Chapter 45: David's Song
Songs: David's Song by Robbie Williams (trust me, go listen to it) and How To Save A Life by The Fray
I hang from my wrists and ankles in the cell for what seems like ages, drifting in and out of consciousness with pain. I've never known anything like what I feel right now, all I want is for the suffering to end.
I look up as I'm released from my bonds, and the pain that washes over me as blood pumps back into my limbs is beyond belief. My leg is pure agony as I'm dragged from the cell, and as I'm taken through the corridors, I catch glimpses of the wretched souls that have been stolen from their homes. God, so it wasn't all a lie. They look at me with hope dying in their eyes, and I start to cry as the hopelessness of this whole situation becomes overwhelming. How could I be such a coward? How could I have been so stupid to turn around and decide to face Mumm-ra alone? I can't bring myself to look up. How can those poor Thunderians stand to see their King so beaten, captured and being marched towards what is probably his death? I've lost all hope. Why haven't the other Thundercats rescued me yet?
I am soon dragged into a courtyard where there's a transporter waiting. I'm thrown into the back and chained to the side by Grune, and I can't help but struggle slightly at the tightness of the shackles that cut into my sore skin. He jumps out, then the doors are shut and someone bangs on the side twice. I feel the lurch of the transporter as it starts to move. Where the hell are we going now?
—-(BORDER)—-
"Big Cat One to Pride, do you copy?"
Nothing.
"Big Cat One to Pride, do you copy? Over."
Nothing but static white noise answers, and my anxiety rises further with every single time.
"This is bad. The frequency has been jammed - they don't know that we're coming back."
The supercharged engine roars into life as Panthro initiates the launch sequence, and the 'Tank lurches forwards as the panther punches the accelerator. We have four tanks in our convoy and it's not long before we're all hurtling along at full speed. Katz walks into the cockpit and sits himself down in the bucket seat next to me, a look of anticipation on his face as he turns to me. He's a handsome young cat, and his eyes remind me of his Father, the cat that I can't help but feel as though I'll never see again. Pain washes through my veins and it takes all of my strength not to breakdown in-front of everyone.
"Mum, it'll be ok. We'll get dad back."
I look at him and try desperately to hold back my tears which threaten to surface at the thought of my husband.
"I hope so, son."
…
It takes us a good few hours to finally get to the edge of the vast plains, dense forest filling the windscreen as we look upon our final leg of the journey.
Panthro stops the convoy and turn to face me.
"Why are we stopping?"
"I need to send the drones out to see what's the other side of the ridge. If we plough through and run into any enemy forces, any surprise we have will be lost."
"Ah ok, good call."
Panthro turns to the control panel and activates the drones. I unbuckle myself and stand, walking over to Panthro and watching the screens in front of him as the drones activate their cameras. I can hear the hum of their propellers, and the top hatch of the Tank opens and they rise into the air.
The drone has wide angle lens cameras pointed in the four directions of the compass, and the camera facing south showed the vastness of the forest; it's at least thirty miles wide at the point we're about to cross. Panthro adjusts the zoom and places his hand around a little joystick and pushes it forward. Slowly the drone responds and the forest appears ever closer. The far side of the forest is clear, and I can see the city as a small dark speck on the horizon.
"Zoom in on that, Panthro."
He does so, zooming in on the dark speck on the horizon and the city comes into view. It's still only a small speck in the distance but we could all see the black specks circling high above. The alarm had been raised, the Capital City is under attack. I feel the growl in my throat as a purr, the warning beacon has made us all aware our people are in trouble.
"We go now!"
Panthro guns the throttle and the Thundertank races forward to the aid of our people. The Ferrals and Plun-Darrian forces are behind us and, as an army, we race forward. It takes us very little time to reach the outskirts of the forest and we burst through the undergrowth and onto the plains before the city.
The walls surrounding the city are now clear before us, smoke pouring from various points of the area. It becomes obvious that Mumm-Ra's forces are attacking the outlying villages and homesteads. Still we race on, our thoughts about the friends who could not be with us.
Suddenly, a grey mist appears above the city and, to my horror, I see my husband in far worse state than he was the last time I saw him. He's tied to an x-shaped frame and has been badly beaten. Grune stands next to him, holding a massive hunting knife. I don't think I like where this is going.
"Surrender the city and the Sword of Omens with it and give in to your new Overlords or your precious King dies. You have until dusk to decide."
The mist and my poor husband disappears, and my heart beats in my chest so loud I'd be shocked if everyone couldn't hear it. I feel so sick with worry, this can't be happening.
The tanks roar forward as I hurry back into the hold where everybody is strapping armour onto themselves and checking weapons.
"Katz! I need you in the turret gun! Panthro and myself are going to man the cannon on the front and we can rip these bastards apart!"
Panthro leaves the drone in the air to get a view of the battlefield as we tear across the plain as fast as the Thundertank can go. The drone follows us and I see the city getting bigger. Mutant aircraft are bombarding the city, the shockwaves sending rubble flying in all directions.
It isn't long before we see the full extent of Mumm-Ra's force on the camera screen; he's amassed a considerable force which is stationed on the hill and surrounding area of the city. We can see Lion-O strapped to the frame, with Grune stood next to him brandishing his mace and knife.
Panthro pushes the intercom button.
"León-A, do you copy?"
"I hear ya Panthro, over. What took you guys so long? We're getting our asses handed to us here!"
"This isn't the right time to explain anything but this is it! It's time to kick the tires and light the fires
"Copy. Let's get these bastards and save our King. León-A out."
…
Panthro studies the images being sent back by the drone, looking both confused and very frustrated.
"Here," he says as he points to the screen, "This is where we're going to break the forces."
He's pointing to the rear of the army, a look of determination on his face.
"We'll drive through them here. It will not take long to skirt around them, and will be on them before you know it."
He guns the throttle and we are off again, the raw speed making me feel like my stomach is being left behind as the sun sits high over the horizon, streaks of golden light breaking over the top of the canyon where we lay waiting. The other three Thundertanks are in position as we had agreed earlier that night.
I was just happy we had managed to make it in time. Mumm-Ra and his Mutant and mercenary army are just the other side of the ridge, and hopefully they don't even know we are here.
Panthro opens up the communication channel on the console.
"Johba, do you copy?"
"Right here, Cheetara."
"We can't wait much longer, there is line upon line of Mumm-Ra's infantry between us and Lion-O and we have until sundown."
"We're going to be able to handle this, we'll go ahead and clear a path for you to get through. Be ready."
Panthro opens the comms again, and we listen with bated breath.
"This is Big Cat One. Thundera Base, do you copy? Lair, this is Big Cat One, do you copy?"
The channel is nothing but static, which isn't a good sign.
" it's"It's no good, the signal is still jammed. We can't get a message to the Lair so they don't know we're coming back."
I run into the hold, just as Panthro guns the Thundertank forward yet again , but when I look at the screen, the images from the drone have me terrified as I break down in sobs, hyperventilating uncontrollably…
—-(BORDER)—-
Hours pass, and I'm still in indescribable agony, but the transporter suddenly stops and the doors are opened. The bright light is blinding as I'm dragged outside, and although I have to shield my eyes against it, I know immediately where I am: I'm on a hill that overlooks the Capital City of New Thundera. I can see Cat's Lair in the distance, sparkling in the midday sun.
I'm walked to the hill where there's a frame waiting for me, where I am tied up again with ropes that are so tight that they feel like needles when it digs into my wrists and ankles.
Soon afterward, Mumm-Ra approaches me with a look of demonic pleasure on his face with Grune a step behind him like a dog following behind its master.
"So, Lion-O. Let's see if those friends of yours can save you now!" Mumm-ra says as he grabs a handful of my mane and pulls my head back so that he can look into my eyes. He begins to chant and a vision of him appears above me, large enough to be seen for miles around.
"People of New Thundera," Mumm-ra's raspy voice echoes across the valley as my head pounds from the pain I'm in, "I have Lord Lion-O. Unless you give me the Sword of Omens and vacate your city, he will die in agony! You have exactly one hour!"
With that, my face appears on the vision. Bloodied and cut, I look a mess.
...
Grune approaches me with a grin that shows his broken sabres; I've never seen the sadistic bastard look so smug before. What the hell is going on?
"This is it then, Lion-O; the hour is up and there's been no sign of any attempts to do as Mumm-ra has ordered your people to do," he snarls, then spits on my face much like I had to him before grabbing a handful of my mane and forcing me to look him in his gnarled face, "And I think you know what comes next…"
With that, he unfurls the laser whip and slowly slinks around the frame to my back as I try to slow my breathing. He's right, I do know what comes next…I just hope it ends soon.
The agonising sensation of overwhelming pain explodes across my back and my flesh is cut all the way down to the bone as the whip bites into my flesh, followed with a harsh, resounding snap as the whip is pulled back once more.
Again and again, the whip cracks against my body, each lash more painful than the last and I feel the torturous sensation of my own hot blood pouring down my back. The scar from mine and Grune's previous encounter is criss-crossed with fresh wounds as the sabertoothed tiger drives the whip into my flesh with all his strength. The pain is certainly unbearable, but I keep digging my fangs into my tongue to keep myself from screaming.
I know that all of my people are watching, and I know that I can't show my mental resolve weakening. They must have hope.
"Don't give in to Mumm-ra's demands; nothing good will ever come of it…"
The whip bites into the back of my neck. I bite my tongue to stop myself from screaming in pain. The last thing I want to do is to appear weak to my people, friends and enemies. The whip cracks against the back of my broken leg, and I can't hold it back any longer; I scream in agony, so Grune does it again.
After five hundred lashes, Grune stops whipping me. He rolls his whip up and clips it back onto his belt. Then, he walks around the frame to face me and unsheathes his eighteen-inch hunting knife.
"This is Tiger's Bite." he says to me as he runs a finger down the edge of the blade.
The knife is black with an orange edge and the handle is bound in cat's skin. The handle has another knuckle duster attached to it which is adorned with lion's teeth. Looks like Grune has been busy.
He points it at me then says, with a deep growl "An eye for an eye. That's the old saying, isn't it?"
He pushes the point deep into my forehead above my left eye and drags the blade downwards, stopping under my chin as I scream in pain, blood gushing into my eyes and blinding me as I try to pull away. Laughing, Grune then starts to carve chunks of flesh off of my body as it feels like my skin is set on fire. I can't take any more of the pain, and I start praying for death as I black out momentarily, but every fresh cut brings me back to my cruel reality, screaming out in pain with every slice.
Jaga appears before me
"Lion-O," he says as he kneels before me, looking into my eyes as I struggle to focus on him, "This will soon be over. I am here to take you over to the Astral Plain. Stay strong, just a little longer!"
I open my eyes and see the Thundertank screaming towards me and my heart swells with hope as I realise that this is it, they're here to save me.
"It's a pity that they won't get here on time! Say hello to your Father for me!"
That sentence chills me to the bone as I look back, and it seems like time itself goes in slow motion as I realise what he's about to do, far too late to do anything. The knife plunges deep into my chest as I roar and scream in shock at the sudden explosion of white-hot blinding agony. I can feel the pressure of the blade in my ribs, and my lungs feel so heavy. The blood that gushes forth from the wound as Grune pulls the knife is alarming, and pumps out steadily with every heartbeat as my limbs begin to feel like lead weights. I…I can't…think…
"Dad!"
I somehow manage to gain enough energy to look up and see my son, wielding the Sword of Omens.
"K...Katzeran?"
My son looks at me with tears running down his cheeks, and then he turns his attention back to Grune who is grinning widely, and the kitten snarls angrily, baring his fangs.
"Get the hell away from my Dad, Grune!" he growls. Grune laughs then kicks him out of the way, but he's suddenly wrenched away and I see Katzeran wrestling with Grune on the ground. But it's no good, my life is draining away, and I can feel every drop of my energy evaporating into the ether. Panthro and Tygra stand before me and cut me down, packing the wound with as much gauze as they can.
"Cheetara," Tygra says as he catches me "Get him back to the Thundertank and quickly. I don't think he's going to make it! Be quick, Cheetara!"
Only blackness greets me...
…
I can hear voices when I eventually regain consciousness. They're friendly, but sound like they are very far away before starting to get louder, and a bright light beckons me as I open my eyes.
"Lion-O! Lion-O, stay with me! You're going to make it!"
I hear the heartbreak and desperation in her voice and she cries as she rests my head on her knees, but my arms feel completely numb. My ears are ringing, and it feels like my heart is about to burst from my chest. I feel so cold…
"Cheetara!"
Tygra…
"Keep the pressure on that chest wound constant, otherwise he's going to bleed out! I've stabilised his broken leg, but the bleeding won't stop on his chest! He's already bled through the fucking gauze! We've gotta get moving! Step on it!"
It takes me until then to realise that we're in the Thundertank. I open my eyes fully and try to sit up, blood spurting from my wounds as my arms give up on me and Cheetara helps me back down.
"Stay still Lion-O, babe... stay still. We will sort you out but you need to stay still. We're nearly home," she says as tears stream down her face, so I try to talk but she shushes me and kisses my cheek as she continues, "I'm not going to lose you, babe. I have come too close to that in the past and I will not lose you today!"
I feel the coldness of metal being pressed into my hand, and when I look at my hand, I see the Sword of Omens and my sobbing son.
"S-Sword…Sword of Omens…Please…I beg you! Please save my Dad!"
I feel its powers flooding my veins, bolstering my energy but I still feel so tired. Darkness envelops me once again and I lose consciousness for the umpteenth time, but I come around again as a wave of pure agony shoots through my body. I open my eyes, but I can't focus; everything is so fuzzy. I see a blur and a voice that is familiar speaks to me.
"Lion-O! Lion-O, can you hear me?"
It's Pumyra. I look around and see that I'm in the infirmary. Cheetara is anxiously standing at the side of the bed, sobbing uncontrollably as Snarf tries to comfort her. She's obscured by a flash of white then as a light flashes before my eyes.
"It's bad," Pumyra says as she checks my pulse "We're going to need a miracle to save him! Prepare the OR for an emergency RIGHT NOW !"
I feel as if I'm floating in a dark pool of water. I feel so peaceful. But this can't be happening.
"Ch...Che...Cheetara?" I groan, the pain too much for me to handle "D...Don't l...Don't leave me."
I don't want to open my eyes; I can't. I'm too scared. Too scared to face the truth. I don't want to die. The pain, it's just too much...too much to handle. It hurts...it hurts so much. I'm rapt in my fear...my fear of what's truly happening to me. When will I finally realise? When it's too late and there's no going back? I've...just got to...hold on! Yet still, I can feel my own body getting colder. No! I can't die! I...just...can't...
"He isn't responding to the blood transfusion!"
Cheetara squeezes my hand.
"You're going to be ok, Lion-O. I promise...you're going to be...ok..." the cheetah whispers over and over again as she holds me close to her, gently stroking my mane.
"Pr...Promise me tha...that you're not go...going to leave me..." I whisper weakly, so she replies to me with "I'll never leave you, Lion-O. I promise. I'll never leave you..."
Cheetara...
I try to move, but it feels like I'm being tied down. I can't move my arms or my legs. It's cold...so, so cold...
My wife, my family. No! I've got to...got to stay...awake!
"I...'Tara…I'm so…sorry... Tell...Tell Katz an...and Lola tha...that I lo...love them..."
"I-I DON'T need to!. You're gonna survive."
"Don't..be...Don't be silly...Promise me..."
"I promise..."
"Pumyra! We're loosing him!"
I cough weakly, and something thick and sticky dribbles down my chin as it feels like my lungs are being crushed. "D...Darìonae t...t...t'yull ca...ca'rrn Cheetara..." I whisper weakly.
"WHY ISN'T THAT OR READY YET!?"
"Darìonae t'yull ca'rrn y damiyda, L'ûencho. Always and forever..." she's crying uncontrollably, knuckling her eyes as she holds my hand, stroking my mane as I feel my entire body tingling before beginning to go completely numb.
I groan again, closing my eyes as tears trickle down my cheeks. I groan in pain, scant seconds before a sharp agonising pair tears through my chest, yet when I scream, no sound comes out. I can feel Cheetara squeezing my hand, but my body is going numb. I can't feel any pain. And that's when I hear the broken, shrill half scream, half roar from my wife and all of my senses fade away to nothing…
—-BORDER)—-
Blood. So much blood. It's everywhere , and there's so much more than I'd ever have expected to have been able to come out of a Thunderian's body. It's all I can smell, and all I can hear is the shrill screaming. My shrill screaming, as I only just manage to look at Lion-O's still form in front of me.
"LION-O!"
"No pulse! Tygra, he's in cardiac arrest! Get me a crash cart!"
Somebody grabs me from behind, pulling me away from my beloved mate. I scream and thrash, wildly lashing out at the medical technician who is trying to carry me from the room. I can't see through the cascade of tears streaming through my eyes and I can't hear anything other than the flatline alarm and the charge of the defibrillator.
"Charge to three-hundred!"
"Clear!"
I hear the sound of the shock – of my husband's body being shocked with hundreds , if not thousands of volts to try to restart his heart. But still the flatline alarm sounds.
"Again!"
They try in vain for multiple attempts, administering CPR and chest compressions as I watch from a distance but eventually, Pumyra stands up, defeated with her head hung in disbelief and sadness.
"We tried everything that we could but it just wasn't enough…"
"NO!"
"Time of death, 11:38pm…"
—-(BORDER)—-
I look up as I run around the corner, seeing my Mum as she stands in the hallway before sliding down the wall and laying on her side, her body wracked with uncontrollable sobs and cries.
"Mum?"
I get her into my arms and she cries into my chest, harder than I've ever seen her cry before and I immediately know that the only news she has is bad, and what she says sinks in immediately.
"They cou…couldn't sa…save him Katz…He's g-gone…"
My Father is dead.
It takes forever for the initial shock to hit me, and I hold my Mum close as the tears stream down my cheeks. This can't be happening…it just can't. I never even got to say goodbye. The last thing I'd ever told him was that I wished he wasn't my Father – that I'd wished he was dead. And now look at what's happened.
"Mum…" I start, my voice thick with emotion as it feels like I'm going to choke on the lump forming in my throat, "How are we going to tell Lola? She's going to be away for another two weeks and she can't find out about Dad while she's away, it would crush her…"
"I-I know…We'll have to go to get her tomorrow…I hate to cut her trip short but she needs to be with us when she finds out…"
I say nothing, just holding my Mother close as we cry. I don't even know how to feel. I feel empty but guilty at the same time. To know that my Dad, the man I've looked up to for my entire life is now gone from this plane of existence? It hurts like hell. Maybe if I'd have gotten to Grune sooner, Dad would still be alive. If we'd have managed to get to the city quicker. What if I did something wrong when fighting my way through the horde of Mutants? What if this is all my fault? I struggle to process my emotions, eventually being pushed beyond my limits.
I scream. For my family. For my friends. For my Father. Rage boils over, tears streaming down my cheeks as I swear to the heavens themselves. I will avenge my Father. I will tear Grune to shreds for what he's done to our family. To my poor Mother who has lost her mate of almost twenty years.
"We need to announce…"
"Katzeran, I…" Mum starts, her voice shaking like I've never heard it before, "I'd rather…tell Lola first…"
"I-No, you're right…"
As I lay in my bed that night, I can't sleep. I can't think. I don't want to think, because the only thought I have is the fact that I must have done something that resulted in my Father being murdered. I roll to my side and I can see the open door to the balcony, the thin curtains caught in the cool breeze. I knuckle the tears from my eyes, the guilt and doubt overwhelming me as I reminisce on the moments that I have ever had with Dad. From the moment I was a cub, he'd always been by my side and was always there for me. And how do I repay him? By failing to save his life.
The religion of the Barbary Lions speaks heavily of karma. If you do something bad or wish for something malicious, it usually has the strangest way of becoming reality. I just can't stand the thought of having to tell Lola about our Dad. She's old enough to understand but I have no idea how it's going to affect her mentally. It takes me ages but I eventually manage to settle into a fitful, disturbed sleep plagued by nightmares and destructive thoughts.
—-(BORDER)—-
I wake up to the sun streaming in through the window, the soft snores of my friends mixed with the soft strings of birdsong that reach my ears. I sit up in my bed and push my long curly mane out of my face before looking at the time - it's ten in the morning, which shocks me because the Teachers would never let us lie in this long on the trip. I push myself off the bed as my tail twitches, and I feel my ears prick up and swivel in the direction of faint voices. I can barely make them out but one sounds similar to my Mum. What is she doing here?
I tiptoe to the door and turn the handle, creeping down the hallway in the direction of the voices, two of which are definitely Mum and Katzeran. I reach the room where they are eventually, and see my Mum sat in an armchair with a box of tissues. Katzeran is stood by the door with his back to me, and I know that he doesn't know I'm there. I tug on his jacket.
"Katz?"
He jumps when I grab him, and he turns to look at me.
"Lola…you're finally awake…"
I walk into the room to see our Mother talking to my teachers, and they all look very sullen.
"Mummy? What's going on? Where's Daddy?"
I see her reaction when I mention my Father. Did something happen to him that I'm not aware of?
"Lola, sweetheart, have you got your clothes together?"
I look at my teacher as she gets to my height, before leading me from the room.
"Miss Hawsie, what's going on?"
"I think that's something for your Mother to tell you, sweetie. It's a family matter and it isn't my place to tell you."
I pack my clothes away as my friends who are awake watch, and I walk back to the room where my Mother is waiting, sad that my trip is being cut short but it must be an important reason to do it. Maybe we're going somewhere as a family or something?
…
"Daddy, I'm ba-"
I stop when I walk in through the door, only to see that the suite is empty. There's no sign of my Father anywhere, and I look back at Mum in confusion. It's a Saturday, and he never works on Saturdays. His scent isn't even in the suite.
"Lola, sweetheart, something happened to your Dad when we tried to rescue him."
She sits down with me by her side, rubbing my back as the tears start streaming down her cheeks.
"You see darling, when we went to get him after he left, an old enemy showed up and stopped us from being able to bring him home."
I already don't like where this is going. Katzeran grabs the box of tissues and give ms them to me before leaving, and Mum manages to steel herself before continuing.
"Well, Mumm-Ra started to torture him and his body couldn't take it…"
She's sobbing uncontrollably now, and I can feel the tears welling up in my own eyes.
"He was stabbed in the chest…Oh Lola, I'm so sorry that you have to find out like this…He didn't make it."
I start crying then, large tears streaming down my cheeks as I realise why I was brought home. She pulls me into her lap and we cry together as she rubs my back, trying her best to soothe me as she tries to calm herself at the same time. I'm only twelve years old, and the other kittens my age at school tease those with parents who have passed away.
"Your Majesty…"
Mum looks up as Orion enters, wearing his Thunderguard armour with the addition of a thick strip of black material wrapped around his arm.
"Are you ready to make the announcement?"
Mum gets to her feet after I get up.
"I'll never be ready but this needs to be done, Orion…"
To Be Continued…
A/N: Hell of a way to leave things, I know. This is all part of the trilogy though. However, now comes the important part. I am going on a long hiatus as my submission date for my first year of university is creeping towards me quicker than I realise and I also will be using the summer to focus on myself mentally and physically. I hope that you have enjoyed the last few chapters and I can't wait to come back to write more for you guys. Until then, signing off for now. Thank you for staying with this story as this is nearly done. ALSO THIS CHAPTER IS PROBABLY GOING TO COME BACK REWRITTEN AT SOME POINT