Disclaimer: I do not own the Thundercats.
Chapter 6: The Aftermath
In the wake up the attack at the ampitheatre, the results have left many beaten and bruised, with many not realizing one such Thundercat is missing.
Claudea never saw the attack coming. She was too busy helping Bobbi fight off the two jackals. They were rather hideous creatures, with mangy fur and rotting yellow eyes. Despite this, they were rather tough opponents and knew how to handle their poleaxes very well.
It didn't make it any better the princess found herself becoming tired out. Still, it didn't keep her from smack-talking.
One of the jackals, a grey and tan one with black stripes running up the sides, called out to her. "Aw, is the wittle pwincess getting tired out? You must be so tired!" He then proceeded to jump onto the hire branch, still facing the litah.
"Get back here and face me if you have the guts, fleabag!" Claudea yelled out as she let loose her best lion growl.
She took one look at Bobbi-who, luckily, had the upper hand with the the female jackal. The bobcat nodded at her, letting the princess know she could go on.
Claudea nodded back and proceeded to climb up the gangly tree. She was near worn out, but was not going to back out any time soon.
Surprisingly, the jackal was still waiting for her. Claudea grit her teeth in anger as she saw a yellowed-tooth smile plastered on his muzzle. Gripping her lance even tighter, she hissed with malice, "I'm going to tear you limb from limb."
The jackal grinned even wider, "I think the only ones who're going to be torn limb from limb here are you and your dope brother." He pointed up.
Claudea narrowed her eyes and looked up. What she saw made her ruby eyes widen with horror.
What she experienced was her brother falling from the very top of the structure.
"Chiro!" she yelled, disregarding her opponent to try and catch her brother. But right then, she spotted a flashing object that was attached to her twin's shirt. The princess realized too late that it was a bomb.
With a quick BEEP BEEP, and a flash of yellow from Chiro's shirt, the bomb went off.
It was then that Claudea noticed a similar device attached to one of the structure's branches.
In an instant, all devices that were on the tree suddenly went off, consuming the arena in a fireball of red orange, igniting the entire structure on fire.
Smirking, the jackal and the other menaces slipped off, leaving the cats to their fate.
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A Few Minutes Earlier...
Lion-o ran a hand through his thick red mane as he examined the paperwork in front of him.
He had been going through the stacks for well over an hour, but they didn't seem to be getting any less and less. He'd much rather be taking a walk with Cheetara, or talking with his children.
He made a mental note of trying to get a hold of Chiro and talk to him about his blowout in the training room.
"I have much better things to do than this," Lion-o muttered to himself. "Suck it up, little brother," a voice responded from the doorway. The lion looked up to find Tygra walking toward him.
Lion-o scoffed, "Easy for you to say."
Tygra interjected, "Hey, I have as much things to do that I'd rather not to do as you do."
"And what would that be?" Lion-o asked.
"Trying to figure out how to keep your offspring from messing with my bolo whip."
Lion-o laughed as he finished writing his signature on the sheet he was currently looking at, putting it on a stack of other papers and moving to a clean sheet.
BOOM!
The room shook with such force that both brothers had to hold on to the desk to keep from falling.
After the shock wave had passed, Tygra ran over to the window to survey anything that might have caused the commotion. His orange brown eyes widened as he saw a billow of smoke rising from the palace a few yards away.
Lion-o joined him, his blue eyes also widening.
"Sound the alarm."
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Everyone was randomly flown around the arena as if they were rag dolls.
Tigress yelped in pain as she bounced several times before rolling to a stop on the concrete ground. Pardes and Tatiana found themselves pulled under the water, both of them desperately swimming to the surface. Tiro slammed hard into the stone benches, smacking the surface. Bobbi flipped a good four or five times before she halted on the ground. Claudea landed painfully on her side as her vision swam.
Pardes and Tatiana gasped for breath as they pushed made it to the surface. Pardes then swam to the edge and stretched his arm to grab Tatiana to pull her out.
"Pardes! Are you alright?" Tatiana asked tearfully when she saw him grasp his right arm in pain.
"I think I broke my arm," Pardes answered. He winced as he wrapped his good hand around the severe wound on his forearm.
Tigress lifted herself out of the small crater she made, shaking badly as she fell forward onto her marred hands and skinned knees. She grabbed Tiro, who was stumbling, and put his arm around her shoulders before putting her other hand under his arm.
Bobbi limped over, trying not to put too much weight on her left leg. Claudea's eye was closed due to the blood that ran down the left side of her face.
All of them were badly hurt. Their clothes were torn and badly scorched.
"I'll live," Tigress panted.
Suddenly, Claudea felt a chill run down her spine as a strange feeling come over. Her shaking body shook even more and her heart thumped ten times faster in her chest, as if she had eaten a whole tree of candy fruit. Her breathing became shallow, and she started sweating profusely.
She stammered out a few minutes later, "W-where i-is h-h-he?"
Everyone's heads popped up in a confused manner. "Where's who, Claudea?" Bobbi asked as she put a concerned hand on her friend's shoulder. Claudea never stammered.
"Chiro. Where is he?"
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Outside of Thundera, deep in a forest that was miles outside the city, it began to rain. Hard, cold raindrops began to make plunking noises as they made contact with the forest's river.
Drifting down the river was none other than Crown Prince Chiro.
The prince was lying on his back, unconscious as he slowly drifted down the water banks. His eyes were scrunched up in an expression of pain. His clothes were nearly burnt to pieces. His whole body was covered in second degree burns, large bruises, and deep cuts. The water around the prince darkened as his blood leaked out, making a small red trail that followed his body. His breathing was light and sounded as if it pained him.
Clearly, if someone didn't tend to the prince soon, he would surely die.
However, he was spotted.
A small, hooded figure made their way over to the river, where the prince's body shortly stopped. The figure examined him, clearly a few pieces of his blonde mane out of his face before taking him by the shirt and dragging him out of the river.
Wherever the figure was taking him remained to be seen.