another new chapter here and this is the climatic battle scene. one more chapter should wrap this one up.
May 4455:
The marauder attacks were inching closer and closer to the capital and Lion-O was growing more frustrated with it as time passed. He did spend some time with Lioness-A showing her how to use the Sword of Omens as it had been discovered that she could wield it in his place if he were gravely injured or, heavens forbid, dead. Until Lion-O married and had an heir, Lioness-A was the sole one behind her brother. She took to the Sword easily and it seemed to recognize who she was.
In other news the training for the Thunderguard and Thundercats plus the Thunderian army had been ramped up and far, the results seemed promising and Lion-O was pleased with that. Sindaris was proving to be a competent Thundercat and people were trusting him. He helped lead the Thunderguard for a few skirmishes outside the city limits and they were able to round up several of the marauders as a result of this. Lion-O had wisely listened to both Jaguarus and Tillen on what to do and putting Sindaris in charge of one of the Thunderguard legions proved to be the best strategy as Panthro headed one of the others and Bengali a third unit.
"Doing what we did with the units is working out Lion-O but we've still haven't pinned that rebel saber yet," Tillen said as Lion-O scowled.
"Have any of the units been to check Syla Serin?" he asked.
"Sindaris took his unit there and they combed it and they found the last known hideout but it's been deserted for the last few weeks," Jaguarus told him. "I've got people out looking now as well but so far, nothing." He frowned as he checked something. "You have that meeting with the elders coming up here in a few days."
"I've got the terms of the agreement spelled out already and it will be presented then," Lion-O said. "Each of them has a copy of it to read so they will be ready to discuss it then." He began pacing. "Hopefully this will be enough to keep some things from happening and to allow things to go as they were on the rebuilding and resettling process."
"So far those are going well," Tillen said. "Lynx-O should have a report of that shortly for you." Lion-O nodded and the two left the room as he sat down to finish writing out a few things.
.::~*~::.
The meeting with the elders took place a week or so later and Lioness-A joined her brother in the council room as the elders entered and filed into their seats. Sindaris came in with the saber elder and introduced Silaro to the twins before guiding him to a seat at the table between Linkor, the lion elder and Lynxran, the lynx elder. Sindaris nodded to the twins before leaving the room. Lion-O came to the table and took his seat next to Linkor as Lioness-A remained on the side to watch. As the meeting got underway, she moved along the wall toward the window and sat down on the window seat there. No one paid her much attention as they were listening to Lion-O go over the terms.
"This is very agreeable and something we were hoping could be done without having to go to Parliament for it," Linkor said as Lion-O nodded.
"That was my ultimate goal Elder and why I wanted to run it by this council first," Lion-O said. "At this moment we are on the lookout for the rebel saber and his marauders and I have the legions out on a daily basis doing patrols along with the Army units." Tygra slipped into the room and Lioness-A came to him and they stepped outside.
"How's it going?" he asked.
"Slowly but quite well," Lioness-A replied. "They're open to the agreement and it won't have to go to Parliament." She frowned. "I thought that was gone when ThunDera blew."
"No, it's still there unfortunately and dealing with them has caused your brother no end of grief," Tygra told her. "That he won't have to take the agreement before them will save us some troubles."
"What's going on?" she asked, sensing something else was on his mind.
"Panthro's legion of Thunderguard found a location that could be the marauder's hideout and it's south of the city walls," he said as she frowned.
"Are they that insane to be this close to the city?" she asked.
"Not sure and Jaguarus has sent someone to check it," Tygra said.
The meeting ended a few moments later as the agreement was signed and Tillen took the paper to have it put with the other legal documents at the Parliament archive halls as Tygra caught Lion-O to speak with him. Lioness-A left them alone and went to the training grounds for a while. She had a need to work out and test her fluency with the crossbow before a fight happened.
.::~*~::.
Down in the training grounds Lioness-A had one of the guards set up a target for her as she removed the small box and activated the crossbow.
"Have any idea of what you're doing with that?" Pumyra asked when she came onto the grounds.
"A little bit," Lioness-A replied as she pulled out a bolt and loaded the weapon. "I thought I would come down here and work with it a bit before things go crazy."
"I heard," Pumyra said as she stood beside the lioness. Lioness-A carefully aimed the crossbow and fired it. The bolt flew through the air and hit the target dead on. "That's good," Pumyra said with a whistle. "You're a natural at that," she said.
"My mother used one when she was a Thundercat," Lioness-A said as she looked the weapon over. "Seems fitting that I take it up as well." Cheetara joined them as she loaded the weapon again. Lioness-A aimed and fired again and hit the target dead on.
"Like mother, like daughter," the cheetah said as Jassin chuckled.
"About what I had figured when I saw what weapon she ended up with at the end of the week. She practiced on one of the training ones during the weapon classes we had," he said as he came over. Lioness-A went and pulled out the bolts and came back to put them in her quiver before removing her boomerang from its sheath. "Now that one I never could understand," Jassin said.
"It's one I made but it has its uses," Lioness-A said and threw it as it arced around, knocking a stone off a pillar a few feet away before coming back to her as she leaped to catch it.
"You can use that to knock a weapon out of someone's hands," Pumyra said as Lioness-A nodded.
"That was the intent of it but I never put it to use," Lioness-A said. She collapsed the crossbow and put it back on her wrist. "Tygra told me what Panthro's legion found," she said as the two females nodded.
"It's not looking pleasant out there by any means but the units are on top of it," Pumyra said.
"The agreement was accepted by the elders so there's something else," Lioness-A said as the two smiled as they left the training grounds later.
.::~*~::.
Several days later began the first of a series of attacks against the capital and Sindaris and Panthro were there along with the legions holding them back even as the rest of the Thundercats and legions came to assist.
"I didn't think Othorion had that big of an army!" Tygra yelled when he saw it.
"He's been sneaking through the ranks for months," Sindaris said when he came up. "One of the men I talked to from my home tribe said that Othorion's been using lies and deception to gain people to his side."
"Bloody hell," Tygra muttered which had Lioness-A eyeing him oddly.
"He'll do that every so often but you get used to it," Cheetara told her. Lion-O joined them then on the wall.
"Where is he?" he demanded. Sindaris pointed to the center of the marauders and they saw one that looked eerily like Grune but with both of the saber teeth. In his hands was the massive club.
"Explains where that guard went," Jaguarus muttered.
The battle happened not long after that and everyone was kept busy trying to keep themselves from not getting hurt by the marauders. Lioness-A was over fighting two or three of them when she chanced to look towards the outer wall that formed one of the rings of the city. Lion-O was up there fighting off two of the marauders when she saw Othorion sneaking up behind him.
"LION-O!" she yelled. "BEHIND YOU!" She leaped out of the way of the two marauders and ran towards the wall, hoping she could get there in time. Tygra saw her running and ran after her when he saw what was going on along the top of the wall.
"Sindaris! It's Lion-O!" Tygra yelled as the saber turned and ran for the wall, getting there just in time to catch Othorion swing the massive club and it catching Lion-O in the chest as he released the Sword. The force of the impact knocked Lion-O off the wall as Lioness-A screamed and skidded to a halt, knowing it was a thirty-foot drop to the ground below. Lion-O managed to use the claw line to catch an overhanging rock but he swung too far and collided with the wall which knocked him out and by the looks it had pulled his left shoulder out of joint as well. Sindaris was able to push Othorion back as Tygra got there and unfurled his whip and swung it to wrap around Lion-O's limp form to help hold him place. Cheetara and Pumyra had reached Lioness-A's side as had Panthro and Bengali.
"We've got to get him down!" Tillen yelled.
"Where's the Sword?" Cheetara demanded.
"It fell when Lion-O went over the wall," Tillen said. "I can't see where it is."
Up on the wall Sindaris had pushed Othorion back when his foot caught hold of the Sword, lying on the side of the wall as the Eye growled. Sindaris picked up the Sword and saw Lioness-A and the others down below.
"Throw it towards Lioness-A. She's the only one here who can handle it," Tygra told Sindaris.
"Here it comes!" Sindaris yelled as he threw it as the Sword made aim for Lioness-A.
"CATCH IT!" Panthro yelled when he saw the Sword flying through the air towards them. Without thinking Lioness-A leaped in the air and caught the weapon in midair to the stunned shock of the others as the Eye roared. Othorion froze when he heard the sound as Sindaris ran to unfurl another rope to help Tygra hold up Lion-O. The rebel saber ran down the stairs toward the gathered group as Lioness-A braced herself. The Sword clanged with the club when Othorion came at her head-on with it.
"Holy crap," Bengali swore as the Thundercats watched as Lioness-A ducked and swung the Sword in an arc as Othorion blocked it.
"Come on, let's help Tygra and Sindaris get Lion-O down," Jaguarus said as Panthro ran with him to the wall's side and looked up. Lion-O was hanging at a precarious fifteen feet above them.
"We'll have to cut the claw line so we can get him down," Panthro said. Jaguarus removed one of his silver stars and threw it, severing the claw line near the overhang as it flew back to his hand. "LOWER HIM DOWN!" the panther yelled up to the two on the wall as they nodded.
"Your whip isn't long enough but we can try and do it with the rope," Sindaris said as Tygra nodded and retracted the whip. Between the two of them plus two of the Thunderguard they were able to slowly lower Lion-O as Panthro and Jaguarus got ready to receive him as Soros ran over with Pumyra and a medical team. Soros and Panthro gently guided the lion's body onto the stretcher as Pumyra got to work checking him.
"He's been stabbed once in his midsection from that club and I think he dislocated that left shoulder," she said as Soros frowned.
"He's also got a concussion from where he hit that wall trying to catch himself," Jaguarus said. Soros held a stethoscope on the lion's chest.
"He's alive but barely," he said. "Get him to the hospital on the double! It's closer than the med-bay at the lair and it's got more of what we'll need. They're opening an OR now!" The team left a moment later as Tygra and Sindaris joined the others.
"Good throw," Jaguarus said as Sindaris nodded.
"Damn," Panthro swore at another swing by Lioness-A. "How the hell is she doing that?"
"Her brother might be guiding her," Tygra said. "He did show her how to use it before now." Sindaris saw something then and growled. "What?"
"Lorkas, Othorion's second in command is trying to sneak up on her from behind," he said as the others growled. "We have to cut him off now."
"Go!" Panthro barked as the tiger and saber ran toward the battle. They split the closer they got and Tygra used his whip to trip Lorkas as Sindaris used his axe to knock the club out of Othorion's hands. Lioness-A took advantage of the opportunity to raise the Sword.
"HO!" she yelled as the weapon fired, blowing the club to pieces. Raising the Sword to her eyes, Lioness-A took a deep breath. "THUNDER, THUNDER, THUNDER, THUNDERCATS HO!" she roared as the Eye rose in the sky with a mighty growl that could be heard for miles.
"Holy," Sindaris breathed as everyone's insignias lit.
"She's the daughter of King Claud-Us alright," Tygra said with a grin. Othorion came at them and almost without a second thought Lioness-A sank the Sword in the ground at her feet and activated her crossbow and fired once. The aim was true and Othorion fell to the ground with a crossbow bolt sticking out of his chest as the battleground went deadly silent.
"Did she do that left-handed?" Cheetara wondered.
"I think so," Bengali said in a low voice. "But to kill him?" he asked.
"It's justice for the murders he's committed since gaining control of the marauders," Lynx-O said as he walked up from where he had been piloting the Thunderstrike during the battle and directing units. By now Lioness-A had picked up the Sword as it reverted to inactive. "Did we get the claw shield?" Lynx-O asked. Panthro held it up and handed it to Lioness-A as she sheathed the Sword. Someone brought her a megaphone then.
"To the marauders, your leader Othorion is dead. Surrender to the Thundercats or Thunderguard legions and we will show you mercy. If you do not, prepare to face the consequences. I, Princess Lioness-A, so declare this battle won in the name of the Thundercats!" she called as the Thundercats cheered. Lioness-A turned and collapsed in Tygra's arms as he held her as she began keening.
"What's that?" Sindaris asked as Cheetara paled.
"It's Lion-O. The medics took him to the hospital and that's the noise twins make if something's seriously wrong with one of them," Jaguarus exclaimed. "Tygra take her there to wait for word and Panthro and I can deal with everything here." Tygra nodded and left with Cheetara and Sindaris going with them to the hospital as work began to clear the battlefield and deal with the surrendering marauders.
.::~*~::.
Over at the main medical center near the center of the city it was a madhouse of people scrambling to get the injured coming in from the battlefield to treatment rooms and a nurse ran to get the head doctor when Tygra came in with Princess Lioness-A.
"This way," the doctor said as he guided them to a private visiting room up on the third floor just outside the OR entrance. The Thunderguard took up positions on the floor with the others that were already there.
"Any news?" Tygra asked him.
"I'll see if I can get someone on the team to come out here and brief you but they headed straight for the OR without stopping as we had it open," the doctor said and left the room. He swiped his badge and went into the OR unit then and found the room where the surgery was still going.
"Lord Soros, Lord Tygra is here with the princess for an update," the doctor said over the intercom. "The battle's been won by the Thundercats." Pumyra looked at Soros who was working with Cato, another healer, on the lion's midsection to try and stop the bleeding. About then the lion flatlined and that had Lioness-A keening again as the Thundercats that were with her paled. Ashryn had arrived and she was just as pale as the lioness but she was with Tygra and Lioness-A.
"Got it!" Cato yelled triumphantly when she found the bleeder as Pumyra and Rialla got chest compressions going as the lion's heart began beating.
"Pumyra go with the doc and brief them. It'll be a while longer before we're done," Soros said as she nodded and left to follow the doctor to the waiting room. Lioness-A went pale when she saw the blood on the puma's scrubs.
"Is he?" Tygra asked the puma, his voice subdued.
"Lion-O's alive but barely. The wound to his midsection was deep but Soros and Cato got it," Pumyra said. "He has torn muscles and ligaments in his left shoulder and there's signs of a concussion but we won't know how bad on that until we can wake him and that's not going to be for a while." She sighed when she saw Lioness-A and Ashryn. "I'll bring word or I'll send either Cato or Rialla with news once we're finished," she added as they nodded as she went back to the OR.
.::~*~::.
When she got there, she found them moving Lion-O to a room in the recovery ward. He was still on the respirator and tubes were everywhere and his left shoulder and arm were bound as was his chest and his head was covered in a bandage as well.
"Is he?" Pumyra asked quietly.
"Alive but barely," Soros growled. "Othorion did a damn number on him with that club and then there's the fall he took off the wall. We're needing blood for Lion-O now and I've already sent Catsy to let the Barbary elder know. He has fluid building up from when he hit the wall trying to use that claw line but there's a tube draining it off." The cougar scrubbed up and went to go brief the others then. "I had to put Lion-O in a coma temporarily because of the injury to his midsection and he's got fluid building up around his brain but we're alleviating that now." Lioness-A was deathly pale under her fur when the cougar knelt down in front of her. "We need blood donors from anyone you know that has the same blood type as he does."
"I know I do," Lioness-A said softly. "It's A positive like our father was."
"There's a special marker due to the Barbary lineage though," Ashryn said. "Most of my family is A positive and they can donate as can I."
"Good. We need as many of the Barbaries with the same type to donate. It's the best chance Lion-O has got for survival right now," Soros said gently. "We'll let you see him in ICU for about thirty minutes once we get him settled there. Coming here was the quicker and safer option for him."
.::~*~::.
Over the next three days blood donations came in from the Barbary village and those that were in the capital and the blood was slowly being pumped into Lion-O's body but it was helping as he was showing signs of healing. The swelling had gone down in his brain and the tube was removed during day three in the ICU. Soros was still keeping Lion-O in the coma for a little longer due to the incision in the lion's midsection.
While that was going on Lioness-A took up the mantle of Lady of the Thundercats temporarily as it was technically the only title she could hold after Jaguarus and Tillen went through Jaga's books to find out what to do in case of a situation like this. The Thunderians were rallying behind her though and the support touched Lioness-A as she began to work on a plan to rebuild the planet after the marauders had destroyed so much.
.::~*~::.
Again thanks for reading frankannestein, heart of the demons, darkalphawolf01 and st4r hunter. i hope this meets your expectations.