Mojito was standing at the mouth to the den, just inside its lip. His parents and siblings were, as far as he was aware, still asleep behind him. It had been only a short while since his parents had started letting them out of the den, fully supervised of course, but the pup was insatiably curious, like most children his age. Still, he wasn't going to leave the den without permission from his parents, at least not yet. Instead, the eager puppy stared out at the world beyond, pale blue gaze bright with excitement and his tail beating the air behind him.

Mojito's paws pounded against the ground as he did a little excited dance, unable to keep his energy in. The boy wanted to explore! He wanted to be allowed to learn all the cool new things beyond the den but he also didn't want to disobey his parents. A small conflicted whine escaped him before he tried to clamp down on it, not wanting to wake anyone else.

Toxicity had heard about the dog-pups her aunt had given birth to. Maybe surprisingly, she didn't care nor know enough about dogs to really judge them, but she was rather curious. What would make them so different? Bourbon seemed fine... maybe a little slow, but it was possible he was simply reserved. Would the pups he sired be the same? Would they be some abhorrent taboo mix like she had heard whispers of?

She was too curious to not check it out and timing was on her side. She was able to observe as a pup escaped the den, elated at his new freedom. She watch him as he did his little dance and second guessed his decisions. Quietly, Toxicity 'psst'ed at the young pup, beckoning him over. Maybe she should have brought a stick or some meat... or maybe that would have been suspicious. They were technically family, despite his mortal mutt blood, so she wasn't being that suspicious, right?

Someone was moving around out there, moving and calling for him. Mojito whined again, still unable to stand still. He quickly glanced back at his sleeping family, both ears flying as he did so. Certain he wasn't about to be yelled at the boy dashed from the den into the outside world, Mojito shot like a bullet from a gun, almost certain if he didn't run as fast as his little legs could take him he'd get caught.

As he raced towards the other wolf he noticed they were a pup he hadn't met yet. His tail started to wag even more. He skidded to a half before the girl, his jaw parted and tongue lolling happily from his jaw as he looked up at her. She was bigger than he was, older, she looked a lot like auntie Belle... "M' Mojito, who're you?" He asked a bit too loudly for someone trying to sneak out, though he did try to remember his manners by introducing himself first. He cocked his head to the side left side, his right ear flopping over so it lay across his head, covering the noticeable buds of his as of yet undeveloped horns and exposing his ear canal.

The boy sped towards Toxicity, flopping all over until he settled before her and introducing himself to her. His behavior earned a quiet chuckle from the girl as she gently used a paw to right his ear if he would allow. "Well, Mojito, I'm Toxicity," she said softly. Toxicity knew what it was like to sneak out of the den. She didn't remember her siblings being terribly persistent about it, but she remembered the feeling of freedom as they were allowed more and more to wander. She lowered her face to the pup, a small, toothy smile on her face, "Wanna see somewhere cool?"

The girl would gently reach out and adjust his ear, an action his parents had done countless times since he'd become big enough to move of his own volition. It instantly helped to make Mojito trust her completely. She offered her name and instantly Mojito repeated to himself softly, trying to commit it to memory. "Tox-ity." He mumbled, unable to make his tongue make the sounds quite right.

However, that was instantly forgotten as Toxicity lowered herself down to her level and asked if he wanted to go somewhere cool. He sure did! The boy nodded excitedly, bouncing on his paws, tongue lolling from his parted jaw and pale blue eyes watching the bigger pup with all the unfettered openness of a child too young to understand not everyone could be trusted.

Toxicity led the boy a small ways out. She knew she would get in major trouble if she took him too far, but she wanted to make sure they were out of earshot of the den. She was just so curious in this mixing of dog and wolf and she wondered if it had an effect on her previous notions. She walked slowly, casting glances back to the pup and offering him small, light smiles as if to reassure him. "So, Mojito, how many brothers and sisters do you have?" Tox tried to make some small talk while gleaning information on the pup. "I have a lot of them... seven total."

Mojito toddled after the older pup, walking in that stiff-legged confident way only a newly mobile pup could manage. Toxicity seemed friendly enough and the young boy hadn't yet actually learned to be warry yet so he followed happily. Toxicity asked about his siblings and Mo nodded enthusiastically. "I got one brother and one sister, Conack and Moonshine." He said happily, stumbling over his brother's name. They both had difficult names if you were to ask him, but he'd learned to listen carefully for the sounds of his own name being called but hadn't totally mastered Cognac's yet.

"Woah!" He breathed, gazing wide-eyed up at his cousin. "That's a lot!" Mojito wanted seven siblings!

Toxicity nodded as she took notes on the other litter mates this pup might have: Cognac and Moonshine. It was good to know in case something happened to them, whether by her paw or by someone else in the family. There was no telling what would happen in the future with these mixed breeds and the rest of the pack. Toxicity herself was still unsure how she felt. Maybe they too could be redeemed. She would need to talk more with Obi to confirm.

As the two walked along, Toxicity found a small, not too far away clearing and slowed. She turned and smiled at him warmly.

"I want to tell you a story. Would you like to listen?"

Mojito was more than happy to follow after this bigger pup in silence. It made him feel like he was cool. He was hanging out with a bigger kid, and bigger kids were cool... right? Toxicity asked if he wanted to hear a story and Mojito bound forwards, swerving in front of the other pup and spinning around to drop into a play bow before her. Did he ever!

"I love stories!" He said, jumping from side to side still in his bow. He had no idea what his cousin had in mind but he'd do his very best to be the very best listener.

As soon as the young pup said he liked stories, Toxicity's smile widened. "Well, I have just the story for you!" she said, settling down. She drew her sigil and Archon's sigil into the ground. "You see these marks? These are marks of power, Mojito. Only the most worthy wolves get one. This one is mine," Toxicity moved her paw over her sigil for a moment before moving it towards her father's, "And this is my father's. Our alpha, my mother, also shares this mark. You know why?"

Toxicity paused to see if the young pup would guess. She would accept any answer, but if he didn't know that was alright too.

"It's because a very powerful wolf- the most powerful wolf in the world- gave it to them. He gave mine to me, too, because he thinks I'm strong too. Are you strong, Mojito?"