Hello everyone and welcome~ I hope you enjoy today's chapter. I redesigned Leopara's look, now that I know her better and am not a coward; head over to my tumblr allurasgrace to check out my reference sheet for her! In light of this, I went back and edited earlier chapters to reflect this change~ (Chapter three. I'm talking about chapter three, although there is now something about it in chapter nine...)

They stopped amidst a forest of giant mushrooms, pink, yellow, and orange in color, with tall white stalks. Rain drummed on the Thundertank rhythmically.

Inside the cockpit, where she could watch the water cascade down the sides, it was cozy.

Outside, in the downpour, Panthro muttered to himself about the tank, wet and irritable as he tried to fix the Thundertank. The tank was old and breaking down enough without the extra wear of the Book of Omens, and without all the damage installing it had caused. It was just bad luck that it broke down here and now.

Leopara tore her attention away from Panthro, scanning the surrounding forest before leaning back into her seat. The coast was still clear, which was the only bit of good news they had for the moment

With nothing else to look at, her eyes drifted towards the Book of Omens.

Jaga's calm presence still radiated from it.

"Kind of reminds me of studying in the turret with you." she said quietly to him. "Especially on those rainy days… we'd drink warm tea with honey…" She looked back out the cockpit windows at the darkened area. "I wish we had tea and honey. I haven't had any in a long time…"

If she didn't know better, she would have claimed the book felt gently amused.

"I… grabbed the journal, like you asked me to. I haven't read it yet. The time has never seemed right and we're always busy."

She imagined Jaga would reach out and rest his hand on her head in quiet understanding.

"Lion-O's more dedicated than ever to his swordplay. Tygra tries to help him sometimes, in his own way, but… there's a lot of hurt and anger for him, isn't there? I wish I knew how to help them get along better." Leopara looked at the book again, thinking. "Panthro has been helping me with my magic." She chuckled, imagining the elderly cat raising his brow silently. "Yeah, it surprised me too. But he's really perceptive, and he has a lot of good advice. He's trying to teach me how to keep a level head and focus…" like Jaga always did.

She paused at the thought, before blinking and looking away. Unlike Jaga, Panthro used trial by fire.

"More specifically, he's trying to teach me how to hone my emotions and use them. He says he does the same every time he faces Grune, that his anger helps push him to fight even harder, but that he's always careful not to let it cloud his judgment. I believe him. I saw him fighting Grune; he really was angry, but he didn't recklessly chase after him." she continued. Speaking of reckless… "I think you would be proud of Lion-O. He's finally starting to think before he acts. Or, I think he is."

Leopara paused for a long time, turning over the events of the Swordsman's Town in her head. Lion-O had whipped her in every direction with his choices and words, but in the end… he did some real good.

He had been unquestionably frustrating, but she felt more pleased with him than ever. During his final duel… he really showed he was capable of thinking on his feet, being flexible.

She really hoped he kept at it. He would be a wonderful king, she knew he would.

"We're doing okay." she said after her long pause. "All of us."

A particularly loud clang from Panthro interrupted her one-sided conversation. She craned to look at him. "-lem with a tank this old; it's always breaking down. Uhh, junk cylinder. Blew the whole drive train." She felt Panthro's frustration acutely.

One of these days, the Thundertank breaking down was going to get them into real trouble, and it wasn't easy to find new parts to replace the old ones.

As if on cue, the drive train burst in a shower of sparks and cloud of black smoke.

Smoke and sparks filled the inside of the tank before she could say 'whiskers.' She slammed her hand on the cockpit button, opening it, and stumbled out with a cough while the others piled out from the hangar.

She…

Well, she had volunteered to keep an eye on Panthro, so that was why she was in the cockpit while everyone had been chatting and… cozying up in the hangar.

They ran a short distance away, taking shelter under the umbrella of a mushroom. Leopara slid down the front of the Thundertank, absolutely soaked.

"Guess we're sleeping outside tonight." Cheetara said.

Leopara shook herself as much as she could and looked back up towards the cockpit.

The book! Whiskers, I exposed it! she cursed herself.

She held up her hand and conjured her barrier. The rain pattered against it, rolling off it in all directions. The smoke kept billowing out of the cockpit as she climbed up, and curled around in her barrier. Leopara coughed again, burying her face into her arm to hide from some of the smoke. Carefully, she disconnected the Book of Omens from its console and, with her wrist, pressed the button to shut the cockpit. As it began to slide shut, she vaulted out and allowed herself to once again slide down the Thundertank, this time coming to a stop next to Panthro.

He glanced at her as her barrier engulfed him, and shot a look up. "Shoulda made you come out in the first place. Mind giving me a light?"

"Sure." With a deep breath and soft sigh, Leopara conjured a light in her raised hand, concentrating on it and her barrier.

She took the opportunity to look around again, at the clusters of smaller, although still comparatively giant, mushrooms, mostly blue or orange in color. The orange ones had a soft blue glow from their umbrellas, although they did nothing to illuminate the surrounding forest. There were a few proper trees not too far behind them, but mostly it was these tree-sized mushrooms.

Even in the gloom, it had an almost fairy-tale, whimsical feeling.

Probably not for the others, who were trying to get comfortable and stay relatively dry under the mushrooms.

At some point, Panthro migrated from the cylinders and drive train to the cockpit. With the smoke cleared out and sparks no longer flying, Leopara replaced the Book of Omens.

No longer needed to provide her barrier or light, she wandered towards the small fire they had built. She hoped for more than to stay dry, but to warm up as well. Under one mushroom, Cheetara huddled and leaned against Tygra. Under another, just a few feet away, Lion-O glowered at the pair.

Her heart sank into her stomach.

All week had been like this. Cheetara staying near Tygra, doing small things with him… making small fires, helping set up camp… She had just been paying Tygra more attention

And every time, Lion-O watched them with a growing sense of jealousy.

The whole situation made her stomach tie in knots.

"Mind if I sit next to you?" Leopara asked him.

Lion-O tore his eyes away from the pair. Still scowling he nodded. Leopara sat, hugging her knees close to her chest; the ground was uncomfortably wet and rivulets of water pattered all around her.

She wished she was back in the tank, even with Panthro having to make repairs. At least the rain had seemed beautiful and not miserable from the cockpit.

"Things are looking up." Lion-O commented morosely. "No transportation, nothing to eat, and no shelter." He scooted closer to the mushroom, seeking dryness. "If the rain stopped, it might be bearable."

Thunder rumbled overhead.

She gave Lion-O a weak smile and held out her hand, creating a barrier. "There~ shelter." she said. Unfortunately, it would only last as long as she kept concentrating on it.

Lion-O glanced up, then graced her with a small smile of his own. "Thanks, Leopara. That helps."

Like Tygra and Cheetara, Lion-O soon fell asleep with Snarf snuggled into his side.

Above them, on their mushroom and sheltering under another, WilyKit's flupe music trailed off. Leopara stood, checking on the two. The Wilytwins were curled up, sound asleep. WilyKit's flupe hung half out of her hand. She smiled and picked it up, carefully tucking it into WilyKit's pouch.

She sat back down, turning to face Lion-O while leaning into the mushroom.

Without even noticing, she too slipped into sleep.

By the time Leopara awoke, the small fire had all but burned out, leaving only smoke to waft into the air. The sound of pattering rain perked her ears as she stretched her muscles.

Up above them was a large tarp, pulled taut. It covered not only them, but the Thundertank as well.

She blinked at it a few times, feeling a little puzzled by its presence.

I didn't know we had a tarp.

Leopara stood, taking a moment to stretch properly. The cold had made her stiff, and sleeping curled up tight made her sore.

She should definitely have taken her chances with the tank. It was crowded at the best of times and on the uncomfortable side, but it beat sleeping in cold, hard ground in the middle of a thunderstorm. As much as she liked rain, she didn't like sleeping in it.

Next to her, Lion-O yawned. She glanced down at him as he stretched. His movement disturbed Snarf, who opened his bleary green eyes to look around before hopping away from his master.

Lion-O scooted out from under the mushroom. "Rain stop?"

"No, but Panthro was nice enough to build a shelter while we were asleep." Tygra said, pointing up towards the tarp.

Panthro stood from the cockpit. "Wasn't me. I figured it was one of you."

They glanced at each other, each wondering, who?

The brothers settled for looking at Cheetara and Leopara. Cheetara leaned back, hands in front of her. "Don't look at me."

Leopara shook her head. "It wasn't me."

If it wasn't any of us… then who?

The Wilytwins took this opportunity to climb down their mushroom like feral kittens. "We're starving." WilyKit complained.

"Yeah." WilyKat agreed. He pounced at the satchel. "What's there to eat?"

Nothing, she reckoned.

After reaching inside the satchel and coming out empty-handed, WilyKat turned it upside down. Crumbs tumbled from the bag. "Aw…" they groaned in unison.

"We're gonna have to do something about our food situation." Lion-O said.

As if still in disbelief, WilyKit picked up the satchel and shook it. A depressing sight, two kittens pouring over crumbs for food.

WilyKat perked up. "I think somebody already did!" he exclaimed, racing across the distance on a fours. He stood up, claws poised, amidst several baskets filled with colorful, striped fruit. "Heh heh heh." he laughed sinisterly.

WilyKit bounded towards him in the same manner. Like ravenous beasts, the began tearing into the fruit.

Panthro crouched beside one of the baskets, picking one of the fruits up and inspecting it. Then, he took a bite and hummed. "Mm! Candy fruit."

At this, the four of them collectively balked. Candy…? The twins?

"Uh, take it easy." Tygra said. "We don't need you any more hyper than you already are."

Too late.

Their eyes were already blown wide with bags beneath them, their movements hyper-fast and jerky as they continued chomping down yet more fruit.

Cheetara scanned their surroundings. "Seems like we have someone helping us out."

"The question is, who?" Lion-O asked.

They exchanged glances. Like a shared thought, they all nodded: a stakeout was in order.

Leopara's stomach growled.

…maybe food first, she thought to herself. She strode up to the baskets and crouched down, picking up a fruit. It was light pink with darker, thick horizontal stripes and a green tuft at the top. After inspecting it for a moment, she took a bite.

In spite of the crunchy skin, the fruit was deliciously sweet and the green flesh almost seemed to dissolve in her mouth, making it all the quicker to chew. "Mm… it's good." she said to Lion-O from behind her hand. He continued eyeing her with disbelief. "You should try one."

"Er…"

"Huh, she's right." Tygra said, surprising her. He stood with a lime and dark green one in his hand. He picked up another and tossed it at Lion-O, and another at Cheetara.

Lion-O looked at it with distrust. When he heard Cheetara bite into hers with a crackling crunch, he glanced at her and back at his fruit. Shrugging a little, he finally took a bite.

Food was good, but knowing who left it for them and what their aim was, was even better.

After finishing off the food, they made a show of leaving to "gather some firewood" and to "look for more food." Rather than do either of those things, they trailed off a good distance and circled back around, taking cover behind a cluster of short mushrooms.

Short. They easily came up to the start of her ribs.

It didn't take long. A group of… things rolled up to the tank, nearly silent except for an odd clicking. They sprung up onto it and quickly began to whir away at the tank, opening a panel and poking into its crevices.

"What are they doing?" Tygra asked.

"I'll tell you what. They're messing with my baby!" Panthro exclaimed with agitation. Before anyone could react, he leapt over the mushrooms.

"Panthro, wait!" Lion-O whisper-shouted.

Panthro did not. He ran towards his Thundertank, shouting, "What are you furry freaks doing to my tank!" he hollered at them.

So much for staying calm… Leopara thought to herself.

There he went, a seasoned and veteran general. The epitome of keeping a calm head and not letting emotions reign.

The creatures, whatever they were, tucked themselves into balls and began to flee, scattering in all directions. Before it could escape, he caught one by its torso and lifted it. "Gotcha!"

"Put me down." it said in a peculiar voice.

"What is that?" Cheetara asked, at his side in a flash.

"Put me down." it repeated, waving its arm with a faint whirring sound. Panthro let go of it, allowing it to land softly on the ground. "Ro-Bear Bill, a Ro-Bear Berbil." it answered.

"Did he say gerbil?" Tygra asked.

"Berbil." it- Ro-Bear Bill- repeated.

"Derbil?" asked Panthro.

In a lower, annoyed tone, it repeated again, "Berbil."

"Herbal derbilly Berbil herbal." Lion-O said nonsensically.

Leopara refrained from a sigh, but only just.

"Nice to meet you, Ro-Bear Bill." WilyKit said in one breath, eyes still blown wide and her tail standing on end. Oh no… "I'm WilyKit and this is WilyKat," she pointed at her brother, who was gorging himself on another candy fruit, "-and we're the Thundercats." Having finished speaking, she began chomping on her own.

It glanced between them with a whir of its head. Her ear flicked. "Thundercats?" It turned its head straight ahead. "Berbils help Thundercats."

At this, Leopara heard more clicking and whirring as the scattered Berbils returned. They were… adorable. Small, round, with small bear-like ears and features, covered in patches of fur that ranged from mundane colors to blue and pink and true-yellow.

"I've never seen anything so… cute." Lion-O said.

Panthro seemed to vehemently disagree, glaring at them as they climbed the Thundertank. "They'll be cute and dead if they hurt my tank."

Metal clanged and creaked as they worked, like a well assembled… machine.

Oh gods. The whirring. The clicking. They're machines?

Within minutes of working, the engine flickered and then whooshed to life, a burst of white-hot bursting from the back rather than an explosion of sparks and smoke.

"Looks like they fixed it, Panthro." Tygra said.

Grumpy, Panthro let out a "Hmf." He defensively, followed up with, "It's just a patch. I could have done that."

Ro-Bear Bill did a neat and surprisingly slow front-flip off the Thundertank in front of Lion-O, reaching forward to take his hand. "Come with Ro-Bear Bill. Berbils fix machines." It tried to pull Lion-O along as it walked, but Lion-O easily lifted it into the air. Ro-Bear Bill didn't seem to notice, continuing to walk even though he was suspended above ground. "Berbils give candy fruit." Ro-Bear Bill looked up at him. "Berbils help Thundercats."

"Alright, alright." Lion-O said, swayed by this argument. He set Ro-Bear Bill back down and followed the Berbil as he led the way.

Seeing as she had nothing else planned, Leopara began to follow him.

Cheetara paused, looking back at Panthro. "You coming?"

"Fine." Panthro said. "But I don't trust anything that adorable."

He climbed into the Thundertank and started it. The engine purred to life. With a low rumble, he drove the tank slowly behind them as they followed the Ro-Bear Berbils. The Berbils led them from this large cluster of mushrooms and into the lush green forest with small clusters of colorful mushrooms, until finally they reached a worn, dirt path.

And then, they followed this path until it opened up into a grassy clearing. The clearing rung around a village, which was nestled in a naturally lower dip in the ground with… Leopara didn't know how else to explain the archways other than like the boughs of a tree, grown and carefully shaped to arch over the village. The arching boughs were covered in pinkish leaves, and their undersides were dotted with white, circular puffs.

The village itself looked a little peculiar.

"I've never seen anything like this place." Tygra said.

"It's like they have a contraption for everything." Lion-O added, watching a group of Berbils harvesting candy fruit directly from a tree… which itself looked completely bizarre and like candy to her. Red, with pink swirls, and clusters of thick, drooping branches that themselves were striped and ended with a single fruit.

The Berbils seemed to stand in some sort of… chair, with a metal arm reaching above them. Rather than end in a hand, it ended in a hose of some sort, sucking the fruits right of the branches.

"This place gives me the creeps." Panthro said.

Leopara craned her neck to look back at him over her shoulder, an eyebrow raised; she sensed curiosity and a bit of wonder from everyone, including him.

Although… she did sense wariness about him.

Right. We have no idea why the Berbils are helping us. It could have been pure kindness, or it could have been in return for something else.

She looked away from Panthro.

A giant, golden colored statue; a series of orbs interconnected and reaching for even greater heights dominated the village center. It had some… odd choices and patterns, but the village buildings looked quite like that as well; domes in a golden color, decorated with prongs and patterns and… whatever.

Berbils crowded around them as they stopped. With indistinct chatter, they cheered and waved.

Leopara watched them, wondering. Why? Usually, cheers were reserved for heroes, someone who helped them… not someone they had helped.

She didn't wonder for too long, instead watching Ro-Bear Bill.

In particular, a blue Berbil raced towards Ro-Bear Bill. Ro-Bear Bill caught the blue Berbil and lifted him into the air and spun him like a… parent would with their child.

She felt a bloom of affection- love- from Ro-Bear Bill. With a feeling of perplexion, she watched the scene. Her feeling only increased when a pink, fully-sized Ro-Bear Berbil joined him. She too radiated warmth and adoration.

Ro-Bear Bill set the blue one down. "Meet Ro-Bear Bebo. Meet Ro-Bear Bella. This is Ro-Bear Bill family." he introduced them.

How do robots have children? she wondered to herself, but unable to deny the emotions she experienced. They were machines, but they felt… like animals. They had a presence, emotions- could they have souls?

Could a machine have one?

Animals were born with one, and it grew with them; that was what she had been taught.

… but was it possible a machine that experienced emotions could grow one too?

One of the Berbils she had seen earlier, harvesting candy fruit, rolled through on the harvesting contraption.

At the sight of all the candy fruit inside, WilyKit and WilyKat gasped in awe.

"Candy fruit." Ro-Bear Bill said, as the contraption opened its net and spilled the candy fruit on the ground. WilyKit and WilyKat didn't need further invitation to eat the fruit, but Ro-Bear Bill continued on anyway, "Eat. Good."

"Yum! Candy fruit!" WilyKit exclaimed as Ro-Bear Bill handed them each a fruit.

"Looks like you were worried about nothing, Panthro." Cheetara remarked.

Panthro shook his head, approaching the harvester. "You really think these fur-balls are helping us and don't expect something in return?"

Looming over the twins, Lion-O outstretched his arm. "Have you considered maybe they're just nice?"

Before Leopara could reply, the statue behind them began to blare. They looked around, startled by this loud, alarming sound.

"What's going on?" Lion-O called.

The Berbils froze in place for a moment. Then, without an answer, they curled up into little balls and fled towards an opening in the ground while the cats stood there, confused.

Alarming sound? "It's an alarm!" Leopara exclaimed, just in time for the village to be rocked by explosions.

Lion-O whirled around to Ro-Bear Bill. "Conquedor comes. Conquedor takes Berbils. Sells Berbils as slaves."

The ground shook and rumbled. Emerging from a cloud of smoke and dust, a tank-like vehicle landed hard on the earth facing towards them. It was endowed with a plow on its front, rather narrow unlike the Thundertank, and long like a caterpillar.

A heavily-armored caterpillar.

A hatch atop it opened and an armored figure appeared, scanning the village with eyes of red lenses. Another machine? she wondered.

The Conquedor spotted his prey: a blue Berbil, not unlike Ro-Bear Bebo, running.

Why isn't it rolling?

To her absolute horror, a long, yellow, mechanical arm towered over the Conquedor's tank and reached for the blue Berbil. Unable to move fast enough to evade its grasp, the blue Berbil was captured in its claws.

"Help Ro-Bear Bob." it said, in the same exact tone and volume that Ro-Bear Bill had introduced his family to them.

Unlike Ro-Bear Bill, who had felt affection, there was nothing but cold fear from Ro-Bear Bob.

Leopara growled, withdrawing Jaga's staff and growing it to its full length

"We have to stop that!" Cheetara yelled. She twirled her staff overhead, a proclamation of impending violence.

"What did I tell you guys? Trying to use their cuteness to get us to fight their battle." Panthro said, similarly adopting a battle-ready stance.

Lion-O slid his hand into the gauntlet and flexed his claws. "Well, looks like it worked."

The arm carried Ro-Bear Bob back to the Conquedor's tank. As it neared, the plow of the tank popped forward, opening a secret compartment.

The arm dropped Ro-Bear Bob.

Before he could fall into the tank, Cheetara dashed forward, vaulted, and neatly caught him the air, doing a front flip before landing gracefully on her feet. Using her momentum, she sprung forward, rishing Ro-Bear Bob back to them and set him down.

Wasting no more time, Ro-Bear Bob curled into a ball and rolled away.

The tank stopped moving, then turned towards them. The hatch opened again.

"So, the Berbils have enlisted the help of the fabled Thundercats." the Conquedor observed.

In response, Snarf let out a defiant meow.

They all stood at the ready, facing down the Conquedor. Behind his tank, a trail of smoke plumed. He hefted a large gun with four barrels onto his shoulder. "Risking your lives for a bunch of junk heaps? And I thought these robots were brainless fools." He rapped his fist against his helmet. It sounded surprisingly dull.

Lion-O drew the Sword of Omens. "Thundercats, ho!"

The Conquedor fired his gun. A glob of blue blasted towards them.

The Thundercats scattered. Leopara leapt back, pushing her barrier in front of her to keep the goop from splashing onto her. Lion-O circled left and Tygra circled right. Cheetara was gone so fast Leopara couldn't see where she went, and the twins must have taken shelter because she could spot them either.

The Conquedor paid her no mind and continued firing at Lion-O rapidly, but he stayed just ahead of each shot. Growing frustrated and noticing Tygra on the other side of the tank, the Conquedor changed targets to fire at him instead.

With the grace of a dancer, Tygra leapt into the air with a spin. His whip twirled around him. With a faint crackling sound, his camouflage rippled all around him until he vanished from view.

The Conquedor was slow to react, continuing to fire for another few moments before he finally stopped.

It was then he finally noticed Cheetara racing towards him. He opened fire with his gun once more, but he was no more successful hitting her than he had been hitting the brothers. Cheetara was even quicker and more agile, drawing his fire away from them before making a straight charge for the tank. From his tank's larger canons, giant glops of green goop hurtled at her, but she was always one step ahead. Just as one would squarely hit her, she vaulted into the air and became obscured by the dust cloud.

The Conquedor laughed, believing he had finally hit his mark.

As if.

Abruptly, he choked and dropped his large gun. Cheetara's distraction had served its purpose; unscathed, Tygra had reached the tank and the Conquedor. He now rippled into view, keeping the Conquedor trapped in a headlock.

Struggling and groaning, the Conquedor reached up and managed to press the red watch on his wrist.

He crackled with electricity, shocking Tygra- physically, not emotionally.

Tygra shouted in pain and stumbled backwards off the front of the tank, where he landed on the ground, prone and unmoving.

Oh no.

That tank could easily crush him if it rolled forward. She sprung forward with her staff, ready to conjure her barrier.

"Tygra!" Lion-O called.

"I have him!"

Panthro was splattered with the blue goop, knocked to the ground and trapped. Whiskers! Now they're both in danger!

The Conquedor quickly retreated into his hatch at the same time Leopara slid to a stop next to Tygra and smacked the butt of her staff into the ground. The tank, thankfully, did not test the durability or strength of her barrier. It rolled back while turning, then quickly sped away from the cats while Lion-O chased it.

"Thanks." Tygra breathed, sitting up. She nodded and dropped her barrier.

Where was the Conquedor going in such a hurry? They couldn't have chased him away yet, could they?

The arm of his tank stretched forward, ahead of him.

Berbils.

Of course he was pursuing Berbils.

"Bella. Bebo." Ro-Bear Bill exclaimed in his monotone, flat voice. He strode forward and curled into a ball, rolling with great speed after the tank. He bounced once, twice, three times- gaining height which each bounce until he could reach his family and caught Ro-Bear Bella's hand.

From there, he dangled. Unwilling to let go of his family but incapable of freeing them from the claw of the Conquedor's tank.

It swung back and forth, quickly flinging him away.

He landed and limply rolled, an alarming amount of electricity crackling around his body. Cheetara dashed towards him, scooping him up. "Lion-O!" she called, rushing back to them. "It's Ro-Bear Bill. He doesn't look good."

Ro-Bear Bob approached them, holding up his arms. Cheetara lowered Ro-Bear Bill with a sense of uncertainty. Two more Berbils joined Ro-Bear Bob, and together carried him into a hut, where they set him down on a table. WilyKit watched with a sense of fear and sadness; Leopara gently rested her hand on the kitten's shoulder, consoling her.

WilyKit looked up. "Can they fix him?"

"I don't know, but they're going to try." Leopara answered while everyone else, even WilyKat, remained silent.

With grave expressions, they watched.

The Berbils continued their work for several moments with sparks flying. WilyKit covered her eyes, feeling overwhelmed. Leopara moved her hand to her far shoulder and gently pulled the kitten into her side. She turned to bury her face against Leopara's hip.

The Berbils stopped, looking at each other and communicating in vocalised clicks- chatter she couldn't understand. She understood their emotions, though.

Uncertain, perplexed, and hopeless.

Panthro groaned. "I can't take watching these amateurs." He strode up to the table. "Give me that." he snatched a tool of some sort- not one Leopara knew the name of. Was it a soldering pen? "You're doing it all wrong." He leaned down, resting a giant paw on Ro-Bear Bill, and began to fiddle with someone.

Hope sparked in the Berbils. "Good idea." said Ro-Bear Bob. "Now reset function levels.

Panthro glared at him for a moment. When he flicked his red gaze back at his work, he said, "Oh, yeah, I see what you're saying."

The work seemed extensive, but it didn't last as long as Leopara expected. The Wilytwins and Cheetara scooted forward as Panthro backed off, wanting to see better.

Ro-Bear Bill sat up. "All circuits functional." He spun his head to look at Panthro. "Ro-Bear Bill lives." He tried to turn towards Panthro, and instead did an elaborate handstand that ended with him sitting in the exact same position as before.

Panthro smiled with a sense of satisfaction. "He's looking good now."

"Looking good." Ro-Bear Bill repeated. With another overly complicated spin, Bill climbed off the table. While his fellow Berbils exclaimed with joy, Ro-Bear Bill latched onto Panthro's leg. "Cat save Bill." He looked up. "Thank you, Cat. Cat builder, too?"

Panthro had only a moment to process what was about to happen and to come to peace with it.

"Love cat Panthro." all the Berbils exclaimed, still in their same tone of voice and volume, with a rush of affection that made Leopara chuckle lightly. They rushed Panthro, latching onto his legs and hugging him. "Love cat Panthro." they repeated.

"Okay, that's enough." Panthro protested.

Leopara shared a smile with Lion-O and Tygra.

And then, they headed out.

For such a short attack, the Berbil village was devastated- physically, and emotionally. Counting up the Berbils, half a dozen or so must have been snatched up.

Buildings, including the central building, were broken, missing chunks. The rubble littered the pathways of the village, much of it crushed further by the Conquedor's tank driving over it. It was a mess.

It reminded her, just by the ruin alone, of Thundera.

A pang of pity resonated within her- not just her, though. They all seemed to wrestle with some form of the emotion as they continued to survey the village.

"My Bella, my Bebo, taken." Ro-Bear Bill monotoned sorrowfully to Lion-O. "Ro-Bear Bill's family."

Lion-O crouched down. "Do you know where the Conquedor has taken your family?"

"Conquedor sell berbils. Ro-Bear Bill knows."

"Then you can take us there." Lion-O said, determined. He looked over his shoulder towards the hut, where Panthro and the Wilytwins had yet to emerge. "Panthro, you keep an eye on the village."

From within the hut, Panthro exclaimed, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" He appeared like a flash of lightning in the doorway, looking aghast. "There's no way you're leaving me here with these things!" Unfortunately for him, in the time it had taken him to react, Ro-Bear Bill had tucked into a ball and sped away- and they had wasted no time following him.

Thank you to everyone for reading! A special "thank you" to my regular reviewers, The Night Whisperer and Heart of the Demons! You guys are the best and I always appreciate your reviews! (And seriously, go look at Leopara! she turned out sooo good and she's so pretty! Makes me wonder what Leopara doing lmaooo)