3

"Kohlee," Toshlan said, knocking on her bedroom door.

"What?" The girls; voice was dull, sad. Lynx-O could tell much from it.

"There is someone here to se you."

There was a bit of a snort from inside. "Who, the healer?" She had heard enough of the wrinkled old creep.

"No. One of the ThunderCats."

There was a silence from the room for at least a full minute. And then Lynx-O spoke. "Hello, Kohlee. My name is Lynx-O. May I come in and talk?"

Another silence, but a brief one. "I-I guess so."

Lynx-O opened the door. "Thank you," he said. He smiled warmly, leaving the door open. He felt his way into the room, then asked her if there was a chair he might sit in.

Kohlee frowned, even that action feeling mutated and strange from the injury of her eyes. Could he not see for himself? Was he making a mockery of her lack of sight? She knew little of the ThunderCats, and was not even sure which one Lynx-O was. Had she seen him before? Seen him...that was a joke.

"You could sit on the bed," she said tentatively. "I-I think you might be too big for my chair..."

For a moment Lynx-O had forgotten how small the Wollos were in comparison to a Thunderian. He had never seen them, after all. "Thank you," he said, feeling carefully along the walls until he located the bed. As he sat, he felt the girl's light weight leave it and heard her fumbling around. "I heard what happened. Pumyra says you were hurt pretty badly."

There was silence for a moment, and Lynx-O could feel her despair and resentment. He understood it. "Yes," she finally said.

"What happened?" he could hear her parents listening in the other room, being very quiet.

It was a moment more before she answered him. Lynx-O had almost thought she wasn't going to answer when she finally spoke. "Mutants," she said hatefully. Lynx-O could not see her clench and unclench her fists, but heard the anger in her voice. "They attacked us...just for fun." Her voice nearly broke on the last word. "I hate them," she whispered.

Lynx-O sighed. "They are cowards. But I did not think they would stoop so low."

Kohlee shrugged, her head bowed.

"Kohlee. I know how difficult it is for you—"

"How could you?' the young Wollo suddenly cried, interrupting the older cat. "How? What do you see when you look into the mirror?? You know what I see? nothing. I can't even FIND the mirror anymore! But if I could I would see a monster!" Her voice told Lynx-O she was crying, but her eyes of course could no longer shed tears. "Th-the healer said I would be scarred for life, even without being blinded! A-and some very 'kind' people in this town have told me just exactly what I look like!" She sniffed, wiping her nose. "So why don't you tell me what you see in front of you...*then* tell me how you know how hard it is!"

Lynx-O stayed quiet. The young girl needed very badly to vent her frustrations, and fear, and anger. It was necessary. He let few moments pass, and then spoke. "I see a smart young woman," he began. He did not know the girl, but had spoken enough to the parents to get an idea of what she was like, and his intuition did the rest. "I see a young lady with parents that love her. I hear a voice tinged with sorrow and anger, but also having strength and resilience."

Kohlee stood up. "But what do you see? What do I look like?"

"Does it matter?" Lynx-O said softly.

"Yes! Tell me!" Kohlee's voice broke as she remembered everything all over again, the mental block barring the memories having broken for now.

Lynx-O smiled a little sadly, and then stood. "I cannot."

"Why?" The voice sounded angry, but also a bit puzzled. This was not an answer that she had expected to hear.

"Because I, too, am blind."

There was nothing for a very long time. Lynx-O could feel her surprise, and just a little bit of distrust. He walked toward her voice and put a hand on her shoulder (it took him a couple of tries, as she was a small girl). "I would like to speak to you again, young Kohlee. But for now I must go back to my duties." He smiled. "I will come back tomorrow."

Kohlee still said nothing as Lynx-O left the room When he closed the door, she still stood by her desk.

Lynx-O met with her parents in their main room. "Lynx-O" Toshlan began. "I am very sorry she spoke to you like that; it was uncalled for."

"We will speak with her later about it," Skira added.

Lynx-O shook his head. "No. Please do not. Kohlee is very angry, and hurt. And upset. And she has a right to be. If she had not reacted like that, I would have been very surprised indeed.

"But still..."

"She needs to talk about it. She needs an outlet for her anger. That she spoke to me at all was a good sign."

Toshlan smiled, the lynx-s gentle patience having soothed his anxiety. "Will you come back?"

"Of course. I would like to start visiting her on a regular basis. This is, of course, if she wants me to. If things work out well, I can begin to teach her how to get along without her eyes." He paused, and then added, "And with your permission I would like to eventually begin teaching her how to fight, to defend herself when she cannot see her enemy. That above most will help in getting her confidence back"

Toshlan and Skira looked at each other and Skira nodded. The man turned back to Lynx-O. "We are more than willing to permit it," he said, sounding grateful. "But do you not have duties?"

Lynx-O chuckled. "Yes, I do have duties. But I also have plenty of time to myself. And part of my duty is helping people."

The two Wollos looked at each other again and smiled. "Then bless you, Lynx-O." Skira said, and then impulsively hugged the elderly warrior. She began to pull back, blushing bright red under her fur, but Lynx-O only laughed softly and returned the embrace.

"Thank you," Toshlan said.

"You are very welcome. She did not deserve that, and I want to help her get through it as much as I can." He felt his way to the door after Skira had moved away. "I will see you tomorrow, then."

Lynx-O returned to the Tower of Omens and told the others there what had gone on between him and the young girl. "She is very distraught," Lynx-O said, shaking his head. "The poor girl. But she is young, and I hope that it will help with her mental and emotional recovery."

"Did she speak to you?" Pumyra asked.

Lynx-O nodded. "After a fashion. I believe that she expressed some things that she has been needing to now since it happened, and that is good. I told her that I was blind."

Bengali, sitting at the scanners, turned around. "How;d she take that bit of information?" he asked.

Lynx-O smiled a bit. "I sensed distrust," he told the tiger. "But she said nothing. I am not sure she knew what to say. But I am going to visit on a daily basis for a little while. I will speak with Lion-O of it, and although I will be using mostly my free time, I may have to arrange for some of my duties to be taken by you or Pumyra.

"Hey, we've got ya covered," Bengali said immediately. Whatever else could be said of Bengali, that he was loyal was first and foremost.

Pumyra nodded in agreement. "Yes, do what you can for the child. You've no idea how badly I felt for her." Then she laughed quietly and added before Lynx-O could answer, "Well actually you probably do."

Lynx-O put a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "I do understand. Tomorrow I will visit again. I intend to begin teaching her how to compensate for her loss of sight. But first I must earn her trust, at least to a certain degree."

Pumyra nodded. "If you ever need my help..."

Lynx-O nodded. "Thank you, I will certainly call on you. Now I believe I am going to make myself something to eat, as I have not had my meal yet."

Pumyra nodded as Lynx-O made his way out of the room.

The next day things did not go nearly so well. When Lynx-O came to visit, Kohlee's parents told him that she had not eaten since his visit, though they'd tried hard to persuade her. But she had at least made no move to kill herself again.

Lynx-O nodded. "It's all right, not eating for one or even a few days won't harm her badly. Try to be lenient with her. It is part of her way of dealing with this." He smiled and went to Kohlee's door an knocked. There was no reply. "It's Lynx-O," he called. "May I come in?"

"No."

Not a good sign. But it was not entirely unexpected. "Have I made you angry?" he asked.

"Leave me alone!"

The lynx thought for a few moments, deciding whether or not to press the issue. But he remembered his own feeling of helplessness, and his overreaction to anyone that might want to persuade him to do anything other than exactly what he wanted to. And he did not push it. "Well I will visit tomorrow then," Lynx-O said, his voice perfectly friendly and casual. "Sleep well, Kohlee."

Skira was in silent tears. "I can't stand seeing her this way," she whispered. Her mate put his arms around her.

Lynx-O nodded. "I understand...but you must be patient. Whatever you do, don't push her to do anything she doesn't want to unless it is directly threatening her health. When I lost my eyes...I felt so completely helpless and useless that I wanted to die. But I knew that to kill myself would be foolish. But I could not live as I was, unable to find the privy without someone guiding me. And so the only alternative was to learn new ways. And slowly I did." He smiled. "Kohlee will also realize this in time. But until she does..."

"We must be patient," Toshlan finished, and nodded. "Understood, Lynx-O. I cannot tell you enough how grateful we are."

Lynx-O shook his head. "Please. You've expressed your gratitude, and I appreciated it very much." He smiled. "You and your people are my allies, and I could do no less. I will come again tomorrow, then." And with that, he bade them farewell.

Things went much in the same way for the next two visits, but Lynx-O did not become discouraged. Kohlee had eaten only once more in that time, which worried him slightly, but she had been drinking water, which eased his concerns a bit.

On the fourth day, there was a bit of a change in how things played out. When Lynx-O knocked on the door, there was no pause. It was opened, and a small foot sailed out of it and kicked him right in the shin!

Lynx-O started, standing completely still for several moments at the unexpected attack, as the door slammed shut. He heard a gasp from Kohlee's mother, but Lynx-O was well pleased. After a moment more, he laughed aloud.

"You be quiet" came the hurt-sounding voice from within the room. "Leave me alone!!"

Lynx-O said nothing for a moment, working out how to phrase his thoughts. And then he spoke. "Kohlee, I laughed because I am happy."

Silence. And then, "Happy about what?" She sounded angry still, but Lynx-O could tell she was too curious about what h had said to keep from asking. It was an excellent sign.

"I m happy that you did that."

Silence again, for a longer bit of time. Lynx-O waited patiently, glad that Kohlee's parents were keeping their silence. "You're...happy I kicked you?" Now she sounded like she was not quite sure if she had heard or understood right.

"Yes." Lynx-O chuckled. "I am, my friend. You're not defeated yet, Kohlee. There's still plenty of spirit inside that mind of yours. I have known warriors in my time that would not strike a ThunderCat. Good for you." These last words might have sounded condescending coming form anyone else, but somehow from Lynx-O they sounded only delighted.

Lynx-O had not expected a reply to that, and did not get one. He imagined she didn't know what to say. Still, he had to tell her parents as before that he was not angry about what she had done; quite the contrary. Not only did it show that her spirit had not been subdued, it showed that she was already learning a little bit how to compensate for her lack of sight.

Lynx-O left in a good mood.