introducing yourself to strangers.
Step one, get their attention. He'd done that. He had even said "Excuse me, sir."
Step two, introduce yourself. That's where it went wrong. The man hadn't wanted to hear it. Slamming the book shut and tossing it aside, Claudius took his anger out on a patch of grass. Only once the grass was well and truly torn up did the minotaur feel any better. He gathered up his things and was about to set off for someplace new, when his ears picked up the not so distant sound of dragons.
Dragons were something he had only encountered once before in his travels, and he hadn't stayed there long. Dragons themselves, while revered by minotaurs, were also a great threat. By the way these two were going at each other, there was no doubt in his mind that they were well and truly pissed off. As far as he could see it, there were two options. Find a place to hide, or run and hope he didn't get caught up in a dragon battle.
Hiding was a more sensible choice. Running towards where the dragons were, was not.
While some might think a fight between dragons was something spectacular, Claudius found it just escalated his terror. There was a cavern set into the mountainside that all his instincts were telling him to take shelter in. The only problem was that it was way too close to the fighting.
Self preservation took over, and he made a mad dash for the cave, making it just in time for a tremor caused by the beasts to send him stumbling into the wall. He curled up onto the ground, covering the back of his neck with his hands, while yet another tremor rocked the earth.
Claudius counted himself lucky for being just out of range of the rockfall that followed. The entire cavern filled with dust, sending the minotaur into a sneezing fit. Once the debris had settled and dirt had been successfully cleared from his airways, Claudius stood up.
He wiped his nose on the jacket sleeve, it would need a washing anyway, and tried to take in his surroundings. It was pitch black in the cave, but something didn't feel right. Perking his ears up, he could just make out the faint sound of someone, or something else, breathing in the cave.
Scrambling back in adrenaline fueled panic, he tripped and fell down onto the rubble near the entrance of the cavern. Grabbing the nearest small rock, Claudius threw it in what he hoped was the right direction to ward off any potential attack.