Chapter VIII

"Sword of Omens, give me Sight Beyond Sight!"

The Eye of Thundera glowed bright and the metal of the hilt shifted as Lion-o invoked its power. His mana flared brightly as his energy synchronized with that of the sword, normally Cheetara found Lion-o's mana uplifted, energetic, with a golden flame color. Right now it was blue.

But that was unsurprising. To examine her own she was sure to find a caste of gray or aqua, it was apparent in the Kits as well, though to a lesser degree. Only Tygra was different. His had also been blue previously. But as their trek had worn on and as they searched the area for the temple his became increasingly darker until it became purple. Now it was almost red.

"Have you found anything, yet?" Tygra asked impatiently as the glow from the sword faded and Lion-o let the sword down from where he'd held it before his gaze, he didn't turn to face them or respond. He raised the sword again and gave the command once more. "How long is this going to take?" Tygra huffed angrily, the red color becoming more prominent, blue fading quickly.

"The temple is well hidden," Cheetara cut-in, "It's a testament to our predecessors and their abilities that even when we're so close it's difficult to find. We should be glad since Mumm-Rah certainly hasn't found it. The sword will show the way."

"Of course it will." Tygra sneered turning away again. Cheetara bit back some cutting remark, knowing it wouldn't help matters. Honestly they were all on edge since the destruction of the underground city. Tygra took up a pace along the dirt ledge again. The kits were quiet observers, though they sat quite close with Kit leaning a little on Kat. Cheetara for her part felt oddly empty. There was so much loss already, and this would not be the last of it. It did no good for them all to bottle themselves up and mope or get angry or cope with the damage and loss they felt, but there didn't seem to be an alternative. No matter how close they all were, having risked their lives for each other and fought alongside one another, there was still a distance that seemed unsurpassable at times like these.

Honestly, just reading auras at least the Kits were drawing comfort from each other, Tygra was turning any sorrow he felt, slowly but surely, into some form of rage or irritation, but Lion-o's aura had remained that solid sorrowful blue for hours now. He was probably the one most damaged by it. As the leader of their group his feelings of responsibility were probably the source behind it all. Even if she could guess at the cause there was little Cheetara could actually do. At this moment they were all very closed off from one another.

"There!" Lion-o said finally as the glow faded from the sword again and he turned to face the group. He was smiling but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I think I found it. There's a shadow on the other side of the ledges there, I think it's a doorway of some kind, it should be the entrance of the temple."

"About time." Tygra huffed irritably as he started off towards the direction Lion-o had indicated. The kits followed next, Lion-o and Cheetara moved after them as well.

Cheetara caught his arm before Lion-o moved too far ahead of her. "Lion-o," Cheetara started, "If you need to talk, about anything, you know I'm here."

"Yeah, I know." Lion-o said, smiling again. It still didn't reach his eyes and the blue aura flickered nervously. Cheetara sighed.

"I know what happened is bothering you," she tried again, "It's bothering all of us, but you-!"

"I'm fine." Lion-o cut her off. "I know, really, but I'm fine." He told her calmly. She released his arm and he gave a reassuring pat to her shoulder before following the others. She had tried to reach out to him, but he had rejected her attempt; there wasn't anything left that she could do about that.

It was strange, sometimes it seemed like Lion-o and her were close, but now the distance was apparent. The same could be said for Tygra or the kits. Tygra sometimes seemed like maybe he appreciated her, as a warrior, as a friend, or… something else, but that didn't mean in his current mood he didn't snap and sneer at her too. It felt lonely.

OoooooooooooooooO

It felt lonelier to bear the blame. Lion-o wasn't fine, but he would be, he had to be. Because there were still people depending on him, he couldn't waver now; or else every sacrifice up until now would be so pointless. He wouldn't be able to stand it, he still couldn't. But if he could make those deaths mean something, maybe he could find peace in that. The first step was to get the Book of Omens.

The five of them entered the cave, and after walking through to the dark and dank inside they found an iron door, locked tight.

"Just break it down." Tygra suggested drawing his gun and aiming at the obstacle.

"Wait!" Cheetara cut in, "We know the temple is going to have traps and safety measures in place, we can't just charge in unthinking."

"Then how do we open the door, cleric?" Tygra asked, impatient. Cheetara scowled and folded her arms.

"Part of the reason the door has stayed locked this long is the energy source protecting this place," Cheetara explained, "We should try to find that and disable whatever pitfalls are inside as well as the door."

Tygra huffed and turned toward Lion-o, "And what does our fearless leader suggest?"

The blue color flared as he looked between his brother and Cheetara before he shook his head. "Whatever will get us to the book faster, I guess."

"You guess? What, can't make a decision anymore?" Tygra asked, turning away when Lion-o didn't respond. "Fine by me." He aimed the gun at the door lock and fired.

The loud clang of metal and the fizzle of the guns shot and accompanying smoke left the door cracked open with the lock broken off, the handlebar in shambles. Tygra stepped forward to pry the doors open the rest of the way.

The way beyond was dark and cool, so the five set off into the deep of the temple cave. Cheetara left a fleeting touch on the door as she followed the others past. There was no more mana left in the door, it had fled… but the air around them still felt static with the rampant energy.

They walked in silence, Tygra leading the way, Cheetara in the back. The kits walked close together, their arms hung side by side, if either reached out a bit farther they'd find the other's hand. It was a comfort in the quiet and the relative chill.

"From tunnel to tunnel, huh?" Kit gave a short laugh, trying to ease the tension that had been getting progressively heavier as they walked. "Nothing but tunnels. After this, I think I'll have had my fill of traveling underground."

Looking ahead however, she couldn't see Tygra or Lion-o anymore. Glancing behind, Cheetara had vanished too. "Kat!" he hand reached out reflexively to the presence beside her, only he was gone too. "Kat? Kat, where are you?"

Kit spun around, but she couldn't find any of her teammates; actually she couldn't even see the tunnel. Everything was gone and she was standing in some open featureless expanse. Just what was happening? "Kat!"

"Stop shouting, stupid, I'm right here."

OoooooooooooooooO

For his part, WilyKat didn't know what was happening either. Everyone was gone and he had no idea where he was anymore. He could hear Kit calling for him.

"Kat? Kat, where are you?"

"Kit?" he called back, "I'm here! Where are you?" but he couldn't see her anywhere, he couldn't see anything, "Kit!"

"She won't hear you." A stranger appeared, speaking with a familiar voice and familiar face. WilyKat knew the sound and sight well. It was his voice and his face. His own likeness stared back at him, like the wrong side of a mirror that watched him with disdainful eyes. "She's so pathetic, she can't do anything without us. Really, how worthless."

Kat felt a shudder as he gaped at this strange doppelganger, "What?" how could he speak with such revulsion. He and Kit had been together forever; he would never…

"Yeah, yeah, we'd 'never' say something like that about 'adorable' little 'Kit,' would we?" his reflection responded snidely. "Yeah right. I am you, you know." Beyond a seeming wall of fog WilyKat could finally make out his partner, turning confused and looking just as lost as he was. Kat's doppelganger sighed, "Better not keep her waiting, right?"

"Kat!"

"Stop shouting, stupid, I'm right here." Kat's copy said as he turned away from Kat and walked toward Kit. She turned toward the sound of his voice, shock and relief registering in equal parts. Kat rushed towards them.

"Kit! It's not me! Don't listen to him-!" Kat reached towards them and found himself encountering an invisible wall of stone, it repelled him and he flew backwards landing with a cracking sound on his back.

"Kat, you're okay!" he could still hear Kit's voice, "Everyone else is gone! I can't even tell where we are. Do you have any idea what's going on?"

Kat's copy sniffed, "Stop whining. What does it matter, anyway?"

"Huh?" he could hear her shocked response, and he struggled to his feet quickly to try again.

"Don't listen to him, Kit!" Kat shouted, and the echo of his doppelganger's voice came back to him: 'She won't hear you.' Kat rose up and moved toward the barrier again. This time he met it with his hands and followed it to the side. It didn't open at all – he could circle all around them but there wasn't any opening.

"You rely on me way too much, you know that?" Kat's copy was telling her, annoyed, "Can't you ever do anything yourself? Can't you figure things out on your own for once?"

Kit's jaw set and she glared at the copy, "Well, I 'can' but I-!"

"You're so useless." The copy sighed and shook his head, "Guess you can't help it though. You've been useless from the start."

"Kit! Don't listen to him!" Kat shouted banging his fists uselessly on the barrier, "Kit, can't you hear me? Kit!"

But she couldn't hear him. The look of indignation fell as her eyes widened and her whole form fell into tension. Her mouth was set in a small line and her tail twitched anxiously.

"Don't listen! That's not me! That's not what I think!"

"You'd be dead so many times without me here to protect you." The copy jeered, "And what thanks do I get? You're not only useless; you're ungrateful. Seriously! We join up with other cats and then you're all googly-eyes for somebody else who's willing to protect you, huh?"

"It's not true! I'm not-!" Kat fell. His hands hurt from pounding against the barrier. They couldn't hear or see him. He couldn't help her. But there was something else he was realizing, something much worse.

The copy had said, "I am you, you know." It also wasn't completely true that he'd never thought about it. When they had first met up, Kit hadn't been nearly as strong as Kat. It was a lie to say he'd never thought she was weak or useless sometimes.

"But I don't feel that way anymore!"

Even if it was true that he felt like he was losing her sometimes, that he was being replaced; and traveling with the others was separating them. He knew that couldn't be true. They had been through too much, they were always there for each other, it was inconceivable that one might exist without the other. He had no way to confirm that she felt the same; but he had to trust that.

"Kat… you know that's not…" Kit started but fell silent.

Kat felt a cold spike drive through him. On the other side of the barrier Kit faltered under the copy's cold gaze and accusations. What did that mean? She was hesitating… did that mean there was some truth there? She really didn't feel the same; that they were inseparable, that they alone had something unbreakable.

No.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Kat's doppelganger spat, glaring Kit down as despair threatened to swallow the one on the other side of the barrier.

Kit fell to her knees, her hands grasping uselessly at her sides and then curling protectively to her chest as the figure of Kat rained down insult after insult. She had thought they'd made it past that. At one time, maybe she had been weak, maybe she had been useless. But she'd gotten better; they had been happy together right? Why now… why did Kat hate her so much? Had he thought that this whole time?

Kit's fingers closed around cool metal and her eyes focused on the small metallic device around her neck. Kat had given this to her. He'd been smiling when he did; his golden eyes had been bright and sunny then too. Their laughter reached their eyes and spread between them until they didn't know who had started. That was how it was supposed to be. This shadow couldn't be Kat. Not her Kat.

"What now?" the copy's voice sneered as Kit rose to her feet, breathing deeply and letting the tension drain from her. She smiled, and the copy reared back.

"I thought it was funny." She shook her head, "You're not Kat. The others are gone too, so there's no way you're my Kat."

"Oh? These are my true feelings, you know." The copy sniffed, "You're just being stupid again aren't you?"

"I'd be stupid if I believed you." Kit declared, louder this time. From behind the barrier Kat looked up too, momentarily confused. "Even if Kat did feel that way, this isn't how he'd tell me. Besides," she said looking back at the device in her palm, and remembered clearly who had given it to her and what they had felt then. "I already know Kat's true feelings."

The copy looked through the barrier and offered Kat a smirk. "Well, you may have figured that part out. Let's see if the real Kat can do the same; after all, he cares so much about you, right?"

Kit crouched down ready to fight the doppelganger, she didn't expect to be struck by lightning. But that was how the copy attacked, and she screamed as it ripped through her.

"Kit!"

Kat renewed his efforts to break the barrier, but it wasn't any better than before. Only now instead of verbal abuse Kit was enduring physical hits, and he still couldn't help her. He howled in frustration and charged at the barrier again only to be repelled backward.

When the copy's attack waned Kit darted to her feet as fast as she could and darted toward her assailant. The doppelganger leapt to dodge her blow, but Kit had always been the slightly faster of the two of them. Her claws left a bloody cut across the copy's cheek and Kat hissed in pain as the same wound seared itself onto his cheek as well. Looking back at the copy Kat recognized the same wound. As the doppelganger moved to counter strike, Kat bit viciously into his own arm, drawing blood.

The copy cried out in pain as the bite appeared on his arm and Kit's eyes widened as she had time to leap away. "Kat!" she recognized with a flush of victory. She knew it! Kat was still here somewhere too. He was fighting with her!

"Don't think you can beat me so easily!" the doppelganger told them as he summoned another blast of lightning, and Kit ran, bolting across the open area – but the bolt followed her and eventually it caught up. Another scream rang through Kat's ears. The copy was right. Only wounding him wasn't going to help save Kit.

If they really were the same, then they shared not only injuries. So to kill the copy, Kat would have to die too. He hesitated.

"Kat? Can you hear me?" Kit was talking to him.

"Kit?" he asked, but she wasn't looking at him, she and the copy were still locked in combat.

"You can hear me right?" she asked, apparently she still couldn't hear him. "Keep fighting Kat! We can beat him! I trust you Kat! I want you to know that no matter what, whether it's about how we used to feel or any doubts we might have since our lives have changed! I'll believe in you, no matter what!"

Kat just stared wide-eyed. He was supposed to save her. She didn't even know if he could hear her. The copy sneered, "Don't think you can win that easily!" Kit dodged his next attack and the doppelganger began to prepare for another lightning attack. Kat felt himself shaking before, but it had stopped. He had to save her. It didn't matter what it cost him. So he raised his claws to his throat.

The doppelganger didn't get to finish his third lightning attack because he started to choke on his own blood. Kit stared in horror as his throat began to bleed and tear. "Kat! No!"

The copy turned to the barrier, and briefly their eyes met. "To think you would go… this far…" the doppelganger choked again and fell forward into dust. The barrier vanished and their surroundings became clear again, they weren't in the tunnel anymore but Kit wasn't paying attention to that.

"Kat!" she cried out as she rushed to her partner's side. His own claws were buried in his throat, and he was barely breathing, barely conscious. Golden eyes focused on her as she wrapped her arms around him as though trying to hold him together. His throat gurgled and his lips tried to move. "No, don't try to talk, you're-!" she cut herself off and looked frantically around the chamber for the others, "Help! Anyone! Someone help us, please!"

OoooooooooooooooO

Cheetara didn't notice when the others disappeared, or when the tunnel became more of a fogged open area. She tried to reach out with her mana, but this was something different. To be sure her energy could connect to something, but it was so foreign it didn't quite register as a living energy source. Frowning, she kept walking, trying to judge from any other senses where she was. All she could see was foggy landscape, and all she could hear was a faint crying.

Crying? Yes, in the distance she could hear a small child crying. Cheetara moved quickly toward the sound, it didn't sound like either of the kits but she could still feel that she had to go toward it. If the child had been a stranger she might have come closer when she did, but as she approached the young girl cat turned her small tear-stained face towards her, and Cheetara froze on the spot.

The girl was small and spindly looking, even from where she sat defeated and despairing on the ground. She had long blond hair and telltale brunette spots on either side. She looked at Cheetara and her eyes held nothing but loneliness and sadness. Slowly her lips stopped trembling and she spoke. "What? What do you want?" she asked, furious, turning away and scrubbing the tears from her eyes, embarrassed and infuriated that someone had seen her in a moment of weakness.

"I'm…" Cheetara started but stopped. She didn't know how to start with this. She tried again, "Why are you crying?" the girl turned to glare at her, her mouth sealed into a thin angry line that appeared more like a pout. "I won't judge you. I'm not..." No that wasn't right either, "Just tell me what's wrong?"

For a long moment the girl's eyes met hers in a steely angry glare, but then she hiccupped and her eyes pooled with tears again as she quickly turned away. "They hate me." She finally said, her voice petulant but hiding something deeper and darker.

"Who does?" Cheetara pressed, as gently as she could manage, keeping her voice soft and small.

"Everyone."

"Who is everyone?" She really didn't want to know the answer though, still she asked.

The girl drew a shuddering breath. "My father for one." Cheetara swallowed, she didn't have to press any further, the girl continued anyway. "Mom's dead. I didn't know her. Dad never speaks to me. I guess he's too important. He's a big war hero you know. He's 'concerned for my education and safety,' and he wants to 'give me every opportunity'. But you know what? We don't talk about any of this. I just get told later. Now he's sending me away. I won't see him or anyone else from home for at least ten years. Ten! That's forever! And he's okay with it."

The girl turned to look at Cheetara again, her eyes were hard but the despair in the golden depths was still palpable. "Do you know, he's my father, but he's never once told me he loves me? Or anything else? Isn't that the most pathetic thing, you've heard? What poor excuse for a father is that?" her voice grew louder, harder, and angrier at each turn, and Cheetara had to draw back at the sudden burst of anger.

"Maybe… he's just bad at showing it." Cheetara suggested, "Maybe he does love you, and want to tell you, but it doesn't get across… since he does things his own way, and you have no way of knowing…"

"Maybe it's me." The girls' voice had fallen again, her eyes downcast, the tension from the rage before draining out of her. "Maybe if I was better, he wouldn't be sending me away. I can be better. I'll be really good. So then he won't send me away…"

Cheetara felt a strange anxiety in her and she stepped towards the girl falling to her knees before her and pulled the girl into her arms, hugging her younger self tightly. "One day it won't be like that. One day what he thinks and says, or doesn't say won't matter. You'll meet amazing people, and life will get better. No one hates you."

"But they do. Because I'm useless." The girl insisted, "Even you. They're your comrades right? But something happens and then they all fall apart, they won't even trust you enough to confide in or acknowledge, right?"

Cheetara flinched and tightened her hold. "They're just upset. Just like you." Cheetara told her, "And me." She admitted, "But this is just another rough patch. It will get better. It has to."

"There are too many rough patches." The girl sniffed, her voice still thick with unshed tears, "Maybe it's a pattern."

"Maybe. But if so, then that just means I'm right. This isn't the worst. We will get through it, me and you, and things will get better." Cheetara insisted, "Sure they'll probably get worse again, but that won't last either and then things will turn around. You will be happy one day. I promise." So will I.

Cheetara thought the last to herself and shut her eyes swallowing the lump developing in her throat. She refused to be dragged down by her own negativity. She was stronger than this, and she knew it wasn't the end, and it wouldn't stay this way. She knew it, and even if things didn't work now they would later. She would make sure of it, either by carving out a place for herself or whatever other methods it would take.

The weight in her arms vanished and she found her arms wrapped tightly around herself instead as the fog cleared from both her sight and her mind. But she could still hear crying?

"Kat!"

That was Kit's voice, wasn't it? Cheetara looked up in shock and dashed forward toward the shout.

"Help! Anyone! Someone help us, please!"

"Kit! I'm here!" Cheetara nearly froze again, balking at the smell of fresh blood and the sight of WilyKat with his claws buried in his own throat, he was bleeding all over, barely breathing and barely conscious.

"Cheetara!" Kit looked up, tears in her eyes, "Save him! Please save him!"

Cheetara didn't know if she could save him but she didn't waste time wondering as she flew forward. Her hands began to glow with her mana and she set immediately to trying to close the wound. It was deep, and he'd severed many important arteries and part of the trachea. Again it crossed her mind that she might not be able to save him. Her mana glowed brighter as she banished the thought and redoubled her efforts. Regardless of the outcome she had to do her best and try!

OoooooooooooooooO

Tygra didn't care by the time he actually realized he was alone and had no idea where he was. He just drew his gun and kept walking. This whole business had been ridiculous from the start in many ways. Why didn't they just steal a bunch of firearms and mechs and outfit their army the same as Mumm-Rah's? They'd probably still end up being roughly a match for him if they did that.

Something moved in the mist and Tygra raised his gun ready to fire, his own voice stopped him. Though he might have fired anyway since the words didn't come from his mouth.

"Careful, you could shoot yourself if you aren't careful." His voice warned, and the fog cleared to reveal his mirror image standing not too far away. Tygra didn't lower his gun.

"Very funny." He told the mirror, still scowling. The reflection laughed good-naturedly and shrugged it off.

"Well, fine mess we've been dragged into this time." The reflection said shaking his head, "I don't think it's worth it unless we get something out of it." At least this much Tygra recognized about himself. He smiled and lowered his gun, though he didn't holster it just yet. "The way I see it we have two choices," the mirror image continued, "We can roll over on our bellies and let Lion-o have his way with everything; that's gotten us so far already, I know." The reflection rolled his eyes, "Or… we can just take it all."

Tygra laughed, "Really? Well I know which one I'd choose."

"What a coincidence," the reflection smiled as well, "Me too."

OoooooooooooooooO

"Hey, where did everyone go?"

Lion-o noticed when Tygra wasn't in front of him anymore and when he looked behind he realized the others were gone too. He tried calling for them but no one answered. He thought back to what Cheetara had said about disabling the traps. Was that what had happened? Then this was his fault again. He just kept making bad decisions.

"That's right. This is your fault. When have you ever made a good decision, Lion-o?" A booming voice told him; a voice too familiar that shocked Lion-o to the core. He whipped around to face the other and stared, shocked and not quite sure what he should feel. He knew the man to be dead.

"Dad?"

The cat man had a thick beard and head of flaming red hair, his features were stern and his eyes bright and discerning as always. It was indeed King Claudus that stood before him. His father shook his head taking in Lion-o's frozen expression. "You still lack responsibility. I shouldn't have entrusted things to you, son. You weren't ready. You will never be ready."

The words and the evident disapproval stung horribly. Worse, there was a definite grain of truth there. At one point Lion-o had thought he was getting better, that he could handle this quest, and at least do that much. But all he ever seemed to leave behind him was a never-ending path of destruction. Lion-o had to look away, the disappointment in his father's eyes was too much.

"The burden, I guess, is too much. You can't handle it at all. You certainly can't lead or promote success."

Lion-o hung his head and accepted the blame. So much went wrong because of him. If it had been someone else, maybe things would have worked out differently, maybe they would have been better.

"So many people died because of you, and what do you do? You run away, you continue on, you forget."

"I'll never forget." Lion-o disagreed under his breath. He knew the sight of the lizard town's destruction, the old one's face, all of it would remained burned into his memory until the day he died.

"It's useless. You should give up."

Lion-o paused at that. Was that really what he should do? Give up? Who could he pass things on to? They still had to regroup in the north. They still had to defeat Mumm-Rah. There was still too much he'd be leaving undone if he quit now. Wasn't that being irresponsible too?

"Tygra can take your place."

Yes. If it was Tygra he could probably do it. But for some reason Lion-o frowned; this just didn't sit well with him.

"You won't have to worry about being responsible for so many deaths again. Everything will be better that way. No one needs your brand of 'leadership,' I don't even think it counts."

Lion-o felt that all of this was true. They were his own thoughts after all, tumbling around his own head, so ready to give up and wallow in his own mistakes and the trouble he'd caused. But even if the opportunity was presenting itself to him now… he didn't want to.

"I'm sorry, father." Lion-o said, cutting off whatever King Claudus was saying about everyone being better off without him, "I can't quit now."

"Things will get a lot worse." Claudus told him, "You'll just be causing more trouble, more deaths, and you won't be able to achieve anything. So why?"

Lion-o flinched and shifted before planting his feet solidly on the ground. "I can't give up. I may not be suited to being a responsible leader, but I am trying and-!"

"You think 'I tried' is a suitable excuse for failing, for causing this much pain and loss thus far?" Claudus demanded in question, "You can't even look me in the eye! Even now you have no conviction, no sense of reliability or to accept the consequences of your own actions!"

"No!" Lion-o told him and raised his head to look back into his father's disappointed eyes. It hurt to do that much, but he couldn't back down like this. Even if he was disappointing him, even if he made mistakes, even if nothing worked out; he would hate himself forever if he didn't keep trying and follow through.

Lion-o began again, cutting off whatever further remarks his father had to say, "I'm doing the best I can. I know 'I tried' is not an excuse. I know I'm causing trouble and I'm probably not the ideal person for this job. But I'm stuck with it. I'm not going to hand it off to someone else because I'm too scared or too doubtful of my decisions or myself! I'd be even less reliable if I didn't at least try to finish what I started. Even if it doesn't work, even if I die, or I cause more trouble, I can't give up here."

"Why is that?" Claudus sniffed, doubtful and still watching him with an ever present disapproval. Lion-o refused to flinch or look away. He thought back to the people they had met, his comrades, the town with the many animals that had finally started to see some value in each other, General Puma, and the others, the old lizard and even Jaga. Everyone was relying on him at this point. He couldn't give up, not yet.

"I still have things I have to protect!" Lion-o told him. Claudus' disapproval shifted to a glare, but Lion-o refused to flinch away from his anger as it flared around him. Lion-o did not feel that he was wrong. He wasn't going to back down from this.

"Do what you wish." Claudus finally said before turning abruptly and walking away; he vanished somewhere in the mist. But the mist was gone now, and he could hear the others ahead, further down the open path. He ran to meet them.

A grisly sight greeted him as Cheetara knelt next to Kat her hands glowing bright with mana and a sweat breaking out across her forehead as she worked to close the gaping wounds in Kat's throat. Kit sat frozen nearby, her eyes never lifting from Kat, unblinking. Lion-o didn't say anything as he moved closer. Kat's hands were stained dark with blood, and it occurred to Lion-o that the wounds may have been self-inflicted. He frowned remembering his encounter with his dead father. Had something even worse happened to the others? And where was Tygra?

Finally the wounds seemed to close and after a few more seconds of internal work Cheetara took her hands away. Kit straightened her back, leaning a little closer and watched Kat's face apprehensively. Slowly Kat opened his eyes and moved to sit up. Kit helped him and he turned to her trying to speak. A sound like a grating croak came out instead and he winced his hand moving to his throat. Cheetara caught that hand before it could.

"Don't aggravate it," she told him, "And while you can move now, you shouldn't try to speak or do much of anything that would involve your throat muscles. They probably still feel a bit raw, and it would be ideal if you could rest for a day, but we'll have to do that later."

Kat nodded in understanding. "Thank you, Cheetara." Kit said for them both, her arms going around her partner, relief and anxiety wracking her body with small shudders as she held on to him. Cheetara turned back to look at Lion-o, she looked tired and somehow very sad. What had happened to everyone?

"Oh, good, you're all here already." Tygra's voice broke in as he walked out of the tunnel mouth as well, toward the others. He looked at the four of them as the kits got to their feet, he looked confused at the blood on Kat's hands but shrugged it off without saying anything. "Well, looks like we're finally here."

Lion-o looked up where Tygra's eyes had gone, the others did the same and blinked in some shock. They hadn't realized that this open stretch of path was actually part of a trail into a completely vacant city of ruins. Looking over the ledge on either side the city extended both downward and upward around the open cavern, buildings crumbling over many ledges and connecting paths of earth that bridged between the cavern and fit together like a delicately carved layered wood-piece. But this was stone, and it wasn't entirely unlikely that it had all been carved out in just such a way.

"It's the holy city." Cheetara breathed and her eyes moved to search the center of the city before she found it, "There. That should be the temple where the book is."

"Let's go then." Tygra said starting off down the path, leaving the others to follow behind as they all followed the path toward the center and one of the few constructs that hadn't started to crumble, still held aloft by pillars and stairs and a high peaked roof with painted windows and stone carved statues all around the front and sides, probably the back too.

The doors to the temple were falling down and they easily stepped inside and followed the open area to the pedestal up the short stairs inside. Like the temple, time did not seem to have been able to touch the pedestal, or the book. The outside appeared to gleam golden in color with the crimson royal seal of the Thundercats locking its pages together. One of Thundera's great treasures, it seemed to be at once something magical, but the gleam of metal and the uncertain shimmer of the pale pages seemed to hint at something else more potent.

They approached and Lion-o reached out to take the book. He felt like something should have happened when the tome was removed from its resting place, but nothing happened as he lifted it from the pedestal and held it in his hands. They had succeeded. They had the Book of Omens.

"Good, it is here. Hand it over."

The cold cruel voice intruded and the thundercats all whirled weapons drawn to face the familiar foe. "Mumm-Rah." Lion-o snarled. "But how?"

The skeletal creature grinned, teeth shining in the unfriendly light, his accompanying legion of lizards and jackals entering the temple behind him, blocking their escape. "It wouldn't have been easy, not without his help." Mumm-Rah admitted holding a recognizable lantern aloft, the swirling spirit of Jaga inside.

"You conniving soulless wraith!" Cheetara spat, her staff extending, her body all too ready to charge for Mumm-Rah directly. The mummified corpse laughed a shrill and menacing laugh.

"I'm so sorry… I had no choice…" Jaga's voice whispered through the air, Cheetara's ears caught the words along with a last desperate plea. "Free me. My body is gone. Send me on. This is too cruel a fate."

Cheetara's teeth ground together in fury, that her teacher and mentor, more a father than her own blood father, was still suffering, a fate worse than death; his soul trapped as Mumm-Rah's slave even in what should have been death and the final freedom of the spirit from the mortal coil. "I will free you, Jaga." Cheetara vowed under her breath. There was no way out of this, they would all have to fight.

"Get them!" Mumm-Rah ordered, "Bring me the book!"

The lizards attacked and with a word from Lion-o the thundercats met them in battle as well. Cheetara's staff cracked harshly against the foes in her path, sending their bodies flying left and right or smacked solidly against the ground as she charged toward Mumm-Rah. She leapt above, and by the time Mumm-Rah looked up she was already bringing the staff down.

Mumm-Rah sneered and raised his sword to meet her. Any blow toward Mumm-Rah himself was deflected, but Cheetara pressed on. When Mumm-Rah moved to dodge the next blow her staff connected with her true target.

The lantern shattered and with a hissing howl Jaga's soul was freed and was swept up and out into the surround, vanishing forever from the mortal plane. Mumm-Rah howled in rage and Cheetara smiled sadly, saying a final goodbye to her surrogate father. Jaga was free now.

They all had been fighting valiantly. The kits alternately darting around, between and over the soldiers landing blow by blow, irritating and confounding until a well-placed smack from a slingshot stone sent an attacker to the ground unconscious. Tygra's gun fired and smoked, his whip lashing out to keep those closest at bay from immediate attack.

Lion-o used the power of the sword alternating with the actual blade for both short and long-range combat. It was draining. He was only using one arm, the other gripped tightly around the Book of Omens. But then Mumm-Rah was right there; a well-placed lunge and slice. The dark steel sword cut into Lion-o's shoulder. He howled and his grip on the sword loosened. He felt the weapon leave his hands and he grasped vainly for it. Another blow came from the side, then the book dropped.

"No!"

But Kat was there, grabbing the book away from Mumm-Rah's grasping hand before darting back to help Kit evade another spear. Kat was the new target but by the time he was cornered Kit had the book. Lion-o tried to keep Mumm-Rah engaged in battle with him, but that didn't stop the others from cornering Kit. The book had already passed to Cheetara.

Mumm-Rah shrieked in rage and renewed his attacks on the cat woman who had cost him his slave of the cleric's soul. Cheetara met his attacks, but his blows fell in parallel the Sword of Omens falling soon after the one of black steel, and he was quickly backing her into a wall. Her golden eyes locked with Tygra's. "Catch!" she threw the book, Mumm-Rah's skeletal fingers just barely missing the tome's edge. Everyone moved to seize the falling tome of gold. But a whip beat them to it. Mumm-Rah lunged. Black steel cut through the thick tendon of the whip wire. The Book of Omens fell into wasted bandaged hands.

"NO!" the Thundercats howled together, but the anguished cry was drowned out by Mumm-Rah's laughter suddenly high and cold and disgustingly gleeful.

"Finally…" his voice hissed in satisfaction before he quickly vanished from the temple, fleeing, leaving his army behind. Jackal and lizard alike noticing the absence of their leader and calling for a retreat as well.

Lion-o and the others rushed after them. They couldn't let them get away. Not with Mumm-Rah, not with sword, and not with the Book of Omens! The retreating army fled to the tunnels and the Thundercats made to follow, but for the collapse of the tunnel. Wracked by an explosion that took out the fleeing soldiers as well.

"Get back!" Lion-o turned to shield, the kits following too close behind him, shielding them from the debris of the explosion as rock and dust spewed out of the fire filling the tunnels. The cavern shook and the Thundercats hunkered down to the ground.

It seemed like the whole place would collapse. But then the shaking stopped and smoke cleared. The tunnel was gone, filled with rock and rubble, the scent of blood reached them, and red liquid could be seen staining the dirt dark from where it seeped from what used to be the tunnel entrance.

Lion-o stood and the Kits seemed alright, they were all out of breath, even Cheetara and Tygra now coming to stand nearby as well. Lion-o couldn't face the four of them, he turned to the blocked tunnel instead. They were trapped, underground, and they had lost everything.

Mumm-Rah now had both the book and the sword.

AoooooooooooooooN

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