Dissonance

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I don't own this. . . or do I? Nah, I don't. So don't sue me. I'm already in enough debt with my student loans.

Author's Notes: What. . . What is this?

What is this new story?!

What the hell. . . Felline? Felline, why is your name all over this document - waitaminute. I know what happened. Somehow, Moon, Anne and I all entered into a contract with Kyuubey. . . Somehow a wish involving giftfics happened. Haha, that would be the worst wish ever, ladies. But in all seriousness, somehow we wound up doing a giftfic exchange. We all challenged each other to write outside of our comfort zones.

This is not going to be a one-time deal, folks. In fact, I don't even know how long it's going to be. I know we have more giftfic exchanges planned in the future, but we'll have to see where and when they'll be.

Warnings: Nothing, except for stylistic things FF loves to om nom. Sappy fluff. AU. Silly things abound. . . You have been warned.

How was it that Lepra could be so strong, and she was so weak?

Felline stood, stiff and still, her hands balled into fists at her sides, her jaw clenched tight. She knew that if she relaxed just an iota, she would come loose and launch herself at the she-cats standing in front of her. There were four of them, each looking more sinister and catty than the last - and oh, how Felline wanted to reach over and smack the smug smiles off their faces. If Lepra were here, she thought, they'd be cut down by her words. Lepra wouldn't even resort to violence - she'd only have to open her mouth, and her words, as deadly as any sword, would cut them in half.

But Felline wasn't even half the cat her sister was. . . She was just the lowly second sibling, forever struggling to wriggle out of her elder's shadow. Where Lepra could outwit, outsmart, and outspeak, Felline was. . . well, nothing.

"What's the matter, cub?" The ringleader asked, quirking her head to the side. Beautiful, fiery red hair spilled over one of her shoulders, pinned elegantly by her head. The lioness narrowed her eyes, slits tightening against the beautiful sky-blue Felline saw, "Cat got your tongue?"

The other she-cats snickered.

Felline swallowed againsta tightness in her throat, trying to struggle to contain the words that threatened to spew forth.

"Oh, my, I believe she was never taught how to properly address her elders," Another piped in - a jaguar - and grinned, "Go ahead, little cub. Speak up!"

"Tell us." The third crony piped up.

"Come on, don't just sit there - speak!"

What would Lepra do?

Already, Felline could picture it: Lepra, poised above her, a frown marring her graceful and beautiful features, a wide variety of reprimands leaving her as she told Felline that ever time she brought discord on their family name, General Snow - their father - had to deal with the family name in disgrace. As his daughters, it was their job to ensure that Snow could tend to his duties as Captain of the Royal Guard. . . not Captain to the Family Name.

The lioness leaned in, a snarl on her lips. "Speak!"

Felline felt her jaw nearly crack as she clenched it - and then, just before she could swallow her words, the dam finally broke. Lepra snapped her eyes up, glaring at the lioness, who blinked in surprise at her sudden venom.

"Leave me alone!" Felline yelled, her throat tight and constricting as she stepped forward. Her own actions surprised even herself - there was no way she could be this bold and daring - that was reserved only for Lepra.

But, Felline thought with awe, that was exactly what she was being: bold, daring. . . and very stupid. She watched as her body lifted up her arm, and with surprising speed, the white-and-black speckled furry limb raced forward and slapped the lioness across the cheek. The fiery red hair splashed across the air as the she-cat moved, her features drawn wide in shock. Felline stood there, blinking at the teenage she-cat as she straightened, watching as her shock morphed to raged.

The lioness snarled something very unflattering, and Felline yelped as she jumped forward, and in a fluid movement Felline never thought her capable of, she tackled Felline down to the ground, and starting clawing and punching her, kicking and screeching. Felline tried to curl up into a tiny ball, trying to protect herself, but the she-cat was stronger and bigger and faster. The tears spilled over her cheeks, and Felline tasted blood in her mouth as the she-cat punched her on the cheek. She snarled and growled above the younger leopard in rage, cursing and swearing at her, her friends cheering her on.

"Hey!" A young, male voice cried, "Hey! Stop that!"

The lioness did not heed his words. Felline froze for a moment, fearing that Lepra had somehow stumbled upon them and witnessed yet another episode of "Felline besmirching the family name in the royal palace" but to her eternal relief, it was not her older sister. It was another young lion. Above her, her assailant did not stop - but finally did as the young lion tackled her. Felline laid there on the ground, breathing heavily, and she watched as the lioness struggled for just another second before she stilled, looking at Felline's savior.

Another lion, the same age as Felline.

Everyone stopped, and Felline felt like her gasp could be heard around the world as they all realized just who had rescued her.

Lion-O.

The prince.

Immediately, Felline scrambled up to her feet, and without hesitating, she fled. Voices called out to her back, but she ignored them as she sped away, and didn't stop until she'd finally secluded herself in the private gardens. Convinced she was finally alone, Felline walked along a hedge, and finally collapsed onto a bench, her chest heaving, and tears pouring down her cheeks. She looked down at herself, and saw she was covered in dirt, scratched, and her beautiful, pretty dress (noble clothes that Lepra always wore so much better than she did) was ripped. How she was going to explain this to Lepra, or, even more terrifying, her father?

Especially now that the prince had gotten involved. . . Oh, by Thundera, she'd really screwed up now.

Felline doubled over on herself, and her gulps of air turned into sobs as she wrapped her arms around herself and cried.

It was a mistake they'd ever left Foret, Felline thought irritably, clenching her claws around her midsection. She should have just stayed behind, lived with Master Kovu or something. She would have been more use to the scholar than she was at the royal palace. Felline hiccuped, already feeling her face get puffy and swollen as she wiped at her cheeks. Closing her eyes, she pressed the heels of her palms into her face, and she tried to stop crying.

She'd have to face them sometime, right?

She'd have to explain to her sister and her father what she'd done. . .

Felline heard a step behind her, and she gasped as hard bands looped around her waist, dragging her to her feet, and another hand slapped over her mouth and nose, pressing a heavy cloth against her face, smothering her scream. Felline struggled, kicking and writhing, thinking the lioness and her friends had come back to torment her a second time, but she heard a low, male voice hiss, 'hurry, Gatou!' and she knew they had nothing to do with this. A thick, sweet, cloying scent clogged her mouth and nose, making Felline's stomach curl. She tried to scream, but with every passing second, she felt herself getting more and more sleepy, her limbs growing heavy.

And then, before she knew it, the bony shoulder of a foreign cat was digging into her stomach, and darkness cobwebbed over her vision.

It had been hours, Felline was sure of that. She laid on the hard dirt ground, snowflakes drifting past her and settling onto her fur. In a hazy, drugged way, she just laid there and watched them, only vaguely interested in it all. Whatever they had hit her with remained heavy and hard in her systems, leaving her only semi-functional. In the weird way that drugs worked, Felline was only partially aware of the world around her, and was much more interested in the internal world of her mind, instead.

Like, she was obsessed, and amused, with the notion that she was glad to be a leopard, and not a jaguar, like the men who had captured her. Her fur was much longer, and suited to the cold - Foret was one of the coldest cities in all of Thundera - and jaguars were not suited to the cold like she was. However, in the chilly winter, Felline was surprised to find she wasn't warm. She wasn't cold, either, she just. . . Was. And that surprised her even further - when somebody was kidnapped, and drugged, weren't they supposed to be scared, cold, and hurt?

Well, she was hurt. Her wrists and ankles had been tied so tightly, the rope had cut through her fur, and cracked and broken her skin. And she was scared. . . but for what? Nobody would miss her. Lepra would get over her disappearance, and she doubted that the great General Snow would even notice that his second daughter was missing. . . or dead. Was she even alive? Felline didn't know. So that, she mused, was why she thought the jaguar's plan was so, so flawed.

They were using her as a hostage, holding her for ransom. A high ransom, no less.

And they were stupid for it. Who would come looking for her? Nobody, that was who. She was just one of the shadowy nobles that sat in King Claudus's chambers - diluted, of course, given that Lepra was the eldest, and therefore, more noble and apt to inherit everything to General Snow's name. Felline would be incredibly lucky if she could even get a fourth of what her sister would.

"It's cold!" Gatou said, his feet passing within inches of her face.

"Well, what did you expect? It's winter, nitwit. Hey. Hey, listen, did you hear that?"

"It's a frozen branch breaking, like I told you." Gatou snapped. "Now help me move her."

The other cat growled some kind of approval, and then hands wrapped around her middle, picking her up and hefting her over to a cart. Felline hit the cold wood with a hard thunk, and grimaced as a muted lance of pain shot through her.

"Gatou!" The cat said, "I heard it! Over here. . ."

Gatou growled irritably above her, cursing and swearing under his breath.

"Does it matter, you fool? We need to get back to the safehouse before anything happens. And it's cold."

"Just one minu-ghack!"

Silence.

Felline saw Gatou tense, growing suspicious, and he turned around, allowing Felline to see the wide expanses of the forest behind him. Everything looked serene and beautiful with the quickly-accumulating snow that was falling on top of everything. Felline let a small smile grace her lips as her eyes closed again. She felt exhausted, even though she was positive she'd slept for hours. The area surrounding Thundera was desert, and plains. The only forest she knew of was a decent five hours away from the outer gates.

"Jargo? Gatou asked, "Jargo, come out!"

She heard another rustle, and the sound of a sword being drawn. . . and then steel clashing against steel. Felline woke up, opening her eyes again, and watched as sparks flew. Gatou and another, much smaller opponent were going head-to-head. . . And then there was only silence again.

Felline stirred when warm hands gently brushed over her arms, finding the bindings, and made short work of slicing them cleanly. The same followed for her ankles,freeing her entirely from her bindings. Arms gently cradled her, one sliding under her neck, and the second under her legs, lifting her off the cart. They knelt, bracing her on their knee, and Felline tried to find the energy to come to.

"Hey. Hey, wake up! Are you okay?"

Her eyes fluttered open, and she blinked a few times as a blurry world of night and snowflakes came into focus. And then two pairs of crystal blue eyes, and a spiky mane of fiery red hair followed. Felline blinked.

"Lion. . . Lion-O?"

He grinned, flashing fangs at her in the moonlight.

"Yeah. Hold on, I'm going to move you - don't worry, I'll get us back home."

With speed and fluidity, the young prince somehow maneuvered himself in front of her, and hefted her up onto his back. She was too weak to hold herself, so he laced his hands together and placed them under her backside - which, in any normal situation, would have made her blush fiercely and run away screaming, but the only thing Felline thought of doing in that moment was just sitting there, letting Lion-O hold her. He leaned forward as he walked, letting her arms weakly hang over his shoulders, and Felline felt her eyes closing as the heat of his back seeped into her. He smelled nice, she mused, like Foret in the summer, but with something heady and spicy mixed in. He smelled like a lion.

Sometime into their walk, she stirred again, and her eyes fluttered open a second time. She was beginning to feel better - not anywhere near 100%, just a little better - and she blinked as she watched the snowflakes fluttering down.

"Lion-O?" She asked, her voice thick in her mouth, her tongue feeling like cotton, "Why did you come for me?"

Lion-O huffed a small chuckle, his breath clouding in front of his face. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I'm nobody," She said, tears burning in her eyes, "I'm just a cat."

That's what the lioness had said, Felline remembered. A filthy commoner stepping foot where she didn't belong, treading ground forbidden to her, pretending to be royalty when she was, in fact, nothing but low-class trash.

"No, you're not," Lion-O replied, enough conviction in his voice to make her tears stop, "You're not just some cat. You're a ThunderCat. And as a prince, it's my duty to look out for you."

"B-But how did you. . ." She mumbled, tears gathering in her eyes.

She felt him chuckle. "I followed you. I was worried about you, but it took me a little while to find you in the gardens. And by the time I did, they'd. . ." He trailed off, his voice souring slightly, but then he gave a minute shake of his head and continued, ". . . they were armed, and I wasn't. So I followed them."

For hours. He'd followed them for hours.

Felline was so touched by his words, that she felt the tears build, and then spill over her cheeks. She smiled, something small and insecure, and she whispered a tiny 'thank you' against his neck. A moment later, and Lion-O paused. "The snowfall is too thick," He said, "There's a small cave I saw over there - we'll have to stay in it for the night."

Felline mumbled her approval, and true to Lion-O's word, there was a small cave, tucked just off the beaten path. Felline normally would have been more attentive, but she still felt heady and light, like somebody had shoved cotton and fabric under her skin. She let Lion-O gently put her onto the ground, and she saw the lion hesitate, saying something about a fire, and he turned to leave. Felline battled a sudden, inexplicable wave of panic, and with an audacity Felline could barely imagine herself having, she reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Don't leave me," She whispered, "I don't want to be alone. Not anymore. I'm tired. I'm cold." Her eyelashes felt wet, already, more tears building.

And Lion-O, so unlike the other judgemental Cats she'd met, and what she'd thought he'd be, he smiled down at her. And instead of telling her she was being irrational, as Lepra would, or that she needed to hide her emotions, as Snow would, he moved, sitting down right next to her, pressing himself against her side. He wrapped an arm around her. . . and for the first time in her life, Felline actually, truly, honestly felt warm.

"Don't worry." Lion-O said, pressing the side of his head against her own, "You won't be. Not anymore. . . I promise."

Felline smiled, her eyes drifting shut again as sleep overtook her.

Despite the chill of the snowfall and the winter, Felline curled into the warmth next to her, and finally, for the first time in her life. . . she felt at peace.