Here we go! Mini Mark training time!

"Hold you guard up, like this. Your right arm is overextending."

"Tucked in your side, the less space between the joint and the muscle, the better."

"If your thumb is open, use it to apply a counter rotational force for your grip."

They had been at it for little more than an hour, or rather, Mark was training Max with the absolute basics of combat.

As their first day of official training, the Primal Hunter wanted to gauge his adopted son's capabilities, as he could then know what to incorporate in his training and were to work off of that.

Max struggle of course, and now he laid down panting, his chest and arms aching. "Ow... it hurts dad..." He groaned and the hybrid sat down next to him. "I know it does son, but that's good news: it means that your muscles are actively working out, that they're developing and becoming stronger.

"I feel so tired..." "I bet you do, so we'll take a small break and then we'll continue. Finally, three hours from now, you'll take your daily nap." Mark explained.

"It feels weird dad..." Again, this was not so surprising considering that this was a new experience to the boy: the mere presence of not one but two sons was jarring, and adding to that was the fact that the days on Yaut lasted twice as long as they did on Earth.

"I'm having a meal be prepared for you my son. Salmon, tomatoes, carrots all of those greens are included so that you will grow big and strong." He snapped his fingers then, "Oh, and that reminds me, you still haven't tried naxa juice." "Naxa what?"

"It's a drink, think of it as a fruit juice of some sorts, it tastes really sweet and it's cooling." "Yes... it's sooo hot." The boy whined, dragging out the o.

"Got you covered." With the computer wrist, Mark adjusted the temperature of the private kehrite. Max had told him that he felt a little embarrassed with training in front of the guards, and the experienced hunter hadn't given a second thought to fulfilling his request.

With time as he introduced him to more of the Yautjan customs, Max would gradually escape his shy bubble and would begin to interact with more yautja.

For now, he would allow him this small change, for he was still a child, not yet an adult. "Feeling better?" He gently asked him.

"Yeah, it's cooler now." "Good. Right, time to get up, just a little more right now and then you can go eat."

With a grunt, Max got up, wiggling his feet and legs to make sure that they didn't fall asleep. There would be plenty of time for that later on.

"What do I have to do now?" "Ok, start running some laps, I have to see how good your stamina is." Nodding Max began to run quickly around the kehrite, but Mark called to him: "Not like that son, little by little, you're not in a marathon, just take to jogging." And so he did.

Max went on like that for twenty minutes, by then he was tiring. "Alright good, keep up, start doing some skips. Good, good, risse your knees higher to your chest." He instructed him.

He could see that the boy was struggling, but that was a good thing. "Ok, we're almost at the end, start slowing down, but don't stop completely. Nice and easy, there."

Max bent on his knees, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Here." Mark offered him a glass of water, drink, it's good for you." "Thank you dad."

"Now we'll go back to your room so that you take a shower and get nice and squeaky clean." With a pat on the back he guided the boy to the door and it opened automatically.

"Dad?" "Yes son?" "What did your mate do?" Mark sighed and looked away.

Mhei hadn't talked to him, she simply left to go do other things. They didn't even sleep in their chambers together... Mark would have expected her to give him beef and blood, but instead, she was giving him the silent treatment, which was somehow worse, as female yautja would usually be prone to anger and aggression.

"Nothing Max... it's a particular moment for us." "Oh..." He squeezed his shoulder, "Don't worry about it, she won't hurt you, what she did yesterday... it was to intimidate you more than anything." Max looked up to him, his voice quiet, "I'm still scared of her."

The sentence hurt to hear, but it was unfortunately true.

"Don't worry, come on we'll get through this."

"Mmm, this is really good!" "I'm glad you like. Of course you'll have to adapt to Yautjan cuisine too, but that can wait some."

Max drank his water, "Dad? When will I go on my Chiva"?

The Primal Hunter felt a shiver run over him for the briefest of moments, but calmed and smoothed out his expression.

"It will be a long time until then Max, you'll take it when you reach the age of seventeen, that will be your final trial and you will then become a true warrior. And, if you would wish for it... you'd become like me." The boy stared at him, "In what way?"

Mark chuckled and began to explain, "Well, you can see that I'm not exactly human anymore: my height for one thing, is not normal, and neither are all of my physical attributes. You see..." He sat down next to him after switching off his computer case, "When I completed my Chiva, I was given the choice to be transformed, and in doing so, I partially became a Yautja."

"If you will want to, then you'll have the same procedure done on you. You will become stronger and faster, like I am... and you will be able to have children with a Yautja." He added in a quieter tone, since he didn't feel that it was a yet appropriate time to have 'the talk'.

God it was going to be awkward, he could already picture it.

"Well look at you. Did you enjoy your bath?" "Dad, it's a pool! It's so big!"

Max had been very content with the bedroom that he had given him, mostly because of the fact that it's size rivaled a house, he had everything he could ever dream of in there.

"Hey, you're my son, I get to spoil you every now and then." He fixed the sash that went over his shoulder. Max had wanted to try some of the typical yautja clothing, though he had said that he still wanted to wear a shirt.

Mark had laughed and had told him that he too had felt the same way. "So... ready for dinner?" He had made it so some of Yaut's softer meats could be included in the boy's meal, after making sure that they were completely safe for human consumption.

"Yes." They went towards one of the dining rooms, and entered it.

Max stopped and looked away as Mhei was sitting at the head of the long table.

"My mate." She addressed him in yautjan and only gave a glare to Max. The Primal Hunter settled to the seat next to her, directing his adoptive son to the one to his right.

Both hunters could smell the boy's fear and anxiety as it washed over in the chambers. There was tension in the air, so Mark squeezed the child's shoulder reassuringly, though it did not help much.

Their meals were served and they are quietly. The towering female did not speak, nor did she even bother to make conversation.

Max would send furtive glances from time to time, terrified of the huntress.

The hybrid looked between them, worrying as he sensed that Max's stress and anxiety was raising even more.

Until finally it tipped over, "H-Honorable h-huntress," He stated, his gaze lowered, "I'm s-sorry if I hav- Mhei's deep growl made him flinch and cover back and Mark got up, signaling to her.

"What the fuck is your problem!? Can't you even listen to him for a moment?!" "He should know proper etiquette then, he was- "Dammit! He was apologizing to you!"

Max had crept away as he looked at both warriors in fear... it looked like they were about to start fighting, and he was afraid for his father.

But it would not be that way, as Mark simply turned around, grabbed the two meals and walked away, "Come on, we'll go eat somewhere else Max."

His father was angry, he could feel it in his voice, still, he followed, afraid to be in the same room with the huntress.

"I'm sorry Max... she just..." He sighed, not wanting to terrorize his son anymore than he already was. "She can be a real handful sometimes..."

Max looked away... as something finally made sense and clicked within him, "Yeah dad... I imagine." He said unsurely.

Mark had noticed the scent of sadness and stress that still hung over his son, but he thought nothing of it as he was still afraid of his mate. He ran a hand through his short hair, as this was proving to be much harder and complicated than it needed to.

"Jeez, here we are, let's just enjoy our food alright Max?" "Ok dad."

The time flew by as they are, but the boy still wouldn't talk or engage in conversation. The sight of this saddened the Primal Hunter to no end.

"Hey, want some dessert? I'm sure that I have some chocolate and vanilla ice cream... somewhere in this place..." He looked over to the open space in front of them, which showed a drop and the hundreds of floors which made up the fortress, "Somewhere..." Mark contemplated.

"I... don't really want ice cream dad." The child said as he pushed his empty plate away, "Oh, I have some brownies somewhere... yeah you know what, I'm gonna go search for them." "Dad I'm not hungry anymore." Max stated as he grabbed his arm.

"I'm tired... I'll go to bed... if that's alright with you." "Yeah sure, go ahead bud." Mark patted his back and helped him.

They walked to his bedroom and Mark pulled the covers up to his chest, "You comfortable?" "Yes dad."

They looked at each other and Mark smiled at him, "I know it's tough... but you're handling this really well. I'm proud of you Max... never forget that."

"I won't dad."

Max felt bad.

Literally, he felt it in his bones, in his being.

It shouldn't have been a surprise, considering that he was sick, to be more exact he had a fever.

Already the fact that he had been limited to staying in bed was bad enough, now he was also experiencing the cold and weakness that were usual for the common sickness.

His father had immediately taken notice of this, as he did not wake up at the set time after his midday sleep. He had been quite imperative in telling him to rest as he gave him some medicine.

His father had said that it was alright if he skipped a couple of days of training. But Max didn't want to.

He needed to train to become strong, to become a good hunter and make his father proud.

He could not do that if he didn't train. His present condition brought him much annoyance, for he felt tired, even if he had done nothing but lie in bed for the entire day.

Worse, his father had told him that he wouldn't even be here for the rest of the day, since he had an emergency meeting to attend... or something like that, he didn't exactly catch everything that he had said.

Right now, his throat was dry, he wanted to drink some water. With a grunt, he got up and walked to the door with shaky legs. The small blanket around him still did not feel warm enough, but Max was convinced to push forward.

The hallways to his father's personal chambers were devoid of guards... Max had yet to still feel safe amongst other Yautja, but the privacy and the silence of the place was comforting.

His bare feet lightly tapped against the cold floor, and the boy walked next to the wall so that the could brace himself against it. The kitchen was close, he would just need to take a few more hallways.

But when he turned around the corner, Max collided with something solid and immovable, which caused him to fall down on his buttocks. Letting out a small groan, he looked up, and was met with a pair of blood red eyes which bore down upon him.

CLIFFHANGER!!!

Yes, Max is all alone with Mhei, what will happen? Comment and let me know of your thoughts and theories.