Hello and welcome back everyone! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. It's a bit of a transitional chapter, but so was the beginning of Ramlak Rising.

Somehow, Leopara managed to sleep, too exhausted to stay awake, curled up against debris beside the statue within the shrine. They all did while King Claudus's pyre burned on. For lungs that had breathed in too much smoke the night before, it was hardly wise of any of them, but the dome ceiling had caved in and the walls were theoretical, merely columns to hold up the dome.

There were plenty of ways for the smoke plume to funnel out of the shrine.

She woke up to rays of sun hitting her face. On one side, Cheetara pressed against her in a ball. On the other, Lion-O had his back to her, lightly pressing against her side. Snarf cuddled on her lap, snoring softly.

Tygra laid on the other side of Cheetara, his head resting on her shoulder.

Leopara carefully picked up Snarf and set him down on the ground. He looked up at her with wide eyes, his red fur standing on, the yellow stripe, his hackles, raised. He shrieked, "Snyaaa, sn- snya?"

"It's just me, Snarf." she told him, exhausted.

"Snya~" he scampered across the littered floor, hopping onto a chunk of stone.

Leopara carefully extricated herself from Cheetara, lowering her so she rested against the lingering warmth Leopara left behind.

The fire of Claudus's pyre had begun to burn low. She carefully placed more staves on it; the king's body was not yet ash. She stared into the fire for a couple of minutes. After all she had seen, the flickering flames should have made her uneasy, but instead, they entranced her. A calm fell over her, different somehow from numbness and sadness.

A hand on her shoulder startled her. She looked up to see Cheetara peering down at her with her pink eyes.

"Cheetara! I didn't wake you, did I?"

She smiled. "Only a little." she looked at the flames and back down at Leopara. "Are you…" she hesitated. Leopara knew what she was going to ask. They both knew the real answer:

No.

"I'm… okay."

She was alive and relatively uninjured. Physically, she was fine. But she was not okay. None of them were okay.

Leopara turned her attention back to the pyre and stood. "I can't stop thinking about… any of it. They're all… gone. Even… even Jaga."

"I know." Cheetara breathed.

"And we left him behind."

Cheetara squeezed her shoulder. "He wanted us to escape."

"I know."

Tygra shifted, claws scraping against the stone as he stirred. He yawned mightily and stretched with a grimace before standing. Leopara doubted he had ever slept in an uncomfortable bed before, and certainly not on the ground.

But he didn't complain. He moved to stand beside them, looking into the pyre of his father. The gold of Claudus's circlet glinted in the flames.

"We should wake Lion-O and get moving soon."

"How did we all end up sleeping there anyways?" Leopara asked, when what she really meant was, why did I go asleep alone and wake up surrounded?

Cheetara smiled. "There weren't any blankets, so we thought it might be best if we slept near each other." she explained smoothly.

Leopara replayed the previous evening in her mind. "You mean… you forgot blankets?" Hadn't they gone to the Hall for supplies? A small sigh. She supposed she couldn't be too upset… Cheetara had gathered the supplies for Claudus's funeral, food and water for their journey; she hadn't even gotten her own clothes.

Which is what Leopara had done immediately, and she hadn't grabbed any blankets either.

"We'll find some more as we make our way out of the city." Tygra reassured her. "But it's not safe to stay here. It's a miracle we weren't caught last night." He gestured to the flames and looked around.

"We chose the shrine because it would be obscured and we could all rest." Leopara reminded him with a simple raise of her hand.

Tygra continued. "Nonetheless, we should wake Lion-O."

"The sooner we leave, the more likely we will reach the Book of Omens before Mumm-Ra does. Like Jaga wanted." Cheetara said, looking down.

Leopara made eye contact with Tygra. A silent battle was fought in that moment, and Leopara lost. She sighed and trudged her way towards Lion-O, despite the fact that he was Tygra's brother and he was the one who wanted Lion-O awake now.

She knelt down behind Lion-O and gently shook his shoulder.

He startled upright, slamming his hand over the gauntlet and growling deeply. She jerked away, hackles raised in alarm. For a moment, his wide blue eyes did not look like those of a cat, but a feral beast. He blinked, tension draining, but not completely. His shoulders remained taut and poised.

But his eyes looked like his eyes… a pretty blue, albeit hardened with anger when they had once been soft and expressive.

"Your father's pyre is almost finished." she told him, standing. She offered him her hand. He took it, squeezing a bit too hard as she helped pull him to his feet. She rubbed her hand a little as he walked towards the flames, Snarf trotting behind him. "We should continue on, soon." Leopara moved to stand beside Cheetara. On the other side stood Tygra.

They all stared into the flames for a minute, its crackles the only sound as Lion-O remained silent.

Cheetara reached into her pouch and tossed the dust into the flames. With a flash, they burned blue for a moment. The moment passed. Leopara heard the scrape of the Sword of Omens as Lion-O drew it.

She watched.

He held the blade into the flames until it glowed red-hot. With a grunt of effort, he stabbed it into the statue's pedestal and carved. The wall made a grating noise as he twisted and pulled Omens through, bits of stone flaking off.

He carved a large circle, and inside, the head of a roaring cat.

The emblem of the Thundercats.

A symbol to any who saw it, that they were still alive.

With his handiwork complete, Lion-O stepped back. He studied it. Apparently satisfied, he returned to them beside the pyre, where they were quietly watching him. It was not that they were afraid to speak to him. They just did not want to interrupt this moment.

"Rest now to rise again, Father." Lion-O said at last. His expression was morose.

"May your next life show you peace."

They stared there for quite some time, unwilling to move.

Leopara wondered what the others were thinking, staring into the crackling fire.

She thought of Jaga, the cat that had raised her. To her, he was as much a father as Claudus had been to Tygra, in all but name. She thought of his patient chuckle as she, just a cub, ran to the railing of a balcony overlooking the lakes of Thundera, the cascading pools, and ooo- ed and awed. Of all the times he rested his hand on her shoulder and spoke words of reassurance when she struggled to manifest her magic, an orb of light or crackle of lightning, or the rippling form of a small barrier.

She thought of how he had sacrificed himself for them.

How he had pushed his staff into her hands.

How they had left him behind in the rubble, and he did not get a cremation, and how the staves of clerics had been used for the King's instead...

The fire burned low, eventually. The sun had risen near its peak; it was nearly noon.

It was ashes and cinders when Lion-O spoke.

"We should move out while the lizards' trail is still fresh. Mumm-Ra's lair is probably past the Sand Sea so we have quite a journey ahead of us." Lion-O turned away and began to walk away.

"Mumm-Ra?" Cheetara questioned. "Jaga told us to first seek out the Book of Omens. Those were my teacher's last words to us…"

"The Book can wait." Lion-O snapped. "It has for centuries."

Anger rose in Leopara.

"But only the Book can provide us with answers, Lion-O." reasoned Tygra.

"Answers?" Lion-O demanded. "I already know who destroyed our city, who killed our king! What other answers do you need?"

Tygra watched him with a flat expression, but Leopara's hackles rose. Did he think it would be that easy? That their ancestors had just swung a sword at Mumm-Ra the Ever-living, the embodiment of evil?

Lion-O rolled on. "If it was either one of us on that funeral pyre, Father would have already buried that demon! I intend to do him the same justice."

"And he would have died." Leopara seethed. "How can you give your father justice if you rush headlong into danger and are killed by a force stronger than you? Do you think defeating Mumm-Ra is as simple as swinging your magic sword at him?"

Lion-O turned his furious gaze to her, but she did not cow away. He growled, a rumble from deep within his chest, but she glared at him unfazed and laid her ears back.

It was only Cheetara setting a hand on her shoulder and speaking before Lion-O could that stopped their angry face off and a vicious retort.

"You're angry, Lion-O."

"I should hope I am not the only one!" He glared at them each in turn, lingering on Leopara. "We are going after Mumm-Ra." He took a step. "And that is a command."

"You are the king." Tygra conceded, his voice dripping with displeasure.

He began to follow his brother. Cheetara hesitated, but she did so as well.

"Snyo." chimed Snarf.

Leopara remained rooted in place, cold, piercing anger roiling within her. That-! She ground her teeth and bristled her fur, clenching her fist so tightly her claws dug into her palms. Only at the stab of the pain did she begin to follow.

But not for Lion-O. Not because he was king.

Because Cheetara followed.

Leopara trailed behind them a few paces, glowering at the back of Lion-O's head. She thought about speaking with him on the balcony the night Grune returned. How optimistic she had been, the way she had wondered at the King he would be.

A gentle but assertive king, one who did not lead with his sword but defended with it. One to usher in peace with the other animals…

Not angry and vengeful.

Leopara took a deep breath and calmed herself.

But never had she imagined this would happen. Abandoning Lion-O wasn't the answer. Guiding him away from this angry path was, and as sorceress to the King… it was her duty.

"Lion-O," Leopara spoke gently, "We need more supplies. Tygra's armor was taken."

Lion-O half sighed, half growled. "Alright. We'll look for armor and supplies. But we are not stopping."

She nodded and looked to Tygra. He returned her nod.

"There should be smithiea towards the wall." Tygra pointed at the wall, gesturing to the short and mostly demolished buildings a few rows in from it. "That will be our best place to look."

With great success, Tygra scavenged a set of armor made from the tanks. And by scavenged, Leopara meant he remarked upon how good their plating seemed, and they plotted a scheme using her magic to reshape the large panels into a breastplate, bracers, a sword-belt, and shinguards.

The murky green armor sat atop a dark blue undersuit, with a belt of rounds of ammunition settled around his waist. The left bracer was much taller than the right, stretching up to his shoulder while the right stopped at around his elbow.

He clenched his hands and rotated his shoulders, stretching and flexing. "Feels good." he said with a nod of approval.

"We should probably find some sort of armor for Lion-O." Leopara said, gesturing.

While they scavenged for armor, Cheetara was to search for other necessities they could carry. Some sort of blankets for them and food.

Lion-O, begrudgingly, stood on alert atop the broken remnants of a house. He had stopped moving, despite saying they were not stopping.

He was correct, of course. They had not, but he did.

Leopara climbed up the overturned mecha in a scramble, and stood on her knees looking out over the destruction.

It was so much worse here, towards the outskirts. Near the palace, many buildings had stood mostly intact, but not here. Here, it was a surprise if a wall stood on its own and not because it was sandwiched between piles of rubble. "I think I see an armorsmithy!" she called down to Tygra. "It's a little ways over there." she pointed.

"I think I see it!" he called back.

Relieved, she turned and slid back down the smooth, but dented, mecha and landed somewhat gracefully on the ground.

"Let's go, before Lion-O has words to say." Tygra says, unenthusiastic.

Leopara nodded.

Together, they trekked across the distance.

The smithy stood mostly intact, a picture of armor painted onto the front wall. It was covered in soot and ash, which Tygra reached up to wipe away while she ducked inside. Dust crumbled inside and she looked up at the cracked and broken, but not yet collapsed ceiling warily. Leopara prepared to draw from her well of magic to create her barrier if she had to.

But she turned her attention away from it with an apprehensive sigh, and began to look through the rubble from a hole in the wall. She found leathers, and a cracked cuirass.

It was blue like Lion-O's shirt, with a silver lining that ran around the outline of the pectorals. Not too far from it, she saw a silver pauldron and shinguards and a solid looking belt.

She picked up the cuiress and inspected the break. It ran through the center, where it seemed like the caved in wall had fallen on it without anything inside to help it keep shape. But the damage didn't go much farther from there. It held its shape when she held it loosely. With a nod, she drew her scepter and hovered it over.

The cuirass obeyed, the center straightening and pressing back together and melding. She couldn't even see a line where the break had been. Pleased, she collected it and the pauldron, shinguards, and belt she had seen, and carefully backed out of the store, grateful the ceiling hadn't collapsed.

It chose the exact moment she straightened and turned to Tygra outside of its confines to abruptly collapse in on itself with a sudden and violent grating. She startled, looking at it with shock while Tygra gaped a little.

"Um… I found the armor for Lion-O!" she exclaimed lightly, turning her attention away from the smithy and holding up the cuirass and accessories.

Tygra blinked. "Great. Let's get back then."

Leopara nodded and followed him as he led the way.

It took them a few minutes to navigate through, slowed down mostly by having to climb up and down rubble, careful of their footing, and orienting themselves so they didn't get lost in the unrecognisable landscape. The afternoon sun bore down on them.

Tygra pulled at his collar a little, a few beads of sweat dotting his fur.

"I have a few regrets about this armor."

"We're already on our way back, Tygra." she said, offended. She had spent a lot of magic and concentration on that!

Besides, she didn't want to be away longer than they already were.

"Can't you just make the material a little more… breathable?" he asked.

With a sigh, she held out Lion-O's armor to him. He took it and she withdrew her scepter. Turning her scepter over in her hand, she pondered how to visualise the matierial thinning out without fraying; it was an odd one. Hm… maybe…? She raised her scepter with the thought and let out a soft breath.

Lots of breathable fabrics were woven thinly, and maybe a little loose, even if they fit snugly. She couldn't see much difference in Tygra's undersuit, but he sighed in relief. "Thanks, that's better."

"You're welcome."

He handed the armor back to her, all the accessories stuffed inside the cuirass. Why didn't I think of that? It made carrying the armful a little easier.

They continued on for a couple more minutes before arriving at the mostly collapsed and filled-with-rubble building they had left Lion-O upon for his vigil. As they came into view, he impatiently leapt down.

Cheetara had returned already, beating them. No surprise there. She had a satchel that Leopara could see resting on the stone beside them, and piled atop of the stachel, a bundle of folded brown fabric.

As they joined Lion-O and Cheetara, she held out the armor out to him. Lion-O gave her a puzzled blink and reached his hands out to take it. He turned the cuirass over in his hands and slid out the bundled accessories, the shinguards and pauldron wrapped in the large belt.

"You need armor too." she said.

As she turned towards Cheetara, she could see him nod a little from her peripheral. "I found cloaks that will serve us well." She tossed them at the three with a snap of clothing in the wind. They were simple, rather hideous things of mud brown. With a despairing sigh, Leopara pulled on the cloak, raising her hood. She didn't want to cross the fields outside the wall without something to shield her from the sun.

While Lion-O busied himself putting his armor on, Tygra picked up one of the two satchels Leopara could now see and pulled it over his head and shoulder so it rested at his hip.

And then, he pulled on his cloak.

They waited while Lion-O finished with his armor. It fit him as a warrior… which he was now. He seemed pleased with himself, the way his armor fit him.

Good. That was something, at least.

With all their cloaks on they began to walk down the main road.

Its stone path was shattered in several points, but pressed deeply into the ground by the weight of the mecha that had carried Mumm-Ra, disguised as Panthro, rolling over the tops of it. It was smashed, and broken, but it laid distinctly cutting through swathes of desolated, destroyed homes and led them all the way to gates. One side was missing completely, the other hung from only its bottom hinge, the corner planted into the stone.

Leopara dreaded seeing the bridge. There had been no fire here.

She could still remember the screams of the soldiers as they retreated, their shocked gasps as Slithe appeared in the gates, and the blasts of the explosions that broke it into three, littered with debris and bodies thrown and crushed and buried.

As they neared the gates, Leopara's ears twitched. A whisper in the wind caught her attention.

Maybe she was insane, but it sounded like a voice.

She turned, ears perked and swiveling. She scanned the debris, searching.

The others paused ahead of her at the gates. They looked back at the devastation. A couple of smoke plumes still arose from the wreckage.

"Did you hear that?" she asked them.

"No."

"It sounded like a voice. Maybe we should-"

"We're not stopping."

Leopara looked at him, somehow gobsmacked. "What if it's a survivor, Lion-O? As king, your duties are to your people. We can't just leave if-" she turned her head away, looking out. Strong hands gasped her by the shoulders and she stiffened with wide eyes. Her heart skipped a beat unpleasantly and began to hammer.

"There is. No one. There." Lion-O growled, merely inches from her face.

"But, I heard…"

"Nothing!" he hissed.

She stared at him, shocked. She shrugged out of his hold and he turned, pulling his hood up in a snappy motion.

Without another word, he pressed onwards, leaping from one broken section of the bridge to the next. Tygra, and then Cheetara, each set their hand on her shoulder and squeezed before following. Leopara stood there, watching for a moment. She turned, looking out once more.

Say something. she silently pleaded the voice, straining her ears to hear anything.

Silence.

Defeated, Leopara looked down at the ground. It hurt, but she took a deep breath and reluctantly followed the others, leaping from the crumbling edge and sliding along the collapsed part, before pushing against the short railguard and onto the next.

Lion-O hadn't even waited, although Tygra and Cheetara had. They fixed her with sympathetic looks. "Come on." Tygra said, leading the way after his brother.

She spared one last look back, a pang of regret piercing her.

She knew she heard someone… Perhaps it was their dying words, and there was nothing I could do anyways. Leopara consoled herself. She clung to that belief, wanting to cry but fighting the feeling.

Eyes forward.

Winding through the fields, the road from Thundara was worn from wheel tracks and foots, and littered with destroyed lizard mechas on one side and craters on the other.

Amongst the expanse of rolling hills of green grass, rocks protruded. Beyond them, the treeline, and further beyond them, the mountains that cradled Thundera within the space between their sheer cliffs. Ahead of them, the first wall of Thundera, broken and crumbled.

As they approached a spot where the mechas formed an alcove, two kittens practically materialised. They hurried towards Lion-O, long-furred tails the color of cream, not too different from the rest of their fur, trailing behind them. He did not stop or look at him.

Leopara felt a little sympathetic as they hovered around him.

"I can't believe it! Prince Lion-O and Tygra to the rescue!" the girl exclaimed, looking up at Lion-O with awe. She had her two-tone reddish and purple hair tied back.

Leopara could not see her ears.

"Names are WilyKat and Kit," the boy eagerly introduced them, gesturing to himself and then the girl, "We thought we were the only cats left!"

Lion-O did not stop. The two, having circled around in front and then to his right without acknowledgement, slowed and watched in shock. Leopara stopped as the two looked at each other, glaring angrily at Lion-O. She hoped her gaze pierced him like daggers, forcing him to stop and acknowledge the two.

They could not abandon children.

Cheetara or no, she would not take one step further if he did. She would not follow a king that turned his back on his people.

Insisting she was hearing things amidst the ruined city was one thing.

These two were another. They were right there.

But the two were persistent. They chased Lion-O down and she began to walk again. "Maybe we could join you until we get where we're going." WilyKit said. With a friendly gesture of her hands, she continued, "El-Dara, the city of treasure."

"Never heard of it." Lion-O finally acknowledged them.

Leopara kept her stern gaze burrowing holes through the back of his skull. He barely turned his head towards them!

"Of course not!" WilyKat reached his arm back and rifled through his bag, withdrawing a rolled up paper. He looked very proud. "I've got the only proof!"

Lion-O craned his head more so he was actually looking at them. "No."

This stumped the two and angered Leopara. They paused, shocked their prince- nay, their King, who was supposed to protect them would turn his back on them so callously.

"Please?" the girl pleaded.

Tygra and Cheetara slowed to a stop with Leopara. She crossed her arms. Lion-O paused, sensing all of their displeasure.

"We can't just leave them here." Tygra stated the obvious, gesturing slightly.

Lion-O's hackles practically rose. "We are on a mission to avenge our father and you want to play babysitter?" Lion-O said incredulously. He turned away. "They're just going to have to take care of themselves, Tygra. Now let's go."

Leopara growled. "Take care of themselves?" she demanded. "They're cubs, Lion-O, and as Lord of the Thundercats, it is your duty to protect them!"

It was, perhaps, a low blow to use his father's words against him.

But it was low to try and abandon cubs.

He stopped, stiff and rigid and a rumble of anger building in his chest. He whipped around, snarling. "Fine." he spat. The cubs recoiled in fright. A little more dignified, he said, "They can follow us. But we are not going out of our way to take them anywhere."

"Fine!" Leopara agreed, straightening.

Lion-O whirled around, cloak fluttering aggressively behind him as he stomped forward. Tygra and Cheetara exchanged a look.

"Is he always like that?" WilyKit asked

Leopara sighed heavily. "Only lately. Come on." she told them, urging them forward. They followed behind Lion-O several paces. "We're heading towards the Sand Sea."

"The Sand Sea?!" the two exclaimed in shock.

"Is it on the way to your El-Dara?" she asked them. Looking embarrassed, they exchanged a look with one another. Leopara waited a moment. "You two do know the way to this El-Dara, don't you?" She already knew the answer.

WilyKat rubbed the back of his head with a grimace. "Not exactly." he confessed.

"We don't really know where it is." WilyKit added. "But we're going to find it! And when we do, we'll have as much food as we want~!"

"And so much money, people will be begging us for it!" boasted her brother.

It was very revealing.

Orphans, even before the attack.

Leopara hummed, going along with their story. "Perhaps if we someday find the Book of Omens, it could lead you there~" She said this in a quiet voice, so it wouldn't reach Lion-O's ears. She didn't need to be reminded they were tracking Mumm-Ra and going to bury him and blah, blah, blah, that Lion-O somehow believed would work in his favor.

It wasn't going to, if he rushed in unprepared like this. He would come to his senses if she had to argue with him every step of the way.

The cubs gasped. "The Book of Omens?"

"It really exists?"

Leopara nodded. "Yes, and it was my teacher's final wish that we find it." They marveled a little at that. "And someday soon, we will."

It was a hopeful vow that she made, but it was a vow she intended to keep.

Special thanks again to The Night Whisperer, Heart of the Demons, and Frankannestein! I appreciate your reviews!