Chapter 1 – Crash Land

A young woman watch in horror as the flight deck flared into flames. Her long brown hair, which was originally up in a bun, was hanging down, almost in her face. The bridge was in flames but that did not stop her from yelling out commands to the people who were still alive on the bridge. She knew half of the bridge crew were already dead but there was nothing she could do about that at that moment. She had to keep the ship from being destroyed while being perused by another ship, which was firing upon her.

She knew who was hunting her down. And knew they would stop at nothing to prevent her from escaping. She had been held against her will and at the first chance she had, she made her escape. While being held captive, she made friends who helped her to escape by stealing a ship to make their getaway. Her new friends were also being held against their will. She even learned that some of her family and older friends were helping her.

"Damage Report!" She looked around her bridge. Debris was everywhere as were bodies. She swiftly snapped her head to look at the observation monitor, which for the moment was showing nothing but static.

"We have hull breaches on levels two through six! Force fields in place but I do not know how much longer they will last!" A male voice was heard from somewhere.

"What's our heading!?"

"Unknown," another voice yelled. "Navigation has been knocked out. Weapons unresponsive. Wait…"

"What was it?" She hoped it wasn't more bad news.

"We're in some sort of pull."

"The enemy?" Fear now gripped her heart. Were they about to be recaptured?

"No, it's not a tractor beam. We're being pulled downward. I think we're approaching a planet's atmosphere!"

"Put it on the viewer!"

"Unresponsive."

The woman slammed her hand on the arm of her chair. A single tear slid from her eye, as she knew the end was near.

"We have fought bravely," she said quietly with her head bent, but then looked up with determination in her eyes. If they were going to die, she wasn't about to show her emotions in front of her crew, especially over the deceased.

"All hands! Brace for impact!" Just as she was about to brace herself, the lights flickered out for a moment. She unexpectedly felt herself being pulled out of her seat and pushed off to one side. A clang was heard and she noticed she was encased in something. She knew all too well who did it and knew whatever she was in was useless to try and get out. She slumped to the floor and cried for everyone.

For several minutes she felt the floor shake as the ship began it's descend through the atmosphere, but once it was through, she felt nothing. She heard a few screams and then silence. She prayed that when they landed there would be some survivors.

Abruptly she surged forward, banging her head, then flew back. Once she got her bearings, she huddled her legs together, ignoring the pain in her back, knowing they were fast approaching the ground of whatever planet they were about to crash on. The last the thought that went through her mind was hope the planet was inhabited.


Cats' Lair was full of activity. The swivelling head moved from side to side, doing its normal routine of checking the premises. Just outside the lair, two children, about the age of 12, were playing around in the snow. They quickly seized their play as an explosion was heard. They turned to the sound and watched whatever it was begin a descent to the ground. But they weren't the only ones who witnessed it. The head stopped its movement and minutes later; four adults came running out of the lair.

"What was that?" one of kids asked.

"From the scanners," the leader said. "It's a ship crashing to ground. And from the looks of it, it's on fire."

The leader slightly turned as one of his friends was heading towards their vehicle. "It'll be faster with the Thundertank."

"Panthro is right," a tiger looking humanoid said. "We've already projected it's landing."

The four adults and two kids were quick to rush towards the Thundertank and in, driving off in record speeds. The six people were known on the planet as ThunderCats. The two kids were called Wilykit and Wilykat, as the four adults were Panthro, Tygra, Cheetara and their leader, Lion-O.

When they reached the sight, they were shocked, the ship was still blazed in flames. It wasn't a very big ship but was big enough to fit at least fifty people. The ThunderCats knew they had to act fast if they were to try and save anyone who might have been alive. Tygra immediately had a plan formed as he jumped out of the Thundertank.

"There isn't enough water in the tank to extinguish the flames. We'll need to get some sort of pipe or tube there so we can transport the water, and there's a lake nearby. It won't take much to break the ice and with the ice water, it will put the fire out quicker."

Panthro snapped his fingers. "I have the perfect transportation. I just installed an extendable pipe for these type of purposes."

"I can get to the lake in no time," Cheetara offered.

Lion-O nodded his approval of the plan. With no more words said, his team-mates went straight to work. Panthro ejected the pipe and when Cheetara had a hold of it, she fled to the nearby lake.

Lion-O's eyes widened in surprise as the pipe kept on coming out. When it finally stopped, it took a few minutes before Panthro noticed water was pouring into the pipe. "Water pressure is building up," he announced. "I'm flicking the switch so everyone stand back."

Within seconds water began to spout out of one of the claws from the Thundertank. Panthro drove the tank around the wreckage until the fire was fully out. When the fire extinguished, Panthro dropped the pressure and began to extract the pipe.

Within moments Cheetara came running up with the end of the pipe in hand. She dropped the pipe, allowing the tank to do the rest and looked at the wreckage. "From the looks of things, this ship was under attack and judging by the holes in the hull, it was in hot pursuit."

"I agree," Lion-O agreed. "We should find out if there's any survivors." He grabbed the sword of Omens, strapped to his left leg in the claw shield. "Sword of Omens. Give me sight beyond sight."

Through the eye, Lion-O saw debris all over the floor. Scorch marks were everywhere indicating the fire began from the inside. As the eye looked, Lion-O's eyes widened in horror. Dead bodies laid everyway. Some were slumped over consoles while others laid on the floor with burn marks. He was about to give up on his search when something caught the eye's attention. Zoomed in, the eye revealed him a hand slowly, trying to move from a fallen bulkhead.

Wilykat walked close to the wreckage. "There's something written on the side of the hull."

"It looks like," Wilykit began. "The name of the ship? This ship is human designed."

"There's someone trapped inside, alive," the leader responded as he placed the sword back in the claw shield. "Who ever it is, is on the flight deck trapped under debris."

"Let's move," Tygra announced.

"Wait," Panthro called. "It may be too dangerous. Might be wiser for only one person to go in. The floors could collapse. Cheetara, can you sense any other life signs."

Cheetara closed her eyes, placing her fingers to her temple. During the time the ThunderCats have been on Third Earth, Cheetara had been able to harness her sixth sense better. Though it still weakened her but it wasn't like it was before. Through her mind, she scanned over the bodies. Her body went limp after a few moments. Tygra, who was standing behind her, was quick to caught her, preventing her from falling backwards.

"What did you see?" Lion-O asked.

"Many dead bodies," she answered weakly. "There was more in that ship than we expected. There's only one survivor."

"Tygra," Lion-O said. "Go in and rescue the survivor."

Tygra nodded. He gently placed Cheetara in Lion-O's arms and swiftly made his way through the snow to the wreckage. All around the ship, the snow had melted away leaving the frozen ground visible. He jumped up as close as he could get to the bridge before entering through one of the many holes in the hull.

Lights flickered all round as Tygra carefully made his way through the sea of bodies and debris. His stomach tightened at the thought of the people who died and felt sorry for them. It made him remember when his own people died when trying to flee from Thundera, just before it exploded.

When he reached the flight deck, it didn't take him long to find the survivor. Bulkheads were piled in one corner, trapping a person, with a hand sticking out. Being very cautious, he made his way over to the debris and began to move the bulkhead and other debris. The hand, he took note, belonged to a woman. He also concluded she was still conscious as he heard a moan from within the debris.

"Help is here. Don't be afraid. I'll get you out."

Several more minutes traveled on before he was able to get enough of the debris out of the way. He crouched down and slid one hand under her back as his other went under her knees and gently pulled her up. It was hard to see how badly the woman was injured, but for the moment that wasn't his concern.

"T…Thank…you…" she tried weakly.

"Don't speak. Save your strength."

When he knew she was safely secured in his arms, he made his way back through and out the ship as quick and cautious as possible. Once in the brisk air, she shivered, which did not go unnoticed by Tygra. He knew he'd have her in warmth in just a few short minutes as he made his way to the ground.

When he landed, Lion-O was already waiting for him with a blanket in hand. Lion-O draped the blanket around the woman while she remained secured in Tygra's arms. Rest of the ThunderCats climbed back into the Thundertank. They would deal with the wreckage later. Right now had to tend to the woman's wounds. It didn't take Tygra and Lion-O to climb into the Thundertank once the woman was wrapped up.

Tygra noticed the woman was now limp in his arms, which started to worry him. She had lost consciousness but what if she had a major concussion? He stared at her face; able to now see her face was smothered in dirt and scratches. He also noticed her hair was a tangled mess. One couldn't even tell what her hair color was.

Panthro switched the tank into gear and quickly traveled back to Cats' Lair. When the reached home Snarf came running down the snow covered steps.

"What happened, Lion-O? Snarf."

"Not sure," Lion-O said. "There was only one survivor and she's now unconscious."

"That's bad." Snarf turned and took off back into the lair.

Tygra, guessing Snarf was off to set up one of the guest rooms for the woman, jumped out of the tank and preceded into the building where it was warmer.


Soft, warm blankets were the first things she noticed as she began to regain consciousness. She felt very safe within the walls of the blankets. But how was that possible? She did not remember climbing into bed nor were her blankets ever that soft. Too curious, she slowly opened her eyes to find herself in a darkened room with moonlight shining through a weird styled window.

"Where am I?" she asked softly not expecting an answer.

"Cats' Lair," a male answered gently. He noticed she started to tremble at the sound of his voice. "Do not be afraid. I'm a friend. Careful, you are injured."

"Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Tygra and you're safe on Third Earth."

"Third Earth? The home of the ThunderCats."

"Yes. Actually, I am a Thundercat."

The woman slowly relaxed. She was in the home of ThunderCats, which meant she was safe. A small smile began to grace her lips but faded as she remembered what happened. "My ship!" She bolted up but immediately regretted it.

Tygra was at her side in an instant, gently pushing her back down. "Easy now," he said. "You're ship was badly damaged and no longer space worthy. However, some of the parts may be salvageable."

"My crew?"

"Gone, I'm afraid," he replied in solemn voice. "You were trapped under debris when I pulled you out."

"Bastards," the woman cursed as tears formed in her eyes. "It should have been me, not them."

Tygra, unaccustomed to the curse, held her hand gently. "Who are you referring to?" He noticed she had the prettiest pale green eyes he had ever seen. All the warrior maidens from the tree top kingdom had dark eyes.

"My fiancé. The marriage was to be an arranged marriage by my father but I escaped. He and his brothers came after us, hunting us down like animals. My crew died protecting me, my brothers died protecting me." More tears flowed.

"I'm sorry to hear that. What's your name?"

"Alana." The woman blinked a few times, trying to be rid of the tears and for the first time, she saw her rescuer. She looked into his eyes, which were strange but amusing as he was a cat. From the features that she could tell from the moonlight, he looked to be a tiger. She slowly moved her other hand and gently touched his face. The touch slightly startled him.

"You saved my life, a complete stranger."

"That's the purgative of a Thundercat."

"So the rumours are true. For the past year I've been told a lot about the ThunderCats."

"I should let you rest." Tygra gently pulled her hand away from his face. "I need to let my leader know you have awakened."

"How long have I been out?"

"Three days now. While we've been tending to your wounds, my friend Panthro has been looking at the wreckage."

Alana moved her head away from Tygra. "What is happening about the recovery of my…crew?"

"Nothing as of yet. We're waiting until you are strong enough."

"I would like to be part of the cleanup operation…please."

"Why? Seeing the destruction will be devastating."

"I don't care. I knew each and everyone of my crewmembers. They were my friends and they deserve proper burial in the way they want. Especially my brothers."

"Your brothers?"

"My brothers did not agree with the arranged marriage. My other sisters were forced into arranged marriages and I haven't seen them since they were married. I don't want to end up like that."

"Thundera was never into arranged marriages." Tygra backed away from the bed and began to walk to the exit of the room.

"Tygra," she called with a weak voice. Tygra turned back to her. "Thank you. I've never met a man who sounds as kind as you and for that it sooths my heart to know my crew's death wasn't in vain."

"You're welcome. In a few hours, someone will wake you to have something to eat. It will soon be sunrise."

"Tygra?"

"Yes?"

"I want to see my ship as soon as possible. The sooner the crew is laid to rest the better."

"I'll see what I can do. For now, rest."

Tygra walked out of the room before she could ask him another question. He walked up to the command room and waited for his leader to awaken. The ThunderCats always slept in shifts. When Lion-O woke, the command room was the first place he went, to relieve Tygra.

"Morning, Tygra," Lion-O greeted.

"Morning, Lion-O," Tygra nodded. "Our guest has awakened."

"That's good," Lion-O answered. "Did she give you any information?"

"Her name is Alana and she was running from her fiancé."

"Her fiancé?" Panthro questioned as he walked into the command room. "Why would she do that?"

"An Arranged marriage she disagreed with. With help of her brothers, they escaped and he hunted her down."

"You mean," Lion-O started. "A man caused all that damaged to the ship over an arranged marriage. That's a shame." He then gave a confused look. "What is an arranged marriage?"

Panthro looked at the young Lord. "It is when a person is forced to marry someone he or she doesn't want to."

"That's just plain cruel," Lion-O replied, displeased. "She lost her crew to a madman."

"People are just plain cruel in general, Lion-O," Tygra pointed out. "When Alana is strong enough she wants to see the ship and wishes to oversee the recovery operation of her crew."

"What!" Lion-O burst. "There are a lot of bodies lying in that ship. The ship is a tomb."

"Even so, she wants to give them a proper burial of what they wanted."

"That makes sense," Panthro agreed. "I've taken a look at the ship and it looks like some of the computer components could be used to power our weapons better and perhaps I could make few new additions."

"Before we take apart her ship, we'll need her permission. Even though she has been marooned on Third Earth, the ship is still hers to do what she pleases," Lion-O insisted.

Panthro nodded in agreement and turned to Tygra. "How are her injuries coming along?" he asked.

"Luckily," Tygra said. "Most of her injuries are minor. The worse one is a cut on her head and few bruises on her back. I would presume it was due to bulkheads covering her. I've inspected the spot where I found her and it looks like the bulkheads was placed there on purpose to protect her."

"If it weren't for the bulkheads, she would have died," Panthro concluded. "Snarf has started on breakfast and it will be ready in an hour or so."

"Good," Tygra said. "I told Alana someone would wake her when breakfast was ready."


Alana was awakened to someone slightly shaking her. When she finally stirred and looked at the person. She was able to recognize the person as Tygra. With it now daylight, she could easily see his features were of that of a tiger.

"I wanted to let you know," he began. "Breakfast is ready."

"Thank you," she answered quietly. She peered over to the window, seeing blue sky of the morning sky.

"Would you like to eat here or in the dinning room?"

"The dinning room. The sooner I get back on my feet the better."

Tygra turned and grabbed an article of clothing from a nearby chair. "Here wrap up in this. It's one of Cheetara's robes."

"Can you help me to sit up?" Alana asked.

Tygra nodded. He grasped her hand and tenderly began to pull her up. When she was a little off the bed, he placed his other hand behind her to support her back. When she was fully sat up, he placed the robe around her shoulders so she could put her arms in the sleeves.

He pulled back the blanket and pulled her legs around to touch the cool floor. With his help, she stood and with one arm around her waist and the other holding her hand they walked slowly to the dinning room.

Upon reaching there, Alana saw five other humanoids and one four legged creature sitting at a rectangular table and there was two empty spots. One for Tygra and the other must have been for her.

"Alana," Tygra started. "Meet Cheetara, Panthro, Wilykit, Wilykat and Lion-O our leader and Lord of the ThunderCats."

Lion-O knew how the woman felt, for he too suffered from much loss. All the ThunderCats did. He looked at her and gave a small smile. She now looked better with her face nice and cleaned up and her hair was pinned back into a bun to keep her hair off her wounds. It was now easy to see her hair was brown in color.

"Who's the creature?"

"That's Snarf," Panthro replied with a smirk. "He has many talents."

"One of which is preparing food," Wilykit joked.

Snarf remained quiet but slightly glared at the girl.

Tygra walked over to an empty seat and helped her to sit. The other empty seat, which was quickly occupied by Tygra, was beside her. On her other side was Lion-O. It was a quiet meal and surprisingly Alana ate more than what she expected but less than what the ThunderCats wanted her to eat.

"Alana," Lion-O began when the meal was finished and Snarf began to clear away the plates with the help of the Thunderkittens. "As soon as you're strong enough, someone will take you to what's left your ship. But I should warn you…"

With her head down, she began, "I know, there are seventy bodies lying around like rag dolls. I suppose Tygra said I wanted to help in the recovery operation."

"Yes, he did," Lion-O answered. "I know right now, you're grieving but with your permission, Panthro could use parts of your ship to upgrade Cats' Lair and other objects."

"Do with what you will. Tygra already said the ship may be salvageable but will never be space worthy again. If I didn't have too, I wouldn't go anywhere near the ship but my brothers are in there and they deserve to be buried by me."

"If you don't mind me asking," Panthro said. "But how many brothers did you have?"

"Six brothers. I have four sisters. My father ended up marrying three times. Two of his wives died during childbirth. Lion-O, if you don't mind me asking but did you fight a man name Safari Joe?"

"Yes, actually we did," Lion-O answered, wondering why she would bring up that coward. "Why?"

"He's my father."

"You're father," Cheetara eyes widened in shock. "That man nearly tried to kill us, if it weren't for Lion-O. He used our greatest weakness against us, rendering us almost useless."

"Thundrainium," Alana said. "I've been well informed by my father how he tried to capture each one of you, but failed. That is actually how I heard about you but wasn't sure if he was telling the truth about hunting you guys. My father is many things, but honesty isn't one of them. He's a coward and a liar."

"That," Lion-O said. "We figured out for ourselves."

"He's a big show-off but when it comes down to action, he's worthless. Yes, he's hunted other creatures but when he met a creature who could think for themselves, his cowardness comes through. He mostly relies on his weapons to protect him and when they fail… well you know the rest. When I fled from my fiancé I had full intentions of coming here but part way here, we were attacked…" tears began to flow down her cheeks. "I have lost everything that meant anything to me."

Alana went to stand wanting to leave the room. She did not want to cry in front of her saviours. But as she stood, her legs gave out. Lion-O was quick in getting to her before she collapsed to the floor.

"Tygra, why don't you take her back to her room. She's been through a lot."

Tygra nodded. Knowing she had no strength left in her legs, he picked her up, carrying back to her room. When he sat her down, he noticed that she was trying real hard not to cry.

"You don't have to hide just because you're within strange company," Tygra said softly.

Either through his gentle words or softness of his voice, she couldn't figure out which one, tears began to flow out of her tightly closed eyes. "I…" she paused. "Please…I'd like to be alone."

"No," he said gently but sternly. "I'm sorry, I can't do that. You are in pain, in more ways than one. I want to help."

Alana opened her blurry eyes to stare at the tiger. "Why do you want to help a stranger? Much less a daughter of the man who tried to kill you."

"From what I can see, you may share the same gene pool, but you're nothing like your father. You would not be the first human to be our friend. There are several humans here on Third Earth."

"Please, Tygra. I would like to be left alone. Besides, I should get more rest. The more rest I have the quicker, I'll heal."

"I agree with you there on rest. If you need anything, there's a button to the left of the bed. Just push it. Someone will hear it. My room is just around the corridor, Lion-O is at the end of the hall and the others are on the level below you."

Alana nodded. She pulled her feet on to the bed and removed the robe. Tygra took it from her hands and place it on the chair. When he turned to help her lie down, she was already lying on the bed facing away from him. He knew she was silently crying. Without saying anything, Tygra left the room and once the doors were closed, he could hear heavy sobs, faintly, coming from the room.

It soared his heart knowing what she was going through. A few times, when the ThunderCats first crashed and Cats' Lair was complete, he would hear Lion-O grief over the lost of Thundera. With nothing more to do, he returned to the dinning room, Lion-O was the only one left.

"Will she be okay?" Lion-O asked.

"Physically yes, but right now emotionally, no. Actually knowing her father hunted us down and he tried to force her to marry someone and with her fiancé hunting her down, killing her friends, is taking a lot out of her."

"I would imagine. I know I remember when I grieved over Thundera and you overheard. She tried to leave the room without help."

"Yes. She wants to grieve alone but I'm not going to let her just as I wouldn't let you. Tomorrow I'm going to change her bandages and hopefully she'll be a little more open."

"Give her time Tygra. She's not like me. Perhaps if she sees someone of her own kind. Tomorrow I'll go and see Willa. Willa might be able to help."

"Then again, maybe not. Willa will be just as much as a stranger as we are."

"That maybe so but Willa is also human. From what I've learned about humans, they like to consult with their own kind more than other races."

"I'll take first watch tonight."

"No. You are almost just as drained as she is. You have been up most of the time, keeping watch over her. I'm going to get Panthro to take the first watch. And if anything, you'll stay in bed until morning."

Tygra sighed. "You're right. I'm going to head out to the wreckage to see if I can piece together of why the damage is so extensive."

"That does puzzle me. There must have been some sort of faulty circuits somewhere. The holes are too rounded."

Lion-O watched Tygra leave the room. He sat back at the dinning table pondering how he should approach Willa, if he should even approach her at all. Alana was a stranger to Third Earth and she may not want to see another human just yet.

"Something troubles you," a voice said.

Lion-O looked up and saw the ghost of his mentor. "Jaga. I'm not sure what I should do."

"The woman is stronger than she looks. She may grieve now but she'll soon learn how to live again, just as you did."

"Is it actually wise to allow her to help in the recovery operation?"

"It may not be wise but it is her wish. It will also help in her healing in the end. She will come around, just need to have patience with her."

"Thank you, Jaga."

"Take care Lion-O."

When Jaga was gone, Lion-O headed out to get some fresh air. He knew Cheetara was in the control room and the Thunderkittens were playing in the snow.