The Men Who Saved The Future
Based of the notorious yet ludicrous Turkish 'Star Wars', 'The Man Who Saves The World'
Thundercats belongs to Warner/RankinBass.
Chapter 7: A fistful of parchment
It took only a few days before the Ram Bolkins' camp was found, as the Thundercats can tell from the smoke rising from the horizon, and light from the fire can be seen from afar. Tygra took notice of the light, and spoke to Lion-O to inform of the location.
'Lion-O, this is it. The camp the Bolkins talked about. I hope you know what you're doing', Tygra spoke as he glanced at his brother.
Lion-O looked back at Tygra and then towards the light.
'I do, and even if I don't, I must try', replied Lion-O.
They kept walking on the rolling hills, until eventually they arrived at the camp, where several horned, ram-like beings sat upon the rock circle as they tend to their pot of stew. One of them glanced at Lion-O, and grunted as he stood up.
'Who are ye strange lads and lasses trespassing our camp?', asked the Ram Bolkin, his large intimidating figure gave a menacing impression.
Lion-O replied to what he assumed to the leader of the clan.
'Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats. We seek a complete map of Third Earth, and we'll leave once we have obtained the map', replied Lion-O.
The Ram Bolkin laughed, and then turned to the other Ram Bolkins.
'Look at those cat-folk trying to pry our secrets. What do think they're trying to do with it? Roaming the land like us?', the leader of the clan spoke to the other clan members.
'We were looking for the Soul Stone, in our quest to defeat Mumm-Ra once and for all. The fate of everyone on Third Earth depends on it.', declared Lion-O, hoping that the Ram Bolkins understand the situation.
The Ram Bolkin clan leader glanced at Lion-O and the Thundercats, and decided to make a proposition.
'All right, since you dearly need the map, you can have it, but only if you proved yourself in front our band. How about you play a game along with us, young cat?', spoken the Ram Bolkin, followed by a laugh.
'What game?', asked Lion-O.
'Just a wrestling match, with arms', replied the Ram Bolkin clan leader.
The Ram Bolkin extended his arms towards Lion-O, as if he tried to challenge Lion-O.
'You win, and the map is yours. You lose, and I'll take your sword, gauntlet and everything on them.', stated the Ram Bolkin regarding the terms of victory and defeat, as he glanced on Lion-O's equipment
Realizing that failure will not only lose his weapon and armor, but also lose the Stones of Power that he had, Lion-O waivered on his decision to take the challenge. The last thing he need is to lose 2 both the Spirit Stone and the War Stone (Eye of Thundera) simply because he lost them in an arm wrestling match with nomadic ram-folk. But what choice does he had, as Mumm-Ra will obtain all the Stones of Power one way or other.
'Very well, I accept the terms', declared Lion-O, as he extended his hands and shook the Ram Bolkin's hand.
Now that the challenge is accepted, the other 2 Ram Bolkins assembled a stone table and two stones to sit upon as the Ram Bolkin leader watched. The other Thundercats were concerned over Lion-O's agreement of the terms.
'Lion-O, if you fail, you'll lose everything you could defeat Mumm-Ra with. I can only pray that the worst didn't happen upon us all', spoke Cheetara.
'We've already lost the battle before we even started it. It can't get any worse than this.', replied Lion-O, as the thought of him ignoring the dying moans of Pumyra echoed into his mind.
Lion-O let out a sigh as he thought about the odds of him failing the challenge, but he was called by the Ram Bolkin leader to start the challenge, and saw him sitting on a rock and waiting for him.
Lion-O sat upon the rock, face to face with the Ram Bolkin leader, as he sneered at Lion-O, evoking a sense of undefeatability.
'Ready when you are, Lord of the Thundercats', spoke the Ram Bolkin leader in a sarcastic manner.
Lion-O gave his hand, and along with the Ram Bolkin leader, they began to spar on the stone table as they wrestled their arms. As sweat rolled over the faces of both the Lord of the Thundercats and the Ram Bolkin chief, the rest of the Thundercats were discussing over Lion-O's condition.
'Lion-O seemed to be quite desperate to win this challenge, doesn't it', stated Cheetara. as she watched Lion-O's expression during the wrestling match.
'Failure's never an option for all of us, but for him, victory's the only option', responded Tygra, knowing how Pumyra's betrayal has affected him ever since that fateful day in Avista.
Tygra and Cheetara watched Lion-O struggle against the tough-looking arms of the Ram Bolkin leader, with almost a sign of losing.
'He can make it, I can sense the anger within his eyes as he wrestled', assured Panthro, as he looked at Lion-O's expression implying a sense of vengeful fury.
The Wily Twins, also looking at Lion-O and the Ram Bolkin's faces, understood Lion-O's emotions as they watched the wrestling continued on. WilyKit, hopeful as always, cheered him on.
'I'd never lose faith in you, Lion-O! Keep up with it!', cheered WilyKit.
WilyKat, understanding the need for morale support, cheered along.
'You can do it, Lion-O! You can beat him!', cheered WilyKat.
As Lion-O hears the cheering, he smiled, and wrestled on despite the increasing pain inflicted by the Ram Bolkin.
He then turned to the table, looking at the arms wrestling against each other and both refusing to give way. Thoughts began to unfold in his mind. He first remembered the first vision he saw from the Sword of Omens but didn't tell Jaga what was it, only to realise that those were Mumm-Ra's eyes he saw by the time Thundera's under attack. He then remembered Mumm-Ra and Pumyra's last words before the fall of Avista. Those very memories were scathing reminders of all the mistakes he ever done, all the things he could have prevented, all the thing that could have made him fail. The knowledge that Pumyra's cry for help was ignored by his desire for revenge, and her return as a vengeful spirit by Mumm-Ra's hand has reminded him of his duties as the Lord of the Thundercats, and strengthened his resolve to defeat Mumm-Ra, not only for his people, not only for Third Earth, but for Pumyra and himself. Pumyra's return to goodness will serve to redeem him for his mistakes, and allow him to better focus on redeeming his kind for their misdeeds.
Mustering every last bit of his willpower, he exerted his force upon his arm, and manages to overtake the Ram Bolkin's arm, and eventually slammed his arm upon the stone table. One victory for Lion-O after an epic scaled defeat, and Lion-O let out a sigh of relief for being able to keep his possessions. The Wily Twins jumped in joy for witnessing Lion-O's triumph, while Panthro clapped his hands in a stoic but satisfied manner. The Ram Bolkin chief admits defeat, and called one of the other Ram Bolkin to deliver the complete map of Third Earth to Lion-O.
'I must concede defeat, for you do have the strength. Consider this a deal followed through, Lord of the Thundercats, and we shall separate in peace' the Ram Bolkin declared.
After receiving the full map of Third Earth, Lion-O shook hands with the Ram Bolkin leader, and turned back as he joined the rest of the Thundercats to leave the camp. Before he left, Lion-O decided to tell the Ram Bolkins something else.
'There's a city just South-East from here. You'll find it an excellent place to find challengers, and I'm sure they'll appreciate someone to help rebuild the city', said Lion-O, mentioning about the crash-landed Avista to the Ram Bolkins hoping to find some allies.
The Ram Bolkin leader discussed with the other Ram Bolkins, and replied to Lion-O's offer.
'I'll speak to the other clans, to discuss about our new life in the city. You know whether we accept your offer or not', replied the Ram Bolkin.
As the Thundercats left the camp, Tygra patted on Lion-O's shoulder, and congratulated for his victory.
'Congrats, brother. You've finally got a grip on yourself', said Tygra.
Lion-O smiled as he walked, and replied Tygra's encouraging words.
'To be fair, the cubs were the ones encouraging me, but thanks for your support', replied Lion-O.
'I'm pretty sure your desire to bring Pumyra to your side wasn't just another romantic issue, is it?', inquired Tygra.
'She's the one who reminded me about my duties as Lord of the Thundercats, and to remind myself of the hardships of my enslaved kind. I'm going to bring her back to our side, to atone for my mistakes, just as I wish to unite all races to atone for my people's wrongdoing', answered Lion-O.
As the Thundercats made their journey back to the Thundertank to make their next move, a figure was hiding behind the upright rock. The figure turned out to be Pumyra, who overheard the conversation between Lion-O and Tygra. She can feel the sincerity of Lion-O's desire to have her turn to his side, and thought about those moment she spent with them as a spy. Without wasting her time, she quickly returned to the other generals.
As Slithe waited upon their mobile landcruiser, Pumyra make a statement of the Thundercats' progress.
'They got the full map of Third Earth, and they'll soon reach for the Soul Stone', spoke Pumyra.
'Why don't we simple ambush them instead of being of their tail all the time?', asked Addicus as he nearly lost his patience.
'Or maybe we could simple attack the Bolkin village to distract them and then steal the map from them', suggested Kaynar, itching for carnage to be unleashed from the psycho Jackal.
'Oh dear, do we really have to resort to such brute force to achieve our ends? Maybe it would be better if Mumm-Ra kicked you two out', remarked Vultaire, disappointed at Addicus and Kaynar's inability to restrain themselves and wait for the Soul Stone.
'Stop yapping, you wisebird! Smartasses like you always talk too much and act too little', retorted Kaynar.
'Mumm-Ra made me in charge of this team because I know Lion-O best. I know how he thinks and how he acts', reminded Pumyra, trying to discipline the quarreling generals.
'So, what do you think we should do, then?', asked Slithe.
'We'll just keep following them until they obtain the Soul Stone, then we ambush them and seize every Stone of Power they have', replied Pumyra in a serious manner.
The rest of Mumm-Ra's generals kept silent, and entered the landcruiser.
'Fine, I wouldn't be make noise anyhow, unlike those other 3', muttered Slithe as he entered the landcruiser.
Pumyra followed them and they left the scene cautiously without making a sound. With her as the leader of this operation, she can only hope that none of Mumm-Ra's plans fail due to the squabbling generals. All with be the price for her desire for revenge against Lion-O.
But between the words of the spacemen, and that of Lion-O and Tygra, her desire for revenge was in doubt. She wasn't sure whether the other Thundercats would accept her again even if Lion-O does. More importantly, should she turn against Mumm-Ra, would she cease to be living and 'move on'?
Pumyra shook her head, and returned her focus to the task at hand. Now cruising through the steppes, the whistling wind serves as a taste of things to come.
