Chapter 2 The Gem of Thundera
Kira looked up at the palace as the guards dragged her inside of it. It looked like a giant panther lying on its belly; the arms were walls that surrounded the path to the front doors of the palace. They dragged her to the throne room and before four thrones. In the head throne was a large, big muscled lion ThunderCat with a bushy red mane, a scar across his nose, all dressed in royal armor and with a crown on his head. Beside him were two smaller thrones. In one sat a young tiger, his hair flipped out at the sides into two tips. In the other small throne sat a lion ThunderCat who was slightly younger than the tiger, he had the same red mane as the large one but not as bushy and wasn't as muscular. His blue eyes were full of curiosity as soon as he saw Kira. Beside him was an old cat with a long white beard. He was dressed in robes that looked similar to armor but was more elegant than the large cat.
The guards then shoved her on her knees in front of the king. "This is her sir," said one of the guards, " and this is the strange bracelet," showing the king her bracelet. The bracelet started to glow a little bit.
The king stood from his seat and walked towards Kira, staring at her bracelet. "Tell us why you have a gem that has the same powers as the Sword of Omens." said the tiger from his seat.
"That's none of your business. " Said Kira glaring at the tiger. "And why is it not any of our business?" said the king.
"Because it has nothing to do with you." Said Kira. The tiger growled. Then there was a flash of red, when the flash was gone there stood a giant cheetah. (Like Moro the wolf god in Princess Mononoke.) The cheetah had ruby eyes and had a ruby on her chest. The guards stepped back away from Kira and everyone who was sitting stood up. "Be calm Kira, I will handle this." Said the giant cheetah. "I am Tafari, the cheetah God, and this is Kira. I brought her here to get away from someone who has been after her for the past twelve years. We are not here to cause any problems."
"Tafari the cheetah God, it is great honors to finally meet you face to face." said the old cat standing from his throne, walking over to Tafari. "Yes it is for me as well Jaga." said Tafari.
"Jaga, you two know each other?" asked Claudus. "We have talked many times before." said Jaga. "Yes we have, by the way Jaga, we still have to discuss a few things." reminded Tafari. "Yes I know," he turned towards Kira, "we'll make room for you to stay."
"Stay? But I just want to go home." Kira said. "And we will go home Kira, but we both know we can't right now. Not till Vexlox is gone for good." Tafari said, turning to Claudus, "I'm sorry but we need to stay for a little while. I hope it is okay with you since you are the king." Claudus looked from Tafari to Jaga, who nodded, "Fine you two may stay in the palace." "Very well, Lion-O, Tygra, why don't you show her around the palace while we prepare a room for Kira." said Jaga.
"Sure." Lion-O said, walking away from his throne, smiling at her, "Come with us." Kira followed the two outside. "So, how well can you fight?" Tygra asked her. Kira looked at him, "I'm pretty good at fighting." she replied.
Then they came to a small, empty courtyard, "Here's good," said Tygra pulling out a whip. "So we're gonna fight." asked Kira. "Tygra" Lion-O's tone warned him to be careful. "I just want to see if she can fight as well as she says." said Tygra with a smirk on his face."I can fight as well as I said." growled Kira.
"Then prove it," he added, cracking the whip. 'So he can disappear using a whip too, this is gonna be fun.' thought Kira listening for claws on stone. 'There!' Kira smiled, lifted her leg up and did a roundhouse kick throwing something back. When it hit the ground, Tygra reappeared, looking at her in shock. "How… How did you know where I was?" Tygra asked in surprise.
"Simple, you're not the first person to use a whip to turn invisible in a fight against me. Just because you're invisible doesn't mean you still don't make footsteps in the ground." said Kira.
"Impressive." Tygra said, standing up.
"Thanks."Kira said.
Kira looked around the bedroom."So this is where I'm sleeping?"
"Yeah, my room is right across from here." Lion-O said. "So if you need anything just knock on my door."
"Let me guess your father put me in the room across from yours." Kira said setting her backpack down.
"Yeah he wants me to makes sure you don't hurt anyone." Lion-O said.
"It doesn't matter where I go, I'll always be a freak." muttered Kira looking depressed. Lion-O heard her and looked at her, "What do mean by that?" asked Lion-O.
"I mean ever since the day I was born I have been called a freak. I've always been different." Kira said. "I don't think you are a freak," Lion-O said, trying to comfort the girl, coming over to her and sitting down next to her, "Some people here think I'm a freak."
"Why would you be a freak?" Kira said looking at Lion-O.
"I'm a freak because I have a thing for technology. Everyone says tech is just a myth. But I think it's real." Lion-O said.
"It is real. I should know it's everywhere back home." Kira said to Lion-O.
"Really! You have to tell me about it." Lion-O said excited.
"How about we just talk about each other?" Kira said. "Sure." Lion-O said disappointed that she wouldn't tell him about tech from her home.
"How old are you?"
"Seventeen." Lion-O said, "How old are you?" "Seventeen."Kira said. "Is Tygra you adopted brother? Because you two look nothing alike."
"Yeah he is, we just grew up together."Lion-O said.
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Lion-O asked.
"Nope, it's just me, my cousins Ty and Chee, and their dads." Kira replied.
Lion-O looked at her in surprise, "What about your mom and dad?"
"I had to leave them and my home town ten years ago. So did Ty's dad and Chee's dad. When I had to leave my mom and dad asked their brothers to go with me and they had to bring their sons with them." Kira said with a look of sadness on her face.
"I'm sorry," He said, "I didn't know."
"It's okay." she said.
For about two hours, they simply kept asking each other questions about the other's life. Kira learned that Lion-O was a simple man (cat?) who was still considered childish in the eyes of his people. Lion-O learned that Kira wasn't considered 'normal' back home, and when he asked her to elaborate, she didn't, and giving the excuse that he wouldn't understand.
Later they were called to eat dinner.
