Once upon a time, on a little farm on the outskirts of a small village, there lived a mother hamster and her three little ham-hams. The ham-hams all lived very sheltered lives, so they knew nothing of the world beyond their tiny barnyard, although each of them wished to go out and explore it. When they were old enough, the ham-hams were finally allowed to go into the outside world, fend for themselves and live on their own.
On the day of their departure, the three little ham-hams bade their mother farewell and ventured out into the big wide world, unaware of what was really out there. The oldest and most adventurous hamster was named Hamtaro, the middle and proudest hamster was Boss and the young and smartest hamster was named Panda. When the three little ham-hams had traveled a great distance into the forest together, they grew rather tired and decided it was time for each of them to build a home of their own. Hamtaro was the first of three hamsters to spot the building materials he wanted to use.
"Hey, guys, I just had the greatest idea EVER! I'm going to build myself a house out of straw from that huge hay bale right over there...since no one is using it," Hamtaro declared.
"A house made out of straw? Why?" Boss asked, raising an eyebrow at his brother.
"Isn't it obvious? It'll be quick and super easy to build! I don't want to work all day. I want to have fun! You two can spend your time doing whatever, but building my house is gonna be a piece of sunflower cake," Hamtaro replied proudly.
"Hamtaro, are you sure you want to make a straw house? What if it's not safe? Who knows what could happen out here?" Panda cautioned.
"Panda makes a good point. What if something happens? Like a thunderstorm, a blizzard, or a tornado? You should at least think about this first," Boss pointed out.
"Ugh!! Give it a rest, you two. If you worry too much, I'll be just fine. Do I look scared to you? I'll be prepared for anything that comes my way," Hamtaro scoffed.
"You sure about that?" Boss questioned with a raised eyebrow and smirk.
"I've already thought this through really carefully. I'm telling you, a house made out of straw is sure to last long, not to mention I can make it in no time flat. You guys can go on your way and do whatever you want, but I'm gonna finish building first and go play!" Hamtaro said, wandering away from his brothers to begin building his straw house.
With that, the two remaining hamsters walked along the forest path together, leaving Hamtaro to begin building his straw house. Soon, Boss and Panda came upon a small apple orchard with hundreds of apple trees. Boss looked at the trees and smiled as he had an epiphany of his own.
"Hey Panda, I just had an idea! See those sticks and apples over there? I bet they'd make a decent homestead for me. Maybe I should build a house around here. What do you think?" Boss announced, running over to one of the trees.
"Are you sure, Boss? Sticks alone won't help protect you. And with apples? That's even worse! It might sound like a good idea now, but what if something bad happens to you?" Panda cautioned.
"Are you serious? I've already put a lot of thought into this. A house made out of apples and sticks is sure to keep me safe. I'm sure of it."
"Boss, you're acting just like Hamtaro. Either you're being stubborn or lazy."
"Lazy? Me?! Ha! For your information, little brother, I'm using something way stronger than plain ol' straw to build my house. Not the same thing," Boss rudely pointed out.
"Fine, do whatever you want. If you need me, I'll be on my way, working on my own house. Oh! By the way, if your house falls apart, don't say I didn't warn you," Panda said, continuing down the path searching for the right materials and tools to build himself a home.
Hamtaro spent an hour making his home from straw. Everything from the table to the bed was crafted in straw and metal netting. The roof and window panes were stiff, golden yellow straw of all sizes while the walls, chimney, and foundation were large amounts of yellowish brown straw. Once he had finished his task, Hamtaro spent the rest of his afternoon exploring the forest around him and lazing about wherever he liked.
Boss spent a little more time building his home. He gathered all the materials he needed and he built a roof and four walls from the sticks and twigs he picked up. He used some stray apples he found to hold the house together, both as a foundation and a paste.
Panda had decided to build a nice, sturdy brick house. And even though it took him the longest to build, he was sure it was going to keep him safe and sound from any kind of danger or threat that could be lurking in the woods.
A few days went by and life seemed rather good for the three hamster brothers. That was until a Big Bad Diamond Cat discovered them. When she was walking through the woods, she came upon the tiny straw house and paused. She looked into the cottage through the window and saw Hamtaro inside napping peacefully. This particular Cat had not eaten in over three days and she was so hungry that she intended on eating the little hamster for a delicious lunch.
"Ooooh, a hamster. A small, plumb, tasty-looking hamster. I can finally have a decent meal," the Cat whispered, furiously licking her lips and swishing her tail.
The Cat walked up and lightly tapped on the door. However, when she did, her enormous paw went straight through the door instead. When he saw the gigantic paw sticking through his door, Hamtaro gasped in fright and tried to cover up the hole with more hay, but it only made things worse. It made the Cat know he was now awake. Hamtaro was terrified, he had never seen this kind of creature before and was practically shaking in his paws.
"Little ham? Let me in," The Cat said, looking inside the house through the window.
"Uh... Sorry, the little hamster you're looking for isn't here right now. Maybe you can come back and try again later. If you have the time, please leave a message after the beep. BEEP!" Hamtaro called from inside, trying his best to keep calm and not scream in horror.
"Don't lie to me. I know you're in there, little hamster. Little ham, let me in!" The Cat shouted.
"Not by the hair of my chiny-chin chin."
"Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!"
The Big Bad Diamond Cat huffed and puffed and she let out a great gust of wind. The wind itself was so powerful that Hamtaro's straw cottage was immediately swept away in an instant, leaving nothing but the little hamster himself covered in pieces of straw, bits of hay stuck in his fur, and sitting on the open forest floor.
"Whoa. Didn't see that coming," Hamtaro muttered to himself, staring at the Cat with wide eyes filled with fear.
Before the Cat could catch him, however, Hamtaro quickly got to his paws and ran away as fast as he could in another direction to his brother Boss's house.
"You can't run from me, you little rodent! Get back here!" The Cat shouted, pursuing him.
Hamtaro screamed in terror and didn't stop running until he reached the apple-twig house. He knocked frantically at the door while screaming in fright.
"Boss, let me in! Quick! There's a Diamond Cat after me! She's hot on my tail! Let me in, please!" He cried, out a breath.
"What?! A Diamond Cat?! Get inside! Quick! You can hide in here," Boss said, unlocking his door and letting his brother inside.
By the time the Diamond Cat caught up with the little hamster, the door of the twig house was already shut and locked. She angrily growled out of breath and looked at the cottage curiously. She grinned again and knocked on the door.
"Little hams, let me in," The Cat said just as she did before.
"Why should we?" Boss asked in a rude tone.
"To be polite? So... Little hams, little hams, let me in!" she said, raising her voice.
"I'd rather have you out there than in here. So..."
"Not by the hair of our chinny-chin chins," The two hamsters said together.
"Then I'll huff and puff and I'll blow your house down!"
The Diamond Cat huffed and puffed and, just like she did before, she let a strong gust of breath. The twig and apple hut swayed a bit in the foul-scented gust of wind and some of the apples holding the sticks together came loose and almost plopped them on the head.
"Oh no. Not this again!!" Hamtaro said, clinging onto his brother in fear.
"Hold on, big brother! It's gonna get a little bumpy!" Boss said, holding his big brother close.
As another breathy and disgusting-smelling wind came around, Boss and Hamtaro screamed as the apple stick house was completely blown to pieces, leaving the two hamsters covered in little sticks and staring at the hulking creature before them. She grinned a sinister smile at them as she rubbed her enormous gray paws together.
"Now I have you, little rodents." She said as she approached the frightened pair.
"Uh, Hamtaro... I'm thinking we should probably run now..." Boss whispered.
"You think?" Hamtaro whispered back.
Hamtaro and Boss quickly stood up and ran along the trodden path as fast as they could, screaming in terror all the while. A few minutes later, the two little hamsters finally reached their brother Panda's brick house. They frantically knocked at his front door shrieking, shouting, and crying to be let inside.
"Panda, let us in! There's a mad Diamond Cat on the loose!" Boss pleaded.
"She's gonna catch us and eat us! Let us in, please!!" Hamtaro begged.
"A Diamond Cat?! Oh no. Get inside guys, quick! You'll be safe in here with me," Panda said, ushering his older brothers inside before the Cat could catch them.
As she approached, the Cat inspected the brick house curiously, just like she did with the other two houses. She walked around it, taking in all of its little details. As she did so, the three hamsters cowered inside and kept quiet, hoping the Cat had already left. But they were wrong because, within a few minutes, she knocked on the door.
"Little hams, little hams, let me in," The Cat said, trying her very best to keep calm.
"No! Go away!" Panda yelled.
"Yeah!" Hamtaro and Boss added.
"I'm giving you one last chance to save yourselves, little hams. Open the door and let me in!!" The Cat yelled in an impatient, annoyed, and angry tone.
"Not by the hair of our chinny-chin chins," The three hamster brothers said in unison.
"Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house down!"
The three hamsters braced themselves for the blast, holding onto each other very tightly and closing their eyes. The Big Bad Diamond Cat huffed and puffed and blew as hard as she could, but she couldn't blow down the house made out of bricks. She fell to her paws and knees, completely out of breath, and she slowly crawled away in defeat. The little hamsters watched her through the window. They all sighed in relief.
"Phew! That was a close one. I'm telling you, Panda, this brick house of yours is a life-saver," Hamtaro said, wiping his sweat-covered brow.
"You said it, Hamtaro. And the best part is that she won't be coming back," Boss said before high-pawing Hamtaro.
"No, no, guys, let's not be hasty! She probably will come back. And I think I have an idea of how we can beat her. But we'll have to work together as a team. You game?" Panda asked.
Hamtaro and Boss looked at each other, then back at Panda. They nodded their heads and smiled, agreeing with their little brother. So, they huddled together and began to whisper ideas to each other on how to get rid of the Big Bad Diamond Cat for good. And soon enough, they concocted the perfect plan to do just that. While the three hamsters were setting up their trap, the Diamond Cat returned to the brick house to see if she could try again.
"I'm back, little hams. Are you still afraid of me?" The Cat called out.
"Oh no! The Big Bad scary Diamond Cat is back! And here I am, a poor defenseless little hamster stuck up on the roof of my own house!" Panda cried from above.
The Cat looked and she saw Panda standing on the roof clear as day. She smiled evilly and tried to grab him with her huge paws, but he was always just out of reach.
"Hey! Whatever you do, don't use a ladder!" Panda said.
"Ladder?! Where?" The Cat demanded.
"Behind the bush over there. Please don't find it."
"There are a lot of bushes around here!"
"Make a left. A left. A LEFT!" Panda gently yelled, giggling under his breath.
The Cat found the ladder hiding behind a shrub and she was about to climb up and catch Panda until he quickly jumped down the chimney and safely landed in the fireplace before she could even reach the top. When she made it to the roof, the Cat was surprised to see that the little hamster was gone. She then heard a familiar young voice from inside the house call out, "Oh no! Now we're all trapped inside the house!"
Panda and his brothers arranged a large pot filled with water that was beginning to boil over the now-lit fireplace. Hamtaro and Boss giggled under their breath at the Cat, but Panda quickly silenced them.
Back on the roof, the Cat was still trying to figure out how Panda could've gotten inside his house without letting her see him get away. The hamsters kept hearing her footsteps above their heads all the while.
"Hey, Cat! Whatever you do, don't jump down the chimney!" Panda shouted at the Cat, trying not to burst out laughing. His brothers doing the same.
"That's it. I'll jump down the chimney and catch them," The Cat said to herself as she made her way toward the chimney.
"Oh boy, she's coming. Guys, get the door. Quick," Panda whispered, standing beside the pot with Hamtaro and Boss standing by the door, ready to open it.
Soon, the Diamond Cat climbed onto the rim of the chimney and jumped down to see Panda standing in front of her with a proud expression on his face.
"Try and trick me now, little rodent!" The Cat growled.
"Don't have to," Panda said smugly, with his eyes glancing downward.
Shortly after Panda had spoken, the Cat just realized that she was sitting in the pot of now hot boiling water. The Big Bad Diamond Cat screamed and meowed in agonizing pain as she flew out of the pot. Boss and Hamtaro quickly unlocked and opened the door and the Cat ran out of the little brick house at top speed, into the forest beyond, never to be seen again.
After the Cat was gone, the three hamster brothers were as happy as could be. That day, Hamtaro and Boss had learned a very valuable lesson. When trying to build a proper house, always use something strong, sturdy, and sensible, and anything worth doing is worth doing right, all thanks to Panda. Because he was so kind and forgiving, Panda allowed his brothers to stay with him. And from that day on, the three little ham-hams all lived happily ever after.