(Note: This font color is the color of Plundaar's sky)
1
"Mutt!"
"I am not!"
"Are too!" The second boy threw a handful of sand at the little cat.
Orion's face was twisted in an expression of childish anger and embarrassment as he wiped the sand form his face and spit it from his mouth. "You shut up, you're not any better!"
"My daddy says we are," a little girl said. "You're a mutt, you don't even have a clan!"
The other cubs jeering at him was too much, and the little mixed breed Thunderian, tears in his eyes, struck out with his claws at the bigger of the boys, the one that had started it. There were five or so kids ringed around Orion, making fun of him. It wasn't his fault he had a lot of breeds in him!
The older boy recoiled, but he had not been fast enough for the quick
little one, and got a face full of
claw. He yelped as three lines of blood appeared across his face,
then growled. He jumped at the younger boy.
The others jumped in the fight, defending their friend, and making a
very unfair fight of five against
one. Little Orion was getting hurt. Kids can be cruel.,
and in the city where he lived, it was worse. The area
was full of high-ranking clans and families, with narrow minds and
no sense of equality. And the little hooligans liked to hurt.
Orion was four, and the only other one his age was the smallest of the
boys, still bigger than Orion. The
others were all older and bigger including the girl, a young lioness.
Orion was small for his age, having many
smaller breeds of cat in him.
Fortunately, there was an adult nearby to see the fight between the
young cubs. The adult, a cheetah,
was more than fast enough to get them all separated and kept that way
while he glared at them; he glared mostly at Orion. "What's the idea,
mutt?" he demanded. "You causing trouble with these kids?"
Orion looked at him, hurt. He'd been clawed a few times, and his
nose and lip bled. He was a tough
little one, but five against one was too much. "No!" he protested.
"I didn't even say anything and they came
and started making fun of me!"
"What were you doing in this area?" the cheetah demanded, as the other
children smirked at the young
cub.
"I live here! I was going to the store!"
"Don't lie to me, cub!" The cheetah shook him a little as he held
the nude cub by the scruff of the neck.
Few Thunderians wore clothing unless it was cold, and there was not
a cub alive who wanted to be all covered
with cloth unless they had to.
"I-I-I'm not!" Orion protested, his eyes stinging with tears unjust
accusation. "I live up the street and I
can prove it!"
"Fine. We'll go there and we'll just see what your parents think
of you starting fights with good boys
and girls." The cheetah began dragging the boy up the street,
the little ones following behind, smug looks on
their faces. They were allowed to get away with mostly anything
they wanted to, and they knew it.
As they approached a comfortable sized house that was actually one of
the smaller ones of the area,
Orion claimed it to be his. The irate cheetah knocked on the
door and thrust Orion out towards the man that
answered it. "Is this yours?" he demanded.
The man that was Orion's father looked mildly at the cheetah.
"He is my son, and if it was you that has
hurt him, prepare for a fight of your own. Please release him."
He was a mixed breed as was his son, but he
held a note of command in his voice. He had been in the military
for a while in his youth, and despite his lack
of a clan, he had risen to a high and respected position in the Thunderian
navy. People even said that had he
not been injured, he would have had a chance at becoming a ThunderCat.
He had trained for it. But an injury
had taken him from the military for too long, and in that time he had
found a mate...and the dream of becoming
a ThunderCat was replaced by his son, which he would not have traded
for all the power on Thundera.
The cheetah blinked, taken aback at being spoken to in that manner by
a half breed...no even more than
half, he had far more breeds in him than only two. He was about
to snarl a reply when he recognized who it
was. He may have been a mutt, but he was still well respected
in the navy, and had many friends still there.
"Captain," he said, dropping little Orion rudely on the ground.
The boy picked himself up and slunk behind his
father. The man put an arm around him. "I would suggest
you keep your...cub...away from these good children. He was picking
a fight with them and causing trouble near my store."
Orion's father, a kind man named Bowan, did not lose his temper.
Instead he said reasonably, "How
so?"
"I just told you he was starting fights with these kids!"
Bowan knew what had likely happened. He knew it all too well.
"Ah, then you saw the boy walk up to
these children as they were minding their own business and start shoving
them around, did you?"
The cheetah sputtered. He was narrow-minded, but he was honest and intelligent. He would not lie.
The cubs however had no such objections. "Yeah! That's what he did!" a boy accused.
"I did not!" Orion protested. His father squeezed his shoulder and he scowled, but quieted.
"I saw them fighting, and your son is a troublemaker. I assumed-"
"You assumed my four year old cub, a mixed breed, started the fight
because there is no way that a
purebred would ever do such a thing, is that right?" Bowan interrupted
in a clear, angry voice. "And even had
he not started it, he deserved what he got right? Even if he
did start it, which I highly doubt, those older
children had no business beating up on a small four year old cub! They
should have come and told me, and I would have disciplined him accordingly.
But as it is, I do not believe you, sir. My son does not lie, and
if he says he did not start it, he did not. Now please be gone from
my property."
The cheetah glared for a moment, then sighed. He knew that the
mixed cat was probably right, but he
still thought the mutt child had no business being in town. "All
right, kids, you heard him. Off."
"But he's just a-" the little girl started, but the cheetah cut her off.
"You want to argue with him? He was a commander in the navy, and
well respected. He could tie you
in a knot and roll you down the street. You want to tell him
what he is?" Orion's father turned his stern gaze to
the little girl, and she stared at her toes. She shook her head,
and she and the other cubs slunk off. Bowan closed the door.
Once the door was locked, Bowan picked his son up and hugged him.
"You know that I am always
behind you, son," he said. "Let's get you fixed up."
The cub only nodded as his father carried him to the bathroom, where
the medkit was.
"Did you start the fight?" his father asked him. Orion, his father,
and his mother were sitting at the
dinner table.
The cub shrugged and looked down at his plate. "Kind of...but not really."
While most other parents would have punished him for back talk, Bowan knew this was not the case.
Orion was simply telling him the best way he knew how. "Tell me
more, Orion," he said kindly.
Orion sniffed, trying not to cry. At that very young age, he
had seen more humiliation than any child
should. And it hurt. "W-well, I hit first, I used my claws..."
He paused to sniff and wipe his eyes. "But they
were all around me and kept calling me mutt, and calling me names and
saying I wasn't as good as them, and
throwing sand at me, and wouldn't leave me alone! Cheetrii saw
me first and he laughed and said 'There's the
mutt!' and they all laughed and started making fun of me!"
Orion's father said nothing, only stood and picked his son up, right
at the dinner table. He embraced the
boy. "I understand, little one," he said quietly, as his mate
looked on in approval. "Your pride was hurt. I
understand that very much. But you know better than that.
You know that what kind of cat you are has nothing
to do with what's in here." He gently poked the child's chest,
where his heart would be.
"I-I tried not to get mad and ignore them like you say, but I couldn't
and I just did it and didn't even
think when I was!"
"I know. And I am proud you tried. Next time I want you
to remember your worth, and try even harder
to keep your temper, all right? They don't know any differently,
and unfortunately many grown-ups here agree
with them. They don't understand true worth." Bowan sometimes
wished he had made it to the ThunderCat
ranks before having his son. The ThunderCats understood that
type of thing; at least most of them did. They
would have accepted him and his child as equals. "I know you can do
it, Orion. Just remember your own
worth, and your own honor, and pay them no mind." He put a hand
under his son's chin and lifted it. "Keep
your head up. Never be ashamed of yourself for what you are on
the outside, because it is no better or worse
than anyone else."
Orion had looked at his father then and thought that he would never
love anyone more than he loved his
father. His wisdom, and love, and kindness were more than he
had even seen in his young life. He knew who
the navy was, and he knew who the ThunderCats were, but to him, there
was no greater hero than his father. He
hugged him tight. "Okay, Papa," he said, not ashamed to cry into
his tunic. "I will."
Jaguarin as a cub (a bit too old in this picture, maybe 8 or so)
Jaguarin
Chapter 2
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