Walk A Mile In Your Shoes
Chapter 9: Cat Attack
As Tamori had promised, he managed to pay for all the supplies and food that the travelers would require for the journey. Packed into the back packs Hamtaro and the others were carrying and some additional ones for Soshi and Nin-Ham, the thirteen travelers picked up their supplies and were ready to start the trip. All the ham-hams who didn't have weapons were given swords which were attached to sheaths on belts. Neteru and Mara weren't given any weapons since their magic was the only weapon they needed. Soshi also got no weapons since she already had her katana and wakizashi. Nin-Ham received a ninja-to, a bag full of shurikens, and two chakrams for his weapons. (A/N: Details on these weapons at the end of this chapter.) While the others packed, Neteru and Mara got to work trying to decipher the map. The map described that they had to reach a river that was not too far from Rokugon. From there, they just had to follow a path on the map. Tamori also helped in that detail and showed them how to get to the river and where they can safely cross the river. The adventurers were ready to go on the next half of their journey.
The following day, they were at Soshi's home preparing for the trip ahead of them. They were at Soshi's house and they were packing up for the trip ahead of them. Hamtaro, Oxnard, and the former humans all were adjusting the belts that were given to them and attached to the belts were sheaths that held their new swords. Hamtaro pulled out his swords and experimentally began swinging it around. Hamtaro never held a real sword before and it made Hamtaro curious as to what it is like to wheeled one. As he swung the sword, he nearly cut Boss.
"Watch it, Hamtaro." said Boss irritated as he jumped to the side.
"Sorry." apologized Hamtaro as he placed the weapon back into its sheath. Boss had also got a belt and a sword but he also got a strap so he could place his ax on his belt. Nin-Ham had the most weapons with him. He wore his all black ninja outfit and on his belt was the ninja-to that he possessed. The ninja-to was attached to his left hip but his two chakrams were strapped onto his right hip. The bag that contained the shurikens was located in the front like a fanny pack. Soshi was on her knees and she held out both her katana and wakizashi in both paws. She was praying to her weapons which was a way for samurai to call on the power of those weapons.
As they all were preparing their pack packs and gear, Tamori came into Soshi's home through the front door and said, "Hamha, everyone."
"Hamha, Tamori." greeted Soshi. "What brings you here?"
"I just wanted to stop by and see if you guys were ready for the trip." said Tamori. "I've even arranged for some transportation out of the city."
"Transportation?" said Soshi. "Where?"
"Right out here." said Tamori. He stepped aside from the open front door to reveal a large vehicle out on the street.
"Heke? You rented us a bus?" asked Soshi. Indeed, the vehicle was a hamster sized bus which resembled a human bus but it looked more like a metal childs' toy.
"Yep, it's electrical and everything." said Tamori. "Why don't you guys load up your belongings on it and get ready for the trip out of town."
"Wow, I never seen a hamster sized bus before." said Hamtaro as he noticed the bus outside.
"Well don't just stand there, start loading it up." said Tamori. Hamtaro and the others started loading up the bus with the luggage, tucking them safely in the compartments under the passenger seats.
Once everything was packed up into the bus, the door to the bus opened to allow everyone on. The driver of the bus bore a striking resemblance to Neteru except he was fat like Oxnard and he wore a blue bus driver's hat.
"Hey Max, you ready for the trip?" asked Tamori to the bus driver as he got on.
"No problem." said Max. One by one, they all boarded the bus taking a seat amongst the rows upon rows of blue passenger seats. Once everyone was seated, Max said to the passengers, "Hold on to your belongings because we're leaving now." Max pushed the accelerator with his foot and the bus moved forward making a buzzing sound like a toy car.
The ham-hams were amazed at all the sights that the bus past along the trip. Rokugon was indeed a beautiful place with everything to simple farming lands to large cities with ham-ham sized sky scrapers. It was clearly a place rich in culture. It was unbelievable that so much could exist in just one ham-ham city. Except, of-course, for Soshi, Nin-Ham, Max, and Tamori, everyone was looking out the windows admiring the sights of Rokugon. While in the bus, a thought occurred to Boss.
"Hey Jingle, why isn't Herbert coming with us?" asked Boss to Jingle who was sitting right next to him.
"The path that we are going is to hard and rocky so I decided to leave Herbert in Rokugon and I'll pick him up on my way back." explained Jingle. "I'm sure Tamori's servants won't mind watching over Herbert until then."
After about an hour of driving, the bus finally exited through the wall that surrounds Rokugon and into the woods. After about three yards of driving, the bus stopped in the trees.
"Okay, this as far as I'm allowed to go so everybody off." said Max. They all departed the bus and removed their luggage from the side compartments. Once their back packs were strapped on, Tamori and Max boarded the bus. While hanging out the door of the bus, Tamori said, "This is where I leave you guys." said Tamori. "Good luck on your mission."
"Bye-Q, Tamori." said Hamtaro waving back. "Thanks for all your help." Tamori stepped right back into the bus and Max steered the bus back into Rokugon. As Hamtaro watched the bus drive away, Neteru said, "We best get moving, we got a long way to go." The thirteen adventurers walked into the forest repeating "Badda-Badda" as they walked.
The second leg of their journey was starting out uneventfully. At around sun down, they finally found the river they are looking for. Neteru and the others had stepped out of the bush and there it was, a river that was about two meters long and two feet deep.
"Look, we finally found the river." said Oxnard. "Is it the same one on the map?" Neteru pulled out the rolled up map from his back pack and opened it up to check the river. On the map, it indicated that there are some stepping stones that should serve as a bridge to cross the river with. When Neteru studied the river, he immediately noticed a trail of large rocks leading across the river. The rocks were large and not too far apart so they could easily jump from rock to rock.
"I think this is the river." said Neteru. "All we have to do is cross the river using those rocks."
"Cross the rocks?" said Oxnard. "Doesn't that sound dangerous."
"Oh no, we just have to jump across the rocks." said Neteru. "All it takes is as much agility as a..."
"CAT!" screamed Nin-Ham interrupting Neteru.
"Yes, like a cat." said Neteru.
"No, I mean there is a cat right there behind us." said Nin-Ham. Everyone turned around and noticed a white cat with large patches of orange fur. The cat's piercing yellow eyes glared at the adventurers before him and he looked hungry.
"Head towards the river." ordered Neteru. They all ran towards the river repeating "Badda-Badda" as they ran but before they could get far, another cat jumped into their way. This cat was dark gray with specks of white. Before Neteru could make another order, three other cats came out of hiding. One cat was all white, the other was beige, and the final cat was white with brown spots. The cats circled the ham-hams staring hungrily at them. The former humans, Oxnard, and Nin-Ham were frightened out of their whit's but they managed to pull out their swords and hold them up weakly. The rest were also a bit shaken by the sight of all these cats.
"Where did all these cats come from?" asked Hamtaro.
"I admit, this is very suspicious." said Neteru. "Our best chance is to head for the river." Neteru held up his staff and shouted out, "Recta barrock." From the jewel from his magic staff, five beams of energy shot from his staff and knocked the cats off their feet.
"Move!" shouted out Neteru. Everyone ran towards the rocks but the cats were not as stunned as Neteru had hoped and already, the cats were chasing them. The closest cat was the gray one with the white spots. He was already prepared to stop the ham-hams from reaching the river.
"Tok a bora." said Mara and a telekinetic thrust threw the gray cat into the river and the cat was swept away by the current.
That was just one cat but the others were gaining fast on Neteru and the others. The white cat jumped up and pounced on Oxnard.
"Help!" screamed Oxnard as he felt the cat's claws dig into his back.
"Oxnard!" screamed Kana as she noticed her beloved pet in danger. Nin-Ham reacted fast by throwing a chakram at the cat. The chakram cut into the cat's left eye, completely blinding him in that eye. The cat jumped back, completely surprised by the attack and the other cats were startled too. Nin-Ham stared, amazed that he had actually hit the cat in the eye because he had such poor aim. As he gawked, Soshi ran towards the cat, katana and wakizashi drawn. Strangely enough, the two weapons actually glowed a red color and when Soshi cut into the cat's leg with her katana, the paw was nearly gone. The cat screamed in pain as it jumped back and let go of Oxnard. Oxnard scrambled to his feet and began to run towards the others. Neteru shouted out, "Flay oh" and the spell conjured a fire ball from his magic staff. The fire ball hit the cat right in the face and immediately the cat was engulfed in flames. While the cat was on fire, Nin-Ham ran over to his chakram which lay on the ground. He picked it up and placed it back on his belt.
The beige cat went for our heroes causing everyone to split up. The cat began to chase Laura gaining on her fast.
"Aaaahhh, help!" shouted Laura as the cat began to gain on her. Boss, Oxnard, Hamtaro, and all the former humans chased after the cat in an attempt to save their friend. Meanwhile, Soshi, Nin-Ham, Neteru, Mara, and Jingle battled the other three cats. Even though the white cat was still engulfed in flames, he still persisted in trying to capture the ham-hams.
"This should stop them." said Jingle. He began to play is guitar and sang, "Viola ma deyo..." but the spell was not affecting the cats. The flaming cat jumped for Jingle, despite the fact that half of its front paw was almost cut off, and nearly clawing Jingle as he landed. Jingle jumped back, startled by the attack. Thinking fast, Soshi ran under the cat holding up both her glowing katana and wakizashi into the air. The glowing weapons sliced the under belly of the white cat causing the cat's intestines to spill out. Soshi was slightly singed by the fire but she was okay. The flaming white cat meowed in pain and fell over dead, succumbing to its injuries and the flames that burned it alive.
Meanwhile, Laura was just moments away from being cat chow as she continued to be chased up the river but Boss and the others were just about to catch up to the cat. Boss leaped into the air and landed onto the cat's back. Without hesitating, Boss drove the ax down the cat's neck. The beige cat meowed in pain as she began to shake its body in an attempt to throw Boss off her back. Laura stopped running watching the cat try and shake off Boss. Without warning, the cat lunged for Laura, jaws opened wide and ready for the kill. Laura was taken so off guard by the cat that Laura just stood there afraid. Suddenly, Hamtaro jumped out and grabbed Laura, shoving her out of the way as the cat bit down onto the soil. Boss took his ax and drove it deep into the bone in the cat's neck and severing the spine. Immediately, the cat toppled over as it lost sensation beneath the neck. Boss leaped off of the cat's back and with his sword, he severed some important veins in the cat's neck causing a fountain of blood to poor out onto the dirt.
"Lets get out of here." said Boss. They all ran off as the cat was left there to bleed to death.
"Tota mala." said Neteru as he fired a beam of red energy from his magic staff. The beams struck the two remaining cats in the face knocking them off their feet and into the air. At that moment, Hamtaro, Boss, Oxnard, and the former humans arrived.
"Everyone, get across the river." ordered Neteru. The ham-hams all raced across the river using the rocks that was the only bridge across. The orange and white cat was already heading towards Neteru until he said "Flay oh" and another fire ball came out of his paw. The fire ball set the cat on fire but amazingly, the cat still persuade Neteru. By then, everyone had managed to cross the river except for Neteru and both the flaming orange/white cat and brown spotted cat was after him. Neteru immediately crossed the stones repeating "Badda-Badda" as he ran but the cats were still following.
"Come on, Neteru." shouted Hamtaro. All the others were shouting out to Neteru as well. The cats tried to follow Neteru as he hopped from stone to stone but the stones were wet and slippery. Before any of the cats could reach Neteru, both cats fell into the water screaming a loud "Meow" as they fell and were swept away in the current.
All of them began cheering as Neteru finally made it across the river.
"You did it, Neteru." said Hamtaro.
"Yeah, you showed that cat who's boss." said Boss.
"Thanks for all the cheers but I think we should continue on our journey." said Neteru. The thirteen adventurers continued walking repeating "Wasa-Wasa" as they walked. Neteru came up to Mara and said, "Have you noticed something odd about that attack today?"
"No, why do you ask?" asked Mara.
"There are a few things wrong about that situation." said Neteru. "One, those cats attacked us all at once. Cats are solitary predators and they are territorial so how did we come across five cats at once? Two, those cats tried to get us even when we severally injured them. Normally a cat would have fled after an injury like that. And three, they were immune to Jingle's charm spell. Some cats would have been able to have the will power to resist such a spell but that is rare so what are the odds that all five of those cats could be that rare few who could resist a bard as powerful as Jingle."
"What are you suggesting?" asked Mara.
"I think that someone had enchanted those cats' minds and forced them to fight us." said Neteru.
"But what kind of sorcerer would do that?" asked Mara.
"It couldn't have been magic." said Neteru. "If the cats were under a spell, Jingle's spell would have to interfere with the spell on the cats and there would have been signs of that but the cats instead shrug off the spell easily. The only way that could happen is that it wasn't magic that was controlling those cats' minds." Mara thought about what Neteru said and realized what he meant.
"You don't think it was the psion, do you?" said Mara.
"I'm sure of it." said Neteru.
And speak of the devil, across the river was the brown spotted psion who has been attacking them all this time. The psion was infuriated that the cats he had captured and controlled through his psionics had failed. The psion stayed in hiding as he watched the adventurers travel deeper into the forest. The psion had to stop them and he knew just how to do it. He followed the adventurers, this time with another plan.
Author's Note: A ninja-to, as the name suggests, is a weapon used by ninjas. It is a multipurpose short sword and some ninja-tos can double either as a blowgun, club, or a ladder rung. Shurikens are small star shaped weapons that can be thrown at their targets. A chakram is 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.