33
As the weeks went by, Orion traveled further and further from Blackmoor's
complex. Once it was
apparent that he was headed away, he breathed a sigh of relief because
he doubted that Blackmoor was
willing to extend his search this far. It had been a couple of
months now, into the hottest part of the summer,
and Orion did not mind that. He liked the heat, it was the cold
that he hated. He'd worked through all kinds of
weather, cold, warmth, rain...even the strange snow that some areas
of Plundaar got every once in a while...and
it was the cold and snow he hated the most.
So he was happy in this part of the year, and it was too early yet to worry about fall.
Orion had eaten well on his journey, using the last of the supplies
Hintracrii had given him, and
beginning to rely on fruits, and greens. He'd stolen from the
villages here and there as well, always very
careful not to be seen as he did. Nothing much, only some bread
or milk here and there, sometimes meat or
vegetables when he could find none in the forests and jungles.
He was getting into hotter, more humid territory
as he traveled, which was fine with him. It was easier to find
things he could eat there.
The young Thunderian had healed some in his travels as well...physically
mostly, but mentally too.
Being free from Blackmoor, and knowing he had done it mostly on himself
did a great deal towards giving him
back his spirit. It would be a very very long time before he
regained it all back, but it was a start.
He did worry a little bit, though. Sometimes the fruits he ate
would give him a stomachache, or
sometimes he was not able to steal enough from the Mutant towns and
cities to sustain himself. Though he ate
better out here than he had at Blackmoor's (sadly enough), he worried
about what would happen if he could not
find anything to eat... And that was when he decided that he
would have to hunt.
Orion loved animals, and the thought of killing one for food was a very
distasteful one...but many cats
cannot live on a diet without meat, and he had not been getting enough.
And so...he would hunt.
The day that he picked to try this was one where he was not far from
a town...so that he could try to steal
some supper if he failed. How would he do this? His dagger?
It would have to be, since he did not know how
to use any other weapon. He supposed a bow and arrow would have
worked if he could learn to use one, but he
didn't think he was coordinated enough for that. It would have
to be the dagger.
Orion knew what kinds of animals were edible...although the word edible
made him want to stick his
tongue out in disgust. He was going to kill and eat an animal.
Shaking his head to clear it of the thought (although it did not work
too well) Orion tried to think of
what he should try and trap. Most of the beasts that were used
for food on Plundaar were vicious, and one
person could not safely take one down...but there were a few of the
smaller species. The greei was a
dog-sized animal with a blunt, Lunattack-like horn on its throat.
They were often used for their pelts and their
meat; Orion had tasted it once. There were of course, the dehatan
and the kilten, tough little rodents that could
be used for meat. But Orion decided that the dehatan would be
a better bet. They were numerous, and not
threatening, their teeth hardly even hurt when they bit. Yes,
he would try and kill one of them He hoped he
could make it quick, so he didn't cause the animal any more pain that
he had to.
Shaking a little bit, Orion walked around the forest, trying to be quiet,
and spot one. he wasn't sure how
to go about hunting, and he supposed that he should try and find one,
and wait for it...crouch down in the tall grass and wait.
But it was several hours before he even saw one, and got ready.
The little animal turned, sensing and
hearing that it was being stalked. The dehata sniffed the air,
and its eyes widened as it smelled cat! Cats were
predators, and the little animal bolted.
Orion cursed aloud, slamming his fist into the soft grass. "Damn
it!" he would have to try again. What
was he doing wrong? The animal seemed to have almost known that
he was there before he was there!
Orion tried several more times that day, but by the end, he had caught
nothing, and was too exhausted
even to try and steal what he needed. Hot, tired, and angry,
he found some fruit and curled up in the grass to
sleep.
The young Thunderian tried several times over the next few days to catch
his quarry, but it was not until
almost a week later that he finally succeeded. Hunting was not
his thing, it would seem, but he had finally
managed to catch something. It wasn't a dehata though, as they
were far too fast, but one of the slower-moving
kilten. It had managed to slash Orion's arm up good before he
pounced on it and sank his dagger into its throat.
The creature died almost immediately.
Shaking, Orion lifted his hands from his kill, biting his lip at the
sight of the blood; both his and the
creature's. he almost felt like he deserved what he got for killing
the beast, but he also felt a small degree of
pride. Hhe had finally done it! And as he looked at the slashes
on his arm, he scowled...maybe he did not feel
quite so bad killing the creature.
But now what?
Orion realized he was going to have to skin it. A kilt's kin was
tough and leathery, and not edible; it
had to be skinned and cooked. could he do that? wWas he
tough enough?
He had to be. If he was going to survive in the harsh forests and jungles of Plundaar, he would have to be tough enough. And with this mind set, Orion went to the animal and picked it up.
It was a long time before Orion could bring himself to start cutting,
and an even longer time before he
managed to get even part of the skin off. But as he went, he
decided that it was not as hard as he would have
thought. He wasted a lot of meat in the skinning, but he hoped
that he would get better. Cutting the remaining
meat off was easy compared to the rest of it, and the young cat built
a fire in an area safe for it, and used a stick
to cook the thing.
While it cooked over the fire, Orion had gone to the shallow stream
he'd been using to bathe in and drink
from, and washed the blood off of himself. When he had gotten
as much as possible form his fur and his clothing, and he didn't look like
a murderer, the meat was nearly done cooking. Orion felt well pleased
with himself as he took it off of his improvised spit. he had caught
his own meal for the first time, and although it tasted a little bland
and very tough, he thought it one of the best meals he had ever had.
Over the weeks, Orion began to perfect his hunting. He discovered
ltilte things like keeping upwind of
his prey, and had laughed at the thought of them being able to smell
him. Was his odor that bad? but of course
he knew animals could smell ten times better even than a thunderian.
He had learned how to walk silently, how
to stay silent when stalking his prey. He found the ways to tell
if there was anything around that could be
caught and eaten, learned to look for subtle signs. After a while,
he caught his first dehata, and although he felt
vaguely bad for killing the timid little creature, he consoled himself
with the fact that he had finally been fast enough to do it. And
they did taste very good compared to the kilten.
The young cat had decided at one point that he might do a little better
hunting with a spear...where he
did not have to get so close to the animals. And he had been
right. With a little whittling, and lot of practice,
Orion found it much easier to catch his prey.
Finally, he decided that he had better move on. Although he felt
relatively safe, there was always the
nagging fear that he would one day wake and see Blackmoor's furious
snarl looking down at him, and so he
moved on.
A town was next, big enough so that Orion really did not want to skirt
around it to get where he
wanted to go. there was more jungle territory on the edge of
the city, and he wanted to make it over there. And
so he would go on through it. who would recognize him, after
all? All he would have to do is cover his obviously feline markings.
Orion took a pair of light, but long pants form his pack, ones that
he had snitched form one of the
villages. he put on a shirt that Hintracrii had given him, and
pulled its light, sun-shading hood over his head.
Hopefully no one would take too much of a look.
At first, no one did. he got a few amiable "hellos", but that
was all, and his voice was completely
Plundaarian, bearing nothing that indicated he was an outsider.
From another part of the planet, yes, but no
outsider. And those in the rural regions of Plundaar were more
accepting.
Food was easy to find here, there were many outdoor markets, and he
was quick and quiet enough to
take what he needed from them. Sometimes he felt bad about stealing,
felt guilty, knowing it wa wrong. but
then he thought of all the pain and hell the Plundaarians had put him
through...and he didn't feel so bad.
Besides, he never stole anything but food and clothing.
It was not until the third day wandering through the large city that
it happened. nothing of great note to
most there, but to Orion, it was the worst thing that he could possibly
have heard... Skulking in the shadow of a
residence, he heard some of the kids talking in the play yard nearby.
"Why do you think that he came way out
here?" one of them asked.
A little jackal shrugged. "I dunno. Don't care...come on, let's play!"
The reptilian of the group shoved him. "Quiet, jackal," he said
with a scowl. "We'll play when we're
ready...do you really think that he's serious about that kind of bounty?"
The simian that had first spoke nodded. "Yeah, he said a jackal
form the north had sent him there, said
he was dead serious about it. I'd sure like to have that money!
I could do anything I wanted with it."
"What was his name again?"
"I forgot..."
"Here!" said the little jackal, running from the yard for a moment.
Eager to help out in the conversation,
he jumped up onto the fence and reached for a black and white paper
on a lamppost. Orion's face paled...he had
seen that paper before. "Um, I can't read it."
"Idiot," the Reptilian muttered, and grabbed the paper form him.
"Orion, Thunderian mutt, escaped
from slavery several weeks ago..." He nodded, looking at the
bounty Blackmoor had put out on him. "No way
would he be this far."
"Well you never know," another simian said. "We should keep a
look out for him. maybe we can get
the bounty! he's not that old...not even as old as you are, Rept."
Rept nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah...that would be great, too. Let's ask our parents if they've seen anything weird lately.
"Okay!" their imminent game of torskkk forgotten, the little Mutants ran off.
"Oh, gods..." Orion whispered. So, Blackmoor had sent his people
out this far to tell them of their
bounty. In a way he was almost flattered. Blackmoor must
want him dead very badly. he had heard little of
Hyder in that time, and he was not on the poster...it was only him
now. Hyder was nearly forgotten in the jackal's
eyes.
Orion looked down at the paper the children had dropped, and picked it up with shaking hands.
"Hey! called a young voice from across the play yard. "We need
an extra tail over here...you want to
play?"
Spooked, Orion ran.
Needless to say, Orion was very eager to get out of town after that,
and though he ran across no one that
gave him trouble, he was tense the entire time, he scarcely stopped
to eat or rest, and by the time he had hit the
city's borders, he was very tired. not even wanting to hunt anything
down, Orion crept into the beginnings of
the trees and found someplace to lie down and rest.
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