Thundercats: search for the soul stone ch 1.
Chapter 1: onward
Lion-O groaned and rolled over, trying to stay asleep but the sun was determined to wake him. He sat up, stretching his arms above his head. He glanced around at his team, still sleeping peacefully.
Wilykat and Wilykit used their foreverbag as a pillow, Snarf cuddled next to Kit. Tygra and Cheetara leaned against a wall and each other, in an almost sickeningly sweet way. Panthro slept across from them against the opposite wall.
Their current campsite was a well-hidden cave at the base of a cliff, but even with darkness around them Lion-O had somehow picked the only spot that allowed the sun to shine through. Deciding to be useful, he stoked the embers from last night's fire and added more firewood. Once he was satisfied with the fire he walked outside. They had traveled a good distance from the bird's fallen city to the edge of a forest with the help of their trusty Feliner. They had decided to sleep in the cave since Panthro swore one more night in that "flying tin can" would drive him to insanity.
The cave lay just beyond the forest and a stream acted as a border between the two. Picking up a thick stick, he broke the top off to create a makeshift spear. He approached the stream, careful not to cast his shadow on the water. He soon spotted a large fish and was about to spear it when a branch snapped in the woods. Freezing in place, Lion-O looked up sharply. He waited, no other sounds followed, no movement.
"Probably just an animal." He whispered to himself. He quickly finished fishing and headed back to the cave, all the while feeling like he was being watched.
Back in the cave, Lion-O added a few sticks to the fire before setting the fish to cook on spits. Panthro had woken up while Lion-O had been gone and was busy tuning one of his arms.
"Nice catch." He commented as the young king finished prepping the fish.
"Thanks." Was all he said in reply, his mind distant.
"Still thinking about Pumyra?" Panthro guessed. It had been four days since her betrayal.
"How could you tell?" Lion-O asked.
"Just a hunch. You need to let her go, she made her choice and you've made yours..." He was interrupted by Kat and Kit suddenly sitting up, Snarf rolling ungracefully from Kit's arms.
"What smells so good?" Kat asked.
"Fish!" Kit said happily.
"They're just about done." Lion-O said as the kittens moved to be closer to the fire. Kat's stomach gave an audible growl, causing his sister to chuckle at him. Rolling his eyes at her he happened to spot where Cheetara and Tygra were still sleeping. He nudged his sister and gestured over to them.
"Ooo, check out the love birds." He teased.
"I think it's sweet." Wilykit replied.
"You would." Wilykat chuckled, poking his sister.
"How about you two go wake them up?" Lion-O suggested evilly.
Kat went to wake them. Right before he got there, he tripped over Snarf, who let out a yowl of surprise, and landed in Tyrga and Cheetara's laps. Both startled awake and looked down at the kitten.
"Morning!" Kat said, grinning sheepishly. Tygra growled in annoyance before shoving him off of them. Kat quickly scrambled away, everyone else laughing at the antics.
"Haha, very funny." Tygra grumbled as he stood, helping Cheetara to her feet too.
"Well someone's a cranky pants this morning." Wilykit teased as they joined the others by the fire and accepted the fish handed to them by Lion-O.
"Eat up, we've got a long trip ahead of us." Panthro interrupted before anyone else's fur was rubbed the wrong way.
Everyone ate quickly and cleared camp. Soon they were flying over the woods.
"When are we gonna land this thing?" Panthro moaned.
"When we've found the soul stone." Lion-O replied.
"We've been flying for hours, how much longer?" Kit whined.
"We'll fly as long as we need to." Tygra growled, the kitten's whining grating on his nerves.
"But it's so boring in here." Kat complained.
"Don't you have toys in your foreverbag?" Cheetara asked.
"We're bored with those." Kit replied as if it was the most obvious thing in third earth.
"Then look out the window." Cheetara suggested. The kittens soon made up their own game of trying to figure out what the other saw out the window. All was peaceful, with the exception of Panthro mumbling about missing the Thundertank.
"Panthro, just take a look at the scenery." Cheetara tried to encourage him.
"No way. I'm not leaving this spot until this hunk of metal touches ground." Panthro growled from his chair.
"Panthro's a scaredy cat." Kit said in a sing song voice.
"What was that?" Panthro snarled at her.
"Nothing." Kit said, quickly scurrying out of his reach. After a few more grumbles, Panthro fell asleep.
"Arg… he snores so loud he could wake the trees." Kat groaned.
"At least he stopped moping." Tygra chuckled.
"And besides, Tygra snores worse than him." Lion-O teased.
"Hey…" Tygra growled. As the brothers were about to get into another argument, they were interrupted by a shockwave of energy that made the whole Feliner shake in midair. The whole craft began to tremble and lose altitude.
"What's going on?" Lion-O asked.
"Something's messing with the engine. All power's down, we're going to have to make an emergency landing." Tygra replied. He scanned the area and found a clearing. After a few precarious moves, he managed to shudderingly land the Feliner.
"We're there already?" Panthro asked, having startled awake at the abrupt landing.
"Not exactly." Cheetara told him what happened.
"The whole system's dead, not even the Book of Omens is working." Tygra remarked.
"My arms seem to be functioning still." Panthro said, flexing his robotic fingers.
"This is just weird." Kit said.
"What do you suppose went wrong?" Kat asked.
"We'll have to take a look at the engine." Tygra said standing up. He and Panthro headed out to check. Lion-o was messing around with the Book of Omens, trying to get it to work.
"I don't get it, the engine is intact, we've got plenty of fuel. By all accounts we should be operational." Panthro huffed, crossing his arms angrily.
"Obviously that shockwave must have done something." Tygra said.
"The question is where did it come from?" Cheetara asked the question they were all thinking.
"I don't know, but it looks like we're walking. The last direction the Book was pointing was north." Lion-O answered. They gathered their supplies and headed out into the unknown.
"This place reminds me of Magi Oar." Kat remarked after they had been walking for a few hours.
"Only not as creepy." Kit nodded.
"And Magi Oar didn't have so many bugs." Tygra growled as he slapped a mosquito off his arm.
"Meow!" Agreed Snarf as he used his tail to whip away a particularly large bug.
A few hours passed as they continued to march through the forest, the ground becoming spongy under their feet from the moss and dead foliage carpeting the ground.
"I wish we had the Thundertank or the Feliner." Grumbled Wilykit as she yanked her skirt from yet another thorn bush.
"You and me both, kid." Panthro wiped his brow, "even flying would be better than this."
"Are you sure the Book was pointing us in this direction?" Tygra asked Lion-O.
"It's kind of hard to check since the Book stopped working." Lion-O growled in frustration.
"Well, which way is north?" Cheetara asked.
"I can't tell, there's no landmarks, we don't even have a map." Lion-O replied.
"What do we do now, whoa!" Wilykat asked before disappearing into the ground.
"Kat!" Kit called. The others gathered around the now apparent hole.
"Kat can you hear us? Are you alright?" Cheetara called down.
"Yes! But I hurt my leg." Kat called back, "wow, you guys gotta come look at this! There's pictures all over the walls!"
"Can you see a way out?" Lion-O asked.
"No." He paused, "wait, yes I see one!" Kat called back, then after another pause, "hey Lion-O, one of these drawings looks like you!"
"What?" Lion-O said in confusion.
Panthro cut down the thickest vine he could find, and they all climbed down. Kit reached her brother first.
"Oh, Kat. You scared me." She said as she hugged him.
"I'm fine sis." He said, returning the hug. While Cheetara checked Kat for injuries, the others looked around. It was a large cavern, moss covered the ground and spotted the walls. Carvings and paintings decorated the walls and ceiling.
"By Thundera." Breathed Lion-O in awe. Upon closer inspection many of the figures appeared to be cats. A mix of cats led by a lion.
"See Lion-O, he looks just like you." Kat said as Kit helped him up, Panthro handed the kitten a long stick to use as a crutch.
"Yeah, if he had bigger hair." Snickered Tygra. He was right, this lion's mane was much larger than Lion-O's. Grumbling Lion-O ignored his brother and looked closer at the paintings. It appeared to tell the story of two lions, brothers if he had to guess. They clasped hands in one scene, in the next one lion was kneeling before the other. The standing lion held what appeared to be the Sword of Omens. In the next scene there was a mass of cats leaving behind a fortress marked with the Thundercat emblem. The next few depicted the cats who had left traveling across many lands, meeting some of the very same beings who had met and helped Lion-O and his friends. Fishmen, elephant, and even few tigers joined the group. At the end there was the lion standing in front of a great city, surrounded by woods. The lion stood with an elephant, a monkey, what looked to be a tiger shark and was surrounded by different animals, all bowing to them.
"It looks like it depicts a great voyage." Cheetara remarked.
"Who's though?" Tygra asked.
"I don't recall any Thundarian legends about two lions." Lion-O said, tracing a hand over them.
"Probably for good reason." Panthro said, clearing a bit of moss to show a hidden painting of a red dagger.
"Hey Cheetara, what kind of…" Wilykit was asking when a snap sounded through the cavern. It was followed by the scuffling of feet.
"There!" Shouted Tygra, pointing at a cloaked figure running away from them. Without another thought, they chased after him. Cheetara ran in front of the being, but just as she was about to grab his cloak he jumped, soaring away in a long arc.
"You're not getting away that easily," Cheetara said, quickly using the trees to leap up after the being. With a downward strike of her staff, Cheetara knocked the figure out of the air. The being grunted as they were struck down, plummeting head first toward the ground.
"I got em!" Panthro called as his robotic arms reached to catch the being. Moments before he could the being flipped around and used his arm to launch themselves towards the ground at an angle. They rolled, stumbled briefly, but continued running in a Tygra's direction.
"Got you now!" Tygra said. As they made to jump over him, Tygra snapped his bolo whip up to tangle the figure's legs, whipping them hard into the ground. With a shout the being landed hard on their back, the air rushing from their lungs, and was soon surrounded by the four Thundercats. The being struggled up, hood falling back to expose her face. She was a cat, her gold brown fur was patterned lightly with darker swirls, her dark reddish-brown hair was tied back in a messy uneven braid, and her long ears had little black tufts on their tips. Her eyes, open wide as she gasped for breath, revealing a milky-blue color. She growled and hissed at them in between her coughs for air, ears flicking at their every move, her hands fumbling to untangle the whip from her legs. Panthro glanced to Lion-O, eyebrow raised in silent question. Lion-O looked to Cheetara and Tygra with the same question.
"Who are you?" Cheetara asked, voicing their question. The blind cat turned towards the voice.
"Someone who has nothing to offer if you're thieves." She growled back.
"Why did you run then?" Panthro asked, cracking his robotic hands threateningly.
"Self-preservation. You never know who you'll run into out here. And judging from current experience and sounds, you lot are not exactly friendly." She seemed to have calmed a bit at least, no longer growling, sounding more irritated, "if you're gonna finish me off, then do so. I'm not exactly a hard target right now."
"We're not going to hurt you." Lion-O said, met with a scoff.
"Could've fooled me." The cat huffed.
"Why are you in the middle of these woods?" Tygra asked.
"I live here. Have all my life. If you're not gonna kill me, mind letting me up?" She gestured at her still bound legs.
"Tygra." Lion-O prompted, albeit hesitantly. The tiger responded by flicking his wrist, releasing the cat. She stood shakily.
"Thank you." She said dryly.
"Who are you?" Cheetara repeated her earlier question.
"I'm Cara of the lost clan." She said. For such a strange title she said it with a great amount of pride.
"And you are?" She asked expectantly.
"I'm Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats." Lion-O spoke, ignoring the slight eye role from Tygra.
"Lord of the… Your Highness." Cara fell to one knee in a bow. "Please excuse my earlier rudeness. Had I known who you were I would never have acted in such a manner." Lion-O scratched the back of his neck, this was new, most of the time he was met with scorn when he referred to his title. Tygra snickered and that brought Lion-O back to the present.
"Um… think nothing of it. please stand." Lion-O addressed Cara.
"Thank you, highness." She stood, looking at him with vacant eyes. Her ear flicked and she turned towards the way they'd come.
"Hey!" Kat called, joining the group with Kit supporting him and Snarf running ahead.
"Thanks for waiting for us." Kit said sarcastically.
"Sorry" Lion-O said in chagrin.
"That's ok, on the way I found some berry bushes, anyone want some?" Kit asked, pulling out a bag.
"What color are those berries?" Cara asked.
"Red," Kit answered in confusion.
"Dark red, like blood?" Cara asked.
"Yeah." WilyKit said, pulling out one of the berries for the others to see.
"Did you eat any?" Cara asked, a note of urgency laced her voice.
"I tasted one or two." Kit admitted. She suddenly dropped the bag, grabbing her stomach and coughing harshly.
"Come with me, all of you." Cara said before racing off into the forest.
"Do we trust her?" Tygra asked.
"It seems we don't have much of a choice," Cheetara said.
"Hurry up now!" Cara called over her shoulder. The Thundercats looked at each other before following, Tygra carrying Kit while Panthro carried Kat.
She led them to an odd tree with a door carved out of the bark. She opened it and tried to usher them inside.
"It's so dark in there, how do we know it's not a trap?" Tygra asked.
"There's no time for this, get inside you big fraidy cat." Cara said, entering the dark space.
"Lion-O?" Tygra said in a worried tone.
"Kit's getting worse we don't have a choice." Lion-O said. As the group resignedly entered the hollowed tree Cara closed the door behind them. With the door closed a warm glow began to fill the room, emanating from some strange flowers laced around the tree.
"Sit them down over there." Cara pointed to an angled bench and table carved from the tree itself. The blind cat began rushing around, collecting leaves, and flowers, mixing them together in a motor and pestle.
"I don't feel so good." Wilykit groaned, her cough growing harsher, beads of sweat rolling down her face. Cara moved faster, quickly putting her mixture into a pot over a stove and boiling it. No, the water had already been boiling on the stove when they entered. How strange, Lion-O thought.
Cara ladled the strange brew into a cup and walked toward Wilykit.
"What's your name?" Cara asked, voice somewhat gentler than their earlier encounter.
"Wilykit." Kit answered, holding her stomach as her face turned sickly pale through her fur.
"Hmm, sounds quite young," Cara murmured to herself before adding a sprig of something to the cup, "drink this. Don't leave a drop."
"What is it?" Kit asked suspiciously.
"No time for questions, drink." Cara said, groping for Kit's hand and pressing the cup into it. Kit hesitantly sipped the mix, her tail shooting up in surprise.
"It tastes like candy fruit!" She exclaimed and drank the rest in a few gulps. Kit finished and gave the cup back to Cara, already regaining her normal color. Cara ran a finger through the cup, rubbing her fingers together to check for moisture.
"Good girl." Cara said before walking away and gathering more ingredients.
"Who are you, exactly?" Tygra asked.
"One moment." Cara said, fixing up another brew. "Here," she threw a container in Tygra's direction, which nearly hit him in the head, "help the other one with his injury. I can hear his muffled gasps of pain from here." Cara brought out other mugs and placed them on a tray. She then ladled her new mix into them and joined the group, placing the tray on a table in front of them. She moved so nimbly through the room it was hard to believe she was blind.
"Please, drink up." She nodded to the mugs, taking one herself. She blew on the mixture before taking a sip. "My father would always say questions are always better when asked over a warm drink."
"Who are you, and what are you doing in the middle of this forest?" Tygra asked, an irritated growl behind his words.
"As I said earlier, I am Cara of the lost clan, I've lived in this tree since I was a cub."
"What exactly did Kit eat?" Cheetara asked, looking at the kitten in concern. Kit honestly seemed to have no lingering side effects even though she was curled up in pain just moments ago.
"She ate bloodberries, they're poisonous if ingested. I simply gave her an antidote." Cara answered, taking another sip, "why isn't anyone else drinking? It's perfectly safe, a mix of candy fruit bark, crystallized honey, lemon grass and clover. It energizes and cleanses the body, it was my grandmother's recipe." She explained. Everyone looked at one another and simultaneously picked up a mug, Snarf hopping up on the table to get his. Kat and Kit were the first brave enough to drink it, followed by Cheetara, Tygra, Lion-O, and finally Panthro.
"It's delicious." Cheetara said. Murmurs of agreement were heard around the table. Even Snarf let out a merrow of approval.
"I'm glad you approve." Cara said,
"Cara, what kind of cat are you?" Kat piped up from his seat.
"I'm a caracal. I take it you've not met any since you ask." She replied smoothly. Her ears would flick, and her vacant gaze would be aimed at whoever was speaking to her at the moment. Loin-O watched her interact with the others and her surroundings curiously. He'd observed General Lynx-O back at the palace and many of Cara's mannerisms matched. Moving around her home easily except for the time she nearly tripped over Snarf. Every step, every inch of the dwelling must have been memorized carefully.
"A caracal? I haven't seen one in years." Panthro said, leaning forward to look at Cara better.
"Let me guess, panther?" Cara asked.
"How could you tell?" Lion-O asked.
"Honest guess, highness, based on the name and how big he sounds." Cara shrugged. "If that was right then there's also a cheetah, tiger, a lion of course, and two smaller cats in this group." she gestured to each as she went through her guess.
"And Snarf." Kit tagged on.
"And Snarf." Cara nodded, slightly confused as to what exactly a snarf was.
"You're blind too right?" Kat said, earning him a look from Cheetara.
"What? Never seen a blind cat before?" Cara asked sarcastically, "I certainly haven't." She chuckled at her own joke earning a hesitant laugh from the others. She shrugged off her cloak since the tree was much warmer than the chilly shadows of the forest. She wore a simple green tunic and a pair of tan pants that reached her knees. Both were threadbare and hung loosely on her, looking like they were meant for a cat twice Cara's size.
"Anyone hungry?" Cara asked, changing the subject, she walked away and opened one of the many cabinets set into the tree. She pulled out fruit and dried fish before returning with them to the table.
"How long have you been here?" Kit asked, looking around the tree in wonder.
"This tree has been in my family for many generations, it was known as the healer's tree. My many times great grandfather carved it with his own claws." Cara said proudly. Snarf jumped lightly into Cara's lap as she sat down, making happy sounds as she stroked his back and scratched his ears.
"Aren't you a funny thing." Cara smiled as she stroked him, using her hands to see the creature in her lap.
"That's Snarf." Wilykat said, taking a bite of fruit.
"Ah. My mother had something like him once, but it ran off when I was young." Cara said, tickling Snarf under the chin.
"You mention your parents, where are they? Out hunting?" Panthro asked. Cara stopped petting Snarf. Turning her blank stare to Panthro's direction she replied, "They're dead. As is the rest of the lost clan, at least those who stayed here."
"That's so sad." Kit said. Cara stood, pushing Snarf off her lap, who let out a merr of protest.
"The forest can be a cruel place to anyone, even to those who thought they'd tamed it. Now why are you all in the Forest of the Lost?" She asked.
"We're searching for…" Tygra began.
"Excuse me but I was addressing Lord Lion-O." Cara interrupted.
"We're looking for a power stone, known as the soulstone." Lion-O said.
"Light blue, shines with an unearthly light." Cara questioned.
"That's it exactly! Lion-O said surprised, "do you know where it is?"
"Hmm… nope. I'm sorry but I have no idea where to look." Cara shook her head, her left ear twitching.
"But you just described it perfectly." Tygra said, raising an eyebrow.
"I don't know where it is any more, but I did see it once." Cara sipped at her drink.
"Where?" Panthro asked, gettin irritated by the caracal's obvious stalling.
"The city to the north of here, but I don't know if that city still stands. It could have been swallowed up by the sea by now for all I know. Best to head back to Thundera." Cara stood, taking her cup to a pump and basin to rinse.
"We can't, Thundera fell." It had felt like it had been ages since the fall, but it hasn't even been a year. It was an odd thought to all of them, especially those who survived it.
"How… that's impossible. My father said Thundera was the strongest city on all of third Earth." Cara was genuinely shocked by the news.
"Not quite." Tygra said ruefully.
"I'm so sorry. How did it happen?" She asked. And so, they told her how Thundera fell, the return of Mumra, and their quest so far.
"So, you're looking for the last stone." Cara said, like she was mulling all the new information around in her head.
"We already told you that." Panthro said.
"Is there any way you could help us?" Cheetara asked. Cara sat in silence. Her unseeing eyes once more fixed on the cup in her hand. Finally, she stood and spoke.
"The sun should be setting soon, you are welcome to spend the night here, it would be wise to let Kit rest and her body to clear out the poison. I have room upstairs, in the old infirmary. I will give you my answer in the morning." Cara said as she cleared the table.
"Fine. Since this is the best shelter we're likely to find out here." Tygra grumbled.
"Thank you." Cheetara said.
"You're welcome." Cara said, "and since I know you don't trust me here's the key to the room." She held out the key, waiting for someone to take it. After realizing she meant him, Lion-O accepted the key and the group headed up the stairs. The blind caracal cleaning up the mugs and food as they left.