first on the agenda

The young wolf had yet to learn of where the exit to the valley was located. He'd heard a few words of some sort of 'path' before, but never had he'd actually been permitted to view the space. The moment in which his mother had promised to show him the borders, however, was the same moment it became clear to him that he would finally know how to leave the valley. He would know where to look once his father returned, and would be sure to greet the elder properly. The only issue to his plan being the river. For once, he allowed Scarlett to pick him up without much of a struggle. Before she'd stepped into the water, he had squirmed a bit, as was usual for him, but the second one of his paws grazed the surface of the cold liquid, he curled his body as he was suppose to do. The touch of the water had come as quite the shock to him, more due to it's temperature than anything else. His head would move back and forth as his mom carried him across, looking down at the river around him. It looked different up close than it did from afar, which amazed him greatly. Xan could see and feel the sunlight reflecting off of it, as well as see how the current seemed to move around the older albino's body. He wanted to be able to enter the river as he pleased, but alas, he knew he could not. The concept of 'swimming' was unknown to him, and his body was much too small to just walk through, well, any part of the river, really.

Once they'd reached the other side and he'd been put down, he'd found himself turning to look back at the strip of water, as well as the space that laid across it. The area he was use to wandering in, and had yet to truly leave until now. It gave him a new taste of freedom, as if he was already older and able to go anywhere he pleased. Of course, that was not actually the case, but Alexander's mind was one that could not be so easily restricted. When the soft voice of his mother reached his ears, they perked up slightly and he turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. Seeing that she'd already started moving ahead, he turned his body around entirely and started after her. With legs that were still quite short, he had to jog at some points in order to keep pace with the adult. Even so, he did not complain or ask to be carried. The child enjoyed walking on his own, being in control of the direction he went in, and being carried prevented that. It was probably one of the worse parts about being a child, and he could not wait for it to end.

Before long, they'd reached the path, and Xan took a second to stand still and let his body rest. When he was nudged towards the path, he looked at it, examining it with a seemingly calculating gaze. It was unlike any terrain he'd gone across before, what with the steepness of the ascent from the valley, and the boulders that were littered across it. "Mark the borders..." he repeated, rolling the idea over in his head before starting the trek. That told other wolves and animals that the land was claimed by a group of wolves... right? Yeah, he was sure of that. Which meant that him marking it would tell others he was in charge. Though that wasn't how it worked, the thought had already taken root inside the boy's mind, and set a fire of determination ablaze within his tiny form. Starting up the path, he struggled a bit, but managed not to fall too far behind Scarlett. It took him a second after reaching the top to notice that they were no longer alone, and he was unsure how to feel about that. The new presence was a stranger, and was not to be trusted, and yet the older wolf spoke to him in a calm manner. Xan focused his odd coloured gaze upon the elder male, perking his ears to hear what the other had to say in response to the question. For now, he kept quiet, but for how long that would last was something not even he himself knew.