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The Pendulum

Chapter 3: Living with the enemy

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Home is a place where all of one's favorite memories are stored. It doesn't matter where home is, or even where one's childhood was spent. A true home gathers memories and guards them jealously against the evil of forgetfullness, because if one forgets their past, one loses what they are.

For now, at least for Aaron and Kurt, home was literally a hole in the ground. It may have had a fancy door that only opened when it recognized their biological signature, and it may have been surrounded by lead and steel - a bastion of defense against almost any threat, but it was still just a hole - a den of sorts.

Aaron glanced over at his companion. The lion's body was still slung over his shoulder, and though Aaron offered to help him a number of times, the larger hyena kept stating that the load wasn't a strain. Presently, they were both standing at the foot of the ladder that marked the entrance to their bomb shelter, wondering what to do with their unexpectedly-acquired prisoner.

"What did you do with that harness?" Kurt finally asked. He'd wanted to find some other way of restraining the lion, but until they could close off a section of the shelter, they didn't have any other choice. They didn't even have any rope anymore, at least not any to spare that wasn't installed into a trap outside.

Aaron took a deep breath. He knew that the harness Kurt was talking about was something that one wouldn't exactly use on someone dangerous. However, there was no question that it would work in this case.

"...it's in storage," he answered, after another uncomfortable silence. Aaron wasn't concerned about the lion being able to get free, or even becoming uncomfortable. What he was worried about was the fear that the boy would feel upon waking up in such a contraption - one that was without a doubt created for the express purpose of taking advantage of whomever was put into it.

Kurt felt no different about the implication that the harness brought into play. However, he couldn't afford to allow the lion - who was without a doubt as ruthless and deadly as his elders must have taught him to be - any chance to strike out at them. He knew that Aaron had convinced himself by now that they could somehow get the lion to see things their way. The younger hyena probably even entertained thoughts of converting the boy over to their side of the war.

He sighed, and made his way to the center of the room, looking up at the group of large, steel rings hanging from the ceiling. The place had not always been a shelter. Kurt knew that the bar along the back wall and the other telltale signs - chains attached to the concrete walls, as well as those rings hanging from the ceiling - indicated that the large, underground space had once been a BDSM hangout of some sort. Thankfully, he didn't remember hearing about it before. Kurt didn't want to know what had once gone on in his new place of residence - the mere thought sickened him.

Aaron was rummaging in a small storage room set in the far wall. Apparently, the original owners had kept a few things around from the old place after it had been converted back into a shelter. All of those things were hidden in a secret compartment in the back of the one small storage room, and while Kurt would have been glad to burn them, he knew that they neither could throw them away, nor safely dispose of them, not while they constantly awaited more attacks.

What he found that first time he touched the hidden wallplate had angered him. It had made him queasy to realize that there was a hidden stash of leather bondage gear in his new home, but he had mostly forgotten about it after he and Aaron had picked through it, searching for useful materials.

The one thing that sickened Kurt the most was the harness. Ironically, it was the only piece in the stash that was actually useful to them as a full restrainment device.

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When they were done, Kurt had to turn his away from the sight. Aaron had a frown on his face as he watched his friend's reaction.

"He'll be fine...ok?" The younger hyena said, trying to provide some comfort.

Kurt just shook his head. "He's your responsibility, remember," he replied, "Now...time to take care of the others who weren't so...lucky." With that, Kurt left to retrieve the spades, and probably some rubber gloves and respirators.

Aaron just stood there for a while, lost in thought. He had managed to win a minor victory in saving the young lion, but it was the possible cost of his and Kurt's freedom. Aaron knew, though, that it wasn't his actions alone that had saved both Kurt and the lion's lives. Both hyenas had realized that, after Kurt had found the locked impaled on his knifepoint.

The young hyena sighed, looking at the lion hanging there. His biggest challenge lay ahead of him now. He would have to somehow convince the kid not to fight against them, after the young soldier had probably been though years of brainwashing and training with the enemy.

Hearing the clank of heavy iron, the hyena turned to see Kurt standing at the ladder with two large shovels, latex rubber gloves on his paws. They were going to bury the bodies of the other lion soldiers. Aaron almost threw up when he was hit by the reek of the corpses.

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It was several hours before either of them could finally rest. They had been forced to dig deep into the ground, then cover the makeshift graves with concrete in order to mask the scent somewhat. Kurt had marked each with a small inscription in a surprisingly compassionate way. Aaron was moved by the way his friend honored their deaths, even saying a short prayer. It was so unlike the way he had dispatched the enemy soldiers. However, as the younger hyena realized, compassion was something the enemies' forces weren't allowed to have, even after a victory.

"Thanks for helping me," Kurt said finally. He was surprised at the way Aaron seemed to be handling the situation. The older, more battle-hardened hyena was used to this sort of thing, but Aaron hadn't even witnessed death before the events of the past couple of days.

"I couldn't let you do it by yourself," Aaron replied, with a sigh. "I hope we never have to do this again," he added more quietly. He had felt almost numb ever since he'd seen the first lion fall to Kurt's knife. They had been helpless against the skill and stealth of the veteran, but Aaron knew that Kurt had faced possible death at every turn hinging on one of an innumerable number of errors that could be made while stalking the enemy in a place like this. All it took was the smallest of sounds to alert the vigilant of one's approach and set up an ambush.

Kurt found himself sighing as well. He wished they could go back to their normal life - or at the very least the life they had led up until the lion patrol had arrived. Now, they had to deal with the kid. Would they ever be allowed rest again?

Aaron saw the look in Kurt's eyes, and he turned away slowly. "I'm sorry about what happened. I shouldn't have stopped you, you know. What are we going to do?" Aaron was finally starting to see the true extent of what he had to do in order to support his beliefs. They had taken a prisoner - something that both knew they could not afford to have. He brought his paws up to his face, and found fresh tears there.

Kurt's paw on his shoulder made him realize he was choking on his breaths. He turned around, and each of them looked into the other's eyes. Aaron found in his friend's eyes a fierce loyalty. Kurt would do anything for him, and here he was ruining their chances of survival out here.

Kurt saw an innocence that he valued above everything else in the world, and he knew that he would do anything to protect that. Lately, he had allowed himself to forget how young Aaron really was. Now, it was apparent in the smaller hyena's eyes. It was visible in they way he dealt with his tears, and the way he only barely kept himself from falling against his one remaining friend, the only person he had left to look up to.

Finally, Aaron threw himself against Kurt, his arms squeezing his friend tightly as the tears flowed. It was inevitable. It was an outward sign of the barriers breaking down and letting loose a stream of emotions built up over their time spent in lonely exile. Kurt cried as well, and he knew he could not allow anything to take away all they had left.

Aaron pulled back after only a moment or two, looking up at his friend. An unexpected memory had suddenly sprung to mind, making him feel uncomfortable. It wasn't right - no. He couldn't think of that now, not when both of them had so much ahead of them. Yet, he couldn't get it out of his head.

It was his first kiss, and his only one, but it had been wrong. It was the first night he spent in their shelter, with Aaron so afraid that Kurt had held him within his comforting embrace. Aaron tried to hide his frown as he remembered the feelings that sprang up within him. He had felt so odd all of a sudden, but when he looked up at Kurt, he felt...right, for a moment. Kurt had been about to say something to reassure him, but instead, Aaron lips met the older hyena's.

It had felt good, but not right. It had been unforgettable, and Kurt never made a move to stop it. They had kissed passionately, for an undetermined amount of time. All Aaron knew now, was how he felt afterwards. He had taken advantage of Kurt's devotion to him. He had done something unfair, and now all he could think about was doing it again.

He turned his back to Kurt, not able to trust himself while they were face to face, and nearly burst into tears again when Kurt's arms wrapped around him.

"I know we can do it, Aaron," the larger hyena whispered.

It was wrong, he knew. It was wrong for him to feel this way. Kurt could never return any of his stupid romantic feelings. The older hyena saw him as only a younger brother, just like always. Aaron silently cursed himself, and for the millionth time he wished that the lions had never been spared. They should never have had the opportunity or freedom to strike again. They should never have been allowed to kill again, let alone do this to Aaron's home, to his life and the lives of so many others.

He wouldn't be alone if they hadn't been set loose to murder and pillage again, their anger stirred to full intensity after their defeat at the hands of the allied forces. Still, though, he was lucky to have Kurt. He couldn't do anything to take advantage of his one remaining friend, who was completely loyal to him. He didn't want to jeopardize his relationship with the only family he had left.

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Cory shuddered, causing some odd sensations throughout his body as he began to wake up. It was dark, wherever he was. He struggled feebly, the ache burning in his chest telling him that he was alive, but his surroundings making him wonder if he was still dreaming. Is this what happened when one died? He pushed that thought from his head, and began to realize what soft of predicament he was really in.

He was face-down, but when he struggled, he felt the tug of multiple strips of material around his chest and stomach. A wave of queasyness passed over him as his body moved unexpectedly. After a few moments, he realized that he was swaying back and forth. He was hanging, with restraints all over his body. His arms were tied behind his back, and he could hardly move at all.

He went limp as terror gripped him. His forehead sank, then rested, stopped by another leather strap. The smell of tooled leather, in fact, was all around him. He was a prisoner, but not just that - he was helpless. He couldn't move, and had no way of even relieving himself. His thoughts turned back to the hyena he had fought, and he realized that the soldier would probably torture him, or worse. And he couldn't do anything to stop it - he was helpless.

His head jerked back up as the lights flicked on, and he heard voices. He heard the sound of a pressure-locked door opening, and on instinct, he went limp again, closing his eyes. Whatever his captors were planning to do to him, he hoped to at least delay it long enough to learn something, or escape somehow, preferably.

Cory heard the sound of boots stepping on metal rungs, one set after the other. So, there were two of them, at least so far. That explained the scream that had startled the lion before he could fire his gun and end the fight earlier. He silently cursed himself for being surprised so easily, but he never would have expected such a desperate cry to sound, especially from what must have been a trained soldier. One person wasn't enough, after all, to kill an entire patrol of lions.

The two sets of footsteps traveled across the floor, and Cory heard what sounded like a refrigerator door being opened, followed by some rustling.

"What's for dinner, then? Fish?" A voice asked. 'The big one', Cory realized.

"Fish's good. When do you think that boy will wake up, by the way?"

Cory almost jumped, surprised that the voice was so close to him. The room was silent for a while, allowing the poor lion to almost go insane with worry. He'd never expected to feel this way, even if he was captured. But the nature of his imprisonment was so...total. He was alone, and the strange apparatus that bound him was obviously for a purpose whose nature made him want to throw up. He was in the grip of fear, terrified at what could happen to him.

Finally, the second voice broke the silence, and it make Cory's eyes crush shut, because it had addressed him.

"You can open your eyes, Cory. We know you're awake," came to his ears, sounding almost soothing. Cory knew that this was the start of the torment. He knew that any number of unimaginably horrible things could happen to him here.

"Cory, it's ok. You don't have to pretend you're asleep. We're not going to hurt you."

Finally, Cory obeyed, lifting his head to stare at the second hyena. He was shorter, and smaller than the first one, even a little shorter than Cory was. His green eyes startled the lion with their rich hue. Eyes like that were usually reserved for cats, not canids or hyaenids.

Those eyes were staring at him, and somehow, they held Cory's gaze. He stared back, motionless, knowing that struggling would solve nothing.

What follows is the long-awaited description of the apparatus, which I'm sure has been somewhat of a point of curiosity so far.

Cory was suspended by four thick steel cords that hung from the ceiling from a set of rings, each connected directly to a support beam that ran across the entire shelter. Each cord ended with a metal ring fastened to it, and each of those rings had a set of black leather straps looped through it. Those straps were attached to a harness made of the same grade of high-quality, thick black leather.

There were perhaps two dozen buckles around his back, and several girdles supported his torso - one around his chest, one around his stomach, and one around his waist and hips. His arms were pulled behind him, his wrists fastened into a pair of thick leather manacles, in turn attached to his lower back. His head was supported by a mask, with straps running over his forehead and chin, and a loose muzzle of especially soft leather covered his mouth.

Cory didn't have to look to know that there was a ball-gag hanging from the mask around his face.

His legs were supported by several intricate sets of straps, each wrapping width-wise around his thighs and lower legs. Cory couldn't really tell, but there was a metal cross-rod hanging from his legs that could be fastened to his ankles in order to draw them apart. Each of the straps looped through the metal rings could be pulled and adjusted to make the lion turn or change position.

The apparatus had been intricately designed for the sole purpose of having one's way with whomever placed into it. Once inside, only the best escape artist could even loosen his arms. It had saved the lion's life by giving the hyenas a way to keep him still, but at the same time, Cory was in the worst possible position. He was at their mercy, and he seriously thought about begging to be released, but he knew they wouldn't let him go. Not after he had almost killed one of them.

Cory was trapped with the enemy, with no hope of escape as long as he hung there, helpless. The harness might as well have been his tomb.

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Outside in the cold darkness of the night, a strange, invisible outline - an unnatural silouette of someone or something - lurked, displacing the raindrops, but not reflecting or absorbing enough light to be discerned by the eye.

He had followed the two renegades after they captured the boy, knowing that if he showed himself, he would have no chance of rescuing the young lion. His technology had alowed him to spot and avoid traps along the way, staying alive instead of dying like the other soldiers. He wished that he had arrived sooner, but since communications had been blocked, he had not been able to receive word of what was happening here.

Now, he was silently cursing himself and his faulty gear. They had been no more than a hundred yards from him when their scent disappeared. His other equipment had either run out of power or been damaged by the rain, despite the techs' endorsement of their survivability. So, now he had to either find the entrance to their lair, or wait for them to emerge on their own.

Both prospects weren't acceptable if he was to get to Cory anytime soon, but he knew that he would take a bullet to the head for that boy, so he decided not to give up. Not knowing what kinds of alarms or traps lie ahead, and realizing that it may take days to find what he was looking for, he began his search.

///Updated 8/10/05, 9:30 PM