A/N: MAN it has been a while since I updated this, huh? I started writing this chapter back in the beginning of December, but I thought that it was lost forever with all of my other writing and data when my laptop decided to die shortly afterward. But thanks to a weird vampire revival the laptop managed to pull off, we got my data recovered and I was able to get this chapter back and I finished it up last night. I'm just so happy I got this chapter back and was able to finish writing it. ^^~Sorry this update took forever, and I apologize if my writing for this seems somewhat off. I'm way out of practice writing in this universe, and writing for a child protagonist. But I can't wait to get back in the swing of it.
Chapter 6: Salariss and the Hidden Blades
The next day dawned similar to the first two. Grune woke Axis early to eat, then ushered him to the hall to train. Instead of pulling out the practice swords however, his uncle walked him through several stretches in order to limber up, then explained they were going to practice punching drills that morning. Axis made no objections, simply following along dully, wondering what had become of the old cat with the white beard. Was he okay? Was Mumm-Ra still hurting him? The cub wondered desperately if he would get a chance to see the old cat again, if he would find the perfect opportunity to slip away from his uncle and find the old fellow.
"Axis, pay attention!" Grune said sharply, startling him, and he focused this time, working through the drill step by step, keeping his eyes on his uncle. Mimicking his motions wasn't difficult, but putting force behind them was. The set of lunging punches required a lot of force in his arms, and he struggled with them, often lunging so far forward he would unbalance himself and stumble. This occurred a good four or five times before Axis let out a small growl and crossed his arms stubbornly.
"Why do we have to do this?" He grumbled. "It's dumb and I don't like it."
"Now, now, no sulking!" Grune said firmly, stepping out of the stance to correct his nephew's posture. "You're simply not used to it yet. But you'll get it, mark my words. And it isn't dumb, either. You need to know how to fight open-handed as well."
"What's 'open-handed' mean?" He asked, shifting his weight as he spread his feet apart.
"It means without a weapon," his uncle replied, "And it is necessary. You never know when you might lose your weapon and have to take on an enemy with your bare hands."
"Couldn't I just kick them and run?"
"We'll get to kicking drills tomorrow," his uncle answered, giving him an amiable pat on the head, "And I'll teach you about strategic retreats in time. But for now, we're punching."
The cub let out a frustrated huff, but went back to the routine all the same, working through the drill with less enthusiasm than before. The truth was, he worried about the way his right hand would twinge and jerk sometimes. How could he punch with a bad hand? Kicking sounded like a much better idea. Of course, not being stuck here and learning this stuff, that sounded like the best idea.
Not that he could necessarily do that, however.
After some time had passed, an hour or perhaps two, after they had returned to sword practice, a buzz ran through the room. Axis looked up from a swing to see the lizards parting, making a wide opening in the middle of the ahead, and they whispered and murmured to one another anxiously. He glanced to the door, puzzled, then froze, his body going cold with fear. Mumm-Ra moved as quickly and silently as he had appeared, and was stalking toward them with a furious spark in his red eyes.
"What's wrong, Uncle Grune?" The kitten whispered, only to be waved off curtly.
"Keep practicing, Axis."
He didn't need to be told twice. He would even start the punching drills again, as long as it meant he didn't have to be around the red nightmare monster too long.
"Grune," the rattling, harsh voice cracked through the arena with an air of impatience and authority, one Axis did his best to ignore as he stepped through the motions of the sword stances, "How quickly can you ready a battalion to head to the Cloud Peak mine?"
"Quickly enough," he heard his uncle reply, "Though I thought you wanted me to pursue the course laid out for the Book of Omens."
"I have another task for you," came the snapping response, "The army's tanks need more Thundrillium if they are to march over the face of Third Earth. Once you have overseen this task, you are to await my orders for your next mission."
"And the Book? With or without Jaga, the Thundercats could already be halfway to finding it." A desperate edge had entered his uncle's voice, and something about that grabbed the boy's attention.
"For now, I am leaving Slithe in charge of that matter." Mumm-Ra answered coolly.
"You would trust Slithe with finding the Book of Omens?!" Grune nearly choked on his words, eyes bulging in his head. The terrifying red gaze of Mumm-Ra, half-lidded and flickering, regarded the massive saber-tooth with an icy resolve and aloofness.
"I may not have faith in Slithe's capability," came the quiet response, "But I do trust his motives."
Grune recoiled as though he had been slapped in the face, and Axis frowned, more than a little worried by that reaction. But there was something else that tugged at him as well, and he couldn't stop himself from asking the question once it popped into his head.
"What's a book of omens?"
Two gazes, deep caramel and bloody red, snapped onto him. Axis lowered the practice sword in his hands, staring back and doing his best to stand tall and still. Dread began to creep into his heart, closing its long claws over him with a cold, icy grip. All he did was ask a question. Why did they both look upset?
"Axis, I thought I told you to keep practicing."
"I am practicing!" He yowled in meek protest, giving the sword a small wave.
"Grune," Mumm-Ra's voice took on a strange undercurrent as he regarded the cub curiously, "Does your nephew have any education to speak of?"
"Eh?" Grune spluttered, blinking in surprise. "Ahh...Axis. Did your mother ever teach you letters? Writing, reading?"
He frowned. Why was that important and why weren't they answering his question? Then again, they were grown-ups, so maybe they weren't ever going to answer. "A little bit," he answered, "I can read some words. And I can write my name. Why?"
"Yes, why?" Grune demanded, rounding on Mumm-Ra. The red nightmare glared back up at him indignantly.
"You may not place great value in knowledge, Grune," he said icily, "But I do. The boy must learn more than the brute aspects of combat; he must learn the strategic art of warfare itself. I will not tolerate failure from him in the future."
These words made the claws of dread close tighter over the kitten, and he swallowed over the lump in his throat.
"Once you return from the mine, he is to begin his studies." He continued.
"And with what books, Lord Mumm-Ra?" Grune challenged, mocking and childish.
"The ones in my room of archives," he replied with equal smugness, "I daresay even you could benefit from studying everything the pyramid's archives hold on battle strategy and various warfare."
At this point, Axis resorted to tuning out the conversation. Becoming a powerful warrior like his uncle kept saying was turning out to be a lot more work than he'd thought. But then, a lot of the grown-ups he'd known back home had always worked hard every day, especially his mother. Would she have liked what he was doing? He wasn't sure, until he remembered something else very important. His father had been a brave warrior for the king of Thundera.
His hand gave a sharp twinge, but he shook it off. The thought was somehow comforting and encouraging all at once, and as he took a few more half-hearted swings with the sword, something moved in the corner of his vision. He glanced over, eyes falling on the gauntlet, in motion as always, and he pondered. His father could have beaten it, he was sure; his father had been a warrior who had fought many battles and died a hero. Something like the training contraption would have been easy exercise for him. Axis's eyes studied the swinging sandbags a moment before he dropped the practice sword and dashed up to the starting platform.
I'm probably not gonna get any further than last time, he thought, swallowing hard, But I've gotta try anyway!
Taking a deep breath and bouncing on the balls of his toes, the saber-tooth cub readied himself and darted forward. He barely brushed the first sandbag as he ran past it, and the second swung wide of him as he moved. For a fleeting, exhilarating moment, he thought he had done something right, that he'd gotten it.
Then the third sandbag slammed into him, shoving him off the gauntlet unceremoniously.
He hit the ground with less force this time and went rolling, the turf scraping his upper arms. He let out a small hiss of pain, blinking back tears as his arms burned. Vague awareness of a dull throb in his right hand hit him as he shook his head and cleared his vision. A low buzz filled his ears as the lizards whispered and pointed at him, and dull thuds punctuated their murmuring. A huge shadow fell across his face, and looking up, he found his uncle frowning and shaking his head.
"Axis, I've told you," Grune sighed in exasperation, "You can't run the gauntlet. You're not ready, and you certainly aren't big enough."
"I still wanna try..." he mumbled.
"Those blades would mince you in a blink, boy! You should be happy you've only been caught by the sandbag both times." Came the irritated huff. "Come on, get up! We need to make ready; we have some marching to do. Where's that servant of yours, the one with that eyesore of a red crest on his head...?"
"Cazarak?" Axis asked as he got to his feet. "Is he in trouble?"
"No," Grune answered, gesturing for the cub to follow, "You're coming along to the Cloud Peak mine, but I'll be busy most of the time, so you need someone to look after you."
"We get to go on a trip?" He asked, breaking into a grin.
"Yes, yes," Grune muttered, walking him to the doors, "Now, go fetch the servant, we'll be leaving shortly."
"You shouldn't call him that," Axis said, frowning up at him, "He has a name, y'know."
Grune rolled his eyes and waved him off, and the cub sprinted through the halls all the way back to his room, despite the stinging the rush of air brought to his scraps. And even though it was annoying his uncle wouldn't use Cazarak's name, it was exciting to know they were going to some place new. They would have to come back to the pyramid before long, but even being away for a couple of days was so exciting he could hardly hold it in. He missed the fresh air and the sun and the weather, and he could hardly wait to get outside and run and play. He reached his room in a matter of moments, but Cazarak was nowhere in sight. A quick glance back out in the hall revealed nothing, so the kitten resolved to wait in his room until his friend came back. He spent the first few minutes sitting on the end of his bed, kicking his legs rapidly as he waited. But before too long, his excitement proved to be too much to hold in, and he let out a yell of excitement, running around the room as fast as he could. And he was in the middle of a decently long streak of jumping up and down on his bed when Cazarak finally walked into the room.
"Axis?" He exclaimed in surprise, flinching as though he'd been half-asleep.
"Cazarak!" The cub yelled at the height of a bounce, flailing and pinwheeling his arms as his face broke into a wide grin. "Guess what! We're going! On a trip!"
"A trip? Axis, settle down a moment! What in the name of Third Earth are you talking about?" The lizard asked, sidling to the edge of the bed and hovering in place, as though waiting to snatch the kitten from the air in mid-bounce.
"Mumm-Ra's sending Uncle Grune to some place called the Cloud Peak Mine, and we're going too!" He explained breathlessly as he slowed down and hopped off the bed, suddenly rather dizzy.
"Cloud Peak Mine?" Cazarak repeated in disbelief before catching a glimpse of the scrapes. "Axis! What happened to you?"
"I..." The cub flinched, rubbing one of his arms and looking at the floor, feeling quite ashamed. "I tried running on the gauntlet again."
The lizard groaned, running a scaled hand over his bright red crest in exasperation. "Oh, Axis! I admire your determination, but please don't do this! You keep hurting yourself!" He pleaded. "Come now, let's get those scrapes cleaned so they can scab over and heal."
"Not yet!" He protested, evading the lizard's grasp. "Uncle Grune said we have to get ready now, because we're leaving soon."
Cazarak fixed him with a scrutinizing amber stare, eyes narrowing in suspicion, but said nothing. In fact, he barely spoke a word until the battalion set out from the pyramid, when he finally had his opportunity to treat the cub's scrapes, much to Axis's rather vocal dismay.
"Oowww! That stings, Cazarak!" He yowled, jerking his arm away from the soaked, foul-smelling rag.
"We have to prevent it from getting infected." The lizard said gently, taking the cub's hand to hold his arm level, pressing the rag to it again. "I know it stings, but a little pain right now is better than a fever or stomachache later."
Axis let out a small hiss of pain, blue eyes flicking suspiciously at the lizard. "How can I get a stomachache from a scrape?" He demanded. He let out an indignant grumble when he didn't get an answer, but his grouchiness dissipated as the battalion and the accompanying mechs marched farther away from the pyramid. Finally, he was outside again, and getting away from that dreadful place! Four lizard warriors quickly took up positions in front of, behind, and to the sides of Axis and Cazarak, ushering the two closer to the front, just behind Grune. The kitten knew better than to protest, and simply kept quiet, allowing Cazarak to tend to him and waiting for something to happen as they marched.
The endless expanse of sand fell away to jagged, rocky outcroppings of shale and clay within the first half hour, and Grune remarked loudly to a few questioning voices that he knew where he was going. The sand underfoot became thin, barely concealing the fragile, half-broken shelves of shale. Axis kept his eyes on the ground, taking care to step gingerly to avoid cutting his feet on any jagged, broken edges.
"Uncle Grune, where are we?" He asked after nearly losing his balance on a particularly smooth stretch of sun-blasted clay. His uncle glanced over his shoulder at him, the expression in his caramel eyes brightening.
"These are the Demon's Shelves, Axis," Grune explained, his tone both jolly and wistful, "And while they may not be the easiest thing to cross, this is the path I took when I first heard Mumm-Ra's call. And believe me, boy, it's a lot faster to traverse the Shelves and cut through to the forest than to go across the Sand Sea."
Some of the lizards in the battalion started to groan and mutter at this last statement; something told the cub they didn't quite agree with the bigger sabertooth. Looking at the giant mechs, he could understand why; they were moving slower today than normal, probably because it was harder for them to move across the Shelves. His uncle had a strange idea of the word "shortcut."
As Axis was taking all this in and considering it, he caught something out of the corner of his eye, moving in the distance. Before he could get a better look, it winked out of sight behind a jagged outcropping of clay, and he seized Cazarak's arm.
"Did you see that?" He whispered.
"See what, Axis?"
"That thing that moved!" He insisted, pointing out the spot where he had seen it. "It was just there, by that rock! I saw it move, but it's gone now."
The scarlet crest on Cazarak's head rose sharply, instantly alert despite his attempt to shush the kitten.
"Don't worry," he murmured, "I'm sure it was nothing."
Axis scowled in silent annoyance; he knew he had seen something behind the outcropping. And with the way the fur on the back of his neck prickled, he had a feeling it wouldn't be the last time he saw it either...
They set up camp early in the evening, while the sky was still a dark blue, and Axis had a tent to himself, with only Cazarak and his uncle darting in and out of there all the time. And even then, only Cazarak really seemed to stay with him; Grune was too busy elsewhere, shouting orders to the soldiers and checking up on things.
Axis was left to his own devices, and he used the time to work on practicing his drills with his practice sword. Doing the same motions over and over was starting to get rather boring, but he had little else to do, and besides...his uncle could get mad at him if he didn't work on the sword drills the way he was supposed to.
"Axis?" Cazarak asked at one point, snapping him out of the repetitive drills. "You could eat your supper now if you like. You don't have to keep practicing."
He set the wooden sword down with a heavy sigh of relief and shook his arms a little.
"Thanks, Cazarak." He murmured, coming over to sit on a crate that had been turned up. "My arms were starting to go numb! I hate these stupid drills."
The lizard said nothing, but pushed a small plate of the food toward the cub.
"Eat." He insisted. "You're going to need your strength if your uncle insists on dragging us all over Third Earth."
"But what about you?" Axis asked, arching his eyebrows. "Where's your food?"
The lizard's mouth twisted bitterly. "I'm lucky if I get meals, Axis. No, I won't be eating anything tonight." He answered, his voice quiet.
"But you need your strength too!"
"Axis, I am a slave. My life means nothing to the other lizards, or to your uncle, or even to Mumm-Ra. I am only alive still because I am useful." Cazarak said gently, his yellow eyes sad. The kitten set down the small roll of bread in angry shock.
"That isn't right." He said with a small snarl. "It's not fair."
"Life never is, my young friend. Life never is."
Axis stared at him for a long moment, feeling anger prickle in his entire body. How could anybody not care about Cazarak? They cared about him, didn't they? Why was the lizard any different? He was a person too! Angry and indignant, he snatched the roll of bread and tore it in half. Before Cazarak could do more than blink in surprise, he set the bread down and began to tear at the ripe piece of fruit as well.
"Axis, what are you doing?"
"We both need to be strong, Cazarak! That means you've gotta eat, too!"
"Axis..." He sighed, lowering his head, his scarlet crest wilting a little. Axis continued to tear at the food, trying his best to separate everything into even halves, and was barely paying attention to the lizard when he suddenly looked up, eyes going wide. He noticed after a moment however, and glanced up, confused.
"Cazarak? What is it?" He asked.
"I'm not sure." The lizard whispered, getting to his feet slowly, looking around uncertainly. The young sabertooth cat looked around the tent, confused. Nothing seemed wrong. But then he heard faint sounds coming from outside, and frowned. Was someone approaching the tent?
Without warning, Cazarak abruptly grabbed him and clapped a long, scaly hand over his mouth. Axis wriggled slightly in protest before he was hissed at to be quiet. The lizard darted toward the back of the tent and set him down behind a large barrel, draping a tarp over him and whispering a command to stay where he was. He blinked as his vision was obscured, then slowly started pulling the tarp a little, until he could just peak at the world outside.
And it was about that moment that a group of lizards exploded into the tent, surrounding Cazarak and pointing all manner of sharp weapons at him.
Axis nearly gave a jump and squeak of fear, but he bit his lower lip and stayed quiet. After all, they were lizards, right? They wouldn't hurt another lizard, would they? He shifted slightly to get a better view. They were indeed lizards, but they were dressed like bandits, with long, sharp spikes rising out of their cloth armor, and their tales were covered in sand-yellow scales, very different from all of the green and brown lizards he was used to seeing.
"Where is it?" One of them spoke, lowering the cloth that covered her face. "Tell us, and we will let you live."
"I am not sure I understand." Cazarak answered slowly, raising his hands to show he had nothing in them, arching a brow. "Where is what?"
"We have heard tell that the sabertooth general of the Deathless One's army has kept his treasure here, apart from the rest of the camp." Another lizard answered, tightening her grip on a long, stick-like weapon with a sharp blade at the end of it. "We are here to destroy it."
Cazarak's yellow eyes went wide, and Axis had to fight himself to stay still. Treasure? Uncle Grune had treasure? Where was it, and why hadn't he seen it yet?
"Destroy treasure?" Cazarak asked. "What purpose would that serve?"
"It shall emotionally cripple the general." Replied one of the strange lizards. "You reacted when we mentioned it. You know where it is. Tell us now!"
"Yeah, tell them, Cazarak!" Axis piped up, flailing free of the tarp before he could stop himself. "I wanna see Uncle Grune's treasure too!"
There was a pause as all the lizards turned and looked at him with wide eyes, and Cazarak looked both frightened and angry. As Axis stared and watched them, he realized something very odd, very odd indeed. If he wasn't wrong, then all of these strange bandit lizards…were girls. As he looked around at them, Cazarak swiftly moved to cover him, placing his arms around the kitten protectively.
"Cazarak?" He asked curiously.
"Sisters," the one who had spoken first said, tilting her head to each side, though her eyes never left the young sabertooth and his guardian, "Perhaps we misjudged our information. We were told there was a treasure, but we never stopped to consider the treasure would be anything but wealth, plundered and ill-gained, under the Deathless One's orders. Truly, the definition of treasure is also broad and up to be interpreted as any other race could see fit."
Axis crinkled his nose and looked to Cazarak, whose yellow eyes were darting from each of the strange lizard women to the next. "What are they talking about, huh?" He murmured quietly to his friend, whose scarlet crest flared upon his head angrily.
"You will not touch this cub, whoever you are." He hissed, displaying his sharp teeth in a way that made Axis somewhat uneasy. "Spirits grant me peace, I do not care if you kill me thrice over! You will not harm this boy!"
A chill ran down the young cat's spine. He didn't like the way his friend was talking at all, and he didn't like the way those bandit-warriors were looking at them. They weren't friendly at all, and they wouldn't put away their weapons either. He had wondered if he should scream for his uncle, but what would happen then? Would these lizards kill them both and then run away? Or would his uncle get to them in time?
Before he could make a decision though, the leader of the horned lizards shouldered one of her curved swords and an easy smile spread over her amber, scaly face. A second later, she sheathed the twin to her first sword and inclined her head to Cazarak.
"You are noble," she said, "To defend a child that is not your own, and with no weapons save your own ferocity and courage."
"Of course he's brave!" Axis yowled at her, scowling. "And I won't let you hurt him either!"
Suddenly all the lizard women started giggling silently, as though he'd said something funny, and he pouted at them. So what if he was small? He was still a sabertooth warrior in training! They wouldn't be laughing if he was their size and had a real sword to protect Cazarak with!
"And the boy is brave too!" One of them remarked, using her glaive to support her weight, she was laughing so had. To her, their leader nodded, and then saluted with her sword, bringing the edge of the blade up to the front of her face. It made it look like her face was cut in half, Axis thought.
"Well-met, brothers." She said. "I am Salariss, First Spear of the Hidden Blades. You are Cazarak, correct? And how are you called, child of Grune?"
"I'm Axis," he answered somewhat sullenly, "And Grune is my uncle."
The horned lizards all raised their brows in surprise and began to murmur to one another in a strange language that sounded like rolling song, reminding the young cat of lullabies and moonlight. It was strange, but there was something comforting about it, and he relaxed, positive these strangers no longer meant them harm.
"If you wouldn't mind!" Cazarak snapped, and the bandit-warriors fell silent. Sheathing her other sword, Salariss approached him, and her light blue eyes jumped between him and Axis several times as she watched them in silence.
"You wear seals of bondage, Crest-of-the-High-Sun." She said, giving the top of his head a glance before nodding down at the silver bands on the green lizard's arms. "Do you not loathe this? Do you not loathe this child you must watch at all?"
"No," he answered sharply, and Axis started to lose track of what was going on, feeling rather confused, "I meant what I said when I claimed I shall defend him with my life. He is not a chest of treasure to be hauled off in a path of bloodshed. It was never his choice to be forced into Mumm-Ra's service, and there is nothing I would like better than to leave here with him."
Axis's heart leaped happily at the thought that Cazarak wanted to help him get out of there one day and away from that red nightmare monster, and even as his hand gave a painful twinge and started throbbing sorely, he suddenly felt incredibly special as fierce loyalty to the lizard grew in his heart. He glanced up at Salariss, whose face was marked with surprise. A moment later, she smiled again and inclined her head.
"I respect your strength, brother." She said, raising two claws and pointing them directly at Cazarak's chest, before pointing them back to herself. "And I respect your heart's open honesty."
And with that, she spun on her spiky heels and clicked her tongue at the other lizards, who swiftly began to vanish through the opening of the tent. For a moment, Axis and Cazarak stared, stunned.
"Where are you going?" Axis asked, and Salariss paused, glancing over her shoulder.
"We shall leave you in peace for now," she answered, before her eyes flicked to Cazarak, "But one day I shall help you both escape these unjust bounds. I swear it, by my steel and blood and honor."
Then to their great combined surprise, she tossed Axis a wink and blew Cazarak a kiss, before slipping through the tent flap herself. Gawking, the cub and his lizard attendant rushed to the entrance and poked their heads out, looking around wildly. The Hidden Blades were nowhere to be seen, though Axis thought he caught a glimpse of a sandy-colored tail disappearing over a ridge not too far away. Slowly, they went back inside the tent, seating themselves where Axis had torn all of his food in half.
"That was kind of weird and scary." Axis murmured. "I've never seen lizards like them before. And they were all girls, and they were still scarier than any of the lizards in the army with us."
Cazarak just sorted of nodded quietly, and Axis watched him.
"Why did Salariss blow you a kiss, anyway, huh?"
The lizard's face flushed green-black and his eyes widened as he stared at the kitten, like he was just noticing Axis for the first time.
"Axis, we cannot tell anyone what happened just now!" He whispered. "Not anyone, do you understand me?"
The young cat nodded, then asked, "Why?"
"Just trust me, alright? Promise me you won't tell anyone about those lizards or anything they said or anything that happened? Can you promise me that?"
Axis stared at him for a long moment, then shoved some of the food at his friend.
"Only if you promise me you're gonna eat something when I share."
Cazarak blinked in surprise, then shook his head and started chuckling quietly, but all the same, he finally took some of the offered food and began eating. Axis grinned.