Whoa! Finally done with this! This is pretty much just a filler chappie, yet it took forever to write -.-...

*** Chapter Ten : The Change ***

Seven years later...

Ten years is a very long time. A lot of things can happen, and people change. But the most drastic change probably happened to Bentley.

The little hyena who had arrived to the plantation ten years earlier, was now known as a troublemaker and a joker. From being brought to the plantation as a cub who had been taken away from everything and everyone he knew and loved, traumatized, scared and careful to even speak, he changed somewhere along his 10th birthday, and by the time he was a teenager he had become one hell of a pain in the ass to the overseers.

It had started the day after he placed a trap in Lashers house and humiliated him in front of everyone. He never put up traps like that again though, but he had other ways to make fun of the overseers; talk back with sarcastic comments, twist their orders, mimicking them and even dropped a few insults every now and then. All to make the other slaves laugh, and actually succeeding a couple of times only spurred him to go on. Funny, many called him. Stupid, even more said. Of course it didn't take long until the overseers already minimal patience ran out and he got to taste the whip.

He was thirteen, and got three lashes. He realized then why Ellie had cried so much when she got whipped; the mere three lashes had made it feel like his entire back was on fire and he had cried as well. But that didn't stop him. Nothing seemed to stop him!

A couple of times per month, he managed to get himself into enough trouble to earn himself another three or five lashes, ten if he managed to piss Lasher off really good, but it was almost as if he wanted to get whipped! And only a few years ago, he had begun to LAUGH at them! Soon, 'crazy' was added to the other slaves' description of him. And if they knew about his best friend, they would start calling him 'batshit insane'!

How they had managed to keep their friendship a secret for ten years was a miracle, they both thought. Sure, there was one who knew that Bentley and Cornelia was meeting secretly; Cornelias nanny Lucy, but she never told anyone. Mainly to use that knowledge to blackmail Cornelia if she would hide her keys again, refuse to get up in the mornings etc. But also because that slave was probably the only one who'd ever consider Cornelia as his best friend, since the young mountain lion had always been homeschooled by her private teacher Mr Bentler so getting new friends was hard for her. And she was rather... special.

For starters, she refused to wear dresses and they had to be at least THREE to manage to get a dress on her. In fact, she loathed everything considered 'girly' and her behavior was the least you would expect from a daughter of a rich plantation owner: she was crude, impatient, boyish, sarcastic, lazy and had the habit of belching by the dinner table. The latter was probably just to piss her parents off. But despite that, she had something her parents seem to lack: compassion, especially for the slaves.

All those years in which she had get to known Bentley, she had also begun to see things out of the slaves perspective on things and realized that not much that was said about them was true. And because of this, she often got into heated arguments with the other Aventines, in which she'd be the only one taking the slaves side. The argues however, would always end with her father, or uncle Matt, losing his temper and send her to her room, where she would have to break something in order to calm down.

Yes, she was a mean, spoiled, rich girl, but she was also Bentleys best friend. And he would rather take 100 lashes than losing her friendship.

Every night, after everyone gone to bed, they would both meet up at a secret place of theirs; the hayloft. Okay, it wasn't THAT much of a secret place since Chuck, Church and Finn worked in the stables all day and probably had work on the loft a couple of times a day. Bentley had noticed, on one of the days when he was lucky enough to have 'stable duty', that there was a ladder leading up to a platform by the furthest wall on the loft. According to Finn, that's where they used to keep the feed, but the floor was old and worn and could break under the heavy weight so they moved the feed and just simply stopped using the platform. Since Bentley and Cornelia was starting to outgrow the bush-tunnels, he thought that this would be the perfect place for them to meet! Besides, the stables and the blacksmith was just next to the wall, so it wouldn't be too hard for her to get there unnoticed either!

And on this night he was late. When he finally he got off the extra work he had to do because of the critique he gave one of the overseers, he had to run towards the stables. He knew that she hated it when he was late, and had probably stormed off a long time ago, leaving only an angry note. Therefore he was happily surprised when he climbed up the ladder and saw her sitting with her legs and arms crossed underneath the large, cracked window. Her ears flattened back and the black tip of her long tail twitched angrily.

"Uh, hi! You're still here?" He laughed nervously and dragged himself up on the platform, but she didn't answer. She just kept glaring at him. The light from an oil lantern reflected in her sea-green eyes and threw eerie shadows over her face. "Look, Corny, I'm sorry I'm...!"

"You're late!" She growled and interrupted him. "And DON'T call me Corny!"

"Sorry then, Cornelia"

"Why're ya so late anyway?!"

"Well... I kinda opened my big mouth and had to clean the outhouse as punishment..."

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Dumbass!"

"Yeah, I know"

"And I guess they withdrew yer lunch t'day as well?" When he silently nodded in response, she let out an annoyed sigh and began to rummage through a bag she brought. "I figured as much..." She mumbled and pulled out a bundle wrapped in white cloth and threw it at him.

He caught it in the air and instantly recognized the scent of cornbread. He laughed gleefully and unwrapped the bundle and just as he thought: there was a piece of the pale yellow bread. "Aw geez, thanks! You're a lifesaver, Corny!" He said and began stuffing his face.

"Don't thank me! Lucy was the one who managed to save some! She sends her regards, by the way..."

"Ke be chanks chom me!"

"What did ya call me?!"

Bentley rolled his eyes and gulped down the bread currently occupying his mouth. "Tell her thanks from me!" He repeated.

"Fine, whatever..." She shrugged and began searching through her bag again. This time she pulled out a book and threw it at Bentley. He caught it, with his head. "So, I've got homework again... Algebra!"

Bentley grimaced and rubbed his aching head where the book had hit him. "That means I'M the one with homework, right?" She nodded, and he sighed and opened the math book.

Seven years ago Cornelia had begun a little project of hers: to see if Bentley could learn just like everyone else to read, write and count. Needless to say, it was a huge success and, as a matter of fact, he turned out to be even better than her at math! She never really understood the point with it all, and trying to solve a puzzle only made her head hurt so she had more or less given up on the subject. In return, she had asked, or demanded, that he taught her his old language, and that way he managed to avoid losing what was left of the memories of his old home.

When it came to her studies, Mr Bentler hated to tell her parents the truth: their daughter was lazy, slow and unmotivated when it came to the lessons, and she never did her homework on time, causing her grades to drop by every year. That is, until she realized she could have Bentley to do her homework and write cheating notes for her tests. Ever since then, her grades had been significantly better, and left Mr Bentler more confused than usual. She was still not paying any attention in class, but somehow her tests and homework assignments had skyrocketed! And he could never guess why!

Bentley didn't mind having to do her homework, he actually liked it! He thought math, especially algebra, was fun! But every time he told Cornelia that, he always got a funny frown and maybe a slap in the head, followed by a: "You are SUCH a freak!". But sometimes, like this night, he didn't want to do anything; he was WAY too tired and worn out from the long work day, and he never really slept well during the nights because of the nightmares. So the thought of having to use his brain even more wasn't especially exciting.

"Are ya sure ya can't do this on yer own for once?" He winced and blurred through the marked pages, telling what pages she had to do. "It's been a really long day an'..."

"How many times to I have to tell ya this, buster?! I. Can't. Do. This!" She exclaimed and threw her arms out. "YOU are the only one of us who actually understands this bullshit! Math was hard enough with just the numbers, but then some drunkass pedo-Greek bastard had to mix the god damn alphabet into this... Gumbo of Agony!"

Bentley couldn't help but to snicker. "Drunkass pedo-Greek bastard... Gumbo of Agony... Hehehe..."

"Yeah, what's so darn funny 'bout it?!" She crossed her arms again, leaned back against the wall and pouted. "B'sides, I've had a long day t'day too!"

"Yeah, it's SUCH hard work to get invited to fancy dinners, isn't it?"

"Drop the sarcasm, it's MY job! And both yes and no..." She pulled her knees up to her chin and threw her arms around them, averting her eyes.

Earlier that day, Bentley had seen Cornelia and her family leaving the farm, all dressed up and Cornelia looked like she was going to be embarrassed to death in that light blue dress. He had later learned that they had been invited to a dinner at a neighboring plantation; Willow Hill, owned by the Willow family. He could immediately tell that bringing it up troubled her greatly, and it sparked his curiosity.

"Whaddya mean 'both yes and no'? It ain't THAT painful for ya to stay fancy for a couple of hours, is it, Corny?"

"Never mind! And STOP callin' me Corny!" She muttered and narrowed her eyes at him. "Why aren't ya workin'?"

"That's what I've been doin' all day, Missy! Besides, I can tell somethin' happened on that dinner! C'mon, ya can tell me!"

"No! I ain't gonna talk 'bout it!"

"Y'know, I think it's gonna feel a LOT better if ya just talked 'bout it, no?"

"Why do ya even wanna know?!"

He shrugged and grinned sheepishly. "I'm curious by nature?"

She didn't reply, just averted her eyes again and gritted her teeth. He figured that she wasn't going to tell him after all, and slumped down next to her with the book. After a while he tilted his head at her.

"Ya got a pencil or somethin?" He asked and instantly she handed him a pencil, seemingly out of nowhere. He yanked it out from her grip. "Aksante!"

"Mwakaribishwa"

"Sorry, but the 'M' is still just somewhat silent, not entirely gone!"

"Fuck you!"

He snickered slyly. "Anytime, anyplace!" But that comment only earned him a slap to the back of his head, but it was worth it.

Bentley nearly fell asleep with his head looming over the book, but was brought back when Cornelia flicked her fingers at his nose. She was peeking over his shoulder and watched as he solved one problem after the other. Nothing of what he wrote made any sense at all to her.

He stifled a yawn and sleepily rubbed one of his eyes. "Can't I go back now? It's midnight, and we, or at least I, have to rise with the sun t'morrow an'..."

"Good job!" She said with a wide grin, he blinked at her in puzzlement. "Ya said the sun! Instead of Mama Kubwa!"

"Huh? Oh... Yeah..." He said lowly and averted his eyes. "I... Still can't..."

Cornelias grin disappeared and she rubbed the back of her neck, her read hair she kept in a ponytail, fell over her shoulder as she did so. "H-hey, I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have showed ya that astrology book, should I?" He slowly shook his head. "Sorry again... I just thought that, since ya sooner or later would find out the truth anyway, then I would probably better be the one to tell ya... I mean, I'm yer friend n'all..."

His mouth slowly tugged up in a careful smile and he turned his head slightly to her. "It's okay, Corny, really!"

"No it ain't!" She protested with a scowl and stubbornly folded her arms. "I took yer religion away from ya!"

"I told'cha, Corny; it's okay! I really don't care 'bout that anymore..."

"Personally, I think all kinds of religion are just big heaps of buffalo crap, but you didn't! Y-you were completely heart broke that day and I still feel bad 'bout it!" She pouted and looked away. "Me! I'M feelin' guilty! And I hate you for makin' me feel guilty!" Suddenly her eyes turned to the window and widened in shock. "Uh-oh..." She said, making Bentley turn around as well.

The top floor and the attic of the Aventines residence was visible from the loft and usually all windows of the great mansion were pitch black and empty by this time, but not this time. One room was lit. And Cornelia seemed to know exactly which room it was.

"That's my parents room!" She gasped and stuffed the books back into her bag and leaped for the ladder. The old floor underneath her feet creaked ominously, but she didn't seem to care. "Sorry, gotta go! See ya 'round t'morrow!" She hollered as she quickly slid down the ladder instead of climbing it and bolted out. "DON'T be late, this time!"

Bentley knew she was too busy to hear him, so he didn't bother to answer. He looked down through the window at the blacksmiths roof. It had been a while since he last climbed something, several years in fact. With a chuckle, he decided to climb that way down tonight. But before that, he ate what was left of the cornbread, but stopped with a piece of bread half-way to his mouth when he noticed something lying on the floor. He frowned worriedly when he saw that Cornelia had forgotten her notebook.

With a sigh, he picked it up and shook his head. "Sloppy, Corny. Very sloppy..." He chuckled and quickly began to skim through it while chewing on the last breadcrumbs. Most of it were his notes, of course. And he could see that on the few notes she actually wrote, she was trying to mimic his handwriting, probably to lower the risk of suspicion from her teacher. When he encountered a couple of drawings, he couldn't help but to chortle out a laugh. Most of the little doodles was picturing Cornelia hitting uncle Matt in the head with a large object, probably drawn out of boredom during a class.

He was lost, just looking through the book, for a long time until he finally snapped back to reality and remembered that he still had to go to bed. Tomorrow was going to be another long day of hard work, and he wasn't exactly looking forward to it. But after ten years, you'll just have to learn to live with it. With a groan, he stood up and stretched before hiding the notebook underneath one of the boards. Hopefully, Cornelia would find it on her own.

Cornelia ran as fast as she could home, threw the bag up on her back and began climbing up the vines that grew past her window on the houses wall. One, or maybe both, of her parents were awake, and if they found her bed empty at this time of the night? Well, it wouldn't be easy to explain, therefore she climbed as fast as she could, climbed through the window, threw her bag in under the big bed in the middle of the room and dove in under the pillows and blankets. She had just wrapped herself up like a cocoon to hide that she was still wearing clothes when she heard footsteps outside her door. Her heart was beating like mad and she tried to calm her breathing down when the door opened and her mother peeked in. She cursed to herself, clamped her eyes shut and pretended to be fast asleep.

Grace frowned as she looked around her daughters room, but found nothing out of the ordinary. "Odd... I thought I heard something..."She muttered to herself and was about to leave when she noticed the window was still open. She sighed and walked over to the window to close it. Cornelia held her breath just in case when her mother walked past her bed and looked around on the outside before slamming the window shut.

Not until Grace was gone did Cornelia dare to breathe out and slip out of bed. THAT was a close call! TOO darn close!

When Granny Ama woke him up in the morning, Bentley had barely shut his eyes. Or at least, that's what it felt like. Her cheerful "G'mornin', hun!" was returned with a sleepy and drawn out groan, and it took longer time than usual for him to drag himself up from bed, get dressed and walk down the stairs. He managed to make his way to the table where Chuck already was seated, sat down and almost fell face-first sleeping into his bowl of gruel.

Ama arched a scaly eyebrow. "Looks like someone didn't sleep well t'night, hm?" She said and Bentley nodded with his head hung low over the table, after he managed to process her sentence in his half-asleep state. The old, scaly lizard frowned worriedly. "Is it them nightmares again?"

Bentley couldn't remember dreaming anything at all during those few hours he managed to get some sleep, but he still nodded. It WAS still almost true, the nightmares usually kept him awake. Ama looked like she was thinking while Toby strolled in through the door. Toby nodded shortly to the others before grabbing his own bowl of gruel and sat down next to Bentley. But instead of starting to eat the brownish white slop, he just stared at it emptily before saying: "I had a really weird dream..."

"Wh-what happened?" Bentley yawned and picked up his spoon and began poking into the gruel.

"Well, first I woke up an' thought I saw Miss Cornelia run outside my window with some kind of bag in her hand... Then I saw you, Bentley, climbin' down the barns walls"

While Bentley stared at Toby with his spoon stuck in the gruel and a speechless expression on his face, Chuck and Ama began to laugh. "Miss Cornelia outside yer window an' Bentley literally climbin' 'round on walls? HAH! Good one!" Chuck grinned and corrected the rolled up cloth covering his head and ears.

"Actually, he was climbin' DOWN the wall" Toby added with a cautious chuckle.

To not seem suspicous Bentley began to laugh as well. However his laugh sounded weird and forced and got the others to look at him funny. But they never got to ask him if he felt alright when the door was barged open and first Ellie was being pushed inside by Finn, before the big brother himself dashed in and closed the door. He looked stressed.

"Finn? What the...?" Chuck began, but was hushed by Finn.

"He's got some crazy plan to escape..." Ellie muttered and folded her arms. "Again!"

"It ain't crazy, Ellie! I've got a plan to get us ALL outta here!" He retaliated and turned to the others with an optimistic and excited glint in his eyes. They all stared at him with puzzled looks on their faces. "Look, I drove the Aventines to the Willow Hill Plantation earlier t'day, an' while the masters were havin' dinner with the other family, I explored the rest of the plantation an' talked to a couple of the slaves there. Some of them are plannin' to escape sometime this week an' they're gonna take a detour to our plantation to pick us up!"

"Finn!" Ama exclaimed and slammed her wooden spoon on the bench, creating a loud bang that interrupted the spotted hyena. "Are ya outta yer mind?! We can't run away with them, an' ya know we can't!"

Finn calmly held up one of his hands. "I know, I know what you're thinkin', granny. But I'm serious, THIS is the opportunity we have been waitin' for! One of the other slaves know of a secret trail, known as 'the Underground Railroad', an' if we follow them, there's no way any Catchers will find us! They don't know 'bout the Railroad!"

Now it was Chucks turn to object. "Ya don't know that! They ALWAYS finds ya, no matter where you're tryin' to hide! No, I'd advice ya to NOT follow them, Finn. We ain't leavin'... None of us!"

"I'm sorry, Chuck, but I don't wanna live the rest of my life as a slave, an' I sure as hell ain't gonna let Ellie an' Bentley waste their lives here either!"

"If ya necessarily have to try to escape, which is a very foolish idea no doubt about it, DON'T drag the youngsters into it! If the Catchers catch ya, they won't show ANY mercy!" The argument between the two men began to boil up and they had begun to raise their voices at each other. Bentleys ears went back in fear, but he couldn't help but to listen to them anyway.

"Even if the chance that any of us makes it out an' is able to get back home where we belong is minimal, it's still a chance. The risk that the Catchers catches us is greater, I know, but I'm willin' to take that chance for freedom!"

"I SURE AS HELL AIN'T!" Chuck roared and stood up hastily from his chair, sending it flying against the wall. "I ain't gonna let ya run away with ANYONE else! If ya wanna get caught an' tortured for tryin' to escape, IT'S YER OWN FAULT! You're NOT draggin' ANYONE with you! Not Ellie, not Bentley, no one! Y'hear me?! NO ONE!"

"WHY are ya so afraid of what could happen, that ya forget 'bout the rest?! What 'bout freedom, huh?! You really wanna LIVE like THIS?! This is no life! We're bein' treated worse than stock, we've got no rights WHAT-SO-EVER! All our life we have to obey the big man with the whip, workin' ev'ryday of our lives until we die old an' broken, just like Sham an' Fiddler! It just ain't right!"

"No, you're right! This ain't right! But what can WE do 'bout it? NOTHIN'! I swear, Finn. If you run off with those other slaves the catchers WILL catch you! An' they WILL make ya pay! Please, Finn, I beg of ya now: DON'T GO! None of us wants to see 'em bring ya back mutilated an' cut up! Think 'bout Ellie! Do ya think she would enjoy to see her one an' only brother like that?"

"Why're ya so afraid of those Catchers, Chuck?!" Finns words seemed to hit spot-on with the wild dog, since Chuck staggered back. He still loomed over the table however, and narrowed his eyes at the spotted hyena. "Ya don't know for sure if they'll catch us an' even if they do, I doubt they'll torture us for it!"

"Yes... They will" Chuck muttered lowly and stood up straight. "The Catchers ain't nothin' but a gang of monsters, who take pleasure in makin' other people suffer." Slowly, he reached his hands up to the cloth he always wore around his head. "A long time ago, back when I was just a mere boy, my brother got a plan to escape with me. We left durin' the night. We were careful to not leave any tracks b'hind us, but somehow they STILL found us in the mornin'! I got away easy, but my brother... They cut him up so bad he died..." He uncoiled the fabric around his head in a painfully slow fashion, as if he was hesitant to show what was underneath. It suddenly hit Bentley that he had never seen Chuck without the cloth around his head. Curiosity mixed with fear grabbed the young teenager and he tilted his head slightly to the side with a worried look on his face. "Don't look away now, Finn. THIS is what could happen to ya..." The wild dog said lowly and with a final yank, the turban-like fabric was unwrapped and fell off his head. Ama knew what to expect so she closed her eyes and turned away, knowing that she wouldn't be able to handle it.

Where Chucks large, round ears once had been, was now tufts of hair sticking up from twisted lumps of scar tissue around the two black holes. Bentley felt his stomach churn and Toby looked even more frightened than before. Finn staggered back and Ellie turned away, just like Ama did.

"As I said I got away easy. While my brother was cut up like a Thanksgivin' turkey, they settled with just cuttin' off my ears b'fore givin' me back to the plantation." With a sigh, he began to wrap the long strip of cloth around his head again. "An' now ya see why I can't let ya run away, Finn."

"We all need ya here, Finn, and please; think of yer sister!" Ama pleaded as well.

As if on a cue, Ellie ran up to Finn and threw her arms around him. "Listen to them, Finn! I TOLD ya it was a bad idea!" She said with a voice that sounded dangerously close to a sob. "Please, Finn! Don't try to run away!"

Finn slowly wrapped an arm around his little sister, but he looked torn and at a loss on what to do. He wanted to get out of this hellhole and take his sister, Bentley, Toby and the others with him. But everyone seemed to be too afraid of the Catchers to come with him, and to leave them behind didn't feel right.

Eventually he squeezed his arm around Ellie and pulled her closer in a short, tight hug. "Fine... I won't..." He said, to everyones relief.

"Alright, let's never talk 'bout this again!" Ama said with a stern voice and placed the entire cauldron of gruel on middle of the table. "Let's eat breakfast first! Anyone who knows how lucky the others are when it comes to food?"

"I think Hamish an' his family is havin' a bit of a struggle when it comes to gettin' the food to last 'til the end of the week" Chuck said and only had to exchange a quick glance with Ama before he got up and loaded a tray with bowls of gruel and head over to Hamish, the house just across from Granny Amas cabin.

Suddenly Toby turned with a troubled frown to Bentley. "An' Bentley, please! Do ya think ya can cut down on the smartass backtalkin' attitude t'day? Lasher is THIS close to just tie ya up to the tree an' whip ya to shreds any day now! At least, that's what I heard him say..."

Bentley chuckled. "I dunno, can't promise anythin' Toby! B'sides, Lasher ain't THAT scary once ya get to know him!" Ellie rolled her eyes in response, while Toby whimpered and shook his head.

"Alright, Miss! Time to rise n' shine!" Lucy said, strolling into the room and roughly parted the thick curtains and let the sunshine lit up Cornelias room. The drowsy redhead hissed at the sunlight and wrapped herself up in the blankets to shield herself from the wicked light. "Aw c'mon, when did ya return last night?"

"Too late..." Cornelia mumbled in return, her already low voice was muffled by the blankets.

"Oh well, that ought' teach ya to come back in time!" The cheetah folded her arms. "Time to get up, Miss!"

"Bite me!"

"Really? Y'know, it would be a shame if yer father were to find out 'bout ya an' Bentley, huh?"

"Please, Lu. Not today! Why do I have to get up this early anyway?!"

"Mr Aventine would like to speak with you 'bout yesterday..."

Cornelia jolted up from bed, glared at Lucy for a couple of seconds before falling backwards again with a groan. She rolled herself up in the blanket again. "Too bad! Go tell 'Mr Aventine', that his daughter has been turned into a burrito, and burritos doesn't have to talk to anyone 'bout anythin' that happened yesterday!"

"...It's THAT bad, huh?" When Cornelia didn't answer, Lucy sighed and sat down at the edge of the bed. "Maybe he isn't that bad, Miss? I think ya just gotta give him a chance BEFORE ya throw a punch in his face an' runs off. Who knows? Ya might even fall in love with him?"

The redhead poked her head up from the blanket and scowled at the cheetah, sitting on her bed. "Me? Fall in love with someone like HIM?! Why OF COURSE! How SILLY of me! Maybe I just IMAGINED him bein' a personality-constipated fancy-pansy on a WAY too high roadrunner!" She spat and dove back in under the blankets. "Yes, Lu. He's THAT bad!" She paused and let out a sigh before adding in a low voice: "At least you guys get to choose who ya wanna marry..."

Lucy tilted her head and frowned sadly. "Can't you at least talk with yer father 'bout it? Maybe if ya tell him, he might change his mind an' call this whole thing off?" But another glare from Cornelia confirmed that neither of them really believed that.

"Yeah, right! Ya know dad ain't changin' his mind! Especially not with things like this!"

"I know... Maybe it was just wishful thinkin'..."

Cornelia didn't answer, she just grabbed one of the pillows tighter and buried her face in it. "Lucy... I don't wanna marry anyone! Not yet, at least; I'm just barely seventeen! And especially not someone like Phillip Willows!"

"I understand..." Lucy nodded slowly and got up from the bed again. "But that doesn't change the fact that ya gotta get outta that bed, Miss! Now!"

"No! I'm a burrito t'day, so git!"

So yeah, that's 'bout it ^^... Hopefully next chapter won't be late like this one... Anyway, see y'all!