Welcome back~ I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I loved the elephants!

The Thundertank was amazingly spacious, comfortably fitting the cats, Snowmeow, and Snarf inside. Leopara lounged on the floor, leaning back into Snowmeow's warm side as she read from the journal.

Now that she had a taste for the magic within, she was hungry to learn more and expand her understanding and capabilities as a sorceress.

In the best of ways, it reminded her of her days in Thundera, of the mornings she would spend tucked into a book, or scrolls, blissfully unaware of the world around her. That was how she spent most of her time. The allure of her studies had been stronger than the appeal of socialising with others. More than anything, she had wanted to make Jaga proud so she would know that she was worthy of his time and tutelage, and everything he had ever done for her.

Jaga was always proud, and she knew it was a sincere emotion. Not even he could lie to her senses.

She sighed happily, adjusting her position laying against Snowmeow. He raised his head to gently nuzzle her arm, and she absent-mindedly pet him.

In short, reading the journal the day before had reignited her passion for the arcane.

Her peace was disrupted by the screen in the hangar flickering on. "Book says the stone is dead ahead." Panthro told them.

Finally! All their travel was about to pay off.

Leopara was almost a little sad, though; traveling was nice.

She consoled herself with the knowledge they would have two more stones to collect after this, and a final confrontation to be had with Mumm-Ra, Grune, and Slithe. The journey was far from over.

Lion-O stood and approached the screen enthusiastically. Unable to contain himself, he asked, "Then how about you get this hunk of junk moving, Panthro?"

"I'm not about to blow up the samoflange again just 'cause you've got no patience. Slow and steady wins the race, kid." The screen went dark.

"Race? Now that's an idea." Tygra said.

Leopara rolled her eyes and returned to her reading.

"You're on." Lion-O replied.

The brothers climbed out of the hangar. It would have been peaceful without them, except everyone had the same restless bug, apparently.

Leopara must have missed the memo containing that piece of instruction.

Cheetara followed them, coming to sit atop the tank with her legs dangling. The wind rushed into the hangar, carrying with it a faint amount of red dust and an annoying whistle. It rustled the pages of her tome, which made her more spiteful than the wind irritating her ears.

She folded her ears as much as she could and closed the tome. She would just have to remember where she was at in it.

Snowmeow grumbled in his sleep, ultimately waking and lifting his head to groan at Cheetara. Likely due to the wind howling around her, Cheetara didn't notice.

I just want to read in peace. she thought with despair.

She stood, walking towards the door to head into the cockpit with Panthro, Snarf, and the Wilytwins. Even with the twins talking, it would be better than the wind in her ears and messing up her tome.

But no, that wasn't what was about to happen, for she chose the moment the Wilytwins complained, "Aw, they're beating us!"

Her heart skipped a beat. No. Please no.

"They're not beating us because we're not racing." Panthro chided them.

"What Panthro is trying to say, kids, is that he doesn't mind losing." Cheetara goaded him.

Please. Her silent plea was in vain. The gods either did not listen or did not acquiesce her- which it was, she would never know.

Panthro growled. "Hold on. It's about to get bumpy."

The Thundertank accelerated with such speed that it not only sent the twins and Snarf tumbling back into the wall of the cockpit, but sent Leopara rolling back through the entire hangar until she bowled right into Snowmeow's unmovable body.

He was not pleased by the sudden jolt or the cat barreling into him.

With a growl, he stood- Leopara smacked into the ground when he abruptly disappeared from behind and under her- and stalked towards the open door to the cockpit. Snowmeow promptly shoved his head through, baring his fangs with a deep growl.

The Wilytwins let out a scream at his sudden appearance.

"Get outta here, you lump of fur!" Panthro shouted at him.

Leopara scrambled to her feet and hurried after Snowmeow, resting her hands on his body. She made an effort to pull him back so she could pop her head in and yell at them, all of them, herself.

An effort.

Snowmeow could really only be moved if he wanted to move.

"Oh, for the love of- Snowmeow, lay down!" she exclaimed, frustrated. Snowmeow did. He laid down right there in the doorway. Huffing, Leopara climbed over him. "What's the big idea?! I was reading!"

"I told you it was going to get bumpy." Panthro defended himself.

"While I was standing! You didn't even let me sit!" she whirled around towards Cheetara. "And what's with letting all that wind and sand in!" she demanded.

"Oooo, someone's cranky~" WilyKit crooned.

"Yeah, because we're losing." WilyKat directed pointedly towards Panthro. His sister joined him for his next cheer, "Faster! Faster!"

Panthro grumbled. Snowmeow growled. Leopara scrambled to get inside the cockpit and sit before she was sent flying back again- this time, with no Snowmeow to catch her.

"It's looking like slow and steady doesn't win the race." Cheetara said cooly. She leapt up, standing solidly on the Thundertank in perfect view of them.

"Where are you going?"

Cheetara looked back at them. "To give these boys some real competition." she said with a smile, before gracefully leaping ahead of the Thundertank.

She quickly became a yellow blur, racing ahead to Lion-O's and Tygra's Thundercycles, which she quickly overwhelmed and sped past.

"You want to see fast?" Lion-O's voice asked over the radio.

Not a moment later, the cycle on the left- Lion-O?- accelerated, darting after her. His brother followed suit, and the three disappeared around the curve in the canyon.

Leopara crossed her arms, huffing through her nose again. Snowmeow mimicked her, still unamused by the sudden, jarring movement.

What had gotten into everybody today? What was with this need for speed?

"Got my baby hummin' now. Listen to her purr." Panthro said, timed perfectly with the revving of the Thundertank's engine.

"Will this make us go faster?" WilyKat asked.

She glanced over and felt immediate alarm. WilyKat's finger hovered over a solitary red button.

"Don't touch that!" Panthro shouted.

Too late, WilyKat touched it.

Leopara heard a whirring sound, followed imminently by a whooshing sound. A dozen missiles, at least, soared through the air.

Leopara and Panthro both fixed stern looks on the cubs. "Uh, she did it."

"Uh-uh-uh." WilyKit protested innocently.

Panthro growled. "No more touching buttons or I'll feed you to Snowmeow, got it?" he demanded.

"You will not." Leopara interjected.

Snowmeow growled.

The rockets roared ahead of them, navigating the canyon with surprising finesse.

"What… are they doing?" she asked, grabbing hold of Panthro's seat as she leaned forward.

"Tracking." Panthro answered curtly.

"Tracking who?" she asked. Panthro didn't respond, instead growling to himself as he navigated the Thundertank around the bend. She took it hard, drifting. Leopara swayed where she stood, but she had a good grip on the seat. "Panthro… who- what- are they tracking?!"

"Who do you think?" he replied.

Leopara looked at WilyKat, four years her junior. A perfect little gremlin she had helped take care of- and now he sicked seeking missiles on their King, Prince, and last Cleric alive. "You're so dead when we get out of the Thundertank." she warned him.

WilyKat gulped.

"Incoming!" Tygra shouted in warning. She faintly heard explosions and rocks crumbling.

More explosions followed suit just a few moments later, with a distinct cracking sound. The Thundertank roared and plowed through rocky debris, unbothered by such obstacles.

"That's cheating!" Lion-O exclaimed.

"Winner and still champion." Tygra proudly, and calmly, proclaimed.

It took a couple more minutes for the Thundertank to catch up- and when it did, Leopara was glad she had front row seats.

The Thundertank slowed to a stop, its engine whirring down. Panthro stood, pushing open the cockpit canopy. The air smelled fresh and green, a pleasing and soothing scent.

The arid canyon transitioned into a beautiful, almost jungle-like forest that sprawled upwards into a mesa. Vines and foliage decorated the cliff face they stared up at with awe. Overgrown, carved stone steps fit for a true giant led up to the plateau of the mesa, and to their left was a red stone… at first what loomed like a blob, but she quickly realised was an animal on closer inspection.

Snowmeow popped up behind them, also drinking in the smell with an approving growl.

"Check this out." Lion-O murmured.

WilyKit and WilyKat hopped out of the Thundertank, running forward to the stairs. The first step was genuinely twice their height.

Leopara followed them, smoothing her hand down the front face of the step. It was perfectly flat. Carving it into the cliff must have been a painstaking, but loving project. "How long do you think it took to carve these?" she murmured, looking again towards the red statue.

No one answered her, but she didn't mind much; it had mostly been a murmuration of wonder for her.

"The Book says it's up there." Panthro told them.

"Then we're going up." Lion-O said, unfazed by how very long this staircase seemed to be. Leopara looked up with a sense of weariness; the climb was going to be exhausting.

She glanced back at the others, wondering if any of them were eyeing the climb as well.

Instead, she saw Snarf poking his head into Snowmeow's mouth. "Snarf, get out of his mouth before he eats you!" she admonished the kitty-pet.

Snarf let out a panicked, "Snya-nya-nya!" and scrambled away to his master's legs.

Lion-O chuckled. "You're fine, Snarf. Just stay out of his mouth."

With the kitty-pet no longer inspecting his very sharp teeth, Snowmeow carefully nudged his saddle towards her. "You want to come with us?" she asked. He let out what was an attempt at a meow. "You sure? You could just stay here with the Thundertank." He sat, with his saddle at his paws. She sighed affectionately, getting the hint. "Okay, okay." She approached him and crouched down to pick up the saddle. "You guys go on ahead; we'll catch up."

"Are you sure?" Cheetara asked. "I could stay behind with you."

Leopara waved her off. "We'll be fine."

"Alright then. See you soon." Lion-O said. Cheetara nodded in agreement.

While the others began the trek up the mesa, following the sloping edges upwards, Leopara began the task of getting Snowmeow's saddle fitted and secured on him. His long fur made it a bit meddlesome, and she vowed to herself that she would give his belly a trim. No long white hairs would get tangled in the buckles, make her fingers slip, and generally make a nuisance of themselves no matter how big the felyne they were attached to was.

In all, it only took her about seven minutes.

"There you go, boy." She gently petted his shoulder. "Now let's go catch up with everyone else." He attempted his meow again in agreement. She chuckled at the effort.

Snowmeow's stride easily outpaced her on flat ground, and it outpaced her laughably on an incline; he didn't seem the least bit bothered. Rather, he seemed more bothered by her slower progress, pausing to look back and blink at her, as if to say, "I thought we were supposed to be catching up?"

To which, Leopara could only imagine replying, "I'm not built for mountaineering, okay? I was a pampered, bookish cat and grew up with roads and level terrain."

Snowmeow's response to this pattern was to stop and hunker down, a clear invitation.

By the time he did it, her calves were burning and it was a very tempting offer. She considered taking it, she really did.

But she would never get better at this sort of thing if she took the easy way out.

"Thank you, Snowmeow. But I got this." She spared him some chin scratches. "You're such a good boy~"

He growled in dismay at her as she continued walking.

When she reached the top, the others were waiting for her. Having refused to take a break and having pushed herself to go faster, her calves felt like they'd been lit on fire.

"I thought you'd be faster." Tygra remarked.

"I walked." she replied. She took a deep breath and paused for a moment allowing herself a small bit of rest.

"Hm."

Before them, at the summit of this great- and bloody long- staircase was a giant stone doorway in a giant stone wall. It had intricate patterns and had long been overgrown, with lush foliage and vines growing atop and over it.

Lion-O led the way through while she trailed behind them. Snowmeow faithfully strode beside her, having given up trying to get her to clamber into his saddle; there was little point in doing so, she supposed on his behalf, when he was just going to have to slow down for everyone else too.

"Everything's so big." Lion-O said.

A few more steps forward and Tygra added, "Including the residents."

Leopara followed his gaze to a ring of elephants dressed in togas of a variety of colors. They sat upon a stone circle amid a large lotus pond with its lovely pink flowers in bloom. The pond was split into sections by wide stone pathways that served to connect the stone circle with the surrounding village

She recognised immediately that they were meditating, something the clerics often did and which she had been taught as a child herself.

The elephants either did not notice them or did not pay them any mind as they padded along the stone path up to them.

Even sitting, the elephants dwarfed even Panthro. They were… giant. Bigger than the so-called "giantors."

They were true giants.

She heard Panthro gulp a little. It must have been strange feeling for him to so outmatched in size by so many.

Lion-O cleared his throat to get their attention.

He did not get their attention.

"Excuse me." he said politely. They still didn't react to this, so he raised a hand to cup his mouth and called out, "Hello!"

This got a reaction.

The elephants startled with a chorus of, hms, huhs, what, and what is that? They began looking around for the source of Lion-O's voice. Finally they swiveled their attention towards them.

"Heh. Sorry." Lion-O apologised. He then launched into introducing himself to the confused but curious elephants. "I am Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats."

The one directly in front of Lion-O wore a dark orange toga and a string of brown beads bigger than Snowmeow's head, and had a tuft of orange hair like a mohawk atop his gray head. "I am Aburn." he introduced himself. Amicably, he asked, "And you are?"

She felt a hint of bewilderment from Lion-O. "Uh, name's Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats." he reintroduced himself.

"Welcome, Lion-El." Aburn greeted him.

"Lion-O."

"How can we assist you?" Aburn asked, sweeping past the issue of Lion-O's name. Leopara had to stifle an unexpected giggle.

Straight to business, Lion-O explained, "We're looking for a magical stone."

"We believe it's somewhere in your village." Cheetara added, gesturing around.

"What is?" Aburn asked.

Quietly, WilyKat remarked to his sister, "Kinda forgetful, isn't he?"

"I think he's cute." WilyKit replied with warmth and affection. Leopara couldn't agree more. He was sweet and kind.

Lion-O wasn't fully annoyed, but he was ever so slightly frustrated. Wanting to make sure Aburn remembered, he said, "Listen, Aburn, we're searching for a stone that looks like this." He tapped the Eye of Thundera to illustrate.

Kindly and naïvely, Aburn asked, "When did you lose it?"

"We didn't lose it." said Cheetara.

"So you have it?" Aburn asked.

"No, we're looking for it." said Tygra.

Aburn didn't skip a beat. "And what exactly is it you're looking for?"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me." Panthro groused.

Aburn's short memory was wearing on everyone but Leopara and WilyKit. Honestly, she thought they were asking the wrong questions. "Can we look around?" or "Do you have a stone like this one?" would have been much easier for the short-attentioned elephant to handle.

She didn't get to interject however, as an older appearing elephant, dressed in more decorated robes, captured their attention.

"I can't remember the last time I saw a cat in these parts." he wistfully mused with a warm smile, like he was glad to see them.

"Yes, Anet." Aburn said, looking at his elder. "They are looking for… uh, what were you looking for, Lion-Lord?"

"The stone!" the aggrieved cats exclaimed in unison.

Anet had no problem answering their query. "If it is the spirit stone you seek, then you have come to the right place. We have it here. Or we did… once… maybe." He shook his head. "I'm afraid our memory is not as great as our size. But, please, feel free to have a look around."

Taking Anet literally, they all began to peer around the village. Leopara doubted it would be in plain view or they would have seen it already; they'd probably have to split up and search f-

"No, no." Anet chided softly. "Not with those eyes. With that one." he pointed to the Sword of Omens- specifically the Eye of Thundera. With an expression of shock, Lion-O glanced down at the gauntlet on his hip and hivered a hand over it. "Yes, I can sense its power. Come with me."

It surprised Leopara that Anet could sense the aura of the Sword of Omens; usually, only the very magically attuned could do so, and it took many great masters years to learn; but he was an old elephant, and she could sense his deep spirituality like…

Well, like an aura not too dissimilar to a powerful sorcerer, particularly one like Jaga. Old, spiritual, and with a natural inclination to guide those in need of their guidance.

I wonder if he met Jaga on his travels… she wondered.

Anet led Lion-O away, leaving the rest of them at the edge of the stone circle facing down Aburn.

"What now?" Tygra asked.

"We could look around the village? Maybe there are things the elephants could use help with…" she suggested.

He crossed his arms. "I'm so glad we've gone into business fixing other people's problems."

"You got anything better to do?" Panthro demanded gruffly.

Tygra sighed. "No." he admitted.

They looked up at Aburn as a group. "Do you have anything you need help with?"

The elephants, as a matter of fact, did have things the cats could help with.

Namely gathering and moving their harvest of orange fruits. They weren't oranges, the fruit- rather a gem-like fruit with a translucent, shiny skin that revealed the juicy orange flesh underneath. To say they looked tantalising was an understatement.

The elephants used their long trunks to gather the fruits, but the cats employed a different method: climbing up the trees and cutting them down. The elephants assured them a short fall into the basket would do the fruits no harm, so they simply tossed them down.

Leopara hoped not to fall into one of those baskets herself. They were big enough to fit Panthro like a perfectly sized hammock, they were certainly big enough that one trip into them was an assured nightmare of orange staining fur, hair, and clothes alike with an equal lack of bias.

The juice of the ones she accidentally nicked was sticky enough.

And she had a certain, priceless tome hidden in her sash. It getting stained and damaged would upset her more than anything else.

Because of this looming concern, Leopara took extra care when moving about her tree.

Her worry aside, harvesting the fruit was actually rather nice and relaxing.

Until a loud, droning buzz filled the air. She heard it first, ears flicking. Initially, she expected to find something akin to a bee or a fly near her, for that was about the volume of the droning. However, her eyes settled on a distant, black swarm of insects that only appeared to be the size of a bee or fly because of distance.

On a longer look, it quickly became apparent that while they were bee-like, possessing long stingers and yellow abdomens, they were easily the size of Snarf.

In unison, the insects- she would later learn their name to be "wraiths"- swarmed the stone hut the harvest was being moved into, and began to drag out the wicker baskets filled with fruit.

To her absolute shock, the elephants just calmly moved out of the way and meandered to their meditation circle.

Leooara stood on her branch and carefully took a running start before leaping down, joining the others as they watched the wraiths fly overhead with their prize.

"Why are they just sitting there?" Panthro guffawed.

"I think they're meditating." said Tygra.

Lion-O strode up to Aburn. "Aren't you going to do anything?"

"But we are. We are understanding." Aburn explained.

Understanding what? The wraiths just flew into their harvest storeroom like it was a free buffet! Like a tax collector collecting taxes on a busy schedule.

"Well, the Thundercats handle things a little differently." He wasted no time drawing the Sword of Omens. "Thundercats, ho!"

Leopara draw Jaga's staff and twirled it. Feeling a bit indignant about something she worked hard for, however small her contribution was, being stolen, she channeled her annoyance into a wind spell similar to that which she used against Mumm-Ra. With a broad downward sweep of the staff, a powerful gust of wind slammed into the wraiths, and their basket of fruits, from above and smashed them into the stone pathway.

Cheetara swung with her staff as well, targeting specific wraiths, while Tygra cracked his whip and Panthro spun his nunchaku.

Lion-O lept in the air, slicing through a basket; smart. Without it, the wraiths could never carry such a bulk of fruit. The fruits were recovered and could simply be washed later.

Better a little dirty than gone.

Dazed and disoriented from being slammed into, her wraiths dropped their basket and flew away with the rest of their swarm.

"Have them on the run now." Panthro said.

"Yeah, but they got what they came here for." Lion-O replied.

With the wraiths gone, they could look around a little. There were still baskets in the storeroom, but not many, and they recovered only two baskets to be returned to the bunch.

When Anet approached, Lion-O told him sadly, "They wiped out your harvest."

"They took most of our food, but not all of our food. We still have enough to survive." Using his trunk, Anet scooped up a fruit and held it up. "In order to get the water it needs to thrive, this fruit suffers the storms. We, too, must endure hardships to live." he set the fruit in Lion-O's palm. "Such is the balance of the world." Lion-O inspected the fruit with an inscrutable expression, although Leopara could sense he was unhappy. "Remember, work in harmony with your sword. Allow the bigger picture to emerge." And finally, he said, "Keep practicing."

"If he's not gonna do something about the wraiths, then I will." Lion-O glowered to himself, taking a bite out of the fruit.

Leopara stood with a a few fruits bundled in her arms and strode in front of Lion-O to remind him she was there; she didn't notice the others leave, but they were probably just putting fruit away themselves.

He blinked at her, then his expression hardened. "You're not going to stop me."

"Is it our place to intervene in this, Lion-O? Anet has been kind to us, allowing us to look for the stone. What if you upset him by interfering?" she asked him.

"I'm doing him a favor; he can thank me later." Lion-O said callously.

Leopara sighed. "I won't stop you, but I'm not going to help you either, Lion-O. Just… be careful?"

Lion-O scoffed, still a bit defensive. Regardless, he tried to joke, "I'm always careful, aren't I?"

Her only response was a pointedly raised eyebrow as she walked away, braid swinging behind her. She carefully dropped her armful of fruit into a basket in the storeroom, passing by Tygra, Cheetara, Panthro, and the Wilytwins as they left.

When she emerged, Lion-O was nowhere to be seen.

Thanks again to everyone~ and a special thanks to The Night Whisperer and Heart of the Demons!