Ok, I finally felt like to write something (sort of...) and since I can't get the Thundercats 2011 series out of my head I decided to write a TC fic. Thanks it's weekend otherwise I would have not write anything at all!
YOU'RE WARNED BY NOW. I don't speak English actually my language is Spanish so this may have some grammatical errors. It's worth to say that first I had to write the story and then translate it to English. It's my first time doing this so I hope at least for a 6 out of 10.
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It's been nearly an hour, and there I was right in the same spot. Just meters from the Sabertank leaning against a large rock sitting on the ground looking at the sky. During the course of that hour the sky changed color, when at first seemed bright blue now was a clear mix of a darker color and orange. The other cats were sitting around the campfire but someone was missing...
I sighed and stood up, walked toward Panthro looking around and before I could say anything he got ahead. "If you're looking for Pumyra, she went scouting to the river." As if he knew what I was going to say.
"Is she alone?" I asked.
"Do you see anyone else missing Lion-O?" Tygra asked, grinning to himself. I just ignored him.
"It's been a while since she felt. Maybe she's on her way back." Cheetara said looking at me straight in the eye.
"Maybe ..." Was everything I said and went into the woods where one can see the river.
The large shadows of the trees covered most of the place. Just for a second I wondered if I could find her before she returned. I called her name a couple of times... but on second thought, not loud enough for anyone to hear me.
I reached the left bank of the river but no sign of her. Suddenly I heard a branch bending and prepared myself with my hand close to my belt, therefore near my claw shield.
"What are you doing here?" Pumyra showed up in front of me, my posture immediately relaxed and I smiled slightly. "Shouldn't you be with the others? What? Did you think I would get lost?" She added carrying one hand to her waist.
"What? No. I've been sitting on the ground for too long. I was...just stretching my legs" That was not at all a lie. "So, did you found anything interesting out here?" Smiling at her sheepishly.
She waited a few seconds before responding. "Not until now..."
I could've sworn she was looking at me when she said that, but I didn't take it for granted and just looked over my shoulder before looking back at her. "Tell me." I replayed.
"I just walked by the river. Nothing interesting about that, is there?" She was looking directly at me this time.
"So what's interesting now?" An awkward silence built up between us, was it awkward just for me or..."You were returning to the camp? I'll go with you, it's pretty late." I said heading my body to the opposite direction.
The trip back was just as silent. Pumyra walked behind me. I inadvertently slowed down my steps to walk beside her. At that moment I guessed she would say something but by then we were already at visible distance to the rest of the cats.
The general was standing close to the open gate of the tank and just smiled with his eyes closed when we appeared. "Now we're all here I'm turning on the radars and then I'll go to bed, night everyone." He dismissed himself into the huge vehicle with a 'Good night' from Cheetara and 'nights' from Tygra. We didn't reach to say good night to Panthro when we sat on a log next to each other at a certain distance.
"Where did Panthro go?" I asked looking at Cheetara. Pumyra stared at me from the corner of her eye just as Cheetara returned my gaze.
"He went to sleep. It's late and there's nothing more to do for today." She replied with a calm voice.
"Well I'll do the same, I'm tired." Said the puma next to me getting on her fit. I lifted my head up to her. "Good night everyone." She didn't look at me on her way inside the tank.
My ears fell slightly down for a second till Tygra stood up. "We should all do the same, don't you think?" Cheetara gave him a smile and stood beside him. "You coming?" He asked me.
I wasn't that sleepy but I knew if I stayed it would be kind of suspect. Then again, I had nothing to hide, have I? "Sure, after you."
Once inside Pumyra was nowhere in sight then Tygra just said goodbye. While I didn't know whether to go to my room or not, all I did was to look in Pumyra's room direction. "Are you okay Lion-O?" Cheetara asked stopping on her way to her room.
I thought I saw someone until I heard the question and looked back at her. "Yeah I'm fine. I don't have much sleep but I'll go to bed anyway." I said half smiling.
Cheetara returned the smile. "Sleep well." Then she was gone.
I didn't get to my room's door and was standing in front of Pumyra's instead. Why didn't I go to my room? And what was I doing there in the first place?! I sighed quietly and when I decided to retire I heard the door opening slowly. "Lion-O?" Asked Pumyra softly. My spine shivered. "What are you doing at my door?" Her voice no longer that sort.
I raised my head from between my shoulders and turned to see her. "I didn't even touch your door! How did you-?" I said a little nervous.
"I know. I just want something to drink." She said, closing the door from the outside. "Well, you haven't answer my question yet." She stood serious in front of me as I stepped back.
"What was I doing? Well I...I was on my way to the bathroom." I said barely trying to make my way away from her.
"You mean the bathroom that is on the other side of this corridor." She said matter-of-factly.
Whiskers...
I lowered my shoulder and started walking again. "Uh, I feel thirsty now. Weren't you too?" I turned my back and waited for her. She stared skeptical at me then we both went to the kitchen.
I turned on the light and looked for bottled water and a couple of glasses. I poured the water and gave her a glass.
"What do you want?" She asked from behind her glass of water then put it on the table. "You really think I bought that you were looking for the bathroom? You know this place better than I do." Her eyes never leaving me.
For a second I forgot I was drinking water and almost choked. "Well..." What was I supposed to do? There was nowhere to go. "I-just wanted to say good night...that's all." I quickly looked to a side.
"Good night...that's all." I knew she wouldn't believe me. Who would?
I felt stupid, I couldn't believe how terrible liar I was. Though even being the best liar there was no way I could lie to her, not to those eyes. That was the perfect time to feel like an idiot.
Was it me? Or did she look a little upset. Of course she was, she knew I was lying. So there was only one thing I could do. "Very well. Actually, I wanted to talk to you." My voice neutral trying to hide my nerves.
She leaned back on her seat. "We are talking." Crossing her arms, waiting for me to keep going.
"Right. It's just that it's been a while now since you're here and I would like to know more about you." That was true. It's been just a week since she's been around and I already wanted to know more about her, was I too fast or too slow? I wasn't sure.
Pumyra looked at me with big eyes. If I didn't know her better I would say she was about to laugh in my face. She didn't and that was my point...I didn't know her well. But that's what I wanted, was it too much to ask?
" What will be the interrogatory about?" Ok back to the conversation.
"What? No, this is not an interrogatory. You too can ask me if you want." I let her know. I had nothing to hide, at least that's what I thought at the moment.
She examined me and stood up, walked across the table and stood a few steps from me, then laid herself against the edge of the table. "Are you really over her? Your brother's girlfriend."
That was very frontal. I couldn't believe she asked me that. "Her name's Cheetara and I already told you I'm over her." Acting defensive about Cheetara was not the best idea. Also she doesn't need anyone to defend her...not me anyway.
Pumyra made noticed of my attitude and the look on her eyes wasn't so friendly, I'll say. "It's like you don't believe me and if so, what makes you think I'm lying?" I asked quickly.
"Oh I don't know, maybe the way she looks at you. Or the way you look at her when she talks to you." Was she angry? I could not believe it.
"The way she looks at me?" I've had enough of Cheetara's gaze on me to know what it means. I admit at first I always thought...you know what I thought. But I realized it was a mistake. "It means nothing." I assured her.
She just raised an eyebrow. Why she has to be so difficult? I took a step forward and locked eyes with her. The look in her eyes suddenly went from supposedly angry to surprised the moment I stood in front of her. In any case I was also surprised by the short distance between us. "I said you could ask me anything. I would like it to be about me and not Cheetara who has nothing to do here, and nothing to do with me for that matter." I almost plead.
She parted from the table, though if she took one more step forward we would be right face to face. So she stayed in place. "You're right." I did not expect that from her. "Anyway I made my question. Your turn." She looked like defeated for a second, but I knew that was not the case. Not with her, ever.
In a blink of an eye this so-called interrogatory became a Q&A game. Like she said it was my turn. For some reason I felt confident enough to ask. "Do you think that after everything that happened since you're with us...I don't know, do you like me a little more?" Just as I finished talking I looked right down to the floor. Confident yes, not as frontal as she was. Anyway, the soon that confidence came to me the soon it disappeared.
"A little more? Who said I even like you?" That hurt a little. "You have my respect as my king. You earned it and deserve it..." She didn't move forward instead slid down the side of the table. "If you don't have a more serious question I'll go to sleep. It's late." She turned around.
Was she running away? I thought. Well if she was I wasn't going to stay with arms crossed. I quickly passed the table and grabbed her by the arm and spun her around to look at me. "Wait, what you just said...I'm your king yes, that's something I can't change but is that all?"
I let go of her arm and thought she'd go away but she didn't. Now I couldn't help but notice how close her face was to mine, closer than before. "This question is not so different from the first one." Why did she look so calm? Was I the only one uncomfortable with this? Perhaps she didn't really care after all...
"Is that all?" I repeated. "Because...you're more to me than just a cat." My eyes were a mixture of seriousness and sadness but it didn't care I would not take my eyes off of her.
She looked me straight in the eye and I felt like I needed air. "I am? When she spoke, my heart jumped. "Tell me..." She was daring me.
My mind went blank. Why now?! Pumyra was backing down, she was not so patient of course...I had to say something, anything. "You...you're not like any other girl I've ever met..." She stopped.
"That can mean anything." She said quietly. Well, at least she didn't look upset. And she was right, that could mean anything.
It was now or never. "I mean...I said I wanted to know more about you. That doesn't mean I don't know anything about you, and I like what I know so far." She lifted her head up at that. "The first time I saw you, you never stopped to amaze me, fighting in that arena I mean. And after that, when you took care of my wounds, which you caused in the first place but..." Everything was fine until I said that. I shut my eyes closed.
Pumyra crossed her arms. I think she wanted to hit me...luckily, I still don't know her that well.
I continued. "Then back in the tunnels..." Remembering her words after Mumm-Ra escaped, she didn't even blame me for having lost the sword and...
"Well, you don't stay behind." She said all of the sudden. "You also surprised me more than once."
I didn't know what to say.
"I know I don't show it. But I'm honored to join you on this journey." She wasn't cross armed anymore. She bowed her head down to me. She didn't has to do it really.
I didn't want her to.
"Don't be. I feel lucky to have you come with us." I felt like saying it.
"Luck has nothing to do with it. You know I could have returned along with the other slaves back to the ruins of Thundera." Her eyes had something different.
"You did say you would follow me anywhere." I recalled. For the first time that night, I showed a smile. It was also the first time I felt so comfortable since we started the conversation.
"That was after the slaves were freed..." She smiled back.
"True. So...why did you stay then?" I definitely wanted the answer to that.
Now she had nowhere to go. She still had the door open behind her though. Stupid of me for thinking that I could corner her but she was not the escaping type. I did know that about her. "I wasn't sure then." She approached. "But I know now...and about your first question..." Her face was within an inch of touching my ear. "I do like you." Her breath was warm and all my face went hard.
Next thing I knew she was a few steps outside the kitchen walking down the corridor.
"Pumyra!" I called from the kitchen door, she stopped without turning around. "I like you too." Then I felt like I had gotten rid of a heavy weight of my chest...she was standing still.
When she finally turned to see me she found me standing right in front of her. She looked genuinely surprised. Before she could open her mouth to say something I leaned over and kissed her cheek gently. I could feel a little shiver coming from her the moment my lips brushed her face. It was nice.
"Good night, Pumyra." I smiled again and headed to my room.
"Good night, Lion-O."
When my head hit the pillow was then when I realized that what I was looking for was not what she said to me but what I said to her. I wanted her to know what I think about her. And must admit that in the end to hear what she had to say was nice too.