The Gem of Thundera

Chapter 1 The Glowing Gem

Somewhere in the small town of Pulaski, Tennessee… The loud booming of bass drums and a snare drum can be heard from the football field. Six people were on the field, four girls and two guys. "Okay guys, practice is over, just put your drums on the trailer," said CJ after the drums stopped playing. "Yeah!" yelled Kira, taking off her drum and harness.

Kira has a tall, lean, athletic body. She has waist-length blonde hair with orange at the tips, and the front shorter section of hair has been brought forward, creating a bangs effect around her somewhat long face. (A/N: the bangs look just like Cheetara's from the 2011 series.) She also has pale red eyes. She was wearing a white tank top which fit tight around her C-cup chest, and a pair of old blue jeans.

"Hey Jackson, race you to the band room?" asked Kira. Jackson looked at her. "Sure, but we all know no one can beat you in a race. You're the fastest person alive besides your cousin, Chee." said Jackson. They both got in running position. "On 3," said Kira.

"1...2…3!"

Then they were off. All of the other drum players saw was Jackson and a blur of Kira far ahead of him. Kira turned around and started to run backwards. "Come on Jackson! I'm not even running as fast I can!" Yelled Kira. Jackson just looked at her in disbelief. He was already sweating like crazy and she hasn't even broken a sweat.

How does she not even break a sweat when she runs long distances, thought Jackson. Then she turned back forward and was soon out of sight.

Kira was sitting on a low hanging branch when Jackson got there a few minutes later. "Took you long enough!" said the relaxed blonde. She jumped off the branch and walked over to Jackson. "You okay?" she asked the tired boy. "I just don't know how you do it," he said. "Do what?" replied Kira. "Run so fast and not even break a sweat or get tired from the running," said Jackson. "I'm used to it." answered the blonde.

A car horn honked.

Kira turned and saw her cousins, Ty and Chee. "Looks like Jackson raced Kira again," said Ty. Ty was a tall, muscular man. He is very handsome and a ladies' man. He has auburn colored eyes and orange hair. Chee has blonde hair and pale red eyes like Kira. He is tall, lean and built for speed. Both of them are in their early twenties.

"Well, I gotta go. Bye Heather, Haley, big CJ, CJ, and Jackson." said Kira, waving at her friends. "Bye Kira," they all said, waving their friend bye. She jumped in their black convertible behind Chee. Then they drove off.

The radio was playing in the background. "So how was practice?" asked Chee. "The same as always," replied Kira from the back seat. "Nothing unusual happened, did it?" commented Ty. "No, why?" asked Kira. Ty and Chee shared a look that two people with a big secret would have on their faces. "What's going on?" asked Kira with worry in her voice.

Riinngg!

Chee answered his phone. " …. Yeah she's with us…. Yes we know where to take her… No, no one is following us….Okay bye." Chee hung up the phone. "What?" said Kira. "Ty, Chee tell me what's going on?" she demanded. "He found us." Said Ty, driving a little faster. The only person who has been after them for a long time has found them. Vexlox! Kira started to shake with fear. Chee saw her start to shake.

It seems everything we did to stop him from finding us only slowed him down for ten years. We have no more options. thought Chee. Kira's bracelet her mother gave her before the left Thundera began to glow.

The red glow got brighter.

"Kira." said Tafari.

Kira looked at her bracelet. Tafari is the cheetah God who was asked by Kira's mother to protect her when they left Thundera. The bracelet's ruby is a portal to the world where Tafari lives. Tafari uses the ruby to travel to where Kira's at to protect her. Only Tafari can use the ruby to travel between worlds. "He is coming Kira." "What do we do, Tafari?" Tafari said nothing. The red glow got brighter and brighter. Then they all were blinded by the flash of light.

BOOM!

AAAAHHHH!

Then everything was black.

Kira opened her eyes only to be blinded another bright light. She got up and looked around and she realized Ty and Chee were nowhere in sight. Beside her laid a pendent that was a tiger head with jade eyes. . 'This is Ty's pendent!' Kira thought placing the necklace around her neck. Then she looked ahead of her to see a city surrounded by a huge wall. She walked up to the city and saw that the guards had claws on their hands and fangs in their mouths. They also were covered in fur and had cat-like ears. Thundercats! But they don't look like the Thundercats back home. Thought Kira. Then the guards pointed their spears at her, yelled something and ran towards her.

"Who are you?" "What are you?" "My name is Kira and-" She was stopped by a growling noise. The guards looked at her right wrist. The ruby was glowing again but not as bright as before. "What's up with Tafari, their Thundercats like me?" Wondered Kira. One of the guards tried to grab her wrist to get a better look at it and a red beam shot out and threw him back. "Grab her!" ordered one of the guards. They tried to grab her but she dodged them and ran as fast as she could.

"Stop her!"

Kira ran into a crowd and the guards followed her. The city is full of Thundercats! realized Kira, looking around at everyone as she ran from the guards. Then she saw a small opening and ran in it. The guards ran past her. "Where did she go?" asked one of the soldiers.

"This way!" yelled another then they all followed him.

"Finally, lost them," she looked around and saw that the streets were rundown and dirty. "Must have ran in the bad part of town," she said, pulling her hood closer to her. Kira walked on through the crowd.

Back in the slums…

Gotta find a way out of here, Kira thought to herself.

"She's over there!" shouted a voice. "You heard him! This way!" Shouted another one.

"Whiskers…"said Kira under her breath. Kira turned and ran down the street. Then guards came from the way. "Whiskers!" She turned to go the other way but there were even more guards that way. She looked for a way out. Then she saw an alley full of crates she could use as stairs. Kira ran towards it, the guards following her. She jumped up on the crates, as she got on the sixth crate it broke and Kira fell off the crates on her side.

"Ow..." she groaned as hands grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet and dragged her away. "Don't fight back anymore, save your strength for when you really need it." Said Tafari.