*authors note, Therja is a character created by our lovely Tara and used with her permission
Therja plopped down at the kitchen table as Leanna made him a cup of Snarf's special tea, he wasn't much of a tea drinker, fact was he really didn't like the stuff, but he wasn't about to insult his kind hostess, in fact he would of rather had a thunderian beer or a shot of something stronger, but looking at the time, it was nearly 3 am, no time for a good drink, so instead he would take the lioness's offer of tea.
He watched her quietly as she poured the boiled water into a white tea pot that had the thundercat insignia on the side. Placing special strainer inside filed with tea leaves and place the lid on the top and set it on a small tray along with two cups, picking up the tray the lioness carried it over to the table and sat down.
"So what exactly is it you do?" she asked curiously.
"Oh this and that" Therja shrugged.
"Sounds interesting" Leanna said eyeing him suspiciously, "so how is it you think you can help us?"
"Because I am able to find out things you and your people cannot" Therja said sitting back.
"Oh really?"
"Don't look so skeptical little darling, "Therja smiled, "look at me, do I look like your average cat?"
"No, frankly you look like a mutt" Leanna simply stated and poured the tea.
Therja threw back his head and laughed, "Exactly what I am, and you don't pussyfoot around things do you?"
"You mean I'm not afraid to speak my mind, then no" Leanna said, "and I didn't mean it as an insult"
"None taken" Therja said taking the sip of the tea, to his surprise it was pretty good, "I respect people who can be straight with me" he pulled out a folder from the inside of his soft leather vest, "I was given a copy of the report from the fire, I need to know more about this woman Katra"
"I can't tell you anything about her except she's hell bend on destroying our family" Leanna spat, "and she has nearly succeeded"
Therja knew he had to tread carefully, "thane told me a bit of what was going on, and I did a bit of digging around, and spoke to a few of my contacts"
"And?" Leanna asked gripping her tea cup in both hands.
"I think I know where to find her, I'm going to go speak to her" Therja nodded.
"You really think she will talk to you?"
Therja grinned and reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigar , placing it between his lips, he took out a lighter and lit it, "oh no doubt she will, I have my ways " he smiled drawing back on the cigar and blowing out a ring of smoke.
Leanna frowned and reached over the table and plucked the lit cigar from between the ligerlynx's lips, "you can't smoke that in here "she said and plopped into his cup of tea.
Therja just glared but said nothing, he should have asked first, "umm, sorry, wasn't thinking, but anyway, give me a few days and I will contact you"
"If you need money I can get you all you need, money is no problem, but do me one favor" Leanna said
"Anything" Therja nodded.
"Say nothing of this to Panthro, he's been through too much already and I don't want to upset him further"
"Alright, "Therja nodded and look at the soaking wet cigar, it was his last one, "you can start by buying me a new one of these, "he said picking it up out of the cup.
"Nasty habit" Leanna smirked.
"And you're not my mother" Therja winked, "although we could be related, I do have a bit of lion in me somewhere"
Leanna just smiled, "come with me, "she said and stood
Therja got up and followed the lioness out of the kitchen and down the hall. "where we going "Therja asked as they walked down a long dark hallway then to a set of steps taking them further down into the belly of the lair.
"You'll see, "Leanna said and stopped in front of a large set of thick metal doors, she reached over and keyed in a few numbers into a keypad on the wall, as large as the doors were they opened quietly.
Once they stepped inside, the lioness flipped on a switch, Therja blinked as rows upon rows of lights came on, "wow, "he said and let out a long whistle as he observed the underground hanger of the lair, there were rows of vehicles along the walls and transport cars he had never seen before, their metal gleaming under the bright lights. "This is some arsenal you guys have here" he said impressed.
"Many hours of sleepless nights, along with blood and sweat and much love went into each and every one of them "Leanna smiled and walked towards the far wall where Panthro had his private office.
"would love to take a few of those out for a spin" Therja grinned looking over some of the transports "I'm afraid my poor motor bike is on it's last legs"
"Well when Panthro is feeling better bring it by I'm sure he can make is as good as new if not better" Leanna said touching another keypad. "There's nothing he can't fix"
Therja followed the lioness inside the office; he looked over a few designs on the table as the lioness unlocked a cabinet and took out a small metal box, he glanced over as she set he box on the desk and opened it up and took out a wad of paper money, she counted out a bit and closed the box and put it back and locked the cabinet, "here, "she said handing him the money, "three thousand should get you though for a few days, if you need more I can get it for you"
Therja held up his hands, "did you just steal that?'
"what?, no" Leanna said with a slight chuckle, "it's petty cash, Panthro keeps it here to pay for shipments that come in, I can replace it tomorrow when the bank opens"
"I don't know, "Therja said unsure if he should take it.
"Please, it's ok, he doesn't care, it's mine to use if I need it too and I always replace what I borrow, so no worries "Leanna said and put the money in Therja's hand.
"Alright, " Therja said taking the money and stuffing it into his vest pocket, "I will contact you as soon as I know something" and with that he left the hanger and the lair.
Down in the surgical bay, Pumyra checked the panther's vials signs for the tenth time as Sabar continued removing the burnt flesh from the panther's foot a shin, "how's the blood pressure?" Sabar asked not looking up from her work.
"Stable, but his temperature is still up" Pumyra answered, "How's his leg?"
Sabar shook her head, "not looking good, the damage is deeper then we first though, infection has set in the muscles and bone "she said and looked up at the puma, "I'm going to have to amputate his leg from mid calf"
"And his other foot?" Pumyra asked.
"He's going to lose two toes, its better then losing both legs" Sabar nodded.
"Ok, do the toes first, I'll get his other leg ready for amputation, "Pumyra said. "We have to act quickly so the infection doesn't spread further"
It took over two hours to remove the injured limb it wasn't a simple matter of just cutting straight through, they had to leave enough extra skin and muscle to make a flap the would go over and protect the bottom of the stub as well as cut and seal off blood vessels and tendons , the removal of the two toes on his foot would heal nicely and he wouldn't have much loss of mobility he would be able to still walk on it without much trouble, but once the stub on his leg healed he could be fitted with a prosthetic limb, and with his foot coverings, no one would even realize he was missing his leg from mid calf down, but the would take a couple of months for it to fully heal, and he would be able to get around on crutches.
With the help of a couple nurses they got the panther out of the operating room and back in his bed in the med bay, "Can I ask you something?" Pumyra said while injecting medication into the panther's IV line that would wake him.
"Sure" Sabar shrugged.
"I've known Panthro for quite a while now, has he always been so umm temperamental?" the puma asked.
"It's just his nature "Sabar smiled, "but he does have a very generous heart, you know from the time I was a infant, every year for my birthday he always gave me a new doll"
"Really?" Pumyra asked a bit surprised.
"And not just any doll, the older I got the bigger and more extravagant the dolls got, even now that I'm grown he still gives me a special doll for my birthday, I've taken up collecting them, and to this day I still have every single one he gave me"
"So that's where the doll thing came from" Pumyra chuckled, "Lila and Lethea have quite a collection of their own growing"
"Well he told me all little girls need a special friend to keep them company when they need it and there were many times I would hug one of those dolls tightly when I was afraid of a storm outside in the middle of the night "
"Aww "Pumyra cooed, "that's sweet"
"But my uncle is a very complicated man with a touch of perfectionist I think" Sabar winked, "and also very smart"
"Yes, that much I do know, seen him make something out of practically nothing, he built the thundertank out of scrap metal he salvaged from our crashed ship, and it only took him a few days, the tower of omens was built from material he scrounged and hand built all the computer systems"
"well the perfectionist part comes from his father, he wasn't happy unless things were perfect, my mother told me one time when they were kids, Panthro came home on afternoon and his father wanted him to repair the fence that was out back of the house, Panthro went and did the repairs but it wasn't good enough, his father made him take down the whole thing and rebuild it from scratch"
"Sounds kind of harsh" Pumyra said shaking her head.
"Well my grandfather was as my mother put it a hardass and being the only male Panthro had it harder then his sisters, he was expected to help look after the family, one time Panthro came home from school with a bloody nose, my grandfather asked him what happened, Panthro told him a few of the other boys started a fight"
"What happened?" Pumyra asked
"When he found out that his only son lost a fight to two boys he beat him, he said that he was stronger and better then them he should have won"
Pumyra just blinked, "wow"
"Yeah Panthro wasn't treated well as a child, of course once he got older his father stopped his bullying when Panthro had enough and punched him, knocking him out cold, that was the day he finally earned his father respect"
"What about their mother?" Pumyra asked.
"She died when Panthro was a small boy, besides Lila and Lethea; Panthro is the only blood relative I have left, my mother and her sister died when Thundera exploded, I was on a small ship, there was only room for one more and my mother made sure I was on it"
"Yes, me, Bengali and Lynx-O were lucky we escaped, a burble ship happened long and recued us, they looked for other survivors but we only had a few minutes, we barely escaped the explosion" Pumyra said. "So many lives lost that day, but I am amazed how much New Thundera has grown now"
"Yes seems a lot more managed to get away then first thought" Sabar nodded, "so how is Bengali?"
"He's fine, him, kit and kat will be home tomorrow from third earth, he really doesn't like the six months shift and will be glad to get home" Pumyra answered.
"Bet you'll be glad to have him home too" Sabar teased, the puma's cheeks went bright red.
"Shush you" Pumyra chuckled and playfully slapped the female panther's arm.