A/N: Ok. This is the re-written version of the chapter. The original was a two-day-challenge between me and a friend (I was challenged to write a chapter in 2 days and upload it, no matter what state it was in. I won the challenge, so I decided to re-write/improve it...) I hope that you enjoy, and as usual, feel free to review/favourite/follow! :3
Key:
Flashback = Flashback (Obviously)
Dream = Dream
Time Passage =...
- (BORDER) - = perspective change
Anyway, chapter information:
Genres: Adventure and Drama
Warnings: Scenes of violence, adult themes and explicit language.
Date started (Chapter): Tuesday 16th June 2015
Date finished (Chapter): Friday 19th June 2015 (REWRITTEN!)
Song/s: My Demons by Starset
Chapter 14: My Demons
"We need to talk to you all,"
The other Thundercats look up at me as me and Lysander walk into the Council Chamber. "But before we do, where's Lion-O?"
Snarf purrs then says "Sneyarf, Sneyarf! Reow, I don't know, Tygra. But I think he's gone out to the city for a walk. Besides, you can't call a meeting without Lion-O's acknowledgement, anyway."
"I have to, Snarf, because this is about what he did earlier, and what he did when he tried to get us out of Castle Plun-darr a few months ago." I say as I sit down. I put the files concerning Rataro's gruesome murder by our Lord down on the table and open it as I say "Now, we all know that Lion-O said that he was just protecting Cheetara, but he knows that murder and killing is unacceptable. So, it is with the best interests in the safety of not only others, but also his own safety that I call this meeting."
I open the files and spread the photographs of the grizzly scene across the table. Lysander clears his throat before saying "Lion-O is 10 years younger mentally than he is physically, but that isn't any sort of excuse for his behaviour recently. He knows that the way he behaves affects the way that we treat him-"
"But surely there has to be a way of, y'know, just accepting what he did and just getting on with it?"
"No, and that's what I'm getting on to. As I said, his behaviour is unacceptable, and therefore he must be punished accordingly. So, although I hate to say it, I'm afraid that the Thunderian Council has decided to strip Lion-O of his title, rank, and duties as the Lord of the Thundercats until further notice-"
Snarf stands up on his tail like a shot and says "Sneyarf, Sneyarf! You can't do that, Lysander!"
I shake my head as I say "No, he can. There were non-lethal methods of dealing with Rataro, such as knocking him out, but Lion-O flat out killed him. I am the next in line until his and Cheetara's cub has been born and is old enough to take their rightful place, so I have the power to do such an action. As of now, either me or Cheetara," I look at the cheetah as she glances at me "Seeing as she is now Queen of New Thundera, will take over control. I also have no choice in saying this, but Lion-O will also be put on trial for murder. There has to be serious consequences, meaning that it doesn't matter whether Lion-O is the Lord of the Thundercats or not; he has to be punished for his actions."
Snarf purrs anxiously as Snarfer says "Jeez, but I don't think that Lion-O's gonna be very happy about that, Tygra, Sneeyarfer! Sneeyarfer! After all, you are taking away what is his through birthright."
"I know that, Snarfer. But we can't be so accepting about his actions. He thinks that if he does something bad, because we haven't done anything about it, he can get away with it without being punished. It's about time that we all put our feet down. I mean, with the trial, I can bet that no Thunderian is going to fault him in this situation, but he can't get away with it this time. He needs to learn that in order for us to treat him like an adult, he needs to act more maturely, meaning that in turn, he'll grow up."
"But has any Lord of the Thundercats ever been put on trial for murder?"
"No. Plus, I'll have to put him on house arrest for the time being-"
"You can't!"
I shoot a harsh look at Snarf and snap "Snarf! Shut up and let me speak!"
He purrs and defensively wraps his tail around himself as he lies down on the window seat, muttering to himself. I clear my throat and continue.
"As I was saying, Lysander has put down the order to have to put Lion-O on house arrest, and considering the fact being that he's going to be stripped of his title, that means that he won't be allowed to go on any missions to Third Earth, nor will he be allowed out of Cats' Lair without an escort. Howether, he will still be continuing as the King of New Thundera because it would be improper."
"So, it's basically like saying that you're grounding him?"
"Yes, Wilykit. That's exactly what it's like. I'm basically grounding him." the lion says as he looks at the young wildcat.
"But in a more severe way, I suppose." Pumyra says as she looks at the files. She still stinks of cleaning chemicals from cleaning up the blood on the floor in the infirmary.
"Yeah. Either way, we'll break the news to him when he gets back, but someone needs to tell him to come in here." I say as I stand up "Meeting disbanded."
- (BORDER) -
I sigh contently as I walk up the steps of the Lair. The warm autumn sun beats down on my back as the door opens for me, but as I walk into the entrance hall, the mood changes; Snarf is waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.
"Snarf, where is everybody?" I ask my former nursemaid, worried because it's usually a hive of activity in here at this time of day. The little red and yellow cat purrs sadly before saying "I'm not supposed to tell you, Lion-O. You've got to come with me."
He leads me up the stairs and towards the Council Chamber...I know where this is going. The door opens, and I see the other Thundercats standing around the table, and the highest members of the Thunderian Council are seated at the table, with one seat left; my seat.
"Lysander." I say as I nod to the older lion.
"Sit down, Lion-O. We need to talk." he says as he turns a paper file over in his hands.
Heart nearly in my throat, I slink up to my chair and sit down, trying to ignore the dry feeling in my mouth.
"Right, we have some important business to settle, Lion-O."
I look down as the lion opens the folder and spreads the contents over the table. "You know what these are photos of, don't you?"
"Well, yeah! Of course! I killed Rataro! What about it?" I say as I take one of the photos, which just so happens to be of me after I killed the mutant rat; I'm covered in blood down to my fur, and there's blood under my claws and matting my mane.
"Your action was unacceptable-"
I stand up as I snarl "How was it unacceptable? I was defending Cheetara!"
Tygra pushes me back down into my seat as Tyrone says "It was unacceptable because you killed a person. We can understand why you acted in such a way, but we have to take action, and I can assure you, you are going to be punished severely."
I growl viciously, and both Tygra and Panthro have to pin me in my seat to stop me from flying at the tiger.
Oscar and Lëwis look at eachother as Lysander continues.
"And the situation is currently pending an investigation, which will be carried out by the forensics team, but you Thundercats aren't allowed to help. Until it is gone underway, you are to be placed under house arrest-"
"WHAT?" I roar, standing up again and slamming my fist down on the table "Whose idea was this?"
"It was a decision made by the whole Thunderian Council. And considering the fact that you're to be placed under house arrest, you are to be confined to your room."
"What gives you the authority to do any of this?" I growl as I'm forced back into my chair "That's absurd! It goes against my rights as the Lord of the Thundercats!"
"That's the thing, Lion-O," Lysander says as he stands up "We have come to a complete decision. You are to be stripped of your title, rank, and duties as the Lord of the Thundercats until you can keep yourself under control. From now, you aren't to go on any missions to Third Earth, nor will you be allowed out of Cats' Lair without an escort. You're on prohibition as Lord from here on."
"You can't do that! It isn't allowed!" I roar as I stand up, growling at Lysander as he looks calmly into my eyes "It's immoral, and the law forbids it!"
"The law allows it since you are under 25 years of age. You still have the mind of a child, which means that you make impetuous decisions."
Lysander stands up and holds his hand out to me. "You need to give me the Sword of Omens and the Claw Shield."
I hesitate and clench my hand into a fist, but I eventually unclip the Claw Shield from my belt and hand it over to the lion, who passes it to Cheetara.
"I'm so sorry, Lion-O, but we had no choice. We didn't get a say, but we went with it." my wife says as she connects the Claw Shield to her hip.
"Oh, so you're taking over?" I say hotly, peeved because the whole idea was came to behind my back "And I'm supposed to be fine with this? God no!"
"Don't use that tone with me, Lion-O." Cheetara says as she stands up, but she falters slightly as she sees me squaring up "Don't start!"
"Don't...Don't start? Who...Who made the decision that you were going to be taking over, anyway?" I say as calmly as I can, but I still sound absolutely pissed.
"Lysander took me aside and asked me to take over. Listen, Lion-O, nobody wanted to do this to you..."
"Too damned right, I should think so, too!"
"But it's necessary. Until you learn to control yourself, you aren't to be the Lord of the Thundercats."
"But you're my wife! Surely you're supposed to, y'know, be on my side?"
She gives me a cold look, making me shy away slightly. "We're only doing what's best for you."
Lëwis clears his throat before saying "Either way, back on with the conversation. Lion-O, you're liable to be tried in front of a whole jury for murder if the investigation unearths any new information."
"But I can't be tried!" I say triumphantly "I'm the King, so I can't be tried."
"Y'see, that's where you're wrong. You may be the king, but you are still liable to be tried. Face up to the facts, though; you would be serving time in prison right now if you were a normal Thunderian, but because you are in fact a Thundercat and King of New Thundera, you're under house arrest. Anyway, enough has been said. Escort him to his quarters and make sure that he is constantly monitored."
I'm lead out of the room and down the corridor to mine and Cheetara's room, where two members of the Thunderguard are waiting.
One opens the door, and Me, Panthro and Tygra walk in.
"Right, Lion-O. You need to sit on the bed and take off one of your boots because I need to put something on you." Panthro says as he puts a small case on the bed. I sit down and pull off one of my boots as he opens the case, and pulls out some sort of tracking device strapped to a piece of material.
"What the hell is that thing?" I ask as he slips it around my ankle.
"It's an ankle monitor. It'll track where you are, and send a signal to the guards if you exit this room."
"Is this even necessary?" I ask as the pair turn to walk out of the room.
"We had no choice."
...
I sigh as I sit down in the window seat of mine and Cheetara's room and watch the Feliner as it takes off and shoots off into the sky. It isn't fair! I'm stuck here, confined to my room; I'm not allowed to go on any missions to Third Earth, nor am I allowed out of Cats' Lair. I've been under house arrest for nearly three months and it's really starting to piss me off. I'm sure that I've forgotten what the outside world looks like. I'm so bored! Snarf tries to get me to plat board games to keep me entertained, but it doesn't work.
The Forensic Investigation team still haven't finished their investigation, and Lysander's gave them more time. At this rate, mine and Cheetara's cub will be my age by the time I'm out of here.
I'm not supposed to talk to anyone, not even Cheetara, even though she's my wife. I can't even go out of the room without triggering the sensors on the bloody ankle monitor. I get up then walk towards the bed then throw myself onto the soft bed, burying my face into my pillows.
I hear the door open, and then someone walks into the room and stands over me. I know that it's Cheetara because I can smell her scent. I roll over to look at my wife. She's roughly four months pregnant now, and she's starting to show.
"I've got some good news for you, Lion-O." she says as she sits down on the bed. I sit up as I reply "Oh yeah?"
"I managed to convince the Thunderian Council to lift some of the restrictions; you're no longer on house arrest, and you are allowed out of Cats' Lair, but you'll need an escort."
"But what about me getting my title, duties and rank back as Lord of the Thundercats?" I ask impatiently.
"That won't be happening so soon, Lion-O. You still need to prove that you can control yourself."
I groan and stand up. "Well, at least I'm allowed out of this room. I'm sure that I've forgotten what the countryside looks like."
- (BORDER) -
A few weeks later...
"It's going to be..."
"What? C'mon, don't keep us waiting, Pumyra!"
"Ok. Ok. Ok. It's going to be...a..."
I squeeze Lion-O's hand as Pumyra moves the scanner across my abdomen. I can see the cub on the screen, and I can hear its heartbeat.
"C'mon, Pumyra! Tell us!" Lion-O jokes as he watches the tiny cub moving around.
Pumyra laughs before saying "Ok. Well, I can safely tell you that you're going to have to paint the nursery blue; you're having a boy!"
My heart pounds in my chest as the news sinks in. "Lion-O! We're having a boy!" I say joyfully as tears of happiness stream down my cheeks.
"I can't believe this! We're having a boy! We're having a boy!" my husband whispers as I sit up. He's beaming from ear to ear from the news.
"Looks like there's going to be a Prince of New Thundera, then," Pumyra says as she helps me up off of the bed "All you have to do is settle on a name for the little guy."
Well, not very much longer, then we'll be meeting our little bundle of joy. Howether, we didn't know back then, but life was only starting to get worse...
"What the bloody hell is going on in here?"
Panthro turns around in his seat as he says "We've got something entering the atmosphere!"
Lion-O sits down in his seat next to the panther and says "But that's impossible! The radars would have detected them!"
"They seem to have some sort of cloaking device activated which is blocking us from tracking them!"
"Can you get a visual?"
Panthro punches some numerical sequences into the control panel as he says "I'll try, but whoever they are, they've wiped out most of our orbital defences! I don't know whether the satellite imaging systems still work, but it's worth a shot."
The screen cuts to static as a figure appears, and a garbled voice speaks in some unrecognisable language.
"Žádáme Vás, abyste otočit Lion-Ó Pane hromu koček k nám, takže bychom ho mohli potrestat za zabití naše obecné Rataro!"
"Who is this?" Lion-O demands as the screen cuts in and out.
"They're the Plun-darrian Council! They want you to be turned over to them so that you can be punished for killing Rataro." Sebastian says as he stands up out of his seat.
"You speak Plun-darrian! Tell them to piss off! I won't go to them! They can have me when I'm dead!"
Sebastian speaks with the Plun-darrians, then they speak back to him.
"What the hell are they saying?"
"They're not gonna give up so soon, Lion-O. They refuse to listen, and they're saying that they're more than willing to kill you if you resist arrest."
"I see...Tell them to come to new Thundera so that we can talk face to face."
Sebastian keeps the Plun-darrian Council members talking as I turn to my husband and say "How can you be so sure that they won't attack us, or wipe out the city?"
"Trust me. If they show any signs of foul play, we'll bring them down in a ball of flames..." he begins, but he cuts off when he sees my face "Once we've captured them, that is..."
Then, he turns to Sebastian and asks "Well? What's happening?"
"They can't leave for quite a few months yet. But during the time between now and then, you can rally the troops for a possible attack."
"Good. Anything like that can keep them off of our backs for a while. So, exactly how long have we got?"
"Meh...about 5 months, depends on the conditions."
"Basically, how long it took most of the Thunderian refugee ships to reach here?"
"Yeah. About that, isn't that the month that your cub's due?"
"We'll have to up any possible defences. We can't risk any attacks. 'Cause that's when we'll be most at risk of an attack from both the mutants, and the Plun-darrian Council if they have reinforcements."
"With all due respect, Lion-O," the Plun-darrian wolf says as he looks at my husband "You haven't got the authority to tell them what they can and cannot do."
"I am the king, so I still have some, if not all of the control over what goes down on this planet."
"Sure you do, but Cheetara has a higher rank than you for the time being, in terms of being a Thundercat."
"I know! I don't need you rubbing it in my face for the time being, Sebastian," Lion-O says, then he turns to me and says "What do you want us to do?"
I sigh before saying "Make sure that you keep your eyes on the scanners. If anything new crops up, report it immediately to me or Lion-O!"
- (BORDER) -
A few months later...
I turn over in the bed to look at Cheetara; she's flicking through a newspaper, her left hand resting on her stomach.
"You look just about ready to pop." I say cheekily, which earns me a slight smack around the back of my head with the rolled up newspaper.
"Don't joke about it. You wouldn't be laughing if you were the one who was 9 months pregnant! I feel as big as a house! I'm three days overdue and can't stop the nesting habits, and I've already cleaned the lair from top to bottom, much to Snarf's disapproval." Cheetara says, but it's in more of a jokey tone. She's not actually mad. She puts down the newspaper and snuggles into me as I switch off the lamp. But minutes later, she starts fidgeting.
"Cheetara, are you ok?" I ask her.
She sighs as she says "I'm ok. I've just got really mild twinges in my back. It's probably Braxton Hicks contractions. I bet you five Thunderian Guineas that the cub's going to come tomorrow."
Cheetara takes my hands in hers then places them on her swollen stomach; I can feel the cub moving and kicking beneath my palms. "He's a strong little guy." I say as she puts her other hand on top of mine.
"Just like his daddy. I wouldn't be surprised if he's going to have a blood red mane like yours, or the good looks to boot." she says as she kisses me. I purr sleepily then yawn.
"Jeez, I'm so tired. It's not an easy job when you've got to train the Thunderian Legions. They're all eager lads, yearning for more knowledge. It was how to put on armour and hand to hand combat today; I've never had so many bruises on my body since I can remember. Raphaél is showing more promise and greater skills. I wouldn't be surprised if he's the one that they choose to be on the ThunderGuard. He took me down with his bare hands, and none of the new recruits training to be the new members of the ThunderGuard have been able to do that. I mean, they had to drag him off of me in the end; the boy had me in a choke hold. I've still got the split lip from when he punched me in the mouth during armed training." I say.
"That's why I told you to have a shower when you came in. You stank of sweat. But now, all I can smell is sandalwood, antiseptic and..." she says, but she stops halfway through her sentence and asks "Why have you got talcum powder on?"
I laugh slightly before saying "I was originally wearing armour. You wouldn't believe how much of my fur that bloody chainmail tore out! There's a massive patch on my right shoulder where there's no fur."
She looks at the furless patch on my shoulder, then bursts out laughing. "Hey! Stop laughing! It's not funny!" I say, hurt slightly by her response. "I'm sorry, Lion-O. But it kinda is quite funny." she laughs, but she stops when she sees my wounded expression. We snuggle down into the warm furs, and I'm asleep within minutes...
- (BORDER) -
I walk through the corridor towards Lion-O's office. I'd promised him that I'd go there this morning to talk to him about what we'd do if the cub still doesn't make an appearance.
Suddenly, a horrific wave of pain tears through my abdomen, making me cry out in agony.
"Li...Li...Lion-O! LION-O!" I scream as the pain intensifies.
The door of his office opens and he comes running, his hand plastered with wet ink. The second he sees me at my knees, holding my abdomen and groaning, he says "Cheetara...Great Jaga, what's going on?"
"I think the cub's coming!"
Next time on Thundercats:
Lion-O is put under pressure after Cheetara goes into labour, but also from the two trials that await him. Will he be able to cope? Now that the Plun-darrian Council want his head on a silver plate, he isn't only fighting for the planet, but for his own life.
Will he come through unscathed, or will the Lord of the Thundercats finally fall?
Find out in the next chapter of Thundercats: Wake Up!