FSE

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Puberty by: Pent Ghelsburg

Disclaimer: The characters depicted in this work are purely fictional. All characters are original and are only to be used within the context of this story. Any resemblance to a person, living or dead, is purely a coincidence. This work contains underaged content and micro/macro interactions. You have been warned.

"Change is inevitable. Growth is optional"

-John Maxwell

There comes a time in every youngster's life when nature comes knocking on one's mental doorstep. Often the visitor is emotional confusion while other times it might be the various changes that come with adolescence. But there is no doubt that maturation is a part of the human condition. Growing up is a part of every child's existence and each person does it at different parts in their lives. Of course, there are some who take longer than others as the condition for getting older is never mandatory.

For most kids the most trying times of life is puberty. Even in the best cases both boys and girls find it hard to believe that they are not alone. Even when their parents, friends, or other sources of contact offer help, children often feel like they are utterly isolated. But of course this is normally the case and whoever is around them should offer assistance whenever they deem it necessary. Such is the proper course of action and expectations of good friends, mentors, and parents.

Arzure was a 12-year-old rabbit who had lived the majority of his young life in the suburbs. The rabbit lived with his parents outside of the big city where cubs and kid alike could live free of worries of the urban crush. The boy was in the 2nd year of secondary school and was fairly average in terms of academics. He was what most teachers referred to as your run of the mill kid and your typical boy. However, where he lacked in school he made up in personality.

The rabbit was cheerful and upbeat about everything he undertook. It didn't matter if it was a chore or if it was some assignment. No matter the purpose or the length of the ordeal, he always approached the task with tact and tenacity. Each and every day was met with a positive mindset and his smile was nothing short of contagious. As such he had quite a bit of friends and was overall easy to get along with.

Recently his parents had taken the boy to the doctor. It had been a year since his last physical and it was time for his annual checkup. It was no big ordeal and the parents were rather regular with making sure their kid had all his medical stuff up to date. Arzure was always one of the first ones to get any immunization, even if it was one that wasn't mandated by the provincial government. The appointment was set on late Friday afternoon so it didn't interfere with school.

Once the day finally rolled around, the mother picked up her son from school early. She didn't like to be late and his last period was only Physical Education. It was a course which the boy didn't favor and his mother shared no preference for it either, believing for his core subjects to be more important. Arzure smiled when he saw his mother at the front of the school waiting for him by the front desk.

She had checked him out early and rushed him to the vehicle. The family had a small SUV with all-wheel drive for the winter months. The mother helped her kid in before shutting the door behind him and filing into the driver side seat. The journey to the doctor's office was only a 20-minute drive, so it wasn't incredibly a long journey.

"So how was school, big guy?" The mother asked her son calmly while still focusing on the road.

"It was good." Arzure was never much on big conversation.

"Oh yeah? What did you learn today?" The woman wasn't content with his simple answer.

"We did some pre-algebra in math and some biology in science." The boy wasn't very good at explaining either.

"I mean specifically, silly." The female rabbit was always keen on getting the boy to express himself better.

"Oh well, we did variable fractions some pre-lab work for something we're doing later this week." The cub looked over at his mother who looked back at him after she braked at a stoplight.

"What kind of lab are you guys doing?" The mother snapped her attention back forward after she heard a light honk.

"I'm not sure. The teacher said it was a surprise." Arzure always tried to keep his answer short.

"Well make sure to tell me all about it when you do it, okay?" The female was satisfied with his responses and went silent to focus on driving.

"Okay, Mom." The rabbit never knowingly disappointed his mother.

The drive was another 10 minutes of awkward silence shared between the two. The trip was shorter since traffic wasn't as heavy as it was during rush or after school actually ended. Even the parking lot of the Pediatric office wasn't as packed as it normally was. However, there were a few cars here and there since there was always someone who was hurt or sick. Once they found a spot to park, the pair disembarked and made their way indoors.

Once inside, the mother checked them in and they proceeded to wait. Their appointment was at 1:30 PM and it was 1:20 PM. Assuming there wasn't any delay, they wouldn't have to wait long. The female made sure to isolate her kid from the ones in the corner of the room labeled as Sick Bay. She was always ultra worried about him catching some illness even know he didn't catch maladies often. Regardless when he did fall under the weather, it was usually bad.

It wasn't long before they were finally seen. The families last name was called by the nurse which indicated they were next in line. The pair made their way past the door and followed the human woman to an office where a medical bed was positioned in an upright position. This is where the boy was to be examined later and the nursed handed the boys mother some paperwork to fill out. It was a protocol for the most part and rather basic stuff updating any serious changes since the last time.

There was nothing serious since the last time Arzure had his checkup. The nurse took the paperwork and entered it into the computer before looking over the boy.

"So how are you feeling, champ?" The human woman always tried to be friendly with her patients.

"I'm feeling okay." The rabbit cub was just as short with the nurse as he was with his mother.

The boy's mother rolled her eyes as listening to her son's succinct response drove her nuts.

"Don't be so brief with the lady, okay honey?" The mother reminded her son of his manners.

"Okay, mom. I'm sorry." Arzure didn't like to knowingly disappoint his parents.

"Anyways. Any aches, pains, or noticeable changes in your body?" The nurse continued her line of questions.

"No, nothing that I can remember anyway." The Lapine thought about it for a few moments before answering.

"Alrighty then, let's measure you and weigh you to see how your growing. Come on with me to the scale. Take off your shoes first, though." The woman instructed him before helping him jump off the high chair.

The nurse showed him right outside the room where a scale and measuring stick was situated. It was one of those dual purpose scales where you could do both at the same time. The woman gestured for him to get on and Arzure did as he was told.

"I'm going to fold over your ears so we can get an accurate measurement. No tippy-toes or any funny business okay, big guy?"

The woman extended out the stick and weighed the boy as the little bar on the scale shifted backward and forwards. She fiddled with the old machine until the black slab settled and then placed the top of the stick over the top of his head, making sure to not include his ears.

"Four foot Nine and ninety pounds. A little below average for a boy your age but nothing to worry about." She wrote it down on his chart and gestured for him to get off the scale.

They went back inside the little office where the boy's mother was still waiting.

"Alright, so he seems to be pretty normal. I don't see anything off about him. His development physically seems to be a bit slow. But I'm not overall concerned since every kid matures differently." The nurse relayed the information to the mother who was glad to hear nothing was abnormal.

"However we might want to keep an eye on him as he should be hitting puberty soon and we want to be sure that he develops into a handsome young man." She ruffled the boys head fur playfully.

"Sure, I can do that at home. Anything else?" The mother motioned to the boy's shoes so he would put them back on.

"Here is his chart. Feel free to take a copy. Just let me know if anything changes.

"Great, I'll be in touch then. Thanks for seeing him. Come on, Arzure. Let's go home." The woman gathered her things and got ready to leave.

The nurse handed her a copy of the chart and the mother and son duo were on their way. All that was left was checking out and they could go home. The woman paid the co-pay and they made their way home. The two remained silent for the way home as the boy was engaged in some mobile game and the mother was focused on driving. Neither was bothered by the somewhat awkward scene of silenced shared between them.

Fortunately, they weren't all that far from home. Once they were home, Arzure scampered out of the car and went into his room to work on his homework. He only had one assignment and since it was math he didn't mind getting it out of the way before busying himself on a console game for the rest of the night. It was already mid-afternoon and the father was due to return home in about an hour or so. The mother decided she would take care of dinner for the night since it was her turn.

She didn't need to start immediately though and decided to look over her cub's chart. Felicia had always been interested in medicine but never had enough time to pursue it professionally. The statistic sheet was fairly easy to make out as there wasn't much medical jargon on it. After all, it was designed to be read by the common man anyways. She began combing it over and nothing really stood out. The only thing that really seemed strange was the boy's height record.

Arzure had always been on the smaller side of things in comparison to his classmates. But over the last few years, his growth had essentially slowed to a snail's pace. The mother didn't keep track of it on her own, as she wasn't overly worried about it. But now with the data in front of her something seemed different about it. It had mostly plateaued through the last year but there looked to be a small decline from the last time he had a checkup.

Perhaps the nurse had made a mistake, she thought to herself. It seemed like a likely error to make and furthermore the human had assured her that although he was maturing slowly, he wasn't that behind his age mates. It was nothing major and it wasn't like there was a huge obvious slope. She just assumed it was her parental instincts going into overdrive. She decided it was nothing and placed it away in the same place where she kept all of the copies of his medical records.

Once the father returned home, the family shared a nice meal of boiled carrots, some fresh pork, and milk. Unlike most rabbits, the trio was not vegetarian and had grown accustomed to meat because of the overabundance of the stuff in the market. None of them complained about the fact despite the fact it often attracted rather awkward stares in public. It was definitely an oddity considering their species.

After dinner, the family had food they retired to their rooms. Of course, the parents stayed up for a while to watch TV. Arzure only had a few hours of free time but he enjoyed playing random games on his Nintendo Switch. He had been rather keen on Kirby, especially since he had played the first game in the series. He was able to make a bit of progress on it before his mother came in to check in on him and remind him he needed to sleep for the next day of school.

Over the course of the next week or so things were mostly normal for the family. There wasn't much to mention and every day was a repeat of the last with very little variation. On the following Friday, as the cub was getting up for his usual dressing routine, Arzure noticed something different. When he began to get his clothing on to head down for breakfast, he realized his shirt and pants were somewhat loose on him. It was nothing major but he was finding it hard to keep his pants from falling down.

He looked himself over in a mirror that adorned the back of the door. His reflection didn't seem any different. Staring back at him was still the same blue and black rabbit as every other day. The only thing really off about the image was his shirt draping past his waistline. Perhaps he had lost weight? Arzure thought to himself trying to come up with a logical assumption of what was going on. He stepped over to the little chart over by the wall where his parents periodically checked his growth.

Normally his mother would check it for him by marking off his progress with a small pencil. The previous marks were all indicated with dates attached to them. The cub never bothered himself but this was a different situation. He flattened his body against the wall and did the same with his hand after elevating it to the top of his head. After doing so, he stepped away and tried not to adjust his paw so that it was an accurate reading. It was proving to be more difficult than he thought.

So he decided to use the same method his mother normally did and grabbed a pencil from the desk before heading back to the wall where he was just standing. Arzure mimicked the same actions as before and stood up straight, lifting his paw up in order to get a more steady reading on his height. Finding that drawing a line with his dominant hand was much simpler than keeping it steady. Once he was done, he stepped away to get a better look at his marking.

Standing back he looked. His mark was clear as day because it was the darkest and it was the only one without a date on the side of it. Sure enough there it was below the last mark. It was pretty obviously between the most recent mark made in October, and an earlier one made in April of the same year. Almost immediately upon looking at it and re-examining himself, the rabbit began to panic. Was he getting smaller or just imagining things? Arzure thought to himself.

He decided he would have to ask his parents about it. It was impossible to believe on his own terms. The rabbit took whatever clothing he could find that fit, which meant he had to rely on an older wardrobe he hadn't worn since last year. Regardless the stuff fit much better than what he had put on earlier, despite being a bit tight on him. It was an issue he would have to deal with later, as the anxiety of the moment was mentally stressing him.

Arzure wasted no more time once he was dressed and went downstairs. Not even worried about the fact that his stomach was growling. His mother and father were both already in the kitchen as both of them had work later on in the day. Each of the parents was busy in preparation for their own day as well as the boys. Neither paid any attention to the cub even after he entered the kitchen.

"Hey, mom and dad. I'm kinda not feeling well." Arzure figured feigning illness would be the best way to get their attention.

"What's wrong, bud?" The father was the first response but the mother looked back at the boy eyeing him over a bit.

"Well, I think I might be getting smaller..." The rabbit cub didn't bother coming up with a white-lie and got straight to the point.

"Smaller? Don't be ridiculous. That's not possible." The mother insisted before returning her attention to the day's tasks.

"But Mom...But Dad...I swear!" Arzure was desperate for them to believe him.

"Stop making stuff up. You're going to school, whether you want to or not." The father was certain he was trying to playing hooky.

"I'm not trying to miss school..." The boy was telling the truth and was rather flustered about the fact his parents not believing him, despite him not lying all that often.

"Look, honey. You cant get smaller. So stop being ridiculous, have some breakfast, and get ready for school." The woman was in no mood for his nonsense, especially since she was already pressed for time.

"But...but..." The cub was stopped before he can even finish his sentence.

"But nothing. Don't question your mother. Now sit down before I get angry and ground you."

"Okay..." Arzure was a bit distraught but knew he was fighting a losing battle.

He decided to let the issue die. Besides it wasn't like he had gotten that much smaller and maybe he was imagining things after all. Maybe he was losing weight, though it wouldn't explain why his mark was earlier. Arzure couldn't stop thinking about it all day and was quite distracted even during his favorite classes. Towards the end of school, he decided to approach a friend about his little issue, since he didn't have any other source of support currently.

The friend he had in mind was in the same grade he was. The boy was a fox of the same age and shared much of the same classes, except for Science and his elective. The vulpine was of the arctic fox breed and pure white fur coat. The kit's name was Pent and the two had been friends ever since they had transferred into Junior High. The fox was easy enough to find, especially after school when the cub usually busied himself by hanging around in the school lab.

Today was no different. Once school had dismissed, Arzure wasted no time in finding the fox. He had no difficulty in doing so and had assumed his location properly. Sure enough Pent was in the lab as he always was. Arzure approached him and the fox paid him no mind. The fox had always been taller than him but being next to him only exacerbated the rabbits feeling of being small. The fox seemed bigger than usual but part of it was because of the fact he was standing on a stool.

"What's up, Pent?" Arzure figured the other boy wouldn't notice him unless he said something.

"Nothing, just working on a new project. What brings you around to the lab? You usually don't show your face around here." Pent made no attempt at making eye contact with his friend.

"Well something has been bothering me and I was wondering if maybe you'd give me some insight into it." The rabbit wasn't about to beat around the bush and got straight to the point.

"Hmm? What's bothering you?" Pent took his eyes off the microscope in front of him and turned to the other cub who was standing to his left.

"Well is it possible to get...smaller instead of taller?" Arzure looked up at the boy who soon stepped down from his stool.

"You mean shrink? I mean technically it's possible when you're really old. But that isn't so much shrinking as it is your body just degrading overall." The fox tried to avoid scientific jargon around his friends as not everyone understood the verbiage.

"Well yeah, but what about when you're younger. You know our age." The rabbit was twiddling his thumbs clearly nervous about how his friend would respond.

"Not really, not without some sort of cause. I've toyed around with the idea before but it's never permanent. Why do you ask?" The fox looked over the Lapine as if something seemed off about him.

"I think I might be getting smaller." The smaller cub looked down as he was clearly disappointed about the situation.

"And what makes you think that? You've always been pretty small compared to our classmates." Pent noticed the other boy was wearing old clothing but decided not to say anything about it.

"This morning when I woke up, my clothing was loose and I had to put on old clothing." Arzure looked back up his eyes now locked in with Pent.

"Hmm...that is strange but are you sure you didn't wear bigger clothing to bed?" The kit asked trying to remain both positive and logical at the same time.

"I'm pretty sure and to top it off I measured myself this morning and I was right below the most recent mark on the height chart in my room."

"I've never heard of it happening naturally. It doesn't seem likely but I won't dismiss it until I figure out if it's true or not. The fox was a creature of logic and always wanted proof no matter what the scenario.

"How do we do that?" The Lapine was desperate for anyone to believe him and for his malady to be remedied.

"We'll have to gauge it for a while and see what happens. Once we figure that out we can work on a solution, if it turns out that your right."

"I guess we'll have to wait and see then. I guess I should check in with you periodically?" Arzure wanted answers sooner rather than later but he didn't have much choice in the matter.

"Yes, that would be best. I'm guessing your parents didn't believe you?" Pent knew it to be the case since this was far from a normal occurrence.

"Yeah...it was pretty disappointing but I guess I can understand why." The rabbit wasn't actually mad at his parents for dismissing his claims.

"Don't worry too much about it for now. Just check in with me when you think it's gotten worse. Let's measure you to start off." The fox led over to a desk which had a tape measure inside of it.

Pent gestured for his friend to stand up straight near a wall and the rabbit complied. The fox had measured plenty of things before so he knew the best method of getting an accurate reading. He pulled down the metallic tape and extended it over the length of his friend's body. Once he was done measuring the full length of it, he snapped the tape back into its container.

"Four foot seven inches. Doesn't sound too small to me." Pent said trying to put his friend at ease.

"Did you say seven inches?" Arzure stammered as he spoke.

"Yeah, why?" The fox was always keen on an explanation, which wasn't always Arzure's strong point.

"Because the other day at the doctor the nurse said I was two inches taller..." The rabbit's anxiety was seemingly peeking the moment the other boy stated his height.

"Are you sure about that?" Pent said doubting the other boy's memory.

"Yes. I'm sure. Please believe me, Pent. I really just need help right now. I'll do anything."

"Fine...but what do you want me to do about it? Nothing I've made lasts long term." The fox was always realistic about his solutions.

"I'm willing to try anything. No matter the cost." Arzure was getting increasingly desperate for a solution regardless of the consequences.

"Suit yourself. Come over next weekend and we'll see what I can do for you." Pent said before putting his arm over his friend in order to ease the rabbit's tension.

"Alright. I'll make sure it's alright with my parents. Thanks, Pent." The rabbit wrapped his own arm around the taller boy and they shared a friendly hug.

"No problem. See you later, then?" The fox broke the hug before long as he didn't want it to get too awkward.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Arzure couldn't help but feel a little bit better.

The two parted ways and Pent continued to work on whatever project he had been focused on the last hour or so. Azure headed back home as he didn't have any other plans and didn't want to alarm his parents as usually, he came back home around the same time each and every day. Luckily for him, it didn't take him long to actually go back to where he lived. Even with a late arrival, the boy was home before both of his parents.

The rabbit decided to make dinner for his parents since they seemed annoyed with him this morning. Frankly, he wasn't very good at making food. The only thing he could make was frozen means. Fortunately for him, there was a small selection of fish and vegetables in the freezer. Each of them had directions on the back of the page. He pulled them out and began cooking them inside the over. The guide on the back suggested 30 minutes for the meat and 3 for the produce.

After flipping the filet after 15 minutes and waiting for another 15 before allowing the produce to cool while the fish cooled. By the time it was done both of his parents had arrived and eyed him suspiciously as he was already serving the table with plates and glasses.

"You did this for us?" The mother asked not sure if she could believe what was going on.

"Yeah, I wanted to make up for this morning." The cub was rather keen on pleasing his parents.

"Thanks, kiddo. It's no big deal but this is a nice surprise." The father walked over to ruffle his son's head fur.

The family shared dinner together and despite the meal not being that appetizing, neither parent found it necessary to complain. After all, it was the thought that counted.

"I was wondering if I could go to Pent's next weekend?" Arzure asked the question that was burning in his mind.

"Yeah, sure as long as his brother is alright with that." The mother didn't mind him spending time with his friend.

"Cool, thanks, mom." The cub continued eating his meal before finishing first as he wanted to play a game to pass some time.

"Make sure you don't forget about homework tonight." The father didn't want him to forget about his studies or other responsibilities.

"I won't." Arzure smiled at his father seeming rather genuine.

"Great. How would you like some ice cream?" The mother suggested it but already knew the answer.

"Yeah! Can I have strawberry?" The cub requested his favorite flavor.

"Sure and don't worry about your size. You'll catch up soon." The father remembered the issue that had bothered his son earlier.

Arzure smiled and nodded as he joined them in their feast of sweets. All in all, it was a good night and there were no grudges to be held. After all the boy had to look forward to a possible solution to his problem the next week. It was going to be a long week but the two friends had already arranged something and Arzure didn't have much choice in the matter. It seemed that he would have to wait.

The week came and passed like the wind, as time often does. The Friday before Arzure even went to bed early as he was intent on solving his problem sooner rather than later. He was rather excited that the day had finally come and that he wouldn't have to wait anymore. The cub was even more glad that it hadn't gotten any worse because he had been checking rather regularly and perhaps more frequently than he would have otherwise.

The two friends had arranged a 10 o-clock meeting which meant that the next morning would also be slow for the rabbit. He, like clock-work, always got up on Saturday and Sunday around 8 AM. Once the time rolled around, he woke up like every other day. His parents had already left for the day as both of them worked on Saturdays. It seemed he would have to entertain himself until Samaliel came to pick him up at his house.

Arzure began his morning routine like normal, noticing that his bed clothing was feeling loose on him. Almost immediately he began to panic. Had it happened again? The rabbit thought to himself as concern coursed through his mind. The clothing had been tight throughout the week and now not only did it not fit well, but it was even sagging a little bit on his form. He was almost certain that he had gotten smaller again.

He needed to be sure and didn't even bother to wake himself up from whatever grogginess remained from his slumber. The rabbit went over to the side of the room where the chart where the pencil markings were situated on the wall. The Lapine decided that using the same method as before was the same course of action as he wanted to be consistent as possible. Nervously he stood up straight with his back up against the wall and drawing a single line across the top of his head.

The ordeal was simple enough and took only a few moments at best. He stepped away to look at his newest mark. As with before he compared it to the ones with dates, except for the last one which he drew which was part of the pair without the indicator. Sure enough, it was below not only the last one he made but the one labeled April of this year. In fact, it was even closer to the one labeled November of the last year. It made him incredibly concerned.

Arzure was a bit depressed but then he remembered that today was the day that Pent was supposed to fix his little issue. He figured if anyone could remedy his problem, it would be the fox. After all the kit was a master at making concoctions that had a wide variety of purposes. Upon thinking about that notion, the rabbit wasn't as worried about the issue. Deciding that he had no choice but to deal with it.

He needed some smaller clothes and head over to his wardrobe to look through the drawers for something older. Rifling through the fabric, the cub went all the way to the bottom of the drawer, thinking that the older stuff had to be there. Arzure pulled a few things out before looking at them and holding them against his body. Some of the stuff he never wore before, other pieces of clothing he hadn't seen in a year. He figured that some of it had to fit him, especially the gym shirt he'd used to wear in elementary school.

It was easily identifiable because of the school name and logo on the front. Not to mention it also had a light smell to it from all the times the boy had played hard in it. It was nothing major, just a lingering light odor to it. The cub decided that it would have to go along with the matching pair of gym shorts. Both of which fit him pretty well, further confirming that he was that much smaller. Now that he was dressed, he had to tend to his hunger.

Heading into the kitchen, he searched about for something, expecting that his parents had left him a meal for the day. However, that didn't seem to be the case. Instead, the cub figured that cereal or a toaster pastry would have to do. He wanted something sweet so he stuck a Pop-tart inside of the toaster and waited patiently before it was ejected from the machine. Not bothering with fruit, and relying on juice to power him through his day.

The rest of his morning went like normal and nothing offbeat or strange occurred. While waiting for Pent the rabbit busied himself with the same Kirby game as before as he wanted to clear a few levels before the fox and his breather arrived to pick him up. It was another hour or so before there was finally a knock at the door. Arzure couldn't help but feel excited, turning off his game and heading for the door.

Arzure answered the door and in front of it was both Pent and his brother, Samaliel. The older fox was much larger than the younger one and to some extent he was intimidating. But even more, bothering is that Pent was now much taller than he was now and Arzure had to look up at him. The fox seemed to notice it too as he could very clearly see over the rabbits head, well except for his ears. Pent figured it was best to not say anything.

"Ready to head to my place?" Pent said since the rabbit seemed a little anxious about their new height difference.

"Yeah, let's go." Arzure was shown out and locked the door behind them.

The trio left the rabbit's home and went towards Samaliel's vehicle. It was parked in the carport and both of the younger cubs sat in the back seat. The teenage driver didn't mind much since he figured they wanted to chat while he drove them back to the foxes den. The trip was about 20 minutes from where the Lapine family lived. The vulpines lived on the other side of town and were near the end of the school border zone. Had he lived much farther, the two might never have been friends.

The friends conversed about nothing particular on the way to Pent's home. Arzure was careful not to bring up his issue as he didn't really want to involve Samaliel. Besides Pent already knew about the problem and the rabbit didn't really want to think about it any more than he needed to as it caused him mental anguish. Before long they arrived at the foxes home. It was more humble and small than the rabbits as the two brothers didn't live beyond their means.

Pent and Arzure were the first ones to leave the vehicle and Samaliel wasn't far behind. The kit let both of them inside and pointed to the side of the door. It was a gesture which meant he wanted the other cub to take his shoes off. The fox did the same and Arzure of course followed in line as he wanted to be a good guest. The vulpine lead back to his room which was towards the end of the hall. The home was two floors but the second floor was actually below them and was only a single roomed basement.

The foxes room was much different than the other cubs. Instead of being adorned with video game paraphernalia, the other boy had a whole number of Scientific gadgets and posters hanging about. Some of which Arzure knew, Pent made himself, others which were stuff that Pent collected because he found it interesting. Once they were inside the room, the rabbit made himself comfortable and almost immediately the fox looked him over.

"Get smaller again?" Pent asked rhetorically as he knew it to be the case.

"Yeah...I'm not sure what's going on with me but it's gotten worse over the last week." Arzure knew it was better to be honest than to come up with white lies.

"Well, we should probably measure you again to see where you're at. Then we can probably run some blood work on you. That's probably the best place to start."The fox suggested it but he figured the other cub would protest the idea of being pricked with a needle.

"I guess...I don't really have much of a choice." The rabbit held out his arm and closed his eyes.

"Not yet...let's measure you first. I know you don't like needles." Pent went over to his desk and pulled out an electric tape measure which worked differently than the older model at school.

"Alright." The smaller cub got up from the bed and went over to where the fox was standing, remaining perfectly still.

Pent ran the machine over the length of the smaller cubs body. The device was fairly new and accurate within only a few centimeters of length. Once it was done, it made a small beep as it began to calculate the cub's height. The fox read the numbers off on the screen.

"Four foot 6. Definitely getting smaller." Pent said looking at the reading, making sure it wasn't malfunctioning.

"Well yeah...I knew that but what do we do about it?" Arzure asked as he was still overly desperate for an answer.

"We need to draw blood first and examine your cellular composition. Maybe that can lead us to a cause." The fox went into his medical supplies and pulled out a syringe.

Arzure always felt like a lab rat around Pent but this time he didn't mind as much. Making sure to close his eyes as the fox got close to his upper arm with the needle.

The kit inserted the needle and took a small amount of blood before applying a bandage to his friend. It didn't take long and Pent certainly wasn't intent on making Arzure suffer.

Pent took the syringe and extracted the blood onto a microscope slide and began to examine it. The fox had done it countless times, though this particular one was different. He wasn't really sure what to look for and decided that he just needed to see if anything looked off from what normal cellular activity looked like. The fox continued to look around and for the most part, the activity on the slide was normal.

The kit peered more closely at the inside of each cell. Nothing within seemed odd either. However, one thing that stood out was the fact that cells were not splitting. Rather they were merging, a phenomenon that usually only occurred during illness or injury. Pent assumed that this was the most likely culprit and it seemed that this would be the target of whatever he worked on to solve the problem of the cubs shrinking.

"So what's the verdict, Doctor.?" Arzure often poked fun at his friend's Scientific endeavors.

"Your cells are merging instead of splitting." Pent tried to keep it as simple as possible.

"How do we stop that? What's wrong with me?" The rabbit asks feeling rather concerned about the cause.

"I'm not really sure but I'm sure I can come up with a solution. Come on and I'll whip you up a quick solution."

"Alright, that sounds good." Arzure followed the other cub to his lab which was in the basement below the ground level of the house.

Pent's laboratory was impressive for a boy of 12. He didn't have much equipment but the tools he did have were close to professional grade. The fox and his brother shared the space and as such both spent money on their collection of both specimens and materials necessary to make experiments happen. The fox donned on his lab coat and got to work without delay. Pent began to mix and run chemicals through various machines.

Arzure knew better than to get in his way. Pent's focus was unparalleled in the lab and he was nothing short of obsessive in the lab. Before long the fox had come up with something that he thought would be worthwhile.

"This solution should reverse your cellular interactions and cause them to split instead of merge." Pent explained what he believed the outcome would be.

"How do we know that it worked?" The rabbit was very keen on solving his problem sooner rather than later.

"Well it will take time and you'll have to keep track on your own and let me know if it does what it's supposed to." The fox gave the boy rather abstract directions.

"Do I take it more than once or is it a one-time thing?" Arzure eyed the concoction over before beginning to sip at it.

It tasted awful but the cub decided to power through it and drink all of it in one go.

"You just answered your own question...but it was supposed to be taken in doses. Though I guess a high concentration won't hurt your situation." Pent said scratching his head as in deep in thought.

"Oops...Did I screw up?" The Lapine couldn't help but feel even more worried than before.

"Nah, I put a controlled substance in there so it should release periodically." The kit tried to reassure his friend.

"Oh good. Well thanks for helping." Arzure reached out and hugged his friend who just stood there awkwardly before returning the affection.

"Sure, no problem." Pent returned the hug albeit not as passionately as his friend.

Over the course of the next few days Arzure kept track of himself. Pent checked in almost every day but it seemed like the boy was neither shrinking nor growing. It wasn't until another week had past until progress was actually able to be seen. Finally the boy had outgrown his old gym clothes again. It was nothing major but the fact that he wasn't shrinking anymore was a huge load off his shoulders. Arzure owed Pent a huge favor.

However a minor concern remained. Was his problem solved? Would he ever shrink again or slowly return to his normal size. Would his adult size be impacted? Arzure couldn't help but be worried about the future. But for the time being he decided it was best to focus on the positive and deal with the problem if it presented itself again. Only time would tell if that would be the case...