Acéin
Chapter 3: Mountain
Rating: Pg-13 technically for language and other such stuff.
Disclaimer: Mattel owns the license; I'm just playing with the characters and mentally traumatizing them.
Ignoring the thundering bellows of an enraged Skeletor was a simple, now routine, matter that Tri-Klops had mastered long ago in order to save his own sanity. He merely had to quake in the right pauses and look attentive when he was really bored with it all. It actually was not that difficult a task as the inventor was rarely noticed by his temperamental boss. Instead of listening to the powerful mage, the quiet warrior listened to the dull thundering rain pounding into the dark volcanic soil outside, cooling the earth, sending life-giving water to the dry ground. The rains were coming early this season; cold would soon follow.
He had a feeling it would be a frigid year indeed. Good. It had been unbearably hot this last summer, causing the crops to not do well at all and causing tempers to flare higher than the stifling temperatures. Thank the gods autumn had finally come.
Some sense of sanity and calm would have a chance to reassert themselves. As much as such things could assert their hold over this lot. Attacks could be better planned when everyone was holed up near a hearth and the snows seemed to blanket everything in creation. This part of Emania could actually be considered beautiful mantled in pure white.
Tri-Klops preferred the colder climes of autumn and winter to the heat of summer. It was far less hectic, far more enjoyable; he could begin and even finish new projects or even spend the day sleeping if he so chose. It reminded him of his childhood home near the township of Alfheim near the southernmost boundary of the North Polar Cap. Often his thoughts turned to his parents and his younger sister and how they could be faring after all these years.
But today he was too pleased with his victory over Wulfric to think of winter snows and familial bonds severed long ago. Looking down at the battered, bloody helm clasped under his arm, he couldn't help but smile triumphantly.
It felt good to be the victor for once instead of having that runt and the other Defenders defeat them at every turn. Being able to collect a trophy in the process wasn't too bad either. The three-eyed warrior figured it was the least the whelp deserved after what he'd done―
"Tri-Klops!" The short bark pulled his attention sharply back to the present. "Care to let the rest of us in on what you're grinning so for?"
Damn. He should have known better than to let his mind wander so far and completely forget that he was supposed to be listening to Skeletor's ranting. Such daydreaming could get him killed or maimed or something just as bad. He inwardly shuddered as the memory of having to care for some of Beast Man's nastier pets and having to give Panthor a bath flashed through his mind.
"Um…" What was he supposed to say to save his hide? "No…er, I mean… it's a personal triumph, I doubt you find it interesting…" Gods, I hope that works.
The evil overlord grunted slightly, "We all have to have something to be proud of… Very well. You are all dismissed but I expect better next time." They began to file out, Tri-Klops sheepishly keeping his head bowed. "A word, Evil-Lyn."
He stole a glance back toward the throne-room to see both his lord and the woman he thought of as nearly a sister disappear down another corridor. It made him smirk, knowing full well that very few actual words would pass between the two, having been that way as long as he had known them. Too bad neither would or could admit their obvious feelings for one another.
Retreating to his chambers/workshop, Tri-Klops placed his prize on a shelf and selected a well-read book that had always taken his mind from the world's travails, planning on spending the rest of the day holed up here to read and work as it was obvious nothing more would be done today with his leader not presently thinking of world domination. He never meant to fall asleep in his chair.
Awakening with a startled jerk when he felt a sandpaper-rough tongue graze the back of his hand, the still half-asleep man blearily sat up and looked into the green, slit-pupil eyes of Panthor as the feline gazed at him imploringly.
"What?"
Seemingly in answer, the large, purple cat butted his huge head against Tri-Klops' palm. The warrior scratched him behind the ears thinking that was what he wanted. Panthor then turned and padded out of the room only to return moments later and butted his hand again before leaving once more.
He wanted Tri-Klops to follow him.
With a sigh of defeat, the man pushed himself up from the chair he'd been napping in and followed the overlarge pet through stone corridors to the rather large kitchens where Panthor sat purposefully beside his food bowl.
"This is what you dragged me down here for? You're hungry?"
In response, Panthor pushed his bowl with a paw and began to mewl plaintively, a rather disturbing sound when magnified to a basso rumble. With another sigh, he began the search for wherever and whatever it was that Skeletor fed his purple tabby.
End chapter 4.
This was just a short piece showing what Tri-Klops may or may not do and think when not fighting.
Emania- a Celtic word meaning 'land of the moon' or the place where the dead went, I use it as a place name for the Dark Continent. I thought it was rather fitting.
Alfheim- Tri-Klops' hometown in the extreme north. I'm not sure if he was ever given one on any incarnation of the show.
If there are any other questions concerning anything, I'll try to answer in the next chapters but you'll have to review first. Please review, I'm begging you.