Chapter VI
The sun had set hours before. Tygra was rolled over in a corner, and the two kits slept soundly nearby. Only Lion-o was awake to watch the crackling fire cast its orange and golden glow around their camp.
At some point the three of them had decided against heading for the nearest refugee point. The two kits had been surprisingly helpful and resourceful in several ways, both with disabling the ansiblar and with the aftermath of the earthquake.
The two of them were becoming a permanent fixture and after letting them in on their plan to find the book of omens the two had happily agreed with their usual excitement. So once again the group, now numbering five, continued on a path towards where the book of omens should be kept. They were still a long ways away, but drawing ever closer.
"Still awake?"
Cheetara's voice drew Lion-o from his thoughts and he turned to see her form illuminated by the dancing flames. The firelight seemed to cast an ambiguous glow in her eyes as she stepped closer.
"Couldn't sleep." He shrugged looking away as he felt his face heat. Cheetara took a seat beside him and slid closer on the log until their thighs were touching.
"I can't either." She admitted her voice turning to a deep purr as she leaned against him, her head coming to rest on his shoulder. Lion-o took a moment to calm his breathing before turning his head to look at her. She was watching him as well.
Her body was turned toward him all curves and smoothen gold. The strong scent of cinnamon assaulted his nostrils as he breathed her in. Her heat bled into him and her eyes watched him the normally golden color shining brightly and turning molten. Her lips parted slightly as she breathed, shifting next to him. Their eyes never left one another; those eyes seemed to dare him, and everything about her posture, her mouth, was so inviting.
Lion-o felt warmth rush through him and his breath pick up. He couldn't help it if he also turned toward her, bringing his face closer to hers. She didn't move away, that mouth even curled into something of a smile, and he closed the distance to taste her.
It was like tasting the sun.
OoooooooooooooooO
That was about the time Lion-o woke up. Because the sun really had risen over the outcropping and was glaring into his eyes, the sweet hot taste was coming from whatever was cooking via his mouth, which had embarrassingly been hanging open.
Lion-o closed his mouth and sat up immediately looking around camp. He was the last one up it seemed. Cheetara was sitting nearby WilyKit who was working with their makeshift stove to cook something, WilyKat wasn't too far from his partner, and Tygra was sitting quite close to Lion-o with an amused smirk on his face. Tygra smirking. That couldn't bode well. Lion-o regarded him warily.
"What?" Lion-o asked.
"Sounds like you had a nice dream." Tygra finally said, eyes narrowed and smile widening to a full-toothed grin. Lion-o felt the flush coming on and ducked his head.
"Not really!" Lion-o managed to choke out turning away and taking a deep breath of crisp morning air to calm himself. He really hoped he hadn't said anything in his sleep. Of course if he did there was no way Tygra would ever leave him alone about it. "So what's for breakfast?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Most of us ate earlier." Tygra told him, an amused smirk making its way to the surface "You, sleepyhead, are apparently special. Kit decided to make you something all on her own."
"Kit did?" Lion-o questioned, confused. Ever since the first time when food was available for anything more than meat over a fire spit Cheetara had been the one to provide their meals. Why the change?
Suddenly WilyKit exclaimed happily as she abandoned the makeshift stove and carried a plate toward the two of them. Her face shone with enthusiasm her ponytail bobbing behind her as she hurried forward. The shiny metal device still hanging around her neck paled in comparison with the light of the smile of her face though.
"Good morning Lion-o!" she greeted with a wide smile, cheeks slightly pink from exertion and excitement. "I made you breakfast! I hope you like it." She offered the plate to him shyly.
"Thanks, WilyKit," Lion-o accepted the plate with a smile, still a bit confused as to the reason. It certainly smelled good. There was cinnamon dusted on the meat, strips of rabbit it seemed, and also a kind of omelet with greens in it.
"Call me Kit," the younger cat told him as she took a seat nearby and gave a pointed look at Tygra. The older feline rolled his eyes with a grin and stood up to go join WilyKat and Cheetara a short ways away. WilyKat was glaring daggers in their general direction for some reason.
"Okay, well, it looks delicious, Kit," Lion-o told her, though still a little confused though as to what was going on.
"Try some!" WilyKit instructed pointedly handing over an eating utensil as well. Under her scrutiny Lion-o took the implement and began to eat. She had obviously worked hard on the meal, it was probably the first one she'd tried to make on her own. The smell of the seasoning she had used was quite strong, maybe too strong. Lion-o nearly choked on the strong flavor and covered with a cough as he forced himself to swallow.
WilyKit looked on with apprehension, her smile was gone, her mouth a thin wary line. She didn't speak but watched Lion-o intently awaiting a verdict. When he didn't say anything for a moment she seemed to deflate, defeated. "It's no good, huh?"
Lion-o took another bite and forced it down in response, "For your first try it tastes amazing." He told her, and set about finishing the small but diligently prepared and over-seasoned meal. WilyKit watched him in some surprise but after a moment her cheeks tinged pink again and she smiled sheepishly her tail swishing and curling around her in a contented gesture.
WilyKat was still glaring. "Feh. I'd tell her the food was good too, even if it wasn't." The younger cat muttered to himself unhappily.
"Yeah," Tygra commiserated with the brat, though for a slightly different reason.
"What does he have that I don't have?" Of course Tygra could easily supply that answer: a crown for one, even if Cheetara had said she wasn't after the kingship, she definitely wasn't interested in him.
WilyKat sulked sourly, and Tygra turned to consider him and his partner sitting by Lion-o. "Well, if you want to get a girl…wait," Tygra had to ask, "You and Kit aren't… related, right?"
"What?" WilyKat asked surprised, "No. We found each other. Everything worked fine like that… we got by together, it was much better than being alone but…" his eyes strayed back to Kit giggling happily next to Lion-o and his eyes narrowed all over again. He sighed at the sight.
"Why don't you go over by Cheetara?" Tygra suggested drawing WilyKat's attention back, "Nothing gets a girl interested like jealousy." Tygra smirked at his own words.
Kat looked over at Cheetara a short ways away, also watching Kit and Lion-o with an unreadable expression. "I don't know if I…"
"Just put your arm around her or something," Tygra shrugged, "Kit can see us from here. She'll notice. When she does, that'll tell you everything you need to know."
WilyKat eventually got tired of watching Kit and Lion-o exchange friendly banter and took Tygra's advice and moved over to Cheetara who looked up in some surprise at his approach.
"H-hey." The younger cat said as he sat down next to her and put his arm as much around her shoulders as he could manage; he couldn't reach her shoulders so his arm went awkwardly around her back instead.
Tygra was right, Kit did look over at them. Cheetara laughed and turned to him with a smile and leaned in with a conspirator's whisper, "Is this for Kit's sake?"
"Yeah." WilyKat whispered back, somewhat defensive, but Cheetara just smiled and glanced over at Tygra who shot her a wink. She shook her head and smiled.
"Well if Tygra put you up to it, I guess it's worth a shot." Cheetara decided as she put an arm around WilyKat and pulled him into her lap. The younger cat-boy made a slightly unseemly 'eep' sound and froze completely when Cheetara starting petting her hand through his hair.
WilyKit's tail had gone rigid and twitched slightly when her partner made no move to get away. A snarl was clawing its way up her throat but she bit it back and settled for glaring venomously.
Lion-o had been pleasantly surprised that the strength of the seasoning wasn't so bad by the time he finished the meal and WilyKit had been good company asking questions about their journey before they had found them, and about the sword as well as the book they were now searching for.
So Lion-o had noticed when WilyKit went rigid and he saw it when WilyKat sat beside Cheetara and she had responded favorably.
Lion-o was also aware of Tygra smirking nearby; he rightly assumed he knew who the perpetrator was. Looking back at Kit he couldn't help empathizing with the jealous tension that was so apparent in her right then.
"You really like Kat, don't you?" Lion-o broke her from her glare. She turned toward him momentarily confused before her face tinged pink, she opened her mouth to speak but when the first word she tried to utter broke on a squeak she shut her mouth and looked away embarrassed.
Lion-o stood up and went over to Cheetara and WilyKat first, the two of them looked up at his approach. Lion-o pulled Kat out from Cheetara's grip and she didn't fight it, merely shrugged and looked over at Tygra who was still smirking.
"Get going, kid," Lion-o told WilyKat who retreated from him and Cheetara and soon found himself beside WilyKit once more, the two of them both suspiciously pestering each other.
"I wouldn't have suspected you to be the cause of unnecessary trouble." Lion-o reprimanded his brother.
Tygra arched a brow at that and shook his head with a laugh, "You call that 'unnecessary trouble', really?" Tygra wondered.
"Lion-o, it was harmless," Cheetara assured.
"Exactly," Tygra corroborated, "Don't be such a prude. It didn't really cause any trouble, and now they're working it out, aren't they?"
Lion-o was about to respond, since he knew that often the perception of damage could be as real and harmful as actual damage to social bonds. But he didn't get the chance. The ground shook with a not too distant sound of calamity. It was an explosion, and close by.
"An attack?"
"Now?"
"No!" Cheetara corrected as she rushed toward the sound, the other followed, "It's over there!"
It was an attack. But not aimed at the Thundercats. A faction of Mumm-Rah's forces, more lizards, and more mechs, were attacking a single brown blur that was quickly dashing and darting around attacks as it vainly tried to find an opening in the surrounding attackers to escape.
"What should we do?"
"Isn't it obvious," Lion-o said drawing his sword, "We need to help our fellow creature escape Mumm-Rah's forces!"
"True enough," Tygra accepted, drawing his whip and gun from their holsters, "If it's something Mumm-Rah wants we shouldn't let him get it."
It was with this show of bravado that they moved in destroying the left flank of attackers. Lion-o slashed open the side of a mech from the back using an electric shot from the sword of omens. The metal made a horrid screeching noise as his sword cut through it like butter, only with the electrified mana surrounding his sword could this be possible. The alloy burst open with a screech and the lizard pilot ejected the machine before it could crumple to the ground in a mass of twisted metal.
Lion-o was confused to see on the lizard pilot's arm a similar construct to his father's golden gauntlet, the one Lion-o now donned on his own hand. It seemed like all the ejected pilots had some crude version of the royal gauntlet. Lion-o was more dismayed to see a bushy-furred cat leading this unit of Mumm-Rah's forces.
Within moments a path was cleared and the brown blur of a creature streaked out from the route they opened and with another word the Thundercats withdrew quickly leaving immediate destruction to pile behind them and block the way of pursuit.
OoooooooooooooooO
The brown creature stood tall and thin with larger back haunches on which he walked with a thin pointed nose, an even thinner wiry tail and small rounded ears. Large gray eyes looked at the cats the escaped creature found himself among.
"So, what is he?" WilyKit asked WilyKat in a whisper as the group regarded the strange brown creature warily as well.
"Not hard of hearing, I think," the creature spoke the language of all animals arching his aged old brows at the kits who both stood quickly at attention caught in their whispers. "However I am extremely grateful for your help in allowing me to elude Mumm-Rah's forces."
"I could be wrong," Cheetara began, "But are you… one of the mice men?"
"That's impossible," Tygra shook his head, "They're all gone by now."
"Not entirely." The old mouse-man disagreed, "The lady is correct."
"Even so what would Mumm-Rah want with a mice-man?" Lion-o questioned crossing his arms and regarding the man puzzled.
"For a great many reasons I should think." The mouse replied turning his head upwards as though he were cloud watching. "Architects of old, ancient as the stars in the sky."
"What is he talking about?" Whispered Wilykit to her counterpart, WilyKat answered with a shrug and puzzled look; one that said all to well "I have no idea, maybe he's crazy". The mouse man's gaze moved to the two kits, before sweeping over the rest of the party.
The old grey eyes grew wide as saucers when his gaze settled on the gauntlet on Lion-o's hand and quickly moved to the sword at his waist as well before back to the golden gauntlet. "Mumm-Rah must never lay his hands on this," the mouse-man told Lion-o firmly, his own thin hand moving to rest on the solid surface of the gauntlet.
Lion-o would have startled but he hadn't even seen the old mouse-man move his hand to touch it. "The gauntlet is a key to a great weapon that Mumm-Rah is seeking."
"Why the gauntlet?" WilyKit whispered to her partner in question. "What weapon is he talking about?"
"I don't know," Kat returned with a shrug.
"But what about the sword? I thought Mumm-Rah was after that." Tygra interjected.
"The sword is one part." The mouse-man said nodding sagely as he withdrew his hand and turned to face the others as well, "Mumm-Rah will also seek the book of omens; he needs to bring the book, the sword, and the gauntlet together to gain the ultimate weapon and all its powers… that must not happen…"
"Don't worry." Lion-o told him, "We won't let him. But could you tell us more of what you mean about this weapon? Why is the gauntlet important?"
The old mouse-man's eyes fell to WilyKit for a moment. He smiled slightly and turned back to Lion-o. "Yes. You already have a path to the weapon."
"What weapon?" Lion-o asked, getting a little annoyed at the mouse's absentminded nature.
"The great metal beast of course," the mouse replied as though it were common knowledge. "The being of beauty and destruction, power and might, earth and sky."
The group exchanged confused looks but decided to ignore that part, "We're actually on our way to get the book of omens ourselves," Cheetara informed him, "We won't let Mumm-Rah get his hands on it. But is it possible that you know something about it?"
The old man squinted at her for a moment before nodding. "So you're going after the book as well?"
"That's right." Tygra confirmed. The old mouse hadn't answered a single one of their questions, this whole conversation, or essentially lack of one, was getting irritating.
"Well then, here is a gift for you," the old mouse sifted through his robes pockets and then the pockets of some of the satchels he was carrying with him before finally producing a small orb, spherical in shape with a clearly technological feel to it. He turned toward the group of them peering into their faces as though confused about who he was talking to before turning to Tygra and placing the orb firmly in his hands. "Here."
"That's great, thank you." Cheetara said their thanks for the rest of them, although she too like the others were confused as to the mouse's actions.
"But what does it do?" Tygra asked pointedly. It looked like technology but there were no switches, triggers, or buttons to it.
"Yes, yes," the mouse continued as though he hadn't heard them at all, and somehow like a ghost seemed to be drifting away further into the forest and disappearing, "Just think of it as a gift, it will be useful."
"Wait! Can't you tell us anything else?" Cheetara called after him urgently. Tygra just stared after the vanishing figure; he'd already given up. The old rat was obviously senile.
"Wait! The mice men are still alive? At least some of them?" Lion-o rushed after him, "What was your name?"
The voice echoed back to them once the mouse's afterimage had faded, the mouse man already fled from the area. "I am Ro-Bear-Bill of the mice men's Berbil clan. … You all had best run too."
The mouse-man had been surprisingly fast. Lion-o had never thought a little old rodent would be able to move so quickly.
Silence reigned in the wake of the departure of the eccentric surviving mouse-man, though WilyKit did whisper a question to WilyKat about what he meant to be running from. WilyKat didn't know, and for a long moment no one knew what to say. Finally Cheetara took the orb from Tygra briefly, feeling its energy before she shook her head and handed it back to Tygra.
"Could you feel anything from it?" Lion-o asked her. She shook her head.
"I can feel some mana coming from it, it's obviously technology yet it does have mana. I don't know what it might be used for though," she crossed her arms, "It's self-contained and I don't think it has it's own will to manipulate that energy so it's just 'there'."
"Excellent." Tygra said tossing the orb in the air and catching it like a toy before tucking it away in his side pack. "That was completely useless… and pointless."
"We still did a good deed," WilyKat pointed out, "We helped a fellow animal and citizen of Third Earth." Tygra rolled his eyes.
"Exactly!" WilyKit agreed, "Even if he did turn out to be not all there." She said making a gesture to illustrate her point.
Suddenly the ground shook and an explosion sounded nearby. The cracking of the trees around them was their only warning before the cover of the forest was torn away to reveal lizard ground troops and more mechs that had managed to surround them.
"Thudercats!"
"Kill them!"
The crack of Tygra's whip lashed out to block and protect them from the initial volley of gunfire. Cheetara drew her staff and extended so that she could leap into battle. Lion-o swung his sword releasing a stream of electric energy to slice through soldiers and mechs.
The kits darted out, knives drawn. A slingshot stone put straight to the eye of one of the advancing unit leaders halted the groups' progress briefly. It was enough time to disarm at least half of them.
But they were surrounded on all sides. Lion-o gave the order to try and open up one of the flanks – they had to get to better ground; they had to escape. There was no way they could win this fight.
With some effort Lion-o and Cheetara charged the flank and took out the main force. Tygra fired his gun keeping the second wave from closing in to block the way. The kits darted ahead disabling the larger weaponry as they went, two of them working as a single unit, in perfect sync. While one disabled the device, the other attacked and distracted those in the immediate vicinity who would retaliate to the sabotage.
There were too many here and the group was closing in tight. The cat in charge of the unit obviously knew the battlefield quite well. They had to escape before he could adapt too much better to their movements as a five-man team. Their injuries were already mounting.
A gunshot had just missed Lion-o's head leaving a bloody graze across his cheek, another had carelessly pierced his side. The kits were winded and scratched, their speed only an advantage in that there were two, to distract and employ artifice to elude attackers.
Tygra's side was seared where one of the mechs had almost blasted him. Cheetara had sustained injuries to her legs. Her advantage of speed was recognized and crippling her ability to run became the objective of her attackers.
A bloody gash ran up the side of her left leg but for the moment did not immediately appear to impair her ability to run, but if this went on they could fare far worse than their previous fights; just due to numbers and the surround attack.
Then, finally, the way opened and the five of them dashed through. They didn't have a choice and fled deeper into the forest where the machines would have a harder time to follow; farther through the ground became moist and turned to marshes and a swamps. The trees grew thicker and taller and the brambles more plentiful and obstructive. With that the sunlight grew dimmer until it seemed as though midday had turned instantly to dusk.
"Everyone! Stay together!"
The words had barely left Lion-o's mouth before the ground gave way ahead. He heard Cheetara scream, as her legs no longer felt ground beneath them. "Cheetara!" Lion-o rushed toward her and felt the same as the earth disappeared from under his feet and he was falling.
"Lion-o! Cheetara!"
Tygra's voice followed them as an elusive echo, the kit's repeating cries similarly fading quickly. Then Lion-o was submerged in thick murky waters. He could still move, and he clawed his way to the surface gasping for air. When he managed to open his eyes the dim eerie light did illuminate the small shallow pond and it's murk. Cheetara lay nearby facedown in the pool. The blood from her wound turned the water red around her.
Lion-o moved to her quickly and turned her body so that her face was out of the water. He tugged her to the nearby shore and lay her on her back, she wasn't breathing. He checked her pulse.
It was still there, but just barely, her breathing was obstructed. He pinched the bridge of her nose and sealing her mouth with his, he breathed air into her lungs. Once, twice, three times, then he withdrew and placed his hands over her chest to put pressure on her ribcage. Forcing her heart to start beating again. He was not going to lose her like this.
Once, twice, three times. Again he covered her mouth with his trying to resuscitate her. Once, twice… and then she coughed. He pulled back, anxious as Cheetara coughed and sputtered and began breathing on her own. Lion-o sighed in relief unable to help the smile that spread across his face. Golden eyes opened and turned to him, she was still slightly dazed as she looked up at him.
Her skin glowed with the slick and wet in the dim lighting, her eyes bright and clear. Her eyes seemed to focus on him and after a moment her face tinged dark red. Lion-o felt his own face heat in response and he drew back farther from her. "No, I was just," he started, "You weren't breathing so I just-!"
"I know." Cheetara said quickly as she turned on her side to slowly sit up beside him. Wincing in pain from her leg. "Thank you, Lion-o."
He turned back to her but the heat wouldn't go away. She was still very close to him and she looked like she was glowing. Her golden eyes were so very vivid now; they were full of light and focused solely on him. Their faces were so close now they were barely a breath away.
All it would take would be a short movement, just a tiny distance to close and they would touch. It wasn't like that moments before, but Lion-o had felt his mouth on hers. But he hadn't paid much attention; he was trying to save her then. If they touched now, it would be different. There might be no going back.
They were so close.
AoooooooooooooooN
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