Prologue: A Transaction of Friendship
By RoariCat
A/N: Hi folks! This is my first ever Thundercats fic! YAY! Okay, enough pathetic chirpiness. I'm rewriting it from the beginning because I'm afraid to try to fit it all in to the timeline without making rotten mistakes. At the moment, the timeline is before old Thundera was destroyed, and Lion-O is still a child. All the 'cats from the series will feature.
"Tag!" the slender thundercub flicked his twin sister Wilykit's shoulder with the tips of his fingers. His hair, normally naturally spiky and upright, flattened against his head and dampened with sweat as he sped nimbly around the furious girl and out of harm's way.
Wilykat's paws slapped on the stone floor, stinging a little with each passing step. The third player, the heir to the Thunderian throne, dashed to the other side of Wilykit, careful not to let her pass the responsibilities of being 'it' as he did so. It wasn't often Lord Lion-O had any friends over, so the flame-maned boy was desperate to enjoy every second of every game the twins and he managed to play together. They seemed to be warming to him a little, maybe they would come over more often after today.
Wilykit frowned, running her claws through sweat-dampened red hair. She could seek revenge on her brother, or go for the snivelling brat Lion-O. She glanced between them, and knew she had to go for his royal highness. She could definitely catch him, whereas Wilykat was... well, wily.
Kit charged Lion-O, glaring daggers at Kat as she passed him. Stretching her legs as far as they would go, Kit sprinted down the hall with a look of sheer determination etched across her face. Her fingers curled into a fist, but before she could deliver it to Lion-O the door to the chamber slid open with an electronic sigh.
"Snarf!" Lion-O's nanny, a Snarf, poked his head through the gap. "Lion-O," the small animal began, his voice scratchy and highly pitched. "Your father wants to talk to you!" He waited expectantly, ignoring the panting twins who gravitated slowly towards one another. Lion-O sighed, looking sadly at Wilykit and Kat as he stepped forward.
"Do I have to right now?" Lion-O asked, a pout forming.
"Yes!" Snarf nodded vehemently, although he was likely exaggerating.
"I'm sorry," the young prince glanced woefully at each twin, seemingly missing the matched look of imperial disgust emblazoned across their paired faces.
As soon as Snarf and Lion-O were gone, the silence was broken by Wilykit.
"Can you believe that kid?" she demanded, emphasising that she thought of Lion-O as an unsophisticated child.
"At last," groaned Kat, almost simultaneously.
"'Snarf, don't be silly kittens, snarf!'" Wilykit impersonated the matron at the orphanage. "'Of course you want to play with Lion-O'".
"I'm glad that brat's too important to play with us for long." Kat wiped his brow with his hand, and then his hand on his tunic. "He can't even run right."
"How do we get out of here?" Wilykit looked around. There were three doors, one was eliminated because Snarf had taken Lion-O through it.
It was soon uncovered that the second was locked, and so the third was their only exit. The twins walked together in an amicable silence, looking around at the obvious riches in the palace. It wasn't lavishly decorated, but the expensive and up-to-date technology was sign enough of the wealth the place held.
The slab-stones on the ground indicated that they were already on the ground level, so Wilykat had suggested they ignore all the staircases during their escape.
Both cubs hated being summoned to play with Lord Lion-O. They thought him to be a whiney, pathetic excuse for a thunderian who definitely didn't deserve his inherited fortunes and status.
Only the prospect of getting away from the Snarfs at the orphanage would drive them into Lion-O's house.
Lion-O edged moodily into the room, eyes fixed with childish determination on his boots. How could his father demand to see him right this very minute? Wilykit and Kat usually had an excuse not to come over, and for once they had made it. He desperately wanted them to like him.
"Son," Lord Claudis sat in a steely silver throne, his imposing posture crumpling as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees to speak to Lion-O.
"Yeah," Lion-O mumbled, glancing up without turning his head. "Am I in trouble?"
"Of course not." A pause. "You're never any trouble."
Often, in fact, Claudis wondered why his son wasn't more mischievous. The boy seemed downright shy, even introverted. His parents were always busy, of course - Lion-O was privately educated and spent most of his time with Snarf.
"I heard you had some friends over," The Lord began, smiling. It was good to know there were other children around.
"Yeah." Lion-O repeated glumly. "I don't think they like me."
"Don't be silly," there was barely a split second's silence before Claudis disregarded Lion-O's claim. "I want you to invite them to the Festival of Light, free of charge of course. You can all have as many turns at anything you like. Go right after them and try to catch them at the gates. If they're already gone, I'm sure Snarf won't mind running to the orphanage."
Lion-O listened to the outburst, a slow smile spreading across his face as each word registered. The Festival! Of course! Wilykit and Kat had probably never even been to the Festival of Light, and tickets had run out months ago.
"Can I really?" Lion-O bobbed on the balls of his feet, excitement replacing his depression.
"Yes! Run along now!" Claudis shook his head, chuckling with Snarf as Lion-O skidded out of the electric door before it had even opened completely.
"He'll be alright." Snarf said softly, hoping to reassure his friend and employer. The little creature knew how much Lord Claudis worried about Lion-O.
"I hope so, Snarf."
"WAIT! WAAAAAAAAAAIT!"
The twins glanced back simultaneously, then sighed in unison as they recognized the wild red mane bobbing towards them from the house.
"Stupid gate." spat Wilykat bitterly. Why couldn't it have opened as it was supposed to?
"Wait!" Lion-O reiterated, even though it was clear they had stopped. He stood for a moment, catching his breath. "I have to talk to you guys," he said finally, taking a tone of importance.
"Can you get this gate to open?" Kit interrupted rudely, folding her arms - her lips forming a thin line.
"Yeah, yeah I can," Lion-O answered, a little distracted. "I want to invite you both to the Festival. You know. Of Light."
"We don't have tickets." Wilykat threw his sister a sideways glance. They'd been trying to sneak into that festival ever since they'd learned the lock combinations on the orphanage doors.
"You don't need them if you accept my invitation..." Lion-O explained, sure that they ought to have known that.
"Well..." Neither particularly wanted to spend more time with Lion-O, but both were dying to go to the festival. It was a yearly celebration of Thunderian summer - and it marked the time when darkness would only come for five short hours a night. It also marked the rise in curtain sales. It was at different dates all over Thundera, but in the hemisphere they were in it was the following Friday. There were Thunderians who travelled all over the globe to celebrate the festival more than once.
"Alright," the twins agreed in unison, with curt nods.
"We'll come to the gate next Friday night, you better be here to let us in!" Wilykat said, confirming the arrangement silently with Wilykit.
"And can you get this freakin' gate to open?" Kit kicked it, ignoring the pain coursing through her toes.
"Uh, yeah. Right, wait here and I'll go get the gatekeeper to open it." Lion-O jogged up the path, turning to wave to his newly bribed friends when he reached halfway.
"Moron." Wilykat was never one to hide his feelings.