28

A few weeks later, he and Hyder were pulling cart duty. Strapped into the two-man cart, the young
slaves pulled the heavy cart to and form the mines, hauling the silver and other precious stones to the factories,
where they would be sorted and processed. "I hate cart duty," Hyder grumbled. "He..he didn't have to put us
here, we didn't even do it on purpose." The young hyena was trying to sound defiant, tough, confident, like he
used to. But when it came to talking contemptuously about Blackmoor,. he still faltered a little bit.

"I-i know..." Orion said. "I-I was t-t-trying..." The pair had been carrying a heavy part in the
junkyard...and they had dropped it. It had not been badly damaged, but was in need of repair. The
taskmaster had reported it to Blackmoor at the end of the day and as a result the pair had been pulled form the
hangars and made to pull the carts. Neither was really complaining...they were lucky they weren't beaten for it.

"I did my best." the whispered words came form Orion, who was looking miserably at the ground. Why couldn't he do anything right? no wonder the other slaves always were treated better.

"Hey...you know Buttmore..." Hyder looked form the corner of his eye to make sure no one was
listening. But they were alone on their way back to the mines for another load. "He always looks for reasons."

"Yeah...I-I g-guess." Orion knew that. But it did not change how he felt. There was a long silence
as they reached the mine's entrance to be greeted by the young slave all dumping their loads into the cart. Once
it was full to capacity, he and Hyder strained to get it going. Once it was going it was not so tough, but geting
it started was no easy task.

"H-H-Hyder?" Orion said. He was looking at the ground, and spoke as if he didn't want to say what he
was going to say.

"Yeah?"

What...wh-what do you believe..." He paused, trying to think of exactly what he wanted to say.
"Wh-what do you think happens when you die?"

Hyder had not been expecting the question, and was somewhat taken aback. but finally, he spoke.
"Well...I, I really don't know. Some people say you come back as a new baby. others say your spirit goes into
the spirit plane." he thought a minute. "Other people think that your soul gets either punished or rewarded for
the bad or good deeds you've done." He laughed a little bit. "Some people even think that your spirit sinks into
the ground and nourishes the grass." He laughed again, a laugh that had only a little humor in it. "Plant food, I
guess."

"But...wh-what do you believe?"

Hyder thought again, then sighed. "Well there's other beliefs...like it's just like sleeping forever...or
your spirit had to roam around in the mortal world...I kind of think it's that one." He paused again. "Or...I
think that they go to the spirit realm...kind of like our world but you can't die, or really feel pain. And you can
see this world." The boy thought for a long time before adding, "Then...when you're ready I think you can be
born again."

There was a silence, in which Orion only looked at the ground as they pulled. Hyder was about to ask if
he was listening, when he saw his young friend was crying. Before he could ask what was wrong, Orion
spoke. "S-s-so...d-do you think Tamarin's watching us?" The words were spoken in a rush, as if Orion wanted
to get them out before he lost his nerve.

Taken completely by surprise, Hyder couldn't answer for a moment. THe horror of Tamarin's death
flooded back into his mind. This is why we never talked about it, he thought. But now...he thought maybe they
were ready to. Maybe they had to...to put it to rest. "I-I don't know Orion," he said quietly. "I think...I think
he might be. He liked us, even if he didn't...y-you know, act like it sometimes. I bet he is."

Orion wiped his eyes and nodded. The thought of Tamarin living in a realm with no death, no pain...free...put his mind somewhat at ease. "I hope so," he whispered.

"Took you long enough!" THey had arrived at the supply house, and the avian was an excitable little
taskmaster who always berated people for being late. But Orion did not answer, only looked at the ground,
thinking of Tamarin.

When they were again alone, Hyder asked, "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah...I-I think so. I-I-it's just...he...he hurt him...h-hurt him so bad...a-a-and I had to ...h-had to
drag..." Orion started crying harder, wiping his eyes as he continued. he was stuttering so hard he was nearly
unintelligible, and tried to calm down. "I-I-I h-had to c-clean it all...b-bring him t-t-to the incinerator..."

Hyder looked at him, shocked. "He...he made you bring t-the parts..." Hyder gulped as Orion nodded
his head miserably. "Gods..." The young hyena stopped the cart, and awkwardly put an arm around his young
friend. Orion cried for a few moments, grateful for the comfort, until he was finally able to calm himself down.

His head was hanging, his whole body felt tired....but he had needed to talk about Tamarin's death for a long
time now.

As they resumed their weary trek, Orion spoke again, in a whisper. "D-do you think h-he's mad at
me?"

Hyder frowned. "Tamarin?" Orion nodded. "Why?"

Orion bit his lip. "For...for just...throwing h-h-his b-b-body away like that..."

Hyder's smiled a little and shook his head. "No way. If he knew what happened...if he was
watching...he wouldn't ever be mad at you for it. He knew that Blackmoor was making you." He paused a minute, then smiled a little bit. "I bet he was cursing Blackmoor up and down..."

Orion laughed a little, and Hyder was glad to hear it. The little cat wiped his eyes. "Yeah...I-I bet he
did it i-in t-two languages too."

Hyder grinned. "With gestures."

"Yeah...I-I bet if he could...h-he'd haunt him."

"Hmmm..." Hyder's grin became more mischievous. "Yeah...make Blackmoor's toilets explode."

Orion grinned a little too. "With him on one of them."

Hyder made a face. "Yuck!" The two cubs laughed, and came up with a few other things that they
thought Tamarin would do if he was able to

"You-you think he really would haunt Blackmoor?" Orion asked.

"Seriously? No...because Blackmoor'd take it out on us if he knew who it was. But...if we ever are
sent away form here...he'd better watch out,. If there's any way possible, Tamarin would do it." Hyder scowled darkly for a moment. "And...I hope he makes his life a living hell."

Orion nodded grimly. "Yeah...m-me too." Then he grinned a little. "Toilets..."

Hyder laughed. "Yeah."

The issue settled in their minds, both boys continued with their work mostly in companionable silence,
although once in a while, oe or the other would come up with some kind of horrible things that a ghost could do
to Blackmoor. but even that abated, and they were quiet. Orion looked up to the sky and wondered if Tamarin
was watching them. He hoped that he was. And he hoped that he was happier where he was now.

A random picture of him sometime after his escape attempt
Orion

Another random picture before some punishment or another. Also sometime after the escape attempt.
Orion and Blackmoor

Chapter 29

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