11

Palaver

"According to our records," Lynx-O began, in the low, gripping voice of a born storyteller, "we came here approximately three thousand years ago." He turned his face towards Lion-O. Already the visitors could tell that he had an uncanny sense of hearing, no doubt having developed to make up for his loss of sight. "Might I ask what the date is, in your Basic dating system?"

Lion-O told him the date.

Lynx-O nodded and thought for a moment. "Then three thousand, one hundred or so. See, we have learned the Basic ways from the Berbils, or so our predecessors did." He shook his head sadly. "The cataclysm that shook the world planet-wide affected the Berbils such as they forgot their long-standing alliance with us. It damaged their memory banks and also affected the natrual parts of their minds. Only a few remembered, like the two that came with us here to this island."

"Where are they?" Wilykit asked.

"Sadly, they did not survive the crash." He held up a hand, as Wilykit began to ask what crash he meant. "Please, you will know everything, if you allow me to tell our story." He spoke kindly, and Wilykit was not offended.

"Sorry," she said, and sat back to listen.

The six Thunderians were seated in a simple, comfortable living room, in chairs of wicker and a kind of soft moss that Bengali had found and explained made excellent cushions. Wilykat seemed to agree, as he was half curled up in a wicker chair with high sides, in a "nest" of the stuff.

"Unfortunately, many of our records were lost, or stayed behind, and we don't have them here, else I could show you. We had camped very near a tropical environment, a water-woods." Lion-O raised his eyebrows at this archaic term for the rainforest, "And we decided that the fields nearby would make an excellent site to make our village."

"Why did your ancestors come here to begin with?" Wilykat asked curiously. "I mean, did something happen on Thundera?"

The lynx smiled at him. "No, young ThunderCat. They were originally part of a project set by the royal staff to explore other planets in the system. Until then, only probes had been sent to other systems, and they had just then gotten the information by this planet, that it was indeed habitable. By then, their ships had gotten faster, and they were able to build one large enough to support many, many people, and special rooms for crop building and water recycling. And of course the production of oxygen.

"And so, a large group was chosen to come here." Lynx-O sipped a cup of a delicious herb tea that Lion-O was also partaking of. The twins had some juice. "According to the histories, a thousand and a half years ago, there was a terrible catastrophe, as I have said. Reports of a demon coming from the sky and setting his magics and anger upon the people and the lands, changing it forever. Many died, and many yet were crippled or affected as a people, such as the Berbils.

"Mumm-Ra," Wilykit muttered. Lion-O frowned, and then remembered what Wilykit had said the undead being had told her in the attack on the Lair, and nodded darkly.

"How did you know that?" Bengali asked with a frown. He of course had heard of the creature, but only half believed it, even though Lynx-O swore him to exist.

"We will tell out own tales also," Lion-O said, nodding respectfully to Lynx-O. "Please, continue."

Bengali looked somewhat put out, but didn't quite dare argue with the lion who held the Sword of Omens. Lynx-O continued. "After that, the forest had nearly been destroyed. Many of the plants and animals that we used for food had been killed or mutated so badly that we could no longer use them, and the very ground had been changed. Reduced to a vile cover of must and mold, releasing gasses into the air that hung like something solid. Once warm, the forest turned chilly and damp.

"We did eventually adapt, to find things that we could consume from this forest, and there were scouts going out to find other hunting grounds as well. And for a while, things seemed all right.

"Soon, though, some of the scientists began to notice things. Birth defects were rising more than they had in a long time. The children lived, but many had deformities such as misshapen limbs, or senses that did not work correctly. Some were born deaf, a few blind." He almost unconsciously ran in hand over his own sightless eyes. "We were birthing many more throwbacks and ferals that we have ever seen."

"We knew a cub in school back on Thundera that was a throwback," Wilykat said with a scowl. "And everyone teased him. He was always so unhappy. That always made me mad that they teased him."

Lynx-O nodded. ""Things of that nature were not so prevalent here in this village. We were smaller, and people knew each other much better than in the big cities of Thundera. Some feared the defects were caused by inbreeding, but we were quite numerous enough, and diverse enough that that was ruled out. As there were no explantions for what happened, people began saying that there was magic in the forest, that was making such thing happen, but the scientists scoffed at this. I believe those superstitious rumors were closer to the truth.

"The cataclysm did something to the forest so long ago, soured it, mutated its nature and its beings. We'd been eating food we'd hunted down in this forest, and the hunters went there everyday, and pretty soon they too began to show changes. They became more violent, slowly, and as the generations went, it happened more and more. They became feared, rather than respected for their jobs."

"And then...a meteorite of pure Thundranium landed in the forest, and caused illness among our people. A large group of us had already decided that we would leave, and set off with what belongings that we could, headed for an island that our scouts had discovered in the sea."

The twins both winced as Lynx-O mentioned this, but were silent, at least for the moment. Wilykit glanced at her brother. He looked like he wanted to crawl under a bed, by his expression. Somehow it was easier to treat the incident as a story when it was written down on paper. To listen to its author, before only a whisper from the past, speaking of the things he had written about.

"Except it had stormed that night," Pumyra said, shivering. "I was only six, but I remember that. I remember the cries, and the thunder, and the waves..." She shook her head. "That's one of my first memories."

"Yes," Lynx-O said. "There was a horrible storm that night, and we were blown off course by several miles, and became lost. Our supplies had almost been depleted by the time we spotted this island and headed for it." He sighed heavily and paused for a moment.

"But..." Wilykat said. "Why didn't you just use your vehicle to join the others after you'd gotten some supplies?" They eagerly listened to this, as this was the part they did not know; what happened after Lynx-O and his group had left the town.

"We had planned to," Lynx-O said. "But the storm had damaged our ship greatly, and just how extensive the damage was was not noticed until it was too late. There was an explosion in the ship that destroyed the most of it." Lynx-O touched his eyes once more. "That is how I was blinded. Bengali's mother was killed instantly, as was Pumyra's father." He lowered his head sadly as Pumyra bit her lip. "Her mother survived long enough to make it to the island, but without medical supplies, I could do nothing for her. Pumyra and Bengali had been sleeping in the other side of the craft, and so had only taken minor injuries, which I was able to tend."

"We...we had no vehicle to get back with," Pumyra said. "And no communications with those that had gone onto the island we'd planned on doing to in the first place." She gestured to a device in the middle of the room, which looked rusted and old. "All we had was this distress beacon, and we could only use it so long. And so we began doing it in intermittent bursts, trying to save its power source."

Bengali grinned at Lion-O. "And I told Lynx-O it was a waste of time, and am completely glad to admit I was completely wrong."

"So," Lynx-O said. "You are not from the colony that we were separated from. How did you find us, then? Have they sent settlers since? We lost contact with Thundera long, long ago."

Lion-O shook his head, all of a sudden realizing that these people didn't know about Thundera. He closed his eyes and sighed. "No, Lynx-O. We did not come to find this colony. I knew nothing about it. We...we came here because it was the closest habitable planet. We..." He faltered, not sure how to go about this. "Lynx-O...Thundera is no more."

Pumyra gasped, and Bengali stared. Lynx-O only bowed his head, as if in thought. "You're joking," Bengali accused. "There's no way there could be no more Thundera! I mean whole planets don't just disappear!"

"I'm afraid so, Bengali," Lion-O said. "No one knows what happened. But the most popular theory was that it began to slip its orbit. Hundreds, maybe thousands of us escaped in a mass exodus from Thundera." He narrowed his eyes. "But the Mutants, whom we were at war with, attacked...and killed many of us. The royal flagship escaped, but we were damaged. And we ended up here."

There was silence for a moment. Pumyra had begun to weep silently, her eyes closed, but Bengali seemed to be gearing up for a rebellious outburst, refusing to believe this terrible news.

Lynx-O quieted him with a simple statement. "I feel he is telling the truth." The old man's intuition had never failed them before, and both Bengali and Pumyra had learned throughout their lives to trust it. the young tiger stared at Lynx-O for a moment then sank back in his seat.

The twins watched solemnly.

"I am sorry to have had to bring you this news," Lion-O said quietly. "We thought we were all that was left."

"Only you and the children here?" Lynx-O asked quietly.

Lion-O shook his head. "No, my friend, there are more of us. One of the Snarfs of the Valley of the Snarfs is with us, and the rest of the nobles of the time. There are three others here on Third Earth."

"We've only been here a few months," Wilykat spoke up.

"Then you know nothing of the colony," Lynx-O said. "Or of the village." He frowned, troubled. "I fear that they may no longer exist. As I said, the meteorite had been making people ill."

"But the colony, Lynx-O?" Lion-O said. "Can you tell me where it was? How many others were there, there may be more Thunderians that I had thought!" It was odd, though,. these Thunderians were almost an anachronism. They had been living at a level of technology here from two thousand years ago. What would they think of the flying machines, and spacecraft that could go fast enough to reach a neighboring planet in a few hours?

"There are some maps back at the village," Lynx-O said, sounding excited now. "I disremember the coordinates, it has been twenty years, and most of our belongings on the hovercraft were also destroyed."

"Where is the village?" Lion-O asked, also looking very eager. "We can take you there, or find someone maybe that is still there with a hovercraft that can transport us all back there."

Wilykit sighed heavily and looked at her brother, who nodded reluctantly. Wilykit looked back at the adults, who seemed to almost have forgotten them. "It's on the edge of the Forest of Mists," she said, before Lynx-O could answer.

She was being ignored no longer. This time, every head in the room turned to her.

Part 12: Confessions

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