The thick canopy of the forest made everything seem like dusk, but when the sun really did set, everything turned to blackness. The jet was badly damaged, beyond possible repair outside of their hanger. And here, with no parts or tools, there was no hope. What's worse, they didn't even know where, or when, they were. The two kats stayed near the jet, doing what they could to fix what they could. When darkness came, the forest seemed to come alive with strange sounds. Creatures, many of them, some obviously large, called from the shadows. Massive bats flew through the branches above. Eyes glowed from every direction. At times it seemed that T-Bone had no fear at all, but even he decided it was best to spend the night in the jet, canopy closed. And it was a very long and miserable night indeed.
When dawn finally came, it cast the same eerie red glow on the land, most of it blocked by the thick trees so it still seemed as dark as dusk, as if the night's shadows refused to give way to morning. The night creatures had disappeared, but rather than the silence of the previous day, now the forest seemed alive with the singing of birds and the buzzing of insects. Despite the darkness, it now seemed a bit more pleasant place. Strange pale flowers opened everywhere, drinking in the dim light.
T-Bone looked around the unusual landscape. "Well, guess we need to try and figure out where we are. And find something for breakfast."
"Yeah. I'd swear I saw signs of a camp not far from here before we crashed. That way, I think." Razor pointed ahead of them, towards the east. The two secured the damaged jet as best they could and took their glovatrix, opting to leave the cyclotron for now. Walking carefully, they both had the strange feeling that something, or someone, was watching them. No animals could be seen other than the birds & insects, and an occasional black-furred squirrel. Even the animals they could see appeared to stop what they were doing and watch the pair as they walked by.
"You sure you saw a camp this way, Razor?"
"Looked like one."
"'Looked like'? You don't know if you actually saw anything?"
Before Razor could answer, a voice yelled at them from the shadows. "Stop right there! You've come far enough."
Instinctively the two turned and aimed their glovatrix at the direction of the voice. "Well, guess that answers that."
"Yeah, except I think we now have a bigger problem." T-Bone nodded to their left and Razor followed his gaze, then turned his head to the right. They deffinatly had a problem. They were surrounded.
"Hands up, intruders. You have no chance." The owner of the voice stepped forward. The kat had tawny fur and sandy brown hair that hung down past his shoulders. He wore studded leather armor with a dark mottled green cloak and was armed with a crossbow aimed straight at T-Bone and Razor. A sword hung at his left hip. Two-dozen other such armed kats surrounded them, all aiming crossbows.
"Great. Back in the Dark Ages." T-Bone sighed and held up his hands. Razor did the same.
"Come with us."
They were escorted about another two miles through the dim trees in silence. Each time they tried to ask a question, or even attempt to get a word out at all, they were silenced by the leader of these medieval kats. T-Bone was getting very frustrated and had to work at keeping his temper in check. At length they came to a very large clearing at the foot of a cliff. It was a camp all right. A large one. An entire army was set up in the clearing, with hundreds of tents, dozens of war-horses, livestock, supply wagons, and even an open-sided smithy built from logs cut from the massive forest trees.
The SWAT Kats were led through the camp towards what they could only conclude was the command tent. They couldn't help but notice that not everyone in the camp were soldiers. She-kats, kittens, and elderly worked at preparing food, mending armor & clothing, repairing weapons, and various other tasks. Everyone stopped and stared at the two as they passed by.
At length they came to a large tent of dark blue cloth.
"Wait here" the tawny-furred solder told them just before he entered the tent. A moment later he returned, following a somewhat tall, well built light gray kat in his late thirties. The kat had a steel breastplate with an emblem in front of a hawk flying over a crescent moon, as well as steel plating over his shoulders, arms, and legs. His dark brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail and he walked with an air of authority.
T-Bone leaned over and whispered to Razor. "Great, it's the Dark Ages version of Commander Feral."
Razor couldn't help but snicker at the comment.
The kat narrowed his dark blue eyes at them. "Who are you, and how have you come to be here?"
Before either SWAT Kat could answer, another voice came from the entrance of another nearby tent. "Hold, General! Let me see these outsiders."
The kat who approached them now was dressed from ears to tail in dark blue robes, rimmed in silver runes. His hood was raised, so that only his face and paws could be seen. He had silver fur patterned with a multitude of small steel-gray spots. His eyes, partially covered by black hair, were also steel gray. In his left hand was a silver staff, carved over with the same ornate patterns of runes, and topped with a large multi-faceted sapphire. Around his neck he wore a pendant, also of carved silver. The stone in it's center appeared to be a sapphire, but it glowed with a soft silver light. He approached the SWAT Kats, stopping only a few feet away and looking them over closely.
"Yes, these two are not our enemies. They can help us. They can free Elena!"
"What? Are you sure of this, Mau?" The General was clearly shocked.
T-Bone and Razor glanced at each other, then back to the kats before them curiously.
"Yes, General. I am sure. The Talisman has told me so."
"Release them!"
The response was immediate. The soldiers released the pair, obviously in awe of what the hooded kat had said. The spotted kat then adressed them. "Please forgive General Birman and Captain Cymric. We must always be vigilant, and that can lead to suspicion of strangers. For you see, we are at war with an evil tyrant. A dark sorcerer who seeks to rule the Shadow Relm, and enslave all within it."
"The Shadow Relm?" T-Bone was puzzled.
"Yes, you are in the Shadow Relm. A world apart from yours."
Now things were starting to make sense to Razor. "So... we haven't been thrown back into the past? We're in a completly different... world?"
"Yes."
"Terrific." T-Bone shook his head. This was not sounding good.
"Please, allow me to explain a few things. First off, I am Mau, High Wizard of the Moon." The spotted kat bowed. "And this," gesturing to the kat beside him, "is General Birman. We serve the Lady, Elena Kougré. She is the chosen of the Moon Talisman. A powerful artifact, one of two, that can effect, and alter, the balance of our world. But she has been captured by the sorcerer, Shade Kat. He commands the Sun Talisman, and wishes to obtain the Moon Talisman to gain ultimate power. If he obtains both Talismans, nothing can stop him from complete domination of the Shadow Relm. So far, the Moon Talisman has kept this encampment safe, but Elena was well outside of the encampment when Shade Kat's pawns captured her."
"So... if he has captured this Elena, does that mean he now has both talismans?" T-Bone was now really not liking the sound of this. Magic talismans, an evil sorcerer, trapped in another world. 'Could things possibly get any worse? Oh great, I shouldn't have thought that because now they probably will.'
"No. She used her magic to send it away, to me, the moment before she was captured." He gestured to the glowing talisman around his neck. But without her to lead us, to use the Talisman's full power, we cannot hope to defeat Shade Kat. Please, help us. And in return, perhaps we can help you. If we defeat Shade Kat, and Elena gains both of the Talismans, she should be able to use their combined power to return you to your own world."
"Well, looks like you got a deal." He hated magic, but T-Bone certainly wouldn't let a tyrant destroy these kats' freedom, nor could he permit a she-kat to be held captive by this apparent monster.
"Do you know where she is being held? And any way to get there, and get in?" Razor was already trying to formulate a plan. But first, he needed as much details at these kats could give him. T-Bone may hate magic, but Razor is always up for a new challenge and this place fascinated him. So long as there was still a way to get home, that is.