Chapter I
The streets of the capital were bustling and the sound of haggling and shouts of available merchandise filled the ears of every passerby. A cloaked figure made his way through the crowds heading for the slums, catching the eyes of many in his suspicious garb. His cloak was a dingy blue and much to large on him, which served his purpose well as no one would be able to see him through the thick masses of thread. The streets got darker and darker as he made his way down the narrowing streets. He passed by many other cloaked figures selling all manners of quite possibly illegal substances. He ignored it all easily; he had been down this road many times and knew his way around the scammers and thieves. He had almost reached his destination when a shrill cry of pain flooded his sensitive ears making him flinch slightly. He turned to and looked down the adjacent street to see a young dog-man thrown to the ground and surrounded by two large burly drab-furred cat-men, mercenaries by the look of the two, the seals of their cloaks clearly giving away their occupation.
"I don't have your money, but I'll have it tomorrow!" The young dog-boy said meekly, making no attempt to stand and instead seemed to cower into the wall.
"Well tomorrow's not good enough!" One of the cat-men snarled. Raising his fist to hit the dog-boy once again. The dog-boy closed his eyes tightly and tensed awaiting the blow in fear, but it never came. The cloaked man held the cat-man's arm in place, preventing his action.
"Leave him alone." The cloaked figure declared, the command evident in his voice. The dog-boy took this chance to jump to his feet and sprint down the narrow street, making his escape. The cat-man yanked his arm from the cloaked man's grip.
"Mind your own business," the cat-man growled, his companion baring his teeth. Bringing his fist up, the cat-man threw a quick punch, aiming for the cloaked man's face. Quick as the attack was the cloaked man was able to doge easily and countered by slamming his fist into the cat-man's stomach making him fall back. Suddenly he was grabbed from behind. Not knowing how the cat-man's companion had managed to get behind him so fast he grabbed at the man's arms as they squeezed his throat. Before he could make any counter, even or think of one for that matter he felt air return to his lungs and the pressure at his throat disappear. He whirled around expecting an attack of some kind, but what he saw surprised him.
The cat-man's companion lay passed out on the ground as a striking young cat-woman stood above him. She looked entirely out of place in these slums as she was dressed in very formal attire. Her blond hair framed her smirking face and glowing amber eyes.
"I could have handled that." He said, "but thanks." Glancing again at her dress and demeanor in general, she was obviously of high birth by the way she stood with such confidence in her stance. "What is someone like you doing down in this part of the city?"
"I could ask you the same thing," she smiled as though she knew something he didn't "Prince Lion-o." Sighing he pulled back his hood to reveal his fiery red hair and clear blue eyes.
"Who are you?" Lion-o asked his eyebrows knitting slightly. She was noble for certain, but he knew all the nobles and he certainly would have remembered her if he had met her previously.
"Cheetara," She smiled extending her hand. He looked at her hand and hesitated before taking it. She hadn't really answered his question. While he was interested to know her name, he was more interested in knowing why she was there. "So, what's a prince doing in place like this?" She asked cocking her head to the side, giving Lion-o a good view of the exotic black spots that adorned her hair.
He thought about whether he should actually answer her, he didn't know her, but she was another cat and he found it highly unlikely that she meant him any harm or that she could get him in trouble.
"I'll show you, it's just around the next corner." She followed him down the street and into a dingy and dusty shop. The walls and shelves were filled with strange metal devices and objects. The devices were amazing but at the same time frightening in a way; Cheetara found the smell of metal repulsive. She had heard stories of the so-called 'lost-tech', most people didn't believe it actually existed, but she knew differently.
"Lion-o," a scratchy voice snapped her back to reality. The speaker was an old rat-man, his brown fur speckled with white and his grey eyes milky from age.
"What do you have for me?" Lion-o asked, excitement evident in his features and voice, his eyes wide in anticipation and a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. The old rat-man behind the counter pulled out a round metal object from under the desk. Lion-o took the metal object from the rat-man turning it over in his hands.
"This is tech." Cheetara asked. She looked at Lion-o when he turned back to her. "You're buying tech?"
"I know most people don't believe in it but," he looked down at the object in his hand "I do." He looked back at her. Her mouth was set in a thin line, her eyebrows knit slightly.
"This stuff could be dangerous." she pointed out.
"You don't even know what it does," Lion-o replied defensively. She opened her mouth to argue but was cut off by the chiming of the clock.
"Oh-no, I'm late," he seemed exasperated rather than worried. He handed the rat-man a sack of coins as payment before taking his purchases and quickly leaving. Cheetara followed after him.
"Hey!" She called out as he was getting farther ahead of her; he was practically sprinting off.
"Nice meeting you!" He called back. She could have caught up with him but she didn't, she just watched as he ran further on and vanished around a street corner, annoyance clearly present on her face.
Lion-o ran as fast as he could back to the castle reaching his room, he was sweating and panting by this point. He looked at his formal attire set neatly on his bed, glancing at the bathroom and then the clock; he realized he didn't have time to shower. He pulled on his clothes realizing with chagrin that he probably smelled a bit like the slums. Definitely not the best way to make a good impression but it couldn't be helped as he was already late. Dashing out of his room he ran down the steps, still buttoning his jacket, as he headed for the meeting room. As he approached, he practically ran into his half-brother Tygra as he turned a corner.
"There you are." Tygra said annoyed, "I was just sent to look for you." His arrogant face pulled back in its usual look that Lion-o often considered condescending.
"Sorry!" Lion-o said, and he did mean it, even though it came out sounding more like an excuse than an apology. Tygra rolled his eyes, before noticing Lion-o hadn't buttoned his jacket properly.
"I'm seriously starting to wonder whether you can actually take care of your self at this point," Tygra said flatly gesturing to his jacket. Lion-o looked down and immediately started fixing it. Tygra sighed, "You better hurry up, Dad's not happy about you "shirking your responsibilities." "
"I wasn't! I just lost track-!" Lion-o was interrupted as Tygra mussed his hair affectionately, smirking. "Hey!" Lion-o smoothed his hair back down.
"Come on, let's go meet your fiancé" Tygra held the door for Lion-o before following him in. Lion-o took his place next to his father, who shot a glare at him. Tygra stood next to Lion-o, but a little farther back. "Just relax Lion-o." King Claudus motioned to the servant at the door to let their guests in. The door opened and general Puma entered, looking just as old as Lion-o remembered.
"Your most exalted royal highness," Puma addressed bowing. "King Claudus."
"My friend, I am glad you could be here, please come sit," Claudus offered. Lion-o wasn't really paying much attention. In all honesty he really would rather be in his room tinkering with his newest piece of tech.
"May I present my daughter" Lion-o's glance moved from the window to the young cat-woman who came forward from her father's shadow and bowed. His jaw practically dropped off his face. Not because of her beauty, although she was pretty, no it was because he had seen those amber eyes and that black spotted blond hair just earlier today.
"I am Lady Cheetara, it is a pleasure to meet you." She had the sweetest most innocent smile but Lion-o could see the amusement in her eyes as she saw his reaction. Claudus cleared his throat pulling Lion-o back to the present situation.
Stepping forward Lion-o took her offered hand and bowed slightly. "I am prince Lion-o, it is a pleasure to meet you," his smile was forced and his jaw tense. This was upsetting; she could have told him who she was, and he had even asked her! She had given her name but this information was obviously more relevant!
"She is indeed beautiful, she takes after her mother I see," Claudus nodded approvingly at the arranged pairing.
"She does take after my late wife, of course our line can be traced back to Leo IV and the blood of the royals is strong in those descended," general Puma expounded, "Her training as a cleric has also made her as strong a fighter as she is a delicate and untouched flower."
"Indeed," Claudus agreed looking back at the arranged pair, still regarding each other without speaking. Claudus cleared his throat in the silence, his annoyance prompting Lion-o to continue the conversation. Lion-o had to think back to his instructions, leaving a short but awkward silence.
"Lady Cheetara, would you care to join me for a stroll in the palaces garden?" He heard Tygra snicker behind him. Lion-o really hated pomp and these kinds of formal events. She smiled sweetly and she took his arm and he escorted her out. As soon as they were out of the room Cheetara released his arm as he turned on her.
"What was that?" Lion-o demanded.
"What was what?" She asked innocently, and he narrowed his eyes. "Oh, alright." She relented, "I was on my way to the palace when I saw you heading to the slums, so I followed you. Thought it might be nice to meet you before you knew who I was."
Lion-o sighed frustrated, "You could have just told me."
"Wouldn't have been as much fun," she smiled sweetly. "So you were going to show me a garden?" He shook his head exasperatedly before leading her on.
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"I like her already!"
The clashing of steel on steel followed Tygra's words. Lion-o retreated, keeping his sword up in a defensive position readying for an attack.
"Yeah, well you weren't the one who had to spend the whole afternoon with her." Lion-o retorted, Tygra just smirked in response.
Lion-o lunged forward, but he only managed to swing at the empty air, Tygra was just too fast. Regaining his balance he lunged again with the same result, but this time Tygra maneuvered around behind Lion-o. Immediately Lion-o tried to turn but felt the sting of the flat side of Tygra's sword slap against his back causing him to loose his balance. Next thing he knew he was flat on his back the tip of a blade inches from his nose and Tygra grinning down at him.
"Second place again little brother." Tygra sheathed his sword and extended his hand helping Lion-o up. It was hard for Lion-o to return Tygra's smile. The sound of clapping suddenly echoed through the training room causing the two brothers to turn to see their father.
Claudus smiled approaching his sons. "That was good swordsmanship Tygra," Claudus commended, slapping a proud hand on Tygra's shoulder. "You're improving," he said turning to Lion-o, though his hand stayed on Tygra's shoulder. Lion-o didn't smile back; he knew it was a compliment but it didn't feel like one, he always felt he was being compared to his older brother.
The moment was broken by a loud ringing from the wall's bell, they all went to the window and immediately saw why the emergency bell had rung. Off in the distance a large army was marching towards the city. But the army was not made up of just beast-men. At least a hundred huge metal obstructions marched with them. Lion-o's eyes widened, they looked like large constructs of tech in a humanoid shape. Momentarily he felt a rush of excitement watching these things slowly march towards the wall. He was broken out of his trance as his father and Tygra hurried out of the room and towards the main guard tower atop the wall. Lion-o followed barley hearing anything his father or brother were saying, he was so focused on the colossal tech he had seen. There was no way anyone could possibly say tech didn't exist after this.
"Hey Lion-o!" A voice called from behind him, Lion-o slowed and turned to see Cheetara hurrying towards him. "What's going on?"
"It's technology, there's tech coming towards the city!" He said excitedly. At first he didn't understand her shocked and horrified expression, but then the gravity of the situation dawned on him.
"The City's under attack?" she asked, visibly alarmed. She didn't wait for his answer but sprinted after his father and Tygra who were probably at the wall by now. Lion-o rushed after her.
"They should reach the walls within twenty minutes!" the head guard at the wall was saying when Lion-o reached the wall.
"Call all the warriors to arms and notify the clerics." Claudus ordered, the guard nodded and dashed off. Claudus turned quickly to his sons, "Tygra I need you to take command at the western gate," Tygra nodded. "Lion-o, I want you to stay here in the palace," Claudus commanded, Lion-o was about to protest but his father silenced him with a gesture before continuing. "If the wall falls the palace will be our last line of defense, I need you here." With that Claudus made for the main gate. Tygra turned to follow but stopped when Cheetara also moved to leave the palace grounds.
"Where do you think you're going?" Tygra asked seriously.
"I was trained as a cleric since I was a child, I'm going to go join up with their forces." Without waiting for his reply, or anyone's permission she left. Tygra went to command the west gate, leaving Lion-o very much alone. Lion-o clenched his fists tightly. Did his father not believe he was capable of helping? Or did he think he was too young for this? No matter which way he looked at it his father had cast him aside. It never once crossed his mind that perhaps his father just wanted to protect him.
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The sky had darkened; thick grey clouds prevented even a sliver of blue to be seen. There was a strange beauty in the light reflecting off the metal of the humanoid constructs that shone, red, blue, green, and so many other colors. But nothing could stop the feeling of dread as these baffling techs made their way closer and closer to the city.
Tygra had never seen any weapon as large as these, their 'heads' practically reaching to top of the great wall. A sudden chill went through Tygra as he watched them. He raised his arm signaling the archers to ready; the approaching army was almost in range.
With the swift movement of his arm a rain of arrows filled the air darkening the sky with a black blanket of death. The ground troops of the enemy shielded themselves as best they could but the arrows did thin their ranks. But to the horror of Tygra and his men the arrows seemed to simply bounce off the metal beings not even leaving a dent.
One of the machines stopped and lifted its arm suddenly something shot out from the thing's arm smashing into the wall followed by a ear-splitting explosion. Tygra shielded himself from the dust and debris that was expelled. When the dust cleared his ears were still ringing but as he turned to see the damage he went pale, and for a moment was frozen in shock.
A huge portion of the wall had suddenly ceased to exist. Hordes of the lizard's troops swarmed in through the opening. Tygra drew his sword and his men followed suit. For a moment it seemed that there was hope, the cats were easily able to best the lizards by sword, but then those metal monsters joined the battle.
In much the same manner as the wall was demolished sections of the ground around Tygra exploded leaving great craters in the earth. It was strange but the ground was mostly absent of blood or bodies, only charred lumps of feline warriors remained. In that moment Tygra knew the battle was lost. He just didn't know how to fight these things! Tygra was forced to sound a retreat, at this rate even if they continued fighting they would all end up dead. Worse, some of these metal monstrosities might end up destroying the civilian areas.
Tygra was at the tail end of the retreat; he easily cut down any following lizard troops, his sword now dripping with hot red blood as he disposed of the last following lizard. Right when he was about to turn and follow his men he felt the ground shake far worse than the explosions. He looked up and saw one of the giant metal beasts looking down at him. All Tygra could do was stare as the machine moved its arm to aim it's deadly weapon right at him.
A sudden blast of electricity shot into the machine arm causing the weapon's aim to be shifted from Tygra. He watched as the attack meant for him demolished the building next to him. Dust once again filled the air momentarily blinding Tygra. He felt a presence beside him and he shifted bringing his sword up protectively. Next to him stood a cleric.
"The front gate has fallen, the king has ordered a retreat to the palace," the cleric informed him. Tygra cursed. If the front gate had fallen so quickly how long would it take for the palace to fall? Their options were slowly disappearing, and the more Tygra thought about it the more he thought there best option was to evacuate the city via the mountain tunnels.
The whine of fractured metal assaulted his ears and he turned back to see the metal construct regaining it's position and preparing for another attack. The cleric stepped forward drawing his staff in front of him.
"Go, I'll take care of this." Tygra nodded and left immediately. He couldn't help but think that he would probably never see that cleric again. The sounds of explosions and the crackling of fire filled the air as he ran towards the palace. The remainders of his men were helping evacuate citizens from the city. Tygra ran faster as the sound of destruction seemed to catch up with him, and he only hoped he would be able to reach the palace before those monstrous machines did.
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As much as Lion-o had wanted to be part of the battle he felt dread pool in his belly as he watched the army retreat back to the palace. The citizens were being led through the palace to the mountain tunnels at a hurried pace.
"Just get our people to safety!"
His father's voice caught his attention. He darted towards where he had heard him. The king was heading towards the throne room, and Lion-o followed.
"Father," Lion-o started before the fetid smell of blood flooded his nostrils making him gag and choke on his words. "Are you injured?" he managed to ask.
Claudus only grunted in response as he opened the glass encasement positioned next to the thrones. Inside was the mythical gauntlet of the first king Leo. "Father?" Lion-o was seriously alarmed now. Claudus suddenly turned to Lion-o thrusting the gauntlet into his hands.
His face was so serious it frightened Lion-o. The Thudercats were the greatest and most powerful empire. Even if they lost this battle, they would regroup and retake the city; after they took the time to prepare for the battle there was none who could stand against the strength and cunning of the Thundercats. It was then that Lion-o saw that a crude lizard arrow had pierced his father's thigh, and the wood of the arrow stuck out at an odd angle.
"If I fall you must protect this, the gauntlet of Leo I, and also," he drew his sword, the sword of the king, "The sword of omens."
Somehow, this was too much to comprehend. Lion-o didn't understand what his father was saying, or why he was acting this way. None of this made any sense to him. "What are you talking-?" Lion-o was about to ask, but a large explosion interrupted him and the pressure of the air caught him, ripping his body backwards.
He hit the ground hard, knocking the air from his lungs and momentarily leaving him disoriented. The wall of the throne room seemed to have disappeared and in its place stood a huge silver and black metal being. Lion-o gazed in awe at the beauty and horror of the technological wonder; for all the destruction it caused it was truly amazing. He saw his father stand, sword drawn to face the giant machine. To both his and his father's amazement the chest-plate of the humanoid machine slid forward and opened revealing a humanoid species Lion-o had never seen before. The thing climbed easily out of the machine and drew a dark gleaming sword of it's own.
"What are you?" Claudus demanded his grip tightened on the sword of omens as he stepped in front of his son.
"I am Mumm-Rah," The creatures seemed to growl his voice sounded both coldly metallic and raspy from disuse.
"That's impossible! Mumm-Rah is a myth!"
"If this mythical technology of machines is real enough to destroy you and your people, then does it not also stand that the stuff of nightmares is real?" Mumm-Rah chuckled. Claudus bared his teeth and lunged. His injured leg hindered him.
The next few moments seemed to pass so slowly, the entire scene surreal in nature as Lion-o watched. He saw Mumm-Rah angle behind his father and in one swift motion his sword sliced through his father's neck like butter. Claudus's body fell to its knees before falling forward. A gush of hot liquid poured from the body staining the once pure white marble of the battle-shattered floor. The sword of omens clattered deafeningly to the floor. His father's head, eyes still wide hit the floor with a sickening crunch and rolled several feet finally stopping near where Lion-o knelt. The stench of death seemed to be choking Lion-o as he stared down at his father's head. It didn't look like his father to him. But time slowly returned to normal and what had just happened hit him like a bag of bricks to the skull.
"No," he whispered, looking from his father's head to his body and then to his sword. Emotion seemed to drain from his body, all except one: anger. His face contorted in rage his blood boiled.
"NO!"
Mumm-Rah looked up at the outraged cry. Lion-o pushed himself to his feet and ran towards his father's murderer grabbing the sword of omens from the floor as he advanced with cat-like speed. Electricity seemed to fill the air when the swords clashed, the sword of omens crackled with magic. Lion-o was fueled by fury and swung wildly at Mumm-Rah, luckily the desiccated sorcerer had been surprised by the initial attack. But, Mumm-Rah was not on the defensive for long.
Tygra had always told Lion-o that he needed to think before acting, that strategy was necessary for victory, but at that moment Lion-o's only thought was vengeance. Because of this Mumm-Rah was able to disarm Lion-o and knock him to the ground. The sword of omens fell to the floor for the second time that day sliding across the floor far out of Lion-o's reach. Mumm-Rah raised his blade to finish him.
The sound of air being cut slapped his ears as a whip shot out wrapping tight around Mumm-Rah's sword and violently ripping the weapon from his hands. Lion-o turned to see Tygra running towards him, whip in hand. Mumm-Rah made a dash for the sword of omens but the moment he touched it the sword seemed to ignite with electricity causing him to retreat in pain, his countenance a mixture between surprise and anger. Tygra grabbed the sword of their father and the gauntlet from the floor and yanked Lion-o to his feet. Mumm-Rah was climbing back into the belly of the mechanical construct.
"Come on!" Tygra yelled and pulled Lion-o towards the mountain tunnels. Mumm-Rah would be pursuing in the machine beast soon, and they only had moments to escape – Tygra was fast enough but Lion-o was dragging his feet.
"What are you talking about? We can't give up!" Lion-o protested loudly, nothing in his eyes but blind fury, "We can't leave like this! We have to avenge-!"
His words were cut short when his brother slapped him hard across the face, his cheek stung violently. He placed a hand on his swelling flesh. The anger had left him in an instant; actually he couldn't seem to feel anything at that moment.
"We have to get the people to safety and we have to survive! Father would not have wanted you to throw your life away!"
His brother's customary smirk and playful nature was gone completely replaced by a very serious Tygra, the sight of their decapitated father seemingly having no effect on him as he spoke. He was completely focused on his goal. Lion-o had never seen his bother like this before; he reminded him of father.
Mumm-Rah's machine was moving again and having lost sight of the sword he was now destroying the nearby walls rampaging until he killed them by accident or found them by chance. It went against every fiber of his being to retreat like this, but Lion-o ran along-side Tygra as they escaped the collapsing main room and made their ways to the tunnels to escape the city.
It was less than a few hours and it felt like both an eternity and an instant as Lion-o and the other evacuees could finally look behind them and see the city burning. Countless were dead and among them his father, their king.
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