Walk A Mile In Your Shoes
Chapter 10: The Attack on the Mountain
Night was falling and the stars were beginning to show in the dark sky. The only light they had were the three glowing spheres that Jingle had conjured and the stones on Mara's and Neteru's staffs were glowing as well.
"We better stop for the night." suggested Neteru.
"Oh, no arguments here." whined Oxnard. "My feet are killing me."
"Mine too." said Kana.
"I'm so tired, I could sleep right here." said Hamtaro.
"Very well then, we shall camp here." said Neteru. Everyone pulled out a blanket from their back packs and laid them out onto the ground. Soshi took off her armor but she kept her belt on with her katana and wakizashi still in their sheaths. As Boss watched Soshi lie down on her blanket and get comfortable, a thought occurred to him.
"Hey Soshi, how did your swords glow like that?" asked Boss.
"What do you mean?" asked Soshi.
"You know, those swords were glowing when we were fighting those cats." said Boss. "And they did some incredible damage back there."
"Well, that is the power of a samurai's katana and wakizashi." said Soshi as she pulled out the two swords. "Like all samurai, my katana and wakizashi was past down from ancestor to ancestor. The spirit of my ancestors exist within these two weapons and during combat, I can summon their power to enhance my own power."
"So you were basically drawing strength from those weapons?" said Hamtaro eavesdropping. Infact, everyone had been listening.
"Yes, this power is called daisho and the more advanced a samurai is, the more power he/she can draw from his ancestors." said Soshi. "I possess the ancestral katanas and wakizashis from both sides of my family and when I have children of my own, they will inherit those weapons."
"Wow, so all those weapons are heirlooms to your family and by drawing from your ancestors, you can be more dangerous with those weapons." said Travis.
"Exactly." said Soshi. "But in order to use daisho, we must follow the Code of Bushido and protect our weapons. The loss of either a katana or a wakizashi is considered the ultimate dishonor for a samurai."
"Wow, that sounds harsh." said Boss.
"It is but it's worth it." said Soshi. The others were too tired to push the subject so instead, the lights were put out and they all fell asleep.
Days had gone by since they left Rokugon and by following the directions on the map, they were getting closer and closer to their intended destination. One evening, they found themselves at the foot of a large rocky mountain. Neteru held out the map and examined it.
"This is the mountain we're supposed to climb." said Neteru.
"We're going to climb that?" said Oxnard staring up at the mountain. "Can't we stop for a break?"
"We just had dinner." said Neteru. "Besides, we still have an hour or two of sun light and we better get as far as we can up the mountain before it gets too dark to see." The sun light was getting dimmer and the setting sun was causing the sky to turn orange. It was obvious that the light is only going to get darker very quickly so Neteru insisted they press onward. But before Neteru could climb up the mountain, a ham-ham came out from a small space in the rock. The ham-ham had long messy brown fur all over his body and he was about Cappy's height.
"Hamha, what brings you to my mountains?" said the ham-ham.
"Oh, uh, we need to climb up these mountains." said Neteru a bit surprised about this ham-hams sudden arrival.
"I can help you find the easiest way to the top, just follow me." said the ham-ham. The furry ham-ham walked up the trail along side the mountain repeating "Ticky-Ticky" as he walked. Along the way, he turned around and noticed that the others were not following him.
"Heke?" said the ham-ham. "Why aren't you guys following me?"
"Oh, we're coming." said Neteru. He and the others walked up the trail following the little furry ham-ham repeating "Ticky-Ticky" as they walked. Along the way, Neteru couldn't help but feel uneasy about this ham-ham. There was just something about him that seemed suspicious.
The little furry hamster enthusiastically led them up the trail skipping merrily up the rocky slope repeating "Chick-ah Chick-ah" as he walked. He was moving so fast that he was moving ahead of the others.
"Come on, slow pokes." said the ham-ham.
"Slow down, I'm already too tired to keep up." complained Oxnard but the little ham-ham still went on ahead of them.
"Why is he trying to loose us like this?" said Neteru to no one in particular. The little furry ham-ham skipped all the way to large rock and just sat there.
"What's that sound?" asked Hamtaro. Everyone stopped and listened as they realized they were listening to a faint humming sound. As Neteru thought about it, he recognized the sound as an mental display from a psionic power. As he looked up, he saw several rocks beginning to move overhead and he realized that someone was moving the rocks with telekinesis. Before Neteru warn the others, the rocks tumbled from the side of the mountain and heading strait for Neteru and the others.
"Kay bau soo." shouted Neteru and he and the others were surrounded by some kind of green force field just as the rocks tumbled onto them. Rocks and debris fell onto our heroes burying them alive under several pounds of dirt and rock.
The little ham-ham, whom the others thought they could trust, was actually the psion who had transformed his shape to fool them. As the psion watched the last bit of rock fall on the pile that buried Neteru and the others alive, the psion changed back into his regular form revealing is quarterstaff and the green gem which was still around his. The psion couldn't believe that his plan had worked until he heard Neteru shout out, "Vaw bary goosh." Without warning, the pile of rock fired in all directions. The psion quickly used his powers to ward off the rocks that flew in his direction. With the help of his magic, Neteru managed to repel the rocks off of him and the others and freeing themselves. With a look of shock and anger, the psion glared at Neteru and the others.
"Hand over the map and I shall spare your lives." said the psion.
"Hekanack." said Neteru and a beam of green energy shot forth from his magic staff. The psion immediately teleported away from the beam causing the beam to strike the rock that was behind him and shattering it into pieces.
"Come on, Mara, we're going after him." said Neteru.
"Bowa da." chorused Mara and Neteru and suddenly, their feet glowed an orange color and their outer edges seemed blurred and fuzzy.
"You guys stay here and we will be right back." said Neteru before he and Mara leaped into the air and began to chase after the psion
Mara and Neteru leaped from ledge to ledge like grass hoppers. Thanks to the spell they were under, they were capable of leaping at great distances enabling them to move farther and farther up the mountain.
"Where could he be?" asked Mara out loud.
"He might be trying to set up an ambush." suggested Neteru. And speaking of the psion, he was now hiding on a ledge, watching Neteru and Mara come closer to him. The psion knew that Mara and Neteru would find him eventually so the psion had to act fast. As Mara leaped into the air, the psion manifested a quick telekinetic thrust to push Mara over the edge.
"Aaahh!" screamed Mara as she fell. Mara nearly plummeted to her death but luckily, Neteru used his own telekinetic powers to move Mara back onto the rock safely.
"Thanks, Neteru." said Mara. "That was a close one."
"That psion must be somewhere nearby." said Neteru. For awhile, no one moved. Neteru and Mara tried to spot the psion amongst the rocks but the psion still remained on the ledge he was hiding on and the dim light from the setting sun didn't help either. The psion knew he couldn't just wait there any longer so he decided to make his move. He quickly manifested two psionic powers. The first was a psionic power that made him invisible. The other enabled him to actually have sticky feet and paws enabling him to climb the rocky surface like a spider. He crawled down the rocky mountain edging carefully towards Neteru and Mara. But what the psion didn't realize was that Neteru had cast a spell on himself that enhanced his hearing. Neteru could actually hear the psion as he got closer and closer to Mara and Neteru. Once the psion was close enough to use his psionics, Neteru shouted out, "Rectomb dobra." A green lightening bolt was shot from Neteru's staff and although it missed the psion, it still blasted him right off of the rock causing the psion to plummet to the ground below. Neteru and Mara watched the psion fall but since the psion was still invisible, there was nothing to see.
"Is he dead?" asked Mara.
"I don't know." said Neteru. "I wouldn't be so sure about it though. Lets get down to the others." Neteru and Mara used their powers to leap down from the side of the cliff and reach the others who seemed anxious to know how the fight went. They were all asking questions at once to the point that it was all barely understandable. After quieting down the talkative group, they told everyone what had happened.
"Wow, did you destroy that psion?" asked Hamtaro.
"I can't say for sure since he might have used his powers to some how survive that fall." said Neteru. "To be on the safe side, we must be on our guard."
"You know, the sun is going down, we may want to camp here for the night." said Boss. Neteru looked at the setting sun in the distance and realized that its light was almost gone and the stars were becoming visible.
"I suppose you're right." said Neteru. "We shall camp here and continue our search in the morning." They all got on to their makeshift sleeping mats and they all fell asleep for the night.
The next morning, after a quick breakfast, they continued their climb up the mountain until the map led them to what looked like a hamster size door made entirely out of stone.
"Is this where we're supposed to go?" asked Hamtaro. Neteru held out the map in front of him.
"Yes, according to the map, this is where we have to go." said Neteru.
"But how do we open it?" asked Boss. "There's no door knob so how can it be opened?"
"Perhaps you need a password." suggested Jingle. "Is there a password on that map?"
"No." said Neteru. Neteru set the map aside and then examined the door. As he did, he noticed a round hole in it and Neteru suddenly remembered the red stone that Terra had given him. From his back pack, he pulled out the stone and placed it into the hole. The stone suddenly glowed red like a light bulb placed into an activated light bulb socket. Suddenly, the door slid inwards and then slid into the wall revealing a long dark tunnel.
"Luma." said Neteru and Mara and the gems on both their staffs lit up.
"Come on, we're going in." said Neteru. They all walked into the darkness following Neteru and Mara's glowing staffs, unaware of what may be down there in the darkness of the tunnel...