Walk A Mile In Your Shoes
Chapter 6: An Unknown Enemy
They all road on Herbert's back, glad to finally have transportation. As it began to get dark, Jingle plucked a guitar string and said, "Illuminosa." The spell caused three glowing spheres of light to appear around his head. The spheres followed Jingle around and provided them with light for them to see by.
"How did you do that?" asked Travis.
"Like I mentioned, I'm a bard." said Jingle. "I possess the power to cast spells through the power of music."
"So you're some kind of sorcerer who can play music?" asked Laura.
"Something like that but no bard can cast spells as powerful as a sorcerer can." said Jingle.
"Do you travel a lot?" asked Laura.
"I travel all the time." said Jingle. "Infact, I'm often restless if I stay in one place for too long."
"Hey Jingle, is Rokugon dominated by samurai and ninjas like I've heard?" said Neteru.
"That is correct." said Jingle. "Samurai and ninja are the most common type of ham-ham in Rokugon."
"But if you lived in Rokugon, how come you never became a samurai?" asked Neteru.
"Well, both my parents wanted me to be a samurai but I didn't enjoy all the strict dedication and training involved in becoming a samurai." explained Jingle. "I knew I was more happier if I traveled so I studied to be a bard even though my parents were furious at me for doing so."
"Samurais and ninjas?" said Boss. "Like the ones that evil spirit used on us."
"No, the samurais and ninjas created by Ulzogga were nothing more than mutated monster created through magic." explained Neteru. "Real ninjas and samurai don't cast spells or serve evil spirits like those creatures were. Real ninjas and samurai tend to follow codes and they are even more tuffer than those phony conjurations of Ulzogga."
"They will be friendly, right?" asked Hamtaro.
"As long as you don't offend them or break the law, they should be friendly." said Jingle. "Rokugon is a natural cosmopolitan and it's not as xenophobic as some claim it to be so they are often friendly to visitors." Laura yawned loudly as drowsiness began to take over.
"Perhaps we should stop for the night." suggested Neteru noticing Laura's drowsiness. Jingle directed Herbert to the side and they all stopped for the night.
By the time midnight came, the eleven wearied travelers (and Herbert) had all fallen asleep. With nothing but a blanket to sleep on, they all slept soundly, too tired to allow the hard ground to keep them up. The full moon over head shown brightly lighting up the landscape in its white glow. Not a single wind blew that night and the night was warm do to the summer heat but despite its com appearance, there was danger lurking in the darkness. This threat was not a predator or some harsh weather. It is, infact, a ham-ham who was quietly lurking through the darkness. This ham-ham was as toll as Maxwell and he even has Maxwell's oval shaped ears. The hamster was all white except for some brown spots which covered his entire body. One large oval shaped spot covered the ham-ham's eyes making him look like he has a raccoon mask. The ham-ham wore a gold chain neckless around his neck with a green gem on it. On his back was a long wooden quarterstaff attached by a black strap that wrapped around the ham-ham at a diagonal angle resting on his right shoulder.
The ham-ham approached the unsuspecting adventurers cautiously, trying not to make too much noise and accidentally wake them up. He found the ham-hams all sleeping soundly next to Herbert's massive body. The ham-ham looked at the eleven adventurers before him and he didn't know what to do next. He didn't expect so many here which made his task more tricker. The ham-ham observed them and even in the dark, he noticed the staffs next to Neteru and Mara. He knew instantly that these two were sorcerers so he had to kill them first...
The ham-ham pulled out a dagger and he carefully walked over the sleeping bodies towards Neteru. Because of the fact that Mara was such a light sleeper, the sound of the ham-ham's movements actually woke her up. As she opened her eyes, she could see the ham-ham lifting the dagger high over Neteru's heart. When Mara realized what she was looking at, Mara shouted, "Saya." The spell shot a beam of red light from Mara's fingers which struck the dagger and the dagger flew strait into the air. This move surprised the ham-ham which caused him to shout out and accidentally kick Neteru waking him up instantly. By know, the noise had awoken everyone.
"Neteru, there's a..." but before Mara could finish her sentence, the ham-ham struck her hard in the forehead with his quarterstaff knocking her unconscious. Neteru responded with another spell: "Saya yee." An even bigger beam of light launched from Neteru's paws and the beam tossed the ham-ham through the air. The ham-ham flew about two feet away and landed easily on both feet. Jingle quickly cast a spell: "Illuminosa." Three spheres of bright light appeared blinding everyone, including the attacker. When everyone's eyes adjusted to the change in light, Boss ran towards the attacker with his ax held high.
"So you want to pick on someone while they're asleep, do you?" said Boss as he ran. Boss was about to bring the ax down on the spotted ham-ham but the ham-ham immediately pulled out his quarterstaff and stopped the blow in mid air. While he held the ax using his quarterstaff, the ham-ham kicked Boss in the crotch. Boss dropped the ax as he grabbed himself in pain.
"Ouchichi." said Boss in pain. The ham-ham quickly took this opportunity to hit Boss hard on the side of his head. Boss fell over barely conscious. The ham-ham aimed his quarterstaff at the others ready to attack the next person who tries to be a hero. The former humans quivered in fear. Realizing it was up to them, Hamtaro and Oxnard immediately picked up nearby sticks and charged towards the ham-ham. But before they could reach the ham-ham, a strange cone radiated from the ham-ham's forehead. The cone made the air ripple like humidity from heat as it traveled through the air and went through Oxnard and Hamtaro as if they were nothing. There was a low hum as both Hamtaro and Oxnard froze into statues.
"Mind blast." said Neteru as he recognized what he had just witnessed.
The ham-ham raised his quarterstaff awaiting Neteru to make his move. Neteru was determined so he held up his staff and said, "Magna dorock." There was a flash of green light as his magic staff changed into a large glowing sword. Neteru leaped into the air with his sword held up high and the two fought with stunning speed and agility. Neteru was about to run his sword through the ham-ham but suddenly, there was a soft hum followed by a flash of white light. The ham-ham had teleported and repaired behind Neteru. The ham-ham swung his quarterstaff and struck Neteru in the side of the head. Neteru recovered from the blow quickly and was about to make another stab with his sword but the ham-ham unleashed another mind blast. The cone of rippling air pasted through Neteru and he could feel the mind blast working its way into his brain trying to paralyze him but Neteru threw off the effects of the blast and continued to fight.
Suddenly, there was a song in the air. Jingle was nearby playing his guitar. The song was actually affecting the ham-ham's concentration and he quickly realized that he was slipping up. The others watched as the ham-ham was no longer reacting as quickly while Neteru began to take the upper hand. The ham-ham realized he was beaten so he teleported away. Once the ham-ham was gone, the mind blast that paralyzed Oxnard and Hamtaro had worn off and the two toppled over. Also nearby, Boss was getting back onto his feet.
"Ouchichi." said Hamtaro as he got back onto his feet.
"What happened?" asked Oxnard as he got up. Neteru, however, was more focused on Mara who still lay unconscious on the ground. He kneeled down to Mara and gently shook her.
"Mara, wake up." said Neteru frantically. Mara slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Neteru. "Say something." Mara groaned in pain.
"Oh, my head." complained Mara.
"Are you all right?" asked Neteru.
"My head hurts but I'm alright otherwise." said Mara smiling back up at Neteru. Neteru also smiled back. Neteru reached into a nearby back pack and pulled out a rag. He waved one hand and said, "Vuv." From his hand, snow began to appear and it collected into the rag. Neteru wrapped the snow in the rag and placed the ice pack on Mara's head as she was laid back against Herbert who, miraculously, remained asleep through the whole attack. As Mara laid back, Neteru picked up his staff which had changed back from a sword awhile ago.
"What was that strange ham?" asked Hamtaro.
"I've never seen a spell user like him." said Jingle. "He didn't even use any hand gestures or verbal components. What kind of spell user can do that?"
"What attacked us was no magic user of any type." said Neteru cooly. "It was a psion."
"A psion?" chorused Mara and Jingle.
"What would a psion want to do with us?" asked Jingle.
"Heke, what's a psion?" asked Hamtaro.
"A psion is a practitioner of the art of psionics." explained Neteru.
"Psionics?" said Boss. "What is that supposed to be?"
"Psionics is basically a fancy way of describing psychic powers." said Neteru.
"So we were attacked by some psychic?" asked Travis.
"Yes." answered Neteru. "Psionics has been known to have the same capabilities and powers as magic but the way how it works is different compared to magic. Psions don't cast their psionic powers like magic users do. They do what is known as manifest them which means they just mediate the powers in their heads. Such a phenomenon can be recognized by either an auditory low hum or a bell sound, an olfactory display, or some kind of visual display."
"Can you combat such a force?" asked Travis.
"I don't know." admitted Neteru. "Psionics is different than magic. It has some advantages to it such as better telekinesis, better item creation capabilities, better teleportation, and even more better mind control capabilities."
"So what are we going to do now?" asked Laura.
"We press on as planned and we will be on our guard the whole time." said Neteru.
Neteru suddenly remembered the knife that the psion had left behind so Neteru decided to go out and get it before the psion comes back to retrieve it. But as he walked out of the light, he quickly realized that it was too dark outside of the light to find the knife.
"Jingle, bring me a light sphere." said Neteru. Jingle went over to Neteru allowing one of those glowing spheres to follow him while the remaining two stayed near the others.
"What is it you want, Neteru?" asked Jingle.
"The psion had a knife of some kind and I want to retrieve it before the psion comes back for it." explained Neteru.
"I'll help you look for it." said Jingle. The two of them searched the area. As they were searching, Jingle asked, "Neteru, is there something going on between you and Mara?" Neteru was surprised by the question.
"No, why do you ask?" said Neteru.
"I saw that look you and Mara gave each other as you were checking on her." said Jingle. "Indeed, ever since you and Mara got together again, there has been something going on between you and Mara. I've seen it before, love is blossoming between you two." Neteru didn't know how to respond. Neteru looked away from Jingle so Jingle wouldn't notice the fact that he was blushing. As Neteru turned his head, he saw the small dagger lying on the ground. He picked up the knife and said, "Jingle, I have the knife." The two of them walked over to the others. All the former humans and Oxnard were already fast asleep by the time they got back.
"What did you find?" whispered Mara.
"Just the knife the psion had." said Neteru.
"The others were too tired to worry." explained Hamtaro.
"Well, we have a hard day tomorrow as well so we should get some sleep." said Neteru. When Neteru settled down on the ground, Jingle dispelled the light spheres and once again, they were engulfed in the moon light. As the others fell asleep, Neteru laid wide awake, thinking about what Jingle had said. When he noticed Mara sleeping nearby, he moved his blanket to her side. He placed an arm around her and fell asleep with Mara at his side.
Author's Note: I've been trying to find the perfect place in the story to explain why Neteru can't use a teleportation spell to teleport himself to Rokugon but so far, I haven't found the right place to do that so I will have to stick with an Author's Note. The reason why Neteru can't use the teleporation spell is because a teleportation spell can only transport people to places they are familiar with. Since neither Mara or Neteru have been in Rokugon, they can't use a teleportion spell.