“There you are!” Cleo said to her pet cricket

  Snapper as she caught him and put him in his tiny cage.

  Snapper is always getting out of his cage and hopping

  away as fast as his little cricket legs can hop away. This wasn't the first time he had gotten out of his cage, he liked to explore the woods around Cleo's house whenever he got out.

  As Cleo was walking down the trail in the tiny forest in the tiny kingdom of Hamland after catching

  Snapper, she came upon a sign nailed to a tiny tree.

  “I wonder what the sign says?” Cleo said to

  Snapper, who just chirped in return.

  “KNIGHTS WANTED”

  “Sign up for training” The sign said.

  “You know what Snapper?” Cleo said, “I am

  strong hamster! I think I would make a great knight!”Cleo ran home as fast as her paws could take her.

  She ran to her room, put Snapper back in her kennel, and

  burst through the family room door of her tiny little

  burrow just under the tallest tiny tree on the edge of the

  kingdom.

  “What’s the hurry Cleo?” her siblings wanted to

  know. The two young hamsters played with their toys.

  “Why are you running in the burrow?” her

  mother needed to know.

  “I figured it out! I know! I now know what I

  want to be! I want to be a knight! A hamster knight!”

  shouted Cleo.

  “Knock yourself out!” explained Cleo’s mother, “But the

  real challenge, try explaining that one to your father.” Later that night when her family were all done eating

  supper and her siblings had already left the table, in

  which to not have to clean up, Cleo was finally alone

  with her father.

  “Dad, can I talk to you a minute?” Cleo asked. Her father

  looked at her and raised an eyebrow. More than likely

  afraid of what Cleo may be up to. “I want to be a knight!

  I want to sign up to start my training! I’ll be a great

  knight!”

  “A fragile little hamster being a knight?” was

  all he said while trying to hide his smile. “Dad, I am not fragile!” Cleo started her

  argument. “I would grow stronger in training. I want to

  learn a skill that will make a difference and fight for my

  kingdom. And I’m signing up and going to start training,

  because I am going to be a knight!” she finished folding

  her arms across her chest. Then her mother walked in,

  “What is going on, what’s with all of the

  shouting?”

  “Cleo want to become a knight.” Her father said.

  “Yes honey, but she probably wouldn’t get in”

  her mother responded. She walked over to her husband

  and laid her paws on his shoulder.

  “Maybe, but I am not going to let her anyways.”

  Dad reassured her. “Just let me have a chance. Please!” Cleo

  pleaded.

  “Fine!” her mom finally yelled. “Your dad and I

  will talk more about it, and we then will let you know

  what our decision is. We need to know that this is truly

  what your heart wants. Knight training is not only hard

  physically Cleo, but mentally, you need to be prepared to

  give up your little hamster life to protect the kingdom.”

  “Now, go on to bed.” her dad commanded.

  #

  She got ready for bed. When she was done, she

  laid there with her pet cricket, trying to fall asleep. She

  said,

  “Snapper, I really want to be a knight.” but of

  course, like every other time,

  “Cricket, Chirp, Cricket,” was all he said.

  “Can you understand me, Snapper?” she thought.

  After carefully putting her pet back in his pen, she went

  back to bed and slowly fell asleep.

  #

  In the morning Cleo woke up quickly, ate

  breakfast, and changed. Once she was finally ready,

  Cleo called, “See you later” to her mom and walked out

  the door.

  “Good luck Cleo!” She could hear her mother call as she

  closed the door.

  “Cleo!” her friend Alexia called. She is one of

  Cleo’s very best friends. She is a ginger hamster and is

  stubborn enough to prove it. Cleo quickly joined her as

  they ran to their friend’s house. Cleo was dying to tell

  Alexia she was trying to convince her parents to let her

  sign up for knights training, and that she could think of

  nothing better in life than to proudly be a brave strong

  knight protecting and defending her kingdom. Alexia would make a great knight as well Cleo

  thought. With as stubborn and bull headed as Alexia

  was, Cleo couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to pick a

  fight with her. She can definitely hold her own. As they

  walked, she wondered if she should bring it up, but

  decided to wait til she was with the rest of her friendsThe two hamsters arrived at a small cottage.

  This cottage houses a family of three golden hamsters.

  One of which is the two girls’ friend, Prince. As amazing

  of a guy as Prince is, he just doesn’t fit his name. He

  may be one of the bravest hamsters that Cleo knows and

  he absolutely loves action and adventure, but he is

  skinny, petite, and a little bit socially awkward. After

  Cleo knocked on the door, he walked out into the sunny

  day. His light blond fur shined brightly in the sun. “Hey

  guys, ready to go to the twins’ house?”

  “Actually Prince, Cleo suggested we stop at the

  market and pick up a surprise gift for them.” Alexia replied. Prince ran to catch up with the girls who turned

  to walk away“I suppose they would like a gift from their

  friends” he said while catching up to walk side by side

  with his two friends. The three hamsters walked down

  the dirt path chatting and occasionally passing neighbors

  until they reached the center of town. The town square in

  Hamland was quite large and always bustling with

  activity. Three sides were covered with shops and the

  north side holds the gate into the castle. Behind that gate

  there was another smaller gathering area for

  announcements and ceremonies. In the common area of

  the square, a market was held almost every day.

  Hamsters who didn’t have permanent stores and

  merchants from all over sold their goods and services.

  The three hamsters were drawn to a mystical looking tent

  while searching for a formidable last-minute present for the twins. This tent was owned by a squirrel. After

  inquiring, he said that he collected and sold oddities

  from across the world. Impressed, the three hamsters

  decided this was the place to find the perfect gift. “So,

  what kind of gift should we get them?” Alexia asked.

  The three of them walked around admiring the random

  objects surrounding them.

  “Should we get them two separate things, or

  matching things?” Cleo responded. She looked around

  for something that looked good for a pair.

  “Maybe jewelry?” Prince suggested. He held a

  jewel from a necklace up to the sun. The two girls

  turned to look at him and the necklace.

  “Jewelry is too ordinary. Someone definitely

  already got them jewelry.” Alexia said with a hint ofdisgust. While Cleo listened to her friends bicker, she

  remembered that she wants to ask her friends to go to

  knight training with her. Maybe this gift could be a

  segway into that conversation. She slowly made her way

  towards a shelf with weapons on it. At first, she didn’t

  see anything worthwhile, but then when she crouched

  down to check out the bottom shelf, she noticed a label

  that said the twin blade. It looked like one, dual bladed

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  dagger at first glance. Cleo was unimpressed, but then

  she noticed a mechanism in the center of the handle.

  Trying to be as careful as possible, she grabbed the

  handle and pressed in one of the buttons. To her surprise,

  the dual blade became two. “Perfect” she whispered

  under her breath.“You want to get them knifes?” Alexia

  questioned. Cleo hesitated a second to think of her

  explanation. She thought she’d wait til they’re all

  together to say her idea.

  “Well, yeah.... Don’t you think they’re perfect for

  two feisty girls?” Cleo answered slowly.

  “They do look pretty cool” Prince interjected.

  “Well that settles it.” Alexia said, “We found our

  gift!”

  After purchasing their gift they thanked the

  squirrel and walked out of the tent. While they crossed

  the square a hurried hamster slammed into Cleo. She fell

  to the ground, but the hamster didn’t stop to help her.This hamster only yelled “Pardon me!”By the time Cleo turned around, she only caught

  a glimpse of the hamsters long, white fur before she

  disappeared into the crowd. Cleo gave her friends a

  questioning look while they helped her up, but the

  conversation she was going to start was stopped by a

  clock chiming twelve times. “Wow! We really need to

  get to the twins’ house.” Prince exclaimed. Alexia

  grabbed the gift that Cleo accidentally dropped and gave

  it back to her. She took the daggers wrapped in a white

  cloth and slipped them into her crossbody bag.

  “You’re right, Prince. Let’s go.” Cleo said

  leading the way through the crowd.

  #

  Finally, they arrived at an eerie, dwarf hamster

  sized house. None of them were afraid of the eerie feel, they had been there a hundred times and were long over

  it. It seemed as though the party had already started.

  Cleo went to knock on the door, but heard a muffled

  voice through the door. “Oh good. They’re here”

  They were welcomed in by the twins’ mom, “Hi,

  guys. The girls are in their room with their cousins, I’ll

  go get them.” She walked down the hall and yelled,

  “Victoria, Veronica! Cleo, Alexia, and Prince are here!”

  Two identical dwarf hamsters ran down the hallway.

  They both had dark brown fur with a black strip down

  their back and white under bellies. Veronica and

  Victoria, or Verry and Vikky as they liked to be called,

  were twins who were separated at birth. Cleo never knew

  why, but she was still supportive of her friends. Each

  year they celebrated their reunion. It wasn’t a big thing, only their relatives and friends went, but it was

  important. All their relatives were walking around in

  their house, most of them were dwarf hamsters who had

  a similar look as Vikky and Verry.

  “Hi guys, we’re so glad you’re here.” Verry said.

  “Yeah, we just had to play with our little cousins

  for an hour. It was torture.” Vikky added. The five of

  them stopped to watch the little cousins run out of Vikky

  and Verry’s room and to their parents. Without stopping

  their conversations, the parents shooed their children

  away.

  “Okay, well we can go into our room.” Verry

  said continuing their own conversation.

  “Won’t your relatives want you to be with

  them?” Cleo asked.“Oh no, many of them just come to visit and eat

  food. They wouldn’t mind.” Vikky replied, so the five

  hamsters walked down the hall to their room. The room

  felt narrow from the beds against either wall. They all

  took their respective spots when they came in. The twins

  sat on one bed, Alexia and Cleo sat on the other, and

  Prince took the chair at their shared desk. The group of

  friends began to catch up.

  After talking for a while, Prince decided it was

  time to give the twins their gift, “So, did you guys get

  anything good from your relatives?”

  “Ugh, no” Verry replied. Vikky continued her

  sentence.

  “The older we get, the worse the presents are!”

  The two of them were obviously bothered. They furrowed their furry faces and crossed their arms. The

  other three friends looked at each other and nodded in

  agreement.

  “Maybe our gift will change that” Alexia said

  smugly. The disappointment on the twins’ faces quickly

  turned to excitement. They turned Cleo as she pulled the

  wrapped gift from the bag. She then handed it to Vikky,

  who set it in between her twin and herself on the bed.

  Verry opened the wrap to reveal the blade underneath.

  “It's amazing” Verry said. She lifted it up

  carefully and admired its details.

  “Yeah, but why only one?” Vikky questioned.

  “That’s the cool part,” Prince replied, “It comes

  apart and becomes two daggers! Perfect for you two.

  Right, Cleo?”“Right. Apart they are two daggers but together

  they are a powerful weapon, just like the two of you.”

  Cleo explained. Verry detached the two daggers and

  handed on to her sister. The two twins got a feel for each

  dagger. They played with them a little and then Verry

  handed hers to Vikky, so she could put them back

  together.

  “That’s so thoughtful! Thanks, you guys.” Vikky

  said. She set the blade down onto the cloth.

  “Yeah, I don’t know how we could live without

  you guys.” Verry added.

  “You’re welcome. I hope this group stays

  together forever.” Alexia replied. Everyone agreed and

  nodded. Cleo stood up to say something to all of them.

  She took the blade into her own paw.“That’s why I chose this gift. There is a way we

  can all stay together and do our own thing. Prince can

  become the strong hamster he’s always wanted to be,

  Vikky can improve her archery skills, and we all can

  make a difference in this kingdom like we’ve always

  wanted to. Next week Knight training starts and I think

  we should join. We could become our own team, fight

  together on the battlefield, and help save this kingdom in

  times of need.”

  “Wow Cleo, I’ve never thought of joining the

  army, but maybe I would make a good archer.” Vikky

  said. She imagined having a real bow, instead on the one

  she made from a branch. Whenever she saw a high-

  quality bow she liked, she could never afford it. “Yeah,” Verry added, “but I’m not sure where I’d

  fit as a knight” Cleo expected such a reaction from

  Verry. She was neither aggressive or violent, but Cleo

  was sure there was a place for her as a knight.

  “I’m sure training will help you find your place,

  Verry. That’s why we should go, so that we can learn

  how to be strong.”

  “Yeah! I like the sound of that.” Prince snapped

  out of his daydream of being a strong knight. He didn’t

  need any convincing, although he knew that training was

  not going to be easy. “What about you Alexia?” She

  hadn’t said anything yet, and she looked concerned.

  “You guys know my parents, They’re so

  overprotective. It would take a lot of convincing to get

  them to let me go to training. Otherwise, I would love to.” Cleo saw her friends looked dejected after Alexia’s

  confession.

  “Then that will be our first mission as a team!”

  She said triumphantly, “We will convince Alexia’s

  parents to let her come with us to knight training.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me, and then we go to

  knight's training and do actual missions.” Vikky said

  agreeing with Cleo’s plan.

  “Well, let’s hope the plan works.” Alexia added.

  She knew it would be a difficult task, but all her friends

  were so excited that she decided to worry about that later

  and have fun with her friends.

  Cleo was relieved that her speech went well. Her

  friends meant so much to her, she wasn’t sure she could go to training on her own. Now she was sure her dreams

  of saving the kingdom with her friends would come true.

  The rest of the night the hamsters continued to

  celebrate the twins, even after all their relatives left.

  They were all excited for what the future may hold.