Meanwhile, Lioness-A had finally reached the outskirts of Calora after the bus she was on had run into a snag on the road outside the city. A group of cloaked highwaymen had blocked off the road the bus was on and had demanded a fee before the bus could cross a bridge on the main road and were only stopped by a patrol of Thunderguard coming through. Lioness-A had a hand-carved wooden boomerang with her but due to the crowded bus, didn't feel comfortable using it. She removed her hand from the weapon relieved that the other occupants of the bus were safe in the Thunderguards' hands. A report was taken after the Thunderguard talked to the people on board. The bus was on the way after that and it took another three hours to get to the capital city which was in a valley of stone giants. Lioness-A got off the bus and grabbed her small bag and walked out of the station and looked around in awe at the beautiful architecture which included delicate looking buildings and other areas of interest. There was a park on one street and a shopping plaza was on another and Thunderians were everywhere. A lot of restoration work had been going on for quite a few months already and as a result half the city was nearly done.
"Whoa," Lioness-A breathed as she saw the bustling city around her. She began walking through the streets trying to find the road that would take her to the Cat's Lair which was in the center of the capital and most of the main streets led to it. The streets themselves were crammed full of Thunderians, hovercars, buses and bicycles. There weren't many arrows pointing to one of the main streets and as a result it was going to be a bit difficult to find one of the broad boulevards.
It had taken almost an hour and Lioness-A had stopped at one point inside a store to ask directions toward the center of the city.
"Are you a Thundercat miss?" the clerk, who was a panther asked her.
"I am but it's been a while," Lioness-A replied.
"I've seen a few through the city and they're all wearing uniforms or outfits now," the clerk told her as she frowned. A female jaguar helped her find a dress that would work and it was a pale lilac in color. Lioness-A paid for it with the money Rella had given her and was able to change into it. The boots she kept on. The panther told her which way to go as she thanked them and left. She walked down the street and found the turn to head toward one of the broad boulevards. She came up to it and smiled when she saw the Cat's Lair in the distance but it was still a few miles away and it would take a while on walking to get there. Walking down the sidewalk of the broad boulevard opened her eyes to the world around and what she was able to remember from when she was a young cub. There were shops lining the streets as she walked along and she stopped to peek inside a few and she also walked through a park.
Nearly an hour or so later, Lioness-A found a café to stop at and get something to eat. She was hungry from her trek into the city and lunch had been at a stop along the road when she was coming by bus. She was standing at a local café getting something to eat when a red tiger ran into her as he wasn't watching where he was going. Tygra had been running an errand for Lion-O in the city that morning and was trying to get back to the lair and as such he hadn't been paying attention. As a result, he ran into a lioness who was heading to a table at an outdoor café.
"Ouch!" Lioness-A exclaimed as she hit the ground. Her food went everywhere. The tiger looked apologetic.
"Sorry about that miss," he said as he extended a hand to her. "Here, let me help you up."
"Thanks," Lioness-A said and studied him closely. He was a Thundercat and wore a light blue uniform and had an insignia on his chest. 'I wonder if he knows Lion-O,' she thought. "Your name is?" she asked.
"It's Tygra. And yours would be?" Tygra asked her as he studied her closely.
"Lioness-A and I'm a Thundercat," she replied. Tygra blinked at the name. The name sounded like the name of Lion-O's missing twin sister who had disappeared when the twins were seven. Claud-Us had said that she had gone off for some specific training, but she never returned except for one time when the twins were eight. Jaga thought that she would be returned to the Cat's Lair before Thundera exploded and a place was saved for her on the royal flagship. She never made it to either the lair or the flagship and everyone assumed she was lost forever. She looked close to what Queen Claudana had looked like.
"Want me to replace your meal?" Tygra asked after a pause.
"You don't have to unless you want to," Lioness-A said.
"Please, since I ran into you, it's only fair that I do that," Tygra said as she smiled.
"Thank you," Lioness-A said and told him what she had as he went to order it. While in line he sighed at the memories and studied the young lioness again. She was definitely a Barbary and looked a lot like the missing twin, with cream colored fur and white markings. She was in the new lilac dress and it set off her colors rather well. Her mane was a shade darker than Lion-O's. Tygra took a chance in that it was her and decided to take her to Cat's Lair. It was the least he could do for her since she was a Thundercat. He brought her snack to her and let her finish eating and the two began walking along the street.
'Lioness-A certainly has grown up well. I wonder where she's been living all this time,' Tygra mused thoughtfully to himself. Aloud, he said, "Let me escort you to Cat's Lair."
"How long does it take to get there from where we are?" Lioness-A asked.
"A couple of hours even by the special buses that go to where it is," Tygra replied. "Where did you come into the city?" he asked her.
"At one of the bus stations near the outskirts of the city. I walked most of the way till I got directions to the boulevard from a shop on a side street a few blocks from the café," Lioness-A told him as she fell into step with him until they caught one of the special buses that went towards the lair and Tygra flashed his badge and added coins for Lioness-A to ride with him. Along the way Lioness-A saw the university complex, the hospital complex and a few specialized buildings in one of the rings before they got closer to the center of the city. Tygra watched the young lioness from the corner of his eye as they rode the bus into the central ring of the capital and Lioness-A saw the Parliament building that was built off the boulevard and had a huge park in front of it where several senators and their aides were gathered and it was right before the gates to the lair came into view. The lair itself was massive and had gardens sprawling out behind it. Lioness-A did tell Tygra of the issue with the highwaymen and how the Thunderguard had gotten there to prevent problems and that had the tiger concerned.
"I'll make sure that we get that report and check into it more," he said as she nodded.
The bus let them off at the gates to the lair and the two walked across the broad sidewalk towards the main entrance and they passed the paws which held the hangar bays. Inside was a wonder as it was all marble and tile with mirrors interspersed every few feet along the hallways. Thundercats and Thunderguard plus servants passed the two on their way to do their various task. Tygra led Lioness-A to the main dining room so she could get some dinner and then be assigned a room as a servant took her bags to place them there. He left her there and went to attend to some business elsewhere in the Lair.
Lioness-A hadn't been in the dining room long when Cheetara arrived followed by Pumyra. Both women studied the young lioness for a moment and went to get their plates of food from the serving line. They took seats at a different table across the room. Cheetara and Pumyra were soon quietly holding a conversation and Lioness-A, a few feet away, couldn't hear what they were saying. She was clearly nervous about being here and not knowing anyone.
'No one's stopping to greet me. But then again, I'm not that recognizable to any of them. Cheetara does look familiar but I'm not sure who the puma is that's with her. Tygra was easy to recognize. Ah, here comes a few more. Maybe Lion-O's with them,' Lioness-A thought to herself as she quietly ate her meal. The next few people that entered the dining room were a jaguar, an elderly lynx, two mixed kittens, and another Barbary lion with a flowing red mane. She recognized the two kittens only because they appeared to haven't changed, but the other three were unfamiliar.
"Hey Lion-O! Come join us over here!" Cheetara called to the lion who smiled.
Lioness-A blinked. So this was her twin brother! He did look like their father with the tan fur and peach markings but wore an outfit of light blue with a belt to match it. Lion-O, at one point found himself glancing over to the next table where a female lioness was sitting alone and away from everyone else. For some reason she looked familiar but he couldn't figure out how.
After supper, Lioness-A stepped outside for some fresh air. 'I hope Lion-O recognizes me sometime soon. There are some important things that I need to tell him. He's the only family I have and I don't want to lose him like before,' Lioness-A thought as she stared up at a clear sky with the thin sliver of the First Moon of PlunDarr shining above. She went inside and met up with one of the servants who escorted her to the room where her bags were left. It was a large size and came with its own bathroom. Her bags were on the bed which was a full-sized and covered with a thick looking comforter of a pale blue. She got a closer look at it. 'A Chirra blanket. I haven't seen one of these since ThunDera exploded though Rella had a few of them,' Lioness-A thought in wonder as she ran a hand over the thick soft fur. She sat on the bed and went through her bag and found her sketchpad, pens and boomerang and its case. She placed the weapon and case in one of the nightstand drawers and opened the sketchpad to draw some pictures. One of them was of Lion-O from when she'd seen him in the dining room.
Back inside the lair, Lion-O was in his office when Tillen stuck his head inside the door. The office was a large room on one of the lower floors near the council room and had wall to wall bookcases of stained oak on one side. There was a massive oaken desk in the middle of the room and on a side desk was a telecom and printer.
"You got a moment Lion-O?" Tillen asked. "There's something that you might need to know." Lion-O nodded and beckoned Tillen inside. Tillen was Jaga's nephew and had been trained to become Lion-O's advisor once he was old enough. With the reformation of New ThunDera, he had returned and had taken up his post as Lion-O's advisor along with Lynx-O and Tygra.
"So what is it that you have to tell me?" Lion-O asked as he relaxed in his chair.
"There's someone who just arrived here that needs to be tested to become a Thundercat," Tillen began as Lion-O's eyes narrowed. "She said that she was born one, but hasn't trained as one in a while. And she wants to be readmitted into the Thundercats society. Tygra escorted her in this afternoon. From what he said, she was looking for the lair and asked questions about it on the way here."
"Who?" Lion-O asked, his curiosity aroused. 'Could it be that red maned lioness I saw at supper? She looked scared and alone sitting there,' Lion-O wondered.
"Her name is Lioness-A and she's twenty-four years old. She was born into the Thundercat standing and has the skills necessary, but according to her, they're rusty. She wishes to compete in the Thundercat trials next week," Tillen said as Lion-O nodded thoughtfully.
"Any thoughts as to which lion tribe she's from?" Lion-O asked. Tillen shook his head then frowned.
"She's a Barbary from what I've seen of her already and Tygra said she told him she was one," Tillen said. "We may learn more from the paperwork she needs to submit before the trials start."
"Hmm, go ahead and put her down for the trials," Lion-O said as Tillen nodded.
"Will do Lion-O," Tillen said. He stopped as something occurred to him. "I might want to add that Tygra wishes to sponsor the lioness if no one else will." Lion-O blinked and nodded.
"Tell him to go ahead and sponsor her. He escorted her here, he should have the privilege and she may feel more comfortable with him," Lion-O said as Tillen nodded. "Does she have a room here?" Lion-O asked.
"One of the servants got her a room over in the guest wing," Tillen said. "One more thing," he added and handed a report to Lion-O. "There were reports of some highwaymen holding up a bus coming into the city from the south. The Thunderguard were coming up on it and the highwaymen fled, rather than get into a confrontation. Tygra said Lioness-A told him of it because she was on that bus." Lion-O frowned as he read the report. One part was interviews with those on the bus and Lioness-A had given her account which was listed.
"This has been happening a few times already. See if we can get more details on these 'highwaymen' from those Thunderguard that were there," Lion-O said as Tillen nodded and left.
Lion-O gazed off into the distance after Tillen left, thinking of the young lioness and wondered what her connection to the Thundercats was. He would soon find out.