CFB: Chapter six is up! And things are about to get all complicated...but that's love, right? I wasn't going to post this until tomorrow, but I'm off to New Jersey to babysit for the weekend, so I got this up a little early.
Thanks: Will now be in the form of review replies, if I can figure out how to do that....so thanks to all who reviewed, I'll send you a reply after I post this!
This time: Screech and Hamorette talk while the hamgirls watch in secret...but are they on the same page? Are they even in the same book? Will the talk come to a calm, peaceful end....or an explosive one? And what two unlikely hamsters will strike up a bond because of it?
Disclaimer: I do not own Hamtaro or any of its' characters. I own all characters and concepts not related to the original Hamtaro franchise. (I suppose I can't really OWN Dreamland, though...just my version of it...)
Chapter 6: Thunderstruck Hearts
Princess Hamorette sat on the white stone bench nervously, inspecting her image in a pocket mirror. She was very glad that she chose this day to wear her favorite dress; the pale pink one, less frilly, and trimmed with a brilliant gold, matching her curls that caught the sunlight. She was also glad that Screech looked very dapper in his coal black armor, a true image of chivalry and bravery, with just a dash of ham-like grace. As he entered the gardens, head held high and cerulean eyes serious, she stood up off the bench and beckoned welcomingly at him, pocketing the mirror so he would not see how she had fretted over her appearance.
Screech picking the gardens as the perfect meeting place had been a stroke of luck. Her gardens served as the home to hundreds of beautiful, brightly-colored flowers, many foreign, others native to Dreamland, and created beautiful scenery for an important conversation between her and Screech, the ham of her dreams. The sky was a brilliant blue, the sun's golden rays flattering her, the soft summer breeze caressing her fur. This scenario could only have played out better if she had taken the time to script the dialogue. But the hamgirls had already boosted her confidence with their kind words.
"He's like, so totally going to confess smoochie or something!"
"Zees ees zooooo romantic!"
"A dream come true, right Princess? I'm so happy for you!"
"Ookwee! Ookwee!"
He crossed the stone ground to her when she beckoned to him, careful to avoid the neat rows of dirt and flowers her gardeners tended diligently to daily. She couldn't help but sigh contentedly at the sight of him, loping toward her, so dignified, looking like a true knight in all aspects of the word. Like out of a dream, here to sweep her off her feet. He bowed once he reached her side, and said, in a voice that never failed to make her smile, "My lady, I'm glad you've come to speak with me."
She smiled lightly. "Hello, Screech. I am glad you asked to meet me here, for I feel that there is something very important that needs to be brought to attention," She said, as she glided across the stone tile to stand by a small patch of tulips, leaving him by the bench as he took his helmet off, falling victim to the heat of summer. "Something....a matter...close to the heart."
"Same for me, my lady," Screech stated, his voice tinged with a nostalgic tone she had never heard from him before. "The matter I wish to discuss is very, very close to my heart."
They stood a ways apart, her wandering amongst her lovely floral specimens, and he standing stiff as a board by the bench. "I have been thinking very often, of late..." The Princess remarked sweetly, tracing a paw against the petals of a brilliant rose as she kept her back to the handsome knight. "And I have something very important to discuss with you, Screech, the most trusted of all Dreamland knights." Repeating her need to talk to him did not ease her nerves.
"I am glad to hear it, my lady," Screech returned, standing stiffly by the white stone bench the Princess had abandoned. He placed his helmet down on it, but remained on his feet, back rigid and face set into a stern expression. "And I have something I need to talk with you about, if you will hear me out, Princess. It is why I asked you here, when I know you are very busy."
Surprised, Hamorette dropped her paw and whirled around to face him, struggling to keep her formal composure. He looked very business-like and professional, standing there so defiantly, but Hamorette could detect that whatever he had to discuss was a matter close to his heart, and that sent hers thundering. "Really? Is it an...important matter, Screech?" She asked innocently, wanting to hear him say it again.
"It is," He bowed his head, cerulean eyes burning with a resolve Hamorette had never seen in them before. "Very important, my lady."
Hamorette assumed right away that she knew what Screech was talking about, certain that he was thinking along the exact same lines as she and the lines her new friends had encouraged her to think along. She smiled faintly, and turned her back to him again, walking delicately along the lines of flowers, stroking them carefully with her paw. When her heart was pounding so fiercely, it was hard to remain casual, especially when she was so sure her dreams were about to become realities.
"Very well. You may speak first, Screech."
Screech nodded. "Thank you my lady..." He turned his gaze away, choosing to stare at a blooming magnolia instead of the Princess as he spoke the words he had long desired to speak, his heart also aflutter, "Over the past several months, my life has been radically transformed. I became a top-ranked Dreamland Knight and built a fine life for myself here. But all of that would mean so much less had I not had something else in my life...and that something is love."
Hamorette's heart skipped a beat. She froze, his words echoing in her head, her mind frantically trying to dissect the meaning behind them. There was a momentary pause. "Is that so?" She managed to ask, voice nonchalant, though her jade eyes were now wide, and her heart was hammering louder than ever in her chest.
"Yes...my lady," Screech replied, casting melancholy eyes onto the stone ground. He cleared his throat, and forged on, "Love has changed my life, and for the better."
Princess Hamorette found herself smiling wryly as she brushed her paw against the leaves of a beautiful white rose bush, avoiding the harmful thorns. Sighing peacefully, she declared, jade eyes half-closed as she imagined the next moments playing out exactly as she had dreamed, "You don't know how happy I am to hear that, Screech."
Little did the two know that above them, on the balcony of the second floor overlooking the gardens, a few very eager ham-girls were watching them. And since Joy had abandoned them to go off to talk to one of the Watchers, they thought they could do this without getting in trouble. They had chosen a room they knew was a bedroom, but it wasn't the two belonging to the hamboys; they didn't want to have to explain what they were doing to the guys.
Peering anxiously through the patterns carved into the white stone, Bijou, Pashmina, Sandy, Penelope, and Siren had their ears pricked forward, trying to hear every word the Princess and knight exchanged. After their discussion with Princess Hamorette earlier that day, in which she had confessed her affections for Siren's brother, they had been dreamily theorizing about a fairytale romance blossoming between the two. Once they heard that Screech had gone in search of the beautiful princess to discuss something important, they had leapt at the chance to see that fairytale romance come true, and had found the perfect spying spot in the balcony.
"He's totally going to confess his smoochie for her!" Sandy whispered to the others, her eyes alight with excitement. "This is like, straight out of some fairytale book! The handsome knight asks for the paw of the like, totally beautiful princess! It's hamtast!"
Pashmina sighed dreamily, slumping against the cold stone, eyes faraway. "It's so sweet! Too bad we can't hear much of what they're saying...if only we were closer!"
Bijou giggled quietly, barely able to contain how thrilled she was for the Princess. "Zis ees tre magnifique! Princess Hamorette has admired Screech for zo long now, and her faith ees about to be rewarded! 'ow romantic!" Her face clouded over for a moment, as she said wistfully, "Eef only Hamtaro would do somezing like zis for me! Confessing undying love in a beautiful flower garden! Eet ees zo perfect..." Her eyes achieved the same far-off look as Pashmina.
"What every ham-girl wants!" Pashmina nodded. "And only a select few get a confession out of a dream like this! Hamorette is so lucky! But I'm very glad for her, even if I am a little bit jealous!" She smiled brightly, craning her neck to get a better look over the ledge. "It almost makes me want to find a boyham for myself..."
"Ookwee!" Penelope kept her squeal on low volume, but she was jittery with excitement as well.
Siren looked grumpy about this, though she wore a grudging smile as she peeked down at the scene unfolding amidst the beautiful, multi-colored flower gardens. "My big brother, the brave knight of Dreamland, reduced to a lousy, simmering sack of sap..." She shook her head in disbelief, smiling wider as she did so, azure eyes agleam. "I can't believe it. And he said he'd never be wimpy enough to fall so hopelessly in love..."
"Shh!" Sandy suddenly waved a paw to silence everyone, and all attention returned to the gardens below, the ham-girls zealously trying to hear the next words spoken as they carefully looked through the carvings in the thick stone. "I think something big is about to like, happen!"
"I understand that your father preferred that the knights remain alone in life, so not to compromise their loyalty to the throne, and when I took this position I understood and accepted that rule..." Screech continued as Hamorette meandered slowly through her carefully tended gardens, his icy eyes now watching her back as she strolled, unable to look at him in return. "But some things are truly unavoidable...the kind of thing that you can't escape from, and never want to. This happened on accident, but I would not change it for anything."
Princess Hamorette smiled wider. "That law is old, Screech. My father created it when we were still a target for Hamaustere, and he wanted the knights to have only their duty to the throne. Times have changed. I think that rule can be bent, in certain circumstances, nowadays." A bright pink butterfly fluttered by, flashing it's brilliant wings in Hamorette's direction, as the flurry of butterflies flitted dizzily in her stomach.
Screech chuckled hollowly. "I am glad to hear you say that, Princess. Had you said anything different, I might have had to offer you my resignation here and now."
In Princess Hamorette's mind, the pieces began to fall perfectly into place, forming the picture she most hoped to see. The way he said that, it sounded like he would have been willing to give up his esteemed position of Head Knight just for this smoochiehe had, an act many would consider crazy. Her heart melted a little, and she sighed dreamily, admiring the depth his adoration seemed to have.
"This hamgirl..." She trailed, watching another butterfly, this one blue, begin to flit about with the pink one, engaging in some kind of lovely airborne dance. "She must be very special to you."
Screech stooped his head a little, though Hamorette could not see his abrupt change in demeanor. Voice soft and nostalgic and eyes clouded with a mixture of emotions, Screech mumbled, "She is...and always will be. And I know that I mean just as much to her!" With that, he straightened up and fell on one knee, a proud paw help over his armored chest. His eyes suddenly became, once, again, full of a fiery resolve like none other. "And that is why I have come to you with a very important question, Princess!"
Silence settled, though remnants of his strong words resonated in the still air. Slowly, Hamorette turned around to face the handsome knight, and was startled to see such a powerful determination in his eyes, ablaze with passionate fire. He had always been somewhat impassive, but focused, and this change was alarming, but not unwelcome. Hamorette's heart began to beat with even more vigor, and her eyes fell on his one-knee position, instantly coming to a conclusion in her head. Feet propelling her forward, her eyes rained locked on Screech's set face, unaware of her own, mystified expression. All the world had stopped.
"What is it, Screech?" She asked gently, stopping a few inches away from him, paws quivering behind her back.
Screech could not back down now that he had gotten this far. Bowing his head and staring straight at the cold stone ground, he replied, voice unwavering,
"...I wish to ask for my love's paw."
"Oh my goodness! He's like, on one knee! He's so gonna propose!" Sandy quietly tittered, eyes wide as she watched the scene unfurl below them.
Bijou's eyes sparkled as she clapped her paws quietly together. "Zis eez zo exciting, non?"
"Ookwee!"
Siren grumbled, "He better not ask me to be the flower girl, cuz he'll have another thing coming..."
"Hopefully they have the wedding before we have to go back home! I want to see a real Princess get her real happily ever after!" Pashmina gushed, attention glued to the two hamsters in the gardens.
"Um...not to be rude or anything, but what are you all doing?"
The five spying ham-girls nearly jumped straight out of their fur as they heard the masculine voice question them from behind. Whipping around simultaneously, they saw Sprint, Hamorette's other knight, standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, still armor-less. He was peering at them expectantly by the doors to the balcony with his brilliant scarlet eyes, clearly waiting on an explanation. When they were silent, he began to tap his hind paw.
"I'm waiting..."
"Um...we wanted to see the view from the second floor?" Pashmina offered meekly, scratching the back of her head nervously as Penelope cowered behind her, afraid of the intimidating knight.
Sprint appeared unimpressed. "I don't buy that for five seconds," He remarked flatly.
"Well, what are you like, doing here?" Sandy asked him with narrowed eyes, trying to shift the suspicions off of her and the other ham-girls.
Sprint motioned to room to which the balcony was attached with one paw. The ham-girls had taken little notice to it before, as they had been frantically looking for the perfectly spying location, but they now noticed it was a bedroom with furnishings clearly belonging to a male hamster, and Sprint's next words confirmed that. "This is my room. And thus, my balcony, so I really don't need to explain why I'm here...I have the afternoon off, and can go wherever I please, especially my own room."
His scarlet eyes flitted off of the nervous females for a moment to rest on the ledge. He walked to it and peered over, and instantly, an understanding look crossed his face as he realized what the ham-girls had been doing. They in turn realized that he had figured them out, and they grew even more nervous. They had trespassed in the room of a knight, and had been caught spying on the Princess!
"So...you wanted to see Princess Hamorette and Screech's little chat, did you? From what I can see, it looks like a very personal matter, but you wanted to spy on them and invade their privacy!" He 'tsked' them mockingly. "Didn't you ever learn that spying is bad? The Princess won't be very happy when she finds out you were looking in on her personal matters...and Screech will no doubt be enraged, and trust me, he's dangerous when he's mad."
Instantly, the girl ham-hams began to panic, and looks of pure horror spread across their faces, making Sprint shuckle quietly under his breath. "Oh, please, monsieur Sprint! Do not tell ze Princess! She will never forgive us for zis!" Bijou pleaded, clasping her paws together in front of her to help her case.
"Hm..." Sprint tapped his chin, pretending to think it over.
"Cut us some like, slack, dude!" Sandy requested exasperated. "Like, we just wanted to see what was going to happen! We weren't going to like, sabotage it or anything! And we weren't going to tell her we saw! Like, it was all innocent, we promise!"
"Ookwee!"
Sprint still looked unconvinced, though a smirk now played across his face. If anything, he was having fun taunting these hamsters, even though he really wasn't sure if he had to turn them in or not. Hamorette disliked eavesdropping, and counted it as punishable, and even if these foreign hamsters were heroes, he didn't think anyone was exempt for that rule. Though he recognized that this case would be easy to cover up, and he could easily let it go if he wanted to, so long as they kept their traps shut. But this was pretty fun! "I don't know..."
"Please?"
The voice was quieter than the rest. His eyes immediately fell on the speaker, whom he instantly recognized as Screech's little sister, Siren, who was looking back at him with uneasy, but hopeful azure eyes. Her request was quieter, meeker, and much more nervous than the others had been, but it managed to wipe the grin clean off his joking face, and for an instant, he forgot how much fun teasing them had been. She was frowning, and looked almost scared, and, for some reason totally beyond his understanding, he wanted to amend that, even if it meant stretching the rules a little. The look on her face did not sit well with him, and made him feel terrible inside, like her one word had the capability to tear up his soul.
Siren was puzzled as she saw his arrogant smirk fade, and, for an instant, she saw an apologetic gleam in his eye. Her heart began to beat harder, and she wondered if it was because he might be reconsidering turning them over. His eyes were very bright and warm, not at all menacing, as their color might indicate...As he stared at her, she could feel her cheeks heat up, and hoped that she hadn't gone totally red.
"Fine..." Sprint grumbled, looking away from her. The ham-girls looked to be on the verge of celebration, and were about to rush back to spy again when he added sharply, "But, you have to tell me what's so interesting about this...Princess Hamorette talks to Screech like, all the time. Why spy on them now?"
Pashmina glowingly replied, forgetting how nervous she had been a moment before, "Screech is going to propose to Hamorette! He's gotten down on one knee and everything, but we can't hear what's going on!" The rest of the ham-girls pressed their faces to the openings in the balcony's architechture again, eagerly watching the romance unfold.
"What?!" Sprint demanded, red eyes wide with surprise, as he abruptly squeezed in between Siren and Sandy for a better look. "You have to be mistaken! There is simply no way..." He trailed off, unable to find the right words of shock to finish his thought.
"See for yourself!" Sandy told him smugly.
As he watched, Sprint began to grow horribly uneasy. He, moreso than the others, had a good idea he knew what Screech had come to Hamorette for, and he had an even better idea he knew what Hamorette thought that Screech had come to her for. He prayed that he was somehow wrong, because the aftermath of such a misunderstanding had the potential to be severely catastrophic, and in such hard times, that could only make things even more difficult and stressed. Sprint kept his worried eyes glued to the pair among the bright flowers, hoping that he would not see what he was expecting, though the bad feeling hovered over him like a dark cloud...
"I hope you know what you're doing, Screech..."
"You are speaking marriage, correct?" The Princess asked airily, trying to sound aloof, though in reality her heart was screaming with joy and she was already wondering where she had put her mothers' wedding dress.
Screech nodded. "I am. I know the laws forbid knights to marry, so I came to seek your permission, as you are the authority of Dreamland, my lady. If you do not allow me this...I'm afraid I will have to turn in my sword. I have met the hamster I wish to spend the rest of my life with, and I will not give her up for anything in the world."
Hamorette beamed, heart now in an absolute uproar. She placed one warm, gentle paw on his armored shoulder and said in her soft, whimsical voice, jade eyes brimming with happy tears that she would not wipe away, "Your admiration for this girlham of yours is truly noble, Screech. I know your request for marriage will not interfere with your loyalties for the throne. It may even strengthen it! I will....permit this union." With that final statement, Hamorette could feel that her destiny had come, and she wanted nothing more than to throw her arms around it, but she restrained herself, keeping a firm paw on his shoulder and nothing more.
A wave of relief washed over Screech, and he graced Princess Hamorette with his brilliant grin, cerulean eyes now algeam with a life that had been long absent. "She will be so pleased to hear that, Princess! She was really worried about this...I mean, she didn't even want to ask for permission. She said that we didn't really need to get married, but I wanted our relationship to be official; no longer a secret. She was just scared you would condemn our union and forbid us from seeing each other again. But I knew it would all work out! All I have to do now is propose, but I know she'll say yes. You have made me the happiest knight in Dreamland, Princess! Thank-Q!" He bowed deeply, but regained his footing, still smiling brightly.
Hamorette's face fell slightly, and instantly, she felt like a fragile piece of glass had shattered inside of her chest and had punctured her now-stilled heart. His words rang in her head like a broken record, sending chills up her spine. Something was not adding up...something was wrong. Very wrong. Her jade eyes grew troubled and her smile slipped. "You...you haven't proposed yet?" She choked out after a moment of stunned silence, the only part of his statement that had made any sense to her.
He nodded. "We had already decided to spend our lives together, even if it meant hiding it for eternity...but deep down, we both wanted it to be out in the open, so we didn't have to sneak around so much anymore." Screech answered, speaking more casually now that his stress over the request was gone. "The rest is just a formality, now that we have your blessing. All I have to do is rescue her! I know you don't want me to go after her and all...but now that you know what she means to me, I figured you would see that it needs to be me who saves her."
"Rescue...?" Hamorette could feel all of her dreams slowly deflating.
"Yeah..." A solemn look dawned on Screech's face. "I can't be truly happy with this until she's back safely and agreed to it, and I will make sure that happens, no matter what. I will give everything I have to rescue her from that evil Steel!" He clenched his paws tightly into fists, mouth set into a firm line.
And then, it all made perfect sense to the Princess, whose face became blank and pale as a ghost's. Everything froze around her as the realization struck with the force of a lightning bolt. All the pieces of a puzzle had fallen into place, though it formed the picture of a different happy couple than she had imagined so many times in her daydreams. Her knight in shining armor had caught the eye of another damsel, who had captured his heart in return. A fairytale wedding was to take place, but she would not be the beautiful bride marrying the perfect groom. All of her dreams, her thunderstruck heart, they had all been wrong.
"You..." She spluttered, trying, and failing, to keep her regal composure. "You are speaking of...of...?"
"Fury!" Screech replied easily, his voice growing sweeter and softer as it spoke her name. He chuckled, realizing, "I'm sorry, Princess. I guess I should have told you right away who I was talking about. You must have been so confused."
"Yes..." Hamorette tried to laugh it off, though it sounded bitter and empty, and her happy tears instantly turned to ones of anger. She clenched her teeth and her face burned with embarrassment, as she realized she had been spurned in favor of someone below her. She had been rejected for a hamster that wasn't even of nobility. He was in love with a hamster other than she, while she had longed for him ever since she had laid eyes on him a year before. It made her furious to know that he could not feel the same for her, and instead, had been carrying on with Fury for several months, sneaking off to see her at that, as he had stated before, and she had been the one to make him so happy.
"That would have been nice to know beforepaw...." She turned her back to him, paws trembling, though this time from rage rather than nerves.
The bite in her voice caught him off guard. "Is something wrong, my lady?" He asked, returning to formality.
It didn't take long for Hamorette to decide what she had to do in this situation. Her anger surpassed all other emotions, boiling to the surface like molten lava. Quivering, she remarked scathingly, jade eyes full of hot, angry tears, "Yes, there is. I did not realize that you loved someone in such a position. Protectors of Slumber like Fury have very important jobs that require much attention and focus. She cannot be distracted. A responsibility to a husband might just interrupt that focus."
Screech was silent for a long moment, digesting this. "I don't understand..." He said slowly, cerulean eyes boring holes into her back. "You didn't think our marriage would affect my position, my lady...why should it be different for Fury?"
"She is, as you know, much more fragile than you are, Screech," Hamorette replied primly, her sweet, gentle demeanor vanishing fast in favor of a much more brittle, vengeful one. "She already had many issues maintaining balance with her job, what with her accursed condition and all..."
"Don't talk about her like that!"
Screech's angry outburst caught the Princess by surprise. She glanced at him over her shoulder, and could see that his glacial eyes were downright infuriated, and his paws were tightened into powerful, furious fists. His anger had passed hers by leaps and bounds, radiating off of him in thick, rolling waves that threatened to suffocate her. He had never dared so much as raise his voice at her before. It was a rule that no knight had ever broken. Was his dedication to Fury stronger than his loyalty to her? The very thought only made Hamorette even more enraged.
"You are never to speak to me in that way, Screech!" Hamorette scoffed, sticking her nose in the air and crossing her arms over her chest. "If you are going to be disrespectful to me, then I have no choice but to forbid your union with Fury!"
As her heated words fell on his ears, Screech's cerulean eyes widened with surprise. Stung, and looking like he had been betrayed by someone he considered a friend, he spat, uncaring of her royal position and authority over him, "I thought you understood how important this was to Fury and me! Of all hams, I would hope for you to understand, Princess!"
Voice falling to a low, enraged whisper, Hamorette replied bitterly, "I understand much less than you think."
With her final word on the matter, Screech, now even madder, threw his helmet into a patch of bluebells, crushing them, and stormed out of the gardens, turning his back on the Princess much more easily than she had expected from him. He tore off bits of his armor as he went, as if denouncing his position then and there, leaving it all behind for love, as he had claimed he was willing to do. Hamorette's anger faded for a moment, and she whirled around to watch him leave, until he had vanished through the arched entranceway, his armor clattering with finality as he dropped it sporadically behind him. He did not spare her a single glance as he left, and she felt her eyes well up with tears of regret, sorrow, anger, and pain, as he did not even deign her worthy of a farewell look.
How could she have been so selfish? She had driven him away. But had he not warranted it, asking for another's paw in marriage? Had he been blind to her affection for him this past year? She realized, with a small chuckle, that his love for Fury must have blinded him from her advances. She had sensed the depth of his dedication to her, and she could tell the bond between them was strong. Now that Fury was in the hands of evil, he must be suffering so...and she had made it worse by denying him a lifetime of happiness with her, all because he did not return the love she had for him.
Beginning to weep, Hamorette walked into the ruined bluebells and retrieved his helmet, now splattered with dirt. Pressing her forehead to it, her knees buckled and she sat, a sobbing mess, amidst the crushed flowers as she felt her dreams fall like rain with her tears.
"Uh-oh..." Pashmina's eyes widened in horror as they followed Screech in his lone trek across the garden. "That did not go as I expected it to..."
"What 'appened?" Bijou asked, in shock over what they had just witnessed. "Eet...eet was all going zo well, and zen suddenly, 'e was zrowing hees 'elmet and ztorming off! What could 'ave gone wrong?"
"Ookwee..." Penelope watched the weeping Princess with a sorrowful expression.
Sprint backed away from the balcony solemnly, his scarlet eyes clouded. "This isn't good..." He murmured, worried and slightly fearful. "I never thought he would actually ask her...especially not now, when Dreamland is in danger! Ugh, he has such horrible timing! Whoever convinced him to do that is seriously going to regret it now!" He slapped a paw to his forehead, but still looked very concerned, alarming the girls. "I have to go talk to him!" He turned to bolt out the door.
"Wait!" Siren lurched forward, the look of worry on her face mirroring Sprint's. He stopped, surprised, and looked down at her quizzically. "I'm coming with you! I've never seen my brother so angry before!" One look from those azure eyes, and Sprint couldn't turn her down. Motioning for her to follow, the two hamsters ran four-legged for the door, and slammed it shut behind them, off in pursuit of the enraged Screech.
Sandy looked down over the ledge of the balcony and saw that Hamorette had not moved, and remained sobbing in the gardens. Instantly, her heart burned with sympathy, and she could tell that the others felt the same, as their expressions were also sad and empathetic. How could they have been so completely off-base with this situation? It baffled them, how things had transpired.
"Come on, girls...I think like, a certain Princess needs some shoulders to cry on!"
Siren and Sprint caught up with Screech as he was chucking his knee guards at the front doors of the castle, nearly decapitating them as they flung the doors open, but sailing over their heads instead and landing on the marble floor with twin clangs. "Screech!" Sprint bellowed, as said hamster turned to storm off into the bustling streets of Hamwall, not in the mood for any company.
"Wait! We saw what happened!"
Screech whirled to face his best friend and little sister as they raced down the front stairs to meet him. He was plainly seething. "You saw?" He demanded hotly, looking from one to the other with intense cerulean eyes.
"Yeah...long story," Siren waved a paw, not exactly eager to tell him they had been spying, and returned to the subject. "But seriously, Screech, what happened between you and the Princess? Things seemed to be fine, but then you got all violent and stormed off! What did she say to you?"
"Well..." He clenched his jaw and stared up into the sky, as if remembering the exact words made him angrier. "I asked her if she would permit me to marry my girlham, and she said that she would allow it. But then, just when I thought everything was going to work out, she got angry at me for no reason and forbade me from it!"
Siren's face clouded with confusion. Something wasn't adding up. "Wait a minute..." She trailed slowly, brow furrowed as her thoughts raced. "...Who's your girlham?"
"Fury..." Screech huffed, and, as he mentioned her name, his mood seemed to lift a little, only to return with a vengeance. "The wielder of the Staff of Nightmares. We've been seeing each other secretly for about ten months now. Naturally, I had to keep it a secret from the Princess, as the law does not approve of knights marrying, or even seeing other hamsters in a romantic way, but I figured, if she saw how important it was to me, she would allow the union. When she did I was thrilled, but then she changed her mind!"
Siren's eyes widened, and she glanced up at Sprint, who looked far less surprised. His face was set into a grim expression, eyes lightless. Apparently, he had known about Fury and Screech, and had been expecting this to happen...
Screech sighed, and his anger seemed to drain from him slowly, leaving him looking disgruntled and thoroughly unhappy. "I told her how it meant so much to me...and she forbade it. Certainly, she will never allow Fury to see me again, once she returns. And I can't imagine us being apart!" Depressed, the jilted Casanova plopped down on the bottom step, holding his chin up with his paws, cerulean eyes sorrowful. He sighed again, and squeezed his eyes shut. "I can barely stand it now..."
Siren was both surprised to hear that she had been dead wrong about the relationship between Hamorette and Screech, and that he had, since the last time she had seen her brother, turned into a hopeless romantic and acquired a companion he was willing to sacrifice his powerful position for. However, she could sense his pain on the matter, and sat down on the stair beside him, placing a paw on his back and patting him comfortingly. "I'm sorry, Screech..."
Sprint sat down on his other side. "I know Fury means a lot to you, Screech," He said earnestly. "But you had to know that Princess Hamorette would be against it. She has us on the short leash most of the time..."
"No..." Screech replied. "I thought she'd be fine with it. She even said she was willing to bend that stupid no-marriage law for the knights. But then, right after I told her it was Fury I wanted to marry...she just changed her mind. It was really bizaroo. I've never seen the Princess angry before, but of course, that just made me blash-T and all...probably shouldn't have lost my temper like that."
Sprint frowned, but chuckled somewhat brightly. "Hey, pal, it's alright. You're the best knight in Dreamland. Princess Hamorette trusts you more than she trusts anyone else, and she knows how mad you get sometimes...I'm sure she'll welcome you back to your positon with open arms."
"I don't want it back if she's going to be repressive of my desire to marry Fury!" Screech replied, indignant.
Sprint sighed. "You don't mean that. You love being a knight."
"Yeah, but I love Fury more."
The sincerity in his voice was enough to make Siren (and Sprint, for that matter) want to vomit, but they refrained, for his sake. Before she could try another bout of comforting words, Screech got to his feet and began to trudge off into town, now just about unrecognizable to the public since his armor was gone. They both sprang to their feet as well, but stopped short when he raised a paw at them. "Thank-Q, guys, but I think I need to be alone to sort out my thoughts...I'll see you both later." And with that, he slouched off into the crowd and disappeared.
Sprint and Siren watched him go with worried gazes. After they were sure he was gone, they looked to each other. "I've never seen him so....bluhoo," Siren said quietly, hanging her head. "It makes me feel terrible! Why wouldn't the Princess permit him to marry Fury?"
Sprint shook his head. "It's a really long story...." He was about to give her the condensed version, when a brilliant idea struck him without warning, and he acted immediately, half-instinct, half-impulse. "But...if you really want to know the whole story, I can tell you. If we can find a comfortable place to actually passchat...I don't think we'll be having lunch with the Princess so distraught..."
Siren didn't know the area, but was willing if she would get to learn about the strange predicament with Fury, Hamorette, and Screech. She nodded to Sprint, and, delighted, he offered, "Well, there's a really nice sunflower seed cafe just a few streets away. It's pretty quiet in there, so we won't be interrupted, and it's a pretty complex story, so it might take some time..."
"Okay, then....let's go."
And, as she walked side by side with the older, taller hamster, painfully aware of how good-natured he was being and how kind his smile was, Siren tried to keep her mind on her worry for Screech rather than the mysterious, impishly interesting Sprint, who also seemed to have a very similar, keen interest in her as well.
The girls bolted out of Sprint's room a moment later to head down to the gardens and the weeping Hamorette, but ran into Stan in the hall and were halted. "Woah, woah!" He shouted, holding both paws up in defense, as they nearly trampled him, stopping just short of plowing right through him and the maracas hanging limply in his paws. "What's the deal, hamettes? Where you lovely ladies....and Sandy....off to in such a gogo?" He asked, eyes curious.
"No time to explain!" Pashmina exclaimed breathlessly. "But...Screech just got mega blash-T at the Princess and now she's crying down in the gardens!"
Hamtaro, who had heard pounding pawsteps and Stan's shout, moseyed out of his room and into the hallway to see what the ruckus was, while the other hamboys remained chatting in their rooms. Seeing the accumulation of concerned hamgirls, and Stan, congregated in the hallway, he ambled over and questioned innocently, "Hamha, ham-hams! What are you all standing in the hallway for? We should be off exploring Dreamland pretty soon!"
"Somezing terrible 'as 'appened!" Bijou commented, wringing her paws. "Princess Hamorette is 'eartbroken! And eet looks like Screech has quit hees job as a knight!"
"We have to go and see if she's okay!" Sandy finished.
For once, Stan sensed the severity of the situation and didn't run off to try and seduce the apparently heartbroken Hamorette, and, instead, put his arm around Sandy to calm her down. The rest of the hamgirls, sense of hurry fading slightly, also calmed a little and began to really assess the situation before acting impulsively. "Relax, sis...tell us the whole story."
Pashmina obliged instead. "Well...we were kind of spying on the Princess and Screech as they were talking in the gardens. It was a very bad thing to do, we know...but we had a reason! We all thought that they were in smoochie and about to confess undying love to one another!"
"Ookwee! Ookwee!"
At this, Hamtaro's expression grew slightly confused.
"Whoah, dudettes!" Stan looked taken aback. "Where did you guys get that from?"
Sandy shrugged. "We thought we had it all figured out. Like, Hamorette told us she liked Screech, and then he came to the door and asked her to go and like, talk about something important."
A look of grim realization dawned on Stan's face. "Hold it..." He trailed. "Did Screech ask her to talk like, just about twenty minutes ago?" He asked, looking a bit queasy, like he knew something that would make the confusion vanish, but replace it with a very sad sense of truth.
"Oui..." Bijou replied with a nod of her head, seeing the solemnity on his face. "Why?"
Hamtaro looked like he were straining to think of something.
"Well, like...sorry to burst your bubble hamettes..." Stan told them with a sad smirk as he scratched behind his head. "But about twenty minutes ago us guys convinced Screech to go and ask Hamorette to let him go and rescue something he'd lost to Steel. But, when he left, he seemed to have something else on the brain...something more. He didn't mention smoochie like, at all..."
The realization then hit the hamgirls as well, and they were horrified. "Gasp-P!" Sandy exclaimed. "We had everything all wrong! This is like, awful!"
Stan looked confused. "I didn't think he'd like...quit, over the whole thing. He made it sound serious, though. Makes me wonder what Steel stole from him to make him that like, mad determined, you know? And why the Princess wouldn't let him go and rescue whatever it is..." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. Perhaps this would be a chance for him to use his excellent detective skills...
It was then that Hamtaro remembered. Not knowing that he was bringing up something very crucial, he threw his arms out and declared, just as cheerful as usual, "Well, he does have a girlham!"
Five pairs of stunned eyes turned to stare at him, and five mouths fell agape, like he had just said something completely heinous. Hamtaro was instantly confused, and shrank back slightly, as a tense silence filled the hallway. "Erm...hams?" Hamtaro asked after a moment of being stared at in horror, his brow furrowed and his stomach lurching nervously.
"Uh...what's up? Was it something I said?"
CFB: Oh, Hamtaro...you clueless little ham-ham. You have no idea what is coming for you...
Next time: The true nature of the love triangle is revealed; the story behind Fury and Screech and how Hamorette fits in. Plus, Sprint and Siren encounter a rude waitress named Flo. Then, Hamtaro's lack of comprehension proves to be too much for our favorite, snow colored ham, and Roberto confuses Laura once again.
