Journey to the Island of Halastia
Chapter 1: A Day of Reuniting
Author's Note: This is a sequel to the fanfics "Walk a Mile in Your Shoes" and "The Mystery of Snoozer." This story would be easier to understand if you have read both stories first.
It was a lovely Monday morning. The kind you would often see near the end of summer with the beautiful blue sky, bright warm sun shine, and trees swaying and dancing in the breeze. A wonderful day to be outside and enjoy the fresh air. This beautiful day has caught the attention of two ham-hams: Neteru and his girlfriend Mara. Neteru is a tall brown and white hamster with squinted eyes and Mara has fur that is completely mustard yellow. Both Neteru and Mara are sorcerers who have been separated long ago but had been reunited thanks to Hamtaro and the Ham-Hams. It was a bizarre story on how they were separated. Mara had spent her life as a slave to an evil spirit while Neteru was put under a sleeping spell that kept him asleep for a long time. Infact, to the Ham-Hams, he was known as Snoozer until he finally awoken. Now the two are back together again and their relationship is now stronger and closer than ever before.
"Isn't it a beautiful day?" asked Mara.
"It certainly is." said Neteru. Both Neteru and Mara were lying beside each other on the large blades of grass (large to a hamster's point of view) and staring up at the clouds as they rolled by. Neteru and Mara held each others paws affectionally, enjoying the view and each other's company. As they laid there, they heard the sound of a ham-ham running towards them, repeating "Ticky-Ticky" as he ran towards them. It was Cappy they had heard and he stopped right in front of Neteru and Mara.
"Get up you guys." said Cappy frantically.
"Where's the fire, Cappy?" said Neteru sarcastically.
"There's no fire." said Cappy. "But the moving truck has finally arrived."
"Heke! It's here already?" said Neteru in surprise. Cappy nodded his head. Neteru got back onto his feet suddenly and said, "Come on, Mara, we got to introduce ourselves to our new neighbor."
"Oh, do I have to get up?" whined Mara playfully.
"Yes." said Neteru with a smile. He helped Mara back onto her feet. They picked up their magic staffs which were great magical weapons used by Neteru and Mara. Neteru's staff was wooden and it was lumpy as if the creator was having difficulties keeping the sander steady. The staff was in a cone shape and at the base of the cone was a large green diamond. Mara's staff looked like a metal golf tee with a glass icosahedron on the top of it.
"So, shall we teleport to Hamtaro's house or should we walk?" asked Mara casually.
"It's such a nice day, why don't we walk." said Neteru.
"Okay." answered Mara. The two held each others paw and walked to Hamtaro's house repeating "Chick-ah Chick-ah" as they walked.
Back at Hamtaro's house, Laura was staring into a mirror, adjusting the ribbons in her hair. Hamtaro sat in his cage, watching Laura adjust her ribbons.
"Laura, are you ready yet?" cried Forrest's voice from down stairs. "Your Aunt Birtha and uncle Chuck are waiting impatiently for you."
"Almost ready, I just have to fix my hair." cried out Laura. Laura was preparing to meet her aunt and uncle, not because they were visiting but because they were moving in across the street. Uncle Chuck got a job in the office building where Forrest works and they're moving to the neighborhood. Of-course, Chuck had to bring his wife, Birtha, and his son and Laura's cousin, Jake. Laura looked outside her window in order for her to see the moving van in front of the house across the street. On the lawn, she saw her Uncle Chuck who was a fairly tall man with brown-orange hair and a matching mustache. He wore an ugly yellow shirt and brown pants. Birtha, who stood next to Chuck, was a chubby looking women with dark brown hair and brown eyes and she wore a blue dress. Next to them was Laura's cousin, Jake who had the same brown eyes and brown hair as Laura. He was wearing a white shirt and red shorts. Upon Jake's shoulder, Laura could see what appeared to be a black rodent. Laura knew that the rodent must be Jake's hamster, Moonbeam. Laura looked down on Hamtaro and said to him, "Ready to meet Jake?"
"You bet." thought Hamtaro. Indeed, Hamtaro and the Ham-Hams have been looking forward to seeing Moonbeam again after they had heard she was moving into town. They haven't seen her since the last time Jake and Moonbeam came to visit. Laura opened up Hamtaro's cage and pulled out her furry little pet. She placed Hamtaro onto her shoulder and she carried him outside.
By the time she got outside to meet her aunt and uncle, Laura's parents was already waiting for her. Chuck saw Laura walk up to them and said, "Well, if it isn't my little niece, Laura."
"Hi, Uncle Chuck." said Laura. Chuck quickly shook Laura's hand and gave it a hard squeeze. Laura quickly let go of the handshake and rubbed her hand in pain.
"Oh Chuck, must you always be so ruff on her." scolded Birtha. "Nice to see you again, Laura. You must have grown a foot since I last saw you."
"No she hasn't." said Chuck. "She had two feet the last time you saw her and she had two feet now." Chuck laughed hysterically at his own joke.
"Wow, he has the same sense of hummer as Howdy." thought Hamtaro. Jake stepped forward, wanting to introduce himself.
"Hey Laura, long time no see." said Jake.
"Hi, Jake." said Laura. She noticed Moonbeam and said to her, "Hi Moonbeam." Laura stroked Moonbeam's head causing Moonbeam to giggle. Hamtaro noticed that Moonbeam hadn't changed much since he last saw her. She still had dark gray fur like she did last time. However, what was new about her was that she was carrying a staff. The staff appeared to be made out of stone and it was the same golf tea shape as Mara's staff and it had a round blue stone on top.
"So, have you enrolled into school yet?" asked Laura to Jake in an attempt to start conversation.
"Yes and I heard that I'm going to be with some guy named Mr. Yoshi." said Jake.
"No way, he was my teacher when I was in the fifth grade." said Laura.
"Really?" said Jake. "That's great. Will we be in the same class?"
"No." said Laura. "I'm starting middle school once summer is over."
"Middle school, huh?" said Chuck. "That means you're half way through school."
"Why don't we help you guys with the unpacking." said Forrest changing the subject.
"Great idea, bro." said Chuck. "Is that okay with you, Laura?"
"That's fine with me." said Laura. "Just let me put Hamtaro away." As Laura turned around to head for the house, Hamtaro called out to Moonbeam, "Meet me outside of your new house as soon as you can."
"Okay, see you there." replied Moonbeam.
Laura brought Hamtaro into the house and to his cage. She held Hamtaro into her cupped hands and asked him, "Are you wanting to go out and say 'hi' to Moonbeam?" Hamtaro nodded his head. Laura knows about Hamtaro's double life with the Ham-Hams so instead of placing Hamtaro back into his cage, she placed him onto the bed and said, "Have fun, Hamtaro." and then left the room.
"Thanks, Laura." called out Hamtaro even though he knew that she couldn't understand him. Once Laura had left the room, Hamtaro snuck in-between the bed and the wall and escaped through the hole in the wall like always. He scurried along the roof repeating "Ticky-Ticky" as he did and then he slid down the drain pipe and flew out of it shouting "Oopaa" as he did. He landed perfectly upon Brandy's head and said to him, "Thanks for the landing, Brandy." Brandy only yawned in response. Hamtaro leaped off of Brandy's head and then he scurried off to the house across the street, repeating "Badda-Badda" as he ran.
Upon reaching the lawn in front of Moonbeam's house, Hamtaro noticed Moonbeam herself standing at the foot of her front door.
"Hamha, Hamtaro." greeted Moonbeam.
"Hamha." said Hamtaro. "Long time no see."
"It has been awhile, hasn't it?" said Moonbeam.
"So what do you want to do first?" asked Hamtaro.
"Well, I would like to see the Ham-Hams again." said Moonbeam.
"Okay, to the Clubhouse it is." said Hamtaro.
"That wont be necessary." said a voice behind Hamtaro. Hamtaro turned around and saw the Ham-Hams come out from behind a bush, each one of them saying their "hello's" and greetings as they came out into the open.
"Hamha, Ham-Hams." greeted Moonbeam.
"Hamha, Moonbeam." said Sandy. "Welcome to our neighborhood."
"Well, I'm glad to be here." said Moonbeam. Penelope walked up to Moonbeam in greeting.
"Well hello, Penelope." said Moonbeam.
"Hel...lo." said Penelope stuttering a bit on her words.
"Did you just say 'hello?" asked Moonbeam.
"Yep." said Pashmina answering for Penelope. "Penelope is finally beginning to learn new words."
"Good for you, Penelope." said Moonbeam. "Can you say my name?"
"Moo...veem." said Penelope struggling with the name.
"Don't worry, you'll get it." said Moonbeam.
"Hey, Moonbeam." said Neteru as he and Mara came out from around a corner of a house. "Sorry we took so long."
"Hey, Neteru. Hey Mara." greeted Moonbeam. Neteru and Mara, unlike the other Ham-Hams, has visited Moonbeam frequently (using teleporation spells) to give her lessons on magic use.
"I was wondering when you'll get here." said Mara. "Now we don't have to teleport to your house every week." They all giggled at the comment.
"So Moonbeam, what do you want to do?" asked Hamtaro.
"How about I see the Ham-Ham Fun Park." said Moonbeam. "I just loved riding those rides when I was here last time."
"Hamsterrific idea." said Hamtaro. "Lets go now."
"Okay, everyone follow me to the fun park." said Boss. Boss ran off repeating "Daba-Daba" as he ran and the others followed, repeating "Badda-Badda" as they ran. Boss led the Ham-Hams to a hole in Moonbeams lawn. He leaped down the hole and like a bunch of lemmings, the Ham-Hams leaped down the hole after Boss and followed him down the tunnels, their pattering feet echoing loudly off the tunnel walls.
The tunnels Boss led the Ham-Hams through stretched far under the town towards the park where the Ham-Ham Fun Park is located. They traveled all the way through the tunnels until they finally reached a hole located just next to the Fun Park. They all leaped out of the hole one at a time. Moonbeam was the last to exit the hole and she gasped with joy upon the sight of the fun park.
"Well, which ride to you want to try first?" asked Boss.
"I think I'll ride the rollercoaster." said Moonbeam as she charged towards the rollarcoaster repeating "Badda-Badda" as she ran. Everyone spread out as they went to the ride they wanted to be on. It was a fun filled day for Moonbeam and the Ham-Hams as they road the rides and swapped stories about what had happened while they were apart. Moonbeam told her friends how advanced she has become in her magical training. Although she still has a lot to learn if she wants to reach the level of Neteru and Mara but she has certainly come a long way. She even made herself her very own staff so she could learn spells that require one. It was certainly a fun day for everyone and it was going to get better when a new visitor came to join the party.
While talking with Mara and Moonbeam, Neteru suddenly heard a soft squeaking sound in the distance.
"Do you hear that?" asked Neteru. The three of them put a paw to their ear and listened.
"It sounds like squeaky wheels." said Moonbeam.
"I say we figure out where it's coming from." said Mara.
"Good thinking." said Neteru. The three of them ran towards the direction of the sound repeating "Ticky-Ticky" as they did. The squeaking noise was growing louder as they went deeper into the small forest of trees and bushes which were as tall as buildings (from a hamster's point of view). Finally, they managed to find their way out of the miniature forest and saw where the squeaking noise was coming from. It was coming from a hamster sized cart, kind of like the cart Sabu drags around, and the cart was pushed by a single hamster sized individual. The figure didn't appear to be a ham-ham because of what appeared to be unusually thick hair on his/her back.
"What is that?" asked Mara.
"I don't know but it doesn't appear to be a ham-ham." said Neteru.
"We better wait and watch as it gets closer." said Moonbeam. The three of them waited a watched as the figure got closer into view
As the figure got closer, Neteru recognized the figure as a brown and white hedgehog.
"Wait a minute, that's Terra." said Neteru.
"Terra?" said Moonbeam. "Who's Terra."
"She's that psychic hedgehog I met back in Rokugon." said Neteru.
"What's she doing here?" asked Mara.
"I don't know but I think we should go ask her." said Neteru. The three of them ran up to Terra, surprising her with their presence.
"Neteru, what a pleasant surprise." said Terra.
"Hello, Terra." said Neteru. "These are my friends, Moonbeam and Mara."
"Hamha, Terra." said Mara.
"Hello, there." said Terra.
"So Neteru tells us that you're a psychic." said Moonbeam to Terra.
"Yes, I'm what as known as a psion, a practitioner of the psionic arts or what most people know it as the psychic arts." said Terra.
"What are you doing here?" asked Neteru.
"Business was running slow at my shop in Rokugon so I decided to sell the shop and move to some place that is less crowded than Rokugon." said Mara. "So, I came here to start a new life."
"Well, welcome to the neighborhood." said Neteru. "Why don't I show you the rest of the Ham-Hams."
"I would love too if you guys could help me push this cart." said Terra.
"Of-course." said Neteru as he and the others got on different sides of the cart and helped Terra push it through the trees towards the Ham-Ham Fun Park repeating "Grooba" as they did.
As they pushed the cart, Moonbeam asked, "Terra, how come you can speak and understand our language when only ham-hams can understand it."
"As you may know, some creatures are gifted with the ability to understand ham-hams." explained Terra. "I'm just one of those lucky few."
"So what's in this thing?" asked Mara.
"Just all my personal belongings and all the merchandise I couldn't sell." said Terra. "I don't like to throw anything away so I carry it with me. By the way, do you guys knew of a place I could live in?"
"No but we are more than happy to help you build a home." said Neteru. "Boss had build his home and Mara and I had built a home of our own as well. I'm sure we can build you something."
"I'm sure that would be lovely." said Terra. They helped Terra push the cart towards the Fun Park and the constant squeaking of the cart's wheels drew the attention of the Ham-Hams towards the cart. Over by the rollercoaster ride, Hamtaro asked Panda, "Who do you think that is?"
"I don't know but she looks like a hedgehog." said Panda. "Come on, lets go speak with her." Everyone ran up to Terra repeating "Badda-Badda" as they ran. They all gathered around Terra curiously.
"Wow, you certainly have a lot of friends here, Neteru." said Mara.
"Ham-Hams, I would like you all to meet Terra, that psionic hedgehog I told you about." said Neteru to the Ham-Hams.
"Hamha, Terra." said Hamtaro. "Welcome to our neighborhood." Everyone began to introduce themselves one by one and once everyone had finished, Neteru told them that Terra will need a place to live and he told Terra that the Ham-Hams would help her build a home.
"Of-course, we would love too." said Hamtaro.
"Can't we have a lunch break first." begged Oxnard.
"Okay, Oxy." said Hamtaro. "It is lunch time, after all."
"All zee food eez over by zee tree stump." said Bijou.
"Last one there is a gerbil." said Hamtaro. Everyone followed Bijou repeating "Badda-Badda" as they ran towards the stump.
As Bijou had promised, all the food that was available was on the stump, complete with acorns that had been gathered and some sun flower seeds.
"Dig in, everyone." said Bijou. Everyone started to gather seeds and nuts from the stump and they began krumping down on the food. However, Terra was a little less enthusiastic about the food than the others as she helped herself to a sun flower seed. She stared at the sun flower seed she held in her paws as if she wasn't sure what to do with it. Noticing her reaction, Hamtaro asked, "What's wrong, Terra? Don't you like the sun flower seeds?"
"It's not that." said Terra. "It's just that I don't often eat sun flower seeds. I only eat seeds and nuts occasionally."
"Really?" said Neteru after swallowing a sun flower seed. "What do hedgehog eat?"
"Insects mostly." said Terra. Most of the ham-hams who overheard this froze.
"You eat insects?" asked Pashmina in disgust.
"Yuck." said Penelope.
"I know it sounds weird but hedgehogs are more carnivorous than hamsters." said Terra. "My personal favorite is crickets and grasshoppers but I often enjoy eating flies, moths, spiders, and meal worms." said Terra. "I also eat eggs whenever I can get to them." Everyone cringed at the thought.
"But don't worry, I'll not eat them in front of you guys if I can." said Terra noticing their reactions. "In the mean time, could someone help me figure out how to get this shell off." Hamtaro helped Terra learn how to gnaw the shells off which was harder for Terra since her teeth are different than hamster teeth.
Once they all had lunch, they got to work helping Terra build her home. Since Neteru and Boss had built their homes underground, Terra decided to have her home built that way too. They began to dig up Terra's home repeating "Diggi-Duggi" as they did. Once the perfect underground home was dug up, Terra used her psionic powers to add her own touches, making the underground home seem more like a stone carving than the flat smooth surfaced walls found at the Clubhouse or Neteru's home. Once the house itself was built, they then helped Terra build herself some furniture. Panda did most of the work but Terra also helped out too. Apparently, she had some experience in working with wood and like what she did with the house, she put in her own ideas making, the furniture unique.
Once the furniture was built, everyone else then began to move all of Terra's belongings into the house. The sun was beginning to go down in the distance as everyone finished Terra's new home. Everyone stood inside the underground home and they all admired their work.
"It is absolutely beautiful." said Terra. "Thank you all for your help."
"You're welcome, Terra." chorused the Ham-Hams.
"You're perfectly welcome to the Clubhouse anytime you like." said Boss.
"Are you sure you wont mind?" asked Terra. "After all, I'm not a ham-ham."
"True but you're our friend and that is what matters." said Neteru.
"I'm flattered." said Terra. "By the way, it is getting late, shouldn't you all be going home by now?"
"Oops, she's right." said Hamtaro. "We better get going." Everyone said "Bye-Q" to Terra as they left her new home. They all walked up the long steps to the door repeating "Wasa-Wasa" as they did. The door leading in and out of the small home was lying horizontally instead of vertically, just like the door to Neteru and Mara's home. Because of the design, the ham-hams all had to push up on the door in order to open it. They all spread out from the door and they all went their separate ways to home repeating "Badda-Badda" as they ran.
Hamtaro made it home before Laura (as usual) and that night, Laura was once again in her pajamas and writing in her diary. She wrote in it:
Dear Diary
I spent the whole day with my cousin Jake and his parents. I helped them unpack and afterwards, we went out for dinner. I also introduced Jake to his new school and I showed him around it.
Laura wanted to write more but she felt too tired and decided to put it off till morning. She turned her gaze towards Hamtaro and said to him, "I bet you and the Ham-Hams must have spent a nice fun filled day with Moonbeam." Hamtaro only grinned in response. Laura then sighed heavily.
"I wish I could talk to you, Hamtaro." said Laura. "I wish there was some way I could change into a hamster and go out on your adventures all the time."
"I wish for that too, Laura." thought Hamtaro. "I wish for that too."