I'm back! And this time...a new Max fic that shows Max is getting older as he looks forward to being 12 years old! For The Master of Stories and SpiritualLoneWolfXIII! Enjoy!
From Cub to Adolescent
by: Terrell James
Chapter 1: Last Weeks of Being 11
One morning at the Valley of Peace, Max was the only one in the house asleep and he felt some of the sunbeams glowing through him and Max lets out a very sleepy moan and just stuck out his paw to close the window so he can sleep some more for a while at least until a tiny bit later, which is kinda unusual for some because normally, he'd be up almost before everyone else was up, but that reason was because Max has always got up too early and just needed to sleep in to catch up on his sleep.
Meanwhile, downstairs...Samurai, Phoenix, Tsunami and Zoey were up as well while Samurai is fixing some breakfast for everyone in the house while their dad and stepmom are asleep and some of the youngest kids, Duke, Bakari, Isaiah and Shinoda were ready for breakfast too as they walked downstairs and they said, "Good morning."
"Morning, guys. Where's Max?" asked Phoenix.
"He's still asleep." Duke replied.
"He's still asleep? That's so unlike him. Normally, he'd be up before breakfast even begins." Zoey said, completely concerned.
"Well, dad said that Max has been staying up a little late and getting up earlier and for some reason, sleep always seems to catch up with him in most cases, so he needs to catch up on his sleep so he wouldn't fall behind on anything that happens during the day." Samurai replied.
"I guess sleep is important." Phoenix replied.
"So says the one panda cook that sleeps until 2:00 pm every Saturday and Sunday." Zoey replied, glaring at Samurai.
Samurai could tell that Zoey is hinting at the fact that Sam stays up on the weekends late at night and goes to sleep until after lunchtime and Samurai rolled his eyes in response to that and said, "Hey, I work every day at Mr. Ping's. I think I deserve a hibernation weekend."
"Yeah, you hibernate and you'd be 40 years old, still living here." Tsunami said, laughing.
Samurai laughs sarcastically at Tsunami at that response and said, "And for that, no bamboo pancakes for you."
"Is that a promise?" asked Tsunami, in a sarcastic whiny voice.
Then, for some reason, Sage walks in with just a shirt and underwear on, though his is sagging down a little and said, "Can you guys keep it down? A wolf has to sleep, you know?"
"Well, look who finally got up." Zoey said, exasperatedly.
Sage sticks his tongue out at Zoey and just walked over to the counter, sitting down and said, "Is breakfast ready yet?"
"Still working on it, Sage. I noticed you've been out getting drinks." Samurai added.
Sage scoffs at this and replied, "Yeah, well...you guys should join me and get drunk and hit on chicks. It's a wolf's paradise."
Zoey glares at Sage for that remark and she just sneered at him in total disapproval and said, "That will never happen."
"What? You turned 21." Sage said, hinting at the age.
"Yes, I am 21 and I understand it's the age to drink, but I don't have to drink if I don't want to. That's part of the moral rights I carry." Zoey added.
Sage scoffed and laughs loudly at that and Zoey could smell his breath from a mile away like a huge kick in the face and said, "Dude! When was the last time you brushed your teeth?"
"I don't know...like 3 weeks ago." Sage answered.
Samurai gagged at that longevity and said, "Dude, brush your teeth, please. Your breath smells like a stink bomb just exploded all over the place."
"Whatever...you can kiss my wolf butt for all I care." Sage said, getting out of his seat.
"And while you're up there, can you wake up Max, please? Little guy's been sleeping a lot lately." Samurai added.
"Oh, I'll wake him up in the best way possible. Plus, I don't see why he shouldn't go to sleep all day. You just do nothing all day and it's the best." Sage replied, with a smirk as he walks upstairs.
Zoey could tell that Sage might be up to something if he wakes Max up and he turned to Samurai and replied, "Shouldn't Max already know that Sage is coming?"
"Don't worry...Max knows that when Sage tries something to wake him up, he came totally prepared." Samurai said, with a wink.
"Prepared? Like how?" asked Zoey, raising an eyebrow.
Just then, they heard Sage howl in peril and a few thuds from the ground and wondered what's going on, but they saw Max come downstairs wearing just his sweatpants and wearing iron wristbands and saw everyone there and said, "Morning, guys."
"Morning, Max. How are ya?" asked Samurai, smiling.
Max smiled back as well and replied, "Pretty good. Yourself?"
"Just getting breakfast ready for ya." Samurai replied.
Soon enough, Sage came downstairs, limping in pain and his underwear has a few slices from behind and Sage growls at Max and said, "You little brat...you may be older, but you're still a shrimp."
"Think twice before you try to prank me...again." Max said, with a humble smirk.
Sage grumbles and just walks back upstairs and said, "If anyone needs me, don't. I'll be sleeping in my room."
After that, Samurai looks at Max and asked, "So...what are you gonna do on your birthday?"
"My birthday isn't until 7 weeks. But I'd just say a little birthday dinner with you guys and we'd bring the Jade Palace masters over." Max replied.
"What about Saori? Are you gonna invite her?" asked Tsunami, with a teasing voice.
Max knew for a fact that they're gonna talk about Saori and how much he's got a crush on her, but he just brushed it off because they're making a big deal about it too much and he said, "Saori and I are just friends."
"That's not what Akashi told us on the last visit. He told me and Phoenix that you two were kissing under the Peach Tree." Samurai said, chuckling.
"That was one time. She and I made a solemn vow to never speak of the whole thing." Max replied.
"I can hear wedding bells already."Z oey said, giggling.
Soon enough, Musaki walks downstairs and he says good morning to everyone and joins in with the others, then took a look at Max and said, "Hey, you're finally up! I've been wondering why you were asleep after sunrise."
"I just have to keep up with my sleep." Max answered.
"Yep. I can't believe you're gonna be 12 years old. Just 5 years ago, you were a shy, timid little tiger when we adopted you and now you've already grown up. Where did the time go?" asked Musaki.
Max chuckled softly at this and said, "Hey, I'm still the same old humble me. I'm actually a little nervous about being 12 though."
"What's there to be nervous about being 12?" asked Tsunami.
"Well...I know that when kids get older, they tend to fight with anyone who stands in their way, they think they know better than everyone else and do what everyone else is doing that they shouldn't be doing. I just don't want to get caught up with that." Max replied.
Samurai could tell that Max doesn't want to be one of the kids that follow on a path that they can't go back to and is worried that he might be in a situation he'll never get away from if he's influenced by the wrong crowd and he said, "Hey...you won't have to. Just surround yourself with people who care about you and you won't have to worry about the other stuff. Just stay grounded and humble."
Max nodded at this and Zoey agreed with what Samurai said and said, "Don't end up like Sage."
"Oh, I definitely won't be. Plus, Akashi has kept me grounded a lot, mainly during the times we train or just hang out if I need some advice from him." Max answered.
Musaki had noticed that Max was shirtless and asked, "Where's your vest?"
"Oh, I took it off because it was hot while I was sleeping and it just had the most amazing relief ever, you know? I've been doing it a lot lately because it's been hot a lot at night and when I sleep without my vest, it actually feels so comfortable." Max replied.
"Dude...you're 11!" Tsunami replied, apparently shocked at the detail Max is giving.
"You're not thinking what I hope you weren't thinking of doing, were you?" asked Samurai.
Max seemed confused by what Tsunami and Samurai were thinking and asked, "What?"
Both of them whispered what they were thinking in Max's ear and after that, Max's response was, "Are you serious? I'm not like those other guys! It's way too early for me to talk about this."
"You have been putting off the birds and the bees talk for a while and I think at this age, your dad should give you the talk." Musaki added.
"What talk?" asked Mako, yawning.
Everyone turned to Mako and saw him wearing his robe coming into the kitchen and Samurai replied, "Isn't it time you give Max the talk?"
Mako was still sleepy and replied, "Oh...that talk. Maybe some other time. You know I don't make sense when I'm sleepy."
"Want some tea, dad? Made it myself." Samurai said, pouring Mako some tea.
"Hopefully, it's not poisonous." Tsunami muttered.
And the story begins! Stay tuned for more!
