Walk A Mile In Your Shoes
Chapter 7: Welcome To Rokugon
Author's Note: Light Sneasel was asking about how much energy does a teleporation spell drain. Well first, I would like to point out that whether you are using magic or psionics, it can be draining. Every time you use a psionic power or cast a spell, it drains you and it can make you very tired and weak if you use too much of it in a short time period. More advanced users can last longer using lots of spells at once than a beginner can. Teleportation can drain you like all spells can but distance is not a contributing factor. Whether you are teleporting an inch away or clear across the galaxy, distance does not play a contributing factor in how much energy you lose when teleporting. Teleporation is much more easier with psionics than magic. It uses less energy and less focus, to the extent that psions can teleport to short distances rapidly, even during combat. A feat that is difficult with magic. Both magic and psionics have their advantages and disadvantages in one way or anther.
Three days had past since that night they were attacked. Concerned that the psion may strike again, every night, Neteru would put up a spell that would protect them while they were asleep. If the psion attacked them during the night, Neteru would know about it. So far, the psion hasn't shown himself since that first attack but Neteru suspects that the psion is still following them, waiting for the perfect chance to strike again. What his motives are, Neteru is not sure but he and Mara are convinced they haven't seen the last of that psion.
On the fourth day of their journey, our weary travelers were all dirty and hungry since they were low on food. All of them rode on Herbert's back and they have certainly seen better days.
"Are we there yet?" complained Oxnard as his stomach growled.
"Not much further, my friends." said Jingle. As Herbert pushed aside some bushes, the tired travelers were greeted by their first sign of civilization in days, even if it was hamster size. Surrounded by an eight inch high wall was a large city filled with buildings of all shapes and sizes. They all cheered with joy, happy to see relief from their life hiking through the forests.
"At last, I can have a hot bath." said Laura.
"I can eat some food." said Oxnard.
"I can finally rest my feet." said Kylie.
"But how are we going to pay for such luxuries if we don't have the money to pay for it?" pointed out Neteru. Everyone made an anime sweat drop.
"Not to worry," reassured Jingle, "like I said, I have family in Rokugon who will help us out. All we have to do is find them."
"Well, I hope we can find them." said Neteru.
Neteru led Herbert towards a nearby entrance through the wall. The door was large enough to fit Herbert through but there was a ham-ham blocking their path. The ham-ham was a samurai dressed in red colored samurai armor. On the samurai's belt were two sheaths, one held her katana and other held her wakizashi. The samurai held up her paw indicating that she wanted them to stop. Neteru and Mara stopped Herbert then jumped off of the pig in order to speak with the samurai.
"Welcome to Rokugon, do you have your IDs and permission papers to enter Rokugon?" said the samurai.
"No." said Neteru rather surprised by the request. "Why do you want such a thing?"
"Because there has been an increasing number of bandits entering this city and until it is reduced, we are required to take precautions." said the samurai. "If you have no IDs, then you can pose a threat to Rokugon and not only that, those staffs indicate you are both sorcerers and you can easily use your powers to cause trouble."
"Now see here." said Neteru offended. "We are just weary travelers looking for a place to stay. Just who are you and what business is it of yours to past judgment on a ham-ham who wheeled a staff?"
"My name is Soshi from the Hida family." said the samurai. "And I am under orders to protect the city from all unfriendly intruders." Upon hearing the samurai's name, Jingle quickly jumped off of Herbert's back and landed in front of Soshi.
"Come on, sis, don't you trust your brother to pick good friends." said Jingle to Soshi. Soshi stared wide eyed at Jingle.
"Jingle, is that you?" asked Soshi.
"The one and the same." said Jingle. Thrilled, Soshi ran over and hugged Jingle.
"Jingle, you've came to visit." said Soshi. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you in a year."
"Well, you know me, I go in many random directions." said Jingle. "But it's great to see you again, sis." Boss jumped off of Herbert's back and said "Daplunk" as he landed.
"Jingle, do you know her?" asked Boss.
"Why yes I do." said Jingle. "Everyone, this is my little sister, Soshi."
"Hamha, Soshi." said Hamtaro. He and Oxnard shouted "Oopaa" as the two of them leaped off of Herbert and landed next to Boss.
"My name is Hamtaro."
"And I'm Oxnard."
"Boss is what they call me."
"My name is Neteru and this is Mara." said Neteru pointing to Mara.
"Neteru and Mara?" said Soshi. "Oh yeah, Jingle's told me all about you two."
"Listen, Soshi, we're all tired and we need a place to sleep and we also need money." said Jingle.
"Oh, no problem, bro." said Soshi. "As soon as the next samurai comes to take my place, I can take you all to my home."
"When will that take?" asked Boss.
"Actually, my shift is already over." explained Soshi. "But the stupid ham who was supposed to take my place has not shown up yet." At that moment, a ham-ham samurai wearing green armor walked towards Soshi.
"Hey Soshi, sorry I'm late." said the ham-ham.
"Late!" said Soshi irritated. "This is the third time in three days you have kept be waiting."
"I'm sorry, Soshi." said the ham-ham.
"If you're late again, I will personally tell your daimyo about your incompetence in showing up on time." said Soshi. The ham-ham was intimidated by Soshi and quickly got on to his post. Soshi turned to Jingle and said, "I'm sorry but you will have to tie up Herbert out here. He's too big to wander around the city."
"Do you have any rope?" asked Jingle.
"Yes, just let me get it for you." Soshi walked over to a small shed. She opened the door and there was a long rope. She said "Grooba" as she lifted the rope out of the shed. It took some team work from Boss and Soshi but they managed to tie up Herbert to the side of the wall.
"You wait here, Herbet, until I come back for you." said Jingle and then he followed the others into Rokugon.
The eleven travelers followed Soshi through the rural parts of Rokugon repeating "Ticky-Ticky" as they walked. Although they were only in the rural parts of Rokugon, it was an amazing sight to behold. The walked along a clean gravel road before them and along the road were many ham-ham size houses. Perhaps the closest comparison to the rural areas of Rokugon would be Hobbiton from "Lord of the Rings." The surrounding homes were slightly unusual looking since they were made out of materials smaller than you would normally have built into a home but none the less, they all looked functional and with a simple and old fashioned appearance. There was also some homes that were constructed into mounds of dirt with little round doors sticking out, just like the hobbit homes from the movie. But what really gave the village that Hobbiton feel was the friendliness of all the ham-hams. Ham-hams of every shape, size, and color lived there and they all were carrying out their busy day or having fun in the sun. Although the majority of all the ham-hams there wore no cloths, there were some that wore vests, dresses, hats, and there was one that wore pants. Every ham-ham they met as they followed Soshi had greeted the visitors kindly with friendly greetings and waves. There was even little ham-ham children just playing out in the fields. The little hams reminded Kylie of Penelope and it also reminded her how much she missed Penelope.
Soshi led them all to a home buried underground in the side of a mound of dirt. She invited them all inside and they found themselves inside a home that resembled the earthy interior of the clubhouse. The home had a much lower ceiling than in the Clubhouse and it also had some hamster size furniture. Soshi took off the belt that held her katana and wakizashi and placed it inside a nearby cabinet. Soshi then took off her armor with some help from her brother. Once she she had removed her armor, she revealed that she had white fur that was covered in spots that were the same brownish-yellow color as Jingle's fur and she even had one spot over her right eye. She sat down in the nearest chair obviously a little hot judging by the sweat down her head.
"Oh that armor gets so hot this time of year." said Soshi fanning herself with one paw.
"So what were you doing there at the entrance?" asked Jingle.
"I was assigned to guard duty." explained Soshi.
"Is that all samurais do?" asked Travis in hopes of finding out more about Soshi.
"No, we're primarily trained warriors." explained Soshi. "We serve the empire of Rokugon and our daimyos."
"What's a daimyo?" asked Kana.
"A daimyo is basically the leader of our clan." explained Soshi. "All samurai are bound to the clan our family is a part of and all samurai are bound to serve the daimyo of our clan and the empire according to the rules of Bushido."
"Heke?" said Hamtaro. "What's Bushido?"
"It's the samurai honor code." said Jingle. "If it's one thing that all samurais care about, it's honor and the code of Bushido basically is a list of rules that samurai feel is honorable and they follow them. There are nine tenets in the code of Bushido: Honesty, Courage, Compassion, Courtesy, Honor, Sincerity, Duty, Responsibility, and Family. All these tenets are basically the samurais' highest priorities."
"Sounds tough." said Boss.
"Yes, but I feel it is worth it." said Soshi. "In my opinion, honor determines how special we are. I feel that I bring pride to my family by following Bushido."
"That's fascinating." said Travis. "Have you been in a fight lots of time."
"No." said Soshi. "Rokugon has been relatively peaceful these past decade so I've barely had any excitement since I became a samurai."
"Hey Soshi, why don't you show us around Rokugon." suggested Hamtaro.
"Yeah, I could use some food." said Oxnard.
"Well, I could take you all to the restaurant down town." suggested Soshi as she stood up. "My treat."
"Certainly." said Jingle.
"Just let me get my purse." said Soshi as she walked over to a drawer. She opened the drawer and pulled out a large bag that jingled with coins.
"Come on, I'll take you into town." said Soshi. They all followed Soshi out the door and walked into town repeating "Chick-ah Chick-ah" as they walked.
As the twelve travelers walked out of the rural areas of Rokugon, they entered the larger cities which were even more impressive than the rural areas. There were many buildings and homes made out of wood and clay and the streets were filled with ham-hams. Although there were some who wore no cloths, there were many who wore cloths to as cheep as ratty looking peasant cloths to fancy outfits indicating wealth or power. Of-course, there were also some noticeable samurai roaming the streets and they wore the same armor that Soshi had worn and they also carried the same weapons.
Soshi led them to a restaurant called "Pete's Place" which seemed like a popular restaurant for the city. Soshi and the others stepped into the front door. A waitress with light brown fur said to Soshi, "How many will be joining?"
"Twelve." said Soshi. The waitress led the group to a large table and they all got a seat. The interior of the restaurant was decorated with many pictures and other nik naks which gave the place an old fashioned look to it. Like any busy restaurant, there was many other customers eating there. They each received a menu which included a lot of ham-ham delicacies such as sun flower seed pizza or baked acorns or a sun flower seed salad. Despite how unusual the food looked, the former humans tried the ham-ham cooking and were surprised at how good it tasted. Oxnard had finished an entire pizza all by himself and he was thinking on ordering a baked acorn until Hamtaro reminded him he was on a diet.
As they were all finishing their meals, Hamtaro noticed a ham-ham eating a sun flower sandwich at a smaller table. The ham-ham had an amazing resemblance to Cappy with the white fur and brown ears. The only features about this ham-ham that indicated that he wasn't Cappy was the fact that his body was more peanut shaped than Cappy's and he wasn't wearing a hat. But there was something familiar about this ham-ham, like they have met before.
"Hey Oxnard, do you see that ham-ham over there?" said Hamtaro. Oxnard looked over and noticed the ham-ham Hamtaro was talking about. "Doesn't he look familiar?"
"Ya, he does." said Oxnard. Jingle over heard their conversation and looked in the direction they were looking.
"Well, I'll be." said Jingle. Jingle got up and walked towards the ham-ham at the table. He tapped onto the ham-ham's shoulder and said, "Hey cousin, where have you been?" The ham-ham looked up at Jingle and said with surprise, "Jingle?"
"Yep." said Jingle.
"I don't believe it, you actually came back." said the ham-ham as he stood up to give Jingle a quick hug. When Hamtaro heard the ham-ham's voice, he immediately recognize where he had heard it. Hamtaro jumped out of his seat and said, "I know who you are, you're Nin-Ham." The ham-ham looked at Hamtaro and was surprised to see him.
"Hamtaro?" said the ham-ham. Everyone at the table stared wide eyed at the little white ham-ham.
"You're right, Hamtaro, that is Nin-Ham." said Boss.
"You guys, I would like to introduce to you all to my little cousin Nin-Ham." said Jingle.
"Hey, Hamtaro, long time no see." said Nin-Ham.
"You know our cousin, Nin-Ham?" asked Soshi.
"Oh yeah, he came over to our neighborhood that one time." said Hamtaro.
"So what are you guys doing here, anyway?" asked Nin-Ham.
"You know, Jingle, you haven't told me why you brought all these guys here." said Soshi indicating Hamtaro and the others.
"Well, Laura, Kana, Travis, Kylie, and June are all humans who have been turned into ham-hams by a powerful magic." explained Neteru. "I tried to change them back but what ever it was that changed them into hamsters, I could not dispel it. It was obviously the work of something greater so we are going to the city of Ankorbak to find the Ankorbak Pylons which is an artifact that should be strong enough to dispel the spell."
"You're going to Ankorbak?" said Soshi surprised. "How do you expect to find it."
"I had a vision that told me that there is a seer here in Rokugon who may know where the city is." said Neteru. "Do you know where we might be able to find this seer."
"You can ask Tamori." suggest Nin-Ham.
"Who's he?" asked Boss.
"Nin-Ham and I are from the Sun Flower Clan and Tamori is our daimyo." explained Soshi. "As a daimyo, he has many connections all over Rokugon. If there is a seer here in Rokugon, he would know."
"Great, lets meet him tomorrow." said Hamtaro.
"That's fine with me." said Soshi as she put several coins into a tray to pay for their food. "Come on, lets go. Oh and Nin-Ham, will you be able to join us when we meet Tamori?"
"I'll be there waiting for you, Soshi." said Nin-Ham. They all left the restaurant except for Nin-Ham who stayed inside to finish his sandwich.
As they walked to Soshi's home, the former humans were talking to each other, exited about the possibility that they may become human again. Soshi was telling Mara and Hamtaro stories about her life as a samurai. As for Neteru, he lagged behind slowly repeating "Ticky-Ticky" as he walked. His thoughts were on the psion they had met a few days ago. Neteru occasionally looked around as he walked hoping to spot that psion if he came close. Although he knew that the odds of that psion sneaking into Rokugon with all those samurai about was slim, there was a possibility that the psion may find a way into Rokugon and he could be searching for them right this minute. If there is a place in Rokugon that the psion was familiar with, he could teleport into Rokugon. The psion could easily disguise himself or possibly force his way in if he was powerful enough. These thoughts plagued Neteru's mind, wondering what that psion is up to.
"What are you planning and what are you after?" thought Neteru to himself.
Author's Note: A katana is a sword with a right triangle tip and a long sharp single blade. A wakizashi is a sword that looks exactly like a katana but its blade is half the length of a katana. Both the katana and wakizashi are important weapons to the samurai which will be explained in greater detail in future chapters.