Hello and welcome! If you skipped over chapter 21, "Candid," make sure you go read it!

Their rules of engagement for the lizards protecting the foot of the plateau were simple:

Nothing bright and nothing loud.

For Leopara, that left her wind in her offensive arsenal to unleash. The power of the Magi Oar did not pulse through her anymore, and in just a short time, she had become a bit unfamiliar with her usual capabilities if she had ever been familiar with them in the first place.

Regardless, she and Panthro were up first. With a sweep of her staff, she sent a burst of wind that bowled a small group of the stationed lizards out of view and right into the General himself. Panthro growled and slammed their heads together, then letting them go so their limp bodies could collapse on the cold, stony ground.

Likewise, Cheetara opted for magic. Calling upon the power of her staff, she harnessed the power of roots much like Leopara had against the Wood Forgers, except the roots were an extension of her very staff and were only about as thick- not the monstrous sized roots of the trees of the Magi Oar Forest which she had coaxed into action.

Lion-O quickly darted in on a couple that were isolated, taking them down with swift and powerful strikes from his blade.

Tygra was silent and unseen as he stalked the lone remaining lizard. Like a viper, he struck, catching it under its arms and throwing it with all his might. The lizard thunked onto the ground, unmoving.

While they took out the lizard guards, WilyKit and WilyKat raced up the stairs on all fours, bounding and leaping.

Leopara really wished Snowmeow were there so she wouldn't have to make the climb herself, but there was no time for that. They had to go, quickly and before they were detected. Speed was of the essence now.

They leapt up the staircase a step at a time, not wanting to risk stumbling on two steps and being heard.

If they were detected, it was over for the elephants.

Grune was ruthless and murdering an innocent herd out of spite and malice was exactly the kind of thing he was capable of after betraying his people, murdering them, and conspiring to kill a cat who considered him one of his greatest friends.

The lizards at least had the excuse of generations of mistreatment from the cats.

Grune had no excuse for his cold-blooded slaughter.

It was a grim sight that greeted them once they caught up to WilyKit and WilyKat. The entire herd of elephants was rounded up in what Leopara could only describe as a killing circle, surrounded by lizards with guns and three or four mechas that she could see. From here, it was hard for her to tell if there was another mecha obscured behind another, and caution told her to presume there was.

Like Lion-O, Tygra, Cheetara, and Panthro, Leopara settled in the tall bushes to obscure herself and listened closely.

"The Third Moon is rising." came Grune's voice on the other side of the herd. "Are you ready to talk?"

"I love a good discussion." said Anet. "Any topic in particular?"

Grune growled up at the elephant. She could acutely feel his temper rising now that she was closer. Anet must have been running him in circles this whole time, keeping Grune from getting any closer to his would-be prize.

Then, dark satisfaction.

"Very well. Since you have more than tried my patience… start with Aburn!" he called.

The elephants murmured indistinctly, as if trying to remember who Aburn even was. However, the lizards clearly singled him out and corralled him away from the herd.

"Aburn!" WilyKit cried from her position on a short wall. "We have to do something!"

Before anyone could stop her, including her brother beside her, WilyKit scrambled ahead and climbed atop a ruined elephant statue to loudly proclaim their presence. "No one. Touches. My. Friend!"

Aburn looked up. "Hey, it's Kit!" He raised an arm and waved as if it were a casual meet-up and not a life-or-death situation. "And look, you brought Linus and your friends."

Irritation and exasperation rippled through them.

Ousted, they slowly emerged from the bushes to be surrounded by lizards with rifles aimed at them. That itself wasn't an issue she couldn't fix, but if she could somehow be near the elephants… well, that would be a barrier on a similar scale of size as she used to defend the Thunderan army before missiles had been fired. She was more confident and knowledgeable now, armed with Jaga's staff.

The lizards hissed softly as they surrounded them. While the others drew their weapons, Leopara did not. She had to bide her time. Instead, she conjured a flicker of fire in her hand as a bluff. The lizards nearest her flinched at the sight of the red flames.

"Weapons on the ground, or the grass-eater gets it." Grune demanded, hefting his mace to point straight at Aburn while familiar green electricity crackled to life around its massive club. "I assure you," he went on confidently, "-I won't miss a target this big."

Leopara waited until Lion-O disarmed before she dispelled the flames in her hands. It took him several agonising moments to toss the Sword of Omens to the ground, where its eye grew dull and lifeless and the blade reverted to its dagger form. Following this, Cheetara warily set down her staff, WilyKit tossed down her flupe and WilyKat tossed his flink. Tygra discarded his blaster easily, but straightened and with great reluctance dropped his whip straight down.

Of them all, Tygra was the most frustrated, she thought.

Panthro was the last to drop his weapons.

"General?" Grune prompted him smugly.

"Traitor." Panthro growled. She amended herself; Panthro was the most frustrated by this situation, for entirely different reasons than she suspected Tygra was. Panthro finally tossed his nunchucks down.

Grune smugly approached, picking up the Sword of Omens.

"At last, the Sword falls into worthy hands." Grune taunted Lion-O. "Of course, it's not what I came here for. Where is the Spirit Stone?" He pointed the tip of the Sword of Omens at Lion-O's throat.

Lion-O smiled smugly. "Have you checked the hut?"

At this, Grune trembled with rage. "Oh." He lowered the blade and glared. "You may be prepared for your death, but are you prepared for theirs?"

"You're a coward." Leopara snapped.

The lizards had made no move to corral them with the elephants, which was rather inconvenient. Unless she was close to them, there was no way she could conjure her barrier to protect them without having lizards inside.

Unless… could she expand it to exclude them while allowing the elephants to pass through?

Grune ignored her.

"I don't know where it is." Lion-O lied. It was a bald-faced lie and one Grune saw right through.

"And yet, you came back to the village." He turned away from the cats to give his command to the lizards. "Wipe out the entire herd."

WilyKit gasped loudly.

The lizard mechas began to power up.

Faster than she could think, she drew Jaga's staff and screamed as she slammed it into the ground- now was the time to find out just what her barrier could do when pushed to its limits.

It rippled out from Jaga's staff like an explosion of water, washing away the lizards and smoothly rushing past the cats and the elephants. She felt rather smug at the undignified shout Grune made as he too was caught in the shockwave of her magic.

It was the biggest barrier she had conjured yet.

Outside of it, the lizards groaned and hissed and climbed to their feet, aiming their rifles at its rippling surface and taking fire without further prompting.

Grune stood, dusting himself off.

He still had the Sword of Omens in his hand, although he had lost his grip on his mace and a lizard had to retrieve it. Apparently Grune couldn't be bothered to bend over.

"That barrier won't last forever." Grune sneered. With loud metallic and crashing sounds, the mechas stood again and their canons began to whir to life again. "Even with Jaga's staff, I've seen its limits before."

While his words may have originally been warning to all of them, his next ones were certainly a taunt against her; he had witnessed her barrier before as a rippling wall she erected between the cat army and the rain of missiles and gunfire that hailed down on them. He had even been part of the cat army at that time and benefited from its protection.

He seemed to forget it took an explosion within that protected space to take her off of her feet, however, and had not fully seen its limits- it broke because she blacked out, not because the strength of it had been exhausted.

As far as he had any reason to know, it could handle the blast of four mechas point-blank as long as she stayed unharmed.

And with that thought, she knew he was trying to distract her.

"Damn you, Grune!" Panthro swore, brandishing his nunchucks. He seemed to have half a mind to charge out into the lizard gunfire, which completely surrounded them outside the barrier, and beat anyone who got between he and the saber-cat.

WilyKat looked around. "What do we do now?"

"Aburn!" WilyKit cried with relief, rushing to her friend on all fours.

Conjuring her barrier would have been for naught if she didn't expand it so that Aburn was enveloped within it safely.

"Where's Tygra?" Cheetara asked quietly.

Leopara didn't know and she couldn't lose focus.

"I don't know." Lion-O answered.

"We need to do something." Panthro murmured quietly. "Grune's right; she can't hold a barrier this size forever, especially not when those mechas start firing their canons." he added, so quiet she thought he might have been trying to go unheard by her.

Lion-O looked around, calculating. "We don't need forever. Just long enough to beat Grune. Panthro, you know what to do. Cheetara, you and Kat deal with the mechas."

"What about you?" WilyKat asked.

"I'm going to get my sword back."

Panthro smiled, eyeing Grune. "With pleasure, my king."

And then, chaos erupted. Leopara did her best to ignore it, afraid she'd lose concentration if she watched it. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead against the staff.

She caught snatches of the action, or what she guessed was going on. Panthro bowled through all the lizards between he and Grune with Lion-O hot on his heels punching any stragglers. She could imagine the way he would move perfectly, drawing on her memory of the brawl over the lizard prisoners. Lion-O would punch, transition into an elbow, he would headbutt and knee as needed, and then he and Panthro would press Grune, who couldn't use the Sword of Omens at all, and who would struggle to use his mace with only one hand.

Cheetara would speed through the lizards around the barrier's circumference, while WilyKat tangled the first mecha in his flink. Finally, Cheetara would slam her staff into the ground and send its roots hurtling at the same mecha to make it stumble- and once it did, it would crash back down into the ground. Cheetara would leap up and smash into its cannon with all her might to put it out of commission.

Or, that's what would have happened to the mecha if not for a familiar, soaring sound tearing through the sky.

Missiles.

She opened her eyes to watch as explosions rained down on the village with such force the ground shook. Two missiles crashed right into the mechas, destroying two of them.

The third mecha was decimated by the claw of the Thundertank, propelled by rockets. It gouged out the center of the mechas' machinery, tearing the cords and tubes out viciously.

Then, it gouged through the stone path as it was reeled back in search of purchase, which it found at the edge of the mesa.

Activity on the plateau came to a dead stop as they all, cat and lizard alike, stared in shock.

With missiles still exploding around them, a second claw arched above the plateau and crashed onto it, once again winding back until it caught on the edge.

The Thundertank roared as it leapt over the lip of the mesa, drifting to a stop. The engine revved and Snowmeow climbed halfway out of the hatch, bearing his fangs for all to see as he chorused with the tank for a mighty roar.

"I can't believe it!" Cheetara said, taking the words right out of Leopara's mouth.

"Me either. Who said he could drive my tank?" Panthro demanded.

Lion-O had apparently gotten ahold of the Sword of Omens, because Leopara heard his familiar battle cry. "Thunder. Thunder. Thunder. Thundercats, ho!"

It was at this moment Leopara realised her barrier was gone. Silently cursing herself for losing focus, she stood. She hovered the head of the staff near her open left hand, culminating whirling winds in her grasp. With a cry, she let go and swung her staff.

The winds spun and spun, creating a small tornado that swept through the nearest group of lizards and flung them to the mesa's edge.

Snowmeow let out yet another roar and bounded down from the tank, swiping left and right in his bid to get through the lizards. He charged one of the mechas, jumping at it squarely and knocking it to the ground.

Leopara swung her staff with another concentration of wind, this time a blade of wind. It cut through the mecha and, more importantly, its glass canon.

Cheetara sped at the fourth and final one, swinging her staff into it with the satisfying sound of hard glass shattering to pieces.

"You're mine, Grune." Panthro declared, using his nunchucks to sweep three lizards away from him.

Grune, having retreated a small distance, ordered the nearest gunsmen lizards, "Stop him."

They swarmed Panthro, trying to keep him from his foe.

"Dragged myself out of a pit and nearly starved to death wandering the desert to get at you. You think a few lizards are gonna keep you safe?"

Like a coward, Grune was running. "I'm afraid this will have to wait for another day. I can see when the odds are not in my favor."

He, and the last few lizards not knocked unconscious by Panthro's powerful blows, fled down the side of the mesa. They scrambled madly down the rocking incline, some of the lizards tripping over themselves as they went.

Unable to resist causing Grune a bit more indignity, she conjured and released a sweeping wind to push not just himself, but the lizards accompanying him, over as well. They tumbled head-over-heel down the slope and rolled to a stop. Almost in a frenzy, they hurried onto their bikes and raced away.

Panthro laughed and clapped her on the shoulder. "Good one, kid."

"Thanks~" she giggled.

"That barrier was somethin' else." he said, shaking his head in surprise.

"I wasn't sure I could do it at all." she replied breathlessly.

"Well," Lion-O's voice interjected, "you did. That was pretty incredible, Leopara."

She blushed. "Please, you're embarrassing me."

"Nothin' to be embarrassed about." Panthro said, giving her a little nudge towards Lion-O. Now that the metaphorical cat was out of the bag to Leopara, she felt sheepish standing there with Lion-O as Panthro stalked towards the Thundertank with a shouted, "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Saving your hides?" Tygra replied smoothly.

Lion-O sighed, watching over his shoulder. "I suppose I should go thank him?" he asked her glumly.

"Well… it would be a nice gesture." Leopara agreed. "We should get the gateway opened, though. The sooner we can get the stone before Grune returns, the better."

Lion-O nodded. "Can you get it open?"

"I… think so. It might be easier if you used the Sword, though." she said, pointing at it on his hip.

He glanced down, then looked her in the eyes. Her throat tightened as her heart pounded. His stare was… it was way too intense.

Then, he nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

Black plumes still smoked in a few places the missiles had hit and lit on fire, namely patches of grass. They strode across the meditation circle, allowed through by the elephants who were still gathered there, and joined by Aburn, with WilyKit on his shoulder, and Anet.

"It is fortunate you arrived when you did, Lion-O." Anet thanked him.

"I'm just glad we got here in time."

Anet peered at her. "And you. I did not know you possessed the gift of magic."

"I do. I've trained all my life to use it." she answered. She wasn't the only one of their group who was capable of using magic, as WilyKit had proven last time they were here.

Not that any of them realised it.

"To be innately attuned to the world like you are is a rare talent indeed."

She blinked at him before they stepped into the hut. "Attuned to the world?"

"Of course. What do you think magic is?"

"Um… an exertion of your will on the world around you?"

"Yes, yes, that is what magic does, but what is magic?" Anet asked her, waving a hand flippantly.

She opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it. Thinking hard.

Lion-O spared no thought to their philosophical discussion. He drew the Sword of Omens once again. In the proximity of a gateway to the Astral Planes, it crackled with raw power. He adopted a stance with the sword pointed at the wall, arms poised back. With a growl, he rushed forward. The sword pierced into the air and slipped between the two planes.

It burst with golden light that radiated through the hut. The gateway began to solidify in the shape of an ellipse, radiating magical energy from it.

At this point, the others joined them inside the hut.

"Finding the stone will not be easy." Anet warned Lion-O. "The Astral Plane is unlike anything you've ever encountered. There, thought itself is formed into reality."

Lion-O took a deep breath and sighed. This was the second time he had been warned about the dangers of the Astral Plane, and Leopara could sense a hint of trepidation from him. "Okay. I can do this." He turned his head to look at Leopara. "Are you sure you won't come with?"

Leopara shook her head. "If Grune returns, my barrier will be the best defense for the hut."

Cheetara smiled from behind him. "I believe in you." She didn't touch him when she said this, but Lion-O was still filled with confidence.

Tygra was dismayed. Quickly, he said, "I'm going with you. This mission's too important for you to handle alone."

"Thanks, but I don't need your help."

"Funny, because I already saved your tail once today." Tygra boasted.

Leopara arched a brow at Tygra while Lion-O scowled at him. I'm sorry, but who saved who? she wondered sourly.

"I sense a negative energy between you two." Anet observed.

She sure hoped he did.

"Yeah, ever since we were cubs." Tygra admitted without a hint of shame.

"Fine." Lion-O acquiesced. "After you."

"Lion-O, I don't think that's a-" Leopara began to protest, but cut off when Tygra walked through the portal. "...good idea…"

Lion-O shrugged indifferently. "Probably not."

With that he disappeared through the portal.

"What now?" WilyKit asked.

"Now, we prepare for Grune." Panthro answered. "He'll come back, and when he does, I bet he'll have a whole army with him."

If Grune figured out that the hut held a portal to the Astral Planes, it would be in danger. She suspected it was more likely that they might try to breach the portal, but didn't deny the possibility that they may just destroy it outright.

"I'm going to weave wards around the hut." Leopara told them.

Panthro nodded. "Kids, you're coming with me." he said. "We've got work to do."

One by one, they all trickled out of the hut until Leopara was alone. She felt exhausted and weary as she sat down on her knees. She rested her staff on the ground and fished out the leather journal, flipping to a barrier ward. It would deflect any blow or projectile that would destroy the hut, and repel anyone but the Thundercats and elephants who tried to enter.

That was, it would do so when finished.

Until then, it would do nothing to stop anyone or anything from entering, including Mumm-Ra. In his bird form, she almost completely failed to notice him; instead, an unsettled feeling nagged at the back of her mind, telling her something was wrong.

She paused for a moment, glancing about.

When there was nothing she could see that was immediately wrong, she shook her head. Taking a deep breath, she began chanting the spell and using her forefingers to draw the center of the ward under her staff. When the core was finished, she spoke a few more words and tapped the glyphs with her staff.

They flashed a blue glow in contrast to the yellow radiance of the portal, and then faded from view.

Leopara sighed softly and stood. While brushing her skirt off, she finally noticed something.

A single black feather on the stone floor of the hut.

A feeling of doom washed over Leopara as she stared at it.

She reached out with a shaking hand to pick it up with the utmost care. The dark magics of Mumm-Ra were infused with it, just as she feared. Her eyes widened.

Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living was in the Astral Plane.

Leopara's body acted before she could think.

She dropped the feather and scooped up her staff and the journal while darting for the portal.

The single black feather fluttered to the ground in her absence, landing neatly on the floor.

Thank you everyone for reading and I hope you enjoyed having two chapters today~ A special thank you to The Night Whisperer, Heart of the Demons, and Frankannestein as always~ And yes, I cut that prophecy. It always seemed ridiculous to me that the betrayal would be Tygra's and not Cheetara's, but things are going a little differently next chapter so it wouldn't make sense anyways.