49

Days, and then weeks, went on. The weather got hotter, which Orion and Falcon didn't mind too much at all.
For Orion's part, he simply tried to adjust back into a life of felines, not Plundaarians. Sometimes it was not
difficult. But sometimes he got strange looks, or watched people shy away from him.

Even Falcon was avoided sometimes, because of his strangeness. Such a creature was unheard of on Thundera,
and most cats didn't even know what he was until Orion told them.

Orion wasn't so great at learning languages, but as the weeks passed, and became months, he did learn a few
simple phrases of the Thunderian language. Basic was used more commonly, which was good. His not knowing how to read Basic was a bit more of a problem. He often had to ask people what things said. He did eventually learn how to read some of
it, but never quite got to the level that he knew in Plundaar.

And even that wasn't much.

For the most part, the villagers were friendly to him. It still felt strange to him that he didn't have to be masked
and hooded when he went into town, and not having to cover up was a blessing in itself.

Not everyone was so friendly, however. Many glared at the "outsider", and some even openly told him that he
wasn't welcome, or that he was a traitor. That kind of thing. Orion normally just quietly walked away. Still, it
hurt. Even on his own home world, he could never really completely fit in.

He did spend a lot of time with Jaguarin, re-acquainting himself with his old friend. At first they were a bit
apprehensive, but in time, warmed up to be good friends once more. Orion visited Jaguarin's home several
times, and the same went for the jaguar. It was good to have someone besides Falcon to talk to, and it helped a
great deal after some jerk in the village had told Orion just how much of an outsider he was.

If this happened when Jaguarin was around, the jaguar often told the other cat off. When Jaguarin knew his
friend before, before the Mutants had come and destroyed their village, it would have been the other way
around; Orion had many times stood up for his quieter friend. But Orion had changed a good deal since then.
Jaguarin almost mentioned it once, but decided not to. Orion surely knew he was changed. He didn't need to
be reminded of it.

Four months after he had settled in on Thundera, there was an landquake. A mild one, to be sure, but as this
was not an area known for landquakes, people were unnerved by it., Some of the buildings, not meant to take an
landquake of any kind, had been damaged, and people all wondered why it had happened.

Orion had no telescreen in his home, of course, but there was a large one in the village square for people to
watch. Currently, there was a news-program on, a special report, and many people stood in front of the screen.

The shorter cat had to ask a few people if he could stand in front of them to see.

"And today, just hours ago, A phenomenon shook Thundera to its very foundations. Claudon and Felis, known
most famously for their landquakes, experienced tremors at level five, some of which lasted five full minutes.
This, of course, was nothing unusual, and there were no injuries and no damage was taken.

"The alarming part of all of this, is that cities such as Swift and Hopetown also felt these tremors, although not
as severe. Geologists cannot find a reason for this, as there is nothing underneath the ground in these cities to
have caused such a disturbance. The tremors were felt worldwide."

There was a collective gasp from the small crowd watching the telescreen, and Orion himself rose a brow. A
chill went down his back, and Falcon edged close by his side. Whether he was picking up on Orion's unease or
feeling his own, Orion wasn't sure. He picked the cub up.

The newswoman continued.

"Authorities are urging citizens to not panic, that they are looking into the matter, and those who live in places
with no fault lines beneath their towns, must expect some noise in their villages while geologists search for
reasons for the tremors. As of now, no further information is available, but please stay alert for more updates
on the landquakes."

When the news report ended, and the telescreen story came back on, there were many murmurs among those
who had stopped to watch. most the people drifted away, but Orion stayed there for a moment, looking around.
The bank had been damaged (nothing stolen), and a few houses along the street showed slight damage.
It was unnerving Orion thought. he had been hunting at the time, and the quakes had scared off all of his prey.
It had been slim hunting to begin with, and he surmised that the animals had intuited the coming landquake.

He and Jaguarin met that night, at Orion's home, and talked of the quakes. "It was weird," Jaguarin said. "I
was once in Claudon when they had a mild one. It was creepy, but they all said that it was nothing compared to
ones they'd had before. But here? In Swift?"

Orion nodded, frowning. "I don't know much about geology, or whatever, but the news reporter said that there
should be no reason in this town and some other towns, for the ground to shake."

Jaguarin nodded. "No fault lines...breaks in the ground underneath the top layer of earth. dunno exactly how it
works, though. Still, it's creepy."

Orion nodded. "Yeah...it is." Days went by, and no one could find a cause for the quakes. this made many people uneasy, and the rumors flew. Orion never paid much attention to rumors. But still, it was creepy. He had never experienced a landquake on Plundaar, and wasn't even sure they had them all that often. If at all.

Although, in the next month or so, there came no more landquakes, and people began to breathe a sign of relief.

A few weeks later, Orion had something to distract him from the subject of landquakes anyway.
While he was in town getting some supplies like bread and milk, he was approached by one of the local
warriors, a decent if solemn man called Leodin. "Orion," he said. When the younger cat turned around, the
warrior continued. "I have a message for you from the king."

Orion blinked, and was suddenly glad he was the only one at the shop at the moment. "King Claudus?" he asked in surprise.

The warrior smiled a bit. "Yes, that would be the one. When you've finished your shopping, go ahead and stop
by the warrior's base, they'll tell you more there."

"I'm not in trouble, am I?"

The warrior laughed a bit and shook his head. "No."

Orion grinned back. "Okay good. I'll be by once I drop my things off at home then." he watched Leodin leave
and finished his shopping, thinking the whole time of what Claudus could possibly want to ask him about. more about Plundaar or Blackmoor, maybe?

He dropped his things off back home, and took Falcon with him to the local warrior's base. He was admitted,
and the head warrior, Ocedra, led him into the control room to talk, where she had to finish her watch. "Well,
there's a bit of an odd situation," she said, smiling a bit. "Relax, it's nothing bad, only unusual. There is a
Mutant from the planet of Plundaar, who has asked about obtaining permission to visit you here on Thundera."

"Me?" Orion asked in surprise, but then he grinned. "A hyena? Hyder?"

The woman smiled. "Yes, that would be him. He was met with a good deal of hostility and suspicion when
his broadcast came through, naturally, but he seemed to take this in stride. He did manage to talk to the king,
however, when the head of the military outpost recognized the name from your reports."

Orion knew he was grinning like an idiot, but he didn't care. "Will he be allowed to visit?"

"Well, King Claudus wants to speak with you a bit on the matter. What will likely happen is you'll be allowed
to visit for a few days in one of the military bases. You'll be allowed guest rooms there, but they won't want a
Mutant in the towns. Good or not, people'd panic."

The young cat nodded. "Understandable." he didn't think he wanted the villagers to know that he was visiting
a Mutant, anyways. Some of them already scorned him enough. "When will he be allowed?"

"Well, like I said, the king would like to speak of this to you. Likely in a couple of months or so Will you be
able to go to the Cats' Lair during the week-end?"

Orion nodded. "Of course!"

"Good. You'll be allowed to speak to this Hyder then, via radio, and the details will be worked out then."

Orion laughed, and stood up. "Great!" he said enthusiastically. Falcon also jumped up, howling a bit as he caught onto some of Orion's excitement.

Ocedra couldn't help but laugh. "I'm glad you're happy about this," she said to the young man. "I'd advise
against telling many people though," she said, serious again. "it's a time or war, and so many don't understand
such things."

"Boy, do I know that," said Orion disgustedly. "Some people in the village don't like me a whole lot because of
how I talk, and how I sometimes dress."

The woman nodded. "I know. Someday, Orion. Someday we'll have peace in this blasted system."

Orion snorted. "Not any time soon," he said. then he shrugged. "But this is a start, I'll be happy with that." he told no one but Jags, and told him he must keep quiet about it. Jaguarin was disappointed that he would not be able to meet Hyder, but wished Orion good luck.

One of the warriors gave Orion a ride into the main city of the planet, which wasn't all too far from his village.
once telling the ThunderCats who he was and why he was there, Orion and Falcon were led in by the warrior.

"Good luck," the man said to Orion as he was escorted into what looked for all the world like the Lair's control
room!

While he gaped in amazement and vaguely thanked the man, a tiger at the console smiled at him. "Hello, Orion," he said. "I am Tygra. King Claudus will be here soon." He saluted Orion in a formal way.

Not knowing what else to do, Orion returned the gesture, feeling suddenly shy. "Hi..." he said. This was one of
the ThunderCats! He was nude, which some Thunderians often preferred to do, and far taller than Orion was.
He was a little intimidated, to tell the truth.

Tygra chuckled. "Relax, Orion. We have visitors to the Lair often. Indeed, we even have school groups and
camp groups come through here on tours on certain days."

This made Orion a bit more relaxed, and he grinned. "Well it's an honor anyway," he said, with a bit of a
laugh. He looked around curiously. he'd never been in many places that looked like this before, and he felt like
a curious cub.

Tygra nodded, then smiled down at Falcon, who was sniffing his kneecap curiously. He crouched to pet the
cub.

Orion and the ThunderCat talked a bit more before Claudus came in, and Tygra left to give them some privacy. "Hello," the king said in his dignified way. He smiled.

"Hello, your Majesty," Orion said. "I dunno how I can thank you for this... I've been wanting to talk to him for
a while."

The king chuckled. "It is my pleasure, Orion. And please, call me Claudus. Everyone does."

Turning a bit red, Orion nodded. Then remembering that Claudus was blind, he said, "Okay."
"Please, sit down."

Orion sat in one of the chairs that Claudus indicated, looking at the console in front of him. Amazing, he
thought. He wondered what everything did. not that he'd understand much of it, mechanics was more what he
was good at, but still.

"I am very eager to end this war," Claudus said to Orion. "It will end, wars always do end. but I want this to be
swift., Too many people are dying. Many of my officers have criticized me allowing this..." Claudus sighed and
looked to Orion, who looked intently back. "But then what will the Plundaarians think? That we Thunderians are too good
to speak to them...or that we hate them just like they hate us, so why should they talk peace? Someone has to break down and try to make amends." He shook his head, but then he chuckled. "And besides, it makes me happy to make my people happy. And I was told you were quite eager to speak to your old friend."

Orion nodded. "Yes, sir...Claudus. I wasn't kidding when I said he's saved me from a lot of pain. And he's
stuck by me through everything, no matter what."

Claudus nodded. "Yes. We will be speaking to him shortly. He contacted Thundera, after much trying, and
finally got through. I'm afraid they weren't very polite at first, but after a while, I was informed, and spoke to
him. I will admit that he speaks very well, and I believe that he is sincere. Once we get the communication link going again, they will be contacting us here at the Cats' Lair."

As if on cue, a light flashed at Orion's elbow, and the console beeped, making him jump, and draw back a bit.
"Uh oh...did I touch something?" he asked, alarmed.

Claudus chuckled. "No, someone is calling the Lair." he flipped a switch, seemingly without even hesitating
due to his lack of sight, and a large face appeared on the screen. To Orion's surprise, it was the officer that had
interrogated him when he'd first come to the planet. "My lord, the Mutant is finally connected. I will be sending shortly. The connection is not great, but it's steady."

"Thank you," said Claudus with a smile." The lion nodded, and the screen went blank once more.
Before either of them could say anything else, the screen flickered back into life, and there was a static-y picture
of Hyder looking back at the both of them. Orion laughed, his face split into a wide grin. "Hyder!" he turned
to Claudus. "How does the radio work?"

He heard Hyder laugh, and looked back, as Claudus said softly, "Just speak, he will hear you."

"You always did suck with electronics," Hyder said by way of greeting.

Orion turned red and crossed his pinkies at Hyder. Then he looked guiltily towards Claudus, before
remembering once again that he couldn't see what Orion was doing. Still, Hyder had said "suck" in front of a
king!

Fortunately, Claudus looked highly amused.

"Oh...put a cork in it," Orion grumbled at Hyder, then grinned again, shaking his head. "You're something
else. But it sure is great seeing your hairy face again! how are things going? Did anyone ever suspect what
happened? Is Blackmoor dead? Is...is his miserable complex still there?"

"Whoa, jeez, when'd you regress? Sheesh, you ask questions like a cub!" But Hyder was smiling as he said it. "Things are fine, and no, I haven't gotten into any trouble at all. Didn't even miss the ship."

Orion looked to Claudus, suddenly feeling cold. "Um...is...is this a really secure frequency? Can just anyone
listen in?"

Claudus shook his head. "No. This is a secure channel, and there is more security on this communicator than anywhere on Thundera. Which is why you were brought here."

Sighing with relief, Orion turned back.

"No way would I talk about this if it wasn't secure," Hyder said to him. "Anyway, things are getting pretty bad
here. We're getting bigger, though, Soon we'll be able to actually do more about this...crap." His facial
expression darkened, and he went on. "As for Blackmoor, no one's heard from him. He's not back at his
compound, but I get this feeling that he's not dead either. Cant; find any info on the bastard at all. Not like I
haven't tried!"

"That's too bad...' said Orion.

The talk grew lighter after that, and after they'd talked for a while King Claudus and Hyder spoke, arranging
details of his visit. It would be at one of the military bases, and they would be in high-security guest rooms
there. Hyder would be allowed to stay for a few days, but his weapons were to be left in the ship. The ship was
also to be searched, by scanner before he docked, and by hand when he landed.

Orion was a bit tense, but relaxed when he saw that both Claudus and Hyder were both respectful and polite to
each other. And there was no coldness or lack of sincerity in this courtesy. He was happy about it.

It was arranged that Hyder would arrive in two standard months, and stay for four days. Four days! That was
great! And they wouldn't have to worry about being found by Blackmoor or anything, either... Hyder told the
king that he of course had coin to pay for his room and board, and seemed surprised when Claudus told him that
he needn't worry about it, that meals would be provided if he liked, as he would be a guest. Hyder graciously
thanked him, and the king smiled.

His tone very serious, he said to Hyder, "If more of your people were like you , my friend, there would be no
war."

Hyder looked pleasantly taken aback, and finally smiled, saluting in the Plundaarian way. "I'm honored," he
said simply. Then he turned to Orion. "Well I've got to go, anyway. This transmission's using up energy like
you wouldn't believe, since it's not one of our normal off-planet hookups. Stupid radios... Anyways they said I
can call again in a month or so, they'd be expecting it, and then I'll see ya a month after that!"

Orion grinned once more, standing up from his chair. "You've got a deal!" Falcon howled, and Orion laughed.,
"Falcon says hi, too. I think he's still mad that you put him in the storage compartment though."

At this, the hyena laughed a loud. "He'll live," he said, waving down at the pup. "Anyway, I'll talk to you in a
month."

Orion grinned, and the screen went black.

"He's a good man," Claudus said quietly.

Orion nodded. "Yes. He's a very good man. one of the best."

Chapter 50

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