37
Orion had a lot of time to think as he journeyed. He had time
to think about what he had been through,
what he had become, what he was doing... Most of all where he
would go. For a few years now, he'd been
free, and on his own. He noticed something. While he remembered
liking the young jackal girl that had taught
him much of what he knew about hunting, he had never felt any kind
of an attraction towards females. At least
none that was different than his attraction for males: any he met he
liked, as a friend. He knew more about Mutant races than his own,
but he did know that by this time in his life, he should have started going
through puberty.
He had, in some respects. He'd grown taller, stronger, he was
still a little skinny, but not childishly so, the
fur on his face had never grown any thicker than any of the other places,
but then not all cats did grow thicker
facial fur. But the way he thought... He didn't know if
it was right. As he got older, he did naturally think of
the opposite sex, and about someday taking a mate. And while
the idea of having a child of his own appealed
to him a great deal, the idea of having a mate did not. In fact,
when he thought about Kwiri kissing him on the
cheek, that was enough to make him feel embarrassed. It had been
pleasant, kind of. But if he thought
about doing anything beyond that, he felt like shuddering.
Any time he thought about mating, getting that close to someone physically
and mentally, he felt
actual revulsion. And he knew that was not normal.
He sometimes felt regret that he could never have children of his own.
He knew why it was. He knew
why physical touch was usually revolting to him. Something he
avoided, and it like many other things was
because of Blackmoor. There they touched him whether he wanted
them to or not. All part of making him feel
powerless and vulnerable. And so he hatred to be touched.
And he knew that wasn't normal either.
Sometimes it made him feel like a freak, other times it made him feel
sorrow that he could never really
have a family. At least not as he was now. And plus, who
would he mate with? Thunderians were not free
people on Plundaar. Not anywhere. And besides, could Thunderians
and Mutants even successfully mate?
No, unless he got off the planet, Orion would never be able to take a mate.
Most the time when he thought about it, he tried to steer his mind elsewhere.
It did not always bother
him, but it did much of the time. He felt like this was not his
place, even though he'd lived there more than he'd lived on Thundera.
Even as he grew older, from a teenager to a young man, he never felt
an attraction. He had resigned
himself by this point that he never would, but it still stung.
Orion had had many adventures in his life away from Blackmoor.
Often times they ended in mild
disaster, and sometimes they ended making him stronger. Sometimes
they were just comical, and Orion was
glad no one was around to see it. He recalled one time crouching
on a log, his toe claws sank into it, fishing in
the stream below with his spear. It was a somewhat shallow stream,
but of such a dark color with algae, Orion
hadn't known that at the time. He had fallen in.
The young man had thrashed around in the water for nearly a full minute
before realizing that it was not
more than two foot deep, and that he could sit in it without feeling
panicked. Although he was alone, Orion's
face had been bright red underneath the fur when he picked himself
out of the stream. he'd decided that was
enough fishing for one day.
The biggest thing of note to happen to Orion was when he was twenty
years old, finally out of his
teenage years, so far as he could calculate. He ironically had
been thinking of Hyder when it happened, and
wondering if he would ever see his friend again. But as he passed
by a darkish part of the sparse forest he was
traveling in, he heard a small whimper. At first thinking a child
might have gotten lost nearby, he frowned,
and walked slowly towards it. But as he proceeded, Orion could
tell it was not a sentient creature making the
noise. But it did sound very young.
"Hello..." he called softly as he walked, to get whatever was in trouble used to his voice. It had a familiar smell to his feline senses...but he could not tell what. "Shhh, it's all right." He'd heard a few more yelps, and was getting a little worried whatever it was was hurt.
After a moment, Orion finally found what it was. Tangled in the
vines of a sticky seppit plant, was a
little feral canine? That's what Orion thought at first.
Whatever it was, it was filthy and scrawny; it was
apparent it had not eaten well. "Hey," Orion said in a low tone,
as he knelt by it. "Don't be afraid...just hold on
here." Tentatively, Orion reached out a hand, only to draw it
back quickly as the frightened cub snapped at him.
"No, no, no," he said, his tone never rising above a soothing lull.
"Its all right. Just let me...get in here..."
After a few moments, the little creature finally let Orion grasp his
paw. It was not so much as he trusted the
stranger, as he couldn't fight anymore. the little guy had exhausted
himself trying to get free, and after a few
days of not having anything to eat, which made things worse.
But Orion smiled at the ltilte animal and spoke softly to it as he disengaged
his paw and his midsection.
"Shh, shh...easy..." he said, as he set the baby down. The cub
did not look all that old, and although Orion was
not exactly sure what it was, he could tell it hadn't been cared for.
Perhaps its parents had been killed...in the
harsh Plundaarian environments, it was a possibility he thought likely.
He frowned, hoping the little one did not
run away; he would be killed if he did. Attacked by some predator,
or simply dying of hunger. Orion was surprised that he was still
alive as it was.
But the animal did not run. It regarded Orion with frightened
eyes, and backed up some but it did not
run. It was hungry, and wanted its parents.
Orion smiled and sat slowly on the ground, his hand extended.
The little creature tentatively sniffed at
the hand, and Orion could see that he was shaking, whether in fear
or cold, he wasn't sure. But then the animal
took a step forward, lost its balance, and fell sprawled in its side.
He yelped, and Orion could see its side was
sore, as if it had been attacked. he felt very bad for the little
guy, and slowly went to pick him up.
The creature whimpered once, but Orion was warm, and his clothing was
warm...and there was no sense
of danger. So he did not bite the cat, only shivered in his arms.
Orion's smile widened as the little guy seemed to accept him, at least
for now, and he carefully wrapped
one of his warm shirts around him as he held him. He stroked
the bristly mane of the animal and realized with
a shock that it was a cub of the race that Hyder had evolved from!
Had Orion traveled that far south in his
journeys? He hadn't thought he'd been anywhere hear the fields
and savahnahs that the creatures usually
resided in, but apparently he had. The cub's black coloring had
thrown him for a moment, as they were born
black, but this was a spotted hyena cub, a feral one, that Hyder's
clan had evolved from.
The hyena buried its head in the shirt, and curled up tightly in Orion's
arms, and the young cat smiled.
He had some milk somewhere he'd gotten from a nearby town, he would
see if the little guy would take some of
it but for now he'd let him rest. He certainly seemed as if he
needed it!
To his surprise, Orion watched the cub close its eyes and go to sleep.
He felt vaguely flattered, that a
feral animal trusted him enough to do so, But he had no intentions
of harming it, and he knew the animal probably felt that.
Orion stayed that way with the little hyena in his lap for about an
hour before the pretty little creature
opened its eyes and looked around. He looked startled but not
so terrified, and Orion thought he felt a thin
thread of trust from the little guy. "Hey," he said softly.
the hyena looked at him. "How you feeling? You want
something to eat?" Milk...he had some milk somewhere, he was
sure. Orion set the hyena on the ground, still in
his shirt, and hunted through his bag.
He came up with a small water bag he'd been using for milk, and it still
had some in it. The spigot of the
bottle looked small enough for the hyena to ba able to get in his mouth.
Not sure how to hold him, Orion just
tipped the bag towards the young hyena's mouth, and was pleased when
he eagerly began to suck on the flask.
he tipped it a little so he could get at the milk and smiled.
Yes, he was definitely hungry.
"Well that's all my milk you drank, little guy," Orion said after the
baby had finished it off. He did not think that baby animals drank
water, either. Did they eat meat? He did not think that they
did; he would have to go into town more to get the
milk. Maybe he could buy a larger quantity when he had the credits
so he would not have to steal them.
After eating, the little guy curled back up and went to sleep again.
Orion gazed at the little creature and
decide that he would take care of it; he needed someone.
Orion carefully picked the little one up, slung his pack on his back, and headed off once more.
Throughout the day, Orion had watched over the baby as they traveled.
Sometimes the hyena insisted
on walking on its own, but then it got tired and wanted to be carried.
Orion was glad to oblige. He'd cleaned
him up, a task the young hyena had not enjoyed but something that had
to be done, His injury was not bad, but
it was dirty, and he noted the little guy seemed to feel better once
it was cleaned. He'd swiped some milk
from the nearest town to feed him again, as he'd seemed hungry.
He'd also gotten him to eat a tiny bit of meat
as well. Orion wished he could read...then he could find a book
on what their kind ate. But the hyena seemed
not to be getting sick, and Orion thought that they might be able to
eat a wide variety of things. That would make things easier.
By the end of the day, Orion had named him Falcon, a name he wasn't
sure why he picked, but it
seemed to fit him. He wondered if when he was old enough, if
Falcon would leave...he was a wild animal
after all, although he seemed very intelligent. He would not
prevent him if he wanted to be on his own...that
was one thing Orion would never do in his entire life was collar or
keep someone against their will...even an
animal. He would miss him though. Already he could see
that.
That night, Orion made a bed for the little one in the shirt he'd
used earlier and some piled up dirt. he
seemed quite content sleeping there, Orion thought as he lay down close
by. He had built a fire in the rocky
clearing, and now the embers were dying down, making the area comfortably
warm. Feeling content, Orion fell
asleep.
The next morning, Orion awakened to find that Falcon still was there,
looking up at him curiously.
"Hungry little one?" he asked. The little creature made a strange
sound that was almost a howl. He was a
little startled, but laughed a little at eager sounding noise.
"I guess that's yes. I have a little milk left, come
here little guy." He gestured to his side, and was actually surprised
to see that Falcon did so. Had he
understood? Orion did not know how intelligent a feral hyena
was. He fed Falcon, and petted him a little while,
still working on brushing out the mats and tangles in the hyena's dark
pelt. "You sure are a mess," he said fondly to the little hyena.
"But that's okay, at least you're clean now, eh?"
Orion spent most of that day and the next few days playing with his
new companion, and feeding him. he
was discovering that even as young as he was, although he seemed to
prefer milk. he could eat meat. He
gave him milk whenever he could, whenever Falcon signaled that he was
hungry, but when he couldn't, meat
sufficed.
Over those days, Orion formed a firm bond with the small animal. Maybe he could never have a family but at least he had someone to take care of that he was certain he loved as much as he would any son.
Orion was not entirely sure Falcon was male, although it felt right.
He'd looked of course, and he
appeared male, but he also remember something Hyder had told him about
the feral species...females had the
same genitalia. Some of the Mutants did, for that matter, and
both boys had laughed about that. Either way,
Falcon did not seem to mind. Orion was sure he'd stay with him...he
could feel it. Just a subtle instinct, and
he was glad. He needed someone too, he just would not admit it.
All the while. Orion watched over the little one, leaving him only to
hunt here and there. But he left him
by the campfire, hopefully where no one would bother him. And
he stayed within earshot in case he needed to
go back and help him. But it had not happened yet, so far they'd
been left alone by creatures sentient and not.
"I'm glad I found you, Falcon," he said to him one day as he watched
the little creature playing in the tall
grass. Falcon was trying to pounce on something and wasn't being
very successful in his endeavor. But he was
having the time of his life trying! Orion grinned as he watched
him, and it occurred to the young man that
while he had been happy since escaping...he thought he'd never smiled
as much as since he found the orphan.
It was pleasant to smile.
Days passed, and Orion's love for his small charge was cemented.
He was positive the hyena would not
leave him, and he seemed happy. Orion may not have known anything
about caring for baby animals, but what
he felt to be right seemed to be what was needed. And so where
Falcon likely would have died that day or soon
thereafter, thanks to Orion he was an active, healthy cub. His
injury was healed, and Orion had finally gotten
the tangles and knots out of his fur. He went with Orion now
when he hunted, as Orion was trying to teach him
to hunt also; Falcon was not very good at it., He would chase
things around, making all kinds of noise, and
scaring everything off. It made things difficult, but Orion had
to laugh. He never got mad or frustrated with the
little guy, as he knew it wasn't his fault. Sometimes he finally
left him behind and hunted by himself so they could
eat before dark.
Soon, Orion began noticing that parts of Falcon's coat were lightening
up. As days then weeks went
past, the cub's coat began showing the spots his kind were known for.
He was a cute little thing, Orion
thought. And he grew very slowly, he also noticed. He wondered
if that was because he was small for his
species, or maybe because he had a rough start, or maybe just because
the hyenas on Plundaar grew slowly.
Either way, Orion was happy about it. He wondered how long their
life span was.
One day, next to one of the smaller towns, Orion decided that he would
cover up and go into
town...maybe he would be able to find a book about the hyenas somewhere.
Maybe one with simple wording
that he would be able to read somewhat. One in Plundarian.
Basic he couldnt read at all.
With the young hyena at his side, Orion walked into town. It was
chilly, so his face being covered did
not seem suspicious. It was when it was warm out that he ahd
problems. He had quietly asked here and there
about a store that sold books, and was finally directed towards a small
shop near the edge of town. When he and
Falcon stepped in, he looked around at the books. "No, Falcon,"
he said gently, as the cub looked as if he were
about to take off and explore. "Not here. Stay by me, little
one." Falcon looked disappointed, but he lsitened.
Orion had found that the little hyena was very intelligent, and seemed
to understand every word he said. on the
other side of the coin, as they became closer, Orion found that he
could tell how the cub was feeling. If he was
scared, or happy, or mad, he could tell. And especially when
he was up for mischief, like he was now.
"Help you, stranger?" the shopkeeper asked.
Nervous, as he always was when talking to the Mutants, Orion hesitated.
"Well...I-I am looking for a
book about these creatures here...the h-hyenas."
"I think that I can help you there." The older Mutant stood and
headed for a far corner of the bookstore,
where several books were stacked on shelves. "We have many books
about animals and nature...and I think a
few about hyenas since they are indigenous to this region. Anything
in particular you're looking for?" He eyed
Falcon, who looked mildly back. "Never saw one that ahd a master
though. They're usually wild."
"I;m not his master!" Orion said, far more vehemently than he'd intended.
he sighed. "Sorry...didn't
mean to bite your head off. He stays with me of his own accord...I
f-found him when he had scarcely been born."
The Mutant shrugged agreeably. "No harm done. So you're his papa then." He chuckled. "Some cubs'd say those are synonymous. Well then...here's what we got. Like I said, what you lookin' for particularly?"
"Well..." Orion looked embarrassed. "I...don't know how
to read well. Something that is easy to read,
and is in Plundaarian. I can't read Basic."
"Hmmm. Well I bet I can find one or two in the children's section. Right over this way."
At least the shopkeeper hadn't ridiculed him about it, Orion thought,
as he followed him to the other
side of the store. He looked at the brightly colored books, the
books about nature, books that helped you count
or read, and of course books about animals. He looked over the
three they had in this section, and thanked
the shopkeeper.
"If I can help ya out any more, just let me know, son."
"Thank you." Orion picked one of the books up, and saw that it
had no words. It only had a lot of
stylized pictures and some maps. That wouldn't be of any use
to him, and it was obviously for very small
children. The other two both had real photographs of the creatures,
and both had a lot of information. oOne of
them had broader information about the different animals in the hyena
family, while the other focussed on the
best known of them, the spotted ones. He found the prices, and
after counting his credits, and doing some mental addition (which was something
he was not all that bad at) he discovered that he had enough to purchase
both books.
Taking them up to the front, he gave them to the shopkeeper. "I-I would like these two, please."
With a nod, the Mutant took them and looked at their prices. He
added them on the mini screen and told
Orion the total, and Orion handed some credit chips over from his pocket.
"You're a strange one," the shopkeeper said as he gave Orion his change.
"You've got strange hands. you a simian?"
Orion swallowed hard, thinking fast. "I-I...I'm a mixed breed," he said. It was even the truth. Maybe hs should start wearing gloves. But then woudln;t that be drawing attention to himself?
The shopkeeper nodded, as if now he understood. "That'd account
for it. That why you cover your
face? Most folks aren't kind to half breeds around here.
Kinda ignorant of them, I think.
Orion laughed a little nervously as he bent and petted Falcon's head. "Yeah...I think so too."
"Traveler, eh? Well good luck on your journeys."
Orion nodded as they headed out. "Thank you. Good month
." It was a Plundaarian goodbye, akin to
"take care" or "have a good one".
Outside of town again, Orion let Falcon run around the forest to get
rid of some of his seemingly endless
supply of energy while he sat down to look through his two new books.
Sitting in the chilly air, he paged
through the book, looking first at the pictures. He looked up
as the sun came out form behind a cloud...not that
it made much difference in the light, but he could feel the difference
in the temperature. He took off his hood
as it became a little warmer outside, and he looked again to the book.
"Ta-ble...of con-ten-ts..." he read slowly aloud. As he looked
at the Plundaarian words, he surmised this
must be a list of what was inside. Territory...that had been
a difficult word. Feeding, different kinds...there were
seven or so chapters in the book about hyenas. There were nine
different kinds, he read. Spotted, striped,
Mixed (which was a combination of both spotted and striped, and was
nearly extinct) brown, gray, white, red
(which were a rusty orange color, almost like the coloration on a puma)
saber-toothed, and jackals. Orion had
not thought jackals were a part of the same family, and as he read
the chapter he found out that they were not,
but they were the only member of their species, and so were in the
book with their closest cousins on Plundaar.
"This book is hard to read," Orion admitted to Falcon as the cub streaked
by chasing a fast-flying insect.
He didn't feel embarrassed there by himself...he knew why he couldnt
read. Blackmoor believed that an ignorant
slave was less of a threat. Sometimes that was true; one who
could not read had less power to survive. But he
confused literacy with intelligence. "It says here that you can
eat meat when you're born, but sometimes it
will make you sick. But most hyenas mothers feed their cubs milk
until they are almost adults, because a hyena
feed is dan...dangerous."
Orion read quietly to himself as he continued reading about the fascinating
creatures. He read about
the saber-toothed hyenas, who lived in the frigid south, and the albino
or white hyenas, who lived in the caves
and caverns on the equator. Gray hyenas were often mistaken for
wolves because of their canine appearance
and gray coats, and the black hyenas were feared by all as bad omens.
Orion thought they were neat looking.
The red ones were the strangest of all. they had a vaguely spotted
hyena shape, but were a rusty red, like an intensely colored puma, with
vague spots of a deeper red.
He also learned that a hyena's life span was pretty long, about half
that of a Thunderian's, and that
they stayed in cubhood for a long time.
Orion spend most of the day reading his books...and where as a normal
adult would have finished them
in a couple of hours, it took Orion far longer than that to read everything.
He enjoyed it, it was only that he
spent most of his time sounding out words. His eyes hurt by the
time he was ready to eat supper. "No hunting
tonight, Falcon," he said. He gave the cub some of the milk he
had,. and the rest of the previous night's kill,
while he himself ate fruit. he could live on fruit for at least
a little while, hyenas could not.
He did learn quite a few things about hyenas, helpful things like what
they could and could not eat, and
what kinds of weather they could endure. It would be good not
to go south, where it was colder but that was
okay. Orion didn't like the cold, either. He was headed
a little farther north, where the weather was warmer.
It had been so many years now since his escape from Blackmoor's. He
had come such a long way. He
no longer cringed if someone made a sudden movement around him.
He still stammered when he talked to
someone he was nervous around, but it was not a constant thing.
he was able to bring himself to bathe in a
stream without freaking out, even if it was waist deep. He had
found someone to care for...someon he loved as
a child. And he was free. For seven years now, he was free.
Compared to...eight years? Yes, eight years of
slavery.
Orion did not even remember Thundera. Nothing beyond vague glimpses
of images in his memory.
The sky, his father's face, his mother picking him up after he fell
from his hover scooter. The clearest memory
he had though...was his father telling him of his own inner worth.
"I understand, little one," he said quietly, as his mate looked on in approval. "Your pride was hurt. I understand that very much. But you know better than that. You know that what kind of cat you are has nothing to do with what's in here." He gently poked the child's chest, where his heart would be.
It had been after a tussle with a group of children from his town, one
in which a closed-minded adult
Cheetah had taken their side in, simply because of Orion's mixed heritage.
"I-I tried not to get mad and ignore them like you say, but I couldn't
and I just did it and didn't
even think when I was!"
"I know. And I am proud you tried. Next time I want you
to remember your worth, and try even harder
to keep your temper, all right? They don't know any differently,
and unfortunately many grown-ups here agree
with them. They don't understand true worth." Bowan
sometimes wished he had made it to the ThunderCat
ranks before having his son. The ThunderCats understood that
type of thing; at least most of them did. They
would have accepted him and his child as equals. "I know you can
do it, Orion. Just remember your own
worth, and your own honor, and pay them no mind." He put a
hand under his son's chin and lifted it. "Keep
your head up. Never be ashamed of yourself for what you are
on the outside."
Thinking of his father's kind words, which had rung so true in his heart,
Orion looked to the ground. he
and Falcon were stopped for the evening, and had already eaten super.
The hyena cub's head rested on Orion's
lap as tears slid down the cat's cheek.
Falcon, who had become as attuned to Orion's state of mind as he was
to Falcon's, raised his head and
whimpered in question. Orion said nothing, only reached out and
pet the cub's head. Falcon stepped on Orion's stomach and began licking
his face.
Orion laughed a little bit and ruffled the cub's strip of a mane.
"Thanks, Falcon," he said quietly. "I;'m
okay, really. Just...thinking that's all."
Satisfied that he'd done what he'd set out to accomplish, Falcon returned
his head to Orion's lap.
Petting the cub, Orion settled back down and thought.
Table
of Contents
ThunderCat
Stories Page
Main
Page