Parent Series: The Thundercats
Title: A Cat for Your Thoughts
Written by: Glamourcat; Glamourcat@lycos.co
Date: August 17,1995
Disclaimer: This was written a very, very, very long time ago so I can't vouch for how good it is, if it even is at all. It's written in a slanted screenplay script style to follow the cartoon screen changes. The Thundercat characters do not belong to me nor will I ever make any money off them, however Ratha and the Thinking Cats are my own original creation.
Summary: In order to find a cure for Wilykit's sudden illness, the Thundercats must venture into an unknown forest and earn a new ally.
Setting: It is a sunny day and the twin cubs, Wilykit and Wilykat, are hoverboarding in a meadow.
"Wilykit, Wilykat. It is time for dinner. Report back to Cat's Lair. You wouldn't want Snarf to over worry, now would you?", Cheatara's voice said over the communicator.
"All right, Cheatara. We're coming home, Wilykat out." Wilykat said turning to his sister as he told her. "Come on, we don't want to keep them waiting."
"I'm right behind you. Boy, am I hungry. I don't think I can wait 'till we get home to eat." Wilykit said impatiently. "Hey, Look at those berries! They will be a perfect snack to hold me over until we get back home. I'm going to stop and eat some."
"Hold on! Don't eat them. They could be dangerous!" Wilykat warned. His warning came too late. Wilykit had already eaten some.
"See, nothing happened! They were okay. You're starting to act like Snarf." Wilykit said as she jumped on her hoverboard. "Come on or we'll be late!"
"Okay, I'm coming." He called to her. He pulled a few purple berries of the bush and thought to himself. "Just in case, I'll pick some to take home."
Setting: Back at the lair Wilykat was starting to feel ill before eating dinner.
Lion-o noticed that Wilykit did not seem her usual cheery self and was concerned. "Wilykit, what's wrong? You don't seem like yourself."
"I'm not feeling well. My stomach hurts and I have a headache." Wilykit told them.
Cheatara felt Wilykit's forehead and exclaimed. "Why, you're burning up with fever!"
Snarf instantly took over. "All right into bed with you, snarf, snarf. You're sick and need your rest."
"I knew eating those berries was a bad idea, Wilykit." Wilykat groaned.
"Berries? What berries?" Tigra asked.
"On the way home we stopped so she could have a snack. I saved some of the fruit. Here they are." Wilykat took them out of his hip pouch and gave them to Lion-o.
"By Joga! Willa showed these berries to me. She called them the 'Fruit of Sleep'. It is said that anyone who eats these will eventually fall asleep and never wake up. If Wilykit doesn't get the cure within two days we won't be able to save her."
"Lion-o, how did Willa say the berries' effect can be counteracted?" Cheatara asked instantly concerned.
"Willa said there is a plant in the Forest of Thought that will cure the ailment. However..." Lion-o stopped dead.
"However what, Lion-o?" Panthro demanded.
"The forest is supposed to be guarded by an ancient spirit. The spirit is a sentinel of the race of people who once lived in the Forest of Thought. A stone statue stands outside the entrance to the forest that's said to be the tomb of the sentinel's spirit. I don't know if the legend is true but for Wilykit's sake we must try." Lion-o said with grim determination.
Setting: The Thundercats are standing next to the Thundertank trying to decide what to do. They have just seen that the stone statue of the legend is really standing guard in front of the entrance of the forest.
"Here we are at The Forest of Thought. Now what to we do?" Cheatara asked shrugging her shoulders.
"We find that cure!" Lion-o exclaimed as he started warily towards the statue and the path into the forest.
"This is ridiculous! We're all acting like a bunch of scaredy cats because of a panther carved out of rock." Tigra pointed out to them. "There's no reason we should be afraid of that ancient piece of sculpture."
The statue in front of the forest was a huge four-legged panther carved out of a dark gray stone. The beast was massive, muscular, and mean- looking. It stood on top of a hexagon shaped bluish colored stone. The panther's position looked like it was about to spring upon anyone who came within range. The evil grin the great cat had on its face was enough to send chills down Lion-o's spine.
Panthro was getting impatient. Not believing what Willa had told Lion-o he asked, "It is a nice looking statue, but isn't it supposed to become possessed with the spirit of the 'ancient sentinel' right about now and try to destroy us for trespassing?"
"Willa told me that it only comes to life if the forest is threatened." Lion-o answered.
"That I do, my young friend, that I do." A voice that did not belong to any of them spoke.
"The statue! It's alive and it talks!" Tigra shouted very alarmed.
"Your grasp of the obvious is incredible. Now if you would not mind terribly, state your names and your business in my forest. Please answer promptly or suffer the consequences". The statue said as she (for the voice could only belong to a she) sharpened her claws on the pedestal she sat on. She was still in the shape of the four-legged panther; the only difference now was that she was no longer made of stone but flesh and blood. The Thundercats could see her muscles move under her skin, which was covered by short black fur. At closer study, they realized the fur was not black but a very dark brown with barely visible black spots.
"We call ourselves the Thundercats. One of our children is very sick and we were told that a plant grows in your forest that will cure her." Lion-o answered her. "We mean no harm to you or your forest. We just need the plant. Will you allow us to pass? we must save our friend."
"I cannot allow any of you to pass. I am sorry but Clan Law forbids outsiders in the Home Territory. However, Lion-o, I know how much this sick child means to you. I know how serious her illness is. I will search through the scrolls of our Law and see if there is not something I can do." The sentinel said. With that, she vanished. Within seconds, she reappeared in a burst of blinding light.
"Wait, I have questions." Tigra announced.
"Then ask, Tigra." was the reply from the guard.
"How do you know our names? Who are you? Why have we never heard of your race of cats living on this planet before?" Tigra fired off his questions at her.
"Good questions deserve good answers. I am Ratha, Guard of the Thinking Cat's Clan Home. I knew of your names because all the Thinking Cats have the ability to read minds and sense emotions." Ratha sounded smug. "The Thinking Cat Clan was forced to leave Third Earth and establish new colonies elsewhere in the galaxy because of a plague that swept across the planet years ago, destroying our food supply and ultimately- us. I was left behind in the form of the statue so I would not starve and could still protect the homelands. Just in case my people ever returned they would still have a safe home. I have lost all contact with the world beyond my forest and as result the Thinking Cat Clan became only a legend." Ratha lay down as she finished her remarkable tale and dangled her front paws over the side of the pedestal. The Thundercats could almost sense sadness coming from this living legend.
"You truly have a remarkable and sad story. Forgive me for seeming rude, but can you help us save Wilykit?" Cheatara asked gently.
"I can." Ratha grinned as the cats breathed a collective sigh of relief. "The Law says and I quote, 'Outsiders who are of the purist of heart and cleanest of mind and strongest of soul may pass through the Home Lands unhindered if they are accompanied by the Guard on duty. It is at that Guard's discretion to decide if the outsiders are worthy of the Clan's trust and if they may pass.' I have deemed any of you worthy to enter the forest under my guidance. However, I may only take one of you at a time. Since only one of you is needed to retrieve the plant you require that is not a problem. Decide amongst yourselves who will come with me."
"I volunteer". Panthro spoke up.
"Well then," Ratha said purring, "If no one else has any objections, Panthro and I will be going." When none of the others voiced any objections Ratha stood up, stretched and leaped gracefully off the platform. The Thundercats gasped, for when she landed she was no longer a true panther but looked like a Thundercat!
Ratha now walked upright on two legs, not four. Her build was very similar to Cheatara's and she was dressed in a comparable manner. Ratha wore a blue leotard with a white diamond in the center. In the middle of the diamond was a blue eye, the symbol of her Clan. Around her neck was a black band that held a steel blue cape on her. Her fur color had even changed. She was still a dark, almost black, shade of brown but she had patches of goldish-grey around her eyes and mouth. Her hair was a shoulder length black and her pointed ears stuck through it. The only thing that made her stand out from a normal Thundercat was her tail.
Ratha laughed when she saw the looks on their faces. "I know this isn't my true shape but it will be easier for Panthro to keep up with me this way. Come on, I will lead you to the plant you seek now."
"Well let's get moving!" Panthro said entering the forest.
"Wait a minute. There are many dangers in my land. My Clan has traps everywhere so watch where you are going. Walk behind me, it will be safer. If my forest is attacked or threatened I must leave you in order to defend it. Stay where I leave you. Do you understand?" Ratha cautioned him.
"Yes, I do. So let's get going. There's a life at stake here!" Panthro was getting extremely impatient. Every minute wasted was one minute that Wilykit did not have to spare.
Starting down the path with Panthro right behind her, the Thundercats heard Ratha give her companion one last piece of wise council. "Impatience can lead to death, my friend, always be cautious."
Meanwhile: Back at the Cat's Lair, Wilykit was slowly getting worse. Placing a wet cloth on her forehead, Snarf voices his concerns to himself.
"Oh, Wilykit, why'd you have to eat those things? Now Lion-o and the others are off somewhere getting themselves in trouble and you're here sick! Oh, snarf, snarf I hope they get back in time."
Inside: Mum-ra's magic pool had awoken him a few days ago and shown him the source of Ratha's power. Mum-ra had sent Slyth and his minions to capture it but they had failed. Slyth was pleading for mercy.
"But Mum-ra, it was not my fault we failed. She is too strong for us. She threatened to turn us into our worst nightmares- Thundercats. It would be awful having to be that, yuk, good."
"Stop sniveling. Incompetent fool. You will go back to the Forest of Thought and wear her down. Then I will go myself to the forest and wring that magic stone out of that blasted Thinking Cat. After the Eye Stone is mine I will use its power to destroy the Thundercats." Mum-ra's evil laughter rang out eerily across the cold bricks of the pyramid.
Back at the Forest: The Thundercats were growing more worried as time went by.
"They've been gone for two hours Lion-o. Do think we can trust Ratha?" Cheatara asked.
"We don't have a choice Cheatara, we have to." He answered.
Deep in the Forest: Panthro was becoming annoyed at Ratha's over caution.
Ratha smiled as her powers let her feel Panthro's mood. "We can't go any faster because of things like this..." Her voice trailed off as she picked up a good sized rock and flung it two feet off the path ahead of them. A huge cage rose from the ground as the rock triggered its release. Panthro gasped. Ratha smiled again, "You see, My people left traps all over the forest. To rush would be to die. I..." She stopped short and tilted her head to one side as if listening to a far off sound.
"What's the matter?" Panthro was instantly concerned.
"I sense... I sense minds! Three of them. Evil, pure evil! They're attacking the Temple! Stay here. I must go and fight. I will be back for you when they have been turned away." With that Ratha was off and running.
"Hey! You're not going anywhere without me!" Panthro lit out after her, taking care to only run where she had already broken a trail. When he caught up with her, he found himself in a small clearing. In the center of the clearing there was a small building shaped like a serene, sitting tiger. Ratha was standing in front of it. She was dodging ray blasts from Monkian's gilder. She had some invisible shield around her. Panthro could only see it when a ray hit the shield. Whenever a ray did strike the shield Ratha's eyes glowed and she sent the ray back to Monkian via lasers from her eyes.
"She said there were three. Where are the other two?" Panthro wondered.
"Right behind you Thundercat." A voice that no one would want to hear said from behind Panthro.
He whirled around. "What in the- Jackleman! Slyth! All right, if you want a fight you'll get one." Panthro took out his nunchucks and braced himself.
"Very well Thundercat. Prepare to die." Jackleman gave a grim answer. He attacked, or at least he tried to. As he jumped to deliver a powerful kick, he hit some kind of force field around Panthro.
Jackleman was not the only one who was surprised. Panthro cried out, "What happened?"
"Fool Thundercat! Why did not you stay where I told you to?! You're costing me valuable energy to protect you!". Ratha was furious.
"Protecting me! I don't need protection from you. I was trying to help!" Panthro was just as angry as she was.
"Arughhhh! Enough of this!". Ratha began to grow in height. She enlarged until she was even with the roof top of the two-story temple. As she towered over the evil mutants, they cowered in fear. Ratha turned to threaten them. "You disgusting creatures leave my Homelands forever or I shall turn your worst fear against you. It's easy to stand up to me now but you will not find it so easy to stand up to your greatest fears." Slyth, Monkian, and Jackleman turned tail and ran. "And as for you," she turned and pointed at Panthro. For a brief moment, he looked afraid and Ratha picked that up right away. She shrank back down to her normal height and spoke in a softer tone. "There by the Temple's stairs is the plant you seek. Take what you need and we'll start back to the entrance of the forest."
Panthro hurried over to the plants, pulled up three of the small bushes, and placed them carefully into his specimen bag.
"There, now that you have what you came for we can leave," Ratha changed back into her natural form and grew two sizes larger. She was now big enough to carry someone on her back. This was exactly her plan. She crouched down next to Panthro, "Climb on, it will be faster for both of us if I carry you."
Panthro hesitated a moment, then got on, winding his arms around her neck to stay in place. Ratha quickly rose, and breaking into a run so fast the wind brought tears to Panthro's eyes, started back along the trail to the entrance of the forest.
At the Thundertank: The cats were all worried about Panthro and his "guide".
"Where can they be Lion-o?," Cheatara asked.
"Right behind you, Cheatara!" Panthro called. No one had seen him slide of Ratha's back or seen her shrink back to her normal size as a panther.
"Panthro! Thank goodness!," Tigra said with relief. "Come on, we've got to hurry." The cats ran to the tank and jumped in.
"Hold on for a minute!" Ratha called after them. "Please wait. Will you come back and bring me news of the child? I have been here so long. It gets so lonely out here, in the middle of nowhere. I would welcome any company."
The Thundercats did not need Ratha's powers to hear how sad she was. Their hearts went out to her.
"I promise we'll come back. You have my word," Panthro answered. With that Ratha smiled and leaped back onto her pedestal. Taking her position, she became nothing more than a statue of a great panther. The statue still stood guarding, but somehow more pleasant looking then before.
Meanwhile: Back at Mum-ra's pyramid, the evil sorcerer was pleased, as he watched the scene from his magic cauldron.
"Her powers are weakened. With the Thundercats gone, she has no defense. If I attack her now, before she can recharge her powers sufficiently. The Eye Stone of the Thinking Cat Clan will be mine! She does not stand a chance against Mum-ra the Ever Living!," Mum-ra's wicked laughter rang out across his tomb.
Two days later at Cat's Lair: Wilykit was feeling her usual troublesome self again. Panthro had told everyone about what happened in the forest and Wilykit was eager to meet the stranger who had helped to save her life.
"Hey, Panthro!," she called out approaching him as he labored in his workshop.
"Feeling better, Wilykit?," he asked putting down a tool.
"Yes, and I've learned my lesson. No more strange foods for me. I came down here to thank you for finding that medicine for me."
"I appreciate the thanks but I think that Ratha deserves the thank- you. I would never had found my way through the Forest of Thought without her."
"Say, Panthro, would you take me to see her? You know, so I can thank her in person."
Panthro did not mind, he had promised to go back and see her, after all. "Meet me at the Thundertank in five minutes."
"Great! I'll get Wilykat and meet you there." Wilykit ran off to find her twin brother.
At the Thundertank: Panthro was already in the driver's seat when the twins came running up.
"I get to sit up front!" declared Wilykit.
"No you don't. I do, you sat up front the last time," Wilykat retorted.
"Both of you are sitting in the back. Now get in or we're not going at all," Panthro said sternly.
"Yes Panthro".
Anyone mind if I come along?," Cheatara came up and asked.
"Of course not. Hop in." The trio chorused.
While on the way to the forest: The cubs were grilling the adults for information.
"Do you think she's mean? Why did she help us? Why do you think Slyth and his cohorts wanted to break into Ratha's Temple? What do you think is in the Temple that she has to guard?".
"Hey, slow down you two," Cheatara laughed. "I don't know the answers to the last two questions but maybe we can answer the first two."
"I don't think she's really mean. She just has to act that way to protect her home," Cheatara continued.
"I think part of the reason she came across as mean at first has something to do with the fact that she had been trapped as a statue for so long. Think about that you three. How would you like to be trapped inside stone for most of your life, moving only when someone was near and even then, having to fight of intruders?," Panthro added.
"I suppose I would bad tempered if I had to live like that," Wilykat admitted.
"Gee, I didn't think of it that way. I expect your right. She did honestly seem concerned about you, Wilykit, after she and Panthro came back out of the forest. I guess she really has a genuine care for people. She just needed to work off some steam after being cooped up for so long," Cheatara theorized.
"I believe you've hit it on the nose, Cheatara," Panthro said. "Ratha might be short tempered but I don't think that she would allow someone who never did her any harm to suffer."
Cheatara caught a tone in his voice that was typically un-Panthro, smiled and whispered to the cubs, "Just between you and me, kids, I think Panthro has a crush on Ratha."
She did not whisper as quietly as she should have. Panthro countered, "I do not have a crush on Ratha."
"See what I mean?," Cheatara giggled. She and the cubs laughed softly as Panthro glowered the rest of the way there.
Upon arriving at the forest: The four Thundercats were shocked to find Ratha in her true form lying across her pedestal. She was bleeding from a wound running up her right front leg. She was too weak to notice their arrival. Ratha was alive but barely.
"Ratha!," Panthro cried as they jumped out. "What happened? Are you all right?"
They ran over to her and she looked up at them trying to focus her blurry golden eyes. "Panthro? Cheatara? Is that you? It was Mum-ra. He wanted... he wanted the Eye Stone. I would not tell him where it was. After the battle with those mutants, I was too weak to put up much of a fight. He destroyed the Temple and almost me as well."
"That lousy creep!," the cubs said in unison.
"We have to get that wound treated before you bleed to death," Cheatara declared with the deftness of one who has been a nurse in the past.
"No," Ratha protested. "No time. Mum-ra must not get the Eye Stone. I have to stay and protect it. I must fulfill my duties to the Clan. I cannot leave the... Look out! Behind you!"
The cubs turned, "What? Mum-ra!".
"You pitiful Thundercats are here? You have no reason to be unless, Ratha gave you the Eye Stone. Hand it over, cats, or I will crush you like bugs!," Mum-ra roared in anger.
"We don't have it! Can't you see that?," Cheatara said maddened by what he had done to Ratha and her home.
"We could sure use Lion-o's help and the Eye of Thundara," Wilykat uttered.
That sparked an idea in Ratha. Using that last of her energy, she created an image of the Eye of Thundara above the forest.
Back at Cat's Lair: Lion-o and Tigra saw Ratha's illusion.
"But that's impossible! I didn't call the Thundercats," cried an astonished Lion-o.
"Come on! Let's see who did!," Tigra said on their way out of the surveillance room.
At the forest, conditions were worsening: After Ratha had generated the illusion, she had fainted from the effort. The Thundercats had gathered in a circle around her, prepared to continue her fight.
"Your puny efforts are noted but they will do you no good," Mum-ra cackled. "The Eye Stone of the Thinking Cats will be mine!"
"Not if we can help it!," Tigra shouted as he and Lion-o ran up.
"I will not let you harm them!," Lion-o vowed.
Mum-ra was not impressed, "What can you do, cub? You can't stop the all-powerful Mum-ra!"
"I can do this. Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats! Ho! By the powers in this sword and of the Thundercats, I Lion-o, Lord of the Thundercats command you! Leave this forest forever!," with that rather impressive speech, Lion-o aimed the sword at Mum-ra. A ray of flames shot out driving Mum-ra back into his weakened, mummified state.
"You may have won this time, Lion-o, but next time you won't be so lucky," Mum-ra faded away.
Tigra and Lion-o went over to where the others were standing around Ratha. Ratha had regained consciousness and was allowing Cheatara to dress her wound with the first aid kit from the Thundertank.
"Thank-you my friends," Ratha said hissing through her teeth as Cheatara poured alcohol over the injury. "He would have gotten the Eye Stone for sure if you had not shown up."
"If you don't stop moving I won't be able to clean this," Cheatara rebuked her.
"But it hurts," Ratha moaned.
"And it will hurt worse if you don't keep still," Cheatara said firmly. Ratha frowned but did as she was told.
"What is this Eye Stone Mum-ra was after? Why couldn't he find it?," Panthro asked.
Ratha laughed and then immediately winced from the pain, "The Eye Stone is the darkest secret of the Thinking Cat Clan. You see, we don't really think." She looked at the surprised faces of those around her and then sadly continued. "We were nothing more than what you see before you. We were hunting cats that had no wit and only basic survival skills. The colony found its way into this forest and a change came over us. We gained intelligence and powers of the mind. The pack found that it was the Eye Stones that caused the change in us."
Ratha's tone became wistful with the old memory. "There were three Eye Stones once. There was one at each of the three entrances to the forest. If you could see the Forest of Thought from the air, you would notice that its' shape is a triangle, with the places for the Eye Stones at each of the corners. When my people left, they took two of the Stones with them. The third one was to help me guard the Homelands. Also, because my Clan has been exposed to the power of the Eye Stones for such an extended time, if we are parted from it for too long we perish. I have done what I was left here to do though, Mum-ra never realized any of that. He didn't even notice that I'm sitting on the Eye Stone."
"You mean all the time Mum-ra and those mutants spent attacking the Temple was wasted, when it was here all the time?!," Tigra exclaimed.
Ratha laughed freely now, her pain eased by Cheatara. "The Temple! That is just a decoy! It was called the Temple for want of a better name!"
The Thundercats laughed along with her. Suddenly, the stone started to glow and shake. Ratha and the Thundercats jumped clear just as the stone disappeared
"NO! I did not go through all that to lose the Eye Stone now!," Ratha sobbed, "Oh no! What has happened to the Eye Stone? Without it I'll die!"
"Wait, look there," Wilykit said excited. "A fragment was left behind."
Ratha ran over to the chard, and changed into the cat-woman, so she could pick it up. The piece started to glow and Ratha along with it. The others could only watch and wait. They did not have to wait for long. The glow faded and she turned back towards them. The diamond in the center of her leotard no longer had an eye but held the symbol of the Thundercats. Much to everyone's astonishment, Ratha began to cry.
"Ratha, what's wrong?," Panthro asked.
"Half of these tears are because I am sad. Half of these tears are because I am happy," Ratha turned to them and explained. "It is possible for the Elders of my Clan to speak with me over distances this great with the aid of the other two Eye Stones, although it will leave them exhausted for months. My Elders have used their energy to teleport the last Eye Stone to the new home they say they have found. They left behind the chard so that I could live. The Elders felt my loneliness. They have apologized for leaving me in solitude for so long. They have told me that they cannot return home and they cannot teleport a living creature over such a distance, so I cannot join my people."
"Oh, Ratha, no wonder you're sad. I'm so sorry," Cheatara sympathized
"But what are the tears of joy for?," Panthro asked confused.
"My tears are also tears of joy because my Elders have given my permission to guard something else. The Code of the Thundercats! Joining the Thundercats was the only way that my Elders said I could cure my aloneness. If you would take me as a member I would be forever grateful."
"Of course, we'll take you!," the cubs cried jubilantly. They then hesitated at their outburst. "She can join us, right Lion-o?"
"Of course she can," he answered happily. "After all she has been through it wouldn't be right to turn her away," Lion-o offered his had to her and she shook it. "Welcome to the Thundercats Ratha."
The group crowded around her and cheered, "For the Thundercats and for Ratha, the newest Thundercat."
One did not need powers of the mind to read the happiness of the group. The new member would still need to pass the Thundercats induction tests and answer many questions as all new members must but one thing was certain, Ratha is most assuredly a cat for your thoughts.
The End..... For Now.....
Title: A Cat for Your Thoughts
Written by: Glamourcat; Glamourcat@lycos.co
Date: August 17,1995
Disclaimer: This was written a very, very, very long time ago so I can't vouch for how good it is, if it even is at all. It's written in a slanted screenplay script style to follow the cartoon screen changes. The Thundercat characters do not belong to me nor will I ever make any money off them, however Ratha and the Thinking Cats are my own original creation.
Summary: In order to find a cure for Wilykit's sudden illness, the Thundercats must venture into an unknown forest and earn a new ally.
Setting: It is a sunny day and the twin cubs, Wilykit and Wilykat, are hoverboarding in a meadow.
"Wilykit, Wilykat. It is time for dinner. Report back to Cat's Lair. You wouldn't want Snarf to over worry, now would you?", Cheatara's voice said over the communicator.
"All right, Cheatara. We're coming home, Wilykat out." Wilykat said turning to his sister as he told her. "Come on, we don't want to keep them waiting."
"I'm right behind you. Boy, am I hungry. I don't think I can wait 'till we get home to eat." Wilykit said impatiently. "Hey, Look at those berries! They will be a perfect snack to hold me over until we get back home. I'm going to stop and eat some."
"Hold on! Don't eat them. They could be dangerous!" Wilykat warned. His warning came too late. Wilykit had already eaten some.
"See, nothing happened! They were okay. You're starting to act like Snarf." Wilykit said as she jumped on her hoverboard. "Come on or we'll be late!"
"Okay, I'm coming." He called to her. He pulled a few purple berries of the bush and thought to himself. "Just in case, I'll pick some to take home."
Setting: Back at the lair Wilykat was starting to feel ill before eating dinner.
Lion-o noticed that Wilykit did not seem her usual cheery self and was concerned. "Wilykit, what's wrong? You don't seem like yourself."
"I'm not feeling well. My stomach hurts and I have a headache." Wilykit told them.
Cheatara felt Wilykit's forehead and exclaimed. "Why, you're burning up with fever!"
Snarf instantly took over. "All right into bed with you, snarf, snarf. You're sick and need your rest."
"I knew eating those berries was a bad idea, Wilykit." Wilykat groaned.
"Berries? What berries?" Tigra asked.
"On the way home we stopped so she could have a snack. I saved some of the fruit. Here they are." Wilykat took them out of his hip pouch and gave them to Lion-o.
"By Joga! Willa showed these berries to me. She called them the 'Fruit of Sleep'. It is said that anyone who eats these will eventually fall asleep and never wake up. If Wilykit doesn't get the cure within two days we won't be able to save her."
"Lion-o, how did Willa say the berries' effect can be counteracted?" Cheatara asked instantly concerned.
"Willa said there is a plant in the Forest of Thought that will cure the ailment. However..." Lion-o stopped dead.
"However what, Lion-o?" Panthro demanded.
"The forest is supposed to be guarded by an ancient spirit. The spirit is a sentinel of the race of people who once lived in the Forest of Thought. A stone statue stands outside the entrance to the forest that's said to be the tomb of the sentinel's spirit. I don't know if the legend is true but for Wilykit's sake we must try." Lion-o said with grim determination.
Setting: The Thundercats are standing next to the Thundertank trying to decide what to do. They have just seen that the stone statue of the legend is really standing guard in front of the entrance of the forest.
"Here we are at The Forest of Thought. Now what to we do?" Cheatara asked shrugging her shoulders.
"We find that cure!" Lion-o exclaimed as he started warily towards the statue and the path into the forest.
"This is ridiculous! We're all acting like a bunch of scaredy cats because of a panther carved out of rock." Tigra pointed out to them. "There's no reason we should be afraid of that ancient piece of sculpture."
The statue in front of the forest was a huge four-legged panther carved out of a dark gray stone. The beast was massive, muscular, and mean- looking. It stood on top of a hexagon shaped bluish colored stone. The panther's position looked like it was about to spring upon anyone who came within range. The evil grin the great cat had on its face was enough to send chills down Lion-o's spine.
Panthro was getting impatient. Not believing what Willa had told Lion-o he asked, "It is a nice looking statue, but isn't it supposed to become possessed with the spirit of the 'ancient sentinel' right about now and try to destroy us for trespassing?"
"Willa told me that it only comes to life if the forest is threatened." Lion-o answered.
"That I do, my young friend, that I do." A voice that did not belong to any of them spoke.
"The statue! It's alive and it talks!" Tigra shouted very alarmed.
"Your grasp of the obvious is incredible. Now if you would not mind terribly, state your names and your business in my forest. Please answer promptly or suffer the consequences". The statue said as she (for the voice could only belong to a she) sharpened her claws on the pedestal she sat on. She was still in the shape of the four-legged panther; the only difference now was that she was no longer made of stone but flesh and blood. The Thundercats could see her muscles move under her skin, which was covered by short black fur. At closer study, they realized the fur was not black but a very dark brown with barely visible black spots.
"We call ourselves the Thundercats. One of our children is very sick and we were told that a plant grows in your forest that will cure her." Lion-o answered her. "We mean no harm to you or your forest. We just need the plant. Will you allow us to pass? we must save our friend."
"I cannot allow any of you to pass. I am sorry but Clan Law forbids outsiders in the Home Territory. However, Lion-o, I know how much this sick child means to you. I know how serious her illness is. I will search through the scrolls of our Law and see if there is not something I can do." The sentinel said. With that, she vanished. Within seconds, she reappeared in a burst of blinding light.
"Wait, I have questions." Tigra announced.
"Then ask, Tigra." was the reply from the guard.
"How do you know our names? Who are you? Why have we never heard of your race of cats living on this planet before?" Tigra fired off his questions at her.
"Good questions deserve good answers. I am Ratha, Guard of the Thinking Cat's Clan Home. I knew of your names because all the Thinking Cats have the ability to read minds and sense emotions." Ratha sounded smug. "The Thinking Cat Clan was forced to leave Third Earth and establish new colonies elsewhere in the galaxy because of a plague that swept across the planet years ago, destroying our food supply and ultimately- us. I was left behind in the form of the statue so I would not starve and could still protect the homelands. Just in case my people ever returned they would still have a safe home. I have lost all contact with the world beyond my forest and as result the Thinking Cat Clan became only a legend." Ratha lay down as she finished her remarkable tale and dangled her front paws over the side of the pedestal. The Thundercats could almost sense sadness coming from this living legend.
"You truly have a remarkable and sad story. Forgive me for seeming rude, but can you help us save Wilykit?" Cheatara asked gently.
"I can." Ratha grinned as the cats breathed a collective sigh of relief. "The Law says and I quote, 'Outsiders who are of the purist of heart and cleanest of mind and strongest of soul may pass through the Home Lands unhindered if they are accompanied by the Guard on duty. It is at that Guard's discretion to decide if the outsiders are worthy of the Clan's trust and if they may pass.' I have deemed any of you worthy to enter the forest under my guidance. However, I may only take one of you at a time. Since only one of you is needed to retrieve the plant you require that is not a problem. Decide amongst yourselves who will come with me."
"I volunteer". Panthro spoke up.
"Well then," Ratha said purring, "If no one else has any objections, Panthro and I will be going." When none of the others voiced any objections Ratha stood up, stretched and leaped gracefully off the platform. The Thundercats gasped, for when she landed she was no longer a true panther but looked like a Thundercat!
Ratha now walked upright on two legs, not four. Her build was very similar to Cheatara's and she was dressed in a comparable manner. Ratha wore a blue leotard with a white diamond in the center. In the middle of the diamond was a blue eye, the symbol of her Clan. Around her neck was a black band that held a steel blue cape on her. Her fur color had even changed. She was still a dark, almost black, shade of brown but she had patches of goldish-grey around her eyes and mouth. Her hair was a shoulder length black and her pointed ears stuck through it. The only thing that made her stand out from a normal Thundercat was her tail.
Ratha laughed when she saw the looks on their faces. "I know this isn't my true shape but it will be easier for Panthro to keep up with me this way. Come on, I will lead you to the plant you seek now."
"Well let's get moving!" Panthro said entering the forest.
"Wait a minute. There are many dangers in my land. My Clan has traps everywhere so watch where you are going. Walk behind me, it will be safer. If my forest is attacked or threatened I must leave you in order to defend it. Stay where I leave you. Do you understand?" Ratha cautioned him.
"Yes, I do. So let's get going. There's a life at stake here!" Panthro was getting extremely impatient. Every minute wasted was one minute that Wilykit did not have to spare.
Starting down the path with Panthro right behind her, the Thundercats heard Ratha give her companion one last piece of wise council. "Impatience can lead to death, my friend, always be cautious."
Meanwhile: Back at the Cat's Lair, Wilykit was slowly getting worse. Placing a wet cloth on her forehead, Snarf voices his concerns to himself.
"Oh, Wilykit, why'd you have to eat those things? Now Lion-o and the others are off somewhere getting themselves in trouble and you're here sick! Oh, snarf, snarf I hope they get back in time."
Inside: Mum-ra's magic pool had awoken him a few days ago and shown him the source of Ratha's power. Mum-ra had sent Slyth and his minions to capture it but they had failed. Slyth was pleading for mercy.
"But Mum-ra, it was not my fault we failed. She is too strong for us. She threatened to turn us into our worst nightmares- Thundercats. It would be awful having to be that, yuk, good."
"Stop sniveling. Incompetent fool. You will go back to the Forest of Thought and wear her down. Then I will go myself to the forest and wring that magic stone out of that blasted Thinking Cat. After the Eye Stone is mine I will use its power to destroy the Thundercats." Mum-ra's evil laughter rang out eerily across the cold bricks of the pyramid.
Back at the Forest: The Thundercats were growing more worried as time went by.
"They've been gone for two hours Lion-o. Do think we can trust Ratha?" Cheatara asked.
"We don't have a choice Cheatara, we have to." He answered.
Deep in the Forest: Panthro was becoming annoyed at Ratha's over caution.
Ratha smiled as her powers let her feel Panthro's mood. "We can't go any faster because of things like this..." Her voice trailed off as she picked up a good sized rock and flung it two feet off the path ahead of them. A huge cage rose from the ground as the rock triggered its release. Panthro gasped. Ratha smiled again, "You see, My people left traps all over the forest. To rush would be to die. I..." She stopped short and tilted her head to one side as if listening to a far off sound.
"What's the matter?" Panthro was instantly concerned.
"I sense... I sense minds! Three of them. Evil, pure evil! They're attacking the Temple! Stay here. I must go and fight. I will be back for you when they have been turned away." With that Ratha was off and running.
"Hey! You're not going anywhere without me!" Panthro lit out after her, taking care to only run where she had already broken a trail. When he caught up with her, he found himself in a small clearing. In the center of the clearing there was a small building shaped like a serene, sitting tiger. Ratha was standing in front of it. She was dodging ray blasts from Monkian's gilder. She had some invisible shield around her. Panthro could only see it when a ray hit the shield. Whenever a ray did strike the shield Ratha's eyes glowed and she sent the ray back to Monkian via lasers from her eyes.
"She said there were three. Where are the other two?" Panthro wondered.
"Right behind you Thundercat." A voice that no one would want to hear said from behind Panthro.
He whirled around. "What in the- Jackleman! Slyth! All right, if you want a fight you'll get one." Panthro took out his nunchucks and braced himself.
"Very well Thundercat. Prepare to die." Jackleman gave a grim answer. He attacked, or at least he tried to. As he jumped to deliver a powerful kick, he hit some kind of force field around Panthro.
Jackleman was not the only one who was surprised. Panthro cried out, "What happened?"
"Fool Thundercat! Why did not you stay where I told you to?! You're costing me valuable energy to protect you!". Ratha was furious.
"Protecting me! I don't need protection from you. I was trying to help!" Panthro was just as angry as she was.
"Arughhhh! Enough of this!". Ratha began to grow in height. She enlarged until she was even with the roof top of the two-story temple. As she towered over the evil mutants, they cowered in fear. Ratha turned to threaten them. "You disgusting creatures leave my Homelands forever or I shall turn your worst fear against you. It's easy to stand up to me now but you will not find it so easy to stand up to your greatest fears." Slyth, Monkian, and Jackleman turned tail and ran. "And as for you," she turned and pointed at Panthro. For a brief moment, he looked afraid and Ratha picked that up right away. She shrank back down to her normal height and spoke in a softer tone. "There by the Temple's stairs is the plant you seek. Take what you need and we'll start back to the entrance of the forest."
Panthro hurried over to the plants, pulled up three of the small bushes, and placed them carefully into his specimen bag.
"There, now that you have what you came for we can leave," Ratha changed back into her natural form and grew two sizes larger. She was now big enough to carry someone on her back. This was exactly her plan. She crouched down next to Panthro, "Climb on, it will be faster for both of us if I carry you."
Panthro hesitated a moment, then got on, winding his arms around her neck to stay in place. Ratha quickly rose, and breaking into a run so fast the wind brought tears to Panthro's eyes, started back along the trail to the entrance of the forest.
At the Thundertank: The cats were all worried about Panthro and his "guide".
"Where can they be Lion-o?," Cheatara asked.
"Right behind you, Cheatara!" Panthro called. No one had seen him slide of Ratha's back or seen her shrink back to her normal size as a panther.
"Panthro! Thank goodness!," Tigra said with relief. "Come on, we've got to hurry." The cats ran to the tank and jumped in.
"Hold on for a minute!" Ratha called after them. "Please wait. Will you come back and bring me news of the child? I have been here so long. It gets so lonely out here, in the middle of nowhere. I would welcome any company."
The Thundercats did not need Ratha's powers to hear how sad she was. Their hearts went out to her.
"I promise we'll come back. You have my word," Panthro answered. With that Ratha smiled and leaped back onto her pedestal. Taking her position, she became nothing more than a statue of a great panther. The statue still stood guarding, but somehow more pleasant looking then before.
Meanwhile: Back at Mum-ra's pyramid, the evil sorcerer was pleased, as he watched the scene from his magic cauldron.
"Her powers are weakened. With the Thundercats gone, she has no defense. If I attack her now, before she can recharge her powers sufficiently. The Eye Stone of the Thinking Cat Clan will be mine! She does not stand a chance against Mum-ra the Ever Living!," Mum-ra's wicked laughter rang out across his tomb.
Two days later at Cat's Lair: Wilykit was feeling her usual troublesome self again. Panthro had told everyone about what happened in the forest and Wilykit was eager to meet the stranger who had helped to save her life.
"Hey, Panthro!," she called out approaching him as he labored in his workshop.
"Feeling better, Wilykit?," he asked putting down a tool.
"Yes, and I've learned my lesson. No more strange foods for me. I came down here to thank you for finding that medicine for me."
"I appreciate the thanks but I think that Ratha deserves the thank- you. I would never had found my way through the Forest of Thought without her."
"Say, Panthro, would you take me to see her? You know, so I can thank her in person."
Panthro did not mind, he had promised to go back and see her, after all. "Meet me at the Thundertank in five minutes."
"Great! I'll get Wilykat and meet you there." Wilykit ran off to find her twin brother.
At the Thundertank: Panthro was already in the driver's seat when the twins came running up.
"I get to sit up front!" declared Wilykit.
"No you don't. I do, you sat up front the last time," Wilykat retorted.
"Both of you are sitting in the back. Now get in or we're not going at all," Panthro said sternly.
"Yes Panthro".
Anyone mind if I come along?," Cheatara came up and asked.
"Of course not. Hop in." The trio chorused.
While on the way to the forest: The cubs were grilling the adults for information.
"Do you think she's mean? Why did she help us? Why do you think Slyth and his cohorts wanted to break into Ratha's Temple? What do you think is in the Temple that she has to guard?".
"Hey, slow down you two," Cheatara laughed. "I don't know the answers to the last two questions but maybe we can answer the first two."
"I don't think she's really mean. She just has to act that way to protect her home," Cheatara continued.
"I think part of the reason she came across as mean at first has something to do with the fact that she had been trapped as a statue for so long. Think about that you three. How would you like to be trapped inside stone for most of your life, moving only when someone was near and even then, having to fight of intruders?," Panthro added.
"I suppose I would bad tempered if I had to live like that," Wilykat admitted.
"Gee, I didn't think of it that way. I expect your right. She did honestly seem concerned about you, Wilykit, after she and Panthro came back out of the forest. I guess she really has a genuine care for people. She just needed to work off some steam after being cooped up for so long," Cheatara theorized.
"I believe you've hit it on the nose, Cheatara," Panthro said. "Ratha might be short tempered but I don't think that she would allow someone who never did her any harm to suffer."
Cheatara caught a tone in his voice that was typically un-Panthro, smiled and whispered to the cubs, "Just between you and me, kids, I think Panthro has a crush on Ratha."
She did not whisper as quietly as she should have. Panthro countered, "I do not have a crush on Ratha."
"See what I mean?," Cheatara giggled. She and the cubs laughed softly as Panthro glowered the rest of the way there.
Upon arriving at the forest: The four Thundercats were shocked to find Ratha in her true form lying across her pedestal. She was bleeding from a wound running up her right front leg. She was too weak to notice their arrival. Ratha was alive but barely.
"Ratha!," Panthro cried as they jumped out. "What happened? Are you all right?"
They ran over to her and she looked up at them trying to focus her blurry golden eyes. "Panthro? Cheatara? Is that you? It was Mum-ra. He wanted... he wanted the Eye Stone. I would not tell him where it was. After the battle with those mutants, I was too weak to put up much of a fight. He destroyed the Temple and almost me as well."
"That lousy creep!," the cubs said in unison.
"We have to get that wound treated before you bleed to death," Cheatara declared with the deftness of one who has been a nurse in the past.
"No," Ratha protested. "No time. Mum-ra must not get the Eye Stone. I have to stay and protect it. I must fulfill my duties to the Clan. I cannot leave the... Look out! Behind you!"
The cubs turned, "What? Mum-ra!".
"You pitiful Thundercats are here? You have no reason to be unless, Ratha gave you the Eye Stone. Hand it over, cats, or I will crush you like bugs!," Mum-ra roared in anger.
"We don't have it! Can't you see that?," Cheatara said maddened by what he had done to Ratha and her home.
"We could sure use Lion-o's help and the Eye of Thundara," Wilykat uttered.
That sparked an idea in Ratha. Using that last of her energy, she created an image of the Eye of Thundara above the forest.
Back at Cat's Lair: Lion-o and Tigra saw Ratha's illusion.
"But that's impossible! I didn't call the Thundercats," cried an astonished Lion-o.
"Come on! Let's see who did!," Tigra said on their way out of the surveillance room.
At the forest, conditions were worsening: After Ratha had generated the illusion, she had fainted from the effort. The Thundercats had gathered in a circle around her, prepared to continue her fight.
"Your puny efforts are noted but they will do you no good," Mum-ra cackled. "The Eye Stone of the Thinking Cats will be mine!"
"Not if we can help it!," Tigra shouted as he and Lion-o ran up.
"I will not let you harm them!," Lion-o vowed.
Mum-ra was not impressed, "What can you do, cub? You can't stop the all-powerful Mum-ra!"
"I can do this. Thunder! Thunder! Thundercats! Ho! By the powers in this sword and of the Thundercats, I Lion-o, Lord of the Thundercats command you! Leave this forest forever!," with that rather impressive speech, Lion-o aimed the sword at Mum-ra. A ray of flames shot out driving Mum-ra back into his weakened, mummified state.
"You may have won this time, Lion-o, but next time you won't be so lucky," Mum-ra faded away.
Tigra and Lion-o went over to where the others were standing around Ratha. Ratha had regained consciousness and was allowing Cheatara to dress her wound with the first aid kit from the Thundertank.
"Thank-you my friends," Ratha said hissing through her teeth as Cheatara poured alcohol over the injury. "He would have gotten the Eye Stone for sure if you had not shown up."
"If you don't stop moving I won't be able to clean this," Cheatara rebuked her.
"But it hurts," Ratha moaned.
"And it will hurt worse if you don't keep still," Cheatara said firmly. Ratha frowned but did as she was told.
"What is this Eye Stone Mum-ra was after? Why couldn't he find it?," Panthro asked.
Ratha laughed and then immediately winced from the pain, "The Eye Stone is the darkest secret of the Thinking Cat Clan. You see, we don't really think." She looked at the surprised faces of those around her and then sadly continued. "We were nothing more than what you see before you. We were hunting cats that had no wit and only basic survival skills. The colony found its way into this forest and a change came over us. We gained intelligence and powers of the mind. The pack found that it was the Eye Stones that caused the change in us."
Ratha's tone became wistful with the old memory. "There were three Eye Stones once. There was one at each of the three entrances to the forest. If you could see the Forest of Thought from the air, you would notice that its' shape is a triangle, with the places for the Eye Stones at each of the corners. When my people left, they took two of the Stones with them. The third one was to help me guard the Homelands. Also, because my Clan has been exposed to the power of the Eye Stones for such an extended time, if we are parted from it for too long we perish. I have done what I was left here to do though, Mum-ra never realized any of that. He didn't even notice that I'm sitting on the Eye Stone."
"You mean all the time Mum-ra and those mutants spent attacking the Temple was wasted, when it was here all the time?!," Tigra exclaimed.
Ratha laughed freely now, her pain eased by Cheatara. "The Temple! That is just a decoy! It was called the Temple for want of a better name!"
The Thundercats laughed along with her. Suddenly, the stone started to glow and shake. Ratha and the Thundercats jumped clear just as the stone disappeared
"NO! I did not go through all that to lose the Eye Stone now!," Ratha sobbed, "Oh no! What has happened to the Eye Stone? Without it I'll die!"
"Wait, look there," Wilykit said excited. "A fragment was left behind."
Ratha ran over to the chard, and changed into the cat-woman, so she could pick it up. The piece started to glow and Ratha along with it. The others could only watch and wait. They did not have to wait for long. The glow faded and she turned back towards them. The diamond in the center of her leotard no longer had an eye but held the symbol of the Thundercats. Much to everyone's astonishment, Ratha began to cry.
"Ratha, what's wrong?," Panthro asked.
"Half of these tears are because I am sad. Half of these tears are because I am happy," Ratha turned to them and explained. "It is possible for the Elders of my Clan to speak with me over distances this great with the aid of the other two Eye Stones, although it will leave them exhausted for months. My Elders have used their energy to teleport the last Eye Stone to the new home they say they have found. They left behind the chard so that I could live. The Elders felt my loneliness. They have apologized for leaving me in solitude for so long. They have told me that they cannot return home and they cannot teleport a living creature over such a distance, so I cannot join my people."
"Oh, Ratha, no wonder you're sad. I'm so sorry," Cheatara sympathized
"But what are the tears of joy for?," Panthro asked confused.
"My tears are also tears of joy because my Elders have given my permission to guard something else. The Code of the Thundercats! Joining the Thundercats was the only way that my Elders said I could cure my aloneness. If you would take me as a member I would be forever grateful."
"Of course, we'll take you!," the cubs cried jubilantly. They then hesitated at their outburst. "She can join us, right Lion-o?"
"Of course she can," he answered happily. "After all she has been through it wouldn't be right to turn her away," Lion-o offered his had to her and she shook it. "Welcome to the Thundercats Ratha."
The group crowded around her and cheered, "For the Thundercats and for Ratha, the newest Thundercat."
One did not need powers of the mind to read the happiness of the group. The new member would still need to pass the Thundercats induction tests and answer many questions as all new members must but one thing was certain, Ratha is most assuredly a cat for your thoughts.
The End..... For Now.....