So, I'm thinking about starting up the writing again, and I'm almost done with the first chapter of the SWG sequel Echoes of the Past, so I promise it'll be up before the week is over ;)

Anyway, this is a pretty long chapter, sorry 'bout that ^^"...

*** Chapter Seventeen : Freedom! ***

Two years later... Again!

Bentley wiped the sweat off his forehead after he hammered the last nail into the newly built fence and took a step back. Him, Chuck and Finn had joined forces to rebuild the javelinas outdoor pen, since a tree feel straight over it during last nights storm. The sun was shining on the three now and the afternoon heat made it almost unbearable to work. Luckily, right after they finished the fence, Lottie came with mugs of water on a tray.

"Hi there, gents" She said with her usual low voice and held out the tray. "I thought you looked thirsty, fancy a drink?"

"You're a savior, y'know that, Lottie?" Finn said and instantly swiped one of the cups.

Lottie smiled and chuckled softly. "Why, thank you!"

Bentley greedily emptied his cup in a matter of seconds, there wasn't any use in saving some to splash on his neck since the water would just be completely absorbed by his mane anyway. He shot a quick glance at Chuck, and envied the wild dog for not having the same thick, warm mane as the hyenas had. Especially now when the heat was excruciating!

"Bentley, could I ask a favor of you?" Lottie said and turned to Bentley, who quickly gulped down the last of the water and nodded.

"Sure thing!"

"Can you help me to carry the big laundry basket up to the residence? Malon was supposed to help me, but her back has been acting up a lot lately and I haven't got the time to fix it yet" She bashfully averted her eyes. "I could do it myself though, it's just that it's really heavy..."

Bentley nodded again. "Sure can do! I'll just help the guys to let the hogs out into the pen first, 'kay?" Lottie did another one of her polite nods as a 'thank you' and waited until everyone had put their mugs back on the tray before she returned.

Finn turned to the two other men and pointed at the stable. "So, should we get them outta there so Bentley could go on his date soon?" He said jokingly and chuckled at the little snort Bentley did.

"Yeah, except I wouldn't call 'lendin' a hand with a heavy laundry basket' a date" The younger hyena answered with an eyeroll. He threw a look at the half-striped, half-brown hyena as she vanished amongst the houses with the tray in her hand. "Besides, we're just friends..."

"Really, Bentley?" Finn cocked an eyebrow at Bentley as they began to walk towards the stables, while Chuck opened the gate to the new pen and closed off everything else, creating a corridor from the stable to the pen. "You're SUCH a picky one, aren'tcha?"

Now it was Bentleys turn to raise an eyebrow. "Whaddya mean by that?"

"Well, first ya had the plantation owners daughter herself swoonin' over ya, but ya rejected her..."

"Hey, it wasn't like we could marry each other even if we wanted to!" Bentley mumbled and stuck his hands in his pockets. "Her dad tried to kill me when he found out that we were friends, remember? Imagine if she would've announced to him that she wanted to marry me!"

"Yeah, yeah, but now you've got Lottie after ya, ya lucky bastard!" He pointed with his thumb back where she had disappeared. "She's really taken a fancy to ya, but ya don't wanna marry her either, right?"

"You're makin' me feel very bad when ya put it like that..." Bentley glanced over his shoulder before slowly shaking his head. "I hope you're wrong, Finn, b'cause Lottie..." He paused and drew a deep sigh. "Sure, Lottie is a really sweet and special girl, and I really like her! But she just doesn't feel like... the right one... No, I don't think she's the one I'd wanna marry..."

"I don't know if you've noticed this, man, but we don't exactly have a lot to choose from here. If the Aventines would allow ya to marry someone, it would have to be another hyena like yourself" He sighed sadly and added with a low mutter: "Those bastards didn't let me and Lucy marry, y'know..."

Bentley nodded and looked down in the ground. Lucy and Finn had really grown attached to each other during the last five years since Lucy became a farmhand, but when they decided that they wanted to get married, there had been an immediate 'no' from the Aventines. Just because she was a cheetah, and he was an hyena. Guess if those two had been ticked off! But they could at least act as if they were married...

"You're forgettin' that the Aventines hate my guts and have tried to get rid off me for years now!" Bentley chuckled joylessly. "I doubt they would let me marry Lottie"

They arrived to the stables and noticed that the three javelinas were practically pressing themselves against the fence. Apparently, they had sensed that they were going to be let out. And the two hyenas had barely opened the gate until the three big hog-like creatures burst out from their little corral behind the stables, and out into the their new pen. Ecarg, Gabby and one of their daughters that the Aventines had decided to keep and that the slaves had named: Cornelis.

Finn chuckled. "Well, they seem happy at least!" And Bentley nodded in agreement. They didn't bring the previous subject up again.

When they were done, Bentley went to help Lottie. He offered to carry the large and much heavier laundry basket, while she carried the smaller one. As they entered through the front gate to the residence, Bentley realized that the only times he had ever been to this side was whenever someone needed help to carry something to the house. As they walked the white gravel path up to the giant three-story house, he couldn't help but to glance at Lottie who walked beside him.

Ever since she arrived to the farm two years ago, he had thought there was something funny about her and the way she talked, walked, sat, did anything in fact! And when he one day asked her, she told him that she had grown up in a smaller plantation as a houseslave. She and her sisters had been practically a part of the family and their masters had been the one who taught them table manners, how to talk properly etc. But then they realized that they were close to getting bankrupt, and had to sell most of their slaves, including Lottie and her sisters. She hadn't seen any of her sisters ever since.

And this new plantation had been so different from what she was used to! She thought the Aventines were so much crueler and unfair than what her previous masters were, and the first time she had seen Bentley and Finns backs, she had been on the verge of crying. But despite that, she didn't treat the Aventines or the overseers any differently than she treated her former masters; she was always polite and obedient, and never talked back or questioned. And that was one thing that made Bentley pissed off: the overseers had noticed that they could do anything to her, since she never did a thing to defend herself. They picked on her a lot, and laughed at her. All she could to was to say "I'm sorry", and then scurry away. If Bentley or Finn were nearby, they would stand up for her without a doubt, even if all it did was to give them more stripes to their backs. But after seeing the gratefulness on Lotties face, they both agreed that it was worth it.

But it wasn't her careful and kind nature that made her so special; Bentley had caught her sitting on the roof to his house only a few weeks after she arrived. She claimed that it was from his house that she easier could see the sun go down at night. Every dusk when the sun set, she would always be there to watch the beautiful sky turn from blue, then to pink, purple and orange until it finally reached the dark blue night. She said it was her favorite part of the day, and eventually, it became Bentleys favorite time as well. Before they head over to Granny Amas Cabin for dinner, they would always sit next to each other on his roof and watch the sunset, which of course had sparked a lot of rumors among the slaves.

The last time Bentley had remembered watching the sunset with anyone, had been back home with his father and sister. Sometimes the three of them would go to a special place their mother had shown father when she asked him to be her mate, and just watch the sun go down behind the misty jungle mountains. They used to say that it was their way of telling the Great Mother 'goodnight', and thank Her for yet another day. He had told Lottie that, and she had absolutely loved it. She loved everything he told her about his old home, since her father had been a Brown One himself, it sort of made her feel that she still had some connections to her ancestors home.

But that was just one of Lotties strange habits; sometimes if the day was stressful, she would just sit still for hours, just appearing to be sleeping. She called it 'meditation', an ancient form of relaxation.

If someone was ill or had pains, she would make that person lie down while she fetched a box of small needles, and use them to stick into the person on certain places until he or she looked like a pincushion! Apparently, her old mistress didn't believe in todays medicines and cures, and relied on this old 'acupuncture'-stuff to cure herself from headaches, stress or any illnesses. And Lottie had taken the opportunity to learn the art herself, in case it would be needed. And so far, everyone Lottie had treated with 'acupuncture' had claimed that it worked, but Bentley was still skeptical; nobody would turn him into a pincushion, no siree!

They left the laundry baskets with a couple of caracals and cheetahs who worked in the house, and was about to head back when two of the overseers, Lasher and Wilkes, exited the residence and spotted Bentley and Lucy.

"What're ya two doin' here?!" Lasher rumbled and put his hand on the whip. "Y'ain't slackin' off again are ya, hyenas?"

"Geez, don't get yer knickers in a twist, wolverine!" Bentley replied without skipping a beat. "We're workin', which seems to be more than you're doin' right now! Had a good cup o'coffe in there or what? Any pretzels on the side?"

Lasher growled, but Wilkes weakly slapped his hand on the much bigger wolverines arm. "Don't bother with him, Lash. It's not like we'll have to deal with him for much longer anyway" The weasel said, and it drew out a small smile in the corner of Lashers mouth.

Lasher was smiling. That was never good... "Huh?" Bentley said and tilted his head. Lottie shot him a worried glance, but he could just shrug in response as he was just as confused as she was. "Whaddya all mean by that?"

Wilkes and Lasher exchange glances. "Well, ya oughta find out sooner or later anyway" Wilkes said with a shrug.

"What, are Lasher and his whip finally gettin' married or somethin'?" Bentley frowned. "But what does that have to do with me? Wait, don't tell me... Am I yer best man?! Oh my gosh! Th-this is such an honor, sir!"

"You're history, hyena!" Lasher said, and the small smile grew into a sadistic smile as he took a step closer to Bentley. "The day after tomorrow, there will be no more pranks, no more humiliation..." He paused as he stopped in front of the by now taller hyena. "No more Bentley"

"Well, if you're plannin' on killin' me with yer breath, you're doin' a dang good job so far, Lash!" Bentley coughed and tried to take a step back, but the wolverines hand lashed out and grabbed him by the front of his shirt.

"Unfortunately, I won't be the one gettin' the honor of killin' ya, but the coal mines will take care of that for me!" He chuckled grimly when he noticed that Bentley flinched.

"C-coal... mines?"

Lasher nodded. "That's right! The first thing they'll do is to take away yer name, instead they'll give ya a number an' chain yer feet together. Then you'll be spendin' the rest of yer days underground, diggin' an' choppin' away at rocks for day after day. In absolute darkness, you'll never see the sun y'all hyenas covet so much again!" The confused look on Bentleys face changed into worry as the big wolverine talked, feeling his heart sink even lower and lower. "An' when you're done, when you're so tired ya can hardly even breathe, they'll put a bullet in yer brain an' throw ya away. As the useless hunk of meat ya are! But dont'cha worry, hyena" Lasher showed off his sharp, rotten teeth in a wide, toothy grin. "I'll still be thinkin' of ya! I'll sit out here in the sun, watchin' yer friends an' family work themselves to death, and think of how much better ev'rythin' will be without yer smartass mouth yappin' 'bout!" Bentley clenched his jaw and didn't answer. "The day after tomorrow, they'll come for ya! Ya won't have to bother packin' anythin' with ya, b'cause ya ain't gonna be usin' anythin' but a pickaxe an' a shovel for the rest of yer miserable life!"

Bentley was quiet for a long while, before he shrugged and tried to laugh. "Oh well, look at the bright side: I won't have to see yer ugly face either! So it's a win-win situation for us both!"

"Oh why you..." Lasher growled, but didn't get to punch Bentley before Wilkes sighed and dragged him away.

Lottie and Bentley remained on the spot as they watched the two overseers head back to the fields to monitor the work there. Bentleys mouth felt dry. Apparently he would be leaving in just a couple of days... For the coal mines... He jumped slightly when Lottie carefully touched his arm.

"Forgive me, but we should head back now" She said carefully and averted her eyes when he looked down at her.

He nodded mutely and followed her back to the slaves quarters. He could tell that the news had shocked her too, as her arms seemed to be shaking and her eyes looked larger than usual. Bentley quietly looked down at the ground as he walked.

The coal mines. Nothing but darkness for the rest of his life. He probably couldn't really care less what they would be doing to him there, but he knew the one thing he wouldn't be able to handle: the darkness of the mine, and never be able to see the sun again. That thought scared him, to tell the truth. More than he would ever admit.

"Uncle Benky!" Bastians happy voice greeted him as soon as they stepped into Granny Amas Cabin that evening.

Bentley and Lottie had just watched the sunset on his roof as usual, and they had met up with Finn and Chuck on their way here. Since Bentley had been able to forgive Chuck for selling him and Cornelia out like that, he was slowly becoming more and more accepted back into the family again. Even if Ellie, who usually weren't the person to bear a grudge towards someone, thought he had acted wrong, and didn't look up to him as much as she used to when she was younger.

Ever since their run-in with the overseers, both Bentley and Lottie had been silent, and in her case more silent than usual. Bentley had been so silent and out of character, that Chuck and Finn questioned him when he hadn't tripped Wilkes with the pitchfork when he had the chance. But Bentley had just shrugged and then gone back to work. Lotties silence was suspicious to the others as well, but they hadn't asked her about t. It wasn't until they sat on the roof that she had began to talk, and she talked to him about the mine. She had plain just openly said that she was worried about him, and didn't want him to leave them. He managed to convince her that everything would be okay though, even if he himself was probably just as worried as she was.

He didn't want to be left to work in darkness for the rest of his life. He wanted to go back home! He wanted this war to be over, and that the side that fought for them would win! And he wanted Corny to come back! But he knew that those three things were impossible. One, he could never return home. He was stuck to work for others for the remainder of his life, stuck as a slave. Two, the last thing they had heard from the war had been over two years ago, and what they had heard then was that their side was losing. The only thing that showed the war was still going on was the soldiers who now and then would pass by on the road, and how the price on goods had skyrocketed! The Aventine Farm was lucky to be in a safe place and wasn't as affected by the war, at least not on the outside. Number three was obvious why it was impossible.

Five years of war, and five years since last time he saw Corny. And now he was finally getting sold off to a coal mine and never to see the sun again... In a way, it felt like the Aventines had won in the end. No matter how much he laughed at them! They were finally going to get rid of him, and they had make sure that he would end up on the worst place imaginable!

He didn't want to leave his family, not like that! And when Bastian came running to him and threw his short, stocky arms around his leg, Bentley felt an even stronger churn in his stomach. But he managed to hide his worry pretty well as he laughed and lifted the little cub into the air.

"Heya, squirt!" He cheerfully greeted his 'nephew'. "Has mommy finished the food yet?" Bastian nodded eagerly and giggled as he kicked with his little legs in the air. He put the cub down again, to not get kicked in mistake, and Bastian instantly grabbed Bentleys large index finger with his entire hand and dragged him along to the table.

"Hey, doesn't uncle Finn deserve a hug too?!" Finn said with an acted hurt tone in his voice and threw his arms out. Bastian gave him a thoughtful look before shaking his little head.

"No!" He said with a mischievous grin and pushed Bentley towards the chair next to his own. "Here, uncle Benky!"

"Aw, c'mon!" Finn exclaimed, and the others couldn't help but to chuckle.

"Tough luck, Finn!" Bentley grinned and sat down on the chair. "But we can't all be as awesome as HOLY MONKEY!" He yelped in pain and literally bounced up on his feet. He snapped around and looked down at his chair, spotting a sharp tack with the long, sharp end up.

Bastian began to laugh hysterically when Bentley gave him a bemused look. Ellie and Toby exchanged glances and rolled their eyes, yet they couldn't help but to smile.

"It's okay, I'm not THAT jealous!" Finn laughed and wrapped his arm around Lucys thin waist.

Bentley mimicked Finns sentence and picked the tack up between his thumb and index finger. He looked back at Bastian again, and grinned widely. "Good one, Bastian!" He chuckled and ruffled the cubs hair with his other hand. "This kid's got talent!"

"Please don't encourage him" Ellie said with a pained grimace as she put down a big pan with stew on the table. "I don't think this place could handle a second version of ya!"

"There won't be two of me for much longer anyway..." Bentley mumbled and checked for the third time that there were no more tacks on his chair before sitting down.

Toby heard him and frowned. "W-whaddya mean by that?"

Bentley hesitated and felt Lottie turn her head to him. "Nothin'..." He answered and returned the concerned frown Lottie gave him. He knew she wanted him to tell everyone, and he would! But he just wanted to wait until they had put Bastian to bed first.

It got late, and Ellie decided that it was best for Bastian to go to sleep, and while she was busy trying to convince her hyperactive three year-old that sleep was a good thing, Bentley told them what would happen the day after tomorrow. Everyone around the table, except for Chuck, had responded with silently staring at him, not sure if it was another one of his pranks or not. They were quiet even as Ellie returned.

"Okay, what did I miss?" She asked when she saw how quietly everyone was staring at Bentley.

"He's been sold" Chuck was the one who answered, his flat answer made Ellie flinch.

"Wh-what?" She stuttered.

Bentley nodded. "To the mines... They didn't tell me what company though, but it doesn't really matter, does it?" He looked up from the table he silently had been staring at since he broke it to everyone. "And they're comin' to get me in two days... I just thought it would be better to tell y'all now..."

"Wh-who told ya that?" Ellies slowly shook her head in disbelief.

"We met Lasher and Wilkes by the big house earlier t'day, they told me ev'rythin'"

"They're probably lyin'!" Finn snorted and folded his powerful arms. "We all know how much those two hates yer guts, they probably just said that to scare ya!"

"No" It was Lotties turn to talk, and she shook her head. "They were not lying. I could tell they were speaking the truth!" Now that was another thing with Lottie that freaked Bentley out a bit; it was nearly impossible to lie to her. She could see through a persons lie even before they said it!

Bentley slowly stood up from the table and chuckled lowly. "Uh, I gotta go home now... Really tired, y'know" He said and rubbed the back of his neck. "I'll, errm, I'll see y'all tomorrow!" Sure, he WAS tired as heck so it wasn't a complete lie, but he didn't want to talk more about this subject. He had told them, they knew and now he just wanted to be alone. But as he said 'goodnight' to them, Lottie stood up and asked to follow him home, since they were practically neighbors. Bentley hesitated before nodding mutely and together, the two hyenas left Granny Amas Cabin.

They had almost reached Lotties little shack when she suddenly, but carefully, took his hand and looked up at him. He had been so deep into his thoughts that he jumped in surprise and glanced down at her. "L-Lottie?"

"It's okay to be sad, you know..." She said lowly before turning her attention back to the path they were walking on. "There's no shame in crying, even if you're a guy"

He chortled out a laugh. "What'cha talkin' 'bout, Lottie? I ain't sad! At least not sad enough to start cryin'!" He ignored her skeptically raised eyebrow and added: "I ain't exactly lookin' forward to be sold off to someplace like a mine, but I ain't sad! I hate bein' sad!"

"I don't like to be sad either, Bentley. But you shouldn't keep feelings like that locked up inside you! It's anything but good!" She said and he noticed that a shudder went through her body, almost as if something made her scared just to think about it. "It doesn't just hurt more if you keep bad feelings like that inside you, it might also-...!"

"Damnit, Lottie, I AIN'T sad!" Bentley suddenly growled loudly and flattened his ears to his neck, causing her to flinch and let go of his hand. "Oh shit, I-I'm sorry, Lottie!" He hurried to apologize when he saw how startled she got. "I-I didn't mean to shout like that, honest! It just... I just...!"

She sighed sadly and shook her head. "See?" She said, but he blinked in confusion.

"See what?"

She shook her head again. "Nothing..."

They had arrived by her little shack, where Ellie had lived when she moved out from the little house her and Finn shared when they were younger. But after she bid him goodnight, she hurried to give him a quick peck on the cheek and smile at him, before scurrying inside her home. He stood still for a few beats, confused, before shrugging and head for his home. His stomach still churned when he thought about his soon-to-be new home. Maybe Lottie was right? Maybe he was more than just worried, what if he was sad as well? He actually felt tears burn behind his eyelids, but he hurried to wipe them away with his sleeve. He really didn't want to leave his new family! But it wasn't like he had much choice; his master had sold him, and no crying in the world would change that!

Ellie stood in the kitchen long after everyone had left. Everyones mood had definitely flown out the window after hearing the news, and they had all decided to follow Bentleys example.

While Ellie was doing the dishes before getting to bed, she couldn't stop thinking about the day when Bentley would be leaving them. She still remembered the day he came to them as clear as it had been yesterday. She still remembered the happy surprise she got when she ran to greet Chuck, and noticed the little cub still being tied the wagon. He had been so small, so shy and so scared of everything and everyone. He had become like their entire groups little brother, and he still was! But now, their master had sold him, and they would never see him again.

She covered her mouth with one of her hands and leaned over the dishes as her eyes began to tear up. This wasn't right! Bentley was a good worker! Sure sometimes he could be a real pain in the neck to the overseers, but even if he questioned their orders, he would still follow them! The only real reason they wanted to get rid of him was because they blamed him for Cornelias fate! She knew both Cornelias and Granny Amas deaths pained him and that he already blamed himself for them, so for the Aventines to keep doing this to hurt him was just wrong! They might be nothing more but slaves, but they were persons as well! They had feelings! And Cornelia had been the only one to understand that, and they sent her away for defending the ones who wasn't even allowed to defend themselves!

Ellie clenched her fist. She had always been a calm person, but the Aventines made her angry! And frustrated, since there was nothing she could do about it!

"E-Ellie...?" She turned around when she heard Tobys voice behind her, and saw him stand in the doorway to the kitchen with a worried frown on his face. "I-is everythin' alright?"

Ellie bit her lip and shook her head. "No!" She said with a thick voice and leaned back against the kitchen counter. "Th-they're gonna sell Bentley! OUR Bentley!" She covered her mouth again as a loud sob escape. "This isn't right! Wh-why... Why are the Aventines so... So... So unfair?!" She looked up at Toby as he opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it and shook his head instead.

"I-I dunno..." He said quietly after a while and averted his eyes. "I still c-can't believe it..."

"Sure, h-he might not be like everyone else, b-but it's not like he's a danger to anyone!" She couldn't hold back the sobs anymore. "Th-they can't just sell him b'cause they themselves did a mistake! It's THEIR fault that Cornelia died! N-not Bentley! H-he was just her f-friend!"

Toby silently walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest and wept silently. While he calmly stroked her spiky, black mane with his hand, he kept his eyes closed and tried to not think too much about it all. He still hadn't been able to process it: Bentley would soon be gone from the farm... Forever!

Suddenly a very frightening thought appeared in his head and he tensed up. What about Bastian? What if the Aventines one day decided to sell Bastian as well?

"THEY WON! THEY WON!"

Everyone on the fields flinched and looked up when Torak, one of the cheetahs who worked in the house, came running out from the residence and wildly flailed his arms around. Bentleys ears curiously swiveled forward. They won?

"THEY WON!" Torak repeated and did a happy whooping sound as he jumped over the fence to the fields with the agility and speed only a cheetah possessed. "I just heard the news! We're free, ev'ryone! FREE!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and just stared at him, panting heavily from his run. They exchanged puzzled glances, not knowing what to think. What if it just was a cruel joke from the Aventines? Torak seemed pretty excited, but it was just too good to be true! It HAD to be a joke!

But it wasn't a joke. It was the truth. And those happy news spread faster than anything had ever done among the slaves. The feeling to just be able to toss their tools to the side and ignore the overseers and their whips was better than anything they had ever felt before. They were free. They were finally free! And Bentley was relieved: no mines for him! Now after many years, he would finally go home!

Later that day, everyone was celebrating outside Granny Amas Cabin. Music was provided by the ones who had learned to play instruments like guitars and violins, and it all mixed together with the ex-slaves cheerful laughter and dancing. Bastian and the few other children on the farm were happily playing together, for once free from having to worry about getting caught by the overseers. Nothing they had ever celebrated before would ever compare to this! Because now they, and millions of others, were free!

Suddenly the music died off when a bunch of familiar faces stepped through the crowd of celebrating slaves and everything went silent. It was Mr Aventine and a handful of the overseers. He walked through the crowd with a determined look on his face, straight for the porch of Granny Amas Cabin. The overseers waited down below as he walked up on the porch and turned to the slaves, they all looked at their old master with flat faces. Everyone wondered what he had to say for himself.

He was quiet for a while, as if he was searching for what to say. "Well, I guess I have to say congratulations!" He said, without as much as a tint of happiness in either his voice or his face. "But now what?" He saw that it caused the slaves to mumble amongst themselves and exchange confused looks. "Now we're are ya gonna go? It's not like ya can just go anywhere and build a house and a new life from scratch. Not without money, that is. You won't come far! Hell, the outside world is even harsher than me! Everyone and everything will run you over without mercy, and spit you out dead before anyone can blink!"

The slaves exchanged more glances. He was right.

"Therefore, I've got a preposition for y'all!" He cleared his throat and stood up straighter. "I'll let all of you stay here and work for payment. No need for any overseers!" He muttered bitterly. "You're all free now, after all..."

"Where's the catch?" Someone from the crowd asked, and got the others to murmur in agreement.

"No catch!" Mr Aventine replied. "Y'all will be allowed to stay here with yer families, work and get paid for it this time"

A suspicious murmur went through the crowd. It all seemed a bit too good to be true, coming from the Aventines. But it wasn't like they had much choice; neither of them had any money what so ever, many hardly even owned the clothes on their bodies! Most of them decided to accept the offer Mr Aventine came with. But as they mumbled and decided amongst themselves, Bentley emerged out of the crowd. Mr Aventine saw him and narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything as the hyena walked up on the porch by his side.

"Well, since I'm not gonna linger here in this place, I'd better bid you farewell!" Bentley had a confident grin on his face as he extended his hand for the mountain lion to shake. Gabriel cautiously accepted it, still without saying a word. "Thanks for the run, it's been fun, haven't it?" He said, and this time he got a bitter and incoherent mumble from Gabriel. "Though I've got this naggin' feelin' in the back of my head that I've forgotten somethin'..." Bentley continued and thoughtfully rubbed his chin. "I've got a feelin' I owe ya somethin'... Wait, I remember!" He shone up and snapped his fingers, before growling lowly and ball his hand into a fist.

Before the older mountain lion had any time to prepare for the impact, Bentley rammed his fist as hard as he could into his face. Stars danced in front of Mr Aventines eyes as the hyenas fist collided with his jaw, jolting his head back and sending him staggering, before he tripped backwards over the porchs stairs and landed on the hard ground. He slowly regained his bearings and wiped away a thin stream of blood from his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Do ya have any idea how long I've been wantin' to do that, Master Aventine?" Bentley growled and spitefully spat out the name. "That was for never listenin' to Cornelia!"

The ex-slaves and the overseers stared at Bentley, speechless. But at least Mr Aventine let out a low growl as he got up on his feet again.

"Do ya know why she came here, even if y'all told her not to? Do ya know why she wanted to meet me in the first place? Do ya know why she hated yer guts, even if y'all were her real family?" Bentley continued to growl and walked down the stairs and towards his old master. "B'cause ya never listened to her! No one ever respected her the same way she was expected to respect ev'ryone else. All she wanted was someone who'd listen to her, a friend! Just a shame that the only people in world she felt that she could trust was a pair of slaves; a mangy hyena and a cheetah, ain't it?" He stopped when he were just inches away from the slightly shorter mountain lion and bared his fangs in a snarl. "You were her parents! You were supposed to be the most important people in her life, but ya hardly even knew her! Instead y'all chose to neglect her identity and just assume that she was just like everyone else. But she wasn't, she was special!" He paused while he let the words sink into Mr Aventines brain, if they even did; Mr Aventine had an unchangeable frown splayed on his face. "You put up all these rules to protect her, but from what? Or who? You know we'd never hurt her, no matter how much we hated yer guts, but why were we never allowed to as much as to look at her? And you've told her even since she was little that we were dangerous, don't deny it b'cause she told me that herself! But was it really to protect her that you wanted to trap her inside yer home? Or was it b'cause ya were afraid that what the other fancy-pants would say if she would turn to us, and see us as a part of her family and friends?"

For the first time, Gabriels expression changed slightly to shock and he took a step back. "Wh-what?" But then he growled angrily again. "How dare you to even talk 'bout us that way? Are you blamin' US for what happened to her?!"

"No..." Bentley averted his eyes for a moment. "It IS my fault what happened to her. I'm sorry, I really am! And if I had known then that my friendship with her would eventually cause her death, I wouldn't have accepted it in the first place..." He turned his head back up at the mountain lion and locked eyecontact with the familiar sea-green eyes. "But I'm not apologizin' for bein' her friend, and for listenin' to her! And if I am to be honest with ya here, I'm pretty sure that she would much rather be dead than like the likes of you!"

Everyone went silent for a long time, only the chirp of the crickets were heard as Mr Aventine and Bentley had a staredown. Both looked like they tried to kill each other with their eyes. But after a while, Gabriel let out a low growl and turned his back to the hyena and marched out of the slaves quarters with the overseers shortly behind. When they had left, the applauses began.

Bentley spent a few days hanging around the farm. Everyone now had time to tend to their homes, and some had fixed up their houses and shacks pretty nicely. But Bentley knew he couldn't stay. He also knew that he couldn't just go to the nearest port and jump on the closest ship back to Africa.

But he didn't want to stay in this place more than necessary so he quickly packed his few belongings, including Cornys notebook and the little doll he got from granny Ama, before telling everyone that he was leaving, for real this time. Even if some of the goodbyes were more heartripping than others, he still didn't change his mind about leaving. And even if Bastian became completely hysterical when he realized that his uncle Bentley would leave.

"Don't worry, little guy" Bentley had told the little cub who clung to his leg and cried loudly. "B'cause ya know what? I've got a feelin' that we'll meet again, someday!" After a lot of promising, Bastian eventually stopped sobbing and let his uncle go.

Bentley gave his family a nod, ruffled little Bastians hair one last time and turned around. He hadn't seen Lottie anywhere yet, but as soon as he stepped out on the road, he heard her call his name. He stopped and turned around as he saw her come running towards him. Just like him, she had a satchel with food and her belongings on her back.

"Please take me with you!" She had pleaded before he even got to open his mouth. "I-I wanna travel, and see things with you! Please, Bentley, I won't get in your way!"

"Y'know, I'm just gonna go see if there's any way for me to go back home-..."

"And that's where I wanna go too!" She turned her eyes down to the ground and closed them. "All my life, I've only heard about the place we come from, but I've never seen it with my own eyes. Just like you and Finn, I want to go back to home! Back to Africa!" She looked up at him again, her large, light blue eyes were almost getting all teared up. "Please, Bentley! Take me with you!"

Bentley pondered for a while, but then he beamed and nodded. "Well, since you're askin' so nicely!" He had barely finished the sentence until Lottie had thrown herself at him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Th-thank you!" She sobbed happily, and he laughed and hugged her back in response.

But as the two hyenas were seen leaving the farm, a shadow moved in the window on the residence. The big house seemed deserted now when most of the houseslaves had decided to stay and work alongside the others, and the only room that was lit was the study, where the Lasher, Wilkes and Gabriel were. Gabriel sat behind his desk and looked at the two now unemployed ex-overseers. He had seen Bentley and Lottie leave the farm, and got an idea.

He had regretted buying that slave as a cub for years now, and just the fact that he was impossible to get rid of didn't exactly improve his feelings towards the hyena. And now when he was finally going to make sure that he suffered for the rest of his life, well what happens? They are declared free. But he wasn't going to let Bentley get away with everything he had done and said.

"Do you two know where I can find Connor Maddoc?" He asked after being silent for a while.

"Y-you mean the Catcher?" Wilkes asked, and when Mr Aventine nodded, the weasel hurried to shake his head. "I'm sorry sir, but I don't... All I've heard is that all the Catchers now are headin' south!"

But Lasher grinned faintly. "Connor Maddoc? Crazy-Con? I think I might know where he is actually" The wolverine said, and got a surprised look from Wilkes. "Last time I heard, he was hangin' out down at the Blue Dime saloon downtown. What do ya want with him?"

"I've got a job for him, y'two saw that Bentley left, right?" Gabriel said, and his two old overseers nodded slowly. "And I know he's been a pain in the ass to the both of you, hell, he's been a pain to us all!" Lasher angrily gritted his teeth while Wilkes nodded again. Gabriel grinned grimly and leaned over the desk on his elbows. "How would y'two like it if I hired this 'Crazy-Con', to take care of our lil' hyena friend, hm?"

Wilkes didn't budge while Lasher grinned widely. "We'll go git him at once, boss!"

Da-da-dumm!

Anyways, see y'all next chapter again ;)! And I hope I'll see ya in Echoes of the Past! Keep your eyes peeled: first chapter is almost done ;)