14
Leanne sat next to Lion-O, their hands linked together between them, as they rode in the Thunder Tank. Tygra sat on her other side, and he could see their joined hands. He glanced up at Lion-O, who gave him a victorious smirk. Tygra only frowned, saying nothing. A 'blip' was heard and Panthro's face came up on a small screen in the tank.
"Book says the Stone is dead ahead." Panthro told them with a grin. Lion-O got up from his place beside Leanne and went up to the screen.
"Then how about getting this hunk of junk moving, Panthro?" Lion-O asked excitedly. Panthro frowned.
"I'm not about to blow out the samouflange again just because you've got no patience." Panthro said, "Slow and steady wins the race, kid." The screen went black, another way of saying that conversation was over.
"Race?" Tygra repeated, standing up and looking at Lion-O with a smirk, "Now that's an idea."
Lion-O smirked back, "You're on." They both pressed a button on the wall with their paws, making two panels at the top of the tank open up. They both jumped through them and ran out to the front wheels of the tank. Leanne and Cheetara pulled their heads out to watch as they opened up part of the front, showing that there were two motorcycles on either side of the tank. They opened them up and jumped into the seats. Lion-O looked over at his brother, "You sure you want to embarrass yourself, Tygra?"
"You've never beaten me at anything in your life!" Tygra shouted back. The tops of the motorcycles closed and powered up, small sparks coming from where they were attached to the tank as they prepared to separate from it.
"On three, then." Lion-O said through a communicator to Tygra.
Tygra started counting, "One, two," Lion-O sped off from the tank. Tygra sighed, "Three…" He sped off, catching up to Lion-O. The WilyKittens watched them round a corner, and looked up at Panthro.
"They're beating us!" WilyKit said with a pout. Panthro looked over at them.
"They're not beating us," He said, "Because we're not racing." The twins and Snarf pouted sadly.
"What Panthro is trying to say, kids," Cheetara said from the open panel at the top of the tank, "Is that he doesn't mind losing."
"Oh, burn! Ha, ha!" Leanne laughed out from beside her. Panthro scowled at them, then looked ahead at the dust trail Lion-O and Tygra were leaving behind them. Not one to turn down a challenge, he smirked.
"Hold on, it's about to get bumpy!" He had the tank speed up and it shot forward with a lurch, sending the WilyKittens and Snarf into the back of their seats, and make Cheetara and Leanne temporarily lose their balance and almost fell back into the tank, but they quickly got back up and watched as he sped up, getting closer to the two speeding cycles as they went through a canyon.
"Faster! Faster!" The WilyKittens chanted, wanting to catch up to Lion-O and Tygra.
"It's looking like slow and steady," Cheetara said, "Doesn't win the race." Leanne's eyes flashed and a grin crossed her face. She leaned over and whispered something in Cheetara's ear, and she grinned. Both girls got up and hopped out on the front of the tank.
"Where are you going?" Panthro asked when he saw them on his hood.
"To give these boys some real competition." Leanne said with a smirk. Cheetara hopped off the tank and sped off on foot. Leanne jumped up, and yelped when her attempt to fly ended up with her going the wrong way. WilyKat and WilyKit looked back, wondering if she had gotten hurt, and jumped back when they saw her fly up beside their window with a sheepish smile. "I'm okay!" She flew off, joining Cheetara as she passed by the two cycles. Tygra and Cheetara gaped at the sight of them going past them. Cheetara smirked when she got ahead of the two boys, and Leanne smirked, sticking out her tongue and winking at them as she started to beat them all. Lion-O smirked at her when he saw her mock-salute him.
"You wanna see fast?" He had the motorcycle speed ahead of them with a lurch, Tygra doing the same, passing the two girls.
Not too far behind them, Panthro smirked as he was catching up to them.
"I got my baby humming now!" He said, "Listen to her purr!"
"Will this make us go faster?" WilyKat asked, reaching out to press a big, red button. Panthro's smirk disappeared from his face.
"Don't touch that!" Panthro said quickly, but WilyKat's finger had already pressed it. A part of the tank opened up, shooting out a huge multitude of rockets.
"Uh…" WilyKat pointed to his sister, "She did it." WilyKit shook her head at the sudden accusation, telling him she didn't do it. Panthro growled, scowling at the twins.
Up ahead, the rockets took the group ahead as enemies, so they made them their targets. Tygra was the first to notice it, seeing the multiple rockets on the motorcycle's radar
"Incoming!" He shouted in warning to Lion-O over their communicators. Leanne and Cheetara didn't hear them because they were outside the cycles, but when they heard the sound of explosions behind them from the rockets hitting the canyon walls behind them, they kicked into high gear. Leanne soared up high, a few of the rockets following her as she did, trying to get rid of them, she flew around in a fast circle, making a couple of them crash into each other and go off at the impact. Leanne smirked to herself and went to go help the others. She was about to go help Lion-O, when he rode up one of the canyon walls, as did Tygra as Cheetara ran up them, and jumped off onto the higher ground into a slightly forested area. The rockets went into the ground and in the trees, missing Lion-O completely as he skidded to a stop to try and turn around.
"That's cheating!" He shouted. He quickly turned the motorcycle around but found that Tygra had already beaten him to the place where the stone was.
"Winner, and still champion." Tygra said smugly to him once he came up beside him. Cheetara and Leanne came only a moment later. Leanne yelped when her landing wasn't quite as clean as she hoped it would be, and landing tumbling on the ground, her head hitting against a large, round statue. She hissed in pain, curling up into a ball as she held her head.
"You okay?" Lion-O asked, coming up to her. Leanne sat up, holding the spot she had hit.
"Yeah," She said, standing up and dusting herself of any dirt, "I just need to find a way to stabilize a flight pattern if I'm ever gonna go that fast again." She looked up at what she had hit, and her eyes widened at the strange statue. It was in a huge, oval shape, at least fifty feet tall, and it depicted what looked like an elephant, with long nose and fat limbs. Only a moment later were they joined by Panthro in the Thunder Tank, and they all looked up in awe at the huge set of stairs before them. It led up to the top of what was either a small mountain, or a large hill.
"Check this out." Lion-O said when he saw it. The WilyKittens ran up to the stairs, Snarf beside them.
"Dude…" Leanne breathed in awe. WilyKat glanced over at his sister and smirked.
"Race you to the top?" He asked her, she stopped her gaping and smirked at her brother.
"You're on!" They started dashing up the stairs as fast as they could. Leanne watched them go up with a grin before heading up after them, the others coming with her.
"It's amazing how much energy they have." Leanne said as she saw WilyKit push her brother to the side so she could get ahead of him. WilyKat ran up after her, shouting about foul play.
"Well, when you're young," Cheetara said from beside her, "You have all the energy you could ever need for anything."
Leanne nodded in agreement.
After climbing to the top of the stairs, they saw a huge gate waiting for them at the top, with unusual designs decorating its stone walls. Leanne gave a low whistle in appreciation at the sight of it. Everyone walked through the gates, looking around at the huge buildings that were on the other side.
"Everything's so… big." Lion-O said as he looked around, his eyes widened when he saw a group of elephants in the middle of the village, sitting still in the middle of a stone circle surrounded by a lily pond.
"Including the residents." Tygra said when he saw them. They were all dressed in robes, sitting cross-legged, eyes shut, and hands together in front of them. They crossed the small bridge over the lily pond and went over to them, none of them acknowledged their presence. Lion-O cleared his throat to try and get them to notice them, but they did nothing.
"Uh, excuse me?" Lion-O said, trying to get their attention again, but it didn't do anything. "Hello?!" The elephants all jumped at his loud voice, looking around them. Lion-O smiled sheepishly, "Sorry." He stepped forward, "I am Lion-O, Lord of the ThunderCats." The elephants stood up, and they all gawked at their height, which was around ten feet.
"I am Aburn." One elephant dressed in an orange robe said, "And you are?" Lion-O looked at him oddly.
"Uh… Name's Lion-O, Lord of the ThunderCats." Lion-O repeated.
"Welcome Lionel." Aburn said with a friendly smile.
"Lion-O." He corrected.
"How can we assist you?" Aburn asked.
"We're looking for a magical stone." Lion-O said.
"We believe it's somewhere in your village." Cheetara said, gesturing to the large village around them.
"What is?" Aburn asked.
"Kind of forgetful, isn't he?" WilyKat muttered to his sister.
"I think he's cute." WilyKit said, smiling up at Aburn.
"Listen, Aburn," Lion-O began, "We're looking for a stone that looks like this." He tapped the Eye of Thundera on his gauntlet that rested on his waist.
"When did you lose it?" Aburn asked
"We didn't lose it." Leanne said.
"So… You have it?" Aburn asked.
"No, we're looking for it." Tygra said.
"And… what is it exactly you are looking for?" Aburn asked, Leanne groaned, smacking her forehead with her hand. Panthro sighed, shaking his head.
"You gotta be kidding me…" He muttered. Everyone heard a rhythmic bumping through the ground, and looked to see another elephant approaching them, he looked much older, and was dressed in robes different from the other elephants around him, walking with a large staff.
"I can't remember the last time I saw a cat in these parts." He said, looking over them, his eyes resting on Leanne, "And I can't seem to recall anyone like you before." Leanne scowled, crossing her arms across her chest.
"You know, this whole never-seen-your-kind-before shtick is starting to get old." She said, "And with your memory, I'd be surprised if you remembered what you had for breakfast!"
"Yes, Anet," Aburn said, turning to him, "They are looking for… Uh…" He paused, and then turned back to the cats, "What were you looking for, Lion-Lord?"
"The stone!" Everyone said at once.
"If it is the Spirit Stone you seek, then you've come to the right place. We have it here." Anet said to them, "Or… we did. Once… Maybe?" He smiled sheepishly, "I'm afraid our memory is not as great as our size. But, please, feel free to have a look around." Lion-O turned and looked around, wondering where they should start their search. Anet laughed, "No, no. Not with those eyes. With that one." He pointed to the Sword of Omens resting in Lion-O's gauntlet on his waist. Lion-O looked at him in surprise, "Yes, I can sense its power. Come with me." He looked to Leanne, "And you as well." Leanne and Lion-O shared a surprised glance before they followed him to a secluded part of the village.
"Why did you bring both of us?" Leanne asked him once they had arrived there, "I mean, I can understand Lion-O coming, but me?"
"You two both have special power that is granted by the stone you share." Leanne looked down at the Jewel of Omens around her neck and Lion-O looked at his sword.
"That's right." Lion-O looked over at Leanne, "Between the two of us, we both have the War Stone."
"Oh yeah…" Leanne said, "I'd forgotten about that."
"And you should know that the sword's power cannot be fully achieved unless it is brought together." Anet said. They both looked at him oddly.
"I'm lost." Leanne said.
"What do you mean by that?" Lion-O asked him.
"In order for the Sword of Omens power to be fully achieved," Anet said, "Both parts of the stone must be together. Your powers must combine in order for it to be at its strongest." Leanne and Lion-O shared a glance.
"How do we combine our powers?" Leanne asked him.
"Your souls must be in harmony with one another, as well as with the stone." Anet said.
"…What?" Leanne looked at him blankly, unsure of what he meant.
"I have an idea." Lion-O said, he pulled out his sword and lengthened it, he held out his hand, "Give me the Jewel." Leanne reached up to undo the chain around her neck.
"No, that is not how it is done." Anet said, the two teenagers looked up at him curiously. "Leanne, was it?" She nodded her head, "Your powers must be combined with his, and only you can use the Jewel of Omens. No animal can try and succeed." Leanne lowered her hands from her neck.
"Okay, then we'll try something else." Leanne said, Lion-O held up the sword, ready to use sight beyond sight, and Leanne reached up, putting one hand on the hilt of the sword, her fingers overlapping Lion-O's hand on the sword.
"Sword of Omens—" Anet cut Lion-O off.
"Together." He said, gesturing to Leanne. She looked at Lion-O and shrugged.
"Sword of Omens," They said simultaneously, "Give me sight beyond sight." The hilt's edges extended, curling around both of their eyes, and they were both surprised when the same vision filled their sight. They could see the Spirit Stone floating around in the darkness somewhere, then the vision stopped. Leanne and Lion-O looked at each other in surprise.
"That's the first time the sword's shown me the stone." Lion-O said in surprise.
"You see?" Anet said to them, "Divided, the power of the stone you both bear is flawed, and weak, but together, it is strong."
"So, I guess we need to spend a lot more time together, huh?" Lion-O said with a grin. Leanne glared at him, but grinned, showing that she wasn't angry with him.
"Cheeky." She said, she patted Lion-O's cheek when she said this. Lion-O grinned and swatted her hand away from him.
"Let's do it again." Lion-O said, Leanne nodded in agreement. Although it was great that they had seen the stone through the sword, they needed to know where it was.
"Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight." They said, only to see the same vision again. The stone itself, but no clue as to where it was, they could still only see it floating in darkness.
"Did you see where it was?" Anet asked.
"No, we just saw the stone again." Leanne said, looking up at the elephant.
"Try once more." Anet said, "And this time, work with the stone." They both nodded and tried again, only to see the same vision.
"Why isn't this working?" Lion-O asked in frustration, "The sword only shows us the stone, not where it is."
"Because you are not in harmony with your sword." Anet said, "Leanne has already become in harmony with her part of the stone." Leanne looked at him in surprise.
"I have?" She asked him.
"Yes, you have." Anet said, "You are able to flawlessly use its power, aren't you?"
"Well, not flawlessly…" Leanne muttered, remembering her fall from earlier that day.
"Your sword is more than a tool, Lion-O." Anet said, turning to him, "It is a part of you. Try again." Lion-O and Leanne's eyes locked, and they both reached for the sword.
"Sword of Omens," They said, "Give me sight beyond sight." Again, they saw the stone floating in darkness, but this time, the vision was cut short because of a loud buzzing that filled their ears.
"I can't concentrate with all that noise!" Lion-O said in frustration, "What is it?"
"The raiths!" Anet said worriedly when he heard it, "They come from the hills for the harvest!" He looked out over the mountain the village rested on, and a huge stream of large bugs came flying towards them. Leanne couldn't help but be reminded of a locust swarm when she saw them flying over the village.
"Whiskers…" Lion-O muttered when he saw them. As the raiths flew over the village, the youngest elephants ran to their parents to hide from the bugs as they flew towards a stone building that Leanne had seen the elephants carrying baskets of fruit into. They went through the open entrance of the building and moments later came out, a huge number of them at a time carrying one of the large baskets. Lion-O and Leanne ran over to where the other cats were, preparing to help the elephants in getting their food back. When they looked over at the elephants, they were all surprised to see that they were in the same positions they had been in when they first came to the village. Sitting with legs crossed, hands together, and eyes closed, looking peaceful.
"Why are they just sitting there?" Panthro growled over the loud buzzing the raiths made.
"I think they're… meditating." Tygra said.
Lion-O went up to Aburn, "Aren't you gonna do anything?"
"But we are." Aburn said, "We are understanding."
"Well, the ThunderCats handle things a little differently." Lion-O said, he reached into his gauntlet and pulled out his sword, "ThunderCats! Ho!" He ran towards the raiths, and every pulled out their weapons, using them against the raiths, trying to scare them away as they swatted at them again and again. Lion-O used his sword, cutting a few of them in half, Cheetara used her staff to knock them away two at a time, Tygra's whip seemed to be doing some damage, taking out about five raiths in one swing, Panthro's nun-chucks were taking out a few of them, but Leanne's wind attacks on the bugs seemed to be doing the most damage, blowing them up and away from the village. As they fought, the deafening sound of the raith's buzzing surrounded them, making it difficult for them to hear anything else, not that the elephant's meditation was very loud. Their attacks, while helpful, didn't take out any of the raiths carrying the baskets of fruit. As they began to fly up higher than where any of them (Leanne excluded) could reach, Lion-O jumped up and sliced through one of the baskets. The fruits fell from the broken basket onto the ground. The others buzzed off into the sky, carrying the rest.
"Have 'em on the run, now!" Panthro said as he watched them fly away.
"Yeah… But they got what they came for." Lion-O said, glaring up at the insects. Anet, once the raiths were gone, came towards Lion-O, who looked up at him apologetically. "They wiped out your harvest."
"They took most of our food," Anet said, "But not all of our food. We still have enough to survive."
"I can't believe how calm you are about this." Leanne said, coming up beside Lion-O, "After all the hard work you put into harvesting that food, only to have those things come and take it from you? I'd be pissed out of my mind and going out for raith blood!" She crossed her arms, "Either you've already forgotten about it, or you have the patience of a saint."
Anet said nothing as he reached down with his trunk and picked up one of the fallen fruits. He held up in front of Leanne and Lion-O.
"In order to get the water it needs to thrive," Anet began, "This fruit suffers the storms. We, too, must endure hardships to live." He lowered his trunk and put the fruit in Leanne's hands. "Such is the balance of the world." He turned to Lion-O, who looked up at the large elephant, "Remember, work in harmony with your sword. Allow the bigger picture to emerge." He smiled at him, "Keep practicing." Leanne, dusting the fruit off of any dirt that was on it, took a big bite out of the orange fruit, and was surprised at how juicy and sweet the fruit was, if not a tad bit tart.
She was so focused on trying to keep the fruit juice from spilling out of her cheeks, she didn't hear Lion-O mutter, "If he's not going to do something about the raiths, then I will."
Leanne swung her legs back and forth as she sat on a wall that overlooked the elephants as they were meditating, for, like, the hundredth time that day. As she came to learn, it was normal for elephants to spend the majority of their days in meditation. It turns out that, if an elephant could spend an entire day in a complete state of meditation, it meant that he was very in balance with the world, and it was an honor to be deemed such. If an elephant didn't meditate for an entire day, then they filled the rest of their time with menial chores, such as cleaning, gardening, washing their clothes, or anything else that needed to be done on a daily basis. The elephants, from what Leanne could tell, lived very peaceful, calm lives. She knew in the pit of her gut that once she and the cats got involved, this peaceful way of life might change. It saddened her a little to think that they were taking away peace from the elephants with their war with Mumm-Ra, but she knew that if they didn't, there was a good chance Mumm-Ra might conquer the world before they have a chance to stop him.
"Hey." She was pulled out of her thoughts by someone's voice. She turned around to look on the other side of the wall she sat on, and looked down to see Tygra looking up at her, "What are you doing?" Leanne shrugged.
"Nothing." She replied, "Just thinking, I guess."
"Mind if I join you?" He asked, Leanne shook her head.
"Come on up." She leaned down and lent him her hand to help pull him up. Tygra took it and she yanked him up so he could sit beside her on the wall. He hung onto her hand when he swung his legs over the side, doing the same as her. When Leanne pulled her hand away, Tygra released it.
"So," Tygra began with a grin, "How are things?"
Leanne looked at him oddly, not used to having a casual conversation of any kind with the tiger, "Um… pretty good. You?"
"They could be better." Tygra said, Leanne looked at him.
"Something wrong?" She asked.
"Yeah," Tygra gave her a serious look, "You could be home." Leanne scowled.
"Oh, so you just came over here to insult me, is that it?" She said.
"No, you misunderstood me." Tygra said, "I'm saying, if I were in charge, I'd make sure you got home, a place you clearly want to be, and not completely forget about the mission altogether." Leanne blinked at Tygra in surprise. Once. Twice.
"That's… really thoughtful of you, Tygra." Leanne said, "And, as much as I appreciate that thought, I wouldn't ask Lion-O to drop everything so we could focus on getting me home."
"Always so considerate." Tygra said, "An admirable trait." Leanne quirked an eyebrow at him.
"Any particular reason you're bringing up this conversation?" Leanne asked him, curious to his odd behavior towards her.
"I just want to know what you think of Lion-O." Tygra said casually, but Leanne got the feeling his intent was anything but casual.
"I think Lion-O is a good leader, and a great guy." Leanne said, she blushed a little as she remembered the kiss they shared, and said quietly under her breath, "…And a good kisser." Tygra heard the mumbling, but didn't understand it.
"What was that?" He asked.
"Nothing." Leanne replied, a little too quickly for Tygra's tastes, but said nothing about it.
"And… what do you think of me?" Tygra asked with a grin, Leanne gave him a look.
"I think you're an arrogant moron." She replied, laughing a little when Tygra's face fell, "But, if it makes you feel any better, I think somewhere deep, deep, deep inside you is a half-decent guy."
"Gee, that makes me feel so much better." Tygra said sarcastically. Leanne laughed again. Tygra didn't laugh, he only gazed at her. Once her laughter had died down, he spoke again, "Leanne… I'd like to… apologize."
Leanne looked at him in surprise, "Apologize for what?"
"When we first met, and for a while after that," Tygra began, "I was kind of jerk to you. Well, actually, I should say I was a big jerk, and… I'm sorry for that."
"Wow, Tygra." Leanne said with a smile, leaning back on her hands on the wall, "This is very big of you."
"Hopefully, you understand why I was such a jerk." Tygra said. After a moment of thought, Leanne nodded.
"I think so." She said, "I was something you had never seen before. You had every right to be suspicious, even if it did tick me off a little." Tygra nodded, looking towards the ground below them. Leanne's smile grew as she looked at him. She knew that apologizing wasn't something he was used to doing, and to actually apologize to her like this was difficult for him and his pride. She reached over and patted his shoulder in a friendly way, making him look up at her, "Thanks for sucking in your pride and saying sorry. I really appreciate it."
Tygra nodded, "I'm glad." He grinned at her, "You hungry?"
Leanne shrugged, "A little bit. Why?"
"I was going to go grab some food." Tygra said, he hopped down from the wall and looked up at her, "You coming?"
"Sure." Leanne said, she hopped down from the wall and walked by him as they went over to where the elephants had been kind enough to give them some of their food for their meal that night. As they walked through the village, Leanne saw Cheetara perfecting her skills with her staff, and she happened to glance over at them. Her eyes widened for a second at the sight of them together, and Leanne waved at her with a smile, oblivious to her shock. Leanne looked around the village curiously, easily finding Panthro, Snarf, and the WilyKittens, but Lion-O was nowhere in sight. "Hey, where's Lion-O?" Tygra looked back at her as they walked.
"He took off a while ago." He said, "Said something about dealing with the raiths."
"Oh." Leanne said, "Well, hopefully he won't do anything to kill himself."
"I somehow doubt that." Tygra said, Leanne nudged him.
"Lion-O's stronger than you think he is." She said.
"So you think." Tygra replied, Leanne rolled her eyes.
"Let's just eat, I'm hungry." She walked ahead of him to where some of the harvested fruit was and picked one up, happily taking a bite out of it as Tygra did the same with his own fruit.
As dusk fell over the village, Leanne found herself sitting with WilyKat and WilyKit as the elephants meditated not too far away, however, this late in the day, most of them were preparing for when the night would come. She sat, listening as WilyKit played out a tune on her unusual instrument, that same wonderful tune she always played that was beautiful, but was a bit melancholic as well.
Apparently, Leanne wasn't the only one to notice as Aburn walked over to them.
"That song you are playing," He began, looking down at WilyKit, who stopped to look up at him, "It's very… sad."
"It's a lullaby." WilyKit explained to him. Leanne looked at her in surprise, so that's what it was, she had always wondered.
"Our mother used to hum it to us." WilyKat said. Leanne frowned sadly at the mention of their mother. She couldn't help but wonder what her own mother was doing at that moment…
"While you miss her greatly," Aburn said, "Know she always lives on through your song." WilyKit looked down at her instrument and smiled a melancholy smile as she held it up, "Oh, but, please continue." Aburn said with a smile, "I didn't mean to interrupt."
WilyKit started up her tune again, and jumped when she heard an unusual trumpeting noise. She looked over at Aburn, who was using his trunk as a horn, playing out a tune to match WilyKit's while making it less melancholic. She smiled at him and stood up, continuing the tune with Aburn. WilyKat and Leanne stood up as well, walking along the walls in the village as they kept playing together. In a sort of challenging way, WilyKit started to speed up the tune, and Aburn matched the new pace with ease. Wanting to join in the fun, WilyKat pulled out another strange instrument Leanne had never seen before, putting one end of it under his foot and holding out the other end to stretch out the strings connecting both ends. He started plucking them, incorporating his own tune into the song. Before he started though, he pulled something out of his pockets and tossed a small tambourine-like instrument to Leanne so she could play with them. She smiled and did so, using the tambourine at every beat of the song. Their music began to draw the attention of another pair of elephants, who walked over to their group, swaying in-time to the music. They stomped their large feet to the beat of the song, making a drum-like sound as they pounded it against the ground.
Before long, other elephants began to join them, and they soon had their own little mini-parade going through the village. The elephants let the twins and Leanne ride on their heads as they played their instruments, more elephants using their trunks like trumpets, matching the tune. When they reached the center of the village, they were put down from atop the elephants' heads and Leanne couldn't help but notice how WilyKit made the tune to her mother's lullaby more happy and upbeat. The elephants easily accompanied the tune, as did Leanne and WilyKat with their own instruments. As they continued to play, they reached the end of the song, and WilyKit gave it her all, planning to go out with a big finale, she played the tune up high, and she held out the last note of the song, and the elephants' trunks sounded loudly, holding notes as well. Leanne felt the sounds going through her, and was tempted to cover her ears from the sheer volume of it. She and the twins watched with wide eyes as different stone elephants suddenly cracked and burst from the sound. They glanced at each other worriedly, thinking they might get in trouble for it, but were surprised when the elephants only laughed when they saw it.
"Uh… What just happened?" WilyKit asked, looking at the remains of the statues.
"It seems we achieved perfect harmony." Aburn said, smiling down at her, "A beautiful, and powerful thing." WilyKit looked down at her instrument with a smile.
"Wow." She breathed.
"That's very cool." Leanne said, coming up beside her. She patted the top of the little kitten's head, "You got some serious lungs on you, Kit. I'm impressed." She grinned widely at her at the praise.
"And what about me?" WilyKat asked, Leanne smiled at him and ruffled his hair.
"You have very skillful fingers. Perfect for playing an instrument with strings." Leanne replied. WilyKat smiled as he swatted her hand away from his head.
As the sun slowly began to set behind the mountains, Leanne found herself watching the sunset, leaning back comfortably on the roof of one of the buildings in the village. She found it strange that she felt so peaceful here, and was content to watch the sun set in the distance. She smiled to herself as she thought that the peace in the village was rubbing off on her.
"Leanne?" She sat up and looked down to see Cheetara on the ground a good twenty feet below, "What are you doing up there?" Leanne shrugged.
"Nothing." She replied, "It's actually pretty nice. Want to join me?" Cheetara smiled at her.
"Sure." She easily climbed up to the roof of the building and the two girls smiled at each other in greeting as Cheetara moved to sit beside Leanne, who lay back on the roof again. Cheetara looked out towards the sunset she was watching, "It's beautiful."
"Yeah…" Leanne mumbled, she shifted slightly, putting her hands behind her head as a makeshift pillow, "I never really did stuff like this back home, but that was only because the landscape was never this amazing."
"Third Earth is a beautiful place." Cheetara agreed. After watching the sunset for another few moments, Cheetara turned to Leanne, "Can I ask you something?"
Leanne turned to her, "Sure. What is it?"
"It's about you and… Tygra." Cheetara began apprehensively. Leanne, seeing this, moved to sit up so she could be eye-to-eye with Cheetara, "Are you two close?"
"Well, we're friends, I guess, so…" Leanne shrugged.
"No, I mean closer than that." Cheetara said, Leanne's eyes widened as she realized what she was asking.
"Oh, no! No, no! God no!" She quickly shook her head, "No, Tygra and I are just friends! I would never see him that way. Tygra's more like a big brother to me than anything."
"And how do you think he sees you?" Cheetara asked, Leanne blinked twice as she tried to think.
"I don't know." She said with a shrug, "But I don't think he sees me romantically. Tygra's more a friend than anything else. Being his girlfriend never even crossed my mind." She raised a suspicious eyebrow, "Why do you ask?" She was surprised when she saw Cheetara blush.
"Well… I was just wondering." A wide, mischievous grin spread on Leanne's face.
"Cheetara, do you like Tygra?" She asked, "You know, like, like like?"
Cheetara didn't say anything, but her blush deepened. Leanne had her answer.
"Oh my gawd! Cheetara!" She squealed in excitement, "You have a crush on—!"
"No, shh!" Cheetara reached over and covered Leanne's mouth before she could say anything, looking around to make sure no one was nearby. Leanne only giggled underneath her fingers.
"Myew like Tygwa!" Her voice was slightly muffled by Cheetara's hands.
"Yes, I do, now please be quiet!" Cheetara whispered harshly as she pulled her hands away from her. Leanne's grin was still on her face.
"Cheetara, I think that's cute." Leanne said, "You and Tygra don't really make a bad couple. How'd you even like him anyway? Wasn't this journey the first time you'd ever met him?"
"No, actually, I first met him a long time ago," Cheetara said, "Back when I first wanted to be a cleric. He may not seem like much to you," She reached into her cuff and pulled out an old withered plant, "But to me he's very kind, and sweet." She handed the plant to Leanne, who looked at it oddly, "When I first went to the clerics, I failed the final task they had set forward because it was a test of patience, not speed. I had nowhere else to go, and I promised I wouldn't leave until they let me back in the building and made me a cleric. I waited outside their temple for days, and just when I was on the brink of giving up, I found this beside me." She pointed to the plant stalk in Leanne's hands.
"A dead plant?" Leanne asked confusedly.
Cheetara shook her head, "A day astrid flower. Each petal is said to have a day of life trapped within it." Cheetara reached over and took the dead stalk from her, "It gave me the strength I needed to endure the rest of my days. It was a gift from Tygra." She looked at it fondly, "I've always kept it with me since that day."
Leanne smiled softly at her, "Aww. That is sweet." She leaned back and lay down on the roof again, "I'm still not interested in him, though. He's all yours."
"Good to know I don't have to worry about it." Cheetara said, tucking the stalk back into her cuff. "And since we're on the subject of liking certain people," Leanne felt a sinking feeling in her stomach as she heard her mischievous tone, "Do you like someone?" Leanne blushed, turning her head away from Cheetara.
"Not really…" She mumbled.
"You're a liar." Cheetara said.
"I am not!" Leanne said, shooting up into a sitting position, her face still very red.
"You are, too!" Cheetara said, wearing the same grin she had worn only moments ago, "You can't fool me, Leanne. It's so painfully obvious that you—!"
"Shushshhh!" Leanne hissed, going over and covering Cheetara's mouth like she had done to her. Cheetara easily removed her hands.
"It's Lion-O, right?" She asked, Leanne's face turned completely bright red, almost matching the shade of the Jewel of Omens around her neck.
"…Yeah." She sat back down and Cheetara smiled at her.
"So, what made you like him?" Cheetara asked, "Since it's just as obvious that he likes you."
"I know that." Leanne said, Cheetara looked at her in surprise.
"You do?" Cheetara asked, "How do you know?" Leanne blushed, realizing what she had just said.
"L-Lucky guess." She said, not meeting Cheetara's eyes and looking back out at the landscape.
"You're lying again." Cheetara said. Leanne blushed.
"I-I just know, okay?" She said.
"How do you know, though?" Cheetara asked, "Tell me how you know." Leanne shook her head, too embarrassed to speak, "If you don't tell me willingly, I can always find other ways to make you tell." Leanne looked over at her curiously and was about to ask what she meant, but couldn't because Cheetara had started tickling her. Leanne burst into laughter as she tried to get her to stop.
"No! Ha, ha! Cheetara! Stop! Ha, ha!"
"Tell me how you know!" Cheetara demanded with a grin as she kept up her torture.
"Cheetara! Ha, ha, ha!"
"Tell me!"
"Stop! Ha, ha, ha, ha! Stop it!"
"Tell me!"
"Ha, ha! We kissed!" Cheetara stopped, and Leanne took in deep breaths as she recovered from Cheetara's tickling.
"You kissed?" Cheetara asked in surprise.
"Don't say anything to the others." Leanne said, looking over at her.
"How? When?" Cheetara scooted closer to her with a smile on her face, "Tell me everything."
"Well… You remember that Firsar thing the other day?" Cheetara nodded, "Well, after that whole… episode… I had a nightmare. When I woke up, I went to go wash my face, and… Lion-O noticed I had woken up." Her blush returned, "He… comforted me, and, before I knew it, we were kissing…" She looked over at the female ThunderCat, "And, I mean, Lion-O's a good guy, you know? I mean, he's nice, and really gentlemanly, and he doesn't look that bad, so…"
"No, I see it," Cheetara said, "There's just one thing I'm not entirely certain of." Leanne looked up at her.
"What?" She asked.
"Aren't you two completely separate species?" Cheetara asked, Leanne nodded, "How does that even work?"
"Well, my Nana had a relationship with a Cat," Leanne said, "I don't think it was that bad, at least for her."
"Wait, what?" Cheetara gasped, "When was this? How do you know that?" Leanne blanched, realizing she had never told Cheetara about that particular part of her adventure in the Book of Omens.
"Oh, yeah… I never told you that, did I?" She said, smiling sheepishly, "Okay, remember when Lion-O and I went into the book? Well, see when we got there…" Cheetara listened as Leanne explained the part of her Nana's relationship, as well as the pregnancy she found out about.
"I don't know what happened to the baby, but that's pretty much what I experienced in there." Leanne said conclusively.
"What do you think happened to the baby?" Cheetara asked, Leanne shrugged.
"I have no idea." Leanne replied, "Although, I'm pretty sure it was stillborn. If you mix the DNA of two separate species, and, by some miracle, you get a fetus, chances are that baby's not going to live for very long."
"And if it lived?" Cheetara asked, Leanne shrugged.
"If it did, I suspect it lived somewhere on Third Earth." Leanne said, "I don't know what happened to it, and I kind of don't really want to know."
"Hmm…" Cheetara put her hand to her chin thoughtfully. After a moment, she turned and said, "I guess it's better not to go looking for answers when you don't know the question."
"I'm not sure what you mean by that, but if it means the subject is dropped, that's great." Leanne said. Cheetara smiled.
"Yeah, that's what it means." She said. They both looked back out, and Leanne gave an unhappy groan when she saw that the sun had already sunk behind the mountains.
"We missed it." She whined with a childish pout.
"Well, now we can see the three moon risings." Cheetara said. Leanne looked over at her in surprise.
"Third Earth has three moons?"
Leanne walked around the village, carrying her flashlight with her so she could see through the darkness of the night. As she walked past the village gate, she heard the sound of footsteps pounding against the ground. She turned, putting her flashlight on whoever was coming, and saw Lion-O running through the gate.
"Where have you been?" Leanne asked him, "We're supposed to be practicing with Anet!" Lion-O ran up to her, resting his hands on his knees as he stopped, catching his breath. Leanne noticed his state and looked at him oddly, "And why are you so tired?"
"Come on!" Lion-O said with a grin as he grabbed her hand and started running with her.
"Wait, where are we going?!" Leanne demanded as she tried to keep up with him. "Lion-O!" He ran all the way to where some elephants were meditating, and called out to one of them.
"Aburn!" The elephant looked up when his name was called and looked curiously at Lion-O as he and Leanne came over to him.
"Aren't you supposed to be practicing with Anet?" Aburn asked.
"I thought I'd do you a favor instead." Lion-O said with a grin, "I took care of your raiths. They won't be bothering you anymore." Aburn's reaction was not one she was expecting.
Aburn shot up from where he sat and looked at Lion-O with wide, fearful eyes, "Oh! You shouldn't have done that!"
"What?" Lion-O looked at him confusedly, "Why?" He would have thought that the elephants would have been thrilled to learn the raiths wouldn't bug them anymore.
"I… don't remember." Aburn said, putting his hand to his head as he tried to remember, "But, there's a good reason!"
"Because the harmony of the universe is now out of tune." The three of them looked over at Anet as he walked over to them.
"Okay, so a few bugs got squashed." Leanne said as the other ThunderCats walked over to them, wondering what was going on, "What's the big deal? They're just bugs."
"You see, Leanne," Anet said to her, "The raiths may have taken some of our crops, but their loud sounds were all that kept something far worse away from our village." As he spoke, the ground shook periodically, as if something was banging against it, almost like two-ton footsteps. They ran over to the wall where the sound was coming from, and everyone looked down to see what looked like a giant, rock man with a tree growing on the top of his head climbing up the mountain to the village. Anet came up beside them, "Without its natural enemy patrolling the sky, this creature will do worse than just eat our food."
Lion-O looked down at the golem as he came closer to the village with wide eyes, "I didn't know…"
"We elephants may not remember much," Anet said, "But we never forget there is a delicate balance to all things." He turned around, "Come. Let us meditate." He walked over to where the other elephants were already meditating, and Lion-O turned to the others.
"Come on, we can't wait for it to come to us." He said, "It'll destroy the entire village." He ran off, planning to fix the problem he made. Everyone followed him, except for WilyKit, who took off in another direction. WilyKat went over to her.
"Where are you going?" He asked her.
"To meditate." She replied. WilyKat gaped at her. He glanced back at the others, and then ran after his sister, having no intention of leaving her alone.
Lion-O pulled out his sword and ran at the golem, slashing through its outstretched hand and cutting through one of its legs. Cheetara used her staff to smash through its other leg. Tygra used his gun to shoot out one of its arms, and Panthro chucked boulders at it. When one of its arms went for Leanne, she jumped up over the hand that had been damaged by Lion-O's sword and dashed up the arm. When she reached the golem's shoulder, she put her hand down on it and closed her eyes, seconds later the stone in the arm was rumbling, cracks forming in the shoulder and down through the back until the entire body was covered in those cracks. She opened her eyes and stood up, raising her hand, and the entire golem crumbled beneath her. She moved over to where Lion-O was and they looked down at the rubble, thinking they had beaten it.
All of them were surprised when the rubble began to move, reforming back into the golem. When it stood up again, it settled its stone eyes on the five of them, and a tree on the top of its head began to glow green. Suddenly, huge boulders surrounded them, trapping them inside a stone container. Once they were out of his way, the golem continued onward towards the elephant village.
Inside the container, the ThunderCats tried to break through it, but could not.
"Leanne, can't you do something?" Tygra asked her, knowing she could control the earth.
"I would if I could!" Leanne growled, she banged her fists against the stone, trying to destroy it, or at the very least move it aside so they could escape, but it wasn't any good. It seemed when someone else was controlling it, Leanne couldn't use the elements. She pounded her hands against the stone uselessly, feeling completely powerless.
The golem went past the village walls, and seeing that the elephants weren't offering any resistance to him, he went through the village and opened his mouth, eating away at the stone buildings throughout the village. WilyKat and WilyKit looked at the golem with wide eyes.
"What should we do?" WilyKit asked, watching as the golem chowed down on the buildings.
"Simply let the answer come to you." Aburn said wisely, peeking his eye open in his meditation. WilyKit gazed at him for a moment, contemplating his words. She looked down at her hands, and saw her instrument still rested in her grasp. She looked up at the stone golem, and she was struck with an idea. She placed the circular instrument to her lips and began to play her mother's lullaby, with a quickened pace, hoping the elephants would catch on. When she reached the last note of the lullaby, she blew it loudly, and the elephants raised their trunks up, joining her with loud trumpeting. They held the note long and loud, the sound affecting the golem, making cracks grow all over its stone body, and seconds later, the golem collapsed into rubble on the ground, never to re-form again. When it was destroyed, the elephants all stood, and WilyKit bore a victorious grin on her face.
"Lovely harmony, sis." WilyKat said, coming up beside her.
When the golem was destroyed, the spell wore off on the boulders he had used to trap the ThunderCats and Leanne, who quickly made their way out once they were able to. They went back up to the village to join the elephants and the twins.
The next morning, the elephants got to work in picking up the rubble from the previous night, planning to put them to good use in their village to rebuild the homes that were lost, and maybe some new ones.
As they worked, Lion-O and Leanne spoke to Anet with the other ThunderCats listening off to the side.
"You see, Lion-O," Anet began, "When you fail to look at the bigger picture, it becomes impossible to know the consequences of your actions."
"I guess it's no wonder why I'm struggling with sight beyond sight." Lion-O said, disgruntled.
"Let's try it one more time." Anet suggested gently. Lion-O pulled out his sword, and Leanne walked over to where he was, placing one hand on the hilt, her fingers overlapping Lion-O's.
"Sword of Omens," They said together, "Give me sight beyond sight." The Eye of Thundera began to glow, the hilt extending as it did as commanded, giving the two of them sight beyond sight. They saw the Spirit Stone, a small, pink stone, and they could see it resting somewhere inside a small (For the elephants) hut just outside the meditation grounds. When the vision dissipated, Lion-O and Leanne looked at each other with wide eyes.
"It's in the hut!" Leanne said in surprise to him. They both dashed off towards the hut, everyone following them, anxiously waiting for the stone to be found. As they ran, Aburn noticed the commotion and went over to them, wanting to know what was going on. When they reached the door, Lion-O yanked it open, and Leanne dashed in. She looked around the small hut with wide eyes when she saw it was completely empty, save for a broom resting in a corner. Lion-O came in a second later, seeing the same thing she did. They both walked back out of the hut, looking at the others who waited for them.
"I don't understand." Lion-O said, more to himself than the others.
"The sword showed us the stone was in the hut." Leanne said to Anet, "But we didn't see it."
"Perhaps a different approach is in order." Anet said, Lion-O and Leanne looked up at him, wondering what he meant, "Go to the forest of Magi Oar. One of the most enchanted places on all of Third Earth. There, the power of the sword will be amplified, and your connection with it." Leanne and Lion-O glanced hopefully at each other from this news. Lion-O looked back at Anet.
"Where is this forest?" He asked.
"Um…" Anet looked over at Aburn, "Isn't it…? Uh…"
"I was just there." Aburn said, trying to remember. He put his hand to his head, and Anet rubbed his trunk as they both tried, "Let me think…"
Everyone else gave a collective sigh at their reactions.
Panthro reached up and dragged his hand down his face, "Oh, brother…"
"I think we're gonna be here for a while." Leanne said with a sigh as she planted her hands on her hips.
I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!
I think I'm just so used to typing this up in class when my teacher's not looking, that I'm not used to typing it at home on break. :(
But, it's X-mas break, and I will do my best to update this story (And some others) over that break! I promise!
PS - Happy early Holidays, peoples! ^_^