Wild Guardian: Issue 1

By: jungleboy69

Chapter One: Welcome to the Urban Jungle

Max woke up in a start, sweating all over. “Dammit, that dream again” he groaned, rubbing his head. He didn’t know how many times the same dream occurred every night.

He looked on his desk and noticed the tooth necklace with the golden fox totem around two lion claws at the end, his prized possession from Africa before he left.

Picking it up, Max got out of bed, went to the mirror and stared at his bare chest, ignoring the four-scratch marks near the left side of his chest. There had to be some reason that the dreams keep coming back, he was sure of it, but what could it all mean?

“Max! Your breakfast is ready!”, a voice snapped him out of his thoughts. “Coming Obaa-Chan!” Max called out, getting a fresh batch of clothes and racing to the bathroom. “Be right down!” Before he did, Max placed the necklence around his neck

Downstairs, Shen had just finished spreading some peanut butter on toast, while Hamato was reading the newspaper, having a bowl of oatmeal.

“Teenagers, these days” Hamato muttered, shaking his head , reading an article of a group of gangster getting arrested for vandalising benches at the park. “They don’t have any respect to public property.”

“Now, now” said Shen gently. “Not all teenagers are like that.” She explained while pouring a glass of milk “Max is 17 years old now and he is quite the well-manned boy, just most of the time.”

“Yeah” Hamato answered while smiling softly. “He has his father’s kind heart. It’s hard to believe what he went through back in Africa.” “I mean, who gets to spend their child hood in a jungle full of wild animals.”

“Nevertheless, he is still wishes to be a great zoologist like his parents” said Shen. “He still has an active imagination, claiming he can talk to animals.” “Speaking of which, where is that boy?”

“Here I am!” Max called as he raced into the kitchen. “Sorry, I just got caught up with something and I had trouble changing.” he explained while sitting down to eat.

“No doubt, its that strange dream who have been having for the past few nights.” explained Hamato while sipping his coffee. “Are you sure you don’t need to see a therapist?”

“Jii-Chan, I’m fine.” assured Max. “It’s just that I need some time to think it over.”.


“Are you sure?” asked Shen. “You’ve been acting strangely for the past few days.”
“Nani? Strangely, how?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” explained Hamato. “Losing your clothes frequently, staying outside for long hours night, eating like a crazed yokai.”

“Jii-chan, I know I have been acting strangely but I just can’t help it” explained Max before sniffing the air. “I knew I smelt scrambled eggs and bacon in here.”

“Your nose never fails to amaze me” Shen explains, shaking her head, while sitting down as well.
“Thanks, Obaa-chan.” says Max. “Besides, I don’t want to be late on the first day of my new high school”. At the moment, Max started eating his eggs and bacon savagely and nosily, causing bits of food to spill out.

“Guess you can take the boy out of the jungle” muttered Hamato, moving his oatmeal closer to him.

“But you can’t take the jungle out of the boy” finished Shen, moving slightly further away from Max and his messy eating.