I am still working this fic out as I already wrote the last half of it and not the first half which was probably an error but oh well, it's getting there. I am debating on a time-skip after this chapter to try and jump it ahead a year or two as war is often long to begin with and I wasn't sure how long to take this one for. Hopefully it reads alright and we meet some Third Earth allies as Cynthia discovers what happened to the Earth she left behind. Let me know how it looks with the meeting with Willa, Nayda, Snowman, Snowmeow and Rober-Bill. I tried my hardest on this one.
Special thanks to frankannestein, heart of demons, St4rHunter and Darkalphawolf01 for following along this far on the series.
.::~*~::.
Third Earth: 4462 October
Five hours later Cynthia came to the control room of the ship as Third Earth came into view on the screen. She sighed at the sight of the blue-green planet as the ship navigated to where the lair and village were. Lioness-A quietly joined Cynthia's side and found the human deep in thought.
"You okay?" Lioness-A asked as Cynthia jumped slightly before heaving a breath.
"I don't know Lioness-A," she said quietly. "Seeing that is bringing back a world of memories for me and I have no idea if anything of my timeline is even still there."
"Some of the people we knew as allies there might know," Pumyra said gently. Cynthia barely nodded as the ship began the descent into the atmosphere of Third Earth. Cynthia recognized the continent as that of North America but it had changed as a great deal of the East Coast was missing along with most of what had been the state of Florida. The Gulf Coast extended a hundred miles inland. Cynthia swallowed slightly. "What is it?" Pumyra asked gently.
"Part of the area where I grew up is under water of that southern sea which used to be the Gulf of Mexico," Cynthia answered. "It's possible everything I knew is under a few hundred feet of water now."
"We can investigate it further while we're here," Cheetara assured her.
"What the hell did you do Mumm-Ra?" Cynthia muttered.
"I don't think anyone really knows for sure what he did," Pumyra said.
.::~*~::.
An hour or so later found the lair itself coming into view, Cynthia and Lioness-A saw that it was set in a bowl against the backdrop of the mountains. Spread out on the plains in front of it was a small community.
"When did that happen?" Lioness-A asked.
"Not long after Tygra and I were moved to New ThunDera," Pumyra answered. "The Thunderguard that was sent here had families so the village was built for them. There are a few Thundercats here handling things though." Cynthia had been quietly studying the map on a nearby console.
"I was right on where it was," Cynthia said. She eyed the mountains. "Those are the Appalachian Mountains or at the very least, the southern edge of them. They extended up into the northeast of my country."
"The Berbils have their village on the other side of the mountain where we built the lair," Cheetara said. "And the Warrior Maidens are to the south of us in that forest."
"What are these Tuskas?" Cynthia asked when she saw a location on the map.
"Walrus people that are on the shores of one of the oceans," Cheetara said. She frowned. "They'd be the best ones to ask about anything of your timeline being around as they're near that area."
"Better get ready as we will be landing in about twenty minutes," the Thunderguard said as the ladies went to their quarters. Cynthia slid her coronet into place before she gently lifted Leonydas as Ilyssa lifted Laeonyx and they got ready as the ship landed in the courtyard of the lair.
Blaine was outside waiting as the door opened and he had a group of the Thunderguard with him and both Willa and Nayda were with him. Once the door opened Blaine called the guard to attention at the sight of Cynthia and Lioness-A at the top of the stairs. Willa and Nayda straightened when they saw the queen of New ThunDera. Cynthia was a bit shorter than they were and she had a small cub in her arms. Behind her was Lioness-A holding her own cub and the two maidens saw how much she looked like Lion-O. Blaine came forward then.
"Your Majesty and your Highness I am Commander Blaine and welcome to Third Earth," Blaine said warmly as they came down the steps.
"Thank you Commander," Cynthia said in reply as she looked around. Blaine gestured to the two warrior maidens then as they came forward.
"This is Queen Willa and her sister Nayda of the Warrior Maidens and they came to greet you and offer a few of the maidens to assist while you're here," Blaine said as Cynthia nodded.
"It is good to finally meet both of you," Willa said as Cynthia and Lioness-A smiled. "Who are the cubs?" Willa asked as a lioness joined Cynthia and she was also carrying a red-maned little cub that favored the one Cynthia held.
"These are the twin princes, Prince Leonydas and Prince Laeonyx," Cynthia said with a smile to her two red-maned cubs as the maidens smiled, now seeing a resemblance to their father.
"They look like their father," Nayda said as Cynthia smiled.
"Lion-O must be proud," Willa said with a smile.
"And this is Prince Tigonidus, their cousin," Lioness-A said. The maidens saw the markings of the tigers on him and blinked in surprise.
"Tygra?!" Nayda asked. Lioness-A chuckled as the two maidens grinned.
"Will you kindly lead the queen and the princess to their quarters here Willa?" Blaine asked. "I'm gonna get this unit settled. Lady Cheetara you and Lady Pumyra have your old quarters available." The cheetah and puma nodded as Willa guided Lioness-A and Cynthia inside.
.::~*~::.
An hour later found Cynthia having the twins settled in her new quarters which had been the set Lion-O had used while he'd been living on Third Earth. Willa and Nayda were kind and showed her and Lioness-A around the lair so it was easy to locate the council room, dining room and a lounge.
"Lion-O didn't tell me that this one was smaller than the one on New ThunDera," Lioness-A observed as she and Cynthia came into the lounge after settling the cubs. The cubs were napping in a room set aside as a group nursery with their nursemaids nearby.
"Third Earth looks beautiful despite the changes that happened to it," Cynthia said as she looked out the window as Willa and Nayda looked confused.
"Cynthia was brought to our timeline through a vortex but the world she left behind was an earlier version of this one," Lioness-A explained.
"Then she would have known of Mumm-Ra," Willa said.
"Of his origins yes," Cynthia said. "But as to knowing of him, no."
"He was in power for a thousand years before we were born," Willa said. "Best that we have learned is that he's been around quite a while."
"He was an Egyptian priest from two thousand years before my time and was sealed in a pyramid that was buried," Cynthia said. "As to when he was awoken, that is the unknown."
"When did you arrive on New ThunDera?" Nayda asked.
"Not all that long ago," Cynthia answered. "May of 4457 so about four years ago. Lion-O and I married in March of 4459 and the twins were born in January of 4460."
"We heard about the weddings and the arrival of the twins here," Willa said. "Most of the Third Earth Alliance was here when the news was announced."
"Alliance?" Lioness-A asked curiously. Nayda explained it to them and how that the two Maidens, Rober-Bill, Rober-Belle, Snowman, Mandora and also on occasion Turmagar and Hachiman formed the alliance that protected Third Earth and assisted the Thundercats who were in the lair and tower.
"The alliance with the Mutants and Lunatacs hasn't had any problems with that, have they?" Lioness-A asked. Willa shook her head.
"We've been working with the units that are here for the last few years or so," she said. "Monkian and Red-Eye are doing fine leading their battalions and they check in with Commander Blaine and us."
"Who's the head of this Third Earth Alliance?" Cynthia asked after a moment. Willa stood and joined her. The two were nearly the same height though Willa was slightly taller. She was in her customary furs while Cynthia wore a green velvet gown and a pair of flats.
"For the most part it has fallen to me but I share it with Snowman equally and we can have him come here to meet you and Lioness-A," she said.
"We need to have Rober-Bill come along with Turmagar as well," Nayda said as her sister nodded. "Mandora's been fairly busy."
"Boktor has her helping to find out more on the invasion that's about to happen," Lioness-A said. "It's a large part of why we're here along with the royal families of PlunDarr and the Moons."
"Blaine mentioned that when he talked with the alliance members earlier," Nayda said. A Thunderguard came into the room and whispered something in Willa's ear as she smiled.
"Snowman and Rober-Bill are here if you wish to follow us," she said as Cynthia and Lioness-A followed the two to the great hall. Snowman was a huge hulking man of sorts around six feet in height and had Snowmeow, his huge cat, with him. Rober-Bill was a robotic bear a little over four feet tall with brown fur on his shoulders, ears and arms and legs and they turned as the group came into the hall.
"Snowman and Rober-Bill this is Cynthia, the new queen of New ThunDera and Lioness-A, Lion-O's twin sister," Willa said in introduction.
"Pleased to meet both of you," Snowman said as Snowmeow sniffed them before purring as Cynthia gently petted him in wonder. "He recognizes Lion-O's scent on you my queen," Snowman said as she smiled. Rober-Bill came up to them then.
"It is an honor to meet both of you for the first time," he said. He showed he had a basket with him of candyfruit and for Cynthia, that was the first time she'd ever heard of it or tried it.
"That will wire the cubs," Lioness-A said as Cynthia chuckled.
"True but it's good," Cynthia said. The Berbil tittered in pleasure. "Will I be meeting any of the others of the alliance while I'm here?" she asked.
"Soon," Snowman said. "Turmagar is training his forces and will try to come in a few days."
"Hachiman spends a great deal of time on the Planet of the Red Sun but he will be by as well," Blaine said when he came into the hall.
"Red Sun?" Cynthia asked and frowned.
"He's a samurai," Cheetara explained.
"Japanese culture then," Cynthia said to the confusion of those near her. She sighed. "A country on my world has legends of the samurai and what they were like. Hearing that this Hachiman is one of them makes it easier for me to understand more of what he is."
"Would he know anything about how to deal with the dragons?" Lioness-A wondered.
"Likely," Blaine said. "The king is hoping that he can speak to Hachiman for advice on it but being as the dragons aren't the leaders of this has raised some concerns."
"How so?" Cynthia asked. The Asiatic sighed.
"We got word a short bit ago that the new leader of Vulcore has managed to enslave most of the male population of Vulcore and he's recruited generals from the far reaches of the known universe to lead his armies. The dragons are nothing more than slaves at this point," Blaine said.
"Damn," Cynthia breathed. "There's no way to gauge how bad the damage is going to be for New ThunDera, the Moons and PlunDarr if that's the case."
"How long before the Vulcorian ships reach our galaxy?" Lioness-A asked.
"Another day or two if what we're seeing is right," Blaine said. "Boktor's tracking the ships and relaying the information to the rest of the alliance. We're as ready as we're going to be."
.::~*~::.
New ThunDera:
Back on New ThunDera Lion-O was in the control room of the lair watching the approach of the Vulcorian ships which were huge, given what was on board them. He had also received the same news of what Chime-Ra had done and it had sickened him to know that the dragons were enslaved by this evil force.
"Have our ships made it to Third Earth?" Lion-O asked Panthro. The panther checked and nodded.
"They've landed and the Martian space force is taking over on the patrols now," Panthro said. "Blaine sent confirmation that your wife, sister and families are safe and settling in."
"Good," Lion-O said. "Put in a call and see if we can get Hachiman on the horn. I want to see if he's got any advice on how to deal with these dragons. I don't want to hurt them since they're the innocents in all of this. None of them asked to be enslaved by this Chime-Ra."
"I'll work on it," Panthro said. "If need be we can send a message to Boktor and they might be able to reach Hachiman for us," he added. "King Garion's sending a battalion here to help us." Lion-O nodded.
"He told me that he was sending one to us, one to Ratar-O on PlunDarr and one to the Third Moon for Psiarik," Lion-O said. "The question is what Chime-Ra's planning on doing once he gets into our galaxy."
"There's no way he can hit all three of our races at one time unless he splits those ships and we don't have an exact number of how many dragons he's brought with him," Bengali said when he walked up.
"Bengali has a point and most of the dragons are males and of a fighting age," Lynx-O pointed out. "There were reports that Chime-Ra brought in generals from elsewhere and he has King Darkhorn as his prisoner."
"Has any of that been confirmed yet?" Lion-O asked him. The blind lynx went to check the Braille Board then to see if any new reports had come in.
"The rumors of the generals is accurate as the Boktorian spies got details of that from a female dragon on Vulcore before the communications were cut off," Lynx-O answered. "As to King Darkhorn being a prisoner, I cannot find out anything on that as of yet but it was confirmed that he is on one of those ships along with Chime-Ra. They left with the convoy to come here."
"Do we know anything more on Chime-Ra and if he needs those Ancients or not?" Tygra asked. "We know they went to Vulcore to hide." Lion-O sighed.
"We don't know and we need to find out," he said.
"I doubt the Black Claw will be able to find out anything that easily," Panthro said with a grunt. He glanced at the lion then. "Where's Jaguarus?" he asked.
"He's heading to the Bannad Svaedi to see if anything there could give us some answers," Lion-O replied, naming the Forbidden Zone where Mumm-Ra had had his pyramid on New ThunDera. It had since been leveled but no one could reside there due to the decay and overall gloom of the place.
.::~*~::.
A week later the attacks happened and the Vulcorian ships had split, with two going to the Moons and two to PlunDarr but the remaining three were now on New ThunDera and using the Bannad Svaedi as a staging place. Jaguarus had been able to get there to see the ships land and he also saw King Darkhorn in chains outside the ruins of the pyramid where Chime-Ra was holed up with the Ancients. The black jaguar left and made it back to the bunkers, now situated below the Grimalkin Mountains to the north of the capital. Lion-O had ordered the capital abandoned when the fights got too heavy and parts of the palace, lair and other government buildings had been leveled.
"Where's Lion-O?" Jaguarus asked when he got inside the main bunker that was serving as a lair for the Thundercats during the war. Sindaris saw him.
"He's in his office here going through some stuff that King Garion sent him," the saber said and led the jaguar to where the office was. Lion-O was inside sorting through some papers when Jaguarus walked in.
"What's going on?" Lion-O asked when he saw Jaguarus.
"One of the Vulcorian ships is in the Bannad Svaedi now and it's the one that Chime-Ra came in on," Jaguarus said as Lion-O growled slightly. "There's a male dragon outside the place where he's set up camp and by the descriptions, it's King Darkhorn."
"He's not involved in this?" Lion-O asked. Jaguarus found a few pictures and laid them on the lion's desk.
"By the looks I'd say he's a prisoner as he might have gone against Chime-Ra at some point," Jaguarus said. "One of the dragons leading the others is Prince Darksmoke."
"Fits some of the reports we were getting on things," Lion-O said as the jaguar nodded. The lion sighed. "Pretty soon the battles are going to start causing more damage and we're going to start losing people." He got up and walked to look at the map on the wall of the office.
"It's happening already but I can see where you're coming from on this one," Jaguarus said as he joined his friend a moment. "The main thing is that our families are safe and away from this and we can concentrate on the battles and somehow find a way to get on top of this whole thing."
"But how do we fight the dragons without harming them?" Lion-O asked. "They're the innocents in all of this," he said with a sigh.
"Panthro's working on something right now and until we figure out how they're being controlled we've got to be careful in what we do," Jaguarus told him. He paused a moment. "How has Cynthia been doing on Third Earth with Lioness-A?" he asked.
"They're doing okay so far but the first meeting with the other wives isn't supposed to happen for a week or more," Lion-O replied. "The new communication relays are helping a good deal with the calls and things. Cynthia has to talk to the elders in a few days as well but Lioness-A will be with her for it."
"Cynthia will be fine with handling most of that," Jaguarus said. "Some of the lower elders I don't trust though." Lion-O scowled.
"I don't trust them either and she knows which ones to watch out for," Lion-O said. He showed the jaguar a picture then. "Wilykit has been tasked with taking pictures and updating them to a news site that was set up for this," he told the jaguar. In the photos Lioness-A and Cynthia were greeting both Snowman and Rober-Bill and it appeared that they were enjoying the interactions.
"That's good news on how they're getting along," Jaguarus said. "Have we heard from Hachiman?" he asked after a moment.
"Garion got a hold of the king of the Red Sun and spoke to them about what was going on and they're going to send Hachiman here," Lion-O replied. "He was doing some training of new samurai and got tied up with it." Lion-O looked at Jaguarus. "Garion did get some information from the king though and he forwarded it here and to both Ratar-O and Psiarik. It has some ideas on what to do in the battles with the dragons." Lion-O indicated the packet on the desk as Jaguarus went through it.
"These are worth using and I can let Panthro and Sindaris take a look at them," Jaguarus said as Lion-O nodded as the jaguar left the room.
Lion-O sighed again but he was relieved that Hachiman would soon be on the way to New ThunDera to hopefully offer his help and expertise in how to deal with the dragons and keep from harming too many of them. It was the only way to get ahead in the war against Chime-Ra and his generals.
.::~*~::.
I don't know when I'm gonna be able to finish this if at all cause of some massive writer's block I am dealing with in regards to it. I had a vague idea of how this was to go but as to the beginning of it, that was a no. I'll try and update this one but don't hold your breath.
