They followed the furry wheels into a world of vibrant color.
The fungal forest shrank under the widening blue sky, their umbrellas every shade of the rainbow, clustering in the shade provided by high ravine walls and grassy bridges of rock that spanned the gaps overhead.
For once, Lion-O and Tygra were companionably quiet. The brothers led the group, side by side, their heads swiveling as they took in the sights.
Cheetara, walking beside Felline, sniffed the air appreciatively. So did Felline. It even smelled more colorful: alive, bright, and slightly sweet.
"I can't figure it out," Cheetara murmured, her eyes not on the grand, swirled blue face of the Leo moon, visible for the first time in several days, but on the berbils keeping ahead of Snarf.
Felline looked up at her questioningly.
"I don't think they're alive," the cleric explained. She tucked a lock of hair behind her pointed ear. "But I can sense them. They don't mean us harm. In fact, they truly enjoy helping us."
"Are you saying they have emotions?" Felline asked. Behind them, the rumble of the tank over the uneven ground masked their voices from the others; Panthro wouldn't leave his baby behind, but he wasn't driving, and he sat like a resentful gray thunderhead in the co-pilot's seat. Kit and Kat, reclining on a fender, looked around with shining eyes and big smiles.
Cheetara nodded. "Maybe, but they're very simple. Not in the instinctual way that cubs are, but as if they're limited."
"As if they've been programmed with basic abilities. I wonder how they got here," Felline mused.
"What do you mean?" the other asked, surprised.
"Well, were they built by someone? Or are they a species in and of themselves?"
Interest flashed in Cheetara's sunset eyes. "I see. That's an excellent question. Maybe we'll get some answers there."
She pointed. Below them, in a dip of land almost a perfect circle, huge pink bowers arched over a small village, the likes of which Felline had never seen, even in a book of fairy tales.
The orchards were a blaze of pink, rubbery trees, much like striped jester's hats, the fruits clustering like multicolored bells at the tips. Mimicking their inhabitants, the houses were round and whimsical, rising haphazardly for the blue sky. They looked a lot like drawings of constellations, only made into sculptures. They shone golden and pastel under the sun. The undersides of the bowers twinkled like a starry night, releasing the sweet scent into the breeze.
Anything could happen in a magical place like this, Felline thought excitedly. They could meet a reclusive tinkerer, closeted away in a workshop, churning out helpful, eager friends, or a great and power-hungry sorcerer, lording over his furry minions. Or just the berbils themselves, tirelessly, endlessly, efficiently working.
"I've never seen anything like this place," Lion-O remarked when Felline and Cheetara joined him and Tygra. "It's like they have a contraption for everything."
He was right. The berbils picked candyfruit seated in wheeled machines that sucked the fruit off its branches and deposited it neatly in a mesh bag; they rode treaded machines that mowed and clipped the verge; they used tall machines to wash and polish their homes; they dug and built and repaired without rest.
"This place gives me the creeps," Panthro muttered darkly.
"What's wrong with it?" Felline asked, grinning like the kittens. She couldn't help it. The warmth and the industriousness, the harmony and the cleanliness, were things she'd thought were gone forever, felled by the rockets that had destroyed Thundera.
Panthro, scowling, didn't answer.
Ro-Bear Bill drove the ThunderTank right up to the largest golden structure. Like meeces scampering out of the woodwork, berbils appeared from every direction and surrounded the cats. They made Felline feel very tall as they jumped and gamboled, cheering in their tinny, emotionless voices.
Brown-furred Bill scooped up a tinier version of himself, this one's fur the blue of the sky, and swung him around, exactly like a father and his son.
"Meet Ro-Bear Beebo," Bill buzzed. A pink berbil, her flower as blue as Beebo, walked up to them. Bill introduced her, too. "Meet Ro-Bear Bella. This is Ro-Bear Bill family."
Felline caught Cheetara's eye and grinned. There was no indication of any other being in the village – just the berbils. They had either been abandoned or had sprung up out of the Earth of their own accord. It was fascinating.
Lion-O crouched down to Beebo's height and smiled. Beebo did not smile back with his fixed mouth, but he reached up a metal paw and touched Lion-O's spiky red mane wonderingly. Though they were as varied as wildflowers, none of the berbils were honey-gold like Lion-O, or flame-orange like Tygra, or sun-yellow like Cheetara. Felline stood back, aware that in the midst of all this vivid color, she stood out like a bleached rag.
Then, to her shock, little Beebo waddled up to her. He patted her arm, running his cold claws through her thick, brilliantly white fur as if he'd never seen anything so beautiful. "Snow? Pretty," Beebo buzzed as awkwardly as if he'd never spoken before.
"Yes. Snow," she murmured, her eyes suddenly stinging. "Thank you."
"Thank-you." He patted her arm one last time and then scurried for his mother's embrace.
Felline caught Lion-O smiling at her, as if he, too, thought she was pretty. Her arm tingled, reminding her of her dream.
Her dream that had seemed so real. She had a sudden vision of herself, wearing her best gown, strolling through the main courtyard of Cat's Lair arm in arm with Lepra. Would she have caught the crown prince's eye then, when so many other women would have dressed to please, parading under the noontime sun for just that purpose? What a silly daydream. She gave herself a firm mental shake. Back then, Lion-O might have noticed Lepra, if not for her beauty then for her resemblance to Cheetara, and Felline would have been on Bastien's arm. End of story.
Just then, a berbil in one of the picking machines backed it up to them, scattering these recollections before she could get too depressed and capturing the twins' undivided attention.
"Candyfruit," Bill said unnecessarily, gathering some out of the bag. "Eat. Good."
"Yum! Candyfruit!" Kit caroled.
He gave the fruit to her and her brother, and they voraciously tucked in.
Hand on her hip, Cheetara watched this display of generosity and said, "Looks like you were worried about nothing, Panthro."
Still scowling, he demanded, "You really think these furballs are helping us and don't expect anything in return?"
"Have you considered maybe they're just nice?" Lion-O impatiently asked.
Right then, the big building behind them woke up with a warning screech, its topmost spheres glowing urgent red. Felline clapped her hands over her ears, but the screeching went on. It made her fur stand on end and her heart leap against her ribcage.
"What's going on?" Lion-O shouted.
Instead of answering, every berbil in the vicinity rolled up and shot away, escaping into a metal hole in the ground. The building continued wailing.
Felline had heard the whine of the bombs a second before the first one exploded. A second one went off, sending shockwaves through the village. Lion-O looked at Bill, who was still with them in spite of the rising columns of smoke.
"Conquedor comes," Bill explained, his expressionless robotic face somehow pleading. "Conquedor takes berbils. Sell berbils as slaves."
Out of the flames and smoke, a massive vehicle with studded wheels slid to a clanking stop. It dwarfed the ThunderTank, a monstrosity of brass and steel. Four cannons bristled from its front end. Before the last berbils could make it to safety, it ran over their escape hole, crushing it flat.
A porthole opened in the top of the vehicle. Out popped a creature suited up in brass armor, complete with a finned steel helmet and breathing tubes. A pocketed yellow coat sagged across its pot belly. The red lenses of its goggles glinted when it spied a blue berbil running in its ungainly animal form. The figure disappeared as though sucked down a drain.
The rig started up. A mechanical arm unfolded into view and extended a three-fingered claw. It snatched up the berbil.
"Help Ro-Bear Bob," the berbil buzzed, his short limbs waving stupidly.
"We have to stop that!" Cheetara rasped. She pulled her bo staff out of the loop on her belt and spun it overhead, extending it.
Felline knew what she meant – her whole body was singing, ready for action – but what action? The rig's wheels weren't rubber, but huge metal spheres that allowed the vehicle incredible maneuverability. No windows, no obvious joints. All that armor defied her puny rifle.
"What did I tell you guys," Panthro rumbled over Felline's head. "They tried to use their cuteness to get us to fight their battle."
"Well, looks like it worked," Lion-O growled.
For once, Tygra was in agreement. He raised his whip.
Meanwhile, the mechanical claw pulled Bob in, positioning him over a drawer that slid out of the humongous front plow. Lion-O dashed right at the plow blade, ran up it, and took a mighty leap. He hit the berbil and knocked them both over the drawer, landing safely in the grass on the other side. Bob squirted out of Lion-O's arms and rolled frantically away when the rig turned and gunned its engines as if to mow the young king down.
They ran, all of the cats, gathering around Lion-O to face the mechanical monstrosity. It came to a steamy stop.
A full two stories off the ground, Conquedor deigned to open his hatch and show his helmeted face again.
"So the berbils have enlisted the help of the fabled ThunderCats," he jeered.
Nyaaar, Snarf challenged, back arched and bristling.
With her body partly hidden by Panthro's bulk, Felline's eyes scanned for a weakness, something she could exploit while Conquedor was busy taunting them. It didn't look good. Conquedor, whatever species he belonged to, was squat and long-armed. His helmet seemed to sit directly on his shoulders with no neck in between. No jugular to rip out. Not enough to grasp. He lifted a sort of hand-held cannon onto his shoulder, priming the energy pack with a whine.
"Risking your lives for a bunch of junk heaps? And I thought these robots were brainless fools!" he called, his voice muffled and revoltingly wet. Mockingly, he bent to the side and knocked on his own helmet. It boomed hollowly.
Felline knew, without having to look at their faces, that Tygra, Cheetara, and Lion-O had already formulated counterattacks. That Panthro was preparing to shunt the kittens to safety. That they were all assuming she would be on the front lines.
And she would be – except – she couldn't think what to do.
Lion-O drew the Sword of Omens from the Gauntlet. It growled, growing to its full length. "ThunderCats, ho!"
No! She wasn't ready!
Conquedor opened fire.
A/N: Hello, Friends!
Hey, I have a return shout-out to make: Go read AllHailMedusa's tale, "Love is Beautiful, and Dangerous." It's hilarious, and will unexpectedly pull at your heartstrings.
Sometimes, it's all about networking. :3 I keep hoping for those Pum-line tales. *grins at Mooncloudpanther* Are any up yet? Pleeeeeeasse? And, of course, Heart of the Demons deserves reviews from every single one of us for simply being a rockstar at reviewing!
Reviewer thanks! AllHailMedusa (No, I know it wasn't good - thanks for the honesty! I'm so very sorry about that. At least I got it published and out of the way, and I'm working hard to get back in the groove!), Heart of the Demons (It definitely is about that, you are so right. :3 And no, I didn't know that! I had remembered the original berbils, but it's been so long since I've watched the OS. I really should watch it again . . .), Mooncloudpanther (Believe it or not, I like that sort of imagery, too. :3 And you're absolutely right!), Momochan77 (Haha, I can tell, and I can't thank you enough! :3 Truth be told, it was that aspect of her character - being tech-savvy - that partially decided me on showing the episode after all. Can't let Panthro have all the fun! Or - should I? *giggle*), Blacktiger93 (Yes, it was a hard decision, I'm so sorry! But I jumped in with both feet and there's no going back now! :3 LOL, be on the lookout for Mary Sueness . . . Felline scored a 14, but I may make a bad turn along the way and I DON'T want to do that. Anyway - *hugs* Thanks for sticking with me), KelseyAlicia (No, haven't quit yet! I was kind of shocked to see the amount of time that had passed since my last update . . . oops. *shamed face*), Night Whisperer (LOL, what a great reaction! The dream was spur of the moment . . . so I'm relieved it didn't make people mad, heh. And OH, I like that idea for Panthro! *ponders madly*), and Darwin (heehee, I wish I could have watched you reading it. You know me too well! :3).
Everyone, THANK YOU once again for reviewing. I love every single one of them. No lie. Every. Single. One.
And, I keep forgetting to do this: Thank you, those who have recently favorited or followed CC. I appreciate that, too.
All my love,
Anne