Preludes to tragedy: Cheetara

by Dr Facer

As a little girl, Cheetara had a nightmare of future days, it was so dark it unleashed in her a power that put her life in danger. Fearing for her safety, her parents took her to a woman who sealed that power. *One Shot related to Embracing Dark Desires.

Disclaimer: Thundercats and all related character don't belong to me.

Preludes to tragedy,

Cheetara: Nightmares of Future Days.

By

Dr Facer

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The large plains of Thundera were vast, flat portions of land covered by grass or the occasional bush and crossed by many streams of crystalline water; these plains have been the domains of the Cheetah clan for generations and they have taken advantage of this enormous open space to not only grow large plantations of vegetables, but also to do extensive speed training in order to further increase their natural quickness. It was not unusual, then, to see two flashes of orange dart pass a smiling Cheetah woman, whose smile grew with pride as the orange blurs turned sharply twice and stopped right in front of her, revealing a young man of the Cheetah clan and a young, pretty girl no older than ten.

"It seems our little Cheetara is more than capable of keeping up with her father for several seconds now, doesn't it?" the gorgeous female Cheetah appraised as she looked at her daughter and husband.

"I think she'll be much faster than me by the time she's an adult," Cheetara's father confessed, lovingly running a hand over his daughter's hair. "That will be most impressive, considering I'm the faster Thundercat of this generation."

"I'm not sure I'll ever be that fast, father," Cheetara protested then. "I'll be more than happy if I can match your top speed for longer than I can now."

"As modest as usual," the man observed with a smile. "Do not underestimate yourself, my dear; you have potential to be the fastest member of our clan in history."

"Well... maybe," the young Cheetara accepted, not too comfortable with being on the spot like that, since she felt she still had a lot of improvement to do before being worthy of the praise. "Can we go home?"

"Sure, but you go ahead, we'll catch up to you in a moment," her mother directed. "I need to talk to your father about something."

Cheetara looked at her parents and for a moment considered asking what they wanted to talk about or if it was something concerning her, in which case, she was pretty sure of what would be said. Prudence, however, got the best of her and she just nodded and ran to her Clan's ancestral home.

"She had another dream yesterday," the mother announced once Cheetara was out of earshot. "She saw the meeting we had with Jaga concerning her future as a Thundercat. I didn't tell her about our reunion and no other member of the clan knew we had that conversation."

Cheetara's father took in a deep breath and scratched his chin in thought. "This is the fifth dream where the past was revealed to her; I guess we can safely assume that she inherited your abilities as well... interesting, our daughter has the Sight. That will only make her a stronger and worthier Thundercat."

"I know," the woman answered proudly.

"Do you know how strong her power is?"

"Not yet; she was able to see the past, but I don't know if she can do more than that," Cheetara's mother admitted. "I can see the future and project some of my visions into the minds of others if I stress myself to my limits, while our daughter has yet to see even a glimpse of what is to come... and I'm glad she can't."

"You say so because of that vision you had?" He asked. "The one about the cataclysm? It might not come true, you know."

"Fifty other seers from different families of the Cheetah Clan have had the same vision," she pointed out. "I think it is the first time so many seers have seen the same future event; this isn't something we should take lightly."

"The King isn't taking it lightly," her husband reassured her as he held her from behind to try and help her relax a little. "Jaga told me young King Claudis has already ordered the construction of a fleet of space ships large enough to move every Thunderian to a new planet. It should take a little more than a decade, but according to you and the other seers there's time enough for the fleet to be completed."

"I hope we don't have to face any unexpected complications," she said in genuine concern as she relaxed on her husband's embrace. "I really do."

Later that day...

Cheetara's mother sat on her daughter's bed and tried to convince the girl that it was time for her to go to bed. It was a task she was failing at, as her daughter, even if she was already under the yellow covers, kept moving from left to right, trying to get the point across that she was not interested in going to sleep yet.

"I'm not sleepy, mother, and I'm old enough to stay up later than this!"

"That might be so, but you trained hard today and even if your mind is awake, your body needs rest," Cheetara's mother explained. "So please be a dear and try to sleep."

"But Tygra gets to stay up later than me!" Cheetara suddenly recalled. "Why can't I stay up as late as he can? I'm almost as old as him!"

"Your friend is of the Tiger Clan," her mother stated. "They are much more accustomed than we Cheetah to being active at nights, and he is a year older than you."

"I still think it's not fair. It's not even late yet and you and father are still not going to sleep."

"It's almost midnight, Cheetara. Your father and I will go to bed soon as well," the mother said as she looked carefully at her daughter. Finding a hint of fear in her eyes, the older Cheetah finally realized why her daughter was refusing to sleep. "Besides, you already had a vision in your sleep yesterday. You won't have one again tonight."

Cheetara stopped moving in her bed and stared at her mother with a surprised look on her face, "How can you be so sure I won't have another?"

"I'm a seer, my dear. I know how this works; you won't have a vision in your dreams again any time soon, I promise."

"Well... if you say so."

"Yes, I say so. Now try to sleep."

Saying no more, Cheetara's mother stood up and walked out of her daughter's bedroom, turning off the lights before closing the door. Her promise to her daughter, unfortunately, would not be kept, for the little Cheetah's dreams were not meant to be peaceful at all that night.

The little girl found herself in a long, poorly lit corridor. She could not see an exit behind her, only a deep darkness she dared not enter but in front of her, she could see a door and light seeping from under it. Before she could do anything she was drawn towards the door and flew through it, finding herself now inside a circular room where she saw four adult Thunderians sitting at a round table. The adults in front of her were silent, and their sadness was almost tangible.

Still wondering why the grown-ups looked so sad, little Cheetara studied them carefully, trying to see any similarities with the adult Thundercats she was familiar with. By doing this she noticed something about the only female in the group, an adult Cheetah woman who wore an orange and yellow leotard; she realized the features of that woman were very similar to her own. Was she staring at her future self? If that was the case, then why was she so sad?

As if on cue, the door opened behind her and two children, a boy and a girl who both appeared to be a couple of years older than her, entered the room and stood in front of the adults. Little Cheetara felt a wave of fear hit her as she stared at the two, and she had to fight it in order to avoid screaming and waking up.

Normally little Cheetara would have welcomed the opportunity to wake from a vision that scared her, but this time she was truly curious about learning why her adult self was so affected by those two cubs she had never seen before.

One of the men, a member of the Lion clan for the looks of him, stand up and walk to where the cubs stood with a determined expression on his face.

"It is time you stopped this!" The lion demanded. "You are breaking the Code of Thundera! You are betraying what the Thundercats stand for!"

"His blabbering angers me," the female cub stated and placed her hands on her hips. "Can you shut him up for me, brother?"

"With pleasure, dear sister," the male cub answered, a sinister smile growing on his lips. "It seems the garbage here is forgetting what their place is; maybe playing with our pets will help them remember why they should obey us!"

The male cub raised his hand and as he did so a wave of darkness invaded the room, slowly taking shape until it turned into a group of hideous and huge crimson creatures with armored plates for skin and horned heads, with a large mouth comprised of four mandibles covered by long fangs and twisted hands that ended in thorn-filled tentacles.

The young cheetah girl couldn't stop a terror-filled scream as she saw the monsters that had been born out of the darkness the boy had summoned, and quickly covered her eyes in horror as she saw the beasts attacking the adults. Normally, the little cheetah would have woken from her vision, and she knew this; but as silence and cold enveloped her, she realized the vision had not ended.

When little Cheetara opened her eyes again she found the scenery had changed and she now was in the middle of an ash covered street, with several buildings burning at her right and two wounded Thunderians she was not familiar with lying on the ground. This was still scary for the cheetah, but it was far less unnerving than seeing those monsters. She heard the voice of a girl and looked back, only to find her adult self, standing at the side of the man from the Tiger clan she had seen before; they were facing the children that had summoned those horrible monsters. The little Cheetah tried to listen to what her older self and the Tiger were telling them, but because of a loud explosion inside the burning buildings Cheetara could not make out what was being said, nor what the furious siblings answered.

The little cheetah was shocked to the core by what she saw then; the twins shouted angrily and their bodies were fully covered by a thick shadow that rose from the ground. When the shadow dissipated the cubs had aged about ten years, turning the girl into a very pretty young woman wearing red clothes and holding a golden sword and the boy into a tall, handsome young man who wore white and held a silver spear. The new adults, however, oozed such evil that Cheetara could actually feel it and it chilled her bones with fear. Just who were the sinister brother and sister in red and white?

"You shouldn't have confronted us," the young woman in red scolded. "Our pets have surely killed the king and Panthro by now."

"You lie!" The Tiger yelled. "The king can't be killed so easily, he has the Sword of Omens!"

"The Sword can't help him win against us; you should know that by now, old tiger. My former fiancée is dead!" the younger woman gloated. "And soon you will be too!"

"When you die, the Thundercats will be no more," the young man in white said with an evil smirk. In a blur of motion he raised his spear, pointed it at the tiger and blasted the cat with electricity that shot from the glowing tip of the weapon.

The young man's attack was so fast the poor tiger couldn't even react and took the full force of the blast, his body shaking like a puppet before he collapsed to the ground.

The sight of the man of the tiger clan being hurt like that sent such a powerful wave of sadness and anguish all through Cheetara that she couldn't help screaming as her eyes filled with tears. Unable to understand this anxiety and strong emotional pain, the little cheetah tried to force herself out of this vision, but her efforts were useless. The dream would not end.

"Tygra!" The older Cheetara shouted, dropping on her knees next to the convulsing tiger. "How could you do this? He has been like a father to you both!"

"Don't cry about your husband…" the young woman in red said as she raised her sword. "Because I will kill you before he dies!"

And just when the golden blade was about to hit the grieving adult cheetah, Cheetarah at last found herself free from her horrible vision.

.

..

…

Cheetara's father paced nervously outside the old, but well-kept house where the Great Seer lived; he and his wife had brought their daughter here minutes ago but for the worried parent it seemed like hours. The male cheetah's mind wandered again to what had happened less than half an hour ago. He and his wife had been sleeping when without warning a strange force had blasted apart their wall, revealing behind it their daughter, floating in the air and enveloped by a golden light. This lasted only an instant, as Cheetara fell unconscious to the floor, oblivious to her literally devastated bedroom or the damage she had caused to her parents' chambers.

"What is wrong with that old hag?" The male cheetah growled in frustration and threw a worried glance at the old house, not understanding why the Great Seer had banned him from her home, only allowing his wife and daughter to enter.

With a sigh of frustration, the troubled father tried to calm himself down and failed miserably; he just couldn't stop worrying that perhaps not even the Seer could help his child.

Inside the house, two women stood in the middle of a well lit room, standing at the side of an examination table, both of them watching and tending to the unconscious girl that rested there. One of them, the mother, would gently caress the hair of her daughter from time to time while the other, an old woman of the Cheetah Clan, placed several sensors on the little girl's skin, each of them connected by red wires to a machine on the head of the table.

"This isn't the first time your daughter has had a vision, is it?" the older cheetah asked once she'd placed the final sensors on Cheetara's temples. The woman who had voiced this question was the Great Seer, a woman almost as old as Jaga himself and, in the opinion of many, just as wise. She had survived thousands of visions, had learned how to control their effects and was able to have them at will without experiencing any weakening afterwards.

"No, it isn't," Cheetara's mother answered. "But what does that have to do with what happened to her? Seers don't bring down walls when they are having a vision! What is wrong with my child?"

"Ordinarily a vision can render the seer comatose for hours, even days; that is why she's unconscious," the Great Seer reminded her as she straightened her green robe. "But I'm sure you already knew that, you too have the Sight, after all."

The old woman then looked at the readings from the machine and nodded. "And there is nothing physically wrong with your daughter, though her power seems to be too much for her to handle at this young age."

"Is she too weak to handle the visions?" the mother asked worriedly. She had heard about females whose minds were too weak to handle the gift and died in shock after only a few visions.

"She is strong enough to handle them, my dear," the elder cheetah assured her. "But she's not strong enough to handle both the Sight and her other gift at the same time; at least not at this tender age."

"What other gift?" Cheetara's mother asked, worriedly looking at her child as she caressed her forehead. "We of the cheetah clan don't have any other skills besides our speed and the Sight."

"No, that's not true. Every few decades a child is born that has not just the Sight but also telekinesis," the elder said distractedly as she once again stared at her machine and the results it was displaying. "Going by what you told me and the readings I'm getting from her brain activity, I'm certain your daughter has both."

"Telekinesis…?" Cheetara's mother whispered, finding the information very hard to accept. She had heard about that power, not much but she did know how powerful it could make the Thunderian lucky enough to have that gift, and how easily it could consume their bodies. "I'm not sure but, I remember hearing that telekinesis drains the body much too quickly, even faster than the Sight."

"Yes, it does. That is why your daughter can't handle it along with the visions; her body simply is not strong enough." The Great Seer went on thoughtfully, as if considering something. "Still, this girl has incredible potential; if she learns how to control the Sight she could eventually combine it with her telekinesis to unleash incredible power. I dare say by judging on the readings I got and my own estimations that by the time your daughter is an adult, she could easily destroy a large building on the other side of the planet if she used both of her gifts to their fullest. That is how strong this girl could be… if she reaches adulthood before the strain her power puts on her body kills her."

"Is there something you can do to get rid of the telekinesis?" Cheetara's mother asked, trying to hide her concern while she gently squeezed her daughter's hand in her own. "I don't care how strong my girl could be if that means she won't live long enough to be an adult!"

The elder took in a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair, pondering the possibility of doing what was being requested of her. "It isn't possible; her telekinesis is a part of her mind just as much as the Sight is. However, perhaps I could…"

"What? Tell me!" the worried mother pleaded. "As long as it allows my daughter to live, I'm willing to let you do anything!"

"Very well… I'll use my power to seal her telekinesis. She won't be able to access it until her body is strong enough, not even unconsciously," the elder explained in a serious voice. "She will be able to live a normal life; unfortunately, this procedure will make her slightly more vulnerable to physical strain after she has a vision. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, it is," the relieved mother answered. "Will you need my help?"

"No, I won't; please stand back while I work."

Slowly and hesitantly, Cheetara's mother stepped back, giving the Great Seer the space she had asked for. She watched what the elder did with fear for her daughter, but with an even greater fascination, as she never imagined the Sight could be used in this way.

Once the mother of the girl had given her room the Great Seer unplugged the sensors and placed her hands on the girl's temples, keeping her head firmly in place. The old woman then closed her eyes and concentrated until a shy blue light started to spread from her hands all over the body of little Cheetara; the girl's face showed some signs of discomfort for an instant, but they soon passed. After a few seconds more the blue glow grew brighter and enveloped the room for a brief moment; then the light was gone, and the Great Seer was kneeling besides the examination table, breathing heavily and completely exhausted.

"It's done, her telekinesis shouldn't manifest again until she is strong enough to handle it," the elder announced, accepting the girl's mother's help to get back up. "She put up a fight when I installed the mental blocks to her telekinesis… your girl's a real fighter, my dear; she'll be an excellent Thundercat one day. Unfortunately there's something else…"

"What is it?"

"Nothing serious; but in order to go through your daughter's mental defenses and apply the block on her telekinesis I had to push harder than I expected, and I fear that will have immediate side effects, other than the strain the visions will cause her."

"What are those side effects?" Cheetara's mother said, her attention quickly shifting from the old Cheetah to her daughter.

"Your daughter will awaken with a terrible headache; keep her in a dark room with a cool cloth for her forehead until it passes. She will also experience some memory loss; she probably won't remember anything of the last two or three days. Finally, her inner eye has temporarily closed; she won't receive any more visions for at least a month," the elder explained as she took in a deep breath and rubbed her forehead tiredly. "I'm sorry, I never meant for this to happen, but aside from the memory loss and the increased physical vulnerability to the visions she will be fine. She will grow to be healthy and strong, I promise you that."

"I'm very grateful for this, elder. If there's anything we can do for you…" Cheetara's mother said as she reached for her daughter and took the girl in her arms.

"Make sure Jaga does choose her to be a Thundercat and that she works in the palace, that's all I ask," the Great Seer said. "It's been a long time since a member of our clan served there, and your daughter's future depends on her being in the palace. Now please excuse me, I do need to rest after doing this."

"I will make sure she becomes a Thundercat, I swear," the woman vowed, holding her daughter even closer. Cheetara's mother intended to take her leave, but stopped after a few steps. "Excuse me, elder, but…"

"Yes?"

"My daughter muttered a few words in her sleep on the way here; she called out the name of a boy our family knows, a…"

"A boy from the Tiger clan, correct? I know about that, I saw part of your daughter's last vision when I sealed her power," the Great Seer explained. "If what worries you is that your daughter might marry a man from a different clan… well, given the circumstances the future might bring, it won't be a bad thing, I can assure you of that."

"And when will the seal break?"

The seer smiled a little smile at the question. "Curiosity got the best of you? Fine, I'll tell you." the Seer said and closed her eyes for a moment, focusing on drawing a vision to her. "It will happen when she's an adult; a mutant from the Vulture Clan will accidentally help her break the seal on her power. Don't worry; she will be strong enough by then."

"A mutant?" the younger cheetah asked. "But how…?"

"Enough questions for today, my dear, this old woman needs to rest," the seer said as she walked Cheetara's mother to the door. "Take that girl to her father; he must be worried sick about her by now. As for your question, well, even Mutants can be good for something from time to time, even if they don't intend to, can't they?"

"I...guess."

"Good to see you understand. Good night, my dear." Smiling one last time as she said this, the Great Seer closed the door of her house, leaving a pair of grateful parents to take their daughter home.

-END-

Epilogue,

Several years later…

Cheetarah stood at the door of the room with Tygra at her side; both teenagers were smiling at the joyful scene before them: Lady Wily sat in her bed and held her newborn twins in her arms while she smiled tiredly at her husband, who, Tygra would later recall, had never before looked so happy.

The Wily nobles looked up after a moment and quickly invited their young guests to join them so they could get a closer look at the twins. Cheetara was the first to arrive at Lady Wily's side and was deeply honored when the noblewoman offered her a chance to carry the female twin.

"Go ahead, Cheetara, she won't bite," Lady Wily said with a reassuring grin when she saw the doubt in her student's eyes. "I trust you to be careful enough not to hurt her. And you, Tygra, I'm sure our baby boy could use a hug from you as well."

Tygra did not hesitate and reached for the male twin as soon as he was given permission to, holding him as carefully as he could, smiling at the newborn with tenderness Cheetara seldom saw in his face.

Realizing then that Lady Wily still looked at her hopefully with a baby girl in her arms, Cheetara smiled and picked the baby up, cradling her carefully in one arm while softly caressing her head…

"I will kill you…!"

Those four words, spoken in a woman's voice full of hate, resonated in Cheetara's mind as soon as her fingertips touched the girl's skin, sending a pang of irrational fear crawling all over her body. She tensed up and looked away from the innocent child she held, feeling a ball of fear form in her throat. What was happening? Where did that voice come from? Was she about to have a vision while holding a baby in her hands? Starting to feel frantic, the young cheetah prepared to return the baby to Lady Wily to avoid dropping her in case the vision was violent but…

Cheetara felt something close around her index finger. Surprised, she looked down to see the baby girl had grasped her finger in her tiny hand and was observing her with an expression of… concern?

The warm touch of the baby's hand completely erased the irrational fear Cheetara was feeling, making the young cheetah reason that what she felt a fraction of a second before had been nothing more than the beginnings of a vision that in the end, had thankfully not arrived, something that had already happened to her before. Sighing in relief, Cheetara allowed herself to relax and smiled at the baby in her arms.

"I'm okay, little girl, thank you for the support," the young cheetah said softly. "I really appreciate it."

The baby, on her part, answered with a happy squeal.

"It seems she likes you," Lady Wily observed, she had noticed Cheetara had tensed up for a moment and had feared she would have a vision and as a result would drop her baby, but since that hadn't happened, the new mother had recovered her good mood.

"Yes, it seems she does," Cheetara agreed, holding the girl closer to her chest as she felt tenderness filled her heart. "And I like her too."

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Notes:

First of all, extra thanks to Adam for his incredible help with this one shot and also for his great work as a beta reader.

For this one shot I wanted to present some background to a few elements referenced in Embracing Dark Desires, like how Cheetara and Tygra had been there when the twins were born and their friendship with WilyKit and WilyKat's parents.

I also addressed a few things regarding Cheetara and the original TV show, mainly how she suddenly got telekinetic powers with no real explanation at all. I decided to try to explain it a little and at the same time tie it with, once again, events from Embracing Dark Desires.

The cartoon episode referenced in the Great Seer's final dialogues is, of course, "The telepathy beam" from season two, where Vultureman and Alluro try to destroy Cheetara's mind with the titular weapon, only managing to unleash Cheetara's telekinesis.