Walk A Mile In Your Shoes
Chapter 1: One Fateful Camping Trip
Author's Note: This is a sequel to the fanfic "The Mystery of Snoozer." It might be easier to understand this story if you read the first story first but don't worry, I've gotten a lot of good reviews about that story so it should be worth your while.
Disclaimer: Whenever I write a fantasy like this, I often draw from "Dungeons and Dragons." Throughout this story, I make several references to "Dungeons and Dragons." For example, the word "Rokugon" is actually an alteration of the word "Rokugan" which is a word that came out of "Dungeons and Dragons." Bare in mind that despite the references, I do not own "Dungeons and Dragons" anymore than I own Hamtaro.
Neteru found himself in a dark area. He couldn't see anything in this strange dark environment except himself which seemed as visible as if he was under a spot light. Although he didn't see anything other than himself, he felt some kind of wind beating against his body causing his fur to ruffle and move with the force of the wind. Neteru could not determine the source of the wind because the wind itself appeared to be coming in all directions at once. Neteru wanted to escape but for some reason, he felt rooted to the invisible ground he stood on. Like someone walking into a spot light, a large figure walked into Neteru's field of vision staring at him face to face. The creature was a brown and white hedgehog who was taller than Neteru but appeared to be older. The quills on the hedgehog's back shook dangerously with the wind but the hedgehog gave no notice to them. The hedgehog opened up her paw and like some hologram from a science fiction movie, a 3D image appeared. The image was that of a white circle with nine gray inward curving pylons surrounding it. Judging from the fact that the structure appeared to be made out of stone, Neteru believed that it was a miniature replica of a larger structure. The image disappeared and Neteru was once again looking into the face of the hedgehog.
"Ankorbak is within your reach." said the hedgehog who spoke loud and clearly despite the noise from the wind. "Once you find your purpose to go there, first travel to a ham-ham city called Rokugon and find the ancient seer."
Neteru awoke with a gasp, sweat all over his face. He sat there in his bed staring at the darkness in his bedroom. He turned his gaze to his left and saw Mara curled up into a little furry ball and sleeping beside him peacefully. Mara's mustard yellow fur shown brightly even in the darkness, enabling Neteru a good look at his best friend. Neteru got out of bed and reached for a pencil and some paper. He quickly wrote down what the dream had told him and crawled back into bed. Neteru wasn't sure what the dream meant so he decided to wait until morning to tell Mara about it.
It has been a month since the two of them had been reunited. Neteru had always thought of Mara while he was asleep under that sleeping curse but now that they are together again, Neteru felt more happier than ever. The two was so pleased to see each other that upon coming back from Moonbeam's home, they agreed to move in with each other. With some help from the Ham-Hams, they dug themselves an underground home of their own. Boss showed them how to make a bed for themselves using fabric and some hay. The mattress was actually more comfortable then it looked and both Mara and Neteru had some restful nights sleeping on it. Yes, things are going back to normal for these two old friends and perhaps something a little more might be happening between them as well....
The next morning, Neteru awoke to see Mara eating sun flower seeds. Neteru has grown used to having Mara wake up before him. Even before Neteru was put under that sleeping spell, he was always a heavy sleeper but Mara on the other hand was a light sleeper and early riser.
"Well, that must be the first time I have ever seen you wake up on your own accord." said Mara.
"Hahaha." said Neteru sarcastically. "So what's for breakfast?"
"The usual, sun flower seeds." said Mara as she placed the seeds on the table. "Help yourself."
"Don't mind if I do." said Neteru as he got out of bed. He picked up a seed and the two were krmping on seeds together.
"Hey Mara." said Neteru. "I had a vision last night."
"You did? Tell me about it." said Mara. Neteru told her about the dream and then showed her the paper where he had written the information about the dream down.
"What do you think it all means, Neteru?" asked Mara.
"I don't know." said Neteru. "Sometimes, the divine leaves us information that would become useful in the future. I don't know what it all could mean but I feel confident I will find out in the future."
"What is Ankorbak and what is this city called Rokugon?" asked Mara.
"I don't know what Ankorbak is but I do know that Rokugon is the largest ham-ham city here in Japan." said Neteru.
"Why would we need a desire to go there?" asked Mara.
"That is one of the great mysteries of fate." said Neteru.
Meanwhile, Laura was in her room packing up her suit case. Hamtaro was watching Laura wondering what she was up to.
"I'm going to an out door school, Hamtaro." said Laura as she kneeled down to Hamtaro's cage. "It's basically similar to a summer camp but it is shorter. I'll only be there for about two weeks."
"An out door school you say?" thought Hamtaro. "Does that mean that you get to have all your classes outside?"
"The only problem is that I can't take you with me." said Laura sadly. "I'm going to miss you so much, Hamtaro." Laura opened the cage and Hamtaro crawled into her hand. The two cuddled each other. "Don't forget me while I'm gone."
"I would never forget you, Laura." thought Hamtaro. Laura put Hamtaro back in his cage before closing her suit case. As she left the room, she said, "Good bye, Hamtaro, see you in a week."
"Good bye, Laura." thought Hamtaro. "Now's my chance to see my friends." Hamtaro went over to the entrance to his cage and he squeezed his way out like always. He scampered away from his cage repeating "Ticky-Ticky" as he went. He squeezed in-between the bed and the wall and made his way towards the small hole leading out. He squeezed through the hole and dove down the drain pipe shouting "Oopaa" upon flying out the other end. However, instead of landing on Brandy's head, he missed and hit Brandy's dog food. Luckily, Brandy eats the dry dog food.
"Sorry about that, Brandy." said Hamtaro as he climbed out of the bowl. As usual, Brandy didn't pay too much attention to Hamtaro and he just yawned in response.
Saying "Chick-ah-Chick-ah" as he went, Hamtaro ran towards the hole in the yard, went down the tunnel, and towards the Clubhouse entrance.
"Hamha everyone." said Hamtaro upon entering the Clubhouse.
"Hamha, Hamtaro." chorused the Ham-Hams. Hamtaro was thrilled to see everyone had come to the Clubhouse today, including Neteru and Mara.
"So what do you guys want to do?" asked Hamtaro.
"Perhaps we should play a board game?" suggested Stan.
"But we like did that yesterday and the day before." protested Sandy. "I don't know about you guys but I want to go outside and exorcise."
"We could go over to Acorn Mountain and play soccer." suggested Maxwell.
"Great idea, Max." said Hamtaro.
"What is Acorn Mountain?" asked Mara.
"It's this place in the park covered with acorns everywhere." explained Stan.
"But if it is covered in acorns, how are we supposed to play soccer?" asked Mara.
"We always clear out a small spot so we can play soccer." explained Sandy.
"And since it is so sunny outside, she should come out and play." said Hamtaro. The Ham-Hams chorused in agreement. "Then it's settled then, we pack up and go to Acorn Mountain."
"Oopaa!" chorused the Ham-Hams.
Meanwhile, back at the elementary school, Laura and Kana were standing side by side as their teacher, Mr. Yoshi, told them the rules.
"Now class, when you reach the camp, follow the camp counselors to your cabins." said Mr. Yoshi. "While there, all you have to do is pick out your beds and then you will be all set. Everyone line up in front of the buses now." The class did as they were told and one by one, they got onto the bus. The ride was only expected to last about an hour but Laura and Kana managed to amuse themselves the whole way by playing Cat's Cradle. Once they reached the camp, the class stepped outside into the forest grounds. The camp was not apparently obvious at first glance because all there was were some dense forest and three dirt trails. Thankfully, Mr. Yoshi was around to lead the class down the trail heading towards the camp. He organized the students and led them down the trail in a single file line. Laura, Kana, Travis, June, and Kylie were walking down the trail at the end of the line when Laura saw something in the grass. It was a bright blue light. It wasn't bright enough to create very much illumination but Laura could see the object clearly.
"Look at that." said Laura. Kana, June, Kylie, and Travis all stopped to look at the glowing object in the forest.
"What is that?" asked Travis.
"I don't know, maybe someone is trying to trick us." said Kana.
"Let's get closer and see what it is." suggested June.
"But we really should stay with the group." said Kylie as she watched the rest of the class disappear. When Kylie noticed Travis, Kana, June, and Laura walking over to the glowing object, she said, "Hey, wait for me." The five of them walked over to the object. The object glowed too brightly to make out but they could tell that it was very small. The five curious students leaned over to look at the glowing object.
"What do you think it is?" asked Laura.
"I don't know." admitted Travis. "I think we should take it to Mr. Yoshi."
"Don't, it might be dangerous." said Kana.
"I don't see how it could possibly be dangerous." said Travis and before anyone could stop him, Travis bent over and grabbed the object. Instantly, they were surrounded by a blinding blue light. By the time the flash stopped, all of them fell unconscious unaware that they had gone through a physical transformation like none other.
Author's Notes: In case you don't know, an outdoor school is really no different than a summer camp. The only difference that I know of is that it is shorter. I don't know much about outdoor schools, only that I actually went to one in the sixth grade. It lasted only five days and I went there during the school year instead of during summer vacation.