Ch 3. Fallen Friend

"Hey everyone something awful has happened to Hamtaro." Oxnard shouted as he arrived at the clubhouse the day after the incident happened, out of breath from running all the way there.

"What?" everyone replied wondering what Oxnard was talking about.

"It's true. I was walking home with him last night. He got out of the hole first. But when I climbed out, I couldn't find Hamtaro anywhere. At first I thought he climbed up his drainpipe already, but then I remembered that Hamtaro wasn't the kind of ham who would leave without saying goodbye. Then I saw Hamtaro fly out of the bush and smack right into the tree in his front yard. He looked pretty banged up. After I got to him, I turned around to see what could have done this to him and what I saw scared me.

"Everything scares you Oxnard." responded Boss, making a remark about Oxnard being a cowardly hamster.

'Yeah, but this was especially scary. It had glowing red eyes. They just glared at us. I felt like running back to my house, but then I saw Hamtaro there injured. I couldn't just leave him behind, especially after all that he did for me. I grabbed Hamtaro and took him up the drainpipe. By that time whatever was in the bushes was long gone. I managed to get Hamtaro back in his cage, but I'm not sure that he is going to make it."

By this time Oxnard was in tears. Everyone else was in awe of what they had just been told. They had just celebrated Hamtaro's birthday, and now they might be having a funeral for him. Bijou was taking this the hardest; after all she did sort of have a crush on him. (Sorry all of you Boss/Bijou fans, but I'm just going by what is on the television show.)

"No, I don't believe it Oxnard." said Boss angrily. "Come on, lets go to Hamtaro's house, then we'll see that he's fine."

With that, Boss stormed out of the clubhouse and headed for Laura's house, hoping that Oxnard was wrong. As the others followed, worry begin to fill the minds of all the hamsters.

They arrived at Laura's house a few minutes later. Boss was the first to get there, and he wasted no time in scurrying up the drainpipe that Hamtaro had slid down so many times before. The rest of the Ham-Hams soon arrived, and followed after Boss. When they made their way into Laura's room they found Boss with tears running down his eyes and his mouth wide open in surprise. To his dismay, Oxnard was right. He was staring at what seemed to be Hamtaro, but this hamster was covered in cuts, scraped and bruises. He was barely clinging to life. The rest of the hamsters were in similar shock. At first they thought that the hamster they were looking at couldn't be Hamtaro, but then they noticed the orange fur that covered most of his back, and most importantly ran along diagonally on his face. It was Hamtaro all right. None of them could believe it. It was the most horrific sight that they had ever seen. Hamtaro was barely breathing. Laura was asleep on her bed. Fresh tears covered her face. It was obvious that she had been crying last night and into the morning. This was something none of them were prepared for.

"This is terrible." exclaimed Maxwell

"Like yeah." Sandy responded. "This is like, the worst thing I have ever seen in my life."

"No ham should have to go through this." Panda stated.

The ham-hams solemnly left Hamtaro in his cage. As they headed back to the clubhouse not a word was spoken. Everyone was too worried about Hamtaro. Even Boss, who usually had something he could say to make everyone else feel better, didn't say a word to console his friends. There was obviously nothing he could say right now that could make anyone else feel better, let alone himself. The only thing Boss could think of that he could do for Hamtaro would be to solve the mystery of whom or what attacked him last night. Boss knew that it would make him feel at least a little bit better if he knew exactly why Hamtaro was attacked. Tomorrow, he would start the search for Hamtaro's assailant. For now though, all he could do is get some rest. He wasn't sure if the rest of the Ham-Hams would help him, but he didn't care. He knew that he had to do this, for Hamtaro.

Meanwhile Bijou was thinking to herself as she walked behind the others, still reluctant to leave her secret crush.

Poor Hamtaro. I really hope he makes it through. I wouldn't be able to stand it if he died.

None of the hamsters wanted to go back to the clubhouse, but they did anyways. Time passed and it was time for everyone to go home. Again, as they all left, not a word was spoken between them. Everyone was too busy thinking about what had happened. It was indeed, a sad day for everyone. No one would be getting any sleep tonight.

(A/N: More suspense. But don't worry because the next chapter Boss starts the hunt for Hamtaro's attacker. Will he find out the truth?)