An update. Thank you for the two reviews, and several favs and alerts. I'm glad there are people reading this. Now continue to do so~

Oh, and it's a three shot. Officially. Cause I enjoy being official.

Enjoy!


"Tygra." Cheetara glared at the tiger's back, watching it stiffen at his name. He didn't turn around though, instead continuing through the field of grass. Cheetara glanced at Panthro and nodded, following Tygra as he walked away.

"Why are you following me?" Tygra snapped once they were out of earshot. He closed his eyes as a light breeze blew in, ruffling his fur and startling the grass.

"Because we need to talk. Back there, with Lion-O-"

"What about it?" Cheetara blinked at the harshness in Tygra's voice and he shook his head, running his claws through his fur. "It's always been like this, Cheetara. I don't see why you need to get involved."

"Because it isn't healthy, Tygra. That's not how you're supposed to treat someone you care about. Not ever."

Tygra ground his teeth, clenching his paws. "And how would you know? You haven't been around us all that long. You didn't grow up with us." Tygra shook his head and looked away. "It's normal for brothers to fight. He started it anyway, I don't see why you're yelling at me."

Cheetara's eyes softened and she let her shoulders relax, her eyes still on Tygra's back. "I'm not yelling at you, Tygra. I'm only trying to get you to understand." She started toward him, watching him tense again. She stopped just a foot away from him, gazing at the ground. "I may not have grown up with you, but I've heard enough about older brothers to know that they're-"

"Supposed to be stronger, wiser, and take care of their little brothers. I've heard it all before." Tygra sighed. "It's not as if I don't do that, but it's frustrating! He's the king, he shouldn't be getting into fights like that in the first place."

"And his older brother shouldn't egg him on." Cheetara paused, biting her lip. "What you said to him...do you mean it?" Tygra blinked, his mouth parting slightly. Cheetara pushed on, slowly stepping in front of him. "About him always being second. Do you believe that?"

Tygra blinked again, but his face hardened and he narrowed his eyes. "In everything but the throne, he has been shown to be."

"But he was right about technology, wasn't he? And he has a good heart." Cheetara pushed her own paw to her chest, taking a few deep breaths. Tygra watched her, feeling himself warm until a chilled breeze blew through him again.

"He acts like such a kid."

"That's why we're here to guide him. And-and I think telling him those things, as often as you do...it affects him, Tygra."

"Affects him?" Cheetara nodded, eyes worried.

"I know you're angry about a lot of things. We all are. Our kingdom is gone, and we're on the run so much. But we can't let that blind us to what we have here. That we have each other. That we believe in one another. Lion-O needs you more than he can say." Cheetara touched Tygra's shoulder and their eyes met, Cheetara's gaze imploring as Tygra's brow furrowed. "And I know you may not know it, but you need him too. We all need him. He's the hope of our kingdom and our cause."

"Cheetara."

"And I'm worried he may not know it. May not believe it." Cheetara looked away, into the forest filled with tangled branches and crumpled, crackling leaves. "I'm worried he may not know you're there."

Tygra closed his eyes, breathing deep. Why does he always do this? It was just a stupid-

"I'm going to have to be the mature one here, aren't I?" Tygra asked, grinning despite the flatness in his voice.

Cheetara gave him a soft smile. "I'm afraid so."

Tygra groaned, rubbing the back of his head and glaring into the forest. "And it looks like it's going to rain," he grumbled, shaking his head and nodding at Cheetara before disappearing into the forest.


Lion-O growled as another branch whipped him in the face, sending droplets of cold rainwater down his front. He growled and pulled the branch down, throwing it aside as he pushed his way through the trees. This is stupid. I should just go back and pout-at least I'd be warm there.

But then Tygra's look after successfully sending him into the mud flashed through Lion-O's mind. He snarled, several birds flying toward the sky in response. I'd rather freeze than go back there. I'm the leader, I'm the king, and he still treats me like some little kid.

Lion-O sighed as he finally got the past the last tree, only for more of the small but closely packed clusters of forest to stand ahead of him. He rolled his eyes and leaned against the tree, sinking to the ground and resting his head on the bark.

He looked up at the sky as best he could through the branches, the gray blobs of cloud reminding him of some of the paintings he had seen at his old home. One was a picture of an old but strong lynx, holding two swords in each hand as he prepared to charge into battle. Hundreds of cats had been painted behind him, all inspired by their leader and ready to charge against the evil lizard ruler. They wore looks of triumph; grins and bright eyes, carrying their swords and speaks high above their heads. The gray clouds had stormed in the background, lightning strikes connecting the clouds, but they followed the lynx anyway, ready for battle.

If I could just...lead like that. Maybe then I could earn some respect around here.

Lion-O's brow furrowed, Tygra's moves replaying in his mind. The swift and easy dodge. The way he grabbed his leg and pulled, as if Lion-O was nothing but a cub. But he was able to beat me so easily. How can I expect anyone to follow me into battle if I can't even beat my brother?

Lion-O jumped when a twig snapped from behind him, and he slowly reached for his sword. He peered over the edge of the tree, narrowing his eyes. "Where is it..."

"Where's what?" Lion-O jumped, grasping his sword and yanking it out of his gauntlet, pointing it ahead. Tygra raised an eyebrow at him, shaking his head.

"Jumpy?"

Lion-O blinked, lowering his sword and slowly sheathing it. He looked behind him, back at the trees, and then pointed at Tygra. "But how did you get in front of me so fast?" Tygra opened his mouth to speak, but Lion-O's face twisted into a snarl and he pushed himself up. "Forget it," he mumbled, heading further into the forest.

Tygra rolled his eyes and followed Lion-O, even as the younger picked up his pace.

"Lion-O, just come back to camp. It's going to rain and I don't want to have to take care of you later because you caught a cold."

"Then don't! It's not like I'd want you to," Lion-O called back, shoving a branch aside only to have it hit him in the back. He let out a low roar and ripped the thing down, stomping it into the ground. "And why won't these quit hitting me today!"

Tygra stepped over several roots and chose to duck under the branches his brother was plowing through. It was hard to fight the grin twitching at the corners of his lips, but Tygra did his best to bite down the urge.

"Lion-O, enough. I don't even know why you're so worked up about all this. Is it really because I was messing with Cheetara? Or what I said or something?"

Lion-O slowed, glancing back at Tygra and giving him a cold look, although the way his shoulders relaxed gave him away. Lion-O rested his paw on a tree, looking down at the ground as his face burned.

What am I even doing out here? All I'm doing is making myself look like an idiot.

...and I have Tygra to do that for me.

"I'm just sick of it, all right? I'm tired of being-" Lion-O stopped, pressing his head on the tree bark and blowing out a sigh. "Just forget about it, Tygra. It doesn't matter." Tygra tilted his head to the side and stepped toward Lion-O, only for Lion-O to start walking away. "Like I said, I need to think. I'll be back soon, I promise."

"Lion-O..." Tygra narrowed his eyes and glanced at the ground, his mouth forming a deep frown. "You're not making this easy on me, are you?"

"Oh, sorry. I didn't know I was supposed to-"

"Don't twist my words around, that's not what I meant!" Tygra snapped, pointing a claw at Lion-O. "If you would just give someone the chance to explain themselves, instead of flying off the handle and punching anything that doesn't agree with you, you wouldn't get into the half the trouble you do!"

Lion-O growled, turning and stomping toward Tygra. "Well I'm sorry I can't be as perfect as you! I know it's frustrating to see this incompetent, loser of a king try to lead you when it's obvious you have all the answers!"

"That's not what I'm saying!" Tygra breathed hard through his teeth, towering over Lion-O. "If you got your head out of that overinflated ego of yours-"

"I have an overinflated ego? Have you tried looking at yourself, Tygra? The last time I checked, I wasn't the one going on about how great I am. How I can beat everyone. How Lion-O is just a second place loser compared to me." The last part came out as a hiss and Tygra's fur stood on end, his eyes flashing.

"Oh, and I'm supposed to believe you going around and telling people, 'I am Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats' isn't some ploy to try and get them to respect you?"

"A little respect would be nice, especially since I can't seem to get it from my own family!"

"Is that what this is about that? Respect?"

Lion-O blinked, stepping away from Tygra. "What's with you and trying to figure this out? We would have dropped this by now. I would have moped for a while then come back to camp. You'd make some sarcastic remark, I'd roll my eyes at you, and then it would just go on."

Tygra closed his eyes and fought a shudder. "Well maybe it needs to stop going on."

As quickly as his anger had come, Lion-O felt it deflating, leaving his chest beating fast and no anger to channel it through. Lion-O took several more steps back, running a paw over his face. "Why do you want to do this-"

The trees rustled, branches cracking like whips behind him, and both brothers fell silent. Tygra hurried toward Lion-O, taking out his bolo whip while Lion-O unsheathed the Sword of Omens. Several more branches cracked, but this time it came from the right, both cats turning toward the noise.

"What's there?" Tygra whispered.

"I don't know. But it might be what I heard earlier." Lion-O's eyes snapped down when he heard more twigs snapping, and his eyes widened at the strange, slithering black mass on the ground. It was three feet long; a black gelatinous looking mass that swam in the dirt. Lion-O shuddered and raised his sword, bringing it down on the creature, only to have it form a hole where his sword would have landed.

"Whiskers!" Lion-O pulled his sword from the ground just as Tygra yanked him away from the creature, and it slithered into the woods again. Lion-O continued to watch for it, even as Tygra started to pull him away.

"Let's get out of here before anymore of those things show up. I've never even seen something like that before-" Tygra stopped when another started edging toward him, then two more popped out in the distance. As another three came from behind, both brother's felt their stomachs bottom out.

"You don't think we walked into a nest of them, do you?" Lion-O asked.

"Doesn't matter, we're leaving." Tygra looked up, trying to find the sturdiest tree they could both jump to and make their escape. He sidestepped the creature that was speeding toward him, pulling Lion-O along with him. "We have no idea what they do, and honestly, it's raining." Tygra wrinkled his nose when several drops of water fell on his face.

"Come on, one, two-" Tygra grabbed Lion-O's shoulder, only to be yanked backward by the waist and shoved into a tree. "What the hell, Lion-O!" A hiss and snarl brought his eyes back to his brother and Tygra's eyes widened when he saw one of the creatures cling to Lion-O's arm. Lion-O growled and tried to dig his claws into the thing, even as it wrapped around Lion-O's arm, squeezing the muscles. Lion-O winced and ripped away some of the creature's skin, but blood started to leak from his arm.

"Enough!" Tygra rushed to his brother's side and started to pry it off Lion-O's arm, even as Lion-O snarled at him when Tygra clawed him by mistakes. "Just give me a second..." Tygra ignored the way Lion-O paled the longer it took to get the blob off, heart rising when it finally fell to the ground. He grabbed Lion-O by his good arm, finding it hard to wrap his paw around the metal of the gauntlet, and led the way into the trees. He pulled Lion-O with him as they jumped tree to tree, even when Lion-O tried to yank his hand away.

Lion-O, for his part, was trying to keep up with Tygra. The little monsters had teeth despite the odd appearances, and his whole right arm was on fire. If only it had gone for the gauntlet arm. Maybe then it wouldn't be so bad. He tried not to look at the blood that was dripping down his arm, but with each leap he took, the harder it was to just breathe. His lungs were fighting him, crumpling in his chest with every attempt at air.

"Come on, Lion-O, don't slow down on me."

Lion-O tried to scowl, but they took another leap and Lion-O found it just wasn't worth the energy. His head felt heavy and his legs were starting to jerk around, the movement aching and slow.

"Say something. Come on."

"You're an idiot," Lion-O wheezed, although there was no real venom behind it. "Should have watched where you were going."

"I didn't ask you to do that," Tygra said, his eyes hard and clear. Lion-O blinked at his brother as they took another leap. Lion-O watched the branch coming and reached his feet out to land.

Blinked as he missed the branch and started to fall...

"Now who isn't watching!" Lion-O groaned, Tygra having grabbed his bad arm to keep him from falling. Both of them watched as blood oozed out of the wound, Tygra's eyes narrowing at the sight. "Just hold on, I'll pull you up." Lion-O nodded, trying to breathe through his mouth as Tygra hoisted him onto the branch.

"I don't know what you were thinking. I would have been able to handle something like this." Tygra shook his head as he pulled Lion-O's entire body up, only to grab him and start inspecting the wound.

"You...don't know that..." Lion-O sighed and closed his eyes, the heat in his head too much to bear. He startled awake when Tygra shook him, the elder peering into his eyes.

"Well, I'm more expendable." Tygra started to lower Lion-O against the base of the tree, looking ahead to gauge how far they were from the others.

"Not," Lion-O muttered, his head lulling. His arm no longer burned. Instead there was a dull ache, and a numbing in his paw.

"What was that?"

"Not...pendable." Lion-O shut his eyes and drew a shaky breath, shuddering when the air reached his lungs. Everything was hot, hot, hot, hot, hot. Everything but his arm. It was too cold. And it hurt everywhere and his head just wouldn't stop throbbing.

"-o! Com...n't..."

Lion-O tried to keep his eyes open. Tried to focus on Tygra's voice. Tygra's scared voice.

When...was the last time you sounded like that?

...when...

Lion-O's world swayed. Blurred.

And finally, faded.