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Danger

Gard, Davaak, Bengali, Lion-O, Tygra, Cheetara and Panthro

When Gard, Davaak and Bengali all arrived at the ThunderTank, the present ThunderCats all stared in astonishment. It was not that Gard had found Bengali, rather it was the Labinnac that was accompanying them. Immediately, Lion-O drew the Sword of Omens and Cheetara raised her staff, but Tygra and Panthro merely continued to stare.

Unbothered by the drawn sword and raised staff, Davaak merely raised a hand and cheerily said: "Bonjour!" This was immediately followed by Lion-O and Cheetara exchanging confused looks.

"Gard, are you aware you have a Labinnac with you?" asked Panthro, keeping his eyes on Davaak as the Labinnac proceeded to place a hand upon the ThunderTank as if examining the vehicle.

"Yes, Panthro, I am." Gard replied. "He is Davaak and he is my friend."

"An Evabon… and a Labinnac… Friends?" Cheetara asked, completely baffled at the very concept.

Tygra watched as Davaak approached him and proceeded to examine his armour. A confused look now appearing on his face, he asked: "Have we met?" Davaak gave no reply, he simply proceeded to start tapping the red circle on Tygra's chest plate. Immediately, Tygra looked to Gard and inquired: "Is he deaf? Why does he not reply?"

Davaak ceased his tapping and looked Tygra in the eye. "I… hear… you." He said. "I remember you… I remember… You all. We met at Karthage… When… my—" A scream interrupted Davaak. Turning his gaze westward, the Labinnac soon joined the rest as they ran to the aid of the Wily Twins and their new friend Caracalla.

Thoris

It had been some time since Thoris had been in Wilusa. Her mother Dejah and her had moved there, but she herself had left not long after to discover herself. Some would have found it unwise given the current state of the world, but she did so anyway.

Having returned at long last, Thoris took a long look at herself in a pool of water. She was wearing what once upon a time would have been called a leotard, pink in colour, with a choker and armbands of the same colour, a purple helmet with a ruby in the brow, purple shoulder guards, purple bracers and boots and a brown belt and a garter of the same colour upon her right leg. On her right hung a sword, something she had learned to wield during her travels. Who would recognize her now?

After looking at how she had changed, she went to the Hall of the Gardites to ask about her mother. Although it was her paternal half-brother Balor who was a Gardite rather her or her mother, both were welcome. Alas, when she asked of her mother, Thoris was informed that Dejah had died during her absence and her father Pwyll had left Wilusa first chance he had gotten following the siege. Fearing that her brother Balor may have died as well, she asked: "And what of Balor?"

"He lives." Said a woman. "I saw him sneaking out to the Wilderness, his friend and arranged fiancée Brigid having been seen leaving earlier. She had been carrying a pot to fill with water, why she didn't do it here in the city is anyone's guess."

"Nature's glory is more beautiful." Thoris said. "Thank you." And with that, she walked from Wilusa to go and find her little brother.

It had been so long since she had last since Balor, but she could not remember having ever met Brigid. It just went to show how little time she had spent in Wilusa before going off to find herself. Maybe, she should have stuck around a bit.

Balor and Brigid

Arriving on the scene, Balor paused as he stared at the strange creatures approaching Brigid. He had heard of Daoine Moncai, but to actually see some? That was a different matter.

Shaking his head, Balor ran over to the Daoine Moncai and knocked them over. It was not particularly hard they were after all only four feet and seven inches, an inch taller than he was. Immediately, the two Daoine Moncai began jabbering angrily and began to rise to their feet as Balor and Brigid fled from the scene with the two Australopithecus pursuing.

The two continued to run, hoping to emerge from the Wilderness and see Wilusa in the distance, but no matter how much they ran, they did not seem to be getting anywhere… And the two Daoine Moncai never seemed far behind. While they may have grown tired, their pursuers never seemed to.

Eventually, the Boy Shaman and the Little Beauty found they could run no more. Resting against a tree while Brigid fell to her knees, the two Evabon children both turned their heads and watched as the Daoine Moncai ceased their running. They both stood there, tree branches in hand and once more one of them grabbed Brigid by the arm, grunting and jabbering while it raised the tree branch in its other hand.

Without even thinking, Balor punched the Daoine Moncai threatening Brigid in the head, causing the brute to turn its attention to him… Great, now both of them would be focusing on him. Groaning, Balor muttered: "I bet Kat and Kit aren't having any trouble right now." Moving out of the way, Balor suddenly felt the pain in his right hand. He was not much of a fighter, not even old enough to begin official training. What was he going to do?

Brigid rose to her feet and stood with Balor, staring one of their two pursuers in the eye. She was a descendant of Zuvowang, a princess in her own right. She was done being frightened be mere animals.

Caracalla and the Wilys

His black tufted ears standing erect, Caracalla stared as the Gruisdier, its head moving back and forth and nostrils flaring. What was the matter? What was causing such a reaction? What did it smell?

As if reading Caracalla's mind, Kat asked: "What's the matter with him?"

Caracalla began to look around, his head turning, trying to spy something that could have caused the creature such alarm. He then began to turn his ears, surely there must have been something he could have heard.

For a moment his eyes landed upon Kit and he wondered how she could stand to have her ears tied back like that? Didn't it hurt?

And then he saw it!

His eyes widening, Caracalla pointed past Kit. Kat followed the Caracal's gaze and the Wildcat's mouth dropped open. For a moment, Kit stared at her brother and their new friend. Upon turning to see what was standing not too far off, she let out a loud gasp.

Standing there was a creature that was as strange as the Gruisdier. To a person of Second Earth, it would have resembled a hairless bison with the elongated head of a hippopotamus. What these three kittens beheld was an Entelodont and to say they had ever seen anything half as ugly before would be untrue. The only thing as ugly an Entelodont, was another Entelodont.

Had Kit not gasped, perhaps the Entelodont would not have noticed the three. Perhaps it would not have thought one of these three would have made an easier meal. Perhaps it would not have charged.

Anyone could be frozen in terror at the worst time. For Kit, this was the worst time. As the Entelodont charged, she found the only thing she could do was scream.

NOTES

Thoris' return with a new look is influenced by the version of her I am using for my original story, with her attire inspired by Teela's from "The New Adventures of He-Man".

As you might have guessed with the various prehistoric mammals I have been featuring, I generally prefer prehistoric mammals and that is due to my belief that when it comes to prehistoric life, dinosaurs get all the spotlight. I may eventually do a story inspired by the Tsavo Man-Eaters reign of terror using some form of prehistoric cat, which may feature one of the ThunderCats acknowledging a strange kinship with these creatures, and perhaps something involving Gigantopithecus, probably not Kong-inspired, but probably something more down to earth.