The Adventures of Max

Chapter 2

The sound of the village rooster is heard crowing to wake all of the villagers. Max was already awake, they aren't really an early bird, but they just couldn't sleep that good with all the excitement for the day. Max was all ready to go and walked down the stairs of the house. They expected to hear the chattering of the village folk, the sounds of animals walking around, or at least the sound of the children getting up to no good. But there was nothing. This felt weird to Max, but they continued down shaking the feeling of eeriness. Running into the kitchen they expected to see their father cooking breakfast for them both. Max stops at the kitchen opening, shocked of the fatherless kitchen in front of them. Once again, they shake that weird feeling, "I must have gotten up really early this morning." Max notices the paper on the table and walks over. The paper reads:

Dear Max,

Sorry I'm not here this morning but something urgent came up. Breakfast is in the fireplace.

Once you're done go find your friend Aria and the both of you meet me down at the Kroop farms.

Love your dad, Ryker.

Max goes to the fireplace and sure enough there was the oats warmed up and ready for eating. Max pretty much guzzled that down. They wanted to go talk to Aria as fast as possible. Once they were done Max went and washed the dishes like always, grabbed the bag with all of the materials that was collected last night for today, and ran out the front door. But being the forgetful one they are they stopped and went back inside. Going up to their bedroom and grabbed the good luck charm that was gifted to them by their mother. Now Max didn't like their mother that much, but they still loved her. A little bit of back story about Max, Max was originally born a female and was given the name Heather. Max's mother is no longer in the picture though. She was a kind and loving woman, and she loved her darling daughter. Heather was a beautiful young lady, but Demitre didn't like how her daughter would always try to fight with the boys in the village and use sticks like swords. Heather wanted to be just like her father. But one day Heather gathered up her courage and spoke to Demitre about something that was bothering her. She told Demitre that she wanted to be known as Max and that she uses THEY/THEM pronouns. Demitre didn't like this one bit. As she raised her hand Ryker walks into the room wondering how the conversation was going. Demitre slaps Max right across the face. "I will not have a disgrace in the family!" She shouts as Ryker comes running over to protect his child. "GET AWAY FROM THEM!" Ryker shouts at his wife, rage filling his eyes. "What the hell!? She is a disgrace on this family! She should be punished!" Demitre snaps back at him.

This was the last interaction Max got with their mother, before she was banished from the village. It has been a couple of years since that happened, so they didn't really talk about her anymore. Let's get back to the adventure now. Max by this time whilst we were explaining their backstory have already found their best friend Aria and has explained everything. The two of them are now on their way to go meet up with Ryker. It's normal for Ryker to leave early sometimes, Ryker is the village guard and protector of the ancestral sword. While on their way to meet him the two adventurers were having a conversation about what was going to happen. As they got closer to the Kroop's farmland they realise that there was quite a lot of dead plants and even animals. "What is happening?" Aria whispered. Aria is a quiet soul and doesn't like being noticed that much, she is the total opposite of Max. Max is loud and loves to take the spotlight.

"What is wrong with all the animals? Why is all the grass turning black? And the crops, they are all dead?" Max rambles on as they walk over to Ryker. "Hey dad!" Max shouts out, waving to their father. Ryker turns his head to look at Max and Aria walking towards him, waving back at them. "Hey kiddos." He says with an upset look on his face. The two rush over to Ryker and the owner of the farm. "What's going on dad? What happened to all of the crops and animals?" Max asks looking around. "The village has been cursed.. This is the reason I am allowing you to go out on your own for your first ever adventure." Ryker said. After a little while of Ryker explaining everything, the pair of friends went off to collect all of the supplies that they would need. Once they had everything, they went to the front entrance of the village. They were ready to go. So, with one final wave to the village folk, they were off. "Wait! Max!" Ryker shouted out to them. "You're forgetting something!" Ryker says running over to them. "Here" Ryker takes off his sword holder with the sword in it, holding it with two hands he passes it over to Max. "The ancestral sword" Max says trying to contain their excitement. "I can't take this dad what are you going to use to protect the village?!" Max says worryingly. "I'll use your old sword. Just take it Max, it'll protect you in your times of need. And if you think your giving up just look at it and think of me and the village you are doing this for." Ryker says with a tear in his eye.

Max had always wanted to be the holder of the ancestral sword. But they couldn't believe that it was happening so soon. They swap swords with each other. With one last hug goodbye Max and Aria set off on their first ever adventure.

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