Hi and welcome back, guys! I hope you guys enjoy today's chapter! I got way more out of the episode than I expected... also, there's new artwork of Leopara and Lion-O up on my tumblr (allurasgrace); go check it out!
Somewhere out in the twisting grey canyon, WilyKit and WilyKat were testing out their new hoverboards, racing through the ravines.
Leopara sighed softly. The ground stopped being comfortable a long time ago, but they had been doing this so long she had learned to ignore how it made her back stiff and dirtied her skirt. Snowmeow, however, just grew more restless as time passed.
When he prowled and stalked, it was for food.
Their ambushes were for anything but food.
After she and Lion-O found the lizards deserting, he had quickly led them into action. For weeks, now, they ambushed lizard platoons and gave them a choice: go back to their families, or go back to Mumm-Ra.
It was incredible.
Mass desertions were stripping the lizard army of the threat it posed to them and any effectiveness it possessed for finding the other stones. Even lizards they didn't encounter were abandoning Mumm-Ra.
But still… It was rather boring. They waited around for hours, doing nothing but wait- they couldn't afford to be distracted when laying an ambush.
She reached out and carded her claws through his thick, powder-blue fur with a sympathetic smile. "Sorry, buddy. It's just until Panthro's arms are finished." she reassured him.
Snowmeow looked at her with pitiful blue eyes and meowed at her skeptically.
The whir of the twins' hoverboards perked her ears. She turned away from Snowmeow and peeked out from behind her rock at the dead-end bowl they guarded.
As WilyKit and WilyKat came into view, so too did the sound of a much larger hovercraft reach her ears.
Behind her, Snowmeow growled quietly. She raised her hand to halt him, and waited.
The twins circled close to the sloping walls and stopped below the outcrop they planned for Lion-O to soon reveal himself and spring the ambush. While she watched him carefully climb up, the lizards were simply too focused on what they perceived as defenseless, harmless kittens to pay attention to their surroundings.
They didn't even notice Lion-O standing up above them.
There were half a dozen or so lizards on the craft. One stood up in an opened hatch. "Looks like you're trapped." he gloated.
"Are we trapped?" WilyKit asked with a cheeky grin that Leopara could hear.
"Or are you?"
The lizards gasped as their attention was finally drawn to Lion-O. Confidence and glee quickly turned sour for them; the hunt was not what it had seemed, and the tables had been turned on them.
Lion-O didn't waste any time letting them recover from their surprise. He held his gauntlet high in the air, claws flexing. As sunlight glinted off of it like a beacon, he drew the Sword of Omens.
"Thundercats, ho!"
The Sword of Omens answered immediately, turning into a pillar of blue light and then bursting with its power. Blinding lightning crackled in the sky above him.
This display was, apparently, enough to snap the front gunsman to his senses. Before any of the other lizards had decided what they would do- fight or flight- he swiveled his turret and start firing on Lion-O with a barrage of thick green blasts.
Before any of the blasts could reach him, Lion-O jerked his gauntlet in front of him. The Spirit Stone glinted brightly and projected a pink, half dome barrier in front of Lion-O.
Despite his shots doing nothing but disperse or ricochet off of Lion-O's barrier, the gunsman was determined.
Leopara watched, waiting for the signal to jump in. Why wasn't Lion-O giving it yet? He was pinned and now was a perfect time to waylay the lizard hovercraft from the side- she had a perfect shot at it. One swing of her staff, and she could slice it in two!
As Leopara was debating whether to go ahead with it or not, one of the many rapid blasts ricocheted off Lion-O's barrier at just the right angle. Instead of bouncing to the side or dispersing, it was sent hurtling almost one-hundred-and-eighty degrees towards the lizards- more specifically, towards the rocky canyon wall curving above them. The green glob smashed into the jutting stone and burst. The rock cracked and groaned, falling in a cascade of debris as black smoke curled around it.
The rain of debris battered against the hovercraft with heavy, dull thunks on the metal. The hovercraft rocked violently, its starboard gun smashed.
While the lizards were busy recovering, Lion-O charged down the slope. The port gunsman scrambled for his gun and took aim.
It wasn't good enough to take aim at Lion-O, not anymore. Lion-O had proved before that the Sword of Omens was perfectly capable of blocking ongoing attacks, like the Driller's, and now he proved it could block a stream of blasted lightning. All he did was push it forward in front of his chest; he didn't slow down or even stumble. He was…
He was focused.
He was always focused during their ambushes, though.
With a grunt of exertion, Lion-O angled the Sword of Omens, tilting the blast of energy into the Eye of Thundera.
The green blast burst into red as the Eye awoke. In an overwhelming surge, the Eye released a blast of red directly back at the hovercraft, slamming into it with a kaboom! Faint traces of red electricity danced across the smoking hovercraft as it crashed into the rocky ground. A plume of smoke and dust billowed from the port-side.
As the dust was settling, the lizards charged out with their guns drawn, and formed a line in front of Lion-O.
At the sound of Cheetara's distant swooshing- she and Tygra had been waiting in another location, but undoubtedly heard the commotion, Leopara sighed. "I don't think we were needed, buddy." Snowmeow grumbled and flopped down with disappointment and frustration. "I know, I know."
She glanced back down at the action.
As she predicted, Cheetara cane racing through like a violent gust of yellow wind, snatching the weapons of all the lizards and knocking them on their backs.
Leopara heard a gun fire- Tygra's- followed by a surprised shout from a lizard. She spied it, tumbling down the short bit of canyon wall he climbed up to get a sniper position. Cheetara spared a glance towards the lizard, then aimed a smile at Tygra.
She could feel Lion-O's focus roil into discomfort and resentment.
"Let's go join them." Leopara stood and began making her way down the slope, with smaller stones clattering down the incline around her feet.
By the time she reached the bottom- which was not long- Lion-O, Tygra, and Cheetara, and the Wilytwins' heckling, had already corralled the ten lizards near the base of the far canyon wall, where they sat like scolded children. As she and Snowmeow joined them, Cheetara spoke up.
"What are we gonna do with them?"
"We're gonna let them go." Lion-O answered with no hesitation.
Tygra balked, "Excuse me?"
Lion-O approached the subdued lizards while he explained himself. "They fought under Mumm-Ra long enough to know they don't wanna live under him. His mission is not just a threat to cats. If we don't unite against him, we'll fall together before him." His speech was earnest, but Leopara wasn't sure who he was trying to convince more: the other cats, or the lizards. She did know that he wasn't convincing either.
The lizard captain burst out into raspy laughter. "Cats and lizards, united together? If that's your plan for victory, you are a fool."
"Perhaps." A bit of wind was taken from Lion-O's sails. "Still, the choice is yours. Return to the battlefield, or return to your families."
Behind the captain, the lizards broke out into raspy murmurs. Despite the captain's incredulous response, she sensed disquiet in him. She sensed disquiet in all of them.
"It's working." Leopara whispered, leaning forward.
Instantly, relief washed over Lion-O.
A moment later, the lizard captain stood, facing Lion-O. He glanced over one shoulder, then the other, and finally said, "Let's go home." With nothing more to be said, his men began to file away. He waited until they passed him to follow, bringing up their rear.
While Lion-O was relieved and feeling proud, Tygra's disapproval rumbled like distant thunder clouds. Leopara sighed, knowing what was to come when Tygra stepped in, close to Lion-O.
"You still haven't given up the idea that you can turn the lizards good just by cutting them a break." Tygra accused him.
"You saw what happened after we won the Spirit Stone- mass desertions in the lizard army. This isn't their war. They don't even know what they're fighting for." Lion-O kept his gauntlet up to make his point with the stone, but Tygra was already moving on.
Tygra met Cheetara's pink gaze softly. "All I know is what I'm fighting for."
"That reminds me, thanks for watching my back." Cheetara said, voice growing uncomfortably soft and intimate as she finished speaking. She took a step closer and leaned in, pressing her lips against Tygra's cheeks for longer than necessary.
Simultaneously, the feeling of warmth she had learned to recognise as love flooded Tygra, and a dark and painful sense envy and resentment roiled in Lion-O.
Sensing both of these emotions at once, and so close to her, made Leopara nauseous.
"Well, your back's real easy to watch." Tygra replied, almost stammering at first.
Leopara wondered for a moment if the two were even aware the four of them- five, if Snowmeow counted- were still standing there… watching… She would have liked to just quietly creep away at that moment, but Lion-O was grappling with his emotions and not budging from place when she laid her hand on his arm and tried to give him a push- he was pretty much all muscle, she was realising.
"I think I'm gonna hack up a hairball." WilyKat finally said.
Tygra coughed into his fist, embarrassed. "Ahem. Sorry." Cheetara seemed more amused by the kitten's reaction than embarrassed to have been caught in her display of affection.
Lion-O continued scowling for a moment, reflecting the cocktail of unhappy emotions being shook up in his body. Then, abruptly, he smiled. "Don't be. I'm happy for both of you."
Leopara's eyebrows knit.
She wouldn't exactly describe what she sensed as 'happy.'
But Tygra and Cheetara didn't know that; with a ping of genuine surprise, the couple shared a glance and smiled.
"It means a lot to hear you say that." Tygra said. His emotions felt as light and airy as a feather compared to Lion-O's- his were more like a heavy stone sinking in water.
Lion-O took a step forward and pivoted to look at WilyKit and WilyKat, conveniently placing Cheetara and Tygra to his back. While he began speaking she snatched her hand out of the air and, after a brief panic, stuck it inside Snowmeow's dense fur. "How about we get back to the Berbil village and check in on Panthro?"
The twins rose up in the air on their hoverboards.
"Yeah, if those furry little bears can make these hoverboards, I can't wait to see what they do with Panthro's new arms." WilyKit said. Then, she and her brother rose even higher overhead, and accelerated off ahead of the rest of them.
Leopara turned towards Snowmeow and climbed up in his saddle. Without needing to be nudged, Snowmeow moved closer to Lion-O and Leopara leaned to the side to offer her hand. "Are you coming with?"
Lion-O offered her a smile, and as he did, his emotions settled like agitated sand in water. He took her hand and pulled himself up. "Thanks."
She simply nodded and looked at Tygra and Cheetara. "See you there."
They exchanged a look. "We'll probably move to another location to start planning an ambush." Tygra said.
"It would take Tygra a while to catch up anyway," Cheetara teased playfully.
Leopara glanced back at Lion-O. When he noticed the attention of all three of them, he hurried to nod. "Good idea. We'll come find you after we check in on Panthro."
"Let's go, Snowmeow." With a small roar, the felyne loped forward, clearing the slope of the canyon wall with ease. Leopara opened her mouth to say something- anything- about Lion-O's emotions, but found herself at a loss for words. What could she say that she hadn't already?
What could he say about it that he hadn't already?
Instead, she closed her mouth and looked ahead, at Snowmeow's fluffy ears, the blue skies, and the admittedly impressive skyline that the canyon's odd and unusual rock formations made.
Lion-O was pensive behind her, but he didn't speak up either, so they rode in quiet.
WilyKit and WilyKat beat them to the village, of course, and had already gone into the hut to see Panthro, and had already been barked out of the hut by him for their antics.
Leopara slid off of Snowmeow's back, patting his shoulder. "Take a rest, buddy. You've earned it." He craned his head to face her and gently licked her face. She grimaced, hating the feeling of her fur being rubbed the wrong direction and the stench of the saliva, but mustered a, "Thanks," for his display of affection nonetheless.
Lion-O, cheeky as he was, chuckled at her. "Glad it's not me."
She sighed. "Let's just check on Panthro, alright?" She smoothed the back of her sleeve down her face, both drying and smoothing out her fur. The stench wouldn't leave for a while longer, so she had the smell of felyne-mouth stuck in her nostrils.
Lion-O led the way up the stairs of the hut- it wasn't really a hut, Leopara just didn't know what else to call it- and onto its upper landing to look down on the Berbils and Panthro. The panther was laid mostly-back in a lounging chair, with his arms, and lower body, draped in a white cloth. It had a panel with a hole stitched into it, allowing the Berbils to focus on one section and work on it without having to remove the cloth completely.
Except, Panthro's arms were not under the drape.
"How's it going?" Lion-O asked.
His… arms were raised in the air as he brimmed with indignation; Leopara had to cough to avoid laughing at the sight.
Where his new, cool mechanical arms should have been were instead short, stumpy, pink berbil arms that were hilariously, disproportionately, small for his body; Panthro was bug, barrel-chested, and made Lion-O and Tygra look like babies in pure muscle mass, no matter how lean he was.
Panthro gestured one arm, which swiveled with fury, at Lion-O. "How does it look like it's going?"
"Aw, they're not so bad. In fact, they're actually kind of… adorable." Lion-O… reassured him? Provoked him?
"Are you trying to make me mad?"
"Sorry." Lion-O waved his hand, as if to clear the air. "Good news, another successful ambush. If things keep going this way, they won't have an army to stop us from finding the next stone."
"Just don't win the war before I have the chance to get a few more licks in."
Leopara allowed herself a small, sensible chuckle. "With arms like those, I'm sure you'll be out there in no time, Panthro."
The match that was Panthro's temper lit up. "Can somebody please get these… things, off of me?!" he shouted.
She and Lion-O both laughed before they, too, were shouted out of the hut by the general.
Once they calmed themselves down outside, Lion-O let out a sigh. "Well, we should go meet up with Tygra and Cheetara."
"Actually…" Leopara pulled her braid forward to fiddle with it. "I was thinking I… we," she rested her hand on Snowmeow's haunch, "-would stay here. Keep an eye on the village and Panthro."
The pang of hurt that lanced through Lion-O stung Leopara. He grappled with his expression for a few heartbeats, before settling on confused and hurt. "What? Why? We've made so much progress against the lizards- I need you there."
Leopara shook her head. "Lion-O, I haven't done anything the last dozen times we've gone out. Snowmeow needs to hunt- all that waiting and not doing anything…" she trailed off, sighing. How could she make him understand how frustrated and restless it made the felyne. "And-" Leopara cut off instantly, closing her eyes and taking a deep, sharp breath.
Whiskers. I didn't mean to say anything else.
"And? Leopara, what is it? You can tell me."
"It's… it's hard. Constantly sensing the way you feel when you see Tygra and Cheetara, or the way they feel when… anything. And it's worse sensing both at the same time- you, you lied to them. And they were happy, Lion-O. Really happy."
Lion-O's gaze slowly fell away from her. When he spoke up, his voice was filled with remorse. "I want to be happy for them, Leopara. I really do. But everytime I think about it, I just- ah, what's the point? I've already told you. You know."
They lapsed into a quiet that seemed to stretch on for forever. Her heart beat loudly in her ears.
"I just want a break." she finally said, almost scared to say it aloud. "Is… that okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, of course." Lion-O smiled at her, although it was a weak smile. "Like you said, it can be like someone yelling next to you. You must be pretty tired of that- but I'll come check on you when we get back tonight, okay?"
Leopara smiled in return. Lion-O had this way of projecting a sense of reassurance and confidence. "Yeah."
"Well… I'll see you later, then." he said awkwardly.
"See you later."
With that, Lion-O turned away. Relief washed over Leopara as he went, accompanied by a vague sense of guilt.
Snowmeow nudged her with a soft meow. It was hard to stay tangled up in any negative emotion when he started on wanting pets. She stroked his fur, smiling to herself. "Come on, I think I promised to trim your belly fur, hm?"
"Maybe I should just learn to eat with my feet!" Panthro groused.
It was nighttime now; the village was as beautiful and calming as it was when last they visited. When Leopara glanced out the window, she could see the blue hues washing the nearby huts a silver color- she almost couldn't tell they were golden. She could just barely glimpse the luminescent flowers that coated the underside of the elegant archways that stretched across the village.
"You mean you haven't already?" Leopara tore her eyes away from the serene scene to watch him. The Berbils were busy at work on either arm. Their tools released sparks and the smell of smouldering metal.
"Mn." he grunted. Snarf snickered at him, feeling quite pleased with himself.
Leopara didn't know when Panthro had stopped putting up a fight when Snarf tried to nanny him. When he first lost his arms, he was insistent in trying to feed himself with his face.
"Panthro, not worry." Ro-Bear Bill reassured Panthro. He and the other Berbils closed up the panels of Panthro's arms.
As far as Leopara could tell, his new arms were a black sleeves over the wires and frame. The arms with gauntlets fused onto them, which made his claws and helped support his hands and forearm like braces, but also seemed to hide and protect an accessible control panel. His knuckles had small, stubby spikes protruding from them.
Honestly, with the speed at which the Berbils got new arms on Panthro, arms that were proportionate to his body, cat-like, and most of all, not fuzzy or pink, Leopara was half convinced the Berbils had put the berbils arms onto him as a prank.
But Berbils didn't play pranks… did they?
Ro-Bear Bill would have smiled if he had the ability to. "Berbils make adjustments. Arms all fixed."
Rife with wariness, Panthro lifted his arm. For the past hour, he had been regaling her the story about how his 'blasted arms' went completely out of control, with his fists flying everywhere and smashing into furniture, appliances, and, most of all, his face. Leopara could empathise with his cautious attitude. If her hands went crazy, flying everywhere and beat her up, she wouldn't be excited to give them a second spin either.
"Uh-huh…" Panthro waved his arm a little, taking it slow. "Adjustments are looking good."
With new confidence, Panthro hopped up from the chair with a bit more agility than Leopara expected from him. He had mostly been laid out for the last few weeks, as far as she knew anyways. Panthro jabbed at the air in front of himself a couple of times. A smirk stretched across his expression.
He swung overhead, bringing his fist down to the ground. In an impressive display of strength, his fist shattered the stone floor.
"Looking good." Ro-Bear Bill remarked.
Leopara smiled. "They look great." she complimented both the Berbils and Panthro.
Abruptly, she sensed fear and worry from… WilyKit and WilyKat? She looked up at the landing a moment before they arrived.
Sure enough, the twins hurried inside and to the railing to look down.
Her heart fell. Something had gone wrong. Something went wrong, and she wasn't there when it did.
"You guys back already?" Panthro asked, confused.
"What happened?" Leopara asked instead. Is he okay?
"It's Lion-O!" WilyKit exclaimed.
Panthro tossed a shout towards the Berbils. "Somebody fuel up my tank!" Leopara was grateful he did, because it snapped her back to reality.
"Berbils make adjustments to Thundertank too."
"Let's go then. We can't waste any time- what if Mumm-Ra gets his hands on the sword or the stone?" What if Lion-O dies? Leopara's worries tumbled out her lips, so fast they were almost an incoherent jumble, even to herself.
Panthro placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back to the present. "Then we'll get them back. Kid can take care of himself." With that said, Panthro strode past her and climbed the steps with thudding footsteps.
She knew that, but…
Right now, he was out there with just Tygra, Cheetara, and his own thoughts- and Lion-O couldn't focus with Tygra or Cheetara, especially Cheetara, there.
Her stomach twisted itself into a knot as she hurried after Panthro, climbing up the steps rapidly. She was a fool for staying behind. What was she thinking?
Leopara let out a frustrated growl as she reached the upper landing, and turned on her heel to face the open doorway.
She stopped in her tracks, much like Panthro at the base of the steps.
Is that… really the Thundertank?
It was massive, like two Thundertanks stacked atop each other.
"Looking good." Panthro remarked.
"No time to admire it, Panthro. Lion-O's in danger." Leopara reminded him, slipping past him to run up to the Thundertank. "Everyone get inside, now."
She felt three jolts of surprise. And then, without another word, the Wilytwins scambled inside ahead of her and took a seat in the cockpit. After them, Panthro climbed in and got comfortable in the driver's seat. "Look at my baby." he murmured.
Leopara climbed in next, with Snowmeow hopping in behind her. Snarf snya-ed from atop his shoulders, catching a free ride with the felyne.
Somehow, all five of them fit in the cockpit, with room behind the seats for Snowmeow to lay. There were eight seats to the cockpit, one for each of them and an extra. They were spaced out with four in the front and four in the back, split in half down the middle so there was a considerable walk way. The chairs themselves were reasonably wide and made from some sort of black leather. It was comfortable, she would admit.
"That's everyone."
Panthro smirked. "Buckle up. This is gonna get bumpy."
Leopara wished she would stop hearing those words. With a gulp, she and the twins buckled themselves in- and no sooner than they had, Panthro floored it. The Thundertank screeched into action, all but flying out of the village.
"Where to, kids?" he demanded.
"The grey canyon!" Leopara shouted. Then, realising he'd never been to the grey canyon, she jabbed her finger in the air. "That way!"
The tank turned immediately and sharply. Despite being buckled in, she jerked one way from the abruptness in her chair and then the other.
The Thundertank tore across the distance like it was nothing. One moment they were blitzing through the mushroom forest, throughout which the light of the mushrooms streaked past them, and then across the red canyon with a massive plume of dirt behind them. And then, in the course of what felt like a few heartbeats but must have been minutes, the Thundertank was racing and bumping over the terrain of the grey canyon.
"That way!" cried WilyKat, all but leaping to his feet in his seat to point. Panthro turned hard again, making them jerk- or, in the case of WilyKat, stumble- the other direction. "Whoa!"
"Sit down!" Leopara reached across to grab him by one of his belts before he could trip onto Panthro, and tugged on it. He stumbled backwards onto his puffed up tail.
WilyKit let out a gasp. "Oh no!"
That snapped Leopara to attention. She whipped her gaze out of the front viewing screen-
Slithe stood above Lion-O, ax raised in the air. Its sharp blade glinted in the moonlight. "No!" She didn't think, she just slammed her palm against the button she knew to launch the missiles. The rocket raced ahead of them, exploding into flames. The Thundertank's engine revved in time with the exploding shower of rocks.
But it worked. The ground shook where the lizard was, causing him to stagger.
But they weren't close enough.
She smacked the button again. Another rocket fired ahead of them with the same satisfying explosion that clearly took the lizard and his subordinates- wait, what were those restraining Tygra and Cheetara? They didn't look like lizards…
"Stop that!" Panthro snapped at her.
"Get closer then!"
The Thundertank's engine revved so loudly in her ears she couldn't hear herself think for a moment. She smacked her hands over her ears, grimacing.
Whatever Slithe's companions were, the big, white one dropped Cheetara. While the fuzzy orange one was distracted, Tygra seized his opportunity to make a break for it. Together, the two ran for Lion-O. He was still kneeling in place, despite Slithe fleeing.
Was he hurt?
Finally- finally- they rolled up close enough. The cockpit opened with a mechanical hiss and she jumped to her feet. She leapt down, sliding against the tank until she stumbled next to Lion-O. She cupped his face instantly and tilted it up to look into his eyes. They were wide and a little surprised. "Are you okay?" she asked. He just blinked at her a couple times, then at the tank, and then at Panthro, silhouetted once more in the moonlight. "I'm sorry." she let go of his face and took his hand. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes.
He was hurt. Bruised in a few places and concussed.
With another deep breath- ignoring the sound of Panthro's new fists introducing themselves to Slithe and his new friends, the ape and jackalman- she let her magic trickle into Lion-O and felt his sore bruises healing.
"We'll get plenty more chances to tangle with these beasts. Now, get in!" Panthro ordered.
Having a hold of Lion-O's hand already, Leopara pulled him to his feet and raced along the side of the Thundertank until they circled around to the cargo hold. It was ginormous, just as she expected.
"Whoa, slow down a little!" Lion-O protested. She could sense he was still in shock.
She looked back at him. "We have to get out of here, Lion-O."
But, she slowed down. They were in the cargo hold, they were safe- Lion-O was safe. Tygra and Cheetara spilled in after them.
Lion-O took a few deep breaths. "Thanks." He tugged her hand a little.
Leopara released her vice-like grip on his hand and took a deep, shaky breath herself. While she glanced over the three of them, Cheetara began to unwind Tygra's own whip from around him.
"What happened? Who was that ape and jackalman?" she demanded.
Tygra rubbed at his wrists and Cheetara smoothed her hand down his back. All three of them were troubled, but Lion-O had his own special mix of defeat and anger. "Mumm-Ra's new generals." he answered sourly.
"What happened?" she repeated softer than before.
"They captured those lizards we encountered earlier. Lion-O wanted to save them."
Cheetara interjected in Lion-O's defense. "It's not his fault. None of us knew about the new generals."
"Oh, so now you want to stand by me?" Lion-O gave her a hard accusing glare.
"I'm sorry, Lion-O. I had to stick with Tygra-"
"-it nearly got me killed!" Lion-O roared.
Leopara stepped between them, arms outstretched to gently touch Lion-O's chest and keep him from taking another step closer. "Tell me what happened exactly."
Before they could, Panthro's voice crackled over the intercom. "Everyone okay down there?"
"Just great." Lion-O muttered in response.
"Everyone's fine." Leopara called. She looked at Lion-O. "WilyKit and WilyKat came to get Panthro and I."
Lion-O closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "I knew it was going to be dangerous, so I sent them back to the village. When I went to save the prisoners, Slithe sprung an ambush."
"We couldn't let Lion-O face them all alone." Tygra said, his voice much softer and lacking his earlier tone. "So we jumped in. I faced off against that jackalman. He disarmed me, and he could smell me when I tried to sneak up on me…" his shoulders sagged. "It's my fault. He caught me and he threatened to kill me if they didn't surrender."
"I was going to save you, Tygra." Lion-O said earnestly. "But I couldn't surrender."
The gears in Leopara head turned. "But Cheetara did."
"Yes." Cheetara admitted.
Leopara turned to look at her, lowering her hands. As she looked at the cheetah, she felt a myriad of emotions swirling within her. And then, she remembered the image of Slithe standing above Lion-O with his ax raised. "How could you?" she asked, voice trembling. The more she let it sink in, the angrier she grew. "You're a cleric! You swore an oath to protect the crown! Jaga trusted you with Lion-O! He asked you to protect him!"
Cheetara glanced away.
Leopara wished that she sensed shame from her. All she felt was… Leopara wasn't sure. She was just…
Another growl tore from Leopara's throat. "Do you understand what would have happened if it weren't for WilyKit and WilyKat?! Slithe would have killed him! Then, they would have killed you and Tygra!" She swung her arm towards Tygra to make her point. "Mumm-Ra would have gotten the sword and the stone! Does that mean anything to you?!" Her voice was a hoarse shriek at that point. Leopara would have continued berating her, but Lion-O put a hand on his shoulder and gently pulled her back a couple steps.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for…" Cheetara trailed off, unable to finish her sentence.
Leopara took a deep, shaky breath and forced herself to let go of the tension in her body. Her claws had dug into her palms, drawing a faint amount of blood. She let her magic trickle into the puncture marks, soothing and healing them.
"Let's go meet Panthro and the twins up in the cockpit." she said, finally turning away from Cheetara.
Thanks for reading! A special thanks to The Night Whisperer, Heart of the Demons, and Frankannestein! Your guys's feedback means a lot to me :D To be honest, I tried picking up this episode in chapter 24 and it just wasn't working, which is why I was so surprised when I started writing this one and just breezed through it.
It always bothered me Cheetara was never called out for choosing Tygra during that combat -.- what did she THINK would happen?