10

Last Colony

It was a long, long way out. It seemed that as they had not yet explored this area yet, except by their sensors, they had underestimated the time it would take to get out thee by spaceboard. They had been flying now for five hours, and were all growing weary. In fact, Wilykat had already fallen off once, to the startlement of Lion-O and amusement of his sister. He made sure to give her a big hug when she helped fish him soaking wet out of the water. That in itself had been a challenge, getting back onto a floating object.

Eventually they'd had to camp on a tiny island that was little more than a round beach. They'd eaten, and slept, and both twins agreed that it was far better than the spoiled, blasted island they'd camped on not too long ago.

In the morning, they set off once more, refreshed and eager for adventure. Even Lion-O, whose mind had not yet really had the chance to grow into his body.

"Conkolor!" The young man, who had been lying in the sun near the water in what might be the last warm day of the autumn, was suddenly sitting bolt upright, brushing sand from his white shag of hair. "Come here, quick!"

Frowning, she joined him and squinted her almond-shaped eyes. "What is it? Or what are they?" she corrected as she could see that there was more than one object flying their way.

"I-I don't know. Some kind of hoverbike? But they're riding too high!"

"Let's get the catapults ready," Conkolor said, running towards a series of primitive, wooden catapults, each armed with a large boulder from the rocky side of the beach.

"Look!" Wilykit pointed excitedly, looking at the printout of the map that Panthro had given them. Wilykat had just finished checking in with him once more, telling them they were off schedule, but doing just fine. He'd left out the part about falling ingloriously into the water.

"I see it, Wilykit. Now, we must be cautious, as it may still be a Mutant trap. oOr perhaps that...Mumm-Ra's doing. Panthro actually came up with another possibility, that some wreckage of our ship managed to land here and is malfunctioning, sending out random signals."

"But Cheetara said they were form a device too old to be one of ours!" Wilykat protested.

"Well that's true," Lion-O said. "That may be part of the malfunction, though."

They had little time to say anymore, as one of them, startled, heard a shout in the distance, a heavily accented male voice calling, "Launch!" And a second later, a whizzing sound, and a large object coming right at them.

"Look out!" Lion-O yelled, moving to shove the twins out of the way, into the water if need be, but they were nimble and used to working in tandem. As one, they ducked, and swerved to the right, as the boulder narrowly missed them and splashed into the water. All three ended up getting drenched, and the twins almost ended up in the water anyway, but after a moment, they regain their balance. Watchful now, and beginning to think that Panthro was right about the Mutants, they looked back at the island.

"Halt!" the voice called from the island.

"What kind of Mutant it that?" Wilykit asked, pointing at the little figure on the island. Her eyes had picked out a pure-white blur, which was who seemed to be speaking to them, and was trying to think of a Mutant species that was pure white.

"I dunno," the boy said, frowning. He looked up as Lion-O spoke.

"We come in peace!" he called back to them formally. "I am Lion-O, Lord of the ThunderCats! We come in response to your distress beacon!" Tensed, the trio waited for another boulder to come whizzing their way.

But it did not happen. There was nothing but silence for a long time, and then the voice calling back, "Go ahead and proceed!" he called back, sounding suspicious. "But be warned, we're well armed!"

"Acknowledged!" the young lord turned to the twins. "Come on, kids, let's go. Go slowly, and make no threatening gestures. But do be ready to fight if need be."

"Got it," they said together, and they proceeded.

As they got closer, their keen eyes could no longer deny what they were seeing; three Thunderians stood on the shores. Could Mumm-Ra make such illusions? Lion-O felt that he could not, or if he could, that these were not of his creation.

"They're Thunderians!" Wilykit exclaimed, almost as the female on the beach said the same thing, and with much the same tone of amazement.

"And look at the vehicles they ride on,." the young man on the land said, sounding awed. "Like hovercraft, but only to stand on...amazing! And so swift!"

Lion-O jumped down from his board, gesturing for the twins to do the same. There was a white tiger, what looked like a cougar, and an elderly Thunderian standing behind them, his eyes closed. The younger ones were armed with spears, but the elder held nothing.

As the Thunderkittens dismounted, Lion-O hailed them with the traditional Thunderian salute, and it was cautiously returned by the two younger cats. At least they had not attacked yet.

"I am Lion-O," Lion-O repeated. "I am the current Lord of the ThunderCats. We got your call for distress, and came to investigate. This is Wilykit and Wilykat, also ThunderCats." The two waved, then at Lion-O's stern glance, also saluted, Wilykit rolling her eyes, She did not much care for formalities.

"Hello," they said in unison.

"They are very young," the elder said, turning his head and frowning a bit. As Lion-O looked closer, he realized that the lynx's closed eyes were not just closed, but seared shut, and somewhat scarred. Blind then...he had been blinded somehow, and long ago, it looked like.

"They have proven themselves," Lion-o said simply, which made the cubs swell up a bit with pride. Not often did they hear that.

"I am Conkolor," the puma said.

"And I, Tipu," the white tiger said.

"I am Khandensis,' the lynx offered. "In Basic, as you seem to know it well, we are Pumyra, Bengali, and Lynx-O."

The kittens gaped at him for a moment and then looked excitedly at each other. Lynx-O! The one whose diary they'd found! But hadn't he been doing with the others to the bigger island? How had they gotten here? Had the twins been right in guessing that some changed course? They looked back, their expressions now more of excitement than wariness. They knew now without a doubt this was no trap.

Before anyone else could say anything, Bengali's eyes happened on the Sword that was sheathed at Lion-O's side. "The Sword! Lynx-O, he carries the Sword of Omens!":

The lynx smiled. "Then he is, indeed, who he says he is." The spears, which were never exactly pointed at them, but not exactly in a non-threatening position, came all the way down at these words, and everyone relaxed.

"Please, join us," said Pumyra, backing up a little bit to gesture at the island. There was a great deal of beach, with a stand of trees not too great a distance back. "We've a dwelling in the woods back a ways. Where have you come from? The last we knew, Lord Taian, Oceldron, was Lord of the ThunderCats."

Wilykat blinked as the trio made their way up the beach. "But...that was hundreds of years ago! More than a thousand!"

Bengali chuckled. "Well we did not know, personally. But that's what the histories say. We have no lord, really, here. Only a town mayor." He sighed. "I wonder how they have fared, al this time."

Lion-O was shaking his head, looking somewhat confused. "I...I have so many questions to ask you," he said to them. "How did you get here? I hadn't thought anyone else had survived the Mutant attacks."

"Mutants?" Pumyra's voice was puzzled. "We were attacked by no one," she said. "We left our village. Don't you know why?" She gave Lion-O a puzzled look.

"If this young man wields the Sword of Omens," Lynx said as they walked into the trees. "Then they do not know about us. I do not believe they are descendants of those that made the journey here generations ago."

At these words, Pumyra and Bengali regarded Lion-O with something like awe. "Then..." Bengali said. "You must have come from Thundera later? how much later? When was the date?"

Before Lion-O could answer, Lynx-O chuckled. "Bengali, calm yourself. Give our guests a chance to rest first. With such vehicles as you described, they must be very weary from making such a long journey. let us have something to eat and drink, and then we can exchange stories."

"Rowl....all right," the young tiger grumbled. He could not be more than twenty, Lion-O realized, but then who was he to talk? He wasn't that much older.

Lion-O and the twins were led to a rather sturdy looking cabin made of wood and vines, and cemented with some kind of clear, resinous sap. The wood was light in color, and it stood in a kind of natural clearing that gave it a warm, homey feel. Wilykit and Wilykat liked it immediately, and Lion-O nodded in approval. "You've built this yourself?" he said. "With no more than natural tools?"

Lynx-O smiled. "Yes," he said. "And it has stood now for twenty years. Please, come in, we will get some meat ready to cook."

As they entered, Wilykit exchanged a rather nervous look with her brother. If they were to exchange stories... They had a feeling that Lynx-O's group didn't know where the others were, and did not know that Mumm-Ra had killed the most of them. And it was not right to leave them in the dark, was it? But if they told, they would have to admit to Lion-O what they had done.

Faced with this decision, they stepped inside.

Part 11: Palaver

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