The Mystery of Snoozer
Chapter 4: Jingle the Bard
The next day, the Ham-Hams all joined Moonbeam as they were about to continue the tour where they left off. They were in the park discussing where to take Moonbeam. Unbeknownst to the Ham-Hams, there were two dark figures following them.
"How about we take her to the city." suggested Oxnard.
"No lets try the docks." said Boss.
"How about we take her to the library." suggested Maxwell. Everyone looked at Maxwell skeptically. "What?"
"Well, why don't we let Moonbeam decide." said Hamtaro.
"Great idea." said Pashmina. "Moonbeam, where would you like to go?" Moonbeam thought to herself. She was about to answer when she heard some ruffling noises.
"Did you guys hear that?" asked Moonbeam.
"Hear what?" asked Sandy. Moonbeam heard the sound again.
"That." answered Moonbeam. Everyone began to listen, focusing on the strange noise. Without warning, two ninja hamsters came out of nowhere and kicked Hamtaro and Boss (the ones closeted to Moonbeam) and then grabbed Moonbeam by both arms. Both of the ninjas wore all black ninja outfits that covered up their entire entire bodies except their eyes and ears. Attached to their belts were oriental looking swords called a ninja-to. They also each had three shurikens and one had a chakram. (A/N: Info on all three of these weapons are at the bottom of this chapter.)
"Eaz...." began Moonbeam but one of the ninja hamsters kicked Moonbeam in the stomach interrupting the spell.
"Hey, let her go." demanded Hamtaro. One of the ninjas pulled out his ninja-to and pointed it at Hamtaro's throat. Everyone except Boss was frightened at the sight of the weapon since none of them had seen a real sword before.
"The first one to move gets their head cut off." threatened the ninja. Everyone froze, not sure what to do.
"I hear a cry and see a beautiful dress, I follow the cry and see a damsel in distress." said a familiar poetic voice.
No one, not even the ninjas, noticed that Jingle was nearby riding on his pet pig Herbert. Jingle was holding his guitar as always but he had an additional accessory with him. He wore a belt with a sheath attached to it and in the sheath was a sword. The Ham-Hams were rather surprised that he would have a sword. Jingle hopped off of Herbert with his usual cool and com look. The two ninjas stared at Jingle with curiosity and annoyance.
"Back off, this is none of your business." said one of the ninjas.
"Well, those are my friends your messing with and I don't take kindly to those who threaten my friends." said Jingle. The ninjas responded by throwing their shurikens at Jingle. But Jingle quickly plucked a few strings on his guitar and said, "Eneevo." The shurikens stopped in mid air and suddenly headed back to the ninjas who threw them. The ninjas were startled by this and they let go of Moonbeam so they can run away from the shurikens but surprisingly, the shurikens followed the ninjas at fast speeds until the two ninjas were impaled by their own shurikens. The ninjas pulled the shurikens out of their bodies but amazingly, they didn't bleed. Jingle began to play some more notes on his guitar and he began to sing some strange musical words.
"Va yee ollayo dao gedlya." sang Jingle. Suddenly, the grass that the ninjas were standing on began to grow at a rapid rate. The ninjas tried to cut their way out with their ninja-to but the grass was growing awfully fast. Jingle seized the opportunity by taking off his guitar and charged at the ninjas with his sword drawn. Jingle ran over to the first ninja. The ninja tried to cut Jingle with his ninja-to but Jingle was surprisingly skillful with the sword and not to mention that the grass was still wrapping the ninja like a mummy binding his legs and arms. While the ninja's ninja-to was being wrapped in the growing grass, Jingle seized the opportunity and rammed the sword through the ninja's heart. The ninja cried out in pain and then quickly disappeared into a puff of smoke. The other ninja had just managed to free his arm and reached for his chakram. The ninja threw the chakram at Jingle but Jingle saw the flying blade come towards him. In a true example of sharp reflexes, Jingle grabbed the chakram in mid air and with a good swing, he threw the chakram at the ninja. The chakram decapitated the ninja and the ninja disappeared into a puff of smoke. Jingle then walked over to his guitar and picked it up. He plucked another note on his guitar and said, "Dif." The growing grass that once bounded the ninjas shrank back to normal size.
Everyone was stunned at what they just witnessed. Jingle had single handily defeated these two ninjas.
"I know what you are." said Moonbeam breaking the silence. "You're a bard, aren't you?"
"Yep, my name is Jingle and this is Herbert." said Jingle indicating his pet pig.
"Ookwee." said Penelope in excitement when Herbert got closer.
"Oinky." replied Herbert.
"What's a bard?" asked Hamtaro.
"A bard is a musician who is capable of working the magic of music." said Jingle.
"So you can work magic, then." said Moonbeam.
"Yes I can. By the way, who are you?" asked Jingle.
"Oh, I'm Moonbeam the sorcerous." said Moonbeam.
"Nice to meet you." said Jingle.
"Hey wait a minute, if you can work magical spells, how come you never told us this before?" asked Boss.
"You never asked." said Jingle. Everyone but Moonbeam and Jingle fainted anime style.
"Who where those hams that attacked us?" asked Panda as he got up.
"Some kind of ninjas conjured by powerful sorcery." said Jingle. "Where they came from, I do not know, but when I saw them, I knew they were up to no good so I followed them."
"Well thanks for saving us." said Moonbeam.
"The pleasures all mine." said Jingle.
"Hey Jingle, why don't you come to the Clubhouse, I would love to hear more about your travels." said Moonbeam.
"But what about the tour of the town?" asked Hamtaro.
"Why don't I show her around town." said Jingle. "I've seen this town more often then you guys have and we can all ride on Herbert."
"Sure, why not." said Hamtaro. The Ham-Hams, Moonbeam, and Jingle all got onto Herbert and they were off onto a grand tour of the town. As Jingle had said, he was more knowledgeable about the town than the Ham-Hams and he was a wonderful tour guide.
After the tour was over, they all returned to the Clubhouse. Jingle placed his guitar onto the table and wiped his forehead. He took a cup of tea and drank from it because he had been talking all day and was rather thirsty. He heard the sound of snoring nearby and when he turned his head he was surprised to see Snoozer sleeping in his sock in a corner.
"Who is that?" asked Jingle.
"That's Snoozer." said Hamtaro. "Haven't you ever seen him before."
"No. Infact, I've only been in the Clubhouse about two or three times and I never stayed long." said Jingle. "Is he always asleep like that?"
"Yep, I've never seen him awake." said Hamtaro. Jingle was rather curious about Snoozer because he looks just like a ham-ham that he knew.
"Could it be him?" thought Jingle. Jingle went over to Snoozer and examined him. Upon closer inspection, Jingle realized that Snoozer looked a lot like a friend he knew. As Jingle walked around Snoozer, his foot bumped into something hard in the sock. Jingle was surprised by this so he reached down and felt the object inside. He immediately knew what it was that he was feeling. Without another word, Jingle pulled Snoozer out of the sock and began to search around inside the sock. Everyone noticed what Jingle was doing and were now focused on Jingle.
"Hey Jingle, what are you doing?" asked Boss. From within the sock, Jingle said, "I know this ham-ham and this proves it." From out of the sock, Jingle pulled out his head and the object he found.
"You mean that you found that in Snoozer's sock?" asked Boss.
"Yep." said Jingle. What Jingle had found was a long rod of some kind. it was made of wood but it wasn't a smooth design. The surface of the object was awfully lumpy and it was shaped more or less like a long cone. At the base of the cone was a large green diamond.
"I thought Snoozer looked familiar and this magic staff proves it." said Jingle.
"Magic staff?" asked Moonbeam.
"Yes." answered Jingle. "The one you call Snoozer is actually a sorcerer named Neteru."
"Snoozer, a sorcerer?" asked Hamtaro in amazement.
"Yep, and this is his staff." said Jingle. "A magic staff is unique to each ham and I recognized Neteru's staff instantly."
"Is Neteru always this sleepy?" asked Pashmina.
"Nope, in fact, I think he is under a sleeping spell." said Jingle.
"A sleeping spell?" chorused the ham-hams.
"Yes and if we all work together, I think we can cure him." said Jingle.
"Ya, lets help hem out." said Hamtaro. All the Ham-Hams cheered in agreement.
Author's Note: Since I have some unusual Asian weapons in this story, I have provided you with a description of these weapons for your convenience
Ninja-to: As the name suggests, this is a weapon used by ninjas. It is a multipurpose short sword which some verities can double either as a blowgun, club, ladder rung, etc.
Shurikens: Small star shaped weapons that can be thrown at their targets.
Chakram: A large ring with a diameter of one foot (or one inch in hamster size). It can be thrown like a Frisbee and the sharp edges of the weapon can cut its target.
Fun Fact: Bards really did exist but not in the way I described. Bards are traveling minstrels who existed during the Middle Ages. They traveled around Europe singing songs and telling stories and poetry to all who listen to them. They provided Europe with gossip and stories and the ways of the bard became an organization in itself. Although we don't see traveling bards now-adays, bards still exist and they still write songs, poetry, and stories. Every year, the bards gather at a festival in either north or south Wales (it alternates yearly). This festival is called Eisteddfod and it is a testament to the ways of the bard and it continues to this day.
Although I have never heard any myths involving bards casting spells, the concept was intruded by the game Dungeons and Dragons. Since Jingle was already a traveling minstrel, I figured that Jingle was a classical example of a medieval bard.