Ham-Ham the Wandering Black Hamster
Book 1: Journeys
Arc: Journeys in the New World, Chapter 6: Elder's Power
The next day, Ham-Ham left the village in the early morning. One day later, while Ham-Ham was contemplating about the Black Shadow, he felt a powerful wave from the forest. The aura that he felt was similar to the feelings that he had when he shot out the black lightening. So, he decided to investigate this strange occurrence and went into the forest. After walking for a while, he discovered the source of the aura. There in the clearing was a cabin and close by it was an old hamster that was growing a cherry tree from what Ham-Ham saw. The tree was growing quickly by the second as it became easily as tall as the other trees in the forest. The old hamster felt Ham-Ham's presence and said,
"Who's there?"
Ham-Ham came out into the clearing and responded, "I'm Ham-Ham, how did you do that!"
(Ham-Ham is currently in awe)
"I am the Elder Sache, how do you not know about the flow. The flow encompasses everything, especially nature. It is the very essence of all that is around us; it is a blessing from Mother Nature or as some calls it The Earth Mother herself. Her powers flow strongly within you."
The resulting information was too much for Ham-Ham to process at once, which caused his simple reply of "…What?"
"You mean you know not a single piece ham…. Very well, come into my cabin and we can discuss everything."
And so, for the next few hours, Ham-Ham told Sache his story from his banishment to the Black Shadow in the mine incident, while they munched happily on soup, berries, and bread.
From Ham-Ham's story, Sache began to answer his questions.
"From what you have told me, I believe that the Basil only enhanced all of your natural abilities and your power. I think that you already had a string connection to the Earth Mother and that the basil acted like a power booster."
To Ham-Ham, this was a huge relief from his shoulders since his powers were natural even if it had been enhanced.
"Since I have this power that I know nothing about, is it possible for you to train me?"
"My Dear Ham, why would I want to train you?"
"Please," Ham-Ham was nearly begging by now.
"Bwuhaha, kids these days can't take a joke. I would be glad to train someone with as much potential as you. Rest up; you'll need it when you wake up early morning."
"Thank you, I won't let you down!" The night an ecstatic Ham-Ham went to sleep.
The next morning Ham-Ham was woken up by Sache a little after dawn. After some berries and cheese for breakfast, they set outside to begin Ham-Ham's training. Outside, Sache first began to explain what the flow is. Ham-Ham listened intently to what he was being taught.
"Ham-Ham, listen very carefully, the first lesson of the flow is that it is everywhere, no matter where you are. Lesson two, it can never be bent toward your will, you must become one with it. You must let it flow through you as if you are one with Mother Earth. Harmonize yourself with the energies of the flow. The third lesson is that the flow has a cycle, which is also known as the circle of the flow. An Elder's true power is one who can harness one of the circles of the flow and harmonize with it to achieve feats unbelievable. These three lessons are ones that you must NOT ever forget. Now try to find your inner energies. You must sit down and block out everything around you. With your eyes closed, go deep inside of you and find a calm stream, which represents the flow or you inner energies."
Ham-Ham sat down and began to meditate. He tried to concentrate and look deep inside him in order to find the flow, but he could not find a thing. After about an hour and so with no luck, Ham-Ham began to feel frustrated. He quickly began to squash those thoughts and proceeded to look for his inner energies. He began to think about what he felt in the mine at the moment when he fired that lightening. At that moment, he felt a spark go off inside him. With vigor, Ham-ham tried to grab onto that spark. His conviction finally managed for him to grab onto it and feel the flow for the first time. It was in the sky, the sun, the land, the trees, the inhabitants of the forests, and most of all, inside him.
Once Sache felt that Ham-Ham succeeded, he came back outside and gave his next order.
"Oh-hoh-o, your inner strength is more like a waterfall than a stream! Now that you have reached into your inner energies, you must now learn how to control it. We will continue in the afternoon."
After lunch, Ham-Ham's training resumed with the Elder.
"For one to control their power he or she must grab onto their energies and have them flow through your body. At that point, you must harmonize with the flow. This way you can control it consciously unlike the mine episode where you desperation drove you to use the flow. Your energies may be great compared to others, however even you can become exhausted from over using it. Food and rest will help you recover your reserves. This is only the basics, since an Elder like me can not only harness our own energies, but also the energies of my surroundings. A perfect example is with the cherry tree you saw yesterday. For now, try the basics and see if you can shoot lightening again."
A very enthusiastic Ham-Ham began to try to fire black lightening again. However, it sounded much easier than it actually was. At the first few tries, Ham-Ham produced nothing from his hands. After many tries, he noticed something. When he grabbed onto his energy, it flowed somewhat through his arms. He kept trying to harmonize with the flow and have it move through his arms. While it started to flow, the feelings that Ham-Ham's energy felt rough and coarse through his arms. Ham-Ham stopped for a moment and thought back to Sache's words. He needed to harmonize with the flow and began to try again, but this time he said,
"Please."
For a second he thought he heard something, but nevertheless he felt the flow. This time, it felt smooth and like a pure song that sang to the earth. He concentrated and a whisper of "black lightening" came out of his lips as an arc of pure black lightening hit the ground, causing a small crater.
"My boy, I knew you had great potential. To be able to harmonize with the flow in just four hours is astounding. Now Ham-Ham, you just need to practice and achieve more control over your energies"
That evening, they had an assortment of fruit before Ham-Ham's evening training.
"Just learning to control your energies is not enough; you must also exercise in order to keep your body healthy, which makes your energies stronger and more easy to use. For the evening, you will do various exercises that will include push-ups, sit-ups, and more importantly running."
Needless to say, a very tired, but happy Ham-Ham went to sleep that night. The next morning, Sache came to see his young prodigy off.
"Before you leave, I must tell you about the group that I belong to. We Elders are called that because we make up what is called the Elder council. We are one of the main groups that train elders like you who can use the flow. Of course there are other groups like the Knights of the New Horizon just to name one. If you ever need help, then look for the emblem with a silver staff with the five elements around it, which is the emblem of the Elder's Council. Just introduce yourself as the first only and last student of the Great Life Elder Sache! Now one more thing before you go; I would find someone to instruct you in stave combat if you have the chance. Now follow that path south and head east in order to reach the Town of Elderan. Off to ya boy!"
Unknown to both of them, this was Ham-Ham's first step to become something greater than either of them would realize at that time.