Wild Guardian: Issue 2 Chapter 23

By: jungleboy69



Nature Trek and Campout: Part 3



Sunlight and the song of birds woke Max. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, stretching his arms. He sat up and breathed in the fresh forest air. At first, he thought he was back at home, in his bed. Suddenly, he remembered! He was in his treehouse, with his friends on their camping trip.

Immediately, he jumped down from the tree branch. “Guys!” He called. “It’s morning, time to get up!” The reply he got were grumbles and moans as his friends continued to sleep in their hammocks. Max stared at his friends for a moment and thought for a while.

Suddenly, he had an idea. Taking a deep breath, he let out a loud, fearsome lion “RRRRROOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!!!” At once, everyone jumped in fear and fell out of their hammocks. Max couldn’t help but laugh at the sight.

“Damn it, Max!!” Bruce yelled. “What the heck was that for?!” “Your alarm clock.” Max joked, grinning. “Also, it was worth it to see the look on your faces.” “That wasn’t funny.” Jenny added, pouting and standing up.

“Urgh, what time is it?” David groaned. “Time for our hike?” Max asked. “OUR HIKE!!!” Jenny exclaimed. “I almost forgot about it!” “Yeah,” Max added. “Who was it again who told us to wake up early?”

Jenny blushed brightly. “Hey, a girl needs her beauty sleep.” She replied, softly. “Well, now we’re awake,” Jake added, stretching. “let’s get ready for our hike.” “Ah, sure.” Jenny conceded. “Let’s get a move on, people!”



(A while later...)



“How long have we been walking?” Sophie moaned. “All this walking is ruining my new shoes.” “It’s only been 10 minutes.” Mikey replied. “Besides, it’s good exercise for us.” “Well, Max has got a different way of hiking.” Harold pointed out.

Everyone looked up to see Max leaping from tree to tree. “WAHOO!!!” He cheered, as he skillfully leapt from the branches. “He looks so manly like that~~” Sophie cooed, her eyes staring at Max’s bare chest.

“Oh brother.” Jenny muttered. “Still, she does have a point.” She added to herself as she also stared at Max with pink cheeks. “Still, it would be nice to swing like him.” Bruce mumbled, watching Max with slight envy.

“Isn’t this great!!” Max called out from above. “The breeze in your hair, the smell of pine trees, the songs of birds.” “Yeah,” David added, smirking. “You certainly seem excited about this.” Max grinned sheepishly as he clung onto a tree. “Sorry,” he replied. “I’m just glad that I’m sharing this experience with you.”

“What do you mean?” Dennis asked. “Don’t you hang around here all the time?” “Only at the weekends.” Max replied, as he slid down the tree and landed on the ground. “I’m just glad that I have you guys for company”. He added as he walked with the others.

“Why would you say that?” Mikey asked. “Back in the jungle,” he explained. “the only humans I know were my parents and the tribal villagers” .“The only friends I had were the creatures of the jungle” He added. “The birds, the monkeys, the snakes.”

“You made friends with snakes?!” Sophie explained in shock. “Yeah,” Max replied, “They were also the gorillas, the elephants, the hippos.” “Even the leopards and crocodiles were my friends” Max’s friends could only gap in astonishment at how many animals Max befriended in the jungle.

“How many animal friends you have?!.” Dennis asked. Max grinned and scratched his head. “There was Rafiki the eagle, Tantor the elephant, Terk the gorilla, Sheeta the panther.” he listed. “There was also Omini the python and Beshte the hippo.”

“Dude,” David added. “You never fail to amaze me.” Max smiled. “I never had any real human friends.” He explained. “That is until I moved to America and met you guys.” “Awww...” Sophie cooed. “That’s so sweet of you to say.”

Mikey smiled. “Well, we’re glad to have met you” He added. “Life’s gotten a lot exciting with you around.” Max grinned widely. “Thanks guys.” He replied.

Suddenly, Max stopped and held up his hand. “Guys, do you hear that?” He whispered. “Hear what?” Harold asked, confused. “Listen.” Max replied. “I don’t hear anything.” Sophie explained.

“Uhh guys...” Bean spoke up nervously. “We’ve got a problem.” “What is it, cuz?” Mikey before he saw what he was looking at. Much to everyone’s terror, a huge cougar stood before them on top of a huge rock.

The boys stood rigid with fear while the girls’ faces paled. “Guys, what should we do?” Bruce whispered, his face pale and his voice trembling. “You guys have a gun or a weapon of some sort?” Dennis added, standing as still as he could.

“No, we don’t.” David whispered back, warily. “We should run.” Harold added. “Are you crazy?!” Bean exclaimed. “You want to get eaten?!” “Well, what should we do?!” Bruce shot back.

“Uh guys,” Dennis spoke up. “Where’s Max?” The others looked to see Max approaching the cougar. “Maxie!” Sophie exclaimed in horror. “Max!” Bruce added. “What are you doing?!” “Don’t worry, guys.” Jenny replied. “He’ll be fine.”

“But, he’s...” Bean began but Mikey cut him off. “Hey, Max has this under control” he assured, smiling. Max walked up to the cougar and started by making chuffing noises. “Ufffuufff....” he repeated. “Ufffuufff....”

The cougar stared for a moment, and slowly, made its way down the rock and landed in front of the friends. Everyone felt their hearts in their throats as the cougar approached them slowly. To everyone’s shock, Max dropped on all fours and crawled towards the great cat.

“Hurrrrr.....” he purred softly. “Huuuurrrggggghhhh......” The cougar stared for a while, and right before everyone’s eyes, the great cat nuzzled gently at Max and rubbed its head against his. “No way.” Bruce whispered in shock.

Max purred softly, feeling the cougar’s fur around his face. He gently stroked the great cat on the neck as if it was an overgrown house cat. Everyone could help but stare in amazement and wonder.

With that, the cougar quietly turned and bounded off into the forest. Max stood up and dusted himself. “It’s okay, guys.” He told the others. “He’s won’t hurt us.” He noticed their shocked expressions. “Uh guys?” He asked. “You okay?”

“Dude...” Dennis replied, amazed. “That was amazing.” “That’s Max for ya.” David replied, grinning. “MAXIE!!!” Sophie squealed and glomped Max so hard that he felt she was squeezing the life out of him. “You saved us again!”

“You’re my hero!!!” Before he knew it, Sophie kissed Max squarely on the lips. When she pulled back, Max’s face was bright red. The others watched on amused at this. “Wow, what you think about, Jenny?” David asked amusingly, only to pause when he saw her face.

Her face was bright red and she was gritting her teeth. Her arms were trembling and her hands were clenched into fists. “Never mind...” he whimpered, not wanting to anger her further.