It was near the beginning of daybreak when Tygra woke. He couldn't believe he slept for so long as he turned in very early. He got up and made his way to Alana's room. He did feel a little guilty in wanting to see if she stayed, but it was necessary to make sure she was safe. He was about to open the door, when he noticed Snarf was nearby, one eye opened. Tygra slightly smiled. Snarf felt the same way; he kept an eye on the grieving woman.
Knowing she would be in her quarters, he shrugged his shoulders, and made his way to the control room, to relieve who ever was on watch so they could get a few more hours of sleep before the sun completely was in the sky.
"Good morning," Tygra said as he noticed it was his leader who was up.
Lion-O turned. "You're up early."
"I'm surprised I slept this long. Why don't you head back to bed? I'll take it from here. I've slept for quite a long time."
"Are you sure you don't mind? I have had plenty of sleep."
"Go," Tygra insisted.
Lion-O stood. "I'm sure you saw Snarf next to my door."
"Keeping an eye on Alana I guess. She's been through a lot these last few days."
"And it may get worse. There's another storm heading our way. At its present course, it will catch up to us by nightfall. So far it will be the worst and it will eventually reach all the way to Castle Plun-Darr, no matter what the wind does."
"That's quite the storm." He watched the Lord of the ThunderCats leave before he took his position where Lion-O was.
Not long after Lion-O left, Tygra saw activity just outside the Cats' Lair walls. He homed in on the source and smiled. It was Cheetara getting ready for her morning run. This was her normal time in getting started on her day. He watched her for a few minutes before she disappeared in a blur.
"I probably could use some food."
Tygra turned at the sound, seeing Alana standing in the doorway. She looked a lot better than she did when he found her. A little ways behind her was Snarf, but easily noticed Snarf took off. Alana now with Tygra, he was no longer needed.
"I'm sure we could you find something." He turned back, pushing two buttons before putting his attention on getting the human woman some food.
"What did you just push?" she asked as Tygra approached her.
"Recording outside activity in case of an attack and turned on the alarm. When Cheetara comes back inside, she'll deactivate the alarm and head up here."
Silently, they walked to the kitchen and Tygra began to take a look around on the shelves to see if there was anything edible for Alana to eat without having it cooked. He was surprised Snarf wasn't in the room.
Alana saw a small table with a couple of chairs and sat down. She didn't want to over exert herself after throwing up for so long and so much. From that, her chest muscles were sore and giving her quite the discomfort.
"I'm not sure what there is without having to cook."
"Can you cook?"
Tygra whipped around and stared at her. She looked up with a slight smile.
"I'm kidding."
Tygra smiled with her. "Well actually I can cook, but I'm not as good as Snarf." He turned and on the last shelf he found some of the left over candy fruit from the Robear Berbils. He turned back and sat at the table.
"There's not much but there is a little bit of Candy fruit."
"Candy fruit? What is that?"
"It's fruit in the shape of different types of candy. It's really good." He handed her the candy fruit.
She carefully took it out of his hands taking a bite. Her eyes lit up with the taste. "Amazing. I've never had anything like this before. But I don't want too much or I'll ruin my breakfast."
"Snarf will probably come in at any time and start breakfast."
"I suppose this will hold me over until then. Will I be able to see the ship today?"
"That may not be possible I'm afraid."
Alana stood, suddenly angry. "Why because of how I reacted last night?"
Tygra placed his hands up in defense. "I'm not saying that at all. But if you were to take a look at the sensors, you will find a storm heading this way. At the rate it's going, it will start at nightfall. I'm not sure how much will fall, but it's building to be the worst storm of the year."
"Snow." Her anger increased. "It's going to snow again? What is this? Is this God's way of not allowing me to grieve the way I want?" She slammed her fist but quickly regretted it. She hissed in pain as she grasped her hand.
Tygra observed she scratched her hand when she hit the table. He guessed it must have been caused from her weakened condition. He went over to help her but she cowered away.
"I should take a look at that."
"No. I'm fine." Her anger was gone but was still slightly irritated. "This was my fault. I shouldn't have yelled at you. Its just…" she trailed off.
"It's just what?" He watched as she turned away from him. "Look," he sighed. "You're hiding something and I understand you don't want to talk about it, but I want to be your friend and frankly you are making it really difficult."
She turned back to him, with her head down. "I know you want to be my friend and I'm not helping. But I have a dark past and it's hard to speak about it. The only person I ever confided in…you just took off the flight deck. I've never been good at being open."
She turned back away from Tygra and was about to walk out but he gently grasped her arm. "Can you at least tell me why you keep shying away from us?"
"I…" she looked at the arm holding hers. She took a deep breath. "Believe me when I say I want to trust you but…" she paused and then rushed out. "I have a hard time trusting men. My brothers were the only ones I've ever been able to completely trust." She pulled her arm away and ran out of the room, leaving a startled tiger in the wind.
After she was long gone, Snarf walked in to prepare breakfast.
"Snarf… Why did I just see Alana come running from this direction?"
"She's troubled and she's having a hard time trusting people," Tygra explained. He walked out of the kitchen so the small Snarf could get his work done. He went back up to the control room to monitor Alana in case she was to get herself lost again. But he quickly realized she had gone back to her quarters.
"I see you had turned on the alarm. Alana must have woken up?" Cheetara asked as she came into the room. She looked at the disturbed tiger. "Is something wrong?"
Tygra turned to the woman. "I thought you were out for your run?"
"I decided to take a small run. We have a busy day and need to start as soon as possible." Cheetara took a seat near the tiger.
"I just found out one of many reasons why she's not comfortable around us."
"Let me guess, she's afraid of men?"
Tygra turned in his seat. "Exactly. And I don't know how to help her."
"Why don't you let me talk to her?"
"That might be a good idea. I was just with her a few minutes ago and she had suddenly got angry at the weather."
"These storms are keeping her from being able to put her friends to rest."
"I know. I've never met a woman like her. She reminds me of Willa when we first met her, but a short time after meeting Willa, she began to open up to us. Alana on the other hand, keeps backing away."
Cheetara looked at the monitor, observing the on coming storm, closing in towards them. "From the looks of that storm, it's going to take us a few days to get through the snow."
Tygra shock his head. "At least we were able to get Alana's friends out of the ship."
Cheetara nodded. "Perhaps we can get them buried before the storm hits." She turned and left, making her way towards Alana's room. When she arrived, she could hear muffled cries coming from inside. She slowly made her way into the room, allowing the doors to swish open.
"Alana?" she called softly.
"Go away," Alana cried.
"Alana, I want to just have a small talk." Cheetara walked over to the bed and carefully sat down. "It will just be a conversation between you and me."
Alana sat up and looked at the cheetah woman, wiping her tears. "How can I trust you?"
"You can me believe or not but only you can decide that. If it makes things easier on you, why don't I tell you a secret? I've never told anyone this and I'm not sure if it's proper for me to feel like this."
A little interested, Alana curled her legs under her, leaning her head against the back of the bed, allowing her tears to subside slowly. "And what is that?"
Cheetara blushed as she spoke. "For quite some time now, I've had these feelings but never acted upon them. See when we first left Thundera, Lion-O was a child. Now, he's a grown man."
"Handsome at that," Alana added.
"Yes, he is. But that is where lies the problem, I'm attracted to him and I'm not sure if I should feel like that. He might have the body of a man but in reality he should only be in his teens."
Leaning forward, Alana responded. "Are you telling me that you care for him more than a friend?"
Cheetara nodded, as her blush brightened but did nothing to conceal it. "I care for him as a friend, my leader and…would like it to become more but don't know if I should pursue it."
"Does he like you?"
"As a friend yes but something more, I'm not sure. I don't even know if he knows what love is. He still has a lot to learn."
"If you ask me, I think he does like you. I have noticed a couple of times in the way he looks at you when he thinks no one is looking."
"Perhaps." Cheetara noticed the human woman had stopped her tears. "Can I ask you something? Are you distancing yourself from us because you're afraid of men?"
"You spoke to Tygra," she whispered with slight anger.
"No," Cheetara white lied. She did speak to Tygra but he never said she was afraid, she guessed it herself. "I guessed this on my own. One minute you are getting close to the guys but then you suddenly back away as if they are one of Tony's men."
Alana looked away, sadness reappearing. "I guess I'm that transparent."
"Only to me. The others are not sure what to make of your actions. They are only wanting to help."
"I know they are but it's hard to trust men."
"Were you hurt by one?"
Alana looked back at Cheetara as a new onslaught of tears surfaced. Cheetara pulled her close as Alana silently cried. "I don't know how to trust men. The ones I trusted are dead."
"It will take time but just talking to me is a big start. Start out small." Cheetara soothed. "Tygra, Lion-O and Panthro are few of the most trustable men I've ever known. Why don't we dry those tears and join the others. And after breakfast…"
Alana suddenly moaned in pain. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, making Cheetara lightly push Alana away, putting her at arm's length. "What's wrong?"
Alana hesitated for a moment before slowly answering. "Last night, when Tygra found me…he saw that I had thrown up and now my muscles hurt."
"That's terrible. You shouldn't have to go through this alone. Tygra is concerned for you and it's not completely because you are alone on this planet with no one you know to trust."
"You don't know the half of it," Alana whispered.
"No. But I would like to in time. Why don't we go and see if there is anything to eat yet?"
"I can't face him."
Cheetara nodded in complete understanding. "You can't avoid him. And he wants to help, we all do. Later on today Panthro would like to talk to you and I would like to see if you have any fighting skills. But since you have sore muscles…"
"Did you bring back what I asked for yesterday before I fell all to pieces?"
"You mean…" Cheetara stood up and walked over to the closet. "This." She pulled out a gray box."
"You found it." Alana got up from the bed and walked over to Cheetara. She took the box from the woman's hands and opened it. She pulled out a bottle and quickly drank what ever was in it.
"What is that?" Cheetara asked when Alana placed it back in the box and closed it up.
"Before I left Tony, I took one of his first aid kits and what I just took was a pain killer. By nightfall my muscles will be healed."
"Ok, while your muscles are healing, we can talk about your fighting skills. But right now, you need food in your system. We could probably end up burying your friends today if everyone agrees. But we also need to dismantle the ship before our enemies rear their ugly heads."
Alana nodded.
During breakfast, it was agreed the ThunderCats would bury the fallen before the storm began but first they would do what they could about working with the ship. After breakfast and knowing she wasn't strong enough too venture too far, Alana stayed at Cats' Lair, everyone else but Panthro were going to go to the crash sight. Everyone stood; ready to begin their day. Alana watched as Panthro got up and left just as Snarf began to clear the dishes.
Not long after he left, Lion-O commanded for the rest of the team to head to the Thundertank. Alana followed them and watched them leave. When they were away from the lair, she went back inside and helped Snarf clear the table then went in search of Panthro. She knew Cheetara was right about needing to trust her new friends.
When she found Panthro he was hard at work in his workroom. Her eyes scanned around the room, seeing parts of her ship all around. Some of the parts were flattened out, while others were still in its original shape.
"Hello."
Panthro turned. "You found your way here?"
"Actually Snarf told me where to go. Cheetara had said you wished to speak with me."
"After yesterday, I'm surprised you'd be willing to socialize."
She walked up to him. "I need to start doing what I had promised to my brother and that is to live on. I'm also getting bored. I have no idea what I can do around here."
"I was thinking the same thing." He turned his full attention on her instead of the small piece of metal laid down in front of him. "I was wondering what sort of talents you have. I know you have knowledge in science and medicine but what other talents do you have? Or do you have any?"
"I have a few others but they are mostly hobbies. But one of other best techniques is architect." Alana looked down at what Panthro had been working on when she walked in. "You know with a little more pieces, you could make an alarm with that. It could be something that could be attached to the Thundertank."
Panthro blinked in surprise. "That is exactly what I'm making. You know more than you let on."
"That's a talent that has been with me since my mother died." Alana turned away from the man. She swung her arms out as she spoke. "With the salvageable materials from the ship, you could create a whole new level in Cats' Lair."
Completely intrigued in her idea, he leaned forward, hands on his knees. "How could I do that?"
"At a slow pace, we could build underneath the foundation, creating a whole new level."
"I have thought of building below the foundation but how could we do that? That is the problem about the idea."
"No, there isn't." Alana walked back over to Panthro. "Start by making a hole in the foundation. Once the hole is big enough, begin to dig on the sides. When there's a big enough hole start enforcing the hole with the salvaged metal. Before you know it, there will be a whole new level, without having your enemies knowing."
Panthro fingered his chin for a few moments, letting the idea sink in and placing in a few of his own ideas. "What would we put down there?"
"Glad you asked. You built this," she swung her arms around, "to protect. But there isn't anything here for fun. It's just a work facility. You have a hanger for the Thundertank and the Feliner, then there's the command center and of course sleeping quarters. And if I'm going to become a part of your team, I would like something to do other than military work all the time and someplace to relax besides my quarters."
"Where did you learn all this?" he asked, very perplexed.
"A couple years ago, my brothers and myself built a secret room nobody knew and it was my room to relax and I was the only one to get in, not even my brothers could get in. I was never able to go anywhere unless there was an escort. Mind you after so long, Tony did find out about it, but my brothers forced him not to do anything or there would have been hell to pay. That's where the idea of building under the foundation comes from."
"That could work."
"And with the others on their way to speak to the Robear Berbils, who ever they are, it will make things easier."
"And if they agree, faster. With the Berbils help, Cats' Lair was built in a matter of weeks."
"Wow, they're fast."
Panthro nodded. "I've never seen structures built as fast as Cats' Lair." He turned to what he was working on. Knowing Alana would soon shy away, Panthro soon came up with an idea. "You know, I could use a hand in building this alarm."
"Sure, but to make a really good alarm, you should wait until more parts arrive. I have a better idea of what could be made, or at least started on. You have complained of your enemies getting too close."
"How did you hear that?" he turned back to the woman.
"I may fall to pieces, but I do listen. It's something my mother taught me; if I want to know something without asking, be busy at something else but keep the ears open. You'd be amazed at what you can hear when everyone thinks you're not listening."
Panthro nodded in agreement. "You heard me speaking to Lion-O yesterday at the crash sight. Ok. What could we make to help boost up the defenses of Cats' Lair?"
"Place weapons on the outer walls. We could make weapons from this scrap of metal. The weapons array is damaged but can be repaired. But until we can get the array, we can build shells for the weapons."
"What are we waiting for?" Panthro was now excited at her knowledge.
Three hours after Alana and Panthro started working, the ThunderCats arrived back with a makeshift wagon, full of parts from the ship. Panthro was curious of the new parts and offered for Alana to join him to investigate the new pieces. When the two arrived outdoors, two small creatures greeted her.
"Alana," Lion-O spoke. "Meet Robear Bill and Robear Belle of the Berbils."
"It is nice to see that you have survived that awful crash," Robear Bill replied.
"Yes," Robear Belle agreed. She handed Alana a covered item.
Alana took the item with gratitude and unwrapped it to find a small bouquet of silver-blue lily flowers. They looked freshly picked. She looked at the two Berbils with surprise.
Robear Belle bowed. "They are the only flowers that grow in winter. Our ancestors planted them when they immigrated on Third Earth."
"Thank you," Alana said. "They're beautiful."
"You are welcome," Robear Bill replied. "You are lucky to have friends like the ThunderCats. They came to us and we started to help them with your ship. Others from our village are at the wreckage, working on getting the easy parts off before the storm arrives."
Alana looked past the two Berbils as she saw Cheetara and the Thunderkittens unloading the parts. Before she could blink, Panthro ran past her to help them. Before too long, everything was unloaded and left just inside the doorway of the lair. Alana watched as the Thundertank pulled away, leaving to get another load.
When it was only she and Panthro again, he began to inspect the pieces. "There's enough here to finish the shells of the weapons but it might be a good idea to work here instead. The workroom will be too small."
"I agree. Why don't you head inside and get whatever supplies we need and we'll start working with this instead. I'll start going through this and see what we'll use."
"Good idea."
By nightfall, it began to lightly snow. Lion-O called it quits on the salvage operation. When the last load was in Cats' Lair, half the foyer was covered in pieces of metal. One side of the stairwell, leading to the rest of the lair was blocked off. Alana was surprised at how much was gathered in a small amount of time.
"What are you guys working on?" Tygra asked.
"Alana came up with the idea of boosting Cats' Lair's defenses by adding weapons on to the side of the walls, hidden from plain view," Panthro explained. "We have been making the shell casings for the weapons to be used."
"That's a great idea," Lion-O complimented. "However, if we are to bury your friends, we should head out, it has begun to snow and soon it will be an all out blizzard."
Alana nodded, allowing soar to fill her heart once again. All day, she was not plagued with burying her friends. But now…was a different matter. It was time to place them to rest before the storm took a turn for the worse.
With a saddened voice, Alana stood. "Well there's no time like the present. Let's go."
Panthro came up beside her. "Are you sure you want to do this now? We could wait until the storm is over."
"I want this done as soon as possible. They deserve that at least from me."
Lion-O walked up to her. "Would you mind if our friends are there?"
Alana looked to him only to find standing behind him at the entrance, was Willa and two other Warrior women and six of the Robear Berbils. "I don't mind," she whispered. "They have helped in the salvage operation. That is more than I've expected from strange people."
"Everything will be ok," Lion-O said quietly then walked away. He didn't have see but he knew she was leaving the main room to dress for the winter weather.
When she was dressed, everyone was waiting for her at the Thundertank. Willa and another Warrior maiden, Nayda, helped her into the tank as everyone else jumped in. Panthro pulled the vehicle into gear and traveled to the crash sight.
Once, getting there, Alana climbed out of the Thundertank herself, not wanting to have help from anyone and moved away to look at the ship. She was quick to notice they did not start on the outer hull but from somewhere inside. When she turned, she saw Panthro, in the Thundertank, burning a hole into the ground.
She didn't bother to ask what he was doing or how long it was going to take. At the moment she wasn't in a talkative mood. When the hole was large enough, Panthro extended the paws of the Thundertank and picked up the crypt. It was slowly moved from its spot and carefully placed over the hole.
"Stay back everyone," Panthro called. "This is going to make a huge sound. The best way to place this in there is by letting it drop."
The front seats were suddenly closed over by a protective shield. The paws were extracted and the crypt fell with a loud thud, shaking the ground. Alana watched it and only blinked when it crashed into the hole. She didn't realize when she blinked, a single tear slid down her cheek. This time the brisk air was not going to hold back the tears.
When the Thundertank was away from the hole, Panthro jumped out and walked over to Alana. "It's all yours."
Alana nodded and slowly walked over to the crypt. She crouched down and grabbed some of the soil that was loose from the sides and threw it onto the crypt. "Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. May you find rest here together."
Tygra came up beside her as she continued to speak. He wanted to help her but wasn't sure what other kind of support he could give besides what he already had given.
"We left Planet Seris, in search for help. I found that help but at the expense…of your lives. But that was a risk…you were willing to take."
She paused and took a deep breath. "Some of you were born on Seris, while others were from another planet. But all were forced to live a life under the command of Tony. I will…visit you as often as possible and…keep your memories alive."
Uncontrollable tears were now streaming down her face. "The planet that you now rest on is once the planet known as Earth but was renamed Third Earth by the alien natives that now reside here."
Alana didn't realize she was not alone at the edge of the crypt. Everyone was standing directly behind her, all giving their own soars and prayers. This was the first time, the ThunderCats seen the Robear Berbils give their own kind of burial service. They had already seen once before what the Warrior Maidens did.
"My brothers…I know you're with me and I can't see you. But I want you to know… I will not let go of my spirit and let Tony win. I will be…strong and someday will pay him a visit and give him a piece of my mind. But until then…" She lowered her head to whisper, "I need to start over and become strong again."
She trembled as she stood back up and walked away from everyone. She didn't notice she wasn't walking away alone.
"Alana," Tygra said softy. He gently grabbed her arm and pulled her to look back where her friends were about to be buried.
"Tygra…" she began, anger surfacing. She wanted to get away but was stopped.
He shook his head, pointing to the crypt. "You need to see this."
Looking up, she watched with blurred vision, not able to turn away, as the Warrior Maidens dropped a knife, a few flower headpieces, a few cloaks, a couple bows and quivers of arrows. Willa turned away and looked at Alana as she spoke.
"The weapons are to help the fallen find their way to the land of peace and if there is problems, they can fight their way through. The flower headpieces are for the women to arrive with their dreams up high. The cloaks are for the men to arrive being known for their bravery."
The Robear Berbils stood forward and threw down a large amount of the same flowers they gave Alana. Robear Bill turned, as did the others as he spoke. "The flowers are to give them peace and know they will now be in a better place."
Alana wasn't sure what do think or do as the strangers gave their own burial rituals. The only thing she could do was stare as tears heavily streamed down her face. By this time, Tygra had an arm wrapped around her shoulders in case she was to get weak in the knees. His other arm was curled around her arm with his hand tightly holding hers.
Lion-O waved his friends away as he brought out his sword. She was a little nervous at what he was about to do. Suddenly he shouted. "THUNDER! THUNDER! THUNDER!" Alana watched with wide eyes as the sword grew in length. "THUNDERCATS! HO!"
A huge Thundercat symbol glowed out of the sword. Suddenly all ThunderCats eyes lit up and their symbols as well as they shouted.
"THUNDERCATS! HO!"
Lion-O aimed his sword at the crypt. A white light came out of the sword, circling around the hole. When the light cleared, a solid level of ground covered the grave sight. She couldn't even tell the ground was even touched. But Lion-O wasn't done. Lion-O touched the ground with his sword. Again a light appeared but this time, it made circles. When it was done, Lion-O's sword went down to normal size and he placed it back against his leg.
"To be sure we all know where this is." He kneeled down as the snow started to cover the spot. "A script has been placed. 'Here lies the friends and family of a brave human friend known as Alana. May you all rest in peace by allowing the ThunderCats to take care of your friend'."
He stood and walked over to Alana with his arms open "And allow yourself to grieve when needed and not try to hide from us. We are here to help and we cannot honor our pledge to protect you unless you let us."
Knowing Lion-O was being sincere, she moved away from Tygra, forcing him to release her. She quickly rushed into the young Lord's arms, allowing him to wrap his arms around her as she cried while the others surrounded them. Taking note the weather was beginning to get worse, Lion-O swung his arm around, curling under Alana's legs, carrying her to the Thundertank. He knew she no longer had the strength to walk on her own. Everyone else followed suit, with the Robear Berbils and Warrior Maidens climbing into the makeshift wagon. When her tears began to slow, they were moving away from the site.
Before getting back to Cats' Lair, Panthro dropped their friends off at their villages. When the ThunderCats were safe at home, Alana was asleep in Lion-O's arms. He was astonished she cried on his shoulder. It was the first time she went to him for support. It didn't take him long to get Alana to her quarters with Cheetara following. Once in the room, he soon left, allowing Cheetara to care for her. After leaving, Lion-O went to the conference room only to find Panthro and Tygra there.
"Is Cheetara with Alana?" Tygra answered. When he saw Lion-O nod, he continued. "That's good. At least now they are at rest."
"While you were doing the salvage operation, Alana came up to me and gave out some good ideas. She even knew what I was working on and came up with an idea of building a whole new level under the foundation."
"What would we put under there?" Tygra asked, intrigued.
"She was talking about making it into something for fun. And I tend to agree with her, Cats' Lair is for defense, there is nothing for her to do here."
"Then we'll do it," Lion-O threw in. "As soon as the weapons are completed, you two work with Alana in making that new level. Tygra, you and Alana work together in designing in what will be down there."
"Perhaps we can get the Berbils to help." Tygra nodded. "Where did this idea come from?"
"She said, her brothers had built her a secret location so she could relax. She was never able to go anywhere alone."
"That's awful," Lion-O replied. "She was a prisoner."
"That it is," Tygra agreed. "Changing the subject. Has anyone seen Snarf?"
"He's in the kitchen preparing some food," Wilykit answered as she walked into the room. "How bad is this storm going to be?"
Tygra turned to the young female cub. "This is going to be the worst one this year."
Wilykit groaned. "Well at least Alana's friends are buried. Is there going to be another salvage operation?"
"As soon as we can," Panthro answered.
The ThunderCats knew at least for the next couple days, they would be enemy free and they were going to take the time and use it wisely. There was no sense in keeping their guards up when they knew the Mutants couldn't stand the cold, neither could Mumm-ra as well. But one thing that weighed heavily on their minds was what was Alana hiding. They now knew she was forced into a life that she didn't want to be. What more was in her dark past that she didn't want to speak about?