I spent a lot of time debating how I wanted to approach the rest of this episode... I think this worked the best.
"Time is relative. ... The Petalars' entire existence seems to pass in the course of a single day. But from their perspective..." "It's a lifetime."
"Are we making any progress?" Cheetara asked.
"If the map is meant to lead us into every single thorn bush in the briar, then yes, we're doing great." came Tygra's sarcastic reply.
It felt like they had been walking for hours with the petalars, going in a giant circle. They glanced about the mass of tangled trees around them as they walked, desperately trying to identify any landmark on the petalars' map.
Leopara couldn't fathom their seriousness.
She wanted to help them home, of course. If she had control enough of her magic, she would create the gust of wind herself… but she didn't know where their garden was, and her winds would be even more ephemeral than winds naturally were, if they didn't accidentally cut the petalars into pieces instead of carrying them away from this place.
But the map had only one- no, two- distinguishing marks on it: the Cliff of Winds and the sun. The dotted lines they were supposed to follow wandered in tight twists and turns sprawled across the expanse of the leaf.
She couldn't fathom their seriousness; it was so painfully obvious the path on the map wasn't the path. It wasn't a real map, but rather that which a cub might draw. How was it supposed to lead them anywhere? Did its destination even exist? If the Cliff of Winds truly did exist, and the petalars had known where it was, why did they leave it? Did their ancestors catch a glimpse of it as they were swept into the briar wood?
It didn't make sense to her.
But she didn't say anything, either.
She turned her attention away from Tygra and Cheetara, and turned it towards Lion-O behind her. He trailed behind the line of petalars with Emrick.
He was always with Emrick.
She smiled as she watched. Emrick slashed the air with his little green sword, mimicking the teachings Lion-O had bestowed upon him just earlier.
Since meeting Emrick, Lion-O had been… lighter. His doubts lessened, soothed. When she reached out to his emotions, she felt a spark of hope, light optimism. It was so fragile, it had to be cradled. She didn't want to take that away from him. He needed this. She needed the Cliff of Winds to exist, for his sake.
The sun began its descent towards the western horizon when the second petalar collapsed on their journey through the wood. Their body fell apart into leaves and petals, gently carried into the sky by an unseen wind.
She felt the claw of despair wriggling its way back into Lion-O before she had even turned to look at him. He was alone now, Emrick no longer by his side, his expression crestfallen.
She frowned.
"What's the point of it all?" he wondered to himself. "Kingdoms rise and fall, lifetimes come and go. Are any of us here long enough to even make a difference?"
Before she could reach him, a voice spoke up. Emrick. "You sound like an old man talking like that."
"Emrick?"
The purple-petaled petalar approached him, his thin blade sheathed at his side. "With so many great adventures ahead of us, we still have a chance to make our marks."
Lion-O watched him bittersweetly. "Yes, my friend." he agreed. "Many adventures, I hope."
Leopara smiled as she watched them.
Lion-O didn't realise the irony of his question. Emrick had been in his life for less a day, and yet he was leaving quite the mark on him.
Emrick stopped in his tracks, looking at something ahead of Leopara, in the direction of Cheetara and Tygra. "It can't be." he murmured. He sprinted past Leopara and lept into the air, neatly snatching the leaf-map from Cheetara. He held it up, studying it, before lowering it again. "This is it, the gateway to the Cliff of Winds!" He turned towards his fellow petalars and announced with a gesture. "Once we get through this pass, we'll be free!"
The petalars erupted into cheers.
She blinked a couple times- the map… actually led somewhere?- before smiling and gazing at Lion-O. He grinned. "Then let's go."
The petalars surged forward ahead of them and funneled into the gateway tunnel. Leopara stayed back with the others, not wanting to accidently squash any of the petalars and content to watch them herself.
A faint rustle sounded from behind her; her ear flicked and swiveled towards it, listening.
Nothing.
She shook her head a little and looked to Lion-O again. He was beaming.
He took a few steps forward.
A gun fired.
"Lion-O!" she and Cheetara exclaimed. She ran forward to his collapsed body, dropping down onto her knees, while Cheetara- Leopara heard hoarse groans tear from both Tygra and Cheetara. She snapped her attention away from Lion-O, looking up just in time to see the thick lizard tail swinging at her.
She couldn't move fast enough to do anything about it.
It connected with her head, smacking her over, forward and across Lion-O. She lay there, dazed, as electricity crackled and the Wily twins cried out.
More lizards stepped forward, quietly hissing with their every move.
"You were fools to try and outrun your fate." a thin, lanky one hissed, holding a pistol in his hand.
"Outrun this!" exclaimed Emrick.
He ran forward with his leaf-blade drawn and ready- and was promptly tail-whipped with such force he was sent rolling away, out of her vision. She could faintly hear him speak, but not his words. Not until, "-for ages to come!"
The petalars gave a rallying war cray behind them, in the tunnel.
She heard them charge out, their quiet footsteps as loud as they would ever be. In the next moment, the air was filled with pollen so thick and dense it was a cloud of yellow haze, getting into the lizards' eyes and sinuses.
They took the distraction and chaos to make their move. Cheetara lept up with her staff and smashed one in the face. Tygra bounded up and body-checked another. Leopara rolled off Lion-O, sneezing hard and covering her face.
"Huh? You can't fight what you can't see." the thin, lanky one announced.
"We can take care of that!" shouted WilyKat and WilyKit. She heard a splatter as fruit hit him. He growled at the twins, who offered only a giggle in return.
Lion-O stood, drawing the Sword of Omens. "I can see you now." With an effortless slash, he cut the lizard down.
Emrick lept onto his body. "Charge!" he called, gesturing to the gateway.
The petalars charged through, followed closely by the Wilytwins, dropped down into a crouch to fit through the small space.
Leopara sneezed again, eyes watering, and followed.
The tunnel was cramped. They, the bigger cats, had to crawl on hands and knees to fit inside the tunnel for it was so short. They scooted along until finally spilling out of the gateway.
Into a clearing empty save for the thick vines of thorns strung across the grown, and furled plants at the far end.
"Uh," WilyKat began, "there's no cliff here."
WilyKit stuck her finger into her mouth and held it into the air. "Or winds. Just more woods."
The high spirits of the daring petalars were crushed all at once. Confusion crept in as they wandered further into the uneven clearing.
Leopara stood, brushing herself off, and looked up. Unlike the rest of the woods, she could see the sky clearly from here. It was evening, the sun was setting and painting the sky a beautiful orange. She reached for Jaga's staff, running her thumb over the wood. It thrummed with magic, ancient and strong.
She didn't know where their garden was or how far her winds could- would- carry them, but she could create the winds now. It would be easy, safe, to send them up from here.
She glanced around as the setting sun's rays grew fainter. Lion-O slumped against one of the vines, Tygra sat beside him on it with the map in his hand. Emrick hovering at his elbow.
"Maybe I misread the map." Tygra wondered.
"Or maybe there is no Cliff of Winds. Maybe the map is a lie. But why?" Lion-O wondered.
Emrick spoke up. "Perhaps our ancestors wanted to provide us with hope. Hope so we'd never stop looking for our way back home."
"Is that all hope is then? An illusion?"
Leopara stepped forward, kneeling by his side. "Lion-O-"
Emrick gasped, looking up at something. They followed his gaze up above the Briar Woods.
Smoke.
And through the trunks of brambles, they could faintly see an angry orange glow, griwing brighter and hotter.
A fire. The lizards had set fire to the briar!
It was on instinct they lept to their feet.
"Things are about to get a little more hopeless." Tygra commented unhelpfully.
"We have to retreat. Again." Lion-O told them. He turned and took only a single step befire Emrick got into his way.
"No, we must go toward it."
"Toward the flames? Are you crazy?"
Emrick walked towards the furled plants. "Can you feel it, Lion-O? Do you know what this is?"
Leopara watched. As the flames burned closer, Emrick's hope blossomed more. The tall, curled plants began to unfurl as they grew warmer, releasing green pollen that sparkled like the embers beginning to fall. The pollen rose up in the air, carried high by the heat of the flames.
"An updraft from the fire. It's creating wind!" exclaimed Lion-O as realisation dawned.
The petalars gasped.
Emrick met Lion-O's eyes. "This is why you never give up hope." He turned towards the outstretched stalks and flicked his sword into the air above him. "We're going home!"
There was little cheering, but the petalars' excitement was palpable nonetheless. They hurried towards the stalks and began to file up them, up the longest which stretched all the way to the top of the Briar Wood. Leopara cupped a couple of the children and with a steadying breath, blew a small gust to carry them higher up than she could reach. They giggled as they ascended, and it was with great nervousness that she watched them land- gently, unharmed.
Tygra glanced at her, annoyed. "You could have done that the entire time?" he asked.
She shrugged. "They would have gotten snagged on the canopy, and winds dissipate so easily…"
He shook his head a little as they both crouched down, picking up more little ones.
Lion-O wandered away, his attention caught by something. Leopara followed him with her eyes as he approached an elderly petalar with purple petals.
"Hurry, there's not much time… literally." he said softly.
The petalar fell to the side in his cupped hands. With a start, she realised it was Emrick. His voice rasped quietly as he spoke to Lion-O, words she couldn't make out and didn't dare to.
"Emrick?" Lion-O's voice shook as he said his friend's name. She heard Emrick's weak voice again, and Lion-O murmured to himself, softly, "A blink of an eye…"
Emrick's voice rose a little. "In the end, what matters isn't how long we've lived, but how fully we've lived." The petalars who had been waiting to climb began to approach and gather around Lion-O and Emrick. "The good we've done, the friends we've made, the love we shared along the way."
The gathered petalars began to sing, the same choral song she had heard when they first entered the briar. It was beautiful and sad and hopeful all at once.
Sadness welled in Lion-O, but it mixed with happiness; bittersweet. "I'm sorry I didn't get you to The Garden." he apologised softly.
"It's the journey, Lion-O. Remember that." With a sigh, Emrick's body came undone. The petals of purple were carried into the air as Lion-O watched, stricken. Up into the night sky they swirled; beauty in death.
WilyKat and WilyKit let out a couple quiet cries.
Leopara finally dared to move forward, crouching down to her knees to rest a hand on Lion-O's shoulder. Without taking his eyes away from Emrick, he raised his own hand to set over hers with a grateful squeeze. Then, he stood.
"It's time to go home." he said quietly.
The bustle of helping the petalars climb resumed, until every last one drifted away on the breeze. They watched for a few moments.
In that time, the flames spread even further, encircling the clearing.
"So what now?" Tygra asked.
"We can try to find another way out of this briar." added Cheetara.
Hope soared in Lion-O, carried as high as the petalars by the flames. "Retreat? Thundercats never retreat." He turned to face them. "I say we face the lizards and hope for the best."
Leopara wanted to be as proud as Cheetara felt in that moment, but her stomach sank like a heavy stone. It was suicide. They couldn't hope to destroy all the mechas they had glimpsed earlier, before being killed and while dealing with the foot troops. Maybe if she were a stronger or more powerful sorceress- but she wasn't.
If they died, who would stop Mumm-Ra?
"We're all leaves passing in the wind, here and then gone." He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, he lifted his left arm and grasped the hilt of the Sword of Omens. "But while we're here, we live to the fullest!" He drew his blade with a booming, "Thunder… Thunder… Thunder... Thundercats, ho!" he shouted, thrusting it into the air.
A beam of red shot out from the Eye, racing into the night sky to shine a visage of the Thundercats' emblem; the roaring silhouette of a cat-beast from old times.
It was a horrible idea, but they charged through the flames, briefly snuffed and dispersed by a hard swing from Cheetara's staff to clear them a path.
The lizards didn't expect it. The foot soldiers were nearest the briar, and they were quickly cut or shot down by Lion-O and Tygra. Cheetara raced into the thick of it and, with a powerful and swift stroke, took out a circle of lizards with a strong gust of wind.
Leopara pushed forth a barrier from Jaga's staff as the lizard mechas opened fire on them. Their cannonfire boomed against the barrier, muffled from the other side. It was an onslaught. One, two, three blasts, repeating. Four, five, from all around. They began to fall back. Tygra kept firing his pistol, but Leopara didn't split her focus to see if his shots found their marks.
Rapid gunfire joined the cannons as the foot soldiers marched on them. The ground shook as the cannons continued.
She focused, pouring more of her energies into holding the barrier. The lizards outside began to circle around them, firing and firing.
When she dropped the barrier, they would be dead.
"There are too many of them." Lion-O said. It sounded almost like an apology.
Tygra spoke next. "Father would have been proud of your bravery, Lion-O."
"A glory I'm honored to share with all of you."
Tears welled in Leopara's eyes. Glory? Glory?
"My service to the crown has always been a cherished privilege." Cheetara added.
The mechas marched forward, closer and closer. As such a short distance, there was no way her barrier would stay intact when they fired. "I'm sorry." she croaked out as the tear slipped down her cheeks.
There was a blast, but it wasn't the one she was anticipating. A flash of light erupted, bursting into flames as it struck one of the mechas and knocked it off balance.
More blasts, flashing and arcing through the air. They seemed to come from everywhere, assailing the mechas and foot soldiers from every direction at once.
"What is that thing?" Cheetara voiced their thoughts aloud.
Leopara nearly collapsed from relief, shaking. But she stood her ground and focused on the barrier. It wavered and was non-existent in patches, but it still stood.
Their rescuer raced around the battlefield chased by a cloud of dust, turning tightly to face the last mecha standing and fire directly at it. It exploded, along with the lizardmen surrounding it.
And the rest- the rest scattered, running terrified into the forest.
She actually dropped down to her knees this time, the barrier flickering out of existence, as the… machine approached with a low, steady hum.
"I hope that's on our side." WilyKit said, shaking.
It stopped just a couple yards away from them. As they watched, the machine hissed and a hatch opened. The silhouette of a tall, thickly built- Panthro?
Either a very brave or very stupid lizard lunged at Panthro, only to be batted away like he was nothing by his pair of nunchaku.
"Who are-" Lion-O began to ask, cutting himself off. "Panthro?"
Silhouetted by the moon, he smiled down at them.
Special thanks to the Night Whisperer! Don't be afraid to leave a review, I love hearing from you guys on what you're enjoying!