Ham-Ham the Wandering Black Hamster

Book 1: Journeys

Arc: Journeys in the New World, Chapter 3: First Comrade

After six days of walking, Ham-Ham finally had it to a new settlement. The new settlement was more of a small village like his old village. As he walked down through the village, he realized that the main currency of the New World was different than the currency of his village. However, this really didn't matter to him since he didn't bring a lot of money with him. Then a sudden realization came to Ham-Ham, he checked in the supply bag that he received from the previous town. There were some coins in the bag. He went into the nearest tavern and pulled out a few coins and asked the Barkeeper,

"Will this be enough for one night?"

"Son, 3 gouls is more than enough. One night is only 17 pings and with food are only 1 mint and 5 pings."

"Barkeeper, can you explain the currency, please. I am new here. Also, give me a night with food."

"Okay, 21 pings is equal to 1 mint, 14 mints is equal to 1 sol, and 3 sols is equal to 1 goul. Here's your change."

"Thank you," said Ham-Ham.

The next day, Ham-Ham decided to see if there was any way to earn money. On one of the tavern walls was a mission board. There was one mission that stood out of the rest. This mission was crowded by many mercenaries. It looked like a simple berry collecting mission, but the reward was 250 gouls. The Barkeeper saw Ham-Ham approaching the poster and said,

"Son, I don't think that you want to take that mission, so far everyone that took it hasn't come back."

Ham-Ham replied, "I'll be careful, plus I like exploring this new world."

The berries were located north of the village near the rocky hill where there is a small open expanse of land. Ham-Ham decided not to follow the group of hamsters that followed the main path towards the expanse of land. Instead, he went down a smaller path that was well hidden by the bushes, but it didn't escape his newly keen eyes. Being once one of the best gatherers in his village, he had quite a good idea where the path led to. It led straight to the area where the berries were located at, instead of curving around to it like the main path did. When he got close enough to see the bushes with the berries, he took out his binoculars and zoomed in. Ham-Ham being the berry expert knew that the berries were sweet berries, but he still couldn't wonder why the rewards were so high.

While Ham-Ham was figuring out the best way to get the berries, the scholar named Shoutaro was walking toward the berry bushes. As Shoutaro neared the berries, a loud screech pierced the air. This broke Ham-Ham out of his thoughts as he saw a hamster flying through the air. He saw a lizard type creature coming at the hamster and ran to defend the hamster.

The lizard saw Ham-Ham running forward and saw him as a bigger threat. He ran forward and tried to claw Ham-Ham. However, Ham-Ham's new reflexes kicked in and managed to block both of the claws with his stick. Ham-Ham then flung his stick up in order to strike the lizard. The lizard then leaned back and turned to swing his tail at Ham-Ham. Although Ham-Ham managed block the blow, the force was enough to send him propelling back into the tree. By then, Shoutaro managed to come back into consciousness. He immediately recognized the lizard. Shoutaro yelled,

"The lizard is called a Razgriz; its weakness is the top of its head between its ears."

Although Ham-Ham was still wobbly from the impact, he replied,

"Right."

As the Razgriz was running toward Ham-Ham, Ham-Ham ran up the tree and did a back flip. He struck the Razgriz while its claws were stuck in the trees. This effectively knocked the lizard out cold.

"…WOW…..," only Shoutaro could exclaim.

"Who are you?" said Ham-Ham.

"I am Shoutaro the scholar, I am on a journey to seek out new knowledge. You?"

"Nice to meet you, I am Ham-Ham and I am a wanderer. Now, how about we go and get those berries?"

"Very well." Replied Shoutaro

Shoutaro and Ham-Ham went to the bush and gathered some of the sweet berries. They took the hidden path back to the path where the paths split. They saw a hamster dead near the side of the road. Right there and then, they knew that the Razgriz probably got to the mercenaries and that the lizards were why no one has succeeded in this mission. Shoutaro and Ham-Ham both realized how lucky they were to only come across one of them. Back into town, people were looking shocked at them as they walked into the tavern. The Barkeeper said,

"Son, By the great Hams you're still alive!...Here's your reward. How?"

Shoutaro replied, "All of the mercenaries were killed by the Razgriz. We were lucky enough to only run into one of them. There is probably a congregation of them somewhere in the hills, that's why the reward was so much."

"Split?" said Ham-Ham.

"Yes. I believe that this is the start of a great friendship," replied Shoutaro.

They paid for that night and went to sleep. The next day, the two of them said their goodbyes and went off on different directions to continue their journeys.