Ch.6

Concerns and Questions

Welcome to ch.6! This chapter's basically about tying up lose ends and answering question you might have. I expect this to be one of my longer chapters. Please R&R!

Hamtaro, Boss, and Pepper practically collapsed as they entered Seth's house, thankful to be in the air-conditioned home. After spending hours in the dry heat of the canyon and experiencing several close calls with a cliff, they were ready for a long rest.

"See, you're getting the hang of it," said Seth as he shut the door.

"Yeah, we almost got the hang of dying too," grumbled Boss.

Hamtaro finally picked himself off the ground. "Sorry we kinda banged up your vehicles. I swear that boulder came out of nowhere!"

The dust-colored hamster shrugged. "It's okay; I can fix 'em up before tomorrow, you just go relax."

"Good idea," agreed Pepper as she rose painfully. "I launched off that one jump and I landed so hard, I swear that rock got me pregnant!"

Seth wiped sweat from his brow before plunging his wrench back into the buggy Hamtaro was using. Repairing all three vehicles was hard work, but he had done it hundreds of times before and time seemed to fly by. Little did he know, he had an audience on the front porch. Pashmina, Penelope, Bijou, Sandy, Pepper leaned against the railing watching the boy hamster go to work on the vehicles.

Shelby exited the house, a soda in paw. "Whatcha doin'?"

Pashmina pointed at Seth. "Watching him fix the cars."

Penelope smiled. "Ookwee!"

"He certainly knows what he's doing with his paws, no?" asked Bijou.

"I didn't know you were so interested in fixing cars," replied Shelby after a sip of soda. "You don't exactly seem like the type of girl to like that kind of stuff."

"Cars?" repeated Bijou with a confused look on her face. "We're watching Seth!"

Sandy leaned further on the railing. "Don't tell Maxwell, but I think Seth's got the hottest body!"

"The tall hamster with the book?" asked Shelby as she put her soda on the railing. "Are you two going out?"

The tiger-striped hamster blushed. "Well, I dunno, maybe, I guess, in a way, sorta, not really, but perhaps somewhat. He's smart, kind, sweet, but Seth's got a hot body!"

Pepper watched as Seth wiped his brow once more. "If I had a car, I'd let 'im fix it."

"I'd let 'im fix me." Added Shelby with a smile on her face. The rest of the girls stared at her. "…um, dinner. I'd let him fix me dinner, 'cause I heard he was a good cook…yeah." There was an awkward moment of silence before Shelby hurried back inside.

Shelby slapped a paw on her forehead. "What the heck was that?" she thought. "I don't like him anymore! Racing's my life, not him! Well, I'm not supposed to like him like that, even though he's cool, adventurous, charming, not to mention he's got a nice… stop it Shelby! You don't need him or any man! Great, now I sound like a lesbian. What's wrong with me? What's with all these feelings?"

"What was zat whole zing about 'fixing' her?" asked Bijou. " Zought zey broke up."

Pepper shrugged. "Beats me, but either way, she wants to…"

"Hey Pepper!" said Oxnard as walked onto the front porch. "I was wondering if we could talk privately."

"Um, okay sure," answered Pepper as she followed Oxnard inside.

As soon as the two were safely inside with no one around, Oxnard turned to his girlham. "Pepper, I'm worried about you being in that race."

"Oxnard, I'll be fine," Pepper said reassuringly.

"You saw that race yesterday," continued her boyham. "I don't want to see you get hurt!"

Pepper put her arms around the chubby hamster, causing him to blush slightly. "Don't worry, I'm surrounded by a giant vehicle and wearing a helmet and fire-retardant clothing." A smile came across her face. "I know how to cheer you up." He paw traveled downward, causing a grin to grow across Oxnard's face.

"Wow, you know just what I like, don't you?" asked Oxnard.

The country hamster winked at him. "You know it!" She picked the sunflower seed off the table and handed it to him. "A little snack always cheers you up!"

"You're freakin' amazing!" exclaimed her boyham before sinking his teeth into the seed.

"Hiya Seth!" exclaimed Hamtaro as he walked up to Seth, who was wiping his paws with a rag. "How's the car fixing coming?"

"Pretty good," answered Seth as he tossed the rag aside. "I'm just about finished."

"Alright!" exclaimed the younger hamster. "We'll be kickin' Fang's butt in no time! Why's he so mean to you anyways?"

Seth sighed. "It's kind of a long story, but I'll tell ya anyways. It started a while back during an ATV race at the Rockhopper. Fang, or as we called him back then, Otto, was pretty new to Sandstorm Canyon, but he was no stranger to off-road racing. He was on a winning streak and I was determined to end it. We were both neck and neck by the end of the race, vying over first place. We both flew over the last jump when he threw a punch at me, but I ducked it. He was thrown off balance and before he could regain it, bam! He landed, his mouth smashing against his ATV. I went on to win the race, but came out with several missing teeth. Instead of getting regular caps, he got the big, gold fang instead, took on the name Fang, and vowed to beat me in a race. He hasn't done it so far, but he's made examples of other racers of what he plans to do to me."

"Talk about your sore losers," said Hamtaro. "What'd he do to the other racers?"

"Trust me, you don't wanna know," answered Seth. "Besides, I'm not scared 'cause I know he'll never beat me, especially with revenge as his only goal."

Hamtaro smiled at Seth's confidence. "Wow, you must be fearless!"

The older hamster chuckled. "You kiddin' me? There's no such thing as fearlessness. Everyone's scared off something."

"You're actually scared of something?" asked Hamtaro in surprise. "Like what?"

Seth took a deep breath before beginning. "When I was about Penelope's age, I was playing on this boat when I fell in. I didn't know how to swim and I almost drowned, but thankfully, some fisherham pulled me out. I could never go into deep water since then."

Hamtaro's ears drooped unhappily. "Sorry I brought it up; I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

"It's okay," answered Seth. Besides, I live in a place filled with rocks and sand, so I'll be okay."

"Wait, then how do you bathe?" asked the younger hamster.

"Don't worry, I can bathe," answered the sand-colored hamster. "I just can't go into an ocean or sea or something like that."

"But what if it's a deep bathtub?" asked Hamtaro.

Seth rolled his eyes as he chuckled. "Drop it Hamtaro. Come on, let's go back inside for some dinner and relax. We've got a big day tomorrow."

I hope you enjoyed the chapter! It's longer than my last chapter too, just like I promised! The final chapter is coming soon! Who will win the race? Please R&R!