A/N: Introducing a new set of characters in this chapter, everyone. And if you want to see the artwork for them, and the artistic friend of mine responsible for the creation of them, check out ShadObabe on deviantart!
Chapter 4: Hidden In the Snow
"That's good, but strike harder!"
Nyrris grinned as she swung the end of the quarterstaff up sharply, and the clatter of wood against wood filled their seat by the roadside. In the days that had followed their departure, Cheetara had quite readily accepted the young gypsy cat's requested to be trained in combat, taking Nyrris under her wing, and the ocelot was proving herself to be a fast learner. Using staves as weapons, Cheetara explained, was an excellent way to disarm and bring down an opponent without getting blood on one's hands.
"I still think it would be a good idea for you to learn multiple fighting styles and weapons." Panthro remarked, watching their progress carefully. "There are days when you're gonna find it can save your life, being good with a range of weapons."
"One thing at a time, Panthro," Cheetara said calmly.
At this, Nyrris paused to taken in her other companions. She had returned with them to the elephant village after a vision from the Sword of Omens had instructed Lion-O to do so, and largely had been too awestruck to have fully take in everything that had occurred between the lines. It had been the attack of the lizard army that had prompted her to ask for combat lessons, for she needed not only to defend herself, but also to prove she could be an asset to the group. Lion-O and Tygra had ventured into the astral plane to retrieve the missing spirit stone. Cheetara had defended the hut on her own. Kit had helped rally the elephants to defend their village. Kat had helped cause confusion and misdirection where he was able. And Panthro had sacrificed his very arms to trap one of the enemy's generals in the astral plane as it was collapsing.
I'm going to prove to them that I'm not useless, Nyrris thought with determination.
"He's right though," she said aloud, lowering the quarterstaff, "I need to learn more than just this, no offense."
"…of course, Nyrris." Cheetara replied. Nyrris smiled at her, catching a nod of approval from Panthro out of the corner of her eye.
"But I'll keep training. I want to learn as much as possible. So where to next?"
As if on cue, Tygra started up the Thundertank, drawing a visible wince from Panthro.
"Back to the berbil village," Lion-O replied coolly, getting to his feet, "We're going to see if our furry little friends can't help Panthro do something about his arm problem."
Nyrris blinked. "Berbils? What's a berbil?"
Time, it was often said, did not exist for spirits.
This was untrue of Spindlefire. He felt the passage of time, if only the in the way an ancient tree might. He followed the trail of Nyrris's aura to the clearing where the Thundertank had been at rest, and finally caught sight of the ocelot, practice-sparring with a cheetah. These then, were the Thundercats that had taken in Priséa's niece as a traveling companion. Almost immediately, the lot of them loaded into the metal body of their vast machine and took off in a southwest direction, and the spirit followed. Spindlefire proceeded to conceal himself through his innate abilities, vanishing almost completely to the naked eye, and kept pace with the Thundertank all the way to a village of robot bears.
It was while these bears constructed prosthetic limbs for the great, hulking panther, that something tugged at Spindlefire's attention. The spirit kept his eyes on Priséa's niece, watched her childlike awe and marvel at the bears' creations, but he cast his awareness further out, touching into the different, overlapping planes of existence. He was only mildly surprised to feel a huge chunk of the astral plane had collapsed; such occurrences were rare, but the astral plane was known for being able to reform and reshape itself after a time. But it was the presence of a mortal entity trapped in that collapsed segment that drew Spindlefire's notice. Not only was this a rather stark anomaly, but the spirit felt a certain malignant taint to the presence, festering in its core as a deep, poisonous hatred. Spindlefire paused, and if the spirit had possessed a mouth, he would have frowned.
The mortal was dangerous, but no threat to him. However, its already powerful hate and taint of evil did not bode well, and doubtless the astral plane would rip the creature's mind to tatters, which would only turn the mortal's precarious state worse. Should it ever manage to escape back to the real world, the creature would be ten times as dangerous as before, having succumb to the fatal embrace of madness.
Spindlefire refocused his attention on Nyrris, pondering. There was no reason to believe the mortal thing posed a threat to the band of companions, but years of being bound so tightly to the shaman ocelot had formed Spindlefire into something beyond any typical spirit, and a sort of second instinct rose within him. Somehow, that mortal was a threat, and in a very odd way, it caused Spindlefire to do something no known spirit had ever done before.
He began to worry.
It was a small sort of worry, the kind one pushes to the back of their mind and forgets on a conscious level, the sort of worry that lingers, waiting for its chance to resurface as top priority and transition to complete dread. But it was worry nonetheless, and it hid in the back of Spindlefire's thoughts over the next days of their journey.
"So this is snow…" Lion-O murmured, his eyes wide with amazement, bringing a small smile to Nyrris's face. Ever since they'd left the elephant village, the Thunderan prince had grown silent and brooding, snapping coldly from time to time at Tygra and Cheetara, and the abrupt change in his demeanor made Nyrris distinctly uncomfortable. She'd sensed a kindred spirit in the young lion, and began to worry it would be buried alive by this newfound negativity. To see him in awe at a thing such as snow was a great relief.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" she said, "I've only seen it a couple of times before, when my family's been on the move."
"I…didn't think it would be so…white." he said, dumbfounded.
"YEAUGH!" Panthro yelped, catching a snowball through by Wilykat in the side of his face.
"It's cold, too." Nyrris laughed as the grouchy veteran rounded on the snickering twins. "How far do you think we'll have to go?"
"Not sure," Lion-O muttered, squinting into the white landscape ahead, "The sword isn't what you'd call given to handing out precise directions."
His frustration was, in truth, minimal. Earlier that morning, they had encountered a large group of traders descending the base of the mountains. Swathed in thick clothing with long white hair, the goats had been excited to trade with the cats, handing over all the gear the Thundercats would need in exchange for nearly half the candyfruit the berbils had given them as a parting gift. The Sword of Omens had shown the prince a vision of a fortress with an incredible library, and when he mentioned it to the traders, the goats had insisted the cats go into the mountains, saying the sword had shown him true.
"Have you ever heard of Conscientia, Panthro?" Nyrris asked. "You must have traveled a lot."
The panther raised an eyebrow, frowning, and his mechanical fingers spun slowly, something that was occurring more frequently whenever he was deep in thought.
"Can't say that I have," he replied, "Name like that, it'd stick in a fella's memory."
"The goats said the library at Conscientia was incredible," Lion-O said carefully, "Maybe we're meant to find more information on the warstones there."
"Didn't think you'd be so eager to sit down and stick your nose in a book." Tygra chuckled, receiving a fierce, blue-eyed glare in response that made him choke on his laughter. Nyrris glanced quickly between the two of them, then to Panthro, who immediately looked away and fell behind to lecture the twins. She huffed in irritation, then marched up to Lion-O's side, matching pace with him.
"Look," she murmured, low enough so only he would hear, "I don't know what's going on, and I'll admit it really isn't my business, so I'll refrain from nosing. But whatever happened, it's cut you pretty deep. Lion-O, we haven't known each other very long, but I consider you a friend, and if there's any way I can help, I would love to. But you have to be willing to tell me when you want my help."
"All that, huh?" he looked at her, raising his eyebrows.
"Hey," she said with a smile and a shrug, "I don't need to be decent with fortune-telling to figure out when you're upset; you're helping me out plenty with that. You're almost a completely different person."
Lion-O watched her for a long moment, then looked forward, intently staring at the path they were walking on.
"Have you ever liked someone," he said very quietly, "Maybe even loved them, only to find out that they'll never love you in return?"
She nearly stumbled, having to pretend to have taken an interest in something on the ground in order to avoid the others realizing what they were talking about. When she was positive she had regained her balance, she shook her head, keeping her eyes low.
"No," she murmured, "I'll admit I've never been in that situation. When I have, I'll tell you right away. And…I'm sorry, if you feel I've been prying."
He glanced at her and she worked up a grin.
"But I'm not going to just let you be a grouchy stick-in-the-mud either! Fair enough?"
"Alright, alright!" he laughed, "I got it!"
"What's so funny?" they heard Cheetara ask not too far behind.
"Oh, nothing," Nyrris answered innocently, stooping down and gathering snow in her hands, "Except for…that thing on your face!"
"What th—" Cheetara's words were cut off with a muffled yelp as Nyrris's snowball smacked her square on the nose. "Hey!"
"Yeah! Alright!" the twins cheered, promptly making more snowballs to fling at Lion-O and Tygra. Cheetara laughed, brushing the snow off her eyes and scooping up a snowball of her own.
"Get back here!" she said with a mischievous smile, darting after Nyrris, who dodged the snowy missiles like a dancer moving through a routine. Even Lion-O started laughing and got in on the fun, pelting Tygra with a snowball.
"Oh, now you're gonna get it!" Tygra chuckled, wadding up a large lump of snow.
"Is it just me," Panthro's tense voice broke into their play, "Or does anyone else feel like we're being watched?"
The words had an immediate sobering effect, and the younger cats all paused, turning to regard him. Panthro had been a warrior for far longer than Lion-O and Tygra could remember, and as such, he doubtless had honed his senses far beyond that of the average cat. But a quick, careful look around the snow-covered path revealed nothing out of the ordinary.
"Panthro…are you sure?" Lion-O asked.
"You think I can't feel when I've got eyes following my every move?" the veteran asked softly, his face grim.
They traveled in complete silence after that.
Over the course of the day, they traveled up the path through the snow, seeking the mysterious village-town of Conscientia. Now and then, the twins would take point, in the event they might spot something the older cats couldn't, and at one point the entire group stopped so Lion-O could use the Sword of Omens again. The sword gave no hint toward the location of the village, but instead directed them to a cave in which they were able to take shelter for the night. After a rather cold meal, the twins curled up to sleep next to the fire with Snarf, and the adults kept watch, alternating between them all who slept and which one watched the mouth of the cave. By the next morning, when they awoke to a frightful, gray snowstorm, Panthro's paranoia had become contagious. Soon they were all stepping as softly as they were able to, and jumping at even the slightest sound that seemed out of the ordinary. But finally, when the path opened into a deep, bowl-like valley, they found what they sought.
"Look!" Cheetara exclaimed, pointing, "There are hut-houses in the snow."
"Yeah, a whole lot of them, too." Tygra added.
"That's got to be Conscientia." Lion-O declared firmly, starting toward the huts.
"But what about that library the goats mentioned?" Nyrris asked. "I know I'm not a city cat, but aren't libraries generally in large buildings?"
"Yes, but this one might—"
Lion-O never got a chance to finish answering. An ear-splitting, ululating battle cry rent the snowy air, and out from the white haze burst a string of bandits. They wore thick furs over their entire bodies, save for their faces, which ended in long, grizzled snouts and held rows of sharp teeth. They rushed at the Thundercats like maddened beasts, swinging old, but deathly-sharp swords wildly. The one who had sounded the battle cry charged at Lion-O, and their swords clashed with a loud, metallic ring.
"Looks like we found Panthro's watching eyes." The prince heard Nyrris remark grimly nearby, and a bandit let out a whining yelp beneath the smack of her quarterstaff.
"Told you I'm not going crazy!" Panthro roared as he fended off two bandits at once.
Lion-O grimaced, smacking the bandit leader's sword aside. "You picked the wrong week to get on my bad side." he growled.
The bandit leader made a barking laugh as he danced backward. "You are a fool, outlander, to have chosen our territory to invade."
The cats instinctively drew closer to one another, bringing their backs together. Tygra had forgone his whip in favor of his gun, shooting at any bandits who came too close, but he was the only one going on the offensive at such a close range. The rest remained tense, and held their weapons at the ready, and Lion-O could only grit his teeth as he came to realize how bad their situation had turned.
"Whiskers." he swore.
"Time to die, trespassers!" the bandits began to chuckle darkly, slowly circling the cats.
"Look!" Wilykat yelled suddenly, pointing toward the cluster of houses.
Something else was emerging from the small blizzard.
Several figures were appearing out of nowhere, as though simply shimmering into existence. They wore garments of deepest blue and advanced on the bandits with their palms raised and glowing with magical energy, silent as ghosts. The bandits turned to meet the new threat, the Thundercats forgotten, and began to howl in pain as the magic the newcomers held slammed into them. A few tried to fight back, but the figures continued to advance, a threatening wall of blue in the blizzard's forbidding gray, and the bandits quickly fled, disappearing back down the path.
"Okay…Now what?" Tygra murmured aloud.
"Think they're friendly?" Nyrris whispered.
Lion-O lowered the Sword of Omens—surely anything that just saved their tails was worth thanking—and nearly dropped it in shock.
Just like their encounter with Garth, the newcomers were cats! But they were the most unusual cats any of them had ever seen. Their fur was a soft, baby powder-blue flowing into snow-white, marked by beautiful rosette spots. Their darker, ice-blue hair too, held patters of rosette spots, and they wore it down to their waists in intricate braids, both male and female alike. But it was their eyes that were most shocking: outlined in black markings, they held no signs of whites; their large irises simply dominated their eyes, which studied the Thundercats with a measure of wary suspicion.
"Thank you for saving us," Lion-O broke the silence, "I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't shown up."
"Don't thank us just yet, lion," one of the cats said coldly, "You may not be the wolves that prey on our people, but that gives us no reason to simply trust you."
"You will join us," said another just as coldly, "…as our humble guests."
"And if we refuse?" Lion-O challenged. The new cats all turned their large eyes on him, and the lack of white in that icy stare made him shudder.
"You will join us," the same one said confidently, "And we shall the leave the consequences of refusal up to your imaginations."
The twins gulped loudly, and the ice-cats quickly motioned for them all to put away their weapons.
"Just great…" Panthro muttered between clenched teeth. Once their captors seemed satisfied they weren't about to put up a fight, they were marched along like an odd parade toward the cluster of huts in the snow they'd seen earlier.
"Well, we certainly weren't expecting to find more cats up here." Cheetara murmured.
"The feeling is mutual." remarked an elegant voice. The Thundercats looked around as one to face the speaker. One of the ice-cats had drawn just a bit nearer, and was regarding them with deep blue eyes. She was slightly taller than Nyrris, slightly shorter than Lion-O and Tygra, but there was something ageless in her face and an air of a great intellect about her that revealed only Panthro to be older than her. She increased her pace to match theirs, and offered them a smile.
"Few of us have ever seen another cat outside of our own kind. We snow leopards rarely venture from our haven." she explained.
"Haven? What is it you do here in the mountains? Are you warriors or monks of some sort?" Nyrris piped up, and the snow leopard laughed.
"Hardly!" said she, "I personally, am a teacher. Our people have devoted our lives to the pursuit of knowledge. A sound mind makes a sound body."
She suddenly pointed ahead, and the snow leopards at the forefront of their little parade raised their hands to cast magic once more. The Thundercats watched as a massive illusion fell away, like a tapestry being ripped down from its hooks, and a towering stone wall appeared before their eyes, drawing their gasps of astonishment. The snow leopard woman smiled at them in the manner of a quiet show-off, and when she spoke, there was a note of pride in her voice.
"Welcome, travelers, to Conscientia."
A/N: Hope that wasn't TOO much of a cliffhanger for you guys. (My beta reader complains that it was.) Anyhow. R&R please! I'm already working on chapter 5 for you all!