A/N: For some reason this darned fanfic is eating my brain. I'm not sure why. Anyway, here's another chapter for you, and you finally get to meet my main OC. I DO own the Ocelotti Traveling Family Act caravan, but they won't appear a whole lot after this chapter. Anyhow, R&R please!
Chapter 2: Nyrris
"Gypsies," Panthro whispered once they had been seated, "Don't eat anything that you haven't seen them eat first."
"Why not?" Tygra asked out of the corner of his mouth, "I think we can trust Garth; he seems harmless."
"Yeah, he does. But just because he's the family cook doesn't mean he's going to be the one serving us."
Lion-O turned away from their conversation, hoping the paranoia wouldn't be contagious. As far as he was concerned, Garth seemed like an indulgent, long-lost uncle, and he and his family deserved the opportunity to prove themselves, whatever their background or circumstances.
The twins at least, appeared to be enjoying themselves. Garth had declared he would have the food ready as soon as he was able, and another Ocelotti had immediately set to entertaining the twins and Snarf, performing sleights of hand and teaching them to Kat as he did so.
"Where did you get that coin from?" he asked, a greedy glint in his eye, so excited he bounced in place. The Ocelotti man grinned, dancing the silver piece over the back of his knuckles, its bright sheen winking in the firelight.
"I had it the whole time, my young friend," he answered, "Did you happen to spot it at all?"
"Ooh! I did, I did!" Kit said eagerly, her eyes shining as she too, bounced in place. A smile crept over Lion-O's face. No matter what had happened on their journey, the Wily twins always found delight in something along the way, a reminder that they were still children, regardless of their circumstances. It gave the young prince a sense of relief that the two refused to let their childhood be completely ripped away from them…even if they were beyond obnoxious at times!
"Excuse us, Lion-O."
The voice broke into his musings and he blinked in surprise, turning to see some Ocelottis standing before him. The one who had spoken was barely younger than he, and fidgeted under his gaze, offering a bashful smile.
"M-my name is Leesil…and my siblings, cousins and I were wondering if we could put on a show for you." he spoke quickly, gesturing to indicate the seven others gathered behind him. They were all dressed in a deep, rich shade of green, and their clothes hugged them tight, unlike some of the adults with baggier, flowing garments. Lion-O decided it had to be some sort of uniform.
"A show?" Cheetara asked politely as she, Tygra and Panthro turned to face the small group.
"Yes!" Leesil replied, his eyes lighting up as he nodded vigorously, "It would be a huge honor! The Ocelotti family hasn't performed for royalty of Thundera in over a decade!"
Tygra glanced over, catching his brother's eyes, and the corner of his mouth twitched up in a small smile. Lion-O grinned back, then nodded at Leesil. "Then we would be honored to see your performance." he declared.
"You'll have to forgive us," Leesil ducked his head, "We're a newer act, so we're still perfecting it."
"Ahh, don't listen to Lee!" another voice broke in, and one of the female performers stepped forward. She was short, and would probably stand only just above Lion-O's shoulder if they were back-to-back, but he could tell she was his own age, if not slightly older. Her black hair, like Garth's fell to her shoulders, and her eyes were a bright, soft blue-gray. She grinned cheekily at them all as she squeezed Leesil's shoulders.
"He gets stage fright easily," she explained, tossing them a wink, "We won't disappoint you! I promise!"
Surprised, Lion-O could only nod, and the young Ocelottis took it as their cue, drawing close to one another and whispering quickly. One of them looked off to the side, toward a group comprised of older adults seated on the steps of a house-wagon, and gestured. The older group struck up a lively, rapid tune with instruments that certainly weren't in their hands seconds ago, and the young performers fell into a quick formation, their feet drumming on the ground in time to the rhythm of the music, and the entire caravan seemed to hum along. The boys approached first, the combined motions of their arms with the drumming of their feet creating a series of flowing steps, something between a traditional dance and the sequence of forms in a sword practice. They were tight-knit, no gaps between them as they stepped, even when they began to jump to the drumming, until by some unseen signal they stepped further apart, their feet twisting one behind the other like a tangle of grape vines. At this, the girls came forward to bridge the gaps, long, flowing cloth dancing from their fingertips, snaking through the air. The image reminded Lion-O of desert raiders that had once visited Thundera on their way through a trade route, slicing the air with the curved, wicked blades of their scimitars.
"So far, not too bad," he heard Tygra whisper, and when he glanced over, Lion-O had to resist the urge to smack his hand over his face at the flirtatious looks his brother was tossing the female dancers. He started to turn back to the performance, when someone set a bowl down in front of him. He glanced up to see Garth smiling and dishing out supper.
"That was fast." Lion-O remarked.
"Trade secret," Garth answered his unspoken question before indicating the dancers, "Whatcha think, eh?"
Lion-O looked at them, watching as the girls took up the rhythm of the dance, while the boys spun away from the center, dancing with the cloths to pass them to some of the other members of the caravan. The group in green then returned together in the center, the boys scooping up the girls and tossing them upward, where they spun rapidly before being caught.
"They're good." Lion-O replied. He paused for a moment, then pointed. "Who is that?"
"Who, Leesil?" Garth asked, blinking, "Why, he's my younger son."
"Oh. Er, no, I meant…" the prince paused before pointing again, "Her!"
"Oh, Nyrris?" Garth said, "My niece. My brother Rhys's only child. Rhys and his wife left some time ago, vanished, so my sister and I have been looking after Nyrris since."
"Your sister?" Lion-O prompted, and Garth went tense, looking decidedly nervous.
"You'll meet her later," he murmured quietly, "Just watch the show for now." And with that, he quickly moved away to serve someone else.
The music had gotten faster, and two of the boys moved into the fringes of the caravan's crowd, almost vanishing if not for their keeping rhythm with the dance. The other two spun together, creating a gap between them once again as they each seized one of the girls. In one fluid motion, the young men tossed their female partners into the air in mid-step, and the girls curled in on themselves tightly, flipping, passing one in front of the other to land on the shoulders and outstretched arm of the opposite male partner. Surprisingly, neither Ocelotti buckled under the weight, and they stretched their free hands out before them. On cue, the remaining two girls raced forward, bouncing on the proffered hands and flipping into the air as well, higher than the others had, spinning, suspended for a brief moment. Then they began to descend, uncurling to land on one foot, on the interlocked arms of the first two girls.
"They're pretty good," Cheetara mused, a smile in her voice, and Lion-O didn't doubt the claim. For someone as adept at acrobatic feats as Cheetara, that was high praise.
"Hmm? Now what?" Panthro muttered, as the last two performers rushed toward the two of their partners, trailing a huge cloth canvas. They tossed it high in the air and it draped over the tower, like someone had accidentally thrown a tablecloth over a fountain. The two rushed around the tower in a circle, pulling the cloth tighter, and Lion-O began to worry for those trapped inside. The boys circled back in front, and the one on the left passed the corners of the canvas to his partner on the right, who Lion-O realized was Leesil.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" he boomed, before yanking the canvas sharply. It billowed once, then fell away to reveal nothing underneath, and the music stopped as the rest of the caravan began to applaud. The Thundercats surged to their feet and joined in, making Leesil flush with pride.
"Yahoo! Encore!" the twins yelled.
"I admit it, I'm impressed." Panthro said with a grin, his earlier suspicions forgotten.
"That was fantastic!" Lion-O exclaimed.
"Didn't I tell you we wouldn't disappoint?"
They spun around and looked behind them. Nyrris was crouched forward on the roof of a house-wagon, her dark hair framing her smug smile.
"Your name is Nyrris, right?" Lion-O asked, "You definitely didn't disappoint us." At this, her smile widened back into her cheeky grin of earlier and she threw him a mock salute.
"You flatter me, Prince Lion-O!" she laughed, "The one who won't disappoint you is Uncle Garth, especially judging by tonight's spread. Looks like he went all out for you guys!"
He blinked, then returned his gaze to the bowl Garth had handed him. With a shock, he realized it had been filled to overflowing with multiple vegetables, several enormous fruits, and a huge piece of sizzling mutton. Glancing to his companions, he saw that their bowls were similarly heaped high, with Wilykat and Wilykit already digging in.
"Well, go on," Nyrris urged, hopping down from her perch and taking a bowl from her uncle, "Don't wait on us to join. The way those two are wolfing theirs down, you'd think you were all half-starved or something."
Supper turned out to be a delightful affair, during which they became acquainted with more of the Ocelottis and Panthro had struck up a casual conversation with Garth about the meal. Lion-O attempted to ask the rotund cat if he'd ever been a royal chef, but Garth had merely laughed good-naturedly, and replied that he hadn't, but was flattered at the comparison. Nyrris had sat down to join them and Cheetara had struck up a conversation with the younger girl about their acrobatic routine. Tygra was answering questions many of the gypsies threw at him, and the twins were performing the sleights of hand they'd been taught, with a remarkable side effect of their audiences' food disappearing afterward.
But then, without warning, the noise around the caravan stopped. Lion-O looked around, tensing automatically, ready to face the threat. Nearby, he caught sight of the other Thundercats adopting similar postures, then nearly lost his calm when Snarf came running and ducked behind him.
"What's going on?" he asked, turning to Garth, who only pointed.
Another gypsy family member was approaching the set of campfires, but she hadn't been among the others before. She was only a bit shorter than Lion-O, with long, frizzy dark hair that fell past her shoulders, contained by a transparent hood her ears stuck out of. Her green eyes were wide and fever-bright, and she wore a cloak of dark red, the shade of mulberry wine, trimmed at the edges in black. She carried herself with her head held high, and the rest of the gypsies shrank back as though she was royalty, but Lion-O could only feel as though he was looking at a mad person. She strode right up to Garth, not making eye contact with the newcomers, not even twitching in their direction, like they were no more than furniture.
"We have things to discuss, brother." she murmured in a rough voice, and without another word, walked past him. Garth gave Lion-O an apologetic look, then hurried after her, and slowly, the noise started up again around the caravan, an uneasy murmur.
"Who was that?" Tygra asked.
"Oh, that was my aunt, Priséa." Nyrris offered. "You'll have to forgive her for just now; over-dramatized appearances play in with her part, so she does it all the time."
"What's her profession?" Cheetara asked.
"Depends on which one you're talking about," the gypsy girl laughed, "To anyone who comes to see the Ocelotti Traveling Family Act, she's our fortune-teller, albeit a half-mad one, compared to most. But she's also a shaman behind closed doors."
Cheetara spun about, looking at her intently. "A shaman, you say?"
"You got it," Nyrris answered, "She's been teaching me both jobs so I can take over when she retires, but my fortune-telling isn't up to her standards just yet. She's so disappointed; says if I'm able to master wild magic so easily, that the divination should just come naturally." She sighed, shrugging. "Oh, well. I'm practicing, so I'll get it eventually. Can't really ask for much more than that, can you?"
Cheetara kept her face neutral, but a quick flash of her eyes told the others of her unease. Trained by Jaga, the head cleric of Thundera, Cheetara was naturally wary of other forms and practices of magic, especially after having faced Mumm-Ra twice. Nyrris of course, didn't notice the unspoken exchange, and turned her attention to Tygra, who was asking her something. Lion-O bit his lip, turning back in the direction Garth and Priséa had gone. They were further away, between two of the outermost house-wagons, but he could still see them talking. Apparently, the conversation was taking a turn for the worse, because Garth crossed his arms and spoke sharply, while Priséa hissed her words and gestured wildly, clearly upset. Finally, they must have reached some sort of conclusion, as she fell quiet and the two started back toward them. Lion-O shifted back around in his seat, about to ask Nyrris a question or two of his own, when a wintry grip like frost-coated steel closed around his upper arm. He jumped and spun, staring into the shaman's mad eyes.
"I would speak with you, young Lord of the Thundercats." she said quietly, hauling him to his feet with a strength that belied her frail appearance. Stunned, Lion-O couldn't' bring himself to object, and followed her away, to where he had seen her talking with Garth. There they stopped, and for a long moment, Priséa was quiet, not even facing him, but staring into the distance. He tried to keep quiet and just as he thought he couldn't stand it anymore, the older cat shuddered and sighed.
"I see many perils on the path before you, Prince Lion-O. Much danger…and a vast deal of pain."
"I'm not surprised," he said quietly, "We're trying to gather what we need in order to defeat Slithe, the lizards, Grune…and especially Mumm-Ra. Not exactly a stroll through the garden."
"Are you telling me that you do not fear the shadows that hang over your future?"
"Of course I'm scared," he spoke even quieter, "We all are. But we can't let fear stop us from doing what's right."
Finally Priséa turned and looked at him, her expression calculating. She said nothing for a time, then remarked in a tight voice, "Garth wishes for Nyrris to join you."
He involuntarily took a step back in surprise.
"So he's not asked you yet, has he?" she huffed, "Typical. Then I shall ask: Would you be willing to take on my niece as a traveling companion?"
"B-but…you said yourself you saw great danger—"
"I have. And I don't like the notion of Nyrris leaving, but she is of age, and even if I were to keep her here, there are some events that will come to pass, even if people take measures to avoid them. The Wheel turns, and the Pattern weaves as it must. What will be, will be. Better that she go with you and help you, than to be trapped with us."
Lion-o fell silent for a long moment, pondering. He knew it would be better to talk to the others before making a weighty decision, but his instinct told him the shaman wouldn't let him leave without getting an answer. Cautiously he nodded, and Priséa relaxed visibly about the shoulders.
"Then promise me one thing, young Prince."
"And w-what would that be?"
She met his eyes directly, her expression grave, and spoke in low tones. "I want you to promise me…that whatever may occur on your quest…regardless of the lies you may hear…regardless of what your eyes may see…that you will be a friend to my niece, and that you won't relinquish that friendship…no matter what may occur."
There was something decidedly ominous to her words and he paused, icy dread creeping up on him. He must have hesitated for too long, for Priséa's hands shot forward and clamped over his arms once more.
"Promise me!" she hissed, somewhere between desperation and insanity.
Lion-O swallowed hard over the knot in his throat.
"I…I promise."