A Cub's Trials 10

The kids never did explore the next day. The villains were at it again, and once again, Ocellon was left behind at the Lair alone. He had no trouble that time, though the boy was on edge the whole time. Lion-O thought he would make a fine ThunderCat someday, and thought he should talk to the kid about it.

That day didn't come for a few months. When he thought it was the right time, when he was about the age the twins had been when they started their training, he got the others together. In the Council Chamber with the other ThunderCats, he called the child into the room.

Ocellon, who had been taking a shower, wondered what they could be talking about Tygra was in there to keep an eye on him, and the boy peeked out to give Tygra a questioning look. "Did Lion-O call me?" he asked. He had never been called by the intercom before.

Tygra, who knew what his lord had in mind, smiled. "Yes, Sroya," he said. "He did. Let's get you dried off so we can see what he wants."

Ocellon nodded and stepped out of the shower, accepting Tygra's help in drying him off. "He's not mad at me for something, is he?"

Tygra laughed. "No, little one," he said. "He's not mad."

"How come he wants to talk to me?" He was a little nervous around Lion-O sometimes. He was so imposing, and his child's instincts could sense the power the lion held.

"You'll see, it's all right. Lion-O doesn't bite."

"Yes he does," Ocellon said, as they walked out of the bathroom. "I saw him bite Alluro once when he had his hand over his mouth so he couldn't call the Sword of Omens."

Tygra roared with laughter. "That's a different story," he told the boy.

Still naked from the shower, Ocellon started for the council chamber. "Hey, let's get you in your pajamas, little one."

Ocellon still didn't understand what was wrong with being naked. They went naked on Thundera, and everyone was born naked. He just didn't get it. Even he went naked half the time. But he shrugged and got his pajamas on, an old pair of Wilykat's.

When the pair walked into the council room, they were met by the whole group; Lynx-O, Pumyra, Bengali, and Snarfer had come from the Tower of Omens for the little meeting. Tygra gave the cub a reassuring squeeze and joined the others. Lion-O was smiling.

Ocellon looked a little uncertainly at the group. Though most of them leaned casually against a console, or sat in a chair, the boy was more than a little intimidated. He looked uncertainly at Tygra.

Lion-O chuckled. How the boy reacted to this would be part of what determined what was decided here. "We have some things to talk to you about, Ocellon," he said seriously, but still had the soft smile on his face.

"D-did I do something wrong?"

Amidst a few chuckles, Lion-O shook his head. "No, Ocellon. But we have something a little serious to talk with you about." He noted that the youth relaxed a good deal.

"Okay," he said, and looked once more to Tygra before giving his attention back to Lion-O.

"Have a seat, Ocellon." Once the boy had climbed into one of the seats at the council table, the others also sat. There were five that had no seats, as there were only seven seats at the table. Bengali, Wilykit, Wilykat, and the Snarfs sat on a wide platform near the window, through which the brilliant starlight shone through. "I know Tygra's been telling you about Thundera, and showing you all the records we have of it. And you've been learning to count, and to read. I'd like to know a little of what you've learned. Could you tell me what you remember about Thundera?"

Ocellon considered. "Do you mean what I remember Tygra telling me or what I remember myself?"

Lion-O smiled. The boy was a thinker. He was intelligent, if somewhat behind his age. "Both."

"Well..." He thought a minute. He was so young, and his traumatic experience the first thing that happened when he came out of stasis didn't help. "Not a lot." His face grew somber as he thought. A lot of things had jogged his memories, including the photo record that had been in his pod, which he looked at often. "I remember Mama and Papa. Kinda. Papa wanted to teach me how to throw his boomerang, and mama didn't want him to. They argued..." The child almost looked like he wanted to cry, but giggled instead. "Mama got mad and poured milk all over Papa's head."

There was a chorus of laughter. "I bet he wasn't too happy about that," Wilykit said.

Ocellon grinned. "He laughed, and she laughed, and it was okay." The child became serious again as he thought once more. "I remember it had a funny sky. Orange, but not all the time." He shook his head and gave Lion-O an apologetic look. "That's all."

"That's all right, Ocellon. Now what do you remember from what you've learned from Lynx-O and Tygra and the other ThunderCats?"

Ocellon smiled a little. He was a fast learner, and his ability to remember names and faces had predicted his keen faculty to learn and remember things. He started telling all he remembered about the monarchy, and King Claudus, and Jaga, and what the planet was like. He told all he learned from Lynx-O's stories, and his guardian's teachings.

Lion-O smiled. "Good. I'm impressed. You have a good memory and seem to like to learn things."

Ocellon beamed. He was not often complimented from the Lord of the ThunderCats. "I like to hear stories. Snarf told me one about you, too, Lion-O."

Lion-O raised a brow, as Snarf grimaced and hid behind Bengali.

The other ThunderCats noted this and were now very intrigued. They all turned to Ocellon. "What, Ocellon?" Pumyra said.

"Yeah, what did Snarf tell you?" Panthro asked. He was as curious as the rest.

Ocellon liked telling the stories he heard almost as much as hearing them. "Well, he told me of one time Lion-O was not even as old as me, he was just a little kid, and he got in his papa's room. He had a toy sword that looked like the Sword of Omens, and he dressed up in his papa's long underwear, and got on top of the Cats' Lair when it was on Thundera, and was yelling, 'Dunder, dunder, dunder, DunderTats, hoooo!' His papa didn't know where he was and had all the ThunderCats looking for him." Ocellon was giggling as he told the story. As many times as he had heard it, it still made him laugh.

Everyone in the room burst out laughing except for Snarf and Lion-O. Lion-O turned bright red and put his head on the table, and Snarf hid still behind Bengali. Those who had been ThunderCats back then remembered that little incident. Claudus has been a little embarrassed, but Lion-O had only been three at the time. He locked the trap door to the top of the head after that. The younger ones had no idea about that particular story of the monarchy and it cracked them up.

When the laughter had died down, Lion-O lifted his reddened face and started laughing himself. "Good thing I learned to say it right," he said good-naturedly. Snarf, who was relieved Lion-O wasn't mad, came out of hiding. "Well, let's get back to the subject at hand..." But as he looked around at the grinning faces, he thought he would not hear the end of that for a long time.

But everyone did settle down to get back to business, except for the occasional snicker as someone pictured a young Lion-O in his daddy's long johns, standing on top of Cat's Lair with a toy sword.

"What do you know about the ThunderCats, Ocellon?" He nodded as the boy told everything he could remember. "And what is the Code of Thundera?"

"Justice, Truth, Honor, and Loyalty," came the prompt reply.

"And what do those mean?"

Ocellon frowned. "Well...Truth is not lying...and Honor is being nice, and doing the right thing, and keeping promises. Loyalty is not changing to the bad guys' side...and Justice is making wrong things right." Ocellon looked at Lion-O to see if he had gotten it right.

Lion-O nodded as Tygra smiled proudly and gave the cub a descreet thumbs-up. "Well, the other ThunderCats and I have talked, and we all agree that if you are interested, that you are ready to start training. We could use more ThunderCats, and you have the courage, and you understand and follow the Code of Thundera." He smiled at the cub's astonished expression, and the amazement. "So, are you interested, Ocellon?"

Ocellon's first impulse was to shout, "Yes!" and jump up and down, but then he thought about something. "Would...would I still be able to play and explore?"

Lion-O smiled at him. "Yes, Ocellon. Wilykit and Wilykat are ThunderCats, they play, and explore. Even we adults play and explore sometimes, it is how we learn and find things out."

Ocellon smiled decisively, barely able to contain his excitement. "Yes," he said, nodding eagerly. "I didn't think I could be a ThunderCat."

Tygra frowned a little. "Why not, Sroya?"

Ocellon shrugged and looked down a little. "Well, I'm just a kid, and I'm little, and can't do things very well. And I'm just a regular person, not a noble or anyhting, just a commoner."

Tygra looked the child in the eye. "Ocellon, never let anyone tell you you can't do something." He narrowed his eyes a little as he thought that the Mutants must have convinced the cub he was worthless. "You've got courage, and you do have your strengths."

"Yes," Bengali agreed. "Everyone does. You just have to find yours."

That's right," Snarf said, rising up on his tail on the floor. "Like I always say..."

"You never know what you can do until you try," chorused everyone in the room, Ocellon included. He had heard it many times himself.

Snarf looked around innocently. "Do I say that a lot?"

Panthro threw his head back and laughed. "All the time, Snarf. I hear it in my dreams."

"Oh, very funny, Panthro." The little snarf sulked.

Lion-O stood. "Then it's settled. You will begin your training tomorrow, Ocellon. Panthro is going to start teaching you how to fight." The boy bit his lip and nodded solemnly. Lion-O smiled warmly at the boy and extended a hand down to him. "Congratulations, kid," he said.

A little nervously, Ocellon shook the young lord's hand.

Tygra knew the boy was feeling a little overwhelmed and uncertain at the unusual event, and went to pick the cub up. "Well it's about time for bed, kiddo. You too, twins. How about a bedtime story, Sroya?"

As the twins groaned, Ocellon nodded and sighed, relieved at something he was used to, and made him feel better.

"Okay. I will tell you an old story of how the leopard got its spots."

As everyone cleared out, Lion-O watched the boy. This was good...he was the only one that had survived Thundera, for all he knew. Perhaps his pod had been blasted from one of the ships the Mutants destroyed. The pods were spaceworthy in case of such an event. That was probably what happened. But other than the Thunderkittens, they were all adults, and one day they would not be there. They needed someone to continue the tradition, and carry down the Code of Thundera. He hoped they would some day find all of their countrymen that had survived.