17

Leanne jolted awake from where she had been sleeping. She was breathing heavily, covered in a cold sweat and shaking. Her silver eyes were wide as she tried to get rid of the image in her mind of her nightmare. She looked around the campsite, seeing that she was the only one awake except for whoever was on watch at the moment, and she saw that it was Panthro. She got up and started walking over to him, finding him sitting on the hood of his tank, a scope in his hands as he looked for any enemies.

"Panthro…?" She called up to him, her voice still shaking from her nightmare.

"Yeah?" He looked down from where he was sitting, and his eyes widened when he saw the state she was in. She didn't look physically hurt, but she was trembling like a leaf, and tears were forming in her eyes, and she looked as if she had been scared out of her mind.

"I-I…" Her voice was shaking just as much as she was and tears began to roll down her cheeks. Panthro put down the scope and jumped down from the tank, and Leanne ran over to him, wrapping her arms around his middle, because it was the only place she could reach and she began to cry into his chest. Panthro looked at her in surprise, and looked around, not sure how to react, because something like this had never happened to him. His gaze softened and he carefully wrapped his arms around her shoulders, comforting her.

"Leanne, what is it?" He asked softly, "What's wrong?"

"Panthro, I had the worst dream." Leanne said, putting her head on his chest as her tears kept falling, but she didn't sob, "I dreamt about you… You were fighting this monster, I don't remember what it looked like, but you were fighting. And you won, but the monster was faking being dead and… and it cut you up and tore you to pieces." She began to shake again, "You were in so many different parts… And there was so much blood… And I… I didn't do anything! I couldn't! When you were fighting, I just stood there, and I didn't do anything. And when you were in pieces, I tried to put you back together, but I couldn't, and there was so much blood…! It was everywhere…! My hands got soaked in it, and it turned into this huge pool and—!"

"Whoa, whoa." Panthro held up a hand, "Calm down, it was just a dream."

Leanne looked up at him, "But what if it wasn't?" She asked, "What if it was a vision?" She pulled herself closer, "I was so afraid… I thought something had happened to you."

"There's nothing to be afraid of." Panthro said, "I'm fine. Nothing's happened."

"But what if something does happen?" Leanne asked him, "What if something goes wrong, and I'm not there to help?" She sniffled, "Panthro, I'm scared."

"Everything will be fine." Panthro said, "There's nothing wrong and nothing is going to happen. And besides, if something does happen, we're ThunderCats. We're the strongest species on Third Earth. I won't die." He pulled her away from him, and she sniffled, wiping away some of her tears.

"But, Panthro—" He stopped whatever she was about to say by putting his hand on her head.

"Don't worry about it." He said, "Once we get the stone, we'll just be one step closer to beating Mumm-Ra, and one step closer to getting you home." He ruffled her hair, and Leanne couldn't help the smile on her face. "Now, go back to sleep. We're going after the stone in a few hours." Leanne nodded silently and went back to her sleeping bag.

Although she was glad that nothing had happened to Panthro, she couldn't help the uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

The next morning, everyone was up and riding in the Thunder Tank, speeding off to the elephant village. Leanne had her head stuck out of the top of the tank, Lion-O on her other side while Tygra sat in the seat beside Panthro, with Cheetara sitting in between them. Lion-O had just finished explaining the vision he had seen with Leanne about the Spirit Stone.

"So, the stone's been in that blasted hut all along?" Panthro asked him.

"Not exactly." Lion-O said, "It's in the Astral Plane."

"And where on Third Earth are the Astral Planes?!" Panthro asked irritably.

"It isn't on Third Earth at all." Leanne said, "The Astral Plane is a… well… if you think of Third Earth as a piece of paper, and let's say, my world as another piece of paper just below it, the Astral plane is sort of between there, only, it pierces the papers, and kind of attaches them. It's basically the space between spaces. The hut is just a portal to that, like a wormhole or something."

"What?" Panthro asked, not understanding a word of what she had just said.

"The Astral Plane is a spirit realm." Cheetara said, explaining it in terms a cat might understand, "The hut is just a gateway in." Panthro still didn't get it.

"Is it in the village or isn't it?!" He snapped.

"It is, and it isn't." Tygra said. Panthro let out a low growl in frustration.

Lion-O pulled out the Sword of Omens, smiling at Leanne, "It took a while, but I think I finally got the hang of this thing." Leanne smiled at him.

"I knew you would." She said.

"There was a reason the sword chose you." Cheetara said, smiling up at him.

Leanne ducked down, having had enough of the wind blowing in her face and went to go and talk to the twins while they rode on. Lion-O smirked at Tygra.

"It's probably the same reason she's gonna choose me." He said, before going into the tank after her. Tygra scowled.

"And just like the sword, one more thing you don't deserve." He muttered under his breath, knowing no one had heard him.

Leanne ran her fingers through her hair like a brush to get rid of any tangles the wind had caused. She looked over at the twins as WilyKit swung back and forth on a small shelf in the tank, her brother next to her, and Snarf on her other side.

"I'm excited we're going back to the elephant village." WilyKit said, "I can't wait to see Aburn!"

"Like he'll even remember you." WilyKat said with a grin, "What's so great about that place, anyways?"

WilyKit dropped down from the shelf to sit next to her brother, "I guess it just feels like… home." She said with a sheepish shrug.

WilyKat scowled and reached into his backpack, pulling out the scroll of the illustration of El Dara, the place they both wanted to go, "We'll be home when we get to El Dara." Leanne sat down on the bench at the other side of the twins. Lion-O came up and sat beside her, smiling. She smiled back and made herself comfortable on the bench.

"You know, that El Dara place might not even be real." She said to them, "How do you know it exists and that sketch isn't of some other place?"

"It says it's El Dara right here in the corner!" He said, pointing to some small writing just below the sketch.

"Okay," Leanne said, "But even if you do find it, you shouldn't expect a city of treasure. It's probably all ruins by now."

"What makes you say that?" Lion-O asked, wondering where this opinion was formed from.

"It's a city of treasure." Leanne said, "A place like that was probably filled with thieves going after it, and maybe even a warlord or two. I wouldn't be surprised if that place was reduced to nothing but rubble." She linked her fingers behind her head, "Greed does crazy things to people." The twins looked worriedly at each other, finding some truth in her words. Leanne, seeing that they looked ready to cry, immediately jumped up to amend her statement, "O-Of course, I could be completely wrong! I mean, who's to say that no one outside the city has ever found it? It could just as well still be a city of treasure, perfectly fine." She slumped in relief when she saw their expressions brighten.

She almost fell over when the tank jerked to a stop, and she looked up when she heard Panthro exclaim, "By Thundera!"

"The elephant village!" Cheetara exclaimed.

Leanne, sharing a worried glance with Lion-O, went up to the top of the tank, looking to see huge, black smoke stacks coming from where the village was. WilyKat and WilyKit followed them.

"What happened?" WilyKit asked when she saw it. Lion-O pulled out his sword and Leanne's hand overlapped his on the handle.

"Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight." They said, the handle extended over their eyes, which began to glow as a vision filled their sight.

They saw the entire village, all of the elephants, had been taken captive by lizard soldiers, who had them all rounded up in the village square, weapons making sure they didn't move. They also saw Grune, who was apparently the leader of this particular squadron of lizards, going into the hut with a confident smirk on his face. It was there that the vision ended, but that was all they needed to see to know what had happened.

"We're too late!" Lion-O said, "The lizards have found the hut!"

"Panthro, take the tank a little bit away from the village." Leanne said, "We can't have the lizards spotting us." Panthro nodded and turned the tank, going over to a large plain at the base of the huge almost mountain where the elephants lived.

When Grune entered the hut, he shouted aloud at what he saw. The hut was practically empty except for a broom resting in a corner. He growled in fury as he grabbed it, and stalked back over to where they held the elephants captive. The lizards all moved out of his way, not wanting to be on the receiving end of the saber tooth's fury.

"You leather-eared pacifists said the stone would be here!" He snarled at them.

"…Said what would be where?" Aburn asked. Grune's fury only grew.

"That fabled elephant memory…" He growled, he turned to where a small figure rested against one of the lizard's huge battle robots, "Lucas!" A young human boy with hair so bleached it was almost white, turned his ghostly green eyes, one of them covered by his incredibly bleached bangs, to the saber tooth who had called his name. "You said the stone was in the hut! The only thing in that hut was this broom!"

"The broom," Anet said, pointing to it, "We've been looking for that." Grune growled as he snapped the broom in two with his claw. He turned back to Lucas, who looked at him with an impassive expression, the only one who seemed to be completely calm.

"Where. Is. The. Stone?!" He growled to him.

"I told you." Lucas said, his British accent showing in his voice, "I may be a seer, but I can only see for so far. I am no master, like my grandfather, so I can't see every little thing that happens. But as I said, I saw the stone in the hut. There is no reason to doubt my visions. The elephants even confirmed it."

"But it's not there!" Grune said, "Your vision must have been wrong!" Lucas's eyes turned into a fierce glare and he stiffened, he took a step towards the saber tooth, anger flooding his veins.

"I may be a novice at clairvoyance," He growled, "But never say they're wrong. My visions are never wrong!" His anger towards him was enough to make all the lizards flinch back at the young man's anger, but Grune stood his ground. He towered over the young man, and could easily throw him to the ground, if it were not for his great magical power, he would have done so just for having him talk back to him so disrespectfully.

They had met Lucas shortly after his last exchange with the ThunderCats. He claimed that he was seeking power for his clan, the Steelworths, who were the fourth most powerful in the world. He said that there was something that was holding his family back, and he sought something that would help to increase his family's power so as to help them gain some upper hands in the magical community. Grune agreed to let him join with them, only if he swore his loyalty to him and followed his orders. Which he readily did, so he could help his family. But he had regretted bringing the gifted young man along, since all he had done since he joined, besides tell him different visions, was disobey every order he gave and practically nothing else. He was a nuisance, in Grune's opinion. A man hardly worthy of being a soldier under his command, but damn it all, his power of visions was so convenient! If it wasn't for him, they would have never have even known about the hut.

Grune turned around towards the elephants, "Give me what I came for!" He ordered.

"And that would be…?" Anet asked.

"The stone!" Grune snarled.

"Oh, that." Anet said, "Have you checked the hut?" Grune growled in frustration.

"Perhaps you need a reminder of the stone's importance!" He said, he picked up his spiked bludgeoner, powering it up and firing off a green lightning bolt at a tree growing at the cliff.

"Such violence…" Lucas muttered as he looked at the smoking remains of the tree.

"Anything to say now?" Grune asked the elephants with a smirk.

"Why, yes," Anet said, "Thank you."

"Excuse me?!" Grune exclaimed.

"You've really opened up the view!" Anet said, smiling at where the tree had been.

"And our garden will get more sunlight, too." Aburn said. Lucas let out a snort of laughter as the elephants all agreed with them. Grune slammed his weapon down on the ground in anger.

"You have until the third moon rise to remember," He said, gesturing to where the first moon had already risen, "Then, I start calling the herd!" Lucas shook his head, as if unable to believe the situation he got stuck in. "And you!" Lucas looked at Grune when he pointed to him, "Work on those visions! I want that stone as soon as possible!" Lucas sighed.

"Yes, O mighty commander Grune." He said with a mocking bow towards him. Grune growled at him, and Lucas gave no reaction to it.

Panthro looked through a scope at the lizards waiting for them at the village. He growled when he saw the all-too-familiar saber tooth. "Grune…"

"Grune is there?" Lion-O asked, hoping that wouldn't see the saber tooth again. Panthro's brow furrowed as he saw Grune speaking to a person whose face he couldn't see, who was dressed in a black zip up hoodie and a pair of dark denim jeans. He turned his head away from Grune with a haughty expression, infuriating him. When he turned his head, Panthro was able to see that he was human.

"I think another one of your relatives is there, too, Lee." He said, handing her the scope. She looked at him in surprise and took the scope, looking through it to the young man who was speaking back to Grune, and when the cat just about raised his hand to strike him, he raised his hand, and an invisible force pushed back the cat into one of the still battle bots of their army. Grune stood up and yelled at him, and the boy snapped something in return.

"…I've never seen him before." Leanne said, "I don't know who he is, but whoever he is, he's clearly working with Grune, even if he's not happy about it." She handed the scope back to Panthro, who clipped it to his belt for use later.

"We need to go about this delicately." Lion-O said, "He's got hostages."

"Aburn…?" WilyKit murmured quietly, looking concernedly at the village.

"What are you thinking, Lion-O?" Cheetara asked him.

"Let's wait until nightfall." Lion-O said, "Use stealth."

"Are you kidding?!" Tygra snapped, "We can't waste time waiting for the right window! We should move in now! I say we take the tank, it's our only chance against their firepower."

"Why do you have to challenge every command I make, Tygra?" Lion-O demanded in frustration.

"Because I was the one who actually studied military strategies with Father, while you goofed off!" Tygra snapped back.

"The tank can't make it." Cheetara said, "Besides, I always considered stealth to be your biggest strength." Tygra looked away, muttering something under his breath that Leanne couldn't hear.

She reached over to try and give him some comfort, but the second her fingers made contact with his fur, she suddenly saw a vision.

It was a misty morning, and Leanne was looking through Tygra's eyes. She realized she was living another memory. Tygra looked ahead at a huge pair of oak doors covered in intricate patterns of the clerics of Thundera. At the front of the door, resting her head on her knees, was a young Cheetara.

"…Have to hold on…" She muttered to herself. Leanne realized this must have been the time when she was being tested by Jaga. Tygra quietly and quickly went over and put a white flower by her side, then quickly ran back to the pillar he had been hiding behind. He watched as Cheetara looked up and saw the flower. She picked it up, gazing at it with a smile, then looked up at Tygra. She smiled at him, and Tygra smiled back. He started walking over to her, planning to talk with her, but stopped when he heard footsteps and the sound of a cane hitting the stone ground, he quickly went back to his hiding place as Jaga approached the cleric's headquarters. Cheetara stood up, holding the flower and smiling hopefully at him, but he didn't even glance at her, not even when he spoke.

"Please. Go home. You're wasting your time." He said, then he walked through the doors of the building, leaving Cheetara outside. She returned to her original sitting position, and Tygra walked away, his courage for wanting to speak with her suddenly gone.

The next day, it was pouring rain, and even dressed in heavy metal ThunderCat armor, Tygra still went to see how Cheetara was doing. He looked and saw that she still sat in front of the door as Jaga walked by her.

"Still here?" He asked as he opened the door. He didn't get a reply from the young girl, and he didn't expect one as he shut the huge oak door.

Leanne could tell that Tygra wanted to go over and say something to Cheetara, but he didn't move.

The next day, after the rain had passed, and the sun was shining high in the sky, Tygra could see that Cheetara's actions were leaving her very weak. She was slumped against the door of the building, and she had gone three days without food or water, with the exception of the flower that Tygra had given her (If she ate it, that is), so exhaustion and dehydration was to be expected. Tygra stayed at the pillar, still unmoving as Jaga came by once again. He looked down at Cheetara, noticing her weak state. She let out a small moan and began to fall over, collapsing after all her days of waiting, and Jaga caught her by the shoulders before she could hit the ground and set her upright.

"It seems you can show patience after all." He said. Cheetara's eyes fluttered open and she looked up at the elderly cat, "The clerics accept you, Cheetara of the ThunderCats. You may enter." Cheetara gave him a small smile and he returned it as he reached down and hooked his arm under her legs and around her back, picking her up and carrying her into the cleric's building. Once the doors closed, Tygra dashed to the spot where Cheetara had been sitting, he looked, and saw the remains of a flower petal that he had given her and he smiled. She had accepted his gift to her. Then he frowned sadly when he realized that, what with the cleric's strict training, he would probably never see her again. He turned away from the building, going back to what he had been doing before he had even seen Cheetara.

Leanne pulled her hand back immediately, surprised that she had lived through another person's memory again. Tygra raised his eyebrow at her when he saw her widened eyes, and she quickly looked away.

Lucas's eyes widened when he felt a sudden surge of power, and turned his attention away from where Grune was berating him for attacking him with magic and turned his head to the forest beyond the village, where Leanne and the others were hiding.

"…And that's— Are you even listening to me?!" Grune snarled when he noticed Lucas's attention was elsewhere.

"…Did you feel that?" He asked, his voice quiet.

"Feel what?" Grune asked, annoyed. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Lucas grin.

"Seems I may be able to leave this place sooner than I thought." He said, "I sense a great amount of power nearby."

"Is it the Sword of Omens?" Grune asked, thinking the ThunderCats had come for a visit.

"No…" Lucas's grin grew wider, "It's better than that. I've only heard stories about this power, and it's no fancy sword." He walked to where the wall was, his eyes searching for any sign of life, but finding none. "It's a Redoric… And the Untamed at that." Grune raised a curious eyebrow at his unusual behavior, but didn't care enough to keep thinking on it. He went over to the young boy, and grasped his head in his huge hand, turning his head away from the forest.

"You can worry about some kind of magical power later," He said, Lucas pushed his hand away from his head with an angry glare, only to have Grune grab the front of his black hoodie and bring the boy's face to his, "Right now, I want you to focus on finding that stone!" He tossed him back the ground carelessly, and Lucas stumbled a bit before standing and glaring at the saber tooth. "Or would you rather you be without an entire army to help your family?" Lucas ground his teeth in anger, but did as he asked, and went to find a comfortable place to perform his magic.

Everyone waited down in the plains for the sound of the evening bell, having made sure to hide the tank before doing so, to make sure they weren't caught. The sun had almost completely fallen behind the sky as Third Earth's third moon began to rise. Leanne wasn't too far away from him, but she was closer to Lion-O than she was the tiger.

Ever since his confession to her, things had become so awkward between them. She couldn't bring herself to look into his eyes without being reminded of it and having her face flush in embarrassment and humiliation. She would much rather have it where Tygra was just the annoying big brother she never had, instead of the older brother of the guy she likes that likes her. She felt like she was in some cheesy cable drama where shocking stuff happened every two minutes (And by 'shocking' she meant stuff that didn't make sense until after they had the characters explain it because they wanted their audience to be so amazed by the drama). She didn't know what kind of God was in charge of Third Earth, but whoever it was must be having a field day with all of this screwing of her life.

"Ever since we were cubs," Lion-O said to her, "Tygra's fought me at every turn."

"Well, he is a very proud person." Leanne said, giving him a small smile.

"It goes deeper than that." Lion-O said, "There's always been some kind of… darkness in him." Leanne glanced back at where Tygra was.

A darkness? She thought. She wasn't comfortable around the tiger, but that didn't mean he was evil. She looked back at Lion-O, "Maybe it's because he's been living in his little brother's shadow his whole life." She said, "Try and see things from his point of view. When you were cubs, and you had those little play fights, he always won, right?" Lion-O nodded, "Well, now that person that lost those battles against him is now commanding him. It's natural to want that position back after such a long time." Lion-O said nothing, considering her words.

He looked up when he heard the heavy ringing of the evening bell, his body tensed.

"It's time." He said to the others, "Let's move."

"…Still think we need the tank." Tygra muttered as they started sneaking towards the village.

They were quiet as they headed up the mountain, being completely silent as they reached the entrance to the elephant's village, which was surrounded by lizard guards. Lion-O had it all planned it out, and he had Snarf go towards them, telling him to wait until they spotted him to run. Snarf was going to be a little distraction for the guards to lure them away from the entrance so they could take them down without worrying about other lizards coming after them. When they did spot the little creature, he started dashing around their legs playfully, making sure to bring a pair of them over to where Panthro was. When they came to him, he knocked their heads together hard enough to make them pass out. Now, they attacked. Lion-O pulled out his sword, taking out two lizards with each swing as he moved. Leanne, not wanting to draw too much attention to them, used her powers to make the earth beneath some of the lizards turn into very loose quicksand, making them sink into the ground. Once they were up to their necks in the stuff, she took away as much water as she could from the ground, making it harden, trapping them in the ground. Tygra made himself invisible so as to get an advantage on the lizards, sneaking up from behind them and throwing them to the floor. Cheetara took her staff and whirled it in the air expertly before slamming it in the ground, where roots like a trees started growing from the bottom of the staff, moving like bark-covered tentacles and wrapping around the legs of a few lizards, lifting them up in the air and throwing them back down on the ground. Leanne looked at the cheetah, who seemed just as surprised as she did that the staff had that kind of power.

"Very nice." She said. As they worked to take out the rest of the guards, WilyKat and WilyKit started running up the stairs to the village to see if there was anything they could do to help the captured elephants.

When they reached the top, they looked with wide and disbelieving eyes at the sight of all the elephants trapped by the lizards.

In their entrapment, Anet glanced up at the sky and saw that the third moon had risen into the sky. He looked back when he saw Grune approaching.

"The third moon is rising." He said, "Are you ready to talk?"

"I love a good discussion." Anet said, "Any topic in particular?"

Grune growled angrily, and turned to where Lucas was sitting in the lotus position, his eyes glowing a bright green as he focused on a small charm in front of him which he had hidden under his hoodie. From what Grune understood, it was a special talisman that had been passed down in his family for centuries for the specific use of the eldest seer of that generation. Lucas was an only child, so it had to go to him. He said it was a special catalyst that helped him to focus his abilities in seeing. It was also glowing a bright green color as he it floated in front of him. "Lucas!" His shout broke Lucas's concentration and the talisman fell to the ground, much to Lucas's aggravation, "Have you found the stone yet?"

"If you hadn't broken my concentration, maybe I would have!" Lucas snapped at him. Grune growled and glared at him, and Lucas reached down, picking up his talisman, "But my visions remain the same, the stone is in the hut, as I said before." He stood up, putting the talisman back around his neck and tucking it under his clothes. He walked beside Grune, looking at the elephants, wondering what he would do next.

"Very well," He sighed, he turned back to Anet, "And since you elephants have more than tried my patience," He turned to the lizards, "Start with Aburn!" Murmurs went through the crowd of elephants at the mention of his name. One of the lizards went over to the Aburn, using his gun to get him to move away from the crowd, and he did so with hands raised in surrender.

"Aburn!" WilyKit exclaimed, "We have to do something!" She jumped down from the wall that she and WilyKat had been sitting on, just as everyone else came up and hid in the bushes from the lizards.

"Kit! Wait!" WilyKat hissed to try and stop her, but she kept going. She ran up onto one of the elephant statues and went to the top of it.

"No one. Touches. My. Friend!" She shouted at them, catching everyone's attention.

"Hey, it's Kit!" Aburn said happily, as if his life wasn't in mortal peril, "And look! You brought Linus and your friends!" Everyone looked to the bushes where Lion-O and the others were hiding.

"What do you know?" WilyKat said with a smile, "He does remember us."

Leanne sighed exasperatedly, "Yeah. Great. Way to go, Aburn." Lion-O was the first to move from his hiding place and out of the bushes, everyone following suit. Lucas's eyes immediately went to Leanne, who didn't notice his gaze as she glared at the lizards. They all prepared their weapons for the upcoming battle.

Grune pulled out his bludgeoner, pointing it at Aburn, "Weapons on the ground, or the grass-eater gets it." He threatened, powering it up. Everyone tensed at his request, "I assure you, I won't miss a target this big." Lion-O grit his teeth angrily, but did as he asked, and threw his sword to the ground, where it shrunk back to its smaller size, and everyone put their weapons down. Grune glanced at Panthro when he noticed he had yet to put down his nun-chucks, "General…" He raised his bludgeoner higher to make a point, and Panthro growled in the back of his throat.

"Traitor," He spat as he threw the weapon down. Grune looked at Leanne, his eyes narrowing at the sight of the Jewel of Omens around her neck.

"And don't think I can't see through your little play." Grune said, "Take off the necklace." Leanne bit back a snappy remark and reached up to do as he asked.

"Now just a moment, Grune." Lucas said, holding up his hand. Leanne, her hands still posed to remove the necklace looked at him oddly. Lucas walked with an air of confidence as he moved over to her. Leanne stiffened and took a step back once she realized he was walking to her, but he didn't falter until he was standing right in front of her. He reached up for the jewel, which sent out a bolt of red lightning at his hand. He pulled his hand back, but didn't seem surprised that it had hurt him. He looked up at Leanne, who was the same height as he was, and cupped her chin in his hand. Lion-O let out a feral growl at the sight of him touching her, and Tygra did the same. Leanne was stiff in his hand, unmoving, even though she really wanted to kick this guy's groin. "Let her wear it."

"Excuse me?" Grune growled, "You want her to hang on to that kind of power?"

"No, you idiot." Lucas said, turning to face him, still holding Leanne's chin, "The necklace is acting as her catalyst. It's not giving her powers an extra boost, it's keeping them under control." He looked back at her with a predatory smirk, "After all, this is the famous Untamed that we're talking about. Think of her body as a huge lake held back by a dam, and imagine that the necklace she wears is the floodgate. Remove it, and all that power could come bursting out of her, the fact that it's managed to stay all cooped up inside her for this long already without even a single leak is truly a mystery." Leanne looked at him oddly.

"What are you talking about?" She asked him. Lucas only chuckled and patted her cheek.

"Oh, you innocent little thing." He cooed, "Seventeen years old, and not even aware of your abilities? It almost brings a tear to my eye." Leanne glared at him, smacking his hand away.

"You better explain yourself." She said to him.

"Is that a threat?" Lucas asked, at the mention of a threat, the lizards around them started powering up their guns, ready to fire at Leanne. Lucas kept a confident smirk on his face, "But, I will answer your request. You are Leanne Redoric, no?" She looked at him in surprise.

"How do you know my name?" She demanded.

"Your magical ability is known worldwide." Lucas said, "The famous Redoric that never got her proper magic training. It's a wonder why your mother ever renounced it. I heard it was because of some traumatic event when you were a child." Leanne tensed at the mention of her past, "But I couldn't care less, really. You see, Leanne, I'm from a less powerful family called Steelworths. We're right under your family in terms of magic, but before our generation, we were the third highest power in the world. The only reason your family got bumped up is because of you. The famous Untamed Redoric child."

"What untamed?" Leanne demanded, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you don't know?" Lucas asked in false innocence, "Without proper training, a witch such as yourself could lose control of your powers and, well, die, but you're different. You had no training whatsoever, and yet here you are, alive and well. Your mother must have put a very strong restraint spell on you to last seventeen years. You're known as the Untamed because you have never once tapped into your magical power, and it's just been building and building after all these years, and you are still alive. I bet you could even rival the Potter family in power if you wanted to." Leanne eyed him worriedly as he grasped her chin again, "Seventeen years of untapped magical power. What I'd do to get my hands on that."

"Lucas, you're doing a great job in your monologues," Grune said sarcastically, making Lucas's smirk disappear, "But we have more important things to worry about now." Lucas released Leanne's chin, scowling at the saber tooth as he stuffed his hands in his hoodie pockets, walking over to him. When he went back to the place where he had been before, Grune moved away from Aburn, going to where Lion-O's sword lay and picked it up. "At last, the sword falls into worthy hands. Of course, that's not what I came here for." He pointed the small blade at Lion-O's throat, "Where is the Spirit Stone?" Lion-O glanced at the sword, then smirked mischievously up at Grune.

"Have you checked the hut?" He asked, Grune's hand shook in fury as he held the sword.

"Oh…" He growled, bringing his hand down, "You may be prepared for your death," He turned to the lizards around the elephants, "But are you prepared for theirs?!" The lizards powered up their weapons, ready to fire. Grune turned back to them, waiting for an answer.

"I don't know where it is." Lion-O insisted.

"And yet, you came back to the village." Grune said, he turned and raised his hand. "Wipe out the entire herd!" The lizards all aimed their weapons at the elephants, and the lizard bots aimed their guns at the heard, powering up their huge cannons. The elephants all looked at them in fear. In it all, no one noticed Tygra slipping away from the group.

"No! Wait!" Leanne said quickly, "I'll… I'll tell you where it is."

"Leanne!" Lion-O hissed.

"Do you want to watch them die?" Leanne demanded, turning on him. Grune, accepting her answer, raised his bludgeoner, telling the lizards to stop.

"If you say it's in the hut…!" He said, letting the threat dangle in the air.

"It's not in the hut," Leanne said, "It's through it, in the Astral Plane. The hut is just a doorway to it." Grune smirked when he had gotten the answer he wanted.

"Show me." He ordered her. Leanne took a step forward to show him, but Lion-O stopped her with his arm.

"If you're taking her, I'm going with you." Lion-O said, glaring at Grune. He looked curiously at Lion-O for a long moment before speaking.

"Fine." He tossed the sword to Lucas, "You're coming, too." Lucas rolled his eyes and followed them as they went to the hut. Lizards stood outside, guarding it in case something went wrong.

When they walked inside, Grune looked up at the huge wall of the small (For elephants) hut, "If the hut is just a doorway," He said, turning to Leanne, "Then how do we open it?"

"With a key." Leanne said, she pointed to the Sword of Omens in Lucas's grasp. Lucas looked at the sword with interest as Leanne spoke to Grune, "And you know very well that Lion-O is the only one who can use it." Grune considered this for a moment, and then looked back to Lucas, nodding at him, giving a silent command. Lucas looked at him like he was crazy for a moment, then sighed, looking over at Lion-O.

"Don't do anything stupid." He warned, then tossed him his sword. Lion-O took it, and lengthened the blade. He glanced at Leanne, who inconspicuously shook her head. No need to let Grune know that the sword was more powerful when she used it along with Lion-O. He looked at the wall, letting the sword show its power, sparks flying from the blade. He ran at the wall, and drove the sword through it. A bright, golden glow came from the sword, slowly growing larger on the wall. The glow was so bright that the light flooded out of the doorway to the hut, revealing itself to everyone outside.

"Incredible…" Grune breathed. He ran towards the portal once it was big enough and pushed Lion-O aside, taking the sword from him. He turned to the doorway and shouted, "Prepare a party to enter! But first," He raised the sword up, "Kill them all!" The lizards powered up their huge cannons again, aiming for the elephants.

"No!" Leanne cried. She ran out of the hut, ready to stop them, but something beat her to it. Out of nowhere, familiar rockets shot up and onto the robots, exploding on impact and destroying them. A huge, metal claw shot up from the cliff side, taking out one of the robots as it did, and hooked into the ground, dragging on the ground until it safely secured itself on the cliff as more rockets came out and hit the ground, taking out a few lizard soldiers. Another claw shot up and secured itself, and Leanne heard the familiar rumbling of the tank as it used the claws to help it to climb up the cliff and jump over it into the village, Tygra at the wheel.

"I don't believe it!" Cheetara exclaimed.

"Me either! Who said he could drive my tank?!" Panthro growled.

Taking advantage of Grune's distraction about the tank, Lion-O ran forward and swiped his sword from the saber tooth. Leanne and Lion-O headed outside the hut, ready to fight off the lizards as Lion-O lengthened his sword, and Leanne held out her palms, making two balls of fire appear.

Lion-O ran at the lizards, taking out as many as he could with one swing, and taking out the rest with another. Leanne headed straight for the lizard robots, building up huge power into her flames and shooting them at the mechanical beasts. She smiled at the sound of them exploding on impact. Lucas watched her, his green eyes never leaving her form, then smirked.

"Oh, you silly girl." He muttered, he raised his hand and Leanne, who had previously been flying in the air, suddenly jerked down to the ground when the chain of the Jewel of Omens went tight around her neck. A choking sound escaped her throat as she was yanked back. She looked back to see Lucas holding up his hand. Leanne scowled and ran at the teen, ready to fight him. Immediately, once she got close enough, he reached for the Jewel of Omens. Leanne saw this and jumped back before he could grab it. "Do you think I'm an idiot, Leanne? You think I can't tell what your catalyst does for you?"

"What are you talking about?" Leanne asked him, "Ever since we met, you've been spouting stuff that I don't understand!"

Lucas let out a laugh, "I'm talking about that necklace of yours." He pointed to the Jewel of Omens, "It's clear that with the catalyst, your power is significantly weakened, but without it, you wouldn't even be able to tap into that power. So, if you were to lose it, you wouldn't be any more threatening than these elephants!"

Leanne frowned and held up her hands, holding fire in her palms, ready to fight him, "That doesn't mean I can't take you on!" Lucas smirked and held up his hands, a strange, smoky green energy covering his hands.

"Bring it, Redoric!" He challenged. They both charged at each other.

Meanwhile, Cheetara and Panthro had beaten their weapons away from the lizards. Cheetara went straight for the robots, destroying each one as she used her speed to help her jump up higher on top of them. Panthro took out some of the foot soldiers, and once they were out of the way, Panthro turned to where Grune was.

"You're mine, Grune!" He snarled, eager to get his revenge on the former soldier.

"Stop him." Grune said calmly, speaking to the soldiers. They all charged at Panthro, who knocked each one out of the way.

"Drag myself out of a pit…!" Panthro growled as he beat his way through the lizards, "Nearly starve to death wandering the desert to get at you!" He knocked out three lizards in one swing, "You think a few lizards are going to keep you safe?!" Grune only backed away as the lizards kept coming to Panthro.

"I'm afraid this will have to wait for another day!" Grune called to him, "I can see when the odds are not in my favor. Lucas!"

"Huh?" The blonde boy in question turned his head at the sound of his name being called. His clothes were slightly singed, and both he and Leanne were a little out of breath.

"It's time to retreat!" Grune called.

"Retreat?!" Lucas echoed in shock, he jumped back before Leanne could land a hit on him. He let out a frustrated groan, "This isn't over!"

"Believe me," Leanne said, "I'm hoping the same thing." Lucas glared at her, and followed Grune over the side of the cliff with the remaining lizard soldiers, all of them riding away on special bikes. Panthro stood at the cliff side, glaring at their retreat.

Once they were gone, all the ThunderCats as well as Aburn and Anet, stood at the portal to the Astral Plane.

"Finding the stone will not be easy." Anet said, "The Astral Plane is unlike anything you have ever encountered. There, thought itself, is formed into reality."

"That sounds like oodles of fun." Leanne said sarcastically.

"Okay," Lion-O said, he took a deep breath in and out, "I can do this." Leanne smiled and went up, kissing his cheek. Tygra's eyes widened at the gesture.

"We can do this." She said, "I'm coming with." Lion-O seemed a little apprehensive at the idea, but he nodded. Leanne was a tough girl, she could handle herself.

"I'm going with you, too." Tygra said, "This mission is too important for just the two of you to handle alone."

Lion-O scowled, "Thanks, but I don't need your help."

"Funny," Tygra said, "Because I already saved your tail once today." Lion-O glared at him, and Leanne looked uneasily between the two brothers.

"I sense a negative energy between you two." Anet said, looking at them.

"Yeah, ever since we were cubs." Tygra said.

"Fine." Lion-O said, "After you." Tygra held out his arms to the door, looking at Leanne.

"Ladies first." He said. Leanne gave him a little smile as she went over to the portal, she seemed a little apprehensive about going in, but she did, Tygra following her inside a moment later.

Lion-O was about to go after them, but was stopped by Anet's hand on his shoulder. "Wait, there is something I must tell you." Lion-O looked up at him as he spoke, "I see something… A vision." Lion-O waited as Anet seemed to stare off into the distance, looking at his vision, "By evening bell tomorrow, you will know a betrayal by your brother that you have never known."

"We don't always get along, but…" Lion-O began, "He wouldn't betray me."

"Anet's visions are never wrong." Aburn said, his voice warning.

"…Never?" Lion-O questioned. Aburn didn't answer him, but he didn't need one. Lion-O, a new feeling of uneasiness filling him, walked through the portal to the Astral Plane.

No one noticed the strange crow with beady red eyes resting on the branch of a tree outside the hut.

"March toward your death, ThunderCats!" Mumm-Ra hissed quietly through the beak, "For in the Astral Plane, Mumm-Ra is all powerful!" He jumped off the branch and swiftly flew into the portal after the three who had gone in. No one seemed to hear the strange laugh that came out of the crow's beak.

I'm sooooo sorry this took so long! I tried one idea, and that was a total fail, so I went back to this.

I'm really, REALLY, sorry!