The mist of night engulfed him entirely now. Hammy was now fully asleep and peacefully at that. Surprisingly he wasn't dreaming nor having a nightmare at all, he just slept. The expression his face wore while asleep was entrancing almost seductive in a dreamy sense. To those who pay attention that is.

"Wow…look at him sleep. Poor guy, wish there was something I could do to make him feel better." RJ continued to stare at Hammy who breathed quiet whispers of breath as he slept. He's so…calm... How does he do it? RJ could only peek into the tree and watch from the outside. The tree's cranny was too small for RJ to crawl into himself and even if it wasn't something would nag him about it anyways. "Well…Goodnight Hammy, I'll see you tomorrow." RJ said discontinuing his viewing session to go back towards the log to get some sleep himself.

Then again, I could just sleep here. It's perfect, and then I can fix everything when we wake up first thing in the morning! RJ prided himself with the idea and scaled to the top of the tree with much ease.

Now, back to sleep I don't even want to worry about this stuff anymore. A dream like that is best forgotten, I don't need that keeping me down when I have something worse to worry about.. This will fixed soon and then I can live normally for a change. Still, I have a funny feeling about all of it. Ahh, what am I saying!? I need to sleep, that's all. Just think of…sheep? Or something else just as boring. Ok grass, it's green and smooth and it tastes like wet plastic. It's soft…just like…him.

RJ recalled the memory of Hammy kissing him which then sent a tingle all through his body. Not only did it do that but it woke him up completely. Yeah, as if I couldn't sleep already I definitely can't now. Why is this keeping me up? It was only a dream, and then it was only a kiss. A kiss with Hammy that is, a kiss…with Hammy. This is going to be a long night and an even longer morning.

Everything fell silent as the night tide took over and everything seemed to sleep. Everything from RJ to the trees seemed to be in a state of sound rest. There was something about night that brought out a feeling of comfort. All the while darkness had an eerie sense to it but something caused that feeling to go away. For Hammy that is.

"It's so quiet now...perfect timing. I don't know anymore…I have to do this. Will they even care much? Maybe…but I'm not waiting to find out. I've made up my mind…it's the only way." Hammy said crawling out from inside the tree. His fur still ruffled some and his eyes still felt groggy but he forced himself up.

"This is it…I'm leaving here…now…" Hammy dashed through the remaining forest towards the suburban area but instead of taking the usual way he chose another.

I can't go that way; someone might wake up and see me. At least this way nobody will know where to look. This gives me enough time to find a new place to stay for the night. I'll miss you RJ…more than anyone else, but I don't want you to hate me! I have to go; it's the only way to keep that from happening again.

The home he knew was beginning to disappear behind him. Hammy didn't even realize how far he had gotten until he stopped to catch his breath.

"…Almost gone…just a little further…and I won't need to worry about this anymore."

I hope. Bye Verne, Bye Stella, By Ozzie and Heather, Bye Penny and Lou and Spike and you other two, Bye…RJ… I'll miss you…"

The silence of the night seemed to grow even quieter in that one moment. Hammy realized he may never see any of his friends again and with that realization he took every bit of regret he could find with him. The scene of a suburban town was in perfect view; the houses and buildings began to sparkle strangely as the moon shed light on them. "This doesn't look so bad…Just need to find a good place to sleep!" Hammy said trying to lighten himself up about it.

He spied a streetlight and then quickly scampered to the top. Hammy knew he needed to find a place quickly before the sun rose. "Aha that's perfect!" Hammy said running back down the post. "Right across the street and into that weird tree." He said continuing his venture through the town streets.

"WHOA!" Hammy yelped as a car came zooming towards him at high speed. Hammy felt his heart nearly jump out of his chest as it barely missed him. "Whew…that was close…what's wrong with those humans?" Hammy said only seconds before the car rammed into another. Hammy quickly jumped off the street and darted into the tree he spotted earlier.

"Oh my god!"

"What happened over there?"

"I don't know."

Several different voices began to fill the air; killing the peaceful silence. Hammy watched from the tree as more and more people began to crowd the area. Seconds later, an ambulance appeared on the scene and with that came two paramedics with a stretch board. Hammy was silent, before his eyes was the dark side of man. The side he knew very little of but didn't want to know much more.

"Everyone get back! The car is gonna blow!" yelled one of the officials. Following his voice were the frightened voices from the crowd.

"Wait my little girl is still in the car! Please you have to help her!"

"Mommy!" "Mommy!" shrieked a voice from the inside of the car. A man quickly rushed up and began to beat open the car using only his bare fists. Regardless of the burning temperature he continued to fight to get the door open.

"Sir get away from there now! There's no time!" yelled on of the paramedics.

"No I have to get here out of there!" the courageous man yelled back at him.

The car door finally budged open allowing him to pull the little girl out from the inside.

"Hurry get to your mother!" he said pushing her quickly away from the flame vehicle.

Just as the girl was out of harms way, the car exploded. Its flames engulfed the man who saved the little girl; taking him with his heroic deed. All was silent again. The fire from the accident began to fade. Hammy was overcome by what he just witnessed. Not only was Hammy forced to face pain that originated from himself but he was also forced to see the suffering in human society firsthand. He could even feel the heavy feeling in his eyes again. He wanted to cry but couldn't. It was as if every drop of tears his eyes could have shed were being shed in his heart instead. There was a heavy tug in his chest now; it made him feel cold. It grew worse when he saw the sad look on the little girls face.

"Mommy…I was so scared…"

"I know…you're ok now…"

"What about that man…will he be ok?"

The mother looked to see the scene of a outline being drawn on the street and a sheet being placed over any human remains still visible.

Hammy fell backwards at gripped his chest tight. Nothing could prepare him for the pain he was feeling inside. It overtook him so quickly it felt like he was being choked by it.

Hammy curled up and covered his head with his paws. All he wanted now was sleep. No thinking, no dreams, no anything. Sleep was the only thing he could yearn for now.

"I never want…to see that…again….ever…" Hammy said in a muffled whisper. He closed his eyes hoping that he would forget all the pain he just experienced. It seemed to work like usual. The night silence allowed him to escape the human suffering he knew but that left plenty of room for something else he feared to resurface. It wasn't like Hammy could prepare for it. He had kept this at bay for some time but somehow the pale vision of his vague nightmares would be with him tonight.

Hammy!

He's over here.

Are you ok?!

No! Leave them alone!

What are you waiting for? Get out of here right now!

I have to…do something…

There it is!

NOOOOOOOOO!

Hammy awoke horrified by the images that just flashed through his mind. It was another nightmare; fortunately it ended as quickly as it began. On the downside, it was unfortunate for Hammy to have to go through so much fear in a matter of seconds.

"…No...Not again…" Hammy breathed. It was still dark out; the moon was still visible as well as the stars. Hammy was afraid to try and go back to sleep. It was like his nightmares had affected him more and more each night.

I don't like it here; everything is so…scary. Even the humans are scaring me already.

Hammy wondered if humans were even capable of doing something good. He was always taught they were dangerous but he didn't know they could be that dangerous.

Then again that one human saved that little girl. He couldn't have been so bad…maybe some are good…after all. If RJ were here he could tell me all about humans; he's probably seen humans do worse than this.

Hammy closed his eyes again preparing for the knockout of sleep. Before he could even think twice he was punched hard with the fist of slumber and was once again asleep. He wasn't the only one however; RJ was still soundly tucked away in the tree sleeping quite well for once. Nothing interrupted his time of shut eye at all. For the rest of the night, he was at peace. For the most part anyways; after all, it had to end sometime.

"…Its morning …?." RJ yawned "Man I need to go to sleep earlier." RJ climbed back down the tree. He looked in the tree to see if Hammy was up yet.

"That's weird, he's not here anymore." RJ said looking over the inner part of the tree carefully.

"He probably got up early so he could get something to eat with the others. Well no sense in wasting time here. I have to eat sometime too." RJ said stretching his arms out fully before taking off towards the log where everyone else slept. Verne was already up like usual trying to get everyone else awake just as quickly. Heather and Ozzie were pretty much ready for the day but that was different for the kids who were always the last to get up.

"Come on, Spike get up, you two also." Verne said before seeing RJ approaching. "Hey there you are. Can you help me with them?" Verne said as RJ nodded agreeably.

"Alright everybody up and at 'em! We got to get ready for today's food heist!" RJ announced loudly. Everyone suddenly jumped up with brimming morning energy that for all Verne could tell was created by RJ's strong willed voice.

"Thanks RJ. I don't get it, why don't they listen to me like they do you? As soon as you tell everybody to get up they act like a bucket of water was throne onto them." Verne said stressfully tired still. RJ pat him on the back of his shell

"You need more energy Verne. Just give you're voice some more power and you'll be fine. You can tell someone what to do and how to do it all the time but they always listen best when the leader commands with a powerful voice." RJ said boldly.

"I've never heard that saying before. No wonder they listen, you still know what you're doing I'll give you that." Verne said watching everyone else get into their own daily routine.

"Don't worry about it, just practice giving commands. That way you can always know what needs to be done when something happens. Well what's for breakfast?" RJ asked beginning to scavenge through the log.

"Let's see…spuddies…empty…empty…oh hey a cookie!" RJ said. He was about to bite into it but stopped.

"Speaking of which have any of you seen Hammy? He wasn't sleeping when I woke up and I thought he might've come by here." RJ said as everyone looked back at him in confusion.

"I haven't seen him. I figured he was just sleeping late back there when I saw you." Verne said suddenly worried. RJ was as well but by a whole lot more.

"Well he has to be here somewhere. I saw him last night in the thicker part of the forest way back there." RJ said as a few of the others gasped quietly. RJ looked at them completely clueless trying to figure out what the big deal was.

"What is it? Did I say something?" RJ asked as Heather and Stella whispered quietly. RJ wanted an answer but nobody was giving it to him.

"Verne. What's up?" RJ asked Verne quickly and sharply. Verne sighed.

"Are you sure he was back there?" Verne said quietly.

"Uh yeah, why?" RJ said

"Well…Hammy said he would never go into that side of the forest again after what happened." Verne said trying to get more breath to speak. RJ did believe it was strange that Hammy would want to sleep in such a darker part of the forest like that. In fact it gave him the creeps thinking about it.

"What happened? Come on you can tell me right?" RJ said with a genuinely trusting expression.

"You're right. We can trust you now; it's only fair that we let you know." Verne said without doubt.

"What already?" RJ said almost impatiently. Verne took a deep breath and looked directly at RJ with full seriousness before speaking.

"That side of the forest…is where Hammy's real family was killed."