Temple of the Zodiac

Chapter 2: The Twelve Signs of the Zodiac

It all began far out at sea, on the island of Halastia, the island of the ham-hams. In the sea port town of Zolphville, a ham-ham was busy working on his latest discovery. This ham-ham is named Daruth, a short hamster who is covered in white fur that is dotted with light brown spots all over. He wore a gray vest and a large, thick pair of glasses which magnified his eyes, giving him an owl-like appearance. Daruth is an archeologist who likes to collect rare artifacts from ham-ham history. He studies ancient and extinct civilization from ham-ham history and collects both magical and nonmagical artifacts of every type. He used to own one of the Caidoz pieces until he gave his piece to the Ham-Hams. Even though he can no longer study the piece directly, he still likes to do research on the pieces along side his other research.

Daruth lives in a large house which is filled from top to bottom in ancient artifacts that were hung along the walls. The house was more quiet then it used to be, primarily because his roommates, Seamore and Barrette, had already moved out of the house. The two got married almost a year ago and now they live in the photo shop that they now own. Their new photo shop is in Zolphville so Daruth is still in contact with them and visits them sometimes.

Alone in his office, Daruth sat at a desk with piles of books and papers. The office itself was no different than the rest of the house since the walls were pea green and covered with artifacts that hung upon the walls. Daruth was busy deciphering the message on a piece of parchment and as he translated the message word for word, he soon began to become more interested with every bit of the message he read.

"This is incredible." said Daruth in amazement. "This single piece of parchment holds the secrets to the Caidoz pieces. With this information, I could become famous." The parchment was written in an ancient oriental language which has been dead for years and only the brightest of scholars know how to speak it. The parchment contained lots of information about the Caidoz pieces, more information than in any text book Daruth had ever read. It was so revealing and detailed, Daruth often questioned whether or not this was real and not a forgery but when he noticed that the parchment was indeed centuries old and its contents fit with the myths of the Caidoz pieces, Daruth believed that he was looking at the key to the secrets of the Caidoz.

Without warning, there was a knock on the door. Curious and irritated by the visitor, Daruth got out of his chair and walked to the front door, repeating "Badda-Badda" as he walked. He opened it and to his surprise, there was a ham-ham standing there but this was no ordinary ham-ham. This was a ham-ham he had only met once four years ago. It was so long ago, Daruth almost didn't recognize her at first. She was a rosy cheeked ham-ham who was covered in white fur. Strapped around her head was a head band of some kind which suspended a large gold ring over her head and in her left paw, she held a wand with a gold star on the tip of it. The ham-ham wore a large white coat which matched her white fur. The coat, no doubt, was used to cover up her long white bird wings.

"Heke? Harmony, what are you doing here?" asked Daruth to the ham-ham before him.

"I need to speak to you, it is very urgent." said Harmony in desperation. "Can I come in?"

"Well, okay." said Daruth, not sure why she would want to see him. Harmony came into the house and took off her coat, revealing her wings.

"Why do you want to speak with me?" asked Daruth.

"It's about the Caidoz pieces." said Harmony. "I fear the worst will happen."

"The worst?" asked Daruth concerned. "Tell me what has happened." Harmony began to explain to Daruth who listened with full concentration. He could not believe his ears what Harmony was telling him and the more she spoke, the more Daruth realized that this was a problem of world ending size.

Boss woke up one morning from a dream where he was marrying Bijou. He woke up just before he was about to kiss her. Irritated that he had to wake up right in the middle of the good part, he got out of bed and walked into his living room, repeating "Daba-Daba" as he walked. After eating another breakfast of seeds, he combed his fur, fixed up some tea and read a book in his favorite chair while waiting for the Ham-Hams. The first group of Ham-Hams to walk into the room was Hamtaro, Bijou, Oxnard, and Pashmina.

"Hamha." greeted Hamtaro as he came into the Clubhouse.

"Where's the snacks, Boss?" asked Oxnard.

"Hey guys, I've been waiting for you." said Boss. "I got a pot of hot tea out for ya."

"Hamtastic, I'm thirsty from the walk over here." said Pashmina.

"Yes, pour me some." said Bijou.

As they gathered around the table, another visitor came into the Clubhouse. This Ham-Ham was no more taller than Pashmina. She was covered in brown fur on her back which completely covered her head and half of her face, leaving the fur on the other half of her face and along her front to be white.

"Hamha, did I miss anything?" asked the ham-ham.

"Bonjour, Penelope." greeted Bijou. "Sit down with us and have some of zis tea Boss made for us."

"Okay." said Penelope happily as she came over to the table.

The Ham-Hams continued to snack and drink tea. It wasn't long until some more visitors showed up. It was Mara, Neteru, Kaiu, Moonbeam, and Terra and all of them came into the Clubhouse one at a time. The first to come in was Terra who was a light brown and white hedgehog with lots of long spines running along her back. She was a psion which is like a sorcerer but uses psychic abilities, also known as "psionics." Following close behind Terra was Moonbeam who was a sorcerous ham-ham with dark gray fur all over her body. In her paw was a magical staff which was made out of stone and shaped like a golf tee. On top of the staff was a round blue stone. Coming in after Moonbeam was Mara who was covered in mustard yellow fur and in her paw was a staff which looked like a metal golf tee with a glass icosahedron on the top of it. Neteru came up behind Mara and in his paw was a staff that was in a cone shape and at the base of the cone was a large green diamond. After Neteru, Kaiu came bursting out of the door as if he was on fire. Kaiu ran to the table, repeating "Badda-Badda" as he did, hopping up and down playfully.

"Hamha, Bijou." greeted Kaiu cheerfully.

"Bonjour." said Bijou.

"Easy now, Kaiu." said Mara.

"That boy is just bursting with energy." said Terra with a smile.

"He reminds me of me when I was that age." said Moonbeam. For a ham-ham, Kaiu was very small, probably no bigger than Penelope was four years ago. Peaking over the table, he noticed the pile of seeds sitting on top of it.

"Oooh, yummy." said Kaiu as he reached over for the seeds.

"Now Kaiu, you already had breakfast this morning." said Neteru.

"But Daddy, can't I have just one." pleaded Kaiu. Neteru sighed.

"Okay, but just one." said Neteru. Neteru reached over and picked up a sun flower seed from the plate on the table. He handed the seed over to his son who gnawed the seed's shell off, repeating "Packa-Packa" as he did so. He then bit into the seed, saying "Krmp" as he did so. Oxnard smiled as he watched Kaiu eat.

"At least he knows the value of a good snack." said Oxnard.

Over time, more of the Ham-Hams came to the Clubhouse, including the hamans, Laura, Kana, June, Kylie, Travis, and Roberto. In her hamster form, Laura is completely brown from top to bottom and she even has miniature hair clips on her head. Kana is also brown but her front is completely white in an oval shape on her chest and belly and a white circle on her face. She also wore hamster size glasses. June was covered completely in yellow fur that was more lighter in color than Mara's. Kylie's hamster form was completely covered in orange fur. She also still had her pig tails. Travis's form is a gray hamsters with black tiger stripes located in the same position as Sandy and Stan's brown tiger stripes. Roberto was entirely covered in crimson colored fur. The fur on top of his head stuck out everywhere in the same hair fashion Roberto's hair was in when he was human.

Once the whole Ham-Ham gang got together in the Clubhouse, they all decided to go to Acorn Mountain for a picnic. Now that school was over and summer had begun, the kids had all the time they wanted, enough time to spend with the Ham-Hams in another picnic. As usual, there was acorns all over Acorn Mountain, leaving plenty for the Ham-Hams to munch on. Everyone sat upon blankets, eating their lunches which included seeds and nuts that were brought along on their trip. After eating, they enjoyed some leisurely activities such as sit on the blankets and exchange some gossip, explore the trees, or played around with the nuts. Kaiu and Neteru spent their time by playing catch with a little red ball nearby. Neteru tossed the ball to Kaiu who caught it easily in his paws. Kaiu threw the ball back to Neteru but the toss was weak, causing it to fall short right in front of Neteru. Neteru picked up the the ball and said to Kaiu, "Nice toss but try to put in more muscle to it." Neteru threw the ball at Kaiu and Kaiu caught it just as it flew over his head.

"Daddy, did you see that catch?" said Kaiu excitedly.

"Yeah, that was really good, son." said Neteru. "Now see if you can throw it back to me." Kaiu threw the ball again. Although the ball didn't fall short like last time, it was too far to the right, missing Neteru entirely.

Mara watched Kaiu and Neteru playing catch nearby and smiled. She sat on a blanket along side Laura, Kana, Bijou, Pashmina, and Penelope. The girls were having a conversation together about their day.

"So your parents are going to Hawaii?" asked Mara, turning her gaze away from Neteru and Kaiu.

"Oh yes, my parents have been planning this trip for months and when the other adults found out about that, they decided to go to Hawaii together as a group." explained Laura.

"Yeah, my parents are going," said Kana, "so is Jake's, June's, Kylie's, Roberto's, and Travis's."

"When are zey leaving?" asked Bijou.

"They already left." said Laura. "We were all wishing them 'good luck' this morning while they caught their flight."

"But why didn't you guys come along?" asked Mara.

"Only Jake got to go." said Laura. "We got to stay home all buy ourselves."

Not far away, Neteru threw the ball back to Kaiu but it was a hard toss, allowing the ball to fly high into the air. Kaiu lifted both paws into the air as he blindly ran backwards to catch it.

"Badda-Badda." repeated Kaiu as he ran but the ball sailed right through is paws and was instead caught by someone directly behind him.

"You know, you should try focusing your paws more closely together when you are trying to catch a ball from that position." said the ham-ham behind Kaiu. Kaiu spun around and gasped when he noticed that the ham-ham had long white wings. It was Harmony. Kaiu took a step back away from Harmony, not sure as to what to make of her. Neteru ran up to Kaiu's side, repeating "Ticky-Ticky" as he ran. Once he was close enough, Kaiu grabbed his father's paw and said, "Daddy, who is this?"

"This Harmony." said Neteru with a smile. "Don't worry, she wont hurt you."

"Did that child call you 'Daddy?'" asked Harmony.

"Yep, this is my son, Kaiu." said Neteru.

"Oh, he's so cute." said Harmony sweetly. She knelt down and picked up Kaiu and held him by his arm pits over her head. "Oh, I can see his father in him. Is Mara his mother?"

"Why yes." said Neteru bluntly.

"That would explain his yellow fur." said Harmony.

"Could you please put me down." said Kaiu, starting to feel very uncomfertable. As instructed, Harmony placed Kaiu back onto his feet.

It was then that Neteru noticed Daruth standing right behind her. He seemed a bit tired and sweaty as if he had ran all the way from Halastia.

"Daruth, is that you?" asked Neteru.

"Yes, it's me." said Daruth as he cleaned off a lens from his glasses using a corner of his vest.

"Kaiu, this is Daruth, a friend of mine from over seas." said Neteru. "Do you remember him?"

"I remember you mentioning that you met him during your adventure to Halastia." said Kaiu. The reason why Kaiu knew that was because Neteru often liked to tell him stories about his adventures as a bed time story. Turning to Daruth, Neteru said, "Daruth, this is my son, Kaiu."

"A son?" asked Daruth. "I you didn't mention you had a child when we met."

"Mara only became pregnant with Kaiu shortly after we came home from the journey." explained Neteru.

At that point, everyone began to notice Harmony and they all began to crowd around her and Daruth. Soon, the two visitors were being overwhelmed by questions.

"When did you get here?"

"Where have you been?"

"Do you know where Spat is?"

Eventually, Neteru silenced them by casting a simple spell that made a loud "cracking" noise in the air which silenced the Ham-Hams out of surprise. Harmony laughed.

"I see you are all glad to see me." said Harmony. "However, I'm afraid to say that Daruth and I are not here to socialize for you see we are all in grave danger."

"Danger?" said Kaiu, hugging his dad's arm in fright. "Are we going to be attacked?"

"Not at the moment." said Harmony. "Our problems involve Glabrezu, Spat, and the Caidoz pieces."

"Heke?" came a loud chorus from the Ham-Hams.

"You mean those two are still after the Caidoz pieces?" asked Howdy. "Oldlee, I thought we taught them a lesson last time."

"Well, after we had thwarted their plans last time, they seemed to have gone into hiding and have reappeared to continue their hunt for the Caidoz pieces." said Harmony.

"What makes you say that?" asked Maxwell.

"I had a vision." explained Harmony. "I was performing one of my weekly mediations when suddenly, I had this vision. In my vision, I saw Glabrezu and Spat talking to each other and Glabrezu had told Spat that he knew where the pieces were and he was going to get them immediately."

"How did you get a vision?" asked Penelope.

"My mediations often reveal to be visions of the past, present, or future." explained Harmony. "It's an old divination trick where we can unconsciously receive visions from the divine." Neteru agreed with Harmony, considering the fact that he once had a vision of Terra in his sleep.

"I assumed Glabrezu had discovered how the pieces work so after I received my vision, I decided to go to Daruth, since he was already familiar with the pieces, to find out if he might know anything new about the Caidoz pieces and fortunately, he did." continued Harmony.

"What did he know?" asked Kaiu.

"I have discovered the secret to the Caidoz pieces." said Daruth proudly.

"Really?" said Bijou. "What eez ze secret?"

"Well, bring the two pieces you already have to me and I will show you." said Daruth.

"They are both still inside my home." said Terra. "I'll go over and get them." And with that, Terra ran off back to her home.

Twenty minutes later, Terra was seen running back up to Acorn Mountain with two Caidoz pieces in her paws. She came up to Daruth and gave the two Caidoz pieces to Daruth. The pieces were made out of gold. They were shaped like slices of pizza and at the tip, there was some kind of a short extension perpendicular to the piece itself. Daruth give one piece back to Terra and held the other one in his paw. He then gave the piece to Neteru and said to him, "Neteru, I want you to place your paw on this piece and say this poem: 'I am the sun, I am the moon. I am the clear blue sea. A gift from the stars, a gift to all. May this piece show it's sign to me.'" Curious as to what might happen, Neteru said the poem with his paw on the piece but when he finished reciting the poem, nothing happened. There was some confused glances from the Ham-Hams.

"Well that was anticlimactic." said Dexter.

"Well, why don't you try it, Dexter." said Daruth who took the piece out of Neteru's paw and gave it to Dexter.

"Well, all right." said Dexter. He placed his paw on the piece and then said the same poem as before but, just like last time, nothing happened.

"Exactly what are we doing?" asked Roberto.

"We are trying to activate the piece but only a certain person can do it." said Daruth.

"Ha, I bet I can do it." said Howdy.

"What makes you think that you can activate this piece when I can't?" interjected Dexter.

"Just watch me." said Howdy as he took the piece out of Dexter's paw. Howdy chanced a glance at Pashmina, making sure that she was looking, and then he placed his paw on the piece. "'I am the sun, I am the moon. I am the clear blue sea. A gift from the stars, a gift to all. May this piece show it's sign to me.'"

Without warning, the Caidoz piece that Howdy was holding began to glow a bright violet color right after Howdy completed the poem. The piece gave off a bright violet light which could be easily seen, even from a distance. Everyone stared in amazement at what they were witnessing.

"Heke." said Howdy in surprise. Howdy watched in amazement as a violet colored symbol began to engrave itself onto the piece. The symbol was two zig zag horizontal lines that were located on top of each other. The symbol glowed a violet color which stood out, even amongst the violet glow of the piece. The piece stopped glowing but the strange symbol that had appeared on it was still there, glowing softly.

The Ham-Hams all gathered around the piece and those who can see the piece were shocked at the sight of the symbol on it.

"What happened, Daddy?" asked Kaiu in wonder.

"I have no idea, son." said Neteru.

"What's that symbol on it?" asked Dexter.

"That is the zodiac sign for 'Aquarius.'" explained Daruth.

"Zodiac?" said Terra in surprise.

"Yes." answered Daruth with a proud smile on his face. "The twelve pieces of the Caidoz represent the twelve signs of the zodiac. Each piece represents a different sign and the piece that Howdy has in his possession represents Aquarius. Each of the pieces have their symbols hidden and only when their zodiac signs are revealed do their power become activated."

"But how come he could activate the piece when I couldn't?" asked Dexter angrily.

"A Caidoz piece can only be activated by someone who's zodiac sign matches the piece's." explained Daruth. "Howdy, when is your birthday?"

"My birthday?" asked Howdy. "It's February eighteenth. Why?"

"If you were born on February eighteenth, that means your zodiac sign is Aquarius." pointed out Maxwell.

"Exactly." said Daruth. "Howdy was born as an Aquarius which means he can activate the Aquarius piece."

"So that's how it works?" asked Neteru in amazement. "All you have to do is have the matching zodiac sign, say the poem over the piece, and that's it?"

"Yeah." said Daruth bluntly. "Infact, I have discovered that the name Caidoz hinted about its symbols. Here, let me demonstrate." Daruth picked up a stick from the ground and in the dirt, he wrote the word "Caidoz" in the soil. He then wrote the word "Zodiac" under it and Neteru's mouth hung open as he noticed the connection.

"Of course. 'Caidoz' is 'Zodiac' spelt backwards." said Neteru.

"Exactly." said Daruth with a proud smile. "The secret of the pieces was hidden within the name all along."

"So if that piece represents Aquarius, what does the other piece represent?" asked Hamtaro, pointing to the other piece in Terra's paws.

"It's hard to tell since the symbol is invisible before activation." said Daruth. "The only way to find out is to try different people with different zodiac signs and see which one of them can activate the piece."

"Try activating the piece, Terra." said Hamtaro.

"I can't." said Terra. "I too am an Aquarius and there can't be two pieces with the same symbol."

"She's right." said Daruth. "There is only one for each symbol."

"Here, Hamtaro." said Terra as she tossed the piece to him. Hamtaro caught it in his paws. "Activate the piece."

"Okay." said Hamtaro. Hamtaro placed is paw on the piece and said the poem. "I am the sun, I am the moon. I am the clear blue sea. A gift from the stars, a gift to all. May this piece show it's sign to me." Nothing happened.

"I guess it isn't my zodiac sign." said Hamtaro. "Here, Mara, why don't you try it." Hamtaro handed the piece to Mara who placed her paw on the piece and said the poem. Again, nothing happened.

"I guess it isn't me." said Mara. "Here Neteru, you try it."

"I don't know." said Neteru.

"Come one, Daddy, you might be able to activate the piece." said Kaiu with an envious smile. Neteru, who just couldn't resist Kaiu's cute smile, took the piece from Mara.

"Okay, I'll give it a try." said Neteru. He placed his paw on the piece and said, "I am the sun, I am the moon. I am the clear blue sea. A gift from the stars, a gift to all. May this piece show it's sign to me." Once the poem was complete, the Caidoz piece began to glow but not a violet colored light like what happened to the Aquarius piece. This time, the light was brown in color but still bright enough to be seen all around. As the piece glowed, a brown glowing symbol engraved itself onto the piece. This symbol looked like a "V" with a horizontal line on one tip and on the other tip was a curved line (kind of like an "S") with what appeared to be a lump of some kind in its center. The piece stopped glowing but its symbol still glowed its brown color right before their eyes.

"What zodiac sign is this?" asked Neteru.

"That is 'Capricorn.'" explained Daruth. "Your zodiac sign must be Capricorn."

"Are you sure?" asked Neteru.

"Well, what's your birthdate?" asked Daruth.

"It's January fourteenth." said Neteru.

"That means you're a Capricorn." said Daruth. "Now that we have two of pieces activated, I would like to show you another trick. Hand me the pieces." The pieces were given back to Daruth. Daruth then placed the two pieces together and said, "I join these pieces to each other so they can draw power from one another." Everyone watched in amazement as the two pieces glowed an orange light, as bright as the lights that were created when the pieces where activated. The glowing stopped suddenly, leaving the pieces fused together and their symbols still glowing. Daruth gave the conjoined pieces to Neteru who held the pieces in his paws in wonder. The two Caidoz pieces had connected together seamlessly. They were whole and there wasn't a single seam or crease to indicate that they were once apart yet their symbols still glowed softly.

"As you can see, the Caidoz pieces are capable of merging together but only in the correct order and only if their symbols are revealed." said Daruth.

"What happens when all twelve of the pieces are put together?" asked Neteru.

"They are supposed to form a key to open The Sidereal Palace." said Daruth.

"The Sidereal Palace?" asked Neteru.

"Yes, remember it?" said Harmony.

"Of course I do." said Neteru. "You mentioned it four years go as being the temple which holds the only physical portal into the Astral Plane."

"Yes and as you may remember, Neanna and Bocka are still trapped in the Astral Plane." said Harmony. "Clearly Glabrezu has discovered how to activate the pieces and is out to obtain them so he can free Bocka."

"We can't let that happen." said Laura. "If Bocka is freed, it could mean the end of all humanity. We have to stop Glabrezu, but how?"

"There is another option." said Harmony. "Who ever manages to connect the pieces together and accesses the portal in The Sidereal Palace, will be able to free either Neanna or Bocka from the Astral Plane. If we take the pieces for ourselves, we could free Neanna instead of having Glabrezu freeing Bocka."

"That's a great idea." said Moonbeam. "We could free our Goddess and she could once again be with us." There was some excitement going around as the Ham-Hams suddenly realized the possibilities of what Neanna could bring to the world if she were to be freed.

"So if we collect the pieces, we could free Neanna." said Hamtaro.

"We just have to connect ze pieces." said Bijou.

"Come on, Ham-Hams, lets find those pieces." said Boss. The Ham-Hams began to cheer with joy and excitement.

"But how are we going to find the pieces?" asked Neteru, silencing the Ham-Hams' cheers of joy.

"Not to worry, I have a complete list of all the locations where the pieces are kept." said Daruth. Daruth reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "This is a list where the remaining ten pieces are located."

"You mean you researched the locations of the pieces?" asked Neteru in surprise.

"Well, no." said Daruth bluntly.

"Then how did you get them?" asked Neteru.

"A friend of mine gave it to me." said Daruth.

"Who?" asked Neteru.

"There was this archeologist I came across last month." said Daruth. "He was a very large ham-ham with lots of red fur. He told me he was an archeologist who had been digging up artifacts for years. During one of his digs, he found an old parchment left in an ancient pyramid that was built over four millennias ago and the parchment had some unusual writing on it. He couldn't translate it so he gave the parchment to me and I worked on it. After hours of translating the parchment, I discovered that the parchment contained the secrets of how the Caidoz piece's work and I was excited by the news. I told my friend what I had found and after hearing the news, he offered to give me the list of clues to the location of the remaining pieces."

"Where did he get the list?" asked Moonbeam.

"I don't know." admitted Daruth. "After he gave me the list, he mysteriously vanished. I didn't even get a chance to find out his name."

"Do you think Glabrezu and Spat kidnapped him?" asked Terra.

"I don't know." said Daruth. "After I figured out the secrets of the Caidoz pieces, Harmony came to me and told me about her vision. We both knew that we had to find those pieces before Glabrezu but we needed help."

"So you came to us." said Neteru.

'"Exactly." said Daruth. "So what do you say?"

"Sure, I would love to." said Hamtaro at once.

"I'll go." said Maxwell.

"So would I." said Sandy.

"Well, if my sister is going than so am I." said Stan. There were cheers of agreement as the Ham-Hams once again volunteered for the dangerous mission.

So the Ham-Hams spent the day planning their mission to obtain the ten Caidoz pieces before Glabrezu. The plan was that the Ham-Hams will divide into five separate teams who will be assigned to obtain two separate Caidoz pieces. They agreed to spread out this way so they can find the pieces more faster. While they are searching for the pieces, Daruth and Harmony will venture out and try and find the Sidereal Palace using the map that was on the back of the parchment. Once their missions are complete, the Ham-Hams will all regroup at the Clubhouse so they can join the pieces together before heading out to the Sidereal Palace to free Neanna. They spent the day loading up their back packs and preparing for the difficult trip ahead of them.

The next morning, the entire Ham-Ham club (as well as the hamans) all gathered outside the entrance to the Clubhouse. It was very early in the morning so the sky was still bright orange as it rose in the distance. Some of the Ham-Hams looked tired from having to get up so early.

"Oowah." yawned Roberto. "Why did we have to get up so early."

"We need to get a head start on obtaining those Caidoz pieces." explained Boss. Everyone wore their backpacks securely onto their shoulders and gathered around in groups. Neteru, holding up a bucket filled with pieces of paper, stood outside the entrance to the Clubhouse.

"Okay everyone, settle down, please." called out Neteru. "As you know, we are all going to be divided into five teams and each team is going out to find two of the remaining Caidoz pieces. The teams will include the following Ham-Hams: Team one will include Penelope, Bijou, Pashmina, and Cappy. Team two contains Panda, June, Kylie, Maxwell, and Moonbeam. Team three contains Oxnard, Terra, Mara, Kana, and Laura. Team four includes Boss, Roberto, Travis, Sandy, and Stan. And team five will include myself, Hamtaro, Dexter, and Howdy. Now everyone gather into your chosen groups." Following Neteru's instructions, they all gathered into their chosen team. Hamtaro, Dexter, and Howdy gathered behind Neteru.

"Hey, you're crowding me." said Dexter to Howdy.

"No I'm not." interjected Howdy. As the two fought, Neteru sighed to himself as he realized he was going to have to tolerate those two the whole trip.

Suddenly, he felt someone tugging at his left arm. He looked down and to his surprise, it was Kaiu.

"Can I come along too, Daddy." pleaded Kaiu sweetly.

"Now Kaiu, this is not some leisurely excursion." said Neteru. "This is a serious mission and it might get tiresome and dangerous."

"But I want to be with you." said Kaiu. "Besides, you can't just leave me alone like this."

"We could hammy-sit him for you while myself and Daruth search for the Sidereal Temple." said Harmony. "I don't mind watching over the little darling."

"Are you sure the trip wont be dangerous for Kaiu?" asked Neteru.

"Nothing is certain, I'm afraid." said Daruth.

"But I want to be with you." pleaded Kaiu. "I want to be brought along on the adventure, too. Please, Daddy." Neteru glanced at Mara who stood beside her group. Mara, who had heard the conversation between Neteru and his son, gave him a sly smile, telling him wordlessly that nothing can stop a boy's envy towards his father. Neteru sighed, defeated.

"Okay, you can come with me but you have to behave." said Neteru.

"I promise." said Kaiu, hugging Neteru in gratitude.

Neteru turned his attention back to the Ham-Hams.

"Now that we are in groups, we must now draw a piece of paper from this bucket." said Neteru, holding up the bucket in his paws. "Each piece of paper contains the location of two Caidoz pieces. May one Ham-Ham from each team draw a piece of paper and whatever pieces is indicated on the paper, you must obtain both of them before returning to the Clubhouse. Everyone, draw your papers." The Ham-Hams gathered around the bucket and pulled out a piece of paper. There were some cries of joy as well as some scoffs of disappointment as they all got to look at what they ended up with. Neteru was the last one to pull out a paper from the bucket. He looked at the list with interest.

"Where are we going, Daddy?" asked Kaiu.

"I'll tell you about it along the way." said Neteru with a smile.

The Ham-Hams all began to walk their separate ways towards their missions. Daruth and Harmony left together to find the Sidereal Palace. Before Mara left with her group, she walked over to Kaiu, knelt down to his height and said, "Now you be a good boy to your father."

"Yes, Mommy." said Kaiu. Mara wrapped her arms around her son in a hug.

"That's my boy, take care of yourself, now." said Mara.

"Bye-Q, Mommy." said Kaiu sweetly.

"Bye-Q, son." said Mara. Mara got back onto her feet. After saying "Bye-Q" to her husband, she regrouped with her team as they left on their mission. Kaiu held onto Neteru's paw as they went off on their own mission. And so the adventure of the Caidoz pieces had begun....