2
Leanne looked up as the soldiers took her to an extravagant palace, the front of this palace looked like one large panther lying on its stomach, its arms were the walls that surrounded the path to the front doors of the palace. They pulled her through and she looked around at the throne room. As she looked at one of the walls, she saw a picture of a cat woman wearing the same necklace she was, but most of her was covered in a golden armor of some kind, and she was fighting off a lizard. Before she could get a better look at the portrait, she was dragged before the throne- actually four thrones. The head throne was being used by a large, heavily muscled cat man with a bushy red mane, a scar across his nose, all dressed in—what looked like—heavy royal armor, and had a crown on his head. Beside him were two smaller thrones. In one sat a young cat man, who reminded Leanne of a tiger because of the stripes on his fur. His hair flipped out at the sides into two tips, he wore a confident smile on his face, but it quickly turned to a look of disgust as he looked at her. The other smaller throne was being used by a cat man who seemed slightly younger, with the same red mane as the large one, but it didn't quite look so bushy, and wasn't quite so muscular. His blue eyes lit up in sparked curiosity when he looked at her. The one next to him was an old cat man with a long white beard, dressed in strange robes that looked similar to armor, but seemed a bit more elegant than the armor the large cat man wore.
Leanne let out a surprised noise when the guards forced her to her knees before the king.
"This is the one, sir." A soldier said, holding her down, "Isn't that the Jewel of Omens around her neck?" Leanne looked down at the necklace she was wearing. The large cat man, the one she assumed was king, came up from his seat and walked over to her, looking over her with a discerning eye. Not liking the look he gave her, Leanne stuck out her tongue at him childishly, going "Nyeah."
"You will not insult his majesty King Claudus!" One of the soldiers said, shoving her roughly. Leanne pulled her tongue back in, trying to make herself more comfortable in the claws of the soldiers, shifting her shoulders a little bit.
"I don't think that was an insult." The red haired young cat man in the throne said. He seemed to be ignored by everyone as the king looked over her again.
"Tell us why you have our people's precious Jewel of Thundera." The tiger cat man said from his seat, Leanne looked at him confusedly.
"Jewel of what?" She asked.
"The necklace you have on." The red haired cat man said from his throne. The entire time everyone had been speaking, the old cat man had been looking at Leanne thoughtfully, taking in her appearance. Leanne looked down at the necklace in question, "It was taken from our people almost five hundred years ago."
"What, you want it back?" Leanne asked him, "Take it! The damn thing's brought me nothing but trouble!" She leaned back, as if presenting the necklace to King Claudus so he could remove it. The king reached for it, but the old cat man stood up.
"Your highness," He said, stopping him, "Allow me to remove it." The king stepped aside for him.
"If you wish, Jaga." He said. The old cat man leaned down, looking at Leanne curiously, and she looked back at him, a little creeped out by his stare. He brought his staff closer to her, and before it could touch the jewel in the necklace, a red lightning shot out from it, pushing the staff back and away from it. The soldiers who had been holding onto Leanne let her go in shock of the sudden event. Leanne still remained on her knees, showing these cat people she was willing to cooperate. The old cat man hummed thoughtfully.
"What was that?" The red haired cat man asked excitedly, he and the tiger one both standing up from their seats.
"It seemed the Jewel has chosen its master." The old cat man said to the others. Leanne looked up at him.
"What does that mean?" She asked him.
"It means that the necklace will not come off unless you remove it." Jaga said, Leanne reached up to get the necklace off so she could be rid of the thing, "But I highly suggest that you don't." Leanne looked at him in confusion.
"Huh?" Leanne said, "But you said yourself, this stupid thing is yours. Take it! I don't want it!"
"But the Jewel of Omens has chosen you as its master." Jaga said.
"What the heck does that mean?" Leanne asked, her hands clenching on the legs of her jeans.
"Did you know that no ThunderCat was ever able to command the power of the Jewel of Omens?" Jaga asked her.
"What?" Was Leanne's super intelligent reply.
"Only when someone, a species unlike anything anyone had ever seen," Jaga explained, "Came to us, only they were able to command it. The Jewel of Omens sensed that they were different, unique in such a way, that only they were fit to command its power. This same species left with the jewel, never to be seen again, until now. And it seems that it has chosen you."
"But that's stupid!" Leanne snapped, "You said this thing disappeared five hundred years ago, right? That's impossible, because this piece of junk belonged to my Nana, and she died just last year! She was 82! How could she have a five hundred year old piece of jewelry?"
"Perhaps, your 'Nana'," Jaga began, "Was the original species who wielded its mighty power. The stories tell that she was of a different species of a different world, so perhaps time there moves differently than time here. Did she never tell you anything about it?"
"I've never seen it until today!" Leanne said, standing up, "And every time I talked to Nana, she said things that didn't make sense. She was old, senile, and an Alzheimer's patient! I couldn't have a normal conversation with her if I wanted to!"
"Then, that might be why you never knew of it." Jaga said wisely, "Clearly, the jewel believes that it is needed here, and it has chosen you to use its power." Leanne glared down at the jewel, "And I suggest you keep it close, for the Jewel of Omens have been sought after for many a century. Once it is known that you have it, others will pursue you for it, and they will do whatever they can to take it from you."
"Oh, brilliant…" Leanne grumbled to herself.
"I suggest you stay here," Jaga said, "So you may be properly protected, and learn to harness the Jewel's power."
"But what if I don't want to?" Leanne asked him, "What if I just want to go home?"
"When the Jewel believes it is no longer needed," Jaga said, "It will return you to your home." Leanne let out an unhappy groan, crossing her arms and pouting like a child.
"She stays here?" King Claudus asked Jaga, not very pleased with the idea of her staying in his castle.
"It is for the best, your highness." Jaga said, "We could easily make room for her."
"Well, yes…" The king said, he looked at the girl, "But who shall teach her to use the Jewel's power?"
"I, or one of my clerics, will help her." Jaga said, looking down at her, "She will learn to harness it with ease, and then, she may use the power to help us." Leanne looked up at the old cat man, sighing reluctantly.
"Fine." She said, "It's not like I have much choice right now, anyway." Jaga smiled and nodded at her.
"Very good." He said, he looked back to the red haired cat man, and the tiger cat man, "Lion-O, Tygra, why don't you show her around the palace while we prepare a room for…" He looked back, silently asking her name.
"Leanne." She said, "Friends call me Lee." Jaga nodded.
"Sure." Lion-O said, walking away from his throne, smiling at her, "Come with us." Leanne followed the two outside.
"So, how well can you fight?" Tygra asked her. Leanne shrugged.
"Pretty good, I guess." She said, "I mostly just do free running though, and that doesn't really need any punching or kicking. Why?"
"Free running?" Lion-O repeated, curious about this technique of hers.
"Yeah, it's basically just jumping from roof to roof in the city." Leanne explained, she got a small smile on her face, "It's really fun, and the rush you get from jumping between two roofs that are really high up is just unbelievable."
"How often do you do this?" Tygra asked.
"About once or twice every week." She said, "I always tell my mom I'm going to some fancy-shmancy gym in the city, if she knew I was doing it, she'd put me on lockdown."
"Here's good." Tygra said as they came out to a small, empty courtyard. He pulled out a whip, "Alright, now let's see how good of a fighter you are."
"Wait, whoa, what?" Leanne demanded, taking a step back, "Excuse me? When did we decide to start fighting?"
"Tygra." Lion-O said, his tone warning him to watch himself.
"I'm just wondering if she has any skill." Tygra said, feigning a tone of innocence. Leanne's eyebrow twitched angrily.
"What is that supposed to mean?" She demanded, planting her hands on her hips, glaring at the tiger. "Are you saying that I can't take care of myself?"
"I'm just saying that we need to judge whether or not you're a threat." Tygra said, "And you don't seem all that intimidating to me." Leanne's eyebrows twitched angrily again, and she clenched her teeth.
"Oh, it is on." She growled, stepping forward, "You're gonna regret those words, Stripes." Tygra smirked.
"Glad to see you're into the game." He said, taking his whip and stretching it out.
"Hang on." Leanne said, "You get a whip, and I get nothing? That hardly seems fair."
"Fights won't always be fair." Tygra said, cracking the whip. Leanne's eyes widened as he suddenly disappeared.
"Where'd he go?" She asked, looking around. She got her answer when she was suddenly pushed to the ground. She looked up and saw Tygra reappear, laughing at her. Leanne scowled angrily and swept her feet under his to knock him over, "Ha!" He growled as he got up. He cracked his whip again and vanished. Leanne stood completely still as she waited for him to attack. She looked around for any sign of the tiger. Hearing the ever-quiet sound of clawed feet on the stone ground, she quickly spun around, aiming her fist behind her, but didn't hit anything. She looked around, unsure of where he would attack from, and let out a yelp when her feet were swept out from under her. He reappeared again, standing over her with a grin.
"Looks like I was right." He said smugly. Leanne let out a snarl in anger.
"This fight isn't over yet!" She growled as she got back up. Tygra, seeing that she was now getting serious, quickly used his whip again and disappeared. Leanne kept a careful eye out, looking around for any sign of the tiger, her mind quickly working to think of how to beat him. Since he's not instantly behind me, he didn't actually just become invisible, and if that's the case… She turned her eyes to the ground, waiting to hear the sound of clawed feet on stone again. She saw some dust being kicked up slightly from the ground, and she let out a yell as she lifted up her foot and kicked something back. When it hit the ground, Tygra reappeared, looking at her in shock. Leanne smirked at him.
"How… How did you know where I was?" Tygra asked in surprise.
"You'd be surprised how alert you have to be in order to free run." Leanne said, "You have to know the distance between one roof and another, and know whether or not you can make it. Know your surroundings, and how to use them, and understand all that information in a fraction of a second. With you, it's no different. Just because you're invisible doesn't mean you still don't make footsteps in the ground." She pointed to where his foot had made a mark against some dirt on the ground, which was just barely noticeable.
"Impressive." Tygra said, standing up, "You have sharp eyes."
"Thanks." Leanne said.
Leanne looked around the bedroom, gazing at everything in awe.
"Wow…" She murmured, "Just… wow." Lion-O let out a small chuckle.
"Like it?" He asked.
"It's incredible!" She said, turning to him, "This is your room?" Lion-O nodded.
"It's also the room you'll be staying in, temporarily, of course." He said. Leanne looked at the bed and saw a little creature resting on it all curled up in a ball. She went over to it curiously and looked down at it, "Oh, that's Snarf."
"Snarf?" Leanne asked, scrunching up her nose at the odd name. Lion-O nodded and went over to the creature, scratching it behind the ear. Leanne watched as he let out a little mewl and curled out of his ball sleepily. Leanne almost cooed in adoration at it. When the creature opened its big eyes, she really did coo. "He's so cute!" She reached down to pet him. Snarf looked at her hand as it was placed near his face and he rubbed up against it, making purring sounds in the back of his throat. Lion-O watched in surprise as she picked him up and held him in her arms, rubbing his underbelly. "You're just a little cutie, aren't you?"
"Wow." Lion-O said, watching as Leanne let him climb up onto her shoulders.
"What?" She asked, looking at him.
"Snarf normally doesn't take to people so quickly." He said, Leanne shrugged.
"I've always been good with ani— um," She stopped herself from saying 'animals', thinking it might offend him, "Pets. It's just a thing." She giggled as Snarf rubbed his furry face against hers, still purring. Lion-O smiled at the look on Leanne's face as Snarf kept showing her affection. She picked him up off her shoulders and sat down on the bed, putting him in her lap, stroking his back and making him arch up in happiness. "So, why do I have to stay in your room?"
"Dad wants to know that we can trust you, so he's putting me in charge of watching you while you're still in our kingdom." Lion-O explained, sitting down and reaching over to scratch behind Snarf's ears. Leanne looked a bit unhappy at his words.
"They don't trust me, do they?" She asked, Lion-O shook his head.
"'Fraid not." He said, "Can you blame them, though? You just showed up out of nowhere, and you scared a lot of townspeople. It's only natural that we'd assume something causing that much of a commotion would be a threat."
"Yeah…" Leanne muttered, suddenly remembering what people had said when they saw her.
Leanne wrapped her arms around her middle, something she always did when she felt insecure. Lion-O noticed her sudden mood swing from amazed and happy, to quiet and sad.
"Lion-O…" She said softly, looking over at the young prince, "Do I look…disgusting… to you?" Lion-O gazed at her for a moment, seeing how her eyes had darkened in depression.
"Well, you're not like anything I've ever seen before." Lion-O said, he gave her a small grin, "But that doesn't make you disgusting."
"Then… that just makes me a freak." Leanne said, looking away from the prince.
"No it doesn't." Lion-O said, trying to comfort the young girl, coming over to her and sitting down next to her, "Being different doesn't make you a freak. I mean, if that was the case, then I'd be branded a freak, too."
"Why?" Leanne asked, looking at him curiously.
"Well, I have this… thing for technology." Lion-O admitted embarrassedly, "I like to learn about it. Find out where it comes from, how it works, all that stuff."
"Well, that's not so bad." Leanne said, "I mean, there are plenty of people back home who make a very good living off of that kind of stuff."
"Wait, do you have technology at your home?" Lion-O asked excitedly, Leanne nodded.
"Yeah, we use it, like, everywhere." Leanne said.
"Well, you have to tell me about it!" Lion-O said, Leanne jumped back at his sudden enthusiasm, noticing how his eyes lit up like a child's would on Christmas morning.
"Okay, calm down." Leanne said with a little laugh, "What do you want to know?"
"Anything you can tell me." Lion-O said.
"Well, I need a place to start!" Leanne laughed out.
"Well… How about… entertainment?" Lion-O suggested, "Do you have any technology for that?"
"Oh, yeah!" Leanne said, "Well, first we have TV's, which stand for television, by the way…"
Tygra walked through the castle walls, rubbing a sore spot on his stomach from where Leanne had kicked him. He scowled slightly at himself, a little angry that he had underestimated her.
"So, the screens are basically these huge things of some kind of special material that's really smooth, and the projectors, because of the distance, have the movies fit right on the screen." He paused, he looked over at his brother's door, which had been left slightly open, and he could hear the conversation going on inside. It seemed Leanne was telling Lion-O about something from her home, "And the theaters the movies are in, can seat up to, like, a hundred people. And there's always some new movie coming out, and they range from all these different genres of stories, from, say, a romantic comedy, to something as awful and gory as a horror film…" Tygra stole a glance at Lion-O, who was hanging onto every word she said with a smile on his face, and eyes lit up.
I don't know what they're talking about, and I don't care. Tygra thought to himself. He shrugged off the conversation and kept walking down the hall. He went into the throne room, where he saw his father tapping his finger incessantly on the arm of his throne.
"Something wrong, father?" Tygra asked, coming up to him.
"It's that… girl." Claudus said, "There's something that doesn't seem quite right with her."
"I know what you mean." Tygra said, "She was able to best me in a small match, even when she had nothing to fight with." He narrowed his eyes slightly and looked away from his father at the thought of her, "She's… I'm not entirely sure how to describe it. She's definitely got good skills, but there's just something off about her." Claudus nodded in agreement.
"I can't help but feel," He began, "That this is a sign. Something is going to change soon, Tygra, and it's not going to be good. I can just feel it." He looked over at his son, "Keep an eye on her. We don't want anything happening that shouldn't." Tygra nodded, accepting his father's request
One hour later…
"…And that's the main function of a blender." Leanne said, she let out a large breath, leaning back against the bed. "How long have I been talking about this? My throat hurts."
"A while now." Lion-O said, "You can tell me about any other technology later." Leanne groaned.
"I'm almost tempted to take a vow of silence because of you." Leanne said, Lion-O laughed a little. There was a knock on the door, and the two looked up.
"Yes?" Lion-O called, letting the person come in, revealing it to be a servant, "What is it?"
"Your highness," The servant said, bowing, "Jaga has asked for the girl's presence."
"The girl has a name you know." Leanne said, a little upset that Jaga didn't ask for her by name. The servant looked at her, slightly surprised, but said nothing. She got off the bed, Lion-O doing the same.
"Uh, Jaga asked only for her, your highness." The servant said, "He'd like to speak to her alone." Leanne looked at Lion-O, slightly worried about being alone, but Lion-O patted her shoulder.
"You'll be fine." He assured, pushing her towards the servant. She followed him out and down the hall into a small garden where Jaga, and someone dressed in an outfit similar to his, but their face was covered, stood beside him. Jaga smiled when he saw her and sent the servant away with the wave of a hand.
"Hello, my dear." He greeted.
"Um… Hi." She said, she looked at the robed individual curiously, but said nothing.
"I'd like to show you something." He said, he nodded to the robed person with him, and they pulled out a scroll, holding it out to her. Leanne took it, seeing that it was a list of names in a certain order with lines pointing to different ones. "Do you know what this is?"
"Um…" Leanne looked over all the names, seeing male names paired with female names with another line connecting them to one, two, or even five different names, "Looks a little bit like a family tree."
Jaga nodded, "And whose is it?" He asked.
"Well, let's see…" Leanne looked down to the single name at the bottom, and saw the name read 'Erica Alyssa Redoric'. She looked at it in surprise, "My nana?" She looked over the aged document, "But… this thing is so old! How come her name is on it?"
"It was said that the previous bearer of the Jewel of Omens wrote it." Jaga said, "Claimed it gave her insight to her family's true nature." Leanne looked back at the scroll for the family tree, going over all the names, and seeing that the dates went back as far as the early 1200's. "Or your 'Nana' as we are learning. I believe it's best that you have it."
"Um… Okay." Leanne said, she looked up at the old cat, "Why?"
"It was said that knowing the names of those who came before you," Jaga said, "Helps you to see what will come next." Leanne rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, and I'm a mermaid." She said sarcastically. She looked over the family tree, glaring when her eyes came across one name in particular. Alphonse Redoric, "Ugh. I want nothing to do with this." She rolled the paper back up and held it out for Jaga to take, "This just brings back bad memories. How am I supposed to figure out what happens next by looking at a bunch of useless names?"
"Your grandmother didn't think it useless." Jaga pointed out, not taking the scroll from her, "She carried it with her almost everywhere she went."
"I don't care what she did with it." Leanne said, "I just don't want it! How is the past supposed to help me figure out the future?"
"The answer to that lies only in the past." Jaga said with a small grin. He nodded to the robed person next to him and they walked away. Leanne watched them leave with a gaping expression.
"What, that's it?!" She shouted at him as he left, her anger growing, "I don't even get a freaking hint?!" Jaga said nothing, and she growled angrily to herself, tightly gripping her Nana's family tree in her hands and stomping back into the castle. She went back to Lion-O's room and slammed the door behind her, making Snarf jump up in fear at the sudden noise. Lion-O looked at her and was surprised to see an expression of anger on her face.
"What's wrong?" He asked. Leanne sent him a nasty glare, and he almost flinched. Almost.
"What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong," Leanne said waving the scroll at him, "That old cat man is going senile! He gave me this piece of junk and told me it would help me in some idiotic way." Lion-O took the scroll from her hands and opened it up, he recognized the document right away as one of the ThunderCats' treasures, the ancient document that was carried by the strange species in its travels around third earth. Leanne sat herself down on his bed, crossing her arms angrily and pouting. "If he thinks a bunch of old names is going to help me, he's crazy."
"You know these people?" Lion-O asked her, Leanne looked over at him.
"Of course I do! They're my ancestors." Leanne said, she snatched the scroll from him, rolling it back up, "Every last stinkin' one of them, including him."
"Him?" Lion-O asked, Leanne shook her head.
"It's nothing." She said, she looked back over at Lion-O, "Is there anything we can do to waste time? Because I get bored pretty fast." Lion-O shrugged.
"We could just talk." He said, his eyes lit up, "You could tell me more about technology!"
"No." Leanne said instantly, "No more tech talk." She thought for a second, "Let's just play icebreaker instead."
"Icebreaker?" Lion-O asked, "Is that a game?"
"Kind of." Leanne said, "It's basically where I ask you a question, and you ask me a question. It can be about anything you want, except technology!" She added the last part when Lion-O opened his mouth excitedly. He shut his mouth with a frown, but nodded in consent, "I'll go first." Leanne shifted so she sat directly in front of Lion-O with her legs crossed Indian-style, "How old are you?"
"Seventeen." Lion-O said, "How old are you?"
"Seventeen." Leanne said, "So we're the same age." Lion-O nodded, "Okay… Is Tygra your actual brother? Because you look more like your dad, and he looks nothing like him at all."
"That's probably because Tygra's adopted." Lion-O said, "He's not my actual brother, but we've grown up together."
"Ah." Leanne said, "Okay, your turn."
"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" Lion-O asked.
"No. It's just me and my mom." Leanne said.
Lion-O looked at her in surprise, "What about your dad?" He watched as her expression darkened slightly.
"…I never knew him." She said quietly, "My dad walked out on my mom before I was born." Lion-O looked at her sadly.
"I'm sorry," He said, "I didn't know."
"No, no, it's cool." Leanne said, not wanting him to worry, "We get on okay. It's not like we're totally miserable all the time. My mom and I are doing just fine."
"Oh." Lion-O said, "So… your turn?" Leanne nodded.
"Okay…" She took a second to think, "Oh! I got one…"
For about two hours, they simply kept asking each other questions about the other's life. Leanne learned that Lion-O was a simple man (cat?) who was still considered childish in the eyes of his people. She realized that, to the ThunderCats, technology was a myth of legend that no one had ever actually seen with their own eyes before. Lion-O learned that Leanne wasn't considered 'normal' back home, and when he asked her to elaborate, she didn't, giving the excuse that it brought back bad memories.
For two hours, they sat together and talked, answering each other's questions until they were called for dinner.