During the next week or so Lioness-A was shown places in the lair and she learned about duty in the control room. She also learned there was a multitude of tasks that had to be done. Tygra had been the main one to show her what to do in the control room and also on a few details that had to be done down in the lair's power room in the basement. She hadn't seen Lion-O all that much except during meals in the dining hall and he only nodded in her direction a couple of times.
As to the other Thundercats themselves, Lioness-A had interacted with Panthro once in the control room and with Cheetara on some work that had to be done elsewhere. Neither appeared to have remembered her or recognized her name though and Lioness-A was a bit upset with that.
The week went by rather quickly and Lioness-A was taken with the other candidates to get a physical done at the med-bay and Pumyra was the head of this one and she called out the names of the female candidates as a male cougar named Soros took care of the males. The puma didn't bat an eyelash at Lioness-A's full name though the clan name and birthdate did raise her eyebrow slightly. Lioness-A was generally healthy anyways and bloodwork was done to check for a few other things and two vaccinations given. A psychological questionnaire was filled out and once those were stamped off, Lioness-A was given the seal of approval and allowed to get her uniform for the week of the trials. She also met the instructor for the trials and who would also be working them for most of the entire week as well. His name was Jassin and he was a jaguar and an older Thundercat with a bit of a temper and also surly but well suited to his role in preparing the candidates for the trials. When he wasn't doing that, he was working the Thunderguard legions with Panthro and keeping them prepared for anything. Lioness-A suspected that her brother had his reasons for this but chose not to question it.
On the morning of the trials Lioness-A woke in her bedroom and sighed as she got out of bed and went to look out the window.
"The day of the trials starting," she mused thoughtfully as she picked up a sheet of paper that had the rules for the trials on them. For one thing, she was going to have to wear a training outfit for the entire week of the trials which was a red shirt with black trim and gray pants with a gold stripe and boots. The uniform waited in her closet as she finished her shower. She came into the bedroom and saw it hanging on the door and sighed, her nervousness at what the day held very apparent. She pulled the uniform on and spent a few minutes shining the boots. Lioness-A saw the clock and put her shoe shine materials up and ran from the room towards the dining room for breakfast. She definitely didn't want to be late for the first day of the trials. There was an inspection by Jassin in the courtyard before the workout after breakfast and Lioness-A hoped she would pass it.
Across the Lair on the other side, Lion-O was also waking up and thinking of the young lioness that was housed in the guest wing on the other side of the Lair. Snarf had told him last night that she looked familiar but even he couldn't place her.
'That would be the case. Although, Snarf is about forty years old and has been with me for a long time,' Lion-O thought as he headed for his bathroom. 'Hopefully the answer will show itself after these anointment trials end this week and we'll know who she actually is. I'm going crazy not knowing who she is and these glimpses aren't helping,' Lion-O observed silently to himself while he showered and dressed in one of his more formal uniforms that his valet, a lion named Thalanil, had laid out for him on the bed.
"Would you like your breakfast here your majesty?" Thalanil asked.
"Bring it here as there's a madhouse in the dining room this morning with the candidates for the trials and I don't want to get mixed up in it," Lion-O said as Thalanil nodded and withdrew.
Later that morning, Lioness-A was outside the Lair warming up for her first trial after the inspections had been done by Jassin. He had nodded to her, showing that she had done well so that allowed her to go warm up. There were about forty others also warming up outside at various locations around the courtyard. Nine of the original fifty had been eliminated due to questionable material on their psychological questions and or health issues that they weren't aware of completely. Lioness-A had chosen to warm up by herself largely because she didn't know anyone else there. A male cheetah came around with papers and pens and had the participants use the pens to fill out the forms and Lioness-A paused as she looked at the line for clan name.
'I might as well put my clan name on there and see what happens,' she thought, knowing that it wasn't that well known and it was likely no one would catch what it was unless her brother happened to see the forms for himself. The royal clan of Barbaries was a small one and not many were familiar with the name it had. The only problem was coming up with emergency contact information and she had to list Baroness Rella's information and the city she was now at. She finished filling out the form and handed it back to the cheetah who took them inside.
From the upstairs council room Lion-O was at the window as he watched the warm-ups with some apprehension. At the end of the week he had to anoint those who had passed the trials Thundercats. Hopefully one of those would be Lioness-A.
"Your majesty I have the forms that were filled out by the participants and Lord Jassin sent me here with them," the cheetah said as he left them on the table and withdrew. Lion-O went to the table to rifle through them as Tillen joined him.
"Looking for one in particular?" the jaguar asked.
"Yes," Lion-O replied. There were forty-one forms on the table so it took a moment to find the one he was looking for and he finally found the form of Lioness-A's and pulled it out. He slowly began to read through it. Her date of birth and clan name caused his eyebrow to rise.
"What?" Tillen asked.
"Lioness-A shares a birthdate and a clan name with me," Lion-O said as he laid the form on the table.
"Coincidence?" Tillen asked as he reviewed the form.
"I don't think so since my clan is kind of small to begin with but we'll wait and see after the trials. If she's a Thundercat like she says she is, she shouldn't have any problems with them," Lion-O said.
The trials got underway later that morning at the tournament grounds outside Calora. The opening ceremony had Lion-O marching on the parade grounds with his honor guard behind him which included Tillen and Lynx-O. Tygra, Panthro and Bengali were setting up for the trials and also overseeing them. Lion-O came up to the grandstands where a sheltered judge's box had been set up. The trials would take most of the week and in between them while the set-up was happening for the next one, the candidates were scheduled to do community service work in the city.
Lion-O came to the podium to give a speech to the candidates and the Thunderians that had gathered to watch the trials themselves. As he gave his speech which did include a bit about the trials he had taken on Third Earth before New ThunDera had reformed, his eyes went over the crowd of candidates until he chanced to lock eyes with Lioness-A who was standing in the second row. Something about her stuck out to him but for the life of him, he had no idea what it was.
'I think he's seen the participation forms I filled out,' she thought. 'Do you have any thought of who I am? I know who you are but do you remember me brother?' she wondered. Lion-O frowned slightly as something tingled the edge of his awareness but he very casually shrugged it off.
"Something bugging you?" Lynx-O asked Lion-O when they took their seats a moment later.
"It's that lioness that Tygra brought in a week ago," Lion-O said. "I saw the information on her enrollment form for the trials and she shares a birthdate and clan name with me." The lynx's ears twitched when he heard this.
"She's full Barbary?" he asked.
"Yes," Lion-O said.
"I don't think it's a coincidence that she shares the clan name and birthdate with you but it bears some looking into," Lynx-O said.
"The only thing we can do is watch her during the trials and see if anything sets her apart from the rest of the candidates," Tillen said. "Tygra's overseeing one of the trials but he's also handling some of the community service placements as well. Jassin has been with the candidates for most of the week already."
"I had Tygra handle the community service as he knows more of it than I did," Lion-O said as the two nodded.
A male cheetah came forward to announce the first trial and the participants for this one were allowed to line up at the starting line. This one was between the cheetahs, pumas and one or two other clans. Two from the cheetah group and two from the puma group won and were allowed to pass on to the next phase after they had completed their two-hour community service in the city.
The next trial involved the lions and cougars together. Since there were several sub-tribes of lions, two of each were participating in this one and Lioness-A was paired next to a male Barbary. Jassin had a list of all of the candidates and he was reading off the names of those that were to do the trial. This one was proving to be a challenge in that it was set up across a pit with tightropes strung up and the candidates had to go from one side to the other without falling into the net below but they also had to dodge rocks and other things hurled at them from the sides.
"Oh geez," Lioness-A muttered when she saw it. She watched the other candidates as they went across the tightrope and paid careful attention to what it was they were doing and how they did it.
"Next two please," called the puma who was judging this trial. Lioness-A gulped as she got into position. She looked up at the grandstands and knew that Lion-O was watching this one closely. The signal was given and she ran nimbly across the tightrope but had to jump at a few spots to avoid the rocks and a few arrows that were launched at her from the sides. She grabbed the item when she got to the other side and turned around and went back across the tightrope, noting she had a bit more weight thanks to the load she was carrying.
"Endurance indeed," she muttered under her breath. She was able to get the items across but on the return trip, she slipped when the rope got wet from water arrows and fell off as the audience gasped.
'Come on Lioness-A,' Lion-O thought as he watched her. At the same time this was happening, the other Barbary was also having some problems on his going across. Lioness-A had managed to grab the rope as she went down and she was hanging by one of the ropes on the side of the tightrope. She could feel the encouragement from her twin on her to keep going and suspected he wasn't aware he was doing it.
Up in the judge's box Tillen noticed that Lion-O was looking a little bit sweaty for some reason and Lynx-O suddenly complained that he was getting cold.
"I turned the temp down three times," Tillen told the lynx who slyly reached over and raised it again as Tillen eyed Lion-O again.
"Knock it off on the temp changes you two. I'm fine," Lion-O snapped.
"How'd you guess?" Tillen asked.
"I can tell one of you is doing something with it so stop it or I'll have one or both of you down there checking on the status of the trials," Lion-O replied, a bit testily, as Lynx-O rather quickly readjusted the temperature back to where it was.
"Is something about Lioness-A causing you unease Lion-O?" Lynx-O asked quietly.
"Just a bit and I don't understand why," Lion-O answered as a servant brought in glasses of water for them. Lion-O took one and sipped it as he watched the trial.
Down on the grounds Lioness-A sent a silent thank you to her brother as she managed to swing herself back onto the rope to the cheers of the audience. Lion-O was secretly relieved as she resumed heading across only stopping when the male fell into the safety net below.
"Keep going and finish this! You can come help me after you're done!" the Barbary yelled up to her as she nodded and hurried across.
"One of them has to clear the course completely to be able to move on," Tillen said when he saw the rules that were written on a datapad for Lion-O to follow along on. They had looked at them after the male Barbary fell into the net from his tightrope.
"I know but whoever clears it to win can ask to help the other out of the pit if they wish," Lion-O said. "Something the judges asked about and one I agreed to. If Lioness-A wins this, she can go back and help the one that was racing against her out. The judges reviewed the rules with everyone before the trials started."
Lioness-A managed to get to the other side of the chasm and retrieve the item and went back across the tightrope with it, noting that it was heavier than the previous ones. There were more rocks being launched at her and she used the pack to shield herself as she went across. She came onto the field on the side of the course and rang the bell that was hung there to cheers as her name was announced.
"May I help my countryman out?" she asked the judge who nodded. She got a rope and threw it over and helped hold it with another contestant as he climbed out.
"Good going," he said and went to the area for those that hadn't passed the trials.
"Be ready to go and meet with Lord Tygra for the community service part while the next trial is being set up," called the announcer as Lioness-A made her way to a holding area for the winners to meet with Tygra on the community service requirement.
Back up in the grandstands, Tillen and Lion-O were watching the proceedings along with most of the Thundercats who were seated below the judging area.
"That lioness is strong Lion-O," Tillen observed from his seat next to Lion-O in the judge's box above the tournament grounds. "That endurance test would break almost anyone." Lynx-O's ears twitched, a sign that he was thinking the same thing and something else.
"He's right Lion-O and since we know what tribe she's from it easily explains a few things about her," Lynx-O observed quietly.
"You are right and I want to watch Lioness-A throughout the rest of the trials. There's something familiar about her," Lion-O said and turned to continue watching the trials going on below.
"Due to her sharing a clan name and birthdate with you?" Lynx-O asked him.
"That's part of it," Lion-O said.
Meanwhile Lioness-A was with a group of others listening to Tygra talk about the community service requirement and why it was done. It was part of the code but in a way, it helped build a connection between the Thunderians and the Thundercat nobility by doing it. Tygra was the chief architect of the Thundercats but he also had training in the medical field as well. Tygra was using the latter as there were a lot of small clinics that could use supplies so he had most of the winners delivering the supplies and have a staff member of the clinic sign the forms. The winners were humbled to be doing this and were quite respectful. Tygra chose Lioness-A to remain with him as he went to the massive hospital to deliver supplies to one of the out-patient clinics attached to it.
"I wasn't aware you had medical training," Lioness-A said as Tygra chuckled.
"Little known secret about me," he said with a wink. They were using a delivery van from the lair to do the deliveries and he handed Lioness-A a box. "This is going to one of the out-patient clinics on the other side of the hospital," he said as he grabbed a box himself.
"Don't I have to have a form signed when I'm done?" Lioness-A asked him.
"I have it and you can get the head of the clinic staff to sign off on it once you're done helping me," Tygra said as she nodded.
"Are some of the other Thundercats that I saw doing things like this?" Lioness-A asked as they walked through the hospital.
"Yes, as Panthro has a group helping him repair a water pump under his directions and Bengali was heading a team to build a home for a disabled Thunderian. Pumyra is handling the medical tent on the grounds where the trials are," Tygra said.
"And Lynx-O is remaining with King Lion-O," Lioness-A mused as he nodded.
"He's one of his advisors so that's why he's there," Tygra told her. They got to the clinic and he told her who to go see as he gave a nurse the box he had. His communicator dinged and he answered it. "What do you need Lion-O?" he asked and listened a moment. "Ah, I see. I'll take a moment and swing by the records department and find out and let you know," he said and hung up. That was an interesting development in that Lion-O had seen Lioness-A's form and how she had shared the clan name and birthdate as he had. Tygra checked his communicator when the form came in a text message and his eyebrow rose. 'I see why Lion-O wanted me to look into it. There's no doubt that Lioness-A's his twin but he's not making the connection and I blame that suspension capsule malfunction for it,' the tiger thought. 'How to do this and still keep it a secret on who she is to him?' he mused. 'And does she know who he actually is?' He saw Lioness-A had taken the last box into the room where the supplies were kept and the staff member was helping her unload the boxes. "I'll be back in a bit," Tygra said as Lioness-A nodded. He left the room and went toward the medical records office which was in another wing of the hospital entirely while noting the time.
"What can I do for you Lord Tygra?" asked a female tigress inside the office when he entered it a few minutes later and closed the door.
"I need you to pull up everything on a particular clan name for me with this birthdate if you can Laheela," he said and showed it to her as she typed it into the system.
"We have the file here as most of the records were shipped over from the Interstellar Council where they were stored before the planet was destroyed," she said and went to retrieve it. Tygra tapped his claws on the counter as he waited for her to come back with the file which as it was, wasn't that thick and filled a binder. He took it and leafed through it carefully. "That particular clan is small with only about five or six tribes in it and that includes the royal one," Laheela said.
"I'm aware of that and why I wanted to take a look," Tygra said as he flipped through the binder as Laheela left to see about some other files. Tygra finally found the section on the royal tribe of Barbaries and saw the birth certificate for Lion-O in there along with Lioness-A's right beside his. The time stamp on hers was fifteen minutes behind that of Lion-O's arrival time. "They are twins alright like I thought," Tygra said and made a note of it. "Lion-O doesn't remember his sister due to that suspension capsule malfunction so this might help on keeping this secret till the end of the trials."
Tygra left to head back to the clinic after thanking Laheela for her time. He also called Lion-O and told him that the answers on the lioness would be revealed closer to the end of the trials as it was too hectic to share it at that moment. Lion-O reluctantly agreed with him and resolved to watch the trials every day to see how Lioness-A did in them. Tygra was pleased that Lioness-A had finished her work and had gotten the form signed by the time he had gotten back to the clinic so the two left and met up with the other participants who were also done and had their forms signed. They went back to the tournament grounds and the group went to grab a meal at the mess tent while he went to file the forms. If the same group cleared the next set of trials, they would be working with either Panthro or Bengali and this was giving the participants a chance to see what the Thundercats did besides training for battles.
Lioness-A grabbed a plate of food from one of the snarfs in the serving line and went to find a table to sit down. Lion-O came into the tent and saw her sitting alone so he got a plate and went to join her.
"May I join you?" asked a voice and Lioness-A looked up in the eyes of her brother. She gulped slightly and nodded as he sat down across from her. "How are you liking the trials?" he asked.
"They're going fine," she said. Tygra came in for a moment.
"Hey Lioness-A," he said and waved before leaving to check something as Lion-O blinked.
"Tygra was the one that brought me to the lair a week ago," Lioness-A said as Lion-O nodded.
"I remember he said something on it," he said as they ate. "How are you doing on settling in?" he asked her.
"It's going okay," she said. "It's a drastic change from the camp outside the city where I was but I like it."
'I'm going to get Tygra for running out like he did,' Lion-O thought as he ate. Cheetara saw him and who he was with but didn't say anything. From the looks, he was talking earnestly with the lioness.
"Who is that Lion-O's talking to?" she asked Tygra when she found him.
"That is Lioness-A," Tygra said in answer. Cheetara frowned slightly.
"Wasn't there a cub in the lair by that name at one time?" she asked.
"There was one yes but Lion-O doesn't remember her that well. I'm trying to trigger his memories," Tygra told her.
"I see," Cheetara said and grabbed her food and went to join Pumyra for a while.
The lunch period came to an end and Lion-O walked with Lioness-A out of the tent. He was offering her some tips for some of the upcoming trials and she was listening intently.
"I'll have to remember that and thank you," she said and left after throwing her trash away.
'Why does she seem so familiar?' Lion-O wondered as he watched her go. Tillen found him a moment later watching the area where the lions and cougars were warming up for the next round of trials. Tillen came up to see that Lion-O was watching Lioness-A who was warming up alone.
"Was that Lioness-A I saw you eating with earlier?" Tillen asked as the two went back toward the grandstands.
"That was her," Lion-O said. "I offered to sit with her at lunch and she let me. I'm just trying to see if there's a connection between us on why we have the same clan name and all." Lion-O frowned as he looked around the parade grounds. "Where did Tygra go?" he asked.
"To take the next group out for their community service work," Tillen told him. "The panthers and jaguars finished up their trials a moment ago." He eyed the lion. "Why?"
"He ran out after waving a hello to Lioness-A and didn't say a word to me," Lion-O said. "I wonder if he knows more than he's saying," he went on as the two sat down. Tillen shrugged as the announcer came to the podium and announced the next set of trials.
The next set of trials weren't all that hard to do and Lioness-A easily passed those as well. She went to join her group for the community service work and they were sent out with Bengali to help on a house repair. That was fun and he saw that Lioness-A was a hard worker and had no trouble with her tasks.
Back at the parade grounds Lioness-A went into the mess tent for dinner as this was the last meal for the day since she would be back in the lair that night. Lion-O happened to be in there and he offered a seat at the table he was at which she gladly took since everywhere else was full.
"Where are the other Thundercats?" she asked him.
"Off handling other tasks but I like to use this time to get to know some of the candidates and that's why I'm in here until my guard shows up," Lion-O replied.
"Is being the leader all that hard?" she asked curiously.
"Not always but having a guard follow me around can be nerve-wracking," Lion-O replied. "I've been the Lord for a while and then I became king a few months ago and that's a whole new list of responsibilities."
"Sounds like it is," Lioness-A said. "So why watch the trials?" she asked.
"Something to do for one and also see if the candidates actually have what it takes to complete them," Lion-O answered. "I do offer advice on some of the trials to those that want it."
"I could use some cause these trials are a lot harder than I thought they would be," Lioness-A said. She was amazed to be talking to her brother and so casually as well. It was almost like they understood the other and she wished he had recognized her.
"For example, in one of the trials you will take tomorrow there is no rule forbidding you from finishing on a rope you did not start on," Lion-O said as she frowned.
"I will keep that in mind," she said as he nodded. 'If only you knew,' she thought.
"Knew what?" he asked as she blinked. Had he heard what she'd said in her mind?
"Um nothing," she murmured while trying not to blush. 'Guess he is picking up some things from me,' she mused.
"It's okay if you don't want to say what it was," Lion-O said as she smiled. They ate together and talked a bit until the guard came and escorted Lion-O back to the lair while Lioness-A caught the bus for the candidates and Jassin was there waiting for those who had passed which numbered about thirty. The ten that hadn't passed were being ferried to a hotel for the time being. Lioness-A was glad she wasn't one of them as she got to the lair and was dismissed to her chambers inside after a quick talk. Lion-O was already in his chambers she knew and she sighed as she got a shower and went to get ready for bed.