7

Wilykit tried many times to get her brother to tell her what was wrong, and he had replied once, only after she'd pestered him for a while. "I don't know!" he snapped. "I just...I don't know. It was weird. I've been...tense you know? And Jackalman ticked me off. I just...I got mad, and that made me fight more." He rubbed his arm. "Boy I'm sore now, too."

Wilykit looked at him worriedly. "I never saw you fight like that before."

"Well..I have." Wilykit scowled.

"Right...okay...well maybe you should just rest the rest of the day?"

Wilykat began to make an indignant protest, then only sighed. "Yeah, think I will.

Wilykat stripped and took a shower, and spent the rest of the day nude. By the end, even though he got worried visits seperately from Tygra and Lion-O, he was feeling better.

Wilykat took it easy for a few days. Although they were not needed to fight, still he didn't go out to play, and he did not wrestle with his sister or play hide-and-seek. He only relaxed...and after a few days he felt like himself. Almost.

He still felt like he was being watched. It was pissing him off.

The dream, although not having plagued him in a week, finally did return to him, much to his dismay. The same one...although not the same. There was a subtle differencem in that he could hear individual words here and there in the babble. "Worthless", "failure", "pathetic"...these were words he heard from the ThunderCats. It ended the same. It always did.

But at least he didn't wake his sister with his scream...he did not scream. Only cried and silently punched his pillow. Why were these dreams coming to im? What did he ever do? He'd never attack the ThunderCats, and his sister...never!

It came back in four days. Then three, then four... It varied, but the spans were getting shorter and shorter.

Tygra and Snarf worried about him, he aleady knew that, but even his sister was afraid. He'd not been eating much, and had been so moody. He never wanted to play, and sometimes acted like he didn't want to be around him, especially his sister, which hurt her. She thought he was angry at her for no reason.

The truth was, Wilykat was both angry and scared. He was angry because she was so much stronger than he, and better at fighting; she'd not said anyhting about it, but she was thinking it. He knew she was!

He spent a lot of time locked in his room, just to get away fro the others' worried queries. They were treating him like a baby! Like he coudln't even take care of himself! They thought he was weak? He wasn't! He'd show them. He would! Just wait until next they fought the bad guys, he'd show them who was weak!

That did not happen until a week and a half later.

The dreams tormented Wilykat's stressed mind every night now, and each time the voices became louder, more distinct. He could understand things. All spoke at once, each wityh his own, fearful, accusing face turned up to Wilykat as he slashed out in his desperate attempt to vanquish them, to just silence the maddening accusations and battering insults. But it didn't work.

"You'll never be a worthwile ThuderCat!" Lion-O snarled. "Even Snarf has more courgae than you!"

"You're slow, clumsy!" Cheetara hissed.

"Desnse! You can't even learn simple combat moves!" This was Panthro, and these words were growled so low, that they almost sounded like the rumble of a powerful machine. They cut deep into Wilykat's heart, and he stabbed at the panther in his dream. Bleeding, Panthro yet continued to tear the young ThunderCat down.

Tygra shook his head. "We gave you chances. All the time! Your sister managed to fight and win, why can't you? You only have to have the rest of us save your ass." Not screaming or even raising his voice, Tygra's cold words hurt more than others could...but they did not hurt as much as Wilykit did.

They never could hurt that much.

"See?" she said smugly. "Even THEY all think so! I'm embarrased you're my brother. When people say we're twins, they think we're alike! It's embarrassing they think I'm like you." She had such a look of disgust on her face that Wilykat...the part of him that had always cowered, and cried...did not cower and cry. In this dream, he was angry, and did not shriek when the other part of his mind struck.

This time he did scream He woke Wilykit up once more...but when she sat next to him to comfort him, he pushed her away, kicking his sheet off of him, and ran from the room. He spent the night in the library.

The next day, the Mutants decided that they were going to start an all out war with the ThunderCats with some new allies they had met...and that's when all hell broke loose.

Part Six

Part Eight

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