Episode 3; "To El-Dara (part 2 of 2)

Part 2

Outside the Thundertank

"The security system works." Tygra mused, half chuckling to himself as he dragged an unconscious lizard away and piled him (her? Who can tell?) with the others who tried to break into the Thundertank.

"Sends quite a jolt." Lion-O threw the last lizard on the pile. He looked around. "Only problem is if one of them stood back they already ran and told their superiors we're here."

Tygra shook his head dismissively. "Na. Lizards aren't that bright. We're clear."

On the opposite side of the tank Cheetara walked over to Lynx-O with a full canteen. "I filtered it, but the water in Baleful swamp isn't the cleanest."

"Thank you, dear." Without hesitation Lynx-O took a big swig then dumped the rest over his head. He breathed a sigh of relief as the cool water washed away the grime on his face and fur. He shook his whiskers dry. "The fresh air feels great. I can't wait to get out of here." He put on his now clean clothes and armor. "You said you're looking for the rest of the Prowl?"

Cheetara nodded.

"I didn't want to disappoint you in the caves, but I was no longer involved with that unit once Claudis reassigned me as his general. Only he and the captain had access to information concerning Prowl missions."

Lion-O hopped onto the hood and casually took a seat. "Who became captain after you?"

"My granddaughter, Lynxanna. She was the best of the best, putting my relation aside. After Panthro and Grune left to find the book I lost contact with her completely. At first I brushed it off as business as usual. Keeping to yourself is a basic survival skill for the Prowl, but I believe she carried a torch for Grune. His absence made her distant. By a year after they left she had all but disappeared. I'm thankful she wasn't there to witness his betrayal. It would have killed her."

"Lynxanna?" Cheetara repeated in her head. The utterance of that name sent a feeling of dread through stomach. She had heard that name before, recently, but when? Who…?

"You look sick. Are you alright?" Tygra asked her.

"What? No, I'm fine. It's the swamp gas." She fibbed, making a mental note to try and remember that name.

"You don't have any idea where she is now?" Lion-O asked.

"Claudis last sent her to the Treetop Nations to "check in" on the primates, but is she is still there now? Who knows? Where are we currently heading?"

"We were supposed to meet up with Kit and Kat in Thundera." Tygra answered. "But the Tank is low on fuel. It's either get more or we go back to pawing it. Now that I think about it, we still haven't heard from Kit and Kat in a while."

Panthro poked his head out the back. "Everyone inside!" He motioned for the others to hurry.

At the consol Panthro sat hunched over the communication system. He tinkered around with some switches and wires as a harsh static hissed in the air. The others gathered around him, curious.

"Is it the kittens?" Lion-O asked, looking over Panthro's shoulder.

"Must be; they're calling on the right frequency, but it's coming in gargled. Give me a second." Panthro tried his best to strengthen the signal.

"-Anthro?-ion-O?- T-Gra?"

"Almost…"

"It's me! Pick up!" Finally they could make sense of the transmission, but they didn't recognize the voice.

"Panthro speaking. Who is this? Over."

"Panthro?! YES! It's Kat! You Can hear me, right? Panthro?"

The Thundercats exchanged skeptic looks. They knew Wiley Kat's prepubescent voice. The person on the other end had to be all of twenty. Panthro frowned. "If this is some kind of a joke we are not laughing. Where is Wiley Kat?"

"This isn't a joke!" The "stranger" cried. "It's me; I'm Wiley Kat! I need help! Kit and I found a forever bag inside our forever bag and it took us to El-Dara and we ate a bunch of cursed astrid flowers that made us older then a mean witch-lady turned Kit into gold and-!"

"Put Kat on!" Panthro ordered. "No more jokes or fairytales."

"I AM KAT!" The stranger insisted, his voice cracking with static.

"Prove it! Put Kit on!"

"Kit is being held hostage in El-Dara by a witch! I just told you!"

"So she isn't with you?"

"NO! Is Lion-O there? I need his-"

Lion-O snatched the communicator out of Panthro's hand. "I don't know who you are or what you've done with the kittens, but-"

"Lion-O it's me! You have to believe me! Tabb, tell him about El-Dara!"

"I wasn't there when you two went to El-Dara." Another, younger, but still not Kat's voice chimed in.

"You're dead weight to me!"

"You want me to lie to the Thundercats?"

"If it gets them to come help!"

"Don't move; we're coming." Lion-O assured him. "You better be Kat because if you're not and you so much as scratched the twins I will tear you apart." Lion-O cut the signal then slammed the device back into its notch on the console.

Tygra cocked his head, confused. "What is going on? Who was that?"

"I don't know. Kit and Kat may be in trouble. I'm going out to look for them."

"I've traced the signal to its source." Panthro pointed to the location on the screen. "There's enough Thundrillium left to make it there and back if you take one of the pods."

"I'll go with you." Cheetara volunteered.

Lynx-O flashed the others a scolding look. "You allowed two Kittens to travel across the continent with no supervision whatsoever?"

The others shifted uncomfortably, exchanging downward glances of guilt. Lion-O put on a nervous smile. "They're very resourceful kittens; we taught them some survival skills."

"Ultimately they're your responsibility."

"We came to an agreement in the beginning that they were responsible for themselves. Until now they upheld their end of the deal for the most part." Lion-O argued.

"They're kittens; what's wrong with you?"

"In my defense, I can't stand kittens." Cheetara added.

"Really?" Tygra looked shocked. Where did that come from? "You don't want to have kittens?"

Cheetara immediately shook her head. "Never."

"Never?" Tygra felt a little hurt. "Why?"

"Save cutesy couple BS for later. You two find the kittens." Panthro motioned to Tygra and Lynx-O. "We'll raid the Cloud Peak Mine for more thundrillium. Everyone meet up here."

"Sounds like a plan." Lion-O raised his fist. "Thundercats-"

"HO!"

Meanwhile; miles away on the far end of the feather meadows.

Tabbothy jumped as Wiley Kat let out a frustrated snarl and shattered his communication device against the ground. "They don't think I'm me! What am I gonna do?" He sat, resting his head on his fists.

Tabbothy nervously put a hand on Kat's shoulder. "Just sit and wait for Lion-O and the Thundercats. Once they know it's you-"

"What if he still doesn't recognize me when he gets here? I look totally different too!"

"Tell them something only they would know about you."

Kat's tail twitched. He struggled to think of something, but nothing noteworthy popped into his head. "They don't know anything about us."

"But you said you were friends with them. You know all about them."

"Yeah, but they don't know anything about me or Kit."

"How is that?"

"We just don't talk about ourselves okay?!" Kat shouted, startling Tabbothy without intending to. "They don't…they don't ask much and we don't tell much…" It was a bitter realization; his self-proclaimed friends barely knowing a thing about him. Kat pulled his knees to his chin and curled his tail around his ankles.

Tabbothy's ears drooped. "Sounds like a personal issue."

Wiley Kat replied with an irritated grunt. He paused to breathe and think a moment. "It's either convince Lion-O I'm me when he gets here or Kit rots forever in El-Dara as a gold statue. You're right. We just gotta wait…"

Meanwhile;

Lion-O revved the motor, picking up speed. His pod left deep tracks across the terrain of the bad lands. Considering all the bumps and the lack of Thundrillium the pod ran very smoothly. He glanced over his shoulders at Cheetara who sat quietly in back of him. "Too cramped?"

"I'll manage. Can you steer?"

"Just fine." Lion-O assured her. "You think that guy really was Kat?"

"Sounds like a crazy story he would come up with." Cheetara admitted. "I won't be shocked if this is some kind of trick."

"It's a cruel trick for a time like this." Lion-O smirked. "Are you going to tell him and Kit you can't stand kittens when we find them?"

Cheetara didn't smile back. "That's personal. Don't repeat it."

Lion-O's expression sobered. "Tygra was devastated when you said that. I could see it on his face. Are you trying to tell him you're not serious about him either now or something?"

"Don't even start!" Cheetara bore her teeth at him. "I would never go out of my way to hurt Tygra and I wasn't trying to hurt you. You know that."

"Just because we bicker doesn't mean I never look out for him."

"I appreciate that, but with all due respect get off it."

Lion-O wasn't about to quit just yet. "What made you decide you would never have kittens?"

She shrugged. "I didn't like kittens when I was a kitten."

"You seem motherly to me."

"Because… I have a vagina?"

Lion-O had not expected her to be so offended by his assessment. "You're good with Kit and Kat." He reworded the statement

"Knowing how to handle cubs and wanting a few of your own are two different things." Cheetara informed him. She sighed, her expression softened a bit. "But I was willing to have them someday with Tygra until the other night when I met ours.

"What are you talking about?"

"Do you remember the morning before we left for Baleful Swamp?"

"Yeah...?"

Way back in part one; the Berbil Village; before sunrise…

"I knew you would be up." Lion-O greeted Cheetara as she sat cross legged in front of the Thundertank.

She opened one eye and smiled at him. "Just mediating. What are you doing up?"

Lion-O leaned against the tank. "I couldn't sleep. I've been up all night thinking."

"There's so much to think about." Cheetara noticed Lion-O brought his claw shied. "Did you want to spar before the others wake up?"

"No thanks, but I do need to ask you a favor." He held up the shield. "Father told me the eye of Thundera comes to life when someone worthy tries to use it. I guess I'm worthy of the war stone, but maybe the other stones would work better for someone else. You were Jaga's protégé. You know about magic and the supernatural. I think the spirit stone may work better for you." He handed Cheetara the gauntlet.

She gave the spirit stone a good look before brushing her fingertips across its cold glassy surface. A chorus of whispers emanated from the gem. Without the slightest bit of effort the stone came loose from the gauntlet. Her blood ran hot ash she held it up to the rising sun. "I can feel its pulse… What do you want me to do with it?"

"The book is both magic and tech. I use the Sword of Omens to look into the book, but I only get bits and pieces of information. Do you think you could use the spirit stone to look into the book too?"

"I…I can try." Cheetara didn't want to make any promises. She placed the spirit stone back in its former spot and handed Lion-O back his claw shield. "Give me time to prepare."

"Thank you." Lion-O hugged her, but quickly pulled away. He coughed nervously. "I mean, I would appreciate it. Sorry."

"Why are you sorry? One hug between friends doesn't mean anything. Or one kiss." She reminded him.

Lion-O blushed a little "Right. Good luck with the spirit stone. Take it whenever you're ready to do some heavy reading."

The present

"You looked into the Book of Omens with the spirit stone? When?!"

"A few nights before we reached Baleful Swamp. Everyone else passed out around the fire. I meditate best alone so I gave it a try."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Lion-O demanded.

"I didn't like what it showed me. It took me a while to digest everything. I wanted to talk to you alone about it first, but an opportunity hadn't come up yet."

"You should have told us. This doesn't just affect your future and Tygra's!"

"I know that!... I'm sorry."

Lion-O concentrated more heavily on the controls. He decided it wasn't worth getting upset over. After all, she did what he asked. "It's alright. We'll discuss the book after we find the kittens. I think we're almost there. When I give the word we split up and search."

Tabbothy looked past Kat. In the far distance he could see what appeared to be a thin gold object zipping across the horizon. He shook Kat's shoulder to turn him around. "What's that?"

Kat sprung to his feet. His face lit up with relief and hope. "That's Cheetara!…And she looks annoyed."

Tabbothy cocked his head. "How can you tell when she's moving that fast?"

"I can just tell." Kat jumped, waving. "Cheetara! Over here!"