16

Orion recovered in time. He always recovered in time. But this time, Blackmoor's whip had left a scar on
his face, that after two years was still visible. Orion's fur was short, except on his chest and back, and midsection. The whip scars there were covered, mostly, but the one one on his face could be seen.

At eight, he still slept in the tiny stone cell, winter or summer. He had the coarse, thick blanket for winter,
which was something at least. The cement was hard and cold to sleep on, and the blanket was welcome. A
month ago, Hyder, now eleven, had been told that he had been good enough to sleep in the slave dorm. It was a
large room with many cots, each with a small, stationary metal trunk next to it. It was heated in the winter, cooled in the summer; only enough to make it somewhat comfortable, but it was enough.

Blackmoor had said the little hyena had been there long enough to deserve this, but Hyder had asked if he
may decline so that he could stay by Orion.

"What the hell do you want to stay with that worthless piece of trash for?" Blackmoor had demanded. Orion,
who had been with Hyder in the workyard when he was approached by their master, looked down. He wanted
so much to say he wasn't trash, but he did not dare. Blackmoor would have beaten him for it.

"H-he's my friend, Master Blackmoor," Hyder answered, looking at the ground as Orion was. "I-I'd like to
stay by him if I can, master."

"He's dirt. You will sleep in the dorm with the other normal slaves." Those who were new to the place were
lower than any other slaves that lived there. Of course felines were considered as such much longer than were
Mutants. Even hyenas.

Hyder clenched his fists and stared angrily at the ground as Blackmoor walked away. Slowly looking up, hurt
at what Blackmoor had said about his best friend, the hyena spoke. "He's not dirt! Or trash! he's my best friend...I don't care if he's a cat, he's still a better friend than any Mutants ever were to me!"
In the middle of the workyard, the few slaves that were still outside wisely ignored the encounter. Orion,
wide eyed, gaped at Hyder. The young cat felt a mixture of gratitude for his friend's loyalty and fear of what
Blackmoor would do.

At first the jackal said nothing. he only stopped walking and stood straight, his back still to Hyder. Then he
slowly turned.

Both Hyder and Orion gulped, and backed away, as the jackal approached them They could tell that he was
furious. His calm, piercing, intense gaze made his orange eyes seem to glow; his carefully poised posture conveyed his angry tenseness. But when Orion would have been stammering a fearful apology, Hyder only returned the slaver's gaze. He was afraid, but surer than his younger friend.

Blackmoor looked fiercely down at the pair of young slaves. "What did you say to me, Hyder?" he asked, his
voice a low, intense growl.

Despite himself, Hyder backed away another step. "I-I s-s-said O-Orion's not trash, he's my friend! A-and I
want to stay with him!"

Blackmoor growled, took Orion by the manacles, and yanked him several feet away. Then he grabbed Hyder
by his strip of mane. "You dare talk to me like that, you miserable slave!!"

"B-but...I-I...I just..."

"Silence!" Blackmoor's furious voice stilled any further protest from the young hyena as he was roughly
dragged towards the other end of the workyard. Fearful for his friend, Orion timidly followed at a distance.
Blackmoor was moving along at a good clip, and Orion was too afraid to follow too closely. he lost them
for a moment, but then realized they were headed for the tiny cells that they slept in. He knew there was a
discipline chamber in there, he had heard many slaves being hurt in there for their mistakes in the years he'd
slept there.

Nervously he crept inside, not daring to go inside the room itself. He cowered in one of the empty cells, the
others mostly occupied by slaves that had finished working for the day. He heard nothing for a long time but
some labored sounding breathing. Then a sound of chains, and a nervous sounding whimper. There was
something low, growled by Blackmoor, then the sound that always made Orion cringe: the sound of a whip
cracking. He heard Hyder scream in pain, then heard the whip fall again. He knew quite well enough what was
happening, and put his hands over his ears as he crouched in the cell.

He could block out the whip cracks, but Hyder's high pitched cries were not so easily blocked. He bit his lip,
shaking as he crouched there. He regretted having followed the pair; he hated seeing others being hurt, especially Hyder.

After what seemed a very loong time to Orion, he heard nothing more. He took his hands from his ears, not
realizing he'd been crying. He heard some low growled words from the jackal, and a whimpered reply from the
young hyena.

Then the cub heard Blackmoor's heavy, stalking footsteps go down the hallway. As he passed Orion's cell,
he stopped, then spun around angrily. Horrified, Orion stood up hastily and backed up to the back of the little
stone room. "What are you doing in here, Orion?" Blackmoor growled.

"I-I-I was only...I-I mean I just wanted to see...t-to see what would happen to Hyder, M-master..." The frightened cub could barely get the words out through his fear.

Blackmoor scowled and stepped forward, punching the boy viciously across the face, and sending him
sprawling across the little cell. the cub yelped sharply, and the jackal lifted him by his throat. "I don't ever want
to see you follow me unless it is ordered, is that understood, filth?"

Not able to get enough breath to reply aloud, Orion nodded frantically, and Blackmoor threw him to the
ground. The child landed on the floor, gasping for air. He curled up when Blackmoor kicked him in the upper
leg with his spike tipped boot. "It's your fault he got punished, you miserable ungrateful shit! Get back to work. There's a few hours left in the night, you're in the mines for a week. Now go!!"

Orion nodded timidly and limped out the door, glancing back only once to the doorway he knew hs injured
friend was behind. Holding a hand to the deep puncture in his thigh, he reluctantly approached the mines.

Orion did not see Hyder again for a month, and was very worried about him. he began to wonder if
maybe Blackmoor had sold him or something, or even killed him.

But then one day as he was working the carts, a vast improvement over the mines, he saw the young
hyena. Hyder had fianlly been allowed again to work with his younger friend, and acted more subdued than normal. He looked at Orion, then back at the ground. "Hi, Orion..."

"H-Hyder! Hyder, are you okay? I'm sorry, Hyder, I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"Get moving, you little shits!" The taskmaster that was supervising the pair snapped his whip near their
heads; the sound alone got them moving. Orion noticed that Hyder cringed too.

As they began to push the heavy, two-man cart, Hyder shook his head. "It's not your fault. And you
shouldn't be sorry. I-I'd do it again if I had to..." The young hyena scowled at the ground s he spoke.

Right then, Orion felt like he would do anything for Hyder. Never since he had been there had he seen
someone act with such loyalty towards him. Even on Thundera, there had been no one he knew who would have declined an offer of better treatment to stay with him. None but his parents. "Thanks," the young Thunderian whispered.

For the first time, Hyder looked up and gave Orion a sideways smile. "Lots of Mutants say hyenas are
the worst Mutants. They say we'd sell out our own mothers." Orion didn't understand the phrase, but listened
intently. "But I stick with my friends. I'm loyal. Not even Blackmoor can make me not."

Orion smiled too. "Me too." And it was true. Loyalty was, after all, part of the Code of Thundera.
And even if it was not...it was still right. And Hyder was his best friend. The young cat looked Hyder over and
winced at the scars. "H-he got you really good, huh?" he said, biting his lip.

Hyder's expression also darkened. "Yeah...Orion, I'm scared." He was looking at the ground again
but with an expression Orion had never seen on him before. Lost maybe, without hope. Afraid. It scared him a
little as well. "I never had a master that was so mean...that hurt me as much...I don't know how you do ti."

Orion blinked. "D-do what?"

"How you take it! Blackmoor hurts you a lot more than he hurts me, just because you're a
Thunderian...but...but you come back every time. Like once it's healed you forget it..."

Orion also looked down and shook his head. "I-I don't forget...I don't ever forget. I sure wish I
could..." He bit his lip again. "I just...I push it in another part of my brain." It was as close as he could get to
explaining what he meant. "I try to forget about it..."

Hyder nodded. "Yeah...you look like you do. Even when you're really scared, or if you're mad or if yuo
feel bad because one of the jerks called you something really bad, you don't show it. You don't ever let them
know what you feel...wish I could do that. I wish I could be as brave."

Orion blinked, shocked at what Hyder had said. He did not think himself brave, he thought he was a
coward. A worthless coward...after all, when you heard it all the time over three years, he begins to hear it. He
felt like a coward for shaking whenever Blackmoor came near him. He felt like a coward for begging when
he thought he would be hurt for something. he felt like a coward for not speaking up for himself... but Hyder's
one remark made him think very differently. He had always thought the hyena was the brave one, always
seeming so confident. but Hyder was not used to harsh treatment...Orion sadly was. And over the years had
been able to perfect the act of not showing his feelings on his face. It was safer that way, when a taskmaster
would smack you if he even thought you were thinking something bad about them.

He was not sure how to answer that.

But no answer was really needed at the moment as the two friends pushed their cart. They knew each
other well enough by now that they knew what the other was thinking, or at least how they felt.

After a week or so, both cubs were back to their normal selves, being with each other helping a great
deal in this. Three months after the incident, Blackmoor had even let them go back to working in the hangars.

He had just added a new one with a huge parts/junk yard in the back. Hyder and Orion were delighted about it.

"Wow, I didn't know this was here!" Orion said as he and the hyena entered it.

"It wasn't. Blackmoor just put it in, Remember where the rock pile was?" Orion nodded. "That's
where he put it. he didn't need the rock anymore because he'd done with all his building. i heard one of the
taskmasters saying that he might get more land, but not for a year."

Orion did not really care about the jackal's business dealings, but was happy about the junkyard. It
had tons of stuff to look through, and during one of the rare occasions he got some free time before dinner, this
would be a great place to spend it.

"What are we looking for anyway?" Hyder asked.

Orion shrugged. "I think we have to check in the hangar."

The pair poked their heads in and saw that the hangar was also larger than the others. many other slaves
were in there, helping the mechanics or going for food or drink. "Hey look, it's Phiron!" The two boys ran
up to him, and the human looked down at them with a friendly smile. "How come you're here now?" Hyder asked.
Phiron chuckled. "I asked Master Blackmoor if I could be moved to the new hanger. I wanted to be
moved, and he agreed."

Orion grinned. "We got moved here too. At least today anyway."

Phiron laughed. "Well since I just got here you want to show me where things are?"

"Well we just got here too...we're supposed to find someone to help."

"Well you know what? I need help. I need help finding things here. You guys see a Bladebike
anywhere?" Blade bikes were nasty hovercraft that ran inches off the ground. A large spinning blade at the
front gave it its name; it almost looked like a giant chain saw

The cubs scanned the hangar, looking for the bike, which was what Phiron was supposed to be working
on. THere five of them that needed repair. "There!" Orion said. he did not often spot things first, since Hyder
knew more about the vehicles,. But he had learned a lot.

Phiron grinned. "Good for you! let's go check it out."

After they'd looked the bikes over, and Phiron determined what he needed, he sent his two young
companions out to find the items. There was a long list, and he had deliberately made it as long as he could to
give the boys some time to explore. he knew how miserable they were,. He wanted to let them have a little fun
at least.

"You think we'll find this all here?" Orion asked.

"I bet we will...this lot's huge! WHOA! Look, Orion!' All of a sudden Hyder took off. Frowning in
puzzlement, the feline ran after him. "I can't believe it!"

Hyder voice was coming from behind a large pile of Skycutter landing wheels. Orion climbed it and
peered down. "Where are you---oh there you are! Hey cool!" Orion ran over to where Hyder sat on a nearly completed bike-type vehicle of some kind. "What is it? Does it work?"

"I don't think so, there's some parts missing. But Orion, this is a 13-5 class Razor bike! This is one of
the newest ones they have, and there's not a lot! I sure wish I could ride this!"

Orion was not sure why it made this particular vehicle so special, but he couldn't help but grin. Hyder's
enthusiasm was catching. he hopped on the back. "Hey, I bet that this could rip a whole tree in half."

Hyder laughed. "I bet it could!" he put his hands on the handles and made a motor noise. "Watch out,
Lunattacks!" he cried, pretending to fight an army of them. "You're no match for the hekti team!" Hekti was
a word in Plundaarian that meant friend. There were many words for friend, but hekti meant a true friend, one
you would die for.

"Yeah!" Orion agreed. He was not sure what else would be said in a battle with Lunatatcks, so he stayed
quiet and let Hyder do the threatening.

A few minutes into this pretend-play, a taskmaster poked his head around to see what all the noise was
about. Orion and Hyder looked up sheepishly. "Get to work, you miserable little punks," the jackal Mutant said irritably. His gray fur bristled in annoyance. "Before I thrash ya."

The cubs got back to work in a hurry.

"Surprised you knew what that was," said a voice as the pair was rooting through a pile of junk for what
they needed.

Hyder looked up to meet the gaze of a simian Mutant of about fourteen. "Oh yeah? What's that supposed to mean?"

"The teenage slave held up a hand in mild protest. "Don't get your fur raised. Just not many hyenas
are good with mechanics." He gave the kids an amused grin and held up the part they had been looking for.
"Here."

Hyder's scowl deepened, and he took the part, his face turning a little red. "I was just about to grab
that," he told the smug Mutants. Orion watched with some interest, feeling defensive for Hyder.

"Sure, I was just getting it for ya." The simian grinned and left for another junk pile.

"He sure is smug," Hyder said grumpily. "He thinks he's pretty smart."

Orion shrugged. "At least he found the part, I couldn't find it. Come on let's get the other stuff."

Over the next few days, the simian showed up here and there, offering advice or trying to help. But he
had a smug attitude, and Hyder didn't like him at all. one day, while Orion was in the hangar helping Phiron fix
something that only his little hands could reach (and feeling pretty proud at being asked to do it) they both
heard a commotion in the junkyard. There was a voice that sounded like Hyder! Frowning, Phiron got up and
ran for the yard, and Orion scampered after him. The Thunderian cb was surprised to see that Hyder was rolling
on the ground in a fight with the older Mutant! The simian was bigger and stronger than Hyder was, but that
didn't stop the little hyena from fighting like an angry swarm of jorick ants!

"Hey!" Phiron's strong voice cut through the fight-shouts, and one strong human hand each reached out
to grab a neck scruff. He picked Hyder up easily, but the young simian was stronger than a human, as most simians were at that age. he pulled away and glared at Hyder.

"okay what's this about?" Phiron demanded. A taskmaster, seeing the trusted slave had things under
control, went on his way to less exciting things.

"He won't leave me alone!" Hyder accused. "He thinks he's so smart, always telling me all the stuff
he'd done and that he always knows everything!" The simian was knowledgeable, but he was also smug. And
Hyder didn't like people knowing more than him anyway.

"And so you punched him." Satisfied that Hyder wouldn't attack again, he set the cub down.

"No I pushed him and told him to go away. He punched me!"

"You called me a jatiirk!" The simian spoke up.

Phiron sighed. "Look boys. i don't want to see you fighting again, I don't care what it's about.
Tamarin, leave Hyder alone if he doesn't want you around, and Hyder, ignore him! No one said you ahd to
listen. you two go to the mines or the rest of the day..." Phiron looked over to a taskmaster to make sure that
this was all right, and got a nod of approval. "Hyder you can see Orion tomorrow. Go on." He paused, then
added, "If Master Blackmoor saw you two fighting like that, you'd both be in bigger trouble than that."
That statement sobered the tempers of the two brawlers, and they both sullenly left the junkyard.

"How come you made them leave?" Orion asked Phiron as they returned to the hangar. He was
disappointed.

""If I hadn't punished them somehow, then the report would just have gotten to Blackmoor anyway,
or a high ranking taskmaster." When no supervisors were around, Phiron rarely used the jackal's title. "And
he would punish them. Working in the mines for a day is pretty mild i comparison."

Orion nodded at the logic of this, but he still did not like it. But as he worked with the human, his mood improved.

Chapter 17

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