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Visions of the Heart

Chapter 2

The cheetah looked startled as she stared at her young king. She knew her breaths were coming in quick rasps and she swore that the lion could hear her heartbeat pounding in her chest.

"Cheetara, are you all right?" The lion's voice was laced with concern. "What happened… did you see… something?"

"I… I'm not sure." The cheetah wanted to tell him what she had seen, but it was such a quick flash that she wasn't sure exactly what to say. "I'm sorry Lion-O, but I'm afraid I'm a bit lost without Jaga's guidance."

Lion-O approached her slowly and settled down next to her. "I know that he was your mentor," the king began, "and I imagine that you're feeling about as lost as I am right now. My father never got the chance to guide me in the use of the sword either." The young king placed a hand on her shoulder and looked intently into her eyes. "I promise you that we're in this together, you and I. We'll figure out how to use these gifts that we've been given."

The cheetah immediately felt her tension release. She smiled at the red-headed lion and placed her hand on top of his. "Thank you. I can't tell you how much that means to me."

"Were you meditating?" the lion inquired.

"Yes. Or, at least I was trying to meditate." Cheetara sighed. "I am having some trouble focusing."

"Well, how about from now on, we try to meditate together?" He looked intently into her eyes. "You can teach me the basics and maybe it will help us both see things a bit more clearly."

"I would like that very much. How about we try it tonight after set up camp again? Maybe after dinner?"

"Consider it a date… um… what I meant was…"

The cheetah giggled and Lion-O's heart panged with warmth as he saw her face brighten, her laugh one of the most beautiful sounds he had ever heard. "I know what you meant."

Lion-O felt his cheeks flush, but managed to chuckle along with her.

"Um, Lion-O?" Cheetara worried her bottom lip, hesitant to continue and not meeting his eyes.

"What is it?" Lion-O studied her, wondering what thought had made her bright smile fade away.

"Maybe we can keep this… between us?" She forced her tangerine eye to meet his. "I don't think the rest of our group would understand."

Lion-O barked out a laugh. "Well, I don't know about the kittens, but Tygra sure would have something to say about it. So, our secret then?"

The cheetah nodded and smiled again. Lion-O stood and offered his hand to pull her up. "The others are waiting, so let's get moving before they send out a search party."

Tygra looked up curiously as they reentered the camp. "Took you long enough to find her," he growled.

"I was meditating," Cheetara said softly. "I'm ready to go now." She hoisted her pack on her back and started off down the path with Kit and Kat walking on either side of her chattering happily.

Lion-O and Tygra retrieved their packs and followed suit. They trudged down the road and found houses that had been gutted by the lizards in MummRa's army with no sign of the families that had once inhabited the dwellings. Sadness tugged at Cheetara's heart as she thought of the warmth and love that had once lived in these homes. She glanced at Lion-O and saw her feelings reflected in his face. His azure eyes were full of sadness and sorrow.

Before she could go to his side, Kit and Kat scampered on ahead and picked through the debris on the side of the road. Cheetara looked to her right as Tygra came up beside her. "How are you holding up?" he asked gently.

"I'm all right," she sighed. "And you?"

He shrugged. "I'll survive." He gave her a small smile. "I haven't seen you in a while."

"Jaga was keeping me busy," she said. She didn't add that it was because of her frustrating visions that she spent extra time training.

"Imagine my surprise when I saw it was you in MummRa's temple."

"I had to stay with Jaga," she told the tiger. "I had to help him." Guilt assaulted her as she once again thought of her vision and wished that she could have done more to save Claudus' and Jaga's life.

She became aware of Lion-O's blue gaze fixed on her. She gave him a small smile to show that she was okay and turned her attention back to Tygra.

He grinned and quirked an eyebrow at her. "Now that we're traveling together maybe we can get better acquainted again."

Before she could answer, Kat ran up to them and held out his treasures. "Look what I found," he said excitedly. His hands contained a pile of various trinkets.

"That's great, Kat," Cheetara told him.

"Look at mine!" Kit echoed, not to be outdone by her brother.

Lion-O walked up on Cheetara's other side. "We should probably stop and think about lunch soon."

"Let's go fishing," Tygra suggested as the gurgle of a bubbling stream reached their ears.

"Yeah!" the kittens cheered jumping up and down.

Lion-O had no choice but to agree after seeing their excitement.

"Come on," Tygra told the cheetah, reaching for Cheetara's hand. "I'll show you how to catch fish with your hands."

Cheetara pressed her lips together and let him lead her to the pond. Wading into the water, she allowed him to make a big show of describing to her how to catch a fish. When one swam by close enough to brush against her leg, she focused and anticipated its movement, reaching down with her cheetah speed to catch it in a tight grasp before tossing it onto the grassy bank.

The kittens and Lion-O cheered for her while Tygra stared at her in shock. "That was incredible," he finally grinned.

She shrugged. "The speed helps."

With her help, it didn't take long to catch enough fish for lunch with some leftover for dinner. The kittens started a splashing war and soon involved Tygra in the foray. The stress of the past few days fell off of his face and he laughed along with them. Cheetara tried to slip out of the stream unnoticed; she didn't feel like laughing. Jaga's loss was still too fresh. Reaching for her arm, Tygra tugged her in front of him and the kittens soon had her soaked through.

Lion-O watched how his brother seemed to relate to the cheetah with practiced ease and jealousy churned in his gut. He shoved it away impatiently. He had other things to worry about like finding the Book of Omens and keeping himself and the other surviving ThunderCats alive.

They traveled the rest of the afternoon until darkness began to fall across the land. It didn't take long to set up camp and get a fire going. They ate a meager supper and then the kittens fell exhausted onto their bedrolls. Tygra settled by the fire as Cheetara slipped away to meditate. Lion-O used the excuse of washing their few dishes in the stream that ran nearby and hurried away to join her, eager to begin their first meditation session.

They made short order of cleaning the dishes and tableware before hastily tossing them into the bucket and setting it down next to the spot Cheetara had chosen for them to have their first meditation session. They made it a point to walk further down the stream to ensure privacy.

It was a beautiful and serene spot. The moonlight provided enough light so they could see each other if they were within a few feet of one another. They were far enough from camp that they couldn't hear the other Cats, crickets and the subtle sounds of the water flowing in the stream the only sounds breaking the silence of the evening.

Cheetara sat in a cross-legged position and motioned for Lion-O to do the same across from her. "Jaga found it easier to stay connected with me this way."

The lion nodded and waited for further instructions.

"Would you like to go first?" she inquired. "That way, I can talk you through the breathing exercises and try to guide you as Jaga has always done for me."

The young king, a bit nervous that he would be a total failure in his attempt to use Sight Beyond Sight, had hoped that he would go last, but the logic in her words made it difficult to disagree.

"Okay, I'll try. Just don't laugh if nothing happens." Lion-O tried to joke, but there was an element of nervousness in his words.

"Lion-O, I would never do that. I told you that my visions are completely out of my control. Even when I do see something, it doesn't always make sense and it often is just a flash." Cheetara sighed and ran her fingers though her long blonde hair, tucking it behind her ears. "I often wonder if my 'gift' is nothing more than a coincidence."

Lion-O relaxed as he realized that the cheetah was apparently as nervous and frustrated as he was. "Jaga didn't think so," the lion rebuked. "I've heard him telling my father about your sixth sense and how he was working with you to develop it. He believed in it whole-heartedly and I know that Jaga was a wise man who didn't put his faith in unworthy causes."

She looked up at the red haired king and couldn't help but smile. Lion-O wondered if she could hear his heart skip a beat from where she was sitting.

"Thank you, Lion-O." Relief was evident in her voice. "I don't know what I would do if you weren't here."

"Well, lucky that we won't have to find out because we're a team now." He smiled and his bright blue eyes caught the moonlight. She noticed that his eyes were stunning, even in the dim light of the moon.

She had always been a good judge of people—Jaga believed that was part of her talent, her sixth sense as he called it. She wasn't able to read minds, but she was able to get a general sense of whether or not someone was kind, trustworthy or genuine. Lion-O overwhelmed her intuition with a sense of honesty and kindness. Although his father didn't appreciate his unique view of how to rule Thundera, she believed in him and trusted him.

"Okay," he said as he fidgeted nervously after laying the Sword in front of him. "I'm ready."

"Close your eyes," the cheetah instructed and waited until he followed her direction. "Breath in through your nose and out through your mouth," she murmured softly. "In…..out….in…out." She waited patiently as Lion-O began to relax, the rigid set to his shoulders beginning to slacken. Jaga had always told her that the more uptight she was, the less she would take from her vision.

"That's right, Lion-O. In and out." After a while, the lion was completely relaxed. "When you feel ready, pick up the Sword." She waited and watched as his hands flexed where they rested on his thighs. Hesitantly, he picked up the Sword of Omens.

"Continue your breathing," she murmured in a low, even tone.

Lion-O held the Sword before his eyes and said in a voice that sounded slightly unsure, "Sword of Omens, give me Sight Beyond Sight." His crystal blue eyes widened as the Sword drew him into a vision.

Things were black for a moment, but slowly a shape began to materialize in the middle of his line of sight. It was technology as he had never seen it before. This, well, he didn't know what to call it other than a 'metal beast' was huge with claw-like feet that extended before it. It churned across the ground powerfully, the sleek silver beast shining in the sun. The thing moved with a roar, spitting dirt up behind it as it powered through the forest. And then the vision was gone and Lion-O was by the stream sitting across from the blonde-haired cheetah. He blinked and nearly dropped the Sword, startled to have lost the vision so suddenly.

Cheetara studied the young king before her. His blue eyes had become unfocused as the Eye of Thundera drew him in with its power. His face had gone still in concentration and his shoulders had stiffened once again. The cheetah could tell that he was trying too hard and tensing up as the vision unfolded. Suddenly, he jerked the Sword from his face and nearly dropped it. She stared at him and waited for him to speak.

Instead, he growled in frustration. "I lost it. Whiskers!"

"But you saw something," Cheetara stated.

Lion-O exhaled and stared morosely at the weapon he held gingerly in his hands. "Only a piece and I have no idea what it means."

"It's a start," she encouraged. "Do you want to tell me about it? Maybe we can figure it out together." She tilted her head to the side and gave the lion a friendly smile.

"Sure, okay," he said. "I saw technology, but nothing I have ever seen before. It was a big metal…..beast. I don't know another way to describe it," he apologized. "It ate up the ground with speed and had huge feet that looked almost like claws." He stopped and his shoulders slumped. "That's it. That's where the vision ended. It sounds pretty stupid, doesn't it?"

Cheetara thought for a moment. "No, Lion-O. If the Sword showed it to you then it's not stupid. It's likely that you will see more if we continue to try another time. You're tensing up once Sight Beyond Sight begins. It is important to stay relaxed. The breathing exercises will help with that."

Lion-O nodded. "Thank you for helping me." He found himself noticing the way the moonlight reflected across her fur in the most becoming way. He felt as if he could listen to the soft lilt of her voice all night long.

"You are very welcome," she smiled, feeling herself begin to tense up as she realized it was now her turn to mediate and practice the skills that Jaga had taught her. A sense of loss overtook her as she thought of her mentor and dear friend.

Lion-O frowned as he watched the cheetah worry her bottom lip with her teeth as she stiffened before him. "I can tell you are tensing up," he said softly. "Are you okay?

"I'm fine. Just a bit distracted." She shifted on the ground as she tried to get into a comfortable position.

"What is it?" Lion-O asked gently. "What's wrong?" He pinned the cheetah with an unrelenting gaze.

She found herself under the lion's spell. His eyes captivated her; it was almost as if she could see into his very soul. A flash of her earlier vision of Lion-O lying as still as death on a barren dusty ground flashed into her thoughts and she shivered.

Lion-O frowned. "Are you cold?" The night was rather warm; maybe she was getting sick.

"No," she sighed. "I was just thinking of Jaga." She still wasn't sure what to tell her king about her vision. "I think this is the time I miss him most."

"You were close," Lion-O commented.

"Yes; he was like a father to me." Cheetara felt tears welling in her eyes and hurriedly blinked them away.

"It's okay to cry, you know," Lion-O assured her. "You might feel better if you do."

As a cleric, Cheetara was used to being in control of her emotions. She sucked in a deep breath and forced a smile. "I'll be fine. Let's get started."

Lion-O looked skeptical. "If you're sure…" he trailed off.

"I am," she reassured him.