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[~Mintyhams47~]

 

Okay, so apparently based on the group story sign-up topic, I'm late, lol. It's pretty long, but it's good (i hope-)! Here is Chapter 8.

 

CHAPTER 8

This is soooooooooooo good! 
I love Butterbean’s reaction!

[lilhams~uwu]

This is soooooooooooo good! 
I love Butterbean’s reaction!

 

Thank you so much! I admit, I think I could have played the POV of a hamster much butter (fun fact this is my first time being in Butterbean's POV; in Chapter 3 and 5, I was only in the perspective of Mulch and April) but I'm glad you liked it!

[lilhams~uwu]

The story so far...

Spoiler

 
Chapter 1
By lil BIG dwarf
 
I remember running.[/size]
 
I don't know where I was trying to go-my mind was too full of fear to even think straight. The leaf litter and moss that used to cushion my feet now made me slip and slide, slowing me down.
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair that the humans came. It wasn’t fair that they took us away from the wild. It wasn’t fair how they killed Mother. For all I know, I could be the only one left of my litter. Of my family.

I was starting to get tired. Each breath seemed shorter than the first. The humans chasing me were excited. Like dogs, they bounded behind me, panting excitedly and waiting for me to fall or die so they could scoop me up and do who knows what to me. It was the humanswho ruined everything.
 
                                                                                       In The Morning
 
 
I yawned and stretched as the lights flickered on. It was morning. Another morning in my one and only home. The Tank. A 5 Gallon. Not small, but...modest. I remembered from my dream a bigger space, though. One with mealworms and walnuts and places to burrow… My dreams were my escape.
 
“Good Morning, Dots.” A voice said from the other end of my cage. “Ready for our daily dose?”

I sighed, tired of this routine I had to go through. EVERY. SINGLE. MORNING. 
 
“Mulch, My name isn’t [/size]Dots. [/size]I don’t have a name yet. Also, no, I’m not excited for our Oxbow. I think this is the day that Amy feeds us, so I’m excited for that!” I squeaked back. I walked out of my hidey house (A XSmall sized purple igloo-It was a giant upgrade compared to my last hide!), and sat down in front of Mulch’s place, grooming my head to make it lie down flat.
 
“We gotta eat the Oxbow. It keeps us alive-plus, my mum always said, if it tastes bad it's hopefully healthy. If not, eat it anyway.”
 
Mulch walked out slowly, his short fur ruffled all around and his eyes half closed. Mulch is a 11 month old Russian dwarf with a light brown coloration who was imported here from Europe, while I was a Pedigreed Pure WW dwarf. You can’t tell by the looks of it though-My furs completely grey!
 
“Waiting to see if someone buys you, ay?” Mulch said, laughing. “No one gets bought here. Just not enough people. To many hamsters. I was born here, and I’m dying here right beside ya.”
 
“There's always a chance.” I insisted. I opened my jaw to speak more, but then saw a familiar face. Amy. Me and Mulch pawed at the glass till she opened the tank. With a spoon, she put some of the dreaded oxbow in our cage, followed by some special treats. Today we got a walnut and a peanut! I missed them so much-wait, I had never had nuts before! but she wasn’t done yet. In our cage she put some new food called-Higgins Sunburst? She stroked us and held us for a bit till the Manager-Leroy-told her to stop “Cuddlin’ the money wastin’ Fuzzballs” and get back to work.[/size]
She left us with another hug, waving as she walked away. 
 
Slowly, me and Mulch investigated the new food. It was something that tasted a little familiar. “Seed mix”. I muttered. 

“What did ya’ say young’in? These kids need to speak up more.” (he grumbled the last sentence). 
 
“Nothing Mulch” I said, pouching fruit and seeds and-millet! “Absolutely nothing”.

After a nice long nap (and a run on our 3 inch mesh wheel), I heard a thump. An  employee I had never seen before was-Opening our tank! There was a new human, a girl with blue eyes and brown hair, who pointed at our tank. “I want these two, please.” She said.
 
“DJ Blueberry Sunfire dwarfs do great in pairs!” The employee stated.
 
"Actually", said the young girl,”These are hybrids, and they will each live in a separate large cage.”
 
The employee looked taken aback, and started to reach his hand in to our tank. He grabbed me and mulch, His hand almost choking the air out of us. We were dropped in to a plastic carrier-I was alone! I had never been alone before. It was a different feeling than what I was used to.[/size]
 
I fell asleep in this cozy plastic carrier. I wish it were a bit bigger, but either way it would be a great new home! 
 
Then, I heard a thump. I was lifted out of the plastic carrier and placed somewhere else. I opened my eyes slowly and looked around.
 
 
 
Chapter 2
By IsAnyoneThere
 
The accident hadn’t been a major one – just a small bump that had left a dent and shook up the passengers, but the medics were taking everyone in to the hospital to check them over. A man and a kid in one car, an old guy in the SUV. Maybe some aches tomorrow but they’d be fine. All in all, not a bad day, considering some of the incidents they’d been called to.
 
Officers Ramon Bradley and Jo DeWalt had been left at the scene. There wasn’t much to do; the guy in the SUV had admitted fault so there wasn’t any evidence to collect, it wasn’t a crime scene, they just didn’t want anyone coming in and stealing anything from the two cars or messing with anything until the insurance guys arrived to take photos. Patrolling around the two empty cars, Officer Bradley noticed a small plastic container on the back seat, with holes around the lid.
 
 
“Hey, DeWalt? I think we have another passenger in here!”
 
DeWalt ran over from where she’d been kicking aimlessly at some debris along the roadside, looking concerned, “WHAT? Shall I call the ambulance back?”
 
“Relax,” Bradley chuckled, pointing at the small pet carrier, “It’s probably the kids pet mouse or something. We should get them out of the car though, it’s getting hot. Kid’s gonna be upset enough today, don’t wanna tell her that her mouse died too.”
 
The two officers opened up the car door and picked up the carrier.
 
 
“Oh, heyyy! Look at this cute little guy!” Bradley exclaimed, opening the lid and peering inside. DeWalt, looking over his shoulder commented,
 
“I don’t think that’s a mouse. I think my niece had one like this, it’s a hamster. Mice have longer tails.” She sighed, “Poor thing’s probably scared, we should take it back to the station. Oh, hey, actually, I think we have a cage lying around in the evidence locker back at the station from that hoarding case months ago…? Nobody’ll notice if we borrow that for a while. Plus it'll be nice to have a station mascot again!”
 
"Ha, yeah, do you remember Squid? Best goldfish ever, he lives on in our hearts!", Bradley grinned and thumped his chest in a salute.
 
As the police officers gently moved the carrier to their patrol car, another large SUV arrived, carrying two self-important-looking people in suits. They exited the car and announced themselves as the officials for Alliance Mutual Pacific Sentry Insurance, who would be taking care of the scene. With a mutual eyeroll, Bradley and DeWalt radioed in to say they were heading back to the station. Just as they were leaving they heard a shout from one of the suited insurance people,
“Hey! Wait! There’s a pet carrier in here!  ……… it’s empty…”
 
DeWalt looked at Bradley and shrugged. “Maybe they had a spare carrier with them? Let’s head back.”
 
---
 
…I opened my eyes slowly and looked around. There was a buzz of noise around me, and I was surrounded by unfamiliar smells.
 
I sniffed the bedding I’d been placed on, it smelled like…. another creature? It didn’t smell like anything I was used to, but it didn’t smell threatening.
 
Looking around as far as I could see, I was in a cage that was larger than I’d been used to, but was clearly a bit musty and battered.
 
Beyond the bars I could see the blurs of figures moving around. One of them came up to the bars and spoke softly, pushing a piece of … was that carrot??... through the bars for me. I recognised the voice as the dark-skinned man who’d peered into my small carrier earlier. I seemed to be getting quite a lot of attention, though I just wanted to sleep. Many people came up to the cage, poking their fingers in and slipping small treats and bits of their dinner.
 
Luckily, they had provided a small hide for me, so I took my bit of carrot and retreated into there. 
 
Is this my new home? It's a bit loud, but the people seem nice. I have food, and a wheel, and treats... and I get the place to myself too!
 
...I wonder where Mulch is?
 
Chapter 3 
By lilhams~uwu
 
Me and my Dad finally reached the police station. I felt my heart being a bit more lighter. Yesterday was going to be the best day of my life, but it turned into a sort of ‘meh’ day. After going to the pet store to get a hamster, getting into a mild car incident, and going to the hospital, I’d say it was a busy day. I can’t say it was well-spent though. At least now I was finally getting my hamsters back, right?[/size]
 
It was a stupid decision to leave them back. I may have had no time to retrieve the plastic carriers nor could I even find it, but I could at least tried to, y’know?[/size]
But here we are, unlocking the car doors to get out, and opening the door to the waiting room. There, an officer awaited us with a carrier. My heart was bursting out of my chest. Finally. [/size]
Except… where was the other hamster? I looked around to see whether or not there was another enclosure. Maybe they just had them in another room, that’s all. [/size]
 
“It was good while it lasted,” the female cop, with a tag that said ‘Officer Romans’ said, handing me the plastic cage.[/size]
“We named it, ‘Officer Hams.' They were a great pleasure to have in the office. [/size]Of course, it wasn’t ours to keep. Perhaps we shouldn’t have gotten too attached to them.” She laughed. [/size]
 
I held onto the carrier, watching as a small dwarf emerged from the small plastic hideout. As much as I should have been happy, I wasn’t. Unfortunately, I’m stubborn and wouldn’t settle down until I knew everything was okay.[/size]
 
“Um… thank you.” I still glanced around. “What did you name the other hybrid?[/size]
She looked confused. “What other hamster? Our team didn’t find anything else.”[/size]
 
My eyes widened. “A-Are you sure? There had to be something, right?” I blurted out.[/size]
 
“What do you mean, darling?” She asked me. [/size]
 
“I went to my local pet store to get a hamster after months of research,” I explained. [/size]
“There were two hybrids housed together and I decided to take them.” I swallowed. “They were in my hands before their car bumped into ours.”[/size]
 
She nodded. I definitely expected her to look at least slightly surprised, but I saw none.[/size]
“Is that why there was an empty carrier the insurance team found? Our officers thought it was simply a spare.”[/size]
 
My heart immediately froze. “Wait a minute…” I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my hair with shaking fingers. “What happened with the missing dwarf? Are they dead?”[/size]
I stared at her with huge eyes. I gulped. “What if we left the poor guy there?” I had many, many more questions but there was one I didn’t mention: ‘Was it my fault?’[/size]
 
Could I have done something? Perhaps I should have held on to them harder. How did one of them get out? Did the opening pop open? I should have listened to those Amazon reviews![/size]
 
I felt helpless. Actually, not just helpless. It was a whole bowl of emotions. And not positive ones. [/size]
I felt confused. I felt angry. I felt sad. I felt ashamed. I felt disappointed. I felt desperate. I felt guilty.[/size]
 
Confused because I didn’t understand how they could have escaped.[/size]
Angry because even though I had paid all of the money to get them, I only had one. Angry because it was that old guy who made this happen. [/size]
 
Disappointed in myself because I could have done more.[/size]
Ashamed and guilty because it was my fault, wasn’t it? It was my hamsters. My pets.[/size]
 
I had full responsibility for them and I had failed them as their owner.[/size]
 
I think Dad could hear my thoughts or something. Maybe it’s just in the genes. But whatever it was, he put his hand on my shoulder and looked at me with gentle eyes.[/size]
I glanced back at him for a split second, then laid my eyes back onto the floor.[/size]
“It’s going to be okay,” he said softly. “At least you have one. You didn’t lose both of them.”[/size]
 
I guess that's true. But that still didn’t make me feel better.[/size]
 “I was in charge of them,” I bitterly replied. “I was supposed to be their owner. Their caretaker. I did the opposite of what I was supposed to do. I killed them.”[/size]
 
“April Lilith Trimian!” He raised his voice, but he didn’t shout. In fact, he never really shouted. It was only a slightly louder version than your normal tone. “You did not kill them. It is [/size]not [/size]your fault that this happened.”[/size]
 
“Uh… guys?” The officer nervously said. Oh right. I forgot she was still there. That wasn’t important right now though.[/size]
 
He didn’t understand! “Dad, it may not be all of my fault but I still took part of this. [/size]I [/size]did this too.” I grabbed the cage from the cop. It shook the cage which woke up the dwarf. I reminded myself to apologize to them when we got home. It’s probably not the funnest to be awakened like that. “Let’s just go home,” I sighed. “This conversation is going nowhere.”[/size]
 
“Fine.” My dad muttered. “Only because we’re in public.” He grabbed his keys out of his pockets, opened the door, and started to walk towards the car.  I followed. “But when we get home, you’re going to have a talking to!” Knowing my father, he usually grounded me if he said that. Oh well.[/size]
 
I ignored further conversation and stared at the gray hybrid dwarf. They watched me with beady, black eyes, and I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to hug their soft, fluffy fur. [/size]
“I won’t let you down,” I whispered. He peered at me behind the battered bars. “I will not fail you.” I paused, searching for the right word.[/size]
 
“Butterbean.” I nodded, then watched the little dwarf chew on a piece of carrot. Probably from one of the cops. “Your name is Butterbean.”[/size]
 
____________________________________________________________________________[/size]
 
...Where am I? I tried to shift over to the left side of my body, but the pain was unbearable. If this was some joke, I thought, I was surely going to curse Dots for the rest of my life! Where am I? The question kept repeating in my head. I opened my eyes to see a road. Well, a sideways road. [/size]
 
I was lying on the ground half-dead, so everything was sideways now. Gosh darn it, being old sucks. I remember when I was a little ol’ youngling who could jump all the way across the whole world. Those were the best times. [/size]
 
Now here I am, an eleven month old dwarf stuck on this stone-cold pavement. My eyes drooped and my head went dizzy as I tried my best to stand up. I ignored the gnawing pain from my side and glanced over the surrounding environment. There was a blue clear sky, with no clouds whatsoever. And I saw a forest in the distance, about a few feet away. It looked inviting, but who knows? Maybe there’s a bird waiting to chuck off my head.[/size]
 
 I also had to ignore the constant questions from my head that kept annoying me like an annoying little dwarf who never spoke up and constantly liked to daydream about who-knows-what?[/size]
 
Wait. Dots. I can already hear her always commenting, “my name isn’t Dots.” Or that, “I don’t have a name yet!” It drove me nuts. How could she not see it? We were going to be stuck here for eternity, I was, so I never really bothered to ever think we were going to have a forever home.[/size]
 
But then that girl. Oh, I remember now. My memory ain’t as good as it was when I was a kid. She had blue eyes. Brown hair. Looks pretty young, but knew her stuff, unlike that lunatic. What is a “DJ Blueberry Sunfire Dwarf?” I’m certainly not a DJ. And just because I have the shape of a blueberry doesn’t mean I am one! [/size]
 
Then, that maniac put us in that plastic carrier. It was okay, but I was way more excited for that ‘large cage’ she was promising to us! Good on her, good on her. Except the plastic carrier opening had popped open. And then I got thrown out of a nearby window of the car! I gotta say, I bet other hamsters my age wouldn’t survive that. In fact, I bet Dots wouldn’t survive that! Whether or not she’s supposed to be this ‘wild hamster.’ [/size]
 
But now that I know what happened and my environment… what next? I didn’t know where I was. And Dots was who-knows-where? She was gone and there was nothing to do about it. Although I was feeling her absence, I quickly dismissed it. I saw something shimmer in the corner of my eye. I looked over to see the stinging sun, how stupid of me. [/size]
 
Then again, I’ve really never seen the sun, so who could really blame me? But you know what I saw? I saw the sun setting down, which meant that night was coming. That was good, at least. No more sun, right? But, I decided, at the moment, that I had to do something, just one little thing before the sun set. And so, again, I stared back at the forest. The inviting forest. With leaves and trees and dirt. Nothing I’ve ever, ever seen before. Never smelled. Never touched, felt. Nothing. [/size]
 
Of course, I could stay here on the ground, waiting for a car to smoosh me and make me roadkill. Or I could go walk to the forest, where I might wait for a snake to eat me and make me also get killed. Usually older animals don’t like to seek something new. Barely any animal would go to see anything outside of their enclosures if there’s a chance of no food or water. [/size]
 
Except I was eleven months old and not exactly an elder. I was an older adult though. [/size]
And that my enclosure was gone. I was probably nowhere near the pet store. If I was, then I probably didn’t have the strength to walk all the way there.[/size]
 
I was alone. And so, I padded over to the forest. I wasn’t strong enough to resist how inviting it was. It must be better than this rough roadway, right? A few regrets and thoughts filled my mind, but I focused on walking into the forest. What would await me, I thought. Birds? Tigers? Other hamsters? Dogs? Maybe even foxes?[/size]
 
Who knows. I walked inside, feeling the dirt under my paws. The only thing I know right now is that this strange little forest is home sweet home now.[/size]
 
 
Chapter 4
By Hamsterlover47 
 
My Eyes slowly opened as my cage shook around me. Now that my eyes were open, the throbbing returned to my feet. I hate those stupid mesh wheels! I turn to begin slowly licking my bleeding paws. Then I freeze. No, not now. The cold air rushes into my hide, my cage rattling with each stomp the humans made. “Please don’t take me back to the monster” I squeaked. Where was mulch? Where were the nice people that gave me carrots? Must get away! I tried to dig, but as always, the plastic stops me. I also hate that plastic! [/size]
     “I won’t let you down.” A sweet, soft voice enters my ear. I relax a bit, somehow. I close my eyes, remembering what mother said to me so long ago. “If you are scared, close your eyes, curl up, and get those teeth ready for biting!” I have never bitten anyone, but I try to keep my teeth in the best care, just in case. We finally reach the monster, I have begun shivering from the cold. I want all this to be a dream. I want to go back to the pet shop. I want to be back with mulch. I want my paws to stop that awful throbbing. I even want my Oxbow! I curl up even tighter, wishing to fall asleep. Maybe, when I wake up, this awful dream will be over. [/size]

 
For the Second time this morning, I am woken up by a rattling around my cage. I look around, almost devastated to see that I am still here, in this tiny wire cage, the vibrating monster shaking my tiny body. [/size]
“Look Butterbean, we’re home!” the soft, sweet voice speaks again. Home? No, I am not home. I am in a too small cage with a mesh wheel and stale food! I start squeaking to let my discomfort be known. [/size]
       “Look Dad! She’s squeaking!”[/size]
Thankfully, my squeaking must have worked because the monster stopped rumbling and moving everywhere. My little cage is bouncing up and down as the girl nearly stomps up to large building [/size]
  “I have got a hamster! I have got a sweet little hammmmmmmster!” The girl finished her song with a twirl, sending me across the other side of the cage. [/size]
   “Oops, sorry Butterbean.” The twirling stopped. The girl had entered the building and had walked into a pretty place, with soft pink walls and a blue rug. And what is that big thing in the corner? A tank? I knew about tanks, I had seen them in the pet store. They always had those weird shiny swimming things in them. It looked big, and I saw a plastic wheel! Slowly, the girl opened the top of the tank and then opened the top of my way-to-small cage. I saw a hand enter from the top, coming right for me. The last time this happened, I was taken from my home and put in a box riding in a monster machine! I can’t let this happen again! The hand came down and wrapped it's small fingers around my body. “No!” I squeaked. And then for the first time in my life I bit someone. I latched on and bit deep. No one will touch me! I hung on for a few seconds, but then my teeth began to ache, and I pulled off. The taste of blood ran through my mouth. It tasted worse than oxbow![/size]
       “Ow, Butterbean! That really really hurt.” The sweet voice rang again. But this time, it had another ring to it? Pain? And before I could react, the hand reached in again and lifted me up, high in the air! After what felt like hours the hand set me down on bedding. And it was soft! Not like that itchy pine stuff at the pet store. I ran off the hand, quick to get away. That mean hand! It deserved to be bit. However, in an instant, my anger melted away as I looked around the weird glass thing. It was awesome! That’s an 8 inch wheel! Look at that big hide! And, is that a… it is! A sand bath! I have never had one, but mother had told us the importance of keeping a clean and well groomed coat, and the joys have having a sand bath! I started to run over to the corner of the cage to the sand bath , but there were so many things to explore! And so much bedding! There must have been miles of that stuff. [/size]
“Enjoying the detolf, Butterbeany? Don’t worry, you're safe here.” I still am confused, I don’t know where mulch is. I feel guilty all of a sudden, that I have all this and mulch is who-knows where. But I feel safe here, and mulch always said that he does not want to live in a cage, and I always had to remind him that we are hamsters. But mulch is tough, so maybe he is okay. Like I am.[/size]
 
Chapter 5
by lilhams~uwu
 
After a hearty dinner of spaghetti (Dad thought it was a good idea to celebrate the occasion, while I just wanted to die under some cozy blankets while listening to sad music with my earbuds), I took some pre-made brownies out of the fridge and smeared them with a bunch of whipped cream. Dad had taken our dirty plates and was starting to rinse off any remaining tomato sauce stuck to the plates.
 
 As he viciously tried to scrub at the red paste on the plate, he started a conversation with me while I scooped up some frosting with my fork. 
 
“So…. How's Butterbean doing? I passed by the Detolf and saw her sleeping, but I wanted to ask nevertheless.” The water swished over the plate as the tomato sauce stain had finally been removed. He pressed the small faucet, dropping out a squirt of liquid soap onto his blue sponge.
 
I scratched the bandage on my thumb. “I think she’s getting settled in, she stopped trying to escape the Detolf and took a nap, which I think is great progress. However…” 
 
I paused, swallowing. “I may have startled her. I didn’t mean to, but when I opened the travel cage, she didn’t budge! So I picked her up.” I sighed. 
 
I knew I was supposed to not grab her, it must be scary to have a giant alien reaching their hands for you, but I panicked! That wasn’t a reasonable explanation though.
I could have been more patient or scooped her out with a hideout or… the possibilities are endless!
 
“What happened next?” He asked. “That doesn’t sound too good.” Wiping the plate with soap, he glanced over to me and lifted his glasses up with his nose.
 
“She bit me. Of course.” I shrugged, like it was no big deal. Which it was. But I knew that Dad would disagree with me, so I quickly added, “It’s no biggie, though! It was really my fault. She was acting in defense, plus my thumb is fine.” I gestured my left hand, which was clenched into a thumbs-up. “It just has a little boo-boo, that’s all.”
 
Looking back at me with disbelief, he turned around and placed the soapy plate into the double sink.
Grabbing another dirty place, he replied with, “If you say so… Speaking of hamsters, I called the pet store before dinner to let them know the news.”
 
I already knew what ‘the news’ was. I bit my lip.
“The manager of the store was very apologetic. He kept saying, ‘how unfortunate,’ actually. They offered a coupon for Butterbean, I think the discount is 15%!”
 
I gobbled up the remaining brownies on my plate; now there were only chocolate crumbs. I felt a bit frustrated, I was trying to forget about ‘the news.’
I had a new hamster, I shouldn’t let it sour my mood. Should it? I sat in silence, thinking. Mostly thoughts about hating myself. 
 
But after letting the silence consume me, I knew that I had to speak up. A moment of too long a wait, I said, “Oh. That’s… that’s nice of them...” I admit, I was lying through my teeth.
 
“That’s what I said! They replied back with, ‘you’re too kind.’” He answered, scrubbing off a dirty meatball stain off a dish. 
 
What type of ‘nice’ pet store supports pet mills? I wondered. 
 
Then again, here I am, supporting a pet store. I told Dad that we should go on Craigslist, but he was way too nervous that I’m gonna get kidnapped or get scammed. I told him that we’ll investigate, but he had none of it and drove to a pet store. And where did that get us?
 
“I, of course, said ‘yes’ because who says no to a deal?” He continued, washing the plate with soap. Bubbles were everywhere. I licked up some crumbs of the brownies on my dish with my finger. “
We’re going to retrieve it tomorrow. Perhaps we could also retrieve something else…?” He grinned, placing a plate into the other sink. He rinsed a glass cup with water. I bit my lip again.
 
I knew the answer already. But if I said it, then it might be true. And I didn’t feel like getting another hamster. They weren’t just toys that you could replace. “What is it?” I asked, feeling dread.
 
Wiping the cup with a soapy sponge, he replied. “I can’t help but feel so sad seeing you down.  So, I was thinking. I know we’ve just gotten Butterbean, but what if we get another hamster?”
He scratched a mosquito bite with his finger, getting watery-soap on over his ear. “We do need a residence for the Linnmon after all.” Dad added. 
 
I felt like yelling at him. I couldn’t just replace them. We literally got Butterbean. She was enough. I didn’t need a second hamster. 
 
Getting another pet wasn’t going to feel any better anyways. It might make me even worse. More pressure to be a better hamster owner.
 
 “Uh…” I took a swig of milk from my cup. I licked the milk moustache that formed on my mouth. “I really don’t know. Isn't it a bit early to get another hamster?”
 
He shrugged. “I’m not forcing you to do anything if you don’t want to,” he said. “I’m just keeping all suggestions open for you. You’ve done lots of research,” he pointed out.
“It’s just so bittersweet that the first time you get a hamster, you lose one. I just want to help you.”
 
 That’s nice of him, but he really didn’t understand. I didn’t want to lose anymore hamsters. I sighed while he placed a foamy cup into the sink and washed the forks.
 
“Sure,” I mumbled. Picking up my plate, I placed the fork and dish into the sink. Before I could open the door to my room, Dad interrupted me. “Hey, wait.” 
 
I turned around and blinked.
 
“You still want the coupon? We could get a cork log or something. If you want.”
 
“Maybe.” I pulled open the door. 
 
“One last thing?” He watched me from the kitchen hallway as he rinsed a soapy plate.
 
“Sure. You positive this is the last thing? I have to do homework.” I gestured to the door. Plus watch to see how Butterbean is doing, I silently thought to myself. 
 
“Positive,” he gave me a thumbs-up. “Uhm… next week, your mother and sister will be visiting. They’ll be having dinner with us.” My heart froze. I stared at the floor. I bit my lip. Hard. I felt blood on my dry lips.
 
“My stepsister. Not my sister.” I corrected him. It still felt wrong to call her my stepsister. I wanted nothing to do with her. I didn’t even want a relationship status with her.
 
Gabrielle Greens. Her name wanted me to throw up. Disgusting.
 
“Fine, stepsister. Be nice to them, please,” Dad urged me. 
 
Why should I be nice to THEM? If they don’t treat me with respect, then I won't treat them with respect! 
 
The thoughts went through my head, each one making me want to slam my head with a pillow. I swallowed the rock in my throat.
 
 As you can see, I don’t like my stepsister. Or my mother either. Who leaves their own child like that just because their financial funds are going down? 
 
A gold digger. A dirty little gold digger and a spoiled brat were coming to my house to eat our food. I didn’t respond. He sighed. I didn’t get how he didn’t feel the same way as me. 
 
Did he still love her? I wondered. I know love makes you do silly things, but this?! This was downright outrageous. Out of everyone here, I expected my Dad to feel the same hatred I did. They ruined our lives.
 
“April,” he raised his voice. “I know that you don’t like them, but it doesn’t hurt to be kind.” He turned the faucet to the other side and rinsed the soapy plates, watching the soap dissolve. 
 
I cringed. “I don’t not like them. I despise them with all my heart,” I insisted.
 
“...Hate is a strong word.” Dad slowly said.
 
“But it’s the right word!” I scoffed in disbelief. “Why don’t you feel the same way I do? It’s so easy to despise a mother who left their baby girl so that she could swoon over a rich old guy!”
 
“Is THAT what this is all about?!” He sighed. “Enough. You don’t get it. Go to your room and do your homework.” He shook his head. “But I expect you to be nice to your mother and sister on Saturday. Is that clear, miss?” 
 
His voice was dangerously low. I didn’t want to risk getting grounded (there was another a high chance) so I nodded, not looking at him. I opened the door, which let out a little creak.
 
“Goodnight,” he placed a clean dish onto the dish rack. It fell slightly to the right. 
 
“I just don’t get why you’re so misbehaved today. Why?”
 
I didn’t respond to his question. What would I have said? I felt miserable. I felt like taking out that on people.
 
Like my father, I guess.
 
“Goodnight. Sweet dreams.” I closed the door slowly, making sure not to slam it on him. To not shut it too loud. Even though I wanted to do it so bad. It was the least I could do, after all.
 
I sat behind my bedroom door in the darkness. I didn’t bother to turn on the light switch. I closed my eyes, listening to the flow of the water in the kitchen.
It was a bit muffled, but our walls weren’t very thick. I heard the TV turn on and assumed that my father was watching the daily news. As he always did.
 
Why am I like this? I thought to myself.
 
————————————————————————————————————————
 
I yawned while I padded through autumn leaves, twigs, sticks, and rocks. The forest that once was welcoming to me was now dark and eerie.
 
Danger lurked at every corner and any unexpected sound scared me.
 
Even the sound of my own paws pattering frightened me. 
 
What? Who knows, maybe that noise could be the sound of a predator’s paws! Like a rat or a fox that’s hungry for my blood! Come on, I bet you’re looking at me with disbelief, but honestly! 
 
God, I wish people respected me more. I may be a hamster, but I’ve lived for eleven months. Meanwhile, some hamsters don’t have the chance to.
I’m looking at those rascal humans who think we don’t have feelings and that it’s right to treat us like dirt.
The only thing that should be treated like dirt is dirt, not living breathing ANIMALS!
 
Caw-caw! I immediately sprinted at the sound, running in circles; rushing to anywhere that the bird couldn’t get me through. Except the bird calls started to get quieter and quieter. I looked up to see a bird way up in the night sky, flying away. Didn’t even bat an eye at me. I walked away, embarrassed. 
 
A guy like me definitely wasn’t suitable for the wild. I’ve never even been outside of my pet store enclosure and look where I am. I relied on the pet store employees to feed me and give me water. The only danger I came across was little kids tapping on my tank and waking me up. Or the employees grabbing us so hard that it felt like we’d fall apart. 
 
My whiskers twitched when I felt raindrops on top of me. Rain?! I groaned. My fur was going to become all greasy. And what would happen if the forest flooded or something? I needed to find shelter. Maybe a tree? A bush?
 
 I scurried away, the thought of becoming all wet making my paws go faster and faster. Of course, I had to slow down and stop eventually to catch my breath. Expecting to feel wet droppings of water on top of my head, I felt nothing. I looked up to find that I had now taken cover over a hanging willow branch of a tree. 
 
Relieved that I was now away from any more rain, I searched for a place to dig. What for? Just a small burrow. My eyes were drooping and I had been wide alert all afternoon. I probably should have taken a nap in the car or something, but how could I be asleep driving to the unknown?
 
After digging lots of dirt up, I fell down exhausted. I had only done two chambers, but I started my own burrow after a long day of no rest. My paws heavy with mud and my whiskers packed with soil, I collapsed into one of the chambers, feeling rest inviting me. I followed it, my eyes slowly closing, until eventually, only darkness surrounded me.
As I slept, I heard footsteps from the dirt above me. In fact, while I was snoring, it shook hard enough so that it got dirt in my mouth. Gross. I stood up so fast I hit my head on the tunnels. Ouch. I should have made it taller. Now I have dirt in my mouth and pain in my head. Spitting it out, I heard something. It’s probably just the wind, right?
 
...Right? I heard it again. Was it? No, it couldn’t be. But what if I was right? What if they were voices?
I slowly climbed up the tunnel, trying to be as silent as possible. Finally, the muffled sounds were beginning to become louder and clearer. 
 
“Aw, man!” One groaned. “I can’t believe they’re asking me to be in the evening patrol! I wish the sun would go down later,” they whined.
 
“You’re not a pup anymore,” another commented. “If you want to become a guardian of our clan, then you have to wake up early.”
 
“Don’t be so harsh to them, Night.” I inched closer to the top. I was able to get a better view. She turned to the small dwarf.
 
“You’ll be getting used to it as you wake up every morning, Twig. It’ll become routine to you!” 
 
There were four of them. They were… hamsters? They looked wild from what I know of it. Two of them were pure black dwarves that looked full-grown.
The other two looked like kids. One was white while the other was brown, kinda like my fur.
 
“Don’t worry about Twig, Evergreen!” The white one cheerfully said. “She’s just being a baby. 
“Oh, so I’m the baby here?” Twig challenged. “At least when I was a pup, I didn’t constantly cry all the time! Wa-wa, Yuki, do you need me to kiss a boo-boo on your head?” Yuki hissed.
 
The adult dwarf rolled his eyes. “Stop that, Yuki and Twig. Things are different from the nursery out here. You have to be on your best behavior and--” 
 
The two of them burst and started wrestling with each other. I noticed that it was play-fighting instead of actual fighting.
 
Good thing, because I really didn’t want any bloodshed on the front of my burrow.
 
It was the first one I’ve ever done, since those bozos didn’t give us any bedding!
 
Suddenly, they took a turn. The wrong turn and fell into a tunnel. My tunnel. Rolling right towards me. Uh oh.
 
After getting run over by a bunch of misbehaving pups, I, completely dizzy, stood up slowly as possible. “Intruder! Trespasser!” One of them squeaked.
 
 It sounded like they were trying to hiss, but they weren’t doing a good job of it. And their face was sort of scrunched up, like they were trying to intimidate me but just ended up like they had a really bad stomach ache.
 
The two adults came rushing into the tunnel.
 “Twig, Yuki! What happened?! I heard you calling and I came running in--” Evergreen started to say, then sniffed the air and looked right at me with huge eyes. “Flint! I think we have a problem.”
 
“What is it? Misbehaving pups that are getting in trouble right after this-” He grumbled, then halted. His black, beady eyes stared at me.
“Intruder!” He growled. “It must be one of those Campbell’s dwarves spying on us!”
 
“Don’t be silly!” She shook her head. “It’s obviously not a part of their clan. Or our clan either.” She plugged her nose with her paws.
 
“Obviously. This guy stinks! Even worse than those dim-wits,” Flint commented.
 
Way to be nice, I thought, feeling my cheeks getting red. How embarrassing.
 
“We should kick him out of our territory!” 
“But in training,” Yuki protested, “we have to ask why they’re here.”
 
Twig groaned. “But it’s not a Clan cat!”
 
“So? Sunlight, my mentor, said that it doesn’t matter whether or not it’s a Clan cat! It might be a rogue group asking for help.”
He sniffled. “Why does a rogue need our help? They’re asking for it for not being in our clan!”
 
“Quiet!” Evergreen commanded them. They both became silent. Finally!
 
She studied me with her glowing red eyes. I couldn’t help but feel frustrated. I just wanted to get out of here, not become victim to an integration! “Why are you here?” She calmly asked me.
 
I paused. Should I trust them? I glanced back to the group who all called me a trespasser? Who said that this was their territory? I thought to myself, rubbing my nose.
“I’m just trying to sleep. I’ll move out of your territory tomorrow,” I muttered. 
 
“Oh? So you’ll take over our camp in the morning?” He challenged me. I glared back.
 
“Of course not!” How dumb were these hamsters, I wondered, if they won’t even trust a half-dead hamster from a pet store! They must have some serious trust issues.
 
“I’m a lost hamster, okay?!” I lashed out at them. “I lived my whole life in a pet store and now I was finally going to have a caring pet owner who was going to take care of me and Dots!” 
 
“Pet store?” He stood, thinking for a moment, then his eyes lit up and turned to Evergreen. 
“He must be one of those hamsters with humans!”
 
“Horrible humans,” I added.
 
“We’ve got a few of them roaming our forest,” she comforted me. “I understand what you mean.”
 
“If they’re so horrible, then why’d you call your human, ‘a caring pet owner?’” He wondered out loud.
 
“The humans at the pet store treated us like dirt,” I confessed. I looked up. “But the human that went to pick us up was going to give us huge enclosures!”
 
 The adults followed my every word while the two other pups whispered to one another.
I couldn’t blame them, but could they at least make it less obvious they were gossiping about me?
 
I continued, ignoring them. “She knew what species I was and had a bunch of information. She didn’t just believe the employees there and dump us into a Crittertrail to live there for the rest of our lives.”
 
“What’s a Crittertrail?” Twig blurted out. Apparently he was also listening to me. Evergreen shushed him.
 
“Don’t mind the younglings,” she said, “you can continue. Although… could I ask a question?”
 
“Sure,” I answered. I looked back at Twig. “Crittertrails are small cages that the humans created. They’re made from plastic and metal, plus have tons of tunnels and are very colorful.”
 
He tilted his head. “Oh. How small is it? Like….” he thought of a moment. “As small as a willow tree?” I remembered passing a willow tree while passing the forest. Even a tree was bigger than a Crittertrail.
 
“It’s nearly the same length and width, actually,” I said. His eyes went huge. I shifted to Evergreen, hitting the walls of the tunnel. Turning to her, I mentioned, “Didn’t you want to ask something?”
 
“Yeah, I actually did,” she paused. “You said ‘us’ when you were talking about your owner. Do you have another hamster with you?” I froze when she said that.
 
“Yes,” I croaked out. “Me and her were in the human’s hands, but we slipped. I went up and she went down. I fell out the window and her carrier fell onto the car ground.” 
 
I wonder what Dots was doing right now. Was she thinking of me? Was she happy? I felt myself feeling jealous yet guilty at the same time. What if she was dead right now? Maybe she was safe in the human’s house, burrowing as far as she could possibly burrow. Yeah.
 
Flint yawned. “We’re wasting time. We could be bringing back food to the camp, but no, we’re wasting time here chatting about your life story.” Evergreen looked back, horrified. 
 
Did she not know her friend was one of the most rudest hamsters I’ve ever met? I’m a respectful hamster AND nearly a senior. I can’t believe it! 
 
He studied me. “Why don’t you come with us? Knowing you’re a human hamster, you won’t last a day here,” he muttered. 
 
How kind of him, I grumbled to myself. 
“Sure. Besides, I might be more helpful than you realize!” I added, rolling my eyes. 
 
He scoffed, crawling out of the tunnel. Evergreen did the same.
The hamster kids moved out of his way by climbing out of the tunnel.
 “Well, if you say so. We’ll see,” he snorted.
 
I rolled my eyes, following him. “So you’re inviting me to your camp?” I asked.
“Obviously. Where else would we go?” He snarkily answered. I resisted from rolling my eyes again. “You can ask Midnight if you want to join.”
 
“Who’s Midnight?”
“Our leader. She, of course, leads the Clan.” 
“So you want me to be in your Clan?” I watched him with confused eyes.
 
 He acts like he despises me! Actually, he DOES despise me! I don’t even know how to act or burrow! Well okay, I did make this tunnel… but still!
 
He laughed. Was that an actual genuine laugh…? I didn’t even tell him a joke!
 
“You want yourself in a clan! A Clan takes care of all the oldest and youngest hamsters, who can’t hunt for themselves! Of course, you’re not a senior or anything. Even then, the seniors used to be warriors who helped hunt for us.”
 
He chuckled to himself. Was I really that funny? We reached the opening of the tunnel and were welcomed by shivering weather and tons of trees. “I guess you could be a mediator or healer? You can’t really be a queen…” He stifled his giggles. Good.
 
“Haha, a male queen!” Yuki giggled to the brown hamster. Of course… 
“I’m not going to be a queen or a healer or whatever is a mediator,” I muttered. “I’m going to go back to my human.”
 
Evergreen sighed. “Not yet you will,” she responded. “Before you can do that, we’re taking you back to our camp. We’re sorry, but who knows how far she is? It’s better if you just stay here for now.”
 
I insisted, “No, Evergreen! You’ve all been a great help…” Wasting my time… I thought, “but I think I better get going, okay?”
 
Flint groaned. “Really…? Come on, at least let us show you the camp? Then you can decide.”
 
How nice. “I’m fine, I’ll just stay here.”
“Please?” Evergreen urged me.
 
He snorted.
“First? You’re not safe here, obviously. You don’t even know how to defend yourself!” 
I swallowed. I knew how to fight from instincts! But have I ever been in a fight? Luckily no, but still!
 
“Second?” He resumed. 
“You don’t know how to hunt either. I might not like you,” that was definitely an understatement, “but I’m not going to let you starve or die by getting eaten by a wolf or something.”
 
“I’m not going to get eaten by a wolf or starve,” I sighed. “You don’t even know me! You don’t even know my NAME!”
“Listen, I know how… determined you are… to find whoever this ‘caring hamster owner’ is...” Flint was clearly getting irritated with me. I guess I can’t blame him.
 
“But at least check in with us! It wouldn’t hurt. We’ll teach you how to defend yourself, hunt, and… make better burrows. No offense.”
 
About to protest that I was tired and wasn’t able to show how capable I was at burrowing, I nodded. “I guess I really can’t argue with you anymore. Lead the way then.”
 
Evergreen grinned as we started to trot to their tunnels. “You’re officially a member of the Winter White Clan!”
 
I sprinted to catch up with them. Clearly they have more stamina than I do. “I really don’t know if I’ll be staying for long,” I confessed. “Besides, I haven’t even talked to your leader yet. Midnight could either hate me or like me. It’s her choice.” I added. 
 
“Come on! Maybe I could try convincing her? Or at least make it so you can stay for a little bit!” She padded over to me, in the back, while Twig, Yuki, and Flint were at the top. 
 
I hesitated for a moment. “That’s nice of you, but no thanks. I really don’t see how I would make it up to you if I got up. It would be hard to explain how this hamster I met a few minutes ago should be in our Clan for a short-while.” I pointed out.
 
She laughed. “True. We’re almost there… what’s your name?”
 
“Mulch.” I answered.
 
She reminded me a little of Dots. She was so cheerful at times. I’d always tell her that there was barely anyone that looked at the rodents section in this town, but she kept on believing. 
 
Believing that one day, we would finally get a good owner and a good home.
 
I hope she isn't lost like me. I do hope that she is with the girl. 
 
“What a weird name,” she commented, “but I’m not one to judge. Are you excited?”
 
I don’t answer. Not yet. I don’t tell her that I’m excited and nervous at the same time.
Are wild hamsters nice? If they’re like Flint, then probably not. But if Evergreen is in their clan, then there’s a possibility that some of them are nice. I hope so.
 
Will I ever find the girl? I vividly remember her image. She was blurry but she had brown hair and what seemed to be blue eyes. 
Whatever will happen, I’m here for it. I’ll just have to go into the unknown.
 
read this when you finish the chapter!
 
 
Spoiler 

Hi! Thanks for reading. When I say 'clan,' I'm talking about wild hamster groups basically except that they have a code and rules they live on!
 
They don't exactly have a Starclan, they actually don't have anything they worship and honor, except that when you die, you go over the rainbow bridge.
When I talked about rogue groups, I was going to add 'loners' but if we're talking about wild hamsters, it wouldn't make sense, so hopefully you understand why. 

CHAPTER 6 BY LIL BIG DWARF

 

 “Oh Butterbean. How am I gonna survive the week?”

I had been working on taming her since Wednesday. Today was Friday, and We got her last Saturday, so she was pretty far along the taming train. She was sleeping in my hand, while I pet her softly.

Tomorrow my Mother and Step Sister come. I’m sorry to say this, but I…. strongly dislike them. My sister was bringing her pet rat, Moo. She often grabbed her by the back of her neck or tip of her tail. She complained about her pooping-which was stupid.  Moo was a lone rat, in the tiniest cage imaginable. She couldn’t even stretch out her tail in that prison! I hated seeing her look so cramped and scared, I knew quite a bit about rats, and this was wrong. I tried to convince them to get her some friends and a Critter Nation, but they said that she had ‘enough’. Ugh. I just…. Cant.

 

My Mother decided on a whim to buy some fish. There are at least 200, no kidding. In a one gallon, algae encrusted tank, with no enrichment or anything in there. Just a glass bowl. Full of fish. Nothing else. Never cleaned, rarely fed, and the bowl was often knocked over.

 

I’ll stop ranting, but you get the point. They impulse buy, ruin animals lives, don't support adopting, and most of all, can’t respect that I’m a different person.

 

But enough of that.

 

My Dad knocked on my bedroom door, and Butterbean leaped  out of my hand, and scurried around. My room had been hamster proofed, so I just watched her with a smile on my face. Then, the door was knocked on again, much louder.

 

“Sorry Dad. You can come in.”

He opened the door in a huff. His shirt was ruffled, hair in tangles, and eyes half shut. I think I saw tears dripping down his face.

“Change of plans”, he whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear. “We're going to Europe to visit Alice (my mom) and Stefani (My sister). We leave on Monday.”

 

I should have gone after him. Made him change his mind. Fought back. But I just stood there, jaw dropping, confused, and most of all, angered. How was I supposed to find a pet sitter in only 3 days?! Who would take care of Butterbean and our betta Chloe?!

 

I ran after him-”WAIT! What about Chloe and Butterbean? And who’s gonna go out searching for Mulch? Maybe I should stay here, with the pets. And how long would we be staying? School starts soon.”

 

“I got Chloe and automatic fish feeder. It's not ideal, but hey, we do what we gotta do. We're taking Butterbean with us. We're staying for as long as we need to. You’re to young to stay home alone. Also, school starts in 2 months. That's a very interesting ‘soon’.”

 

“But how are we going to pack the Detolf? How will we get her there without Customs quarantining and testing her? WHY do we need to go all the way ACROSS THE POND to ENGLAND to visit them. Why can't they come here? Or better yet, we never see them again!?”

 

I was enraged. My blood was boiling. My Dad's face turned hard as stone as he said, “Alice is in a Coma.”

 

It only took those 5 words. My face went white. My blood ran cold. My heart skipped a beat. My brain… flaked out on my. It was like the world was frozen in place due to fear, anger, hatred, and pain. I ran to my room and shut the door, Butterbean jumping, then cuddling on to my hand. 

I started sobbing. Water rushed out of my eyes like Angel Falls. 

Should I feel angry? Angry that I wasn't told sooner? Upset? Upset that I had been so mad at my family? Hatred? Directed at… me? Them? Did I even want to go to England? They had lived in Washington D.C for a while, till it got to ‘boring’. They move every 6 months to 2 years to ‘spice things up a little’.

 

I slowly packed my large backpack with as many clothes as I could fit. I also stuffed in bag of higgins sunburst and a bag of purebites dog treats. Quietly, silently, I started to turn our spare 200qt sterilite bin into a bin cage. My dad trusted me with tools, so I had all the needed supplies in my room. 2 hours later, Butterbean was sound asleep in her diy cow hide, and I had made a 700 sq inch bin cage.

The whole time I worked I thought. About my parents and my older sister. About the divorce.

 

It was late at night. Mom and Dad were arguing, like always. Stefani was in her room, trying to get Moo to run on her 4 inch wheel. I was in my room, texting my best friend. Then it happened. It was a loud crash, louder than life and scarier then midnight. I jumped and ran out of my room, about to scream. My mom and dad were staring at each other. A broken vase of daffodils sat smothered on the kitchen floor. In my dad's eyes I could see pain and betrayal. When my mother turned around, hate and anger was written all over her face. Without a word she called Stefani and told her to go in the car. Then she left. She just hit the road, leaving me and Dad alone. A month later they came back for Moo and their things. When they came, no words were exchanged. Just pained looks and glares. Then they left for California. Then they went to Texas. They New York. Then Georgia. Then Washington D.C. Now, England. Bloody England.

 

I was still deep in thought when I checked the time. It was 8 PM. My stomach gave me an angry growl, convincing me to go get some dinner-or dessert. I walked slowly into the kitchen, and the memories flooded back into my head painfully.

 

“Maybe we should take a break.” My Dad said. “Take a break?! Are you kicking me out?!” My Mother screamed. Calmly, my Dad explained “Of course not Alice. It's just… all this arguing isn’t good for the kids. Maybe we just need some time to cool off.” Then my Mother lashed her arms out-an angry gesture- and knocked down the vase. 

 

I could remember everything. And for once, I didn’t want to. I didn't want to remember the arguments, the words they passed back and forth, and most of all, the looks. They say a picture is worth a thousand words. A look on someone's face is worth a million.

 

I kept walking over to the fridge. We had a few things there, so I pulled out some shrimp, spices, teriyaki sauce, and a few other ingredients to make my favorite- (cooked) shrimp sushi. When I was turning the shrimp around on the pan, watching it turn pink while my onions caramelized, my dad came down stairs.

 

“I… I’m sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, and I'm sorry that you have to get through this.”

 

I heard his words and gave him a long hug. Then I smelt burning.

“MY SHRIMP!”

I quickly turned off the burner and scraped off the burned pieces. Me and my dad shared a great, slightly burnt meal of shrimp sushi, laughing the whole time.

 

After we washed the dishes, I went on amazon to get some more supplies for our flight to England. As I rolled into bed and turned off the light, all I thought was ‘Thank you next day Amazon Prime”.

 

______________________________________________________________________________

l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l-l_l

 

(Mulch’s POV)

 

“Aspenstar!?” Evergreen yelled out as we passed into the camp-it was an underground… burrow didn’t do it justice. It was a cavern. It was huge-the main area was almost as large as the pet store itself! There were burrows going off in every direction. A medicine den, multiple other dens, and a giant food hoard.

A light brown, aspen colored dwarf came running out of the largest den. Her eyes were bright and she rushed towards me. Her voice choked up, he said “Is it really you Nettle?!” Then she gave me a big hug. She was huge compared to me, but a lot older. Her scent told me that she was at least 2 years old, but he looked as young as Dots is!

I pulled away from his hug. The other warriors stared at me and Aspenstar, until she stared them, a silent message saying “Go on with your day, Warriors. Im handling this.”

 

“Do you… remember me Nettle?” She asked, tears spilling out of her face.

“My name isn’t Nettle.” I sighed. “My name is Mulch. I’m from a petstore, and I just want to get back to my best friend.”

“So…. you don't remember me, your mother?”

“M..M. Mother?” I was shaking uncontrollably. How could she be my mother? I was from Eurupe!

“A Mother never forgets the scent of her son. Your father is from England. I love you Nettle, Mulch, Whatever you want to be called. I have always loved you, even when the humans stole you from me.”

 

I think I fainted. The world went black. I couldn't process this all. It was just… too much.

The last words I heard was my supposed mother saying “Evergreen, bring your step-brother to the Medicine Den.”

 

 

 

Woah! I didn't know you posted the chapters in here. You can place Chapter 7 and 8 here, lol.

As for Chapter 5, I noticed that I called the leader, "Midnight," instead of, "Aspenstar," oops. Could you edit that? I'll be doing that to mine right now.

Thanks!

[lil BIG dwarf]

So, HaMmIe nUgGeTs was supposed to write, but he was like nah man, Imma flake out on you, so... IM SO SORRRYYY FOR THE LATE CHAPTERRRR

 

Previosly on a Hamsters Journey...

 

 

“I’ll think about it,” she replied. “What should we do when we get home? Any medicine? And what about our.. trip,” I noticed she bit her lip, “to England? You know, the trip I didn’t want to go to because I’m forced to see Alice?” She muttered under her breath. I had good hearing but apparently, as much as advanced as humans are, they didn’t. Well, then again, they think we’re toys and are perfectly fine in CritterJails** I mean Crittertrails, so I don’t have high expectations from them.

 

“I’ll diagnose some medication for her to take. If she has any more seizures and no control of her body whatsoever, please contact me immediately. Email is fine, but go into detail. My office is available whenever, so don’t worry,” she answered. “For the vacation you’ll be having,” the vet continued, “I don’t think that’d be a good idea. In the condition Butterbean is in, she may not even make the whole trip there. I’m sorry about that.” April looked like she was going to cheer, but then her eyes glanced back to me and she stopped. She frowned, her eyes drooped, still red, and her face dropped.

 

No, no, stop that! I wanted to plead to her. Celebrate. I’m fine. I’ll be alright. You don’t have to go to England now, just like you said you didn’t want to! At least, I think you didn’t want to. You were so upset and sad when the news came out. The other vet holding me had a gap between his fingers. I could escape. Was I going to die? Were they going to kill me? I froze.

 

April wouldn’t do that. She loves me. But what if I’m too sick? What if I die tomorrow from the seizures? The pain was horrible last time. I couldn’t control myself. It was frightening. Could I even survive one more hit? I had to. I was from the wild. I was a wild hamster. Wild hamsters are strong. Even if I don’t remember my past, I still will always be strong.

 

I leaped out of his fingers. And I ran.

(written by lilhams~uwu)

 

 

I scurried across the white tile floor, legs moving with all my might!

 

"That <fuzzy teddy-bear>ing hamster! Get back here!" The veterinarian cursed, racing after me.

 

"NO! Butterbean!" April screamed as she leaped, hands outstretched. I ran in to a crack in the wall, smelling strongly of other escaped Geckos, Snakes, and other animals I couldn't identify.

 

I ran so fast I couldn't see where I was going. I banged in to something a few inches from the entrance-something cool and colorful. "Are you escaping from being killed?" A voice said. I jumped in suprise. "Who...where are you?!" I screeched. The cool thing I had jumped in to turned around, and I gasped. It was blue with orange spots. "I am a Tokay gecko. You may call me Autumn. Now, if you want to escape, follow me."

 

He scurried down the tunnel, and veered to the left. The noise of autumn and the vet behind me scared me, so I ran in to the tunnel after him. "What is this place? Where are we going?"

 

He sighed. "Well young one, I am 20 years old. I am a Tokay gecko, and I started what we call the underground railroad. This vet is <poop> at diagnosing illness'. He'll euthanize every chance he gets, and the human owners, who mean well, believe him. I mean, for gods sake he said I had chicken pox. I AM A TOKAY GECKO (image in spoiler) WE HAVE SPOTS NATURALLY!

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

They tried to euthanize me, but I was to fast. I escaped in to this abandoned mousehole, and since then other animals have followed. We live in a cavern, and every animal here is vegitarian. We have everything from hamsters like you to Black Mambas to cats-though the larger animals get in another way. Ahh-were here!"

 

"ELDERS! We got a newbie!" He screeched. I flinched. It had dim lighting, and the new scents pounded my nose like a sledgehammer.

 

10 animals-a snake, a hamster, a cat, a Axotol, and a few others I couldn't identify came forward. They gestured to the right, and Autumn smiled at me, gesturing that I should follow. Cautiously I walked in to a new tunnel that opened in to a small candle lit cavern. "Were here." The hamster said.

 

They all sat down, and Autumn scooched over so I could sit next to him. The Hamster spoke first. "We understand your humans tried to euthanize you?" I nodded. "Well, we have 2 choices. You can refuge here, but it will be hard. Theres a food and water shortage, and you need to help everyone else survive. You can also go back to yout humans."

 

I thought. And thought. I could stay here, help others, and be happy. Or I could go to England, and maybe even find my true family.

"I'll... I want to go back. There my home. I need to go.... I can't stay here.

 

They all recoiled in shock, yet, the hamster looked sympathetic. "It may not work. I tried to return, but got stolen. Someone stuffed me in a Critterjail. I barely escaped. Do you want to risk it?"

 

I nodded grimly. Ok then...

 

"YOUR GOING TO ENGLAND?!"

 

"Did I speak my thoughts?" I asked. I didn't know who was speaking, but I assumed it was one of the Elders. "Hi! Were the younger ones of the group. We want to.. leave.'" A hamster had entered, flanked by a gecko and a small snake. "Can we go with you?"

 

I shrugged. How was I supposed to respond?! This felt like a dream.

 

"Well then...." Autumn said "If there going to England, when do they leave?"

 

"Tonight."

 

"Ok then. All you need to do is go in the bag, and leave. I can't believe we wasted food on these betrayers-leaving to england." The snake hissed, tounge flicking angrily.

 

The black cat rolled her eyes and said, "Shut up Grim. These animals are Native to england. They may find there true home.

 

NEXT CHAPTER-They go to England ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

MULCHS POV

 

Cherry brought be a cricket and some unidentifiable greens with a few seeds. "what is this...?"

 

She gaped a ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°) me."Seeds, greens, and cricket. Youve never had even seeds?"

 

I shook my head. She sighed. "Ok Nettle, you need to open the seeds with your teeth, and just chew the cricket. The greens... chew and swallow."

 

Aspenstar rushed in to the healer den. "Are you ok Nettle?!"

 

"I'm fine, Aspenstar. Thanks for asking." 

 

"DONT Aspenstar me! Were family." She pulled me in to a bone crushing hug, and I basically died.

 

Evergreen peeked in to the den and gave me a thumbs up. I glared at him.

 

"Come Nettle, to my den. Tell me your story."

 

I followed her, and got stares from other hamsters on the way. She snarled at any how looked at me funny. "Treat my son with respect!" They all looked suprised, to put it simply, but ducked there heads as I passed.

 

We climbed in to a long, long tunnel, and passed a food tunnel. "Welcome! So, Nettle, how did you become.. here? Get stolen?"

 

"All I remember is faint greenery. I was taken... how I don't know. But they stuffed me in a tiny cage, smaller than the width of a willow tree-Smaller than this sleeping cavern. I lived there with another hamster named Dots for a year or so, till we both got a human home. She promised us large cages, but on the way home... we were in a car crash. A car is a moving human form of transportation-when they hit eachother, you get hurt. I tumbled down here, and met a patrol. Now, here I am."

 

"Thats awful!"  She gave me another suffocating hug. "We must find your friend Dots though. England is a big place-"

 

"ENGLAND??? DOTS IS IN THE USA?!"

 

"Whats the USA? Yes, were in England. How you got here? Maybe a hawk (I know this is unrealistic but wth)-that explains the scratches on your back."

 

"Well... Ok then."

 

My head was spinning. So much. I felt like I may pass out again. "Is there anywhere I can sleep?"

 

"Theres another cavern for you off to the side. Im here if you need me." Aspenstar smiled, and I weakly smiled back, stumbling back to the other cavern. I collapsed in sleep, to tired to think anymore. Soon, both of our snores filled the cavern.

 

SORRRYY for the late chapter. Hammie Nuggets (blaming it on you) took a little bit to respond to my pm (jk, my fault for PMing him late) but in a few days WW has chapter 10 I believe?

Edited by lil BIG dwarf, 24 October 2020 - 05:45 AM.

[Bearthehammy~]

So, HaMmIe nUgGeTs was supposed to write, but he was like nah man, Imma flake out on you, so... IM SO SORRRYYY FOR THE LATE CHAPTERRRR

Previosly on a Hamsters Journey...


“I’ll think about it,” she replied. “What should we do when we get home? Any medicine? And what about our.. trip,” I noticed she bit her lip, “to England? You know, the trip I didn’t want to go to because I’m forced to see Alice?” She muttered under her breath. I had good hearing but apparently, as much as advanced as humans are, they didn’t. Well, then again, they think we’re toys and are perfectly fine in CritterJails** I mean Crittertrails, so I don’t have high expectations from them.

“I’ll diagnose some medication for her to take. If she has any more seizures and no control of her body whatsoever, please contact me immediately. Email is fine, but go into detail. My office is available whenever, so don’t worry,” she answered. “For the vacation you’ll be having,” the vet continued, “I don’t think that’d be a good idea. In the condition Butterbean is in, she may not even make the whole trip there. I’m sorry about that.” April looked like she was going to cheer, but then her eyes glanced back to me and she stopped. She frowned, her eyes drooped, still red, and her face dropped.

No, no, stop that! I wanted to plead to her. Celebrate. I’m fine. I’ll be alright. You don’t have to go to England now, just like you said you didn’t want to! At least, I think you didn’t want to. You were so upset and sad when the news came out. The other vet holding me had a gap between his fingers. I could escape. Was I going to die? Were they going to kill me? I froze.

April wouldn’t do that. She loves me. But what if I’m too sick? What if I die tomorrow from the seizures? The pain was horrible last time. I couldn’t control myself. It was frightening. Could I even survive one more hit? I had to. I was from the wild. I was a wild hamster. Wild hamsters are strong. Even if I don’t remember my past, I still will always be strong.

I leaped out of his fingers. And I ran.
(written by lilhams~uwu)


I scurried across the white tile floor, legs moving with all my might!

"That <fuzzy teddy-bear>ing hamster! Get back here!" The veterinarian cursed, racing after me.

"NO! Butterbean!" April screamed as she leaped, hands outstretched. I ran in to a crack in the wall, smelling strongly of other escaped Geckos, Snakes, and other animals I couldn't identify.

I ran so fast I couldn't see where I was going. I banged in to something a few inches from the entrance-something cool and colorful. "Are you escaping from being killed?" A voice said. I jumped in suprise. "Who...where are you?!" I screeched. The cool thing I had jumped in to turned around, and I gasped. It was blue with orange spots. "I am a Tokay gecko. You may call me Autumn. Now, if you want to escape, follow me."

He scurried down the tunnel, and veered to the left. The noise of autumn and the vet behind me scared me, so I ran in to the tunnel after him. "What is this place? Where are we going?"

He sighed. "Well young one, I am 20 years old. I am a Tokay gecko, and I started what we call the underground railroad. This vet is <poop> at diagnosing illness'. He'll euthanize every chance he gets, and the human owners, who mean well, believe him. I mean, for gods sake he said I had chicken pox. I AM A TOKAY GECKO (image in spoiler) WE HAVE SPOTS NATURALLY!

Spoiler

They tried to euthanize me, but I was to fast. I escaped in to this abandoned mousehole, and since then other animals have followed. We live in a cavern, and every animal here is vegitarian. We have everything from hamsters like you to Black Mambas to cats-though the larger animals get in another way. Ahh-were here!"

"ELDERS! We got a newbie!" He screeched. I flinched. It had dim lighting, and the new scents pounded my nose like a sledgehammer.

10 animals-a snake, a hamster, a cat, a Axotol, and a few others I couldn't identify came forward. They gestured to the right, and Autumn smiled at me, gesturing that I should follow. Cautiously I walked in to a new tunnel that opened in to a small candle lit cavern. "Were here." The hamster said.

They all sat down, and Autumn scooched over so I could sit next to him. The Hamster spoke first. "We understand your humans tried to euthanize you?" I nodded. "Well, we have 2 choices. You can refuge here, but it will be hard. Theres a food and water shortage, and you need to help everyone else survive. You can also go back to yout humans."

I thought. And thought. I could stay here, help others, and be happy. Or I could go to England, and maybe even find my true family.
"I'll... I want to go back. There my home. I need to go.... I can't stay here.

They all recoiled in shock, yet, the hamster looked sympathetic. "It may not work. I tried to return, but got stolen. Someone stuffed me in a Critterjail. I barely escaped. Do you want to risk it?"

I nodded grimly. Ok then...

"YOUR GOING TO ENGLAND?!"

"Did I speak my thoughts?" I asked. I didn't know who was speaking, but I assumed it was one of the Elders. "Hi! Were the younger ones of the group. We want to.. leave.'" A hamster had entered, flanked by a gecko and a small snake. "Can we go with you?"

I shrugged. How was I supposed to respond?! This felt like a dream.

"Well then...." Autumn said "If there going to England, when do they leave?"

"Tonight."

"Ok then. All you need to do is go in the bag, and leave. I can't believe we wasted food on these betrayers-leaving to england." The snake hissed, tounge flicking angrily.

The black cat rolled her eyes and said, "Shut up Grim. These animals are Native to england. They may find there true home.

NEXT CHAPTER-They go to England ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

MULCHS POV

Cherry brought be a cricket and some unidentifiable greens with a few seeds. "what is this...?"

She gaped a ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°) me."Seeds, greens, and cricket. Youve never had even seeds?"

I shook my head. She sighed. "Ok Nettle, you need to open the seeds with your teeth, and just chew the cricket. The greens... chew and swallow."

Aspenstar rushed in to the healer den. "Are you ok Nettle?!"

"I'm fine, Aspenstar. Thanks for asking."

"DONT Aspenstar me! Were family." She pulled me in to a bone crushing hug, and I basically died.

Evergreen peeked in to the den and gave me a thumbs up. I glared at him.

"Come Nettle, to my den. Tell me your story."

I followed her, and got stares from other hamsters on the way. She snarled at any how looked at me funny. "Treat my son with respect!" They all looked suprised, to put it simply, but ducked there heads as I passed.

We climbed in to a long, long tunnel, and passed a food tunnel. "Welcome! So, Nettle, how did you become.. here? Get stolen?"

"All I remember is faint greenery. I was taken... how I don't know. But they stuffed me in a tiny cage, smaller than the width of a willow tree-Smaller than this sleeping cavern. I lived there with another hamster named Dots for a year or so, till we both got a human home. She promised us large cages, but on the way home... we were in a car crash. A car is a moving human form of transportation-when they hit eachother, you get hurt. I tumbled down here, and met a patrol. Now, here I am."

"Thats awful!" She gave me another suffocating hug. "We must find your friend Dots though. England is a big place-"

"ENGLAND??? DOTS IS IN THE USA?!"

"Whats the USA? Yes, were in England. How you got here? Maybe a hawk (I know this is unrealistic but wth)-that explains the scratches on your back."

"Well... Ok then."

My head was spinning. So much. I felt like I may pass out again. "Is there anywhere I can sleep?"

"Theres another cavern for you off to the side. Im here if you need me." Aspenstar smiled, and I weakly smiled back, stumbling back to the other cavern. I collapsed in sleep, to tired to think anymore. Soon, both of our snores filled the cavern.

SORRRYY for the late chapter. Hammie Nuggets (blaming it on you) took a little bit to respond to my pm (jk, my fault for PMing him late) but in a few days WW has chapter 10 I believe?

AHHHHHHHHYHH I WANTTTTTTTTTTTT MORRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE >:cccccc

[♥~Whitewhiskers~♥]

Chapter 10

~~~~~~[Butterbeans POV]~~~~~~

 

”So all we need to do is sneak in your owners bag...” The gecko smirked. “And we be off to england!” He seemed excited. “Yep - and her name is April” I made a head gesture telling them all to come as we go through the tunnel, leading to the mouse-hole.

 

The snake popped his head out of the hole. “The bag is open, sitting by Aprils leg, but they will see us if we go to it!” He said. “We need someone to distract them!” They both looked at me. “That wouldn’t work!” I snapped.

 

”They would see you and chase you while we go into the bag!” The other hamster said. “And then what if they caught me, or if they didn’t, how would I get in the bag?!” I squeaked.

 

”Oh, right!” The snake laughed. Right as the hamster was about to say something the veterinarian walked out of the room. “Well, now he’s gone! April is... crying...” I said, I felt bad for her but I would have to die if she saw me.

 

“But she is covering her eyes, so we can try to sneak into it! I will go first, since I am smaller...” I went to walk when the gecko called me back. “WAIT! What if she opens her bag and finds us?” I snorted at that question.

 

”Aprils bag is filthy, she would never find us under all those wrappers and trash!” I laughed. “Oh... okay. Well, if she does... what do we do then?” “We’ll worry about that later! Cmon!”

 

I scurried out behind the counter the veterinarian stands at, trying to go as slow as possible. She didn’t see me, so I ran back out the other side and ran up to the backpack, I jumped in it.

 

And before burrowing myself in all the wrappers I made a head gesture towards the snake and gecko, the gecko came first, and he scurried down and into the backpack.

 

Him, being a gecko, had to lick everything in his path, slowing him down. Then the snake came, and his small size made it easy for him to unnoticeably slither down the floor, his yellowish-orange color blending with the cold tile perfectly.

 

We all buried ourselves into the wrappers, the geckos weird bumpy skin rubbed against mine as I got chills, such a weird feeling. Me and the hamster pressed against the gecko and the snake to keep them warm.

 

They were both freezing, how did they survive down there? “So, I never got you guys’s names?” I said. “Uhh, my name is Kaido, the snakes name is Lemon and the hamsters name is Mochi.” The gecko said.

 

”Its nice to meet all of you, my name is Butterbean!” I squeaked.

________________
 

Its kinda short, and I’m not gonna do Mulch’s POV because I’m not feeling well, buuuut I will include what the new characters look like...

The gecko:

Spoiler

 

The snake:

Spoiler

 

The hamster:

Spoiler

[ForgetfulBreeze]

More!

[lilhams~uwu]

More!

 

Hi MooCow! I'm doing the next chapter, let's just say it's going to be long as I will be adding three perspectives and I'm so far on Mulch's perspective.

It'll be epic, haha.

Edited by lilhams~uwu, 04 November 2020 - 05:34 AM.

[ForgetfulBreeze]

Hi MooCow! I'm doing the next chapter, let's just say it's going to be long as I will be adding three perspectives and I'm so far on Mulch's perspective.

It'll be epic, haha.

OoOh Can't wait! 

[mlel~]

 

Yeah LEMONNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!

[lilhams~uwu]

CHAPTER 11 (long awaited and VERY due, LBD is quacking)

100,000% fictional, i literally forgot the process of going on a plane the last time i was at one was like last year give me a break

 

I grunted as I awoke to feel tapping on my head. It certainly didn’t feel as tough as a hamster pawing me. I glanced up at the burrow’s dirt ceiling to see a small hole which was leaking murky water onto me. Gross. Imagine how greasy my fur is going to be after this! I slump out a pile of moss and a feather. It’s been a few days and I still haven’t moved out of the healer’s den. Aspenstar figured that it would be a good place to stay since Cherry wanted to check on my hawk wounds. I wouldn’t want to move into the defender’s den anyways. Over these past days, they haven’t been exactly friendly to me whatsoever.

 

I guess I can’t really blame them. They can see right through my lie. I’m not sure why I even decided to stay in the beginning. It was stupid of me, I thought as I inhaled the smell of herbs and plants. It had gotten familiar. I growled. I was in a bad mood. I shouldn’t have stayed. I wouldn’t be in this position. I’m stuck in the UK and Dots is in the US! I had flown overseas and I had simply thought I had crashed out of the car and was still in the same state. 

 

I’ll never find my owner, I miserably thought to myself. I should have simply stayed in my burrow and then tried finding the girl. Which I hopelessly wouldn’t and I’d probably give up and go live in a pet store. They have Petsmart here, right? It’s not as rough as it is out here. They may not have the best care but it certainly wasn’t that bad. The mills are much worse from what I had heard. Right then and then, I decided I had to leave camp. 

 

It was funny how three grown defenders that were literally ten months old could push me so far like this. It’s even more funny how Flint was usually the one defending me; Evergreen had recently been moved to the nursery after she mated with Rowan. I have to say I’m proud of them, I’m just too disappointed I won’t be there when the litter comes. 

 

But, it has to be done. As I was being a grumpy hamster on this pile of leaves and not having a reason to get up, Cherry sprinted into the medicine den with a grin stretched so wide I don’t even think I could do that! I gave her a quick smile before she could sense I was being moody. 

 

She happily spinned around the medicine den and organized some herbs before she replied to me, “How are you doing, my patient?” She chuckled before saying, “Seems like you won’t just be my patient soon.” Confused, I ignored the weird feeling I got, and I nodded. She just probably meant that I would be moving to the elder’s den or something. Can’t blame her, I’m not ill or anything and she probably needs the room for other patients.

 

“Why are you so happy today?” I asked instead. “Are there any special occasions happening? I don’t recall any birthdays happening today.” It’s not anybody telling me anything anyways. I’m an outcast here after all. 

 

She merely laughed and responded, “You’ll see. Aspenstar is going to call a meeting soon, we just talked.” I thought about that for a moment. Was one of the kits being an apprentice? An apprentice becoming a warrior? I simply just dipped my head and walked out of the medicine den right into an open area of the burrow. I caught a glimpse of Flint waving his paw at me and I sprinted towards him.

 

“Me and Twig were waiting for you,” he smiled. I tilted my head, even more confused. Cherry was a sweet hamster, she’s always happy and kind, but Flint? He despised me the first day we met and if I was late to anything, he’d probably scold me. “You probably needed that extra hour of sleep or so. It doesn’t hurt after all.” I glanced at the apprentice’s den where Yuki was sitting alone. She looked… sad. Unusual since everybody seemed so happy around me.

I looked at Flint for an answer. “We should invite Yuki over. Where’s Sunlight, her mentor?” Sunlight had been at the medicine den for a few days, hence why Evergreen took over, but he had recovered shortly after and I hadn’t seen him in Cherry’s den. Flint and Twig both exchanged weird looks at each other and didn’t answer my question. They simply chewed some mealworms and crickets without giving me eye contact. “I may not be from this Clan,” I scoffed, “but at least have some respect for me! I traveled from the US to the UK without dying and now you’re keeping secrets from me?”

Flint cringed while Twig kept poking at him. “Stop pestering me,” he mumbled to the apprentice, who quickly apologized. He awkwardly looked at me. “It’s a hard topic to talk about,” he slowly said, “and I thought you would already know.” My heart leaped out of me.

“What happened to Sunlight?” I immediately asked. “I want answers. Nobody tells me anything here, except for you guys.” I admitted. “I deserve to know. I basically have a right!” He sighed. 

“Sunlight hid his symptoms,” Flint confessed. “It wasn’t whitecough. It turned to greencough, but he simply said he was fine. When we found out, it was too late.” He didn’t face me. I blinked. “He passed away, wheezing in the defender’s den. Yuki’s heartbroken, poor thing.” He shook his head. “But for now, we must keep the mood light.” He quickly added. I looked at him skeptically. How could he change the subject so fast and not care about what Yuki is going through? I really want to get down to the bottom of this. 

“Nettle, Aspenstar is calling a meeting soon.” I was caught nearly off-guard by his response. “I think it might be about you,” Flick flicked his head at me. He signaled to a large rock where Aspenstar peered out. Was this a celebration of some kind? About what? Was this the ceremony for Yuki to get a new mentor?

“Ahem…” She stepped out of the shadows and leaped onto the rock where hamsters started to gesture it. They went to surround Aspenstar while Flint beckoned me over. Yuki bounced over to Twig and they sat down and sat in the audience, chatting about whatever it is those young hamsters talk about. It looked like they were having a pleasant conversation seeing how Yuki brightened up when Twig came over. “My clan!” I heard my so-called mother call out from the rock. Silence filled the air and the chatter died down. Everyone eagerly looked up to hear what Aspenstar had to say.

“Unfortunately, a lot has happened during these past days,” she said, her voice cracking at the end. We all knew what she meant. We dipped our heads in grief and respect for Sunlight. I hadn’t known him for long but I can see he was an important aspect here. “I bet Sunlight is looking above from the clouds and is glad you’ve remembered him and the memories during his funeral.” She itched her flank and looked at the audience. They glanced around the crowd. What for? Right. He was their deputy. They need to replace him. It sounds harsh, but it has to be done.

“I know many of you will be upset with my decision for who will be the next deputy,” she announced. Some hamsters looked at each other curiously and confused. “But I have good reason to. And I’m sorry if you disagree, but I’ve been with them for a while and I’m happy to see how they’ve grown while I was gone.” She looked straight at me. My eyes widened. She was talking about me? I felt nervous as I stared at my paws. Sweat dripped from my forehead. 

She’s gonna find out I’m not Nettle, I realized, and she’s gonna kick me out of her Clan for lying. I have no one to help me, I miserably thought. Evergreen is going to have a family and Flint can’t possibly do a thing. Is this why Cherry and Flint were so happy? They were happy I didn’t have to be around? That I was in a prank show? I shook my head. They wouldn’t do that. Right?

Aspenstar smiled. “Nettle, our missing piece of our Clan.” Hamsters gasped. Surprised. Confused. Angry. Upset. “Again, I know this is a lot to take in,” she replied, “but Nettle has recovered after his stay in the medicine den and has been a big help to Cherry. He was trained to be a warrior, however he never got that chance. So, I’m giving my son that. He survived being with the humans all alone. If he can do that without being weakened, he can survive everything. I’ll let him mentor Yuki so that he’ll have some experience in having an apprentice! And,” she added, “he was brought back to us by a hawk. If that isn’t a sign from Spiritclan, I don’t know what is.” She shook her head. Others nodded, however others, three particular ones that kept picking on me, were completely enraged by this news.

One of them was a fluffy large white dwarf with a large stripe on his back. “You’re kidding,” he scoffed. “You’re letting him be the deputy? He hasn’t even trained, let alone fight or hunt for this Clan. He’s responsible for the whole clan now! How can you-” He was cut off by Aspenstar who was absolutely shocked by his behavior.

“Frostbite, Nettle has lived by you ever since he was a little kit and now you’re saying he’s not going to fight or hunt for the Clan? He may have had a concussion and lost most of his memory, but he’ll come back,” she insisted. “He just needs a push to get his memories back and he’s going to get it.”

He snarled. “That is NOT the Nettle I know. Nettle was brave and hard-working. Nettle is gone.” Frostbite growled at her. “You can’t seem to understand the aspect of death.” The audience whispered while Aspenstar stared at him in disbelief.

“And this is a flat-out liar trying to destroy our clan from within. Maybe we can eventually trust whoever this is,” he adds, glaring at me, “but I can’t trust a liar. He should show his identity, otherwise we’re doomed.”

“Nettle is not a liar and he won’t destroy us,” Flint defended me. “In fact, I think he’ll improve it! If Nettle wasn’t here, then you might as well be the new deputy. Is that why you’re going off on him like that,” he challenged, “because you want the spot? Because you’re that self-centered?”

Another dwarf, a reddish-brown male, came straight into the conversation. “Frostbite is not self-centered, Flint! He knows what’s best for the Clan and he has proof that Nettle isn’t who he says he is. He’s been lying and the secrets were right under your nose.” My heart skipped a beat. After this, they’re going to leave me to die in the woods. How great.

Aspenstar rolled her eyes. Evergreen was right. She was stubborn. “I have a hard time believing that. I was the one who said it was Nettle, he didn’t just lie to get a place into our clan. He’s an honorable member and I doubt your evidence will help. His innocence is clear.”

Before he could say anything, she added, “And don’t make me being old an excuse. I may be two years old but I still got two eyes and remember Nettle as bright as daylight.” She jumped off the rock and stared right into Frostbite’s soul. He backed up from the crowd. Everyone watched her sneer at him.

“So… why don’t you spill?”

_________________________________________________

It had been a few days since I had met the gecko, snake, and a syrian. We mostly stayed in April’s bag where she usually placed in a dark closet in her room. That was the perfect place for us since we often didn’t get caught here. April never goes into her closet unless to get her bag out! The thing was, I don’t think we could survive here for long. There’s barely anything here to eat. Kaido was fine with eating the flies that usually escaped into the closet, but there was no food for Lemon! I was starting to feel that he wanted to eat me and Mochi up but he had a very strong will. As for me and the syrian, we were also starving. Kaido hogged all the flies and we only had eaten one cricket since we’ve gotten here. 

When was April going to England? I wondered during the nights I was especially hungry. I missed her company and my cage and my food. I even missed the pellets she gave me! But the day finally came. We were all snoozing in the bag, I had somehow gotten used to sleeping next to scales, but then I felt like an earthquake was happening! I immediately woke and turned to the others who were also confused at the sudden shake.

“It’s finally happening! We’re off to England,” Kaido cheered. “I’ve got just the plan when we get to the airport.” Before we could say anything, he explained, “Airports are where humans come to travel. They have these huge bird machines they fly in. Aren’t you excited, Lemon?”

“If the airport has a few rodents or birds, then I’m quite excited to have an actual meal,” he groaned. “The only thing I’ve eaten was a slug I found on the ground. And this bag is way too small to even move,” he pointed out. “Especially with you guys taking up all the room. Sometimes I wish that I’d eat you all up already.” Lemon snarled. Me and Mochi squeaked and backed up. Kaido simply laughed. He didn’t see it but I glared at him. 

“Don’t you hamsters worry!” He chuckled. “Lemon is just in a bad mood, he’ll be feeling much better when we get there.” I felt Kaido poke at the snake, who grumbled in annoyance. “I’m sure the airport has a few snacks for you to munch on. There’s a lot of people there and I’m sure one or two will be bringing a pet.” He cheerily said. I smacked the gecko and scoffed.

“We’re not getting rid of any human’s pets,” I scowled. “The moment they see you swallowing a rabbit, we’ll be caught!” I also didn’t want to see another human hurt. I didn’t want to get flashbacks to April crying at the vet’s office.

“We need a plan so that we all can get to England alive and together.” I continued. “That means Lemon doesn’t eat me and Mochi, Mochi doesn’t decide to attack me, and Kaido…” I thought for a moment what to say. “Kaido, you’re fine. You don’t eat hamsters, right?”

“I don’t recall having an appetite for small rodents. I prefer mealworms.”

“That’s probably the best thing so far,” Mochi sighed. “You said you had a plan, Kaido, for the airport? Well, spill. I’m pretty sure that there’ll be hundreds of humans there. We’re so close to victory, we can’t get caught!” He insisted.

I felt the pressure of being dropped and we all stumbled onto one another. Fur and scales weren't the softest pillow I could drop onto. Lemon growled, “I’m absolutely tired of being in this purse. Could somebody PLEASE open this stuffy bag? I need my fresh air!” 

I rolled my eyes, I’m glad Lemon wasn’t able to see or he’d probably bite off my head. I leaped onto Mochi’s back, who let out an, “oof,” and opened the metal zipper slightly to show a ray of light but not enough for April to catch us. I was amazed that I could finally see shapes and colors. Although I may have terrible eyesight, it was a relief to look at blurry images rather than complete darkness. It was more blurry than usual but I shook my head. I felt dizzy and light-headed. I stumbled off of Mochi’s back and collapsed onto the ground. I tried to get up but I had no control of my body. I was having a seizure. It was just as painful as before.

I saw them glance at each other and tried their best to help me out. Lemon’s words echoed in my mind before I fainted. 

“I know Doctor Scott is trash at diagnosing illnesses… but what if they were right?”

__________________________________________________

I had been a crying mess over the past few days. I had really ruined my hamster’s lives, haven’t I? I sobbed at night in my bed, I sobbed on the drive to the airport, and at the airport, my eyes were red, but hey, at least they weren’t exploding with tears! I’m sorry if I sound like I’m complaining, I’m probably just being dramatic like my friends told me. They said it was just a hamster and I didn’t need to be that upset. I think it was supposed to make me feel better but it made me even worse. Now I wasn’t supposed to mourn over the deaths I caused? I can’t even sleep at night, knowing that Butterbean is probably somewhere getting eaten. The veterinarian said that they would check their walls but I hadn’t had much of a call. Can’t say I blame them though. 

“It’s fine, she was going to die anyway.” I miserably read out loud a text I got while waiting at the airport. Nobody really understood how I was feeling. I guess I deserve these feelings. I did this to myself. As I reached the entrance, I shoved two luggages and my purse. I pulled up my backpack and complained to my father who was only wearing a backpack. He thought that me having extra luggage would be good for my health. A “workout” as he called it. Hmph.

“Could you at least hold your luggage?” I whined. “Why do we even need to have all this stuff?” I grumbled, my arms folded. Dad sighed and pushed the luggages for me while I pouted. “It’s not like we’re moving!” I gestured at the luggages and backpacks. I thought I saw his eyes shift before he looked down at the floor. After taking a deep breath, he glanced back at me.

“Spring…” I wanted to obnoxiously correct him but I noticed he trembled when he said my nickname. I sighed. “I’ll hold my luggage and you’ll do ours. I’ll release some weight on you; you’ve been having a rough week.” That was definitely an understatement but I agreed and carried my purple polka-dotted luggage. I thought I heard a faint ‘squeak’ when I sprinted and I slowed down. My purse stopped shaking and my dad looked at me puzzled. No squeak, no sound other than people talking and wheels of luggages being pulled. 

“Sorry Dad, it must have been my imagination,” I said with uncertainty. I couldn’t have heard that, right? Was it all in my head? Was grief really doing this to me? When we got our airline tickets and went to the security check, I pulled out my purse to look for my phone. Rummaging through the candy wrappings and receipt papers I crumbled up, I was able to find my device with my favorite yellow case and stickers of flowers on it. The only thing was that it smelled horribly! I covered my nose in disgust. 

“Ugh, what happened to my phone?” I told my Dad who laughed. 

“Don’t ask me!” He seemed to be in a better mood. “You’re the one who is always on your phone.” I rolled my eyes. I also was in a better mood. I guess that’s what happens when you’re tired of being frustrated and angry. You just burst and now all the emotion is gone. I still felt a bit gloomy though. I tried not to let that get to me.

“I used my phone last night and it seemed fine to me. Then I placed it in my purse and it stinks like crazy! Did somebody pee in it during the car ride?” I snorted. Dad seemed to think this was the perfect opportunity to make a joke. “Hey! I had to pee and there were no bathrooms for miles! The closest next to me was your purse so…” 

I snickered. Giggled. Chuckled. I was cracking up. And that was probably the hardest I’ve ever laughed in weeks. I felt lighter. 

“Dad!” I complained, getting in on the joke. The employees at the airport stared at us weirdly while checking our bags. “You could at least peed in a bush or a bottle, not my dear purse. It’s one hundred percent for Gucci. It’s a thousand dollars and I demand that you pay me back right now!” I put on my best Karen impression. I was about to continue before the employee cut me off. 

“Sorry to interrupt, but please put all your devices down, I’ll get a basket for you?” She gestured at my phone. Oops. She grabbed out a plastic container and me and Dad placed a laptop and two phones in. It rolled away. When we were able to get our luggages and stuff back, I noticed that there were two hamster turds stuck in my case. How did they get there? And was that the reason my purse smelled so bad…? I’m not going crazy, am I? I wondered and wondered and wondered. 

I knew that there was something strange going on though. And I was going to solve it. 

[♥~Whitewhiskers~♥]

Ooh! Sorry I forgot to write my chapter 

Lemon so cuteeeee <3

[mlel~]

More!

[NougatTheHamster]

rip