Disappointment fueled the air that evening.

WilyKit and WikyKat made a fire, keeping it close to the open air. It seemed Mumm-rana had been right; they'd not seen another storm since the previous day at her pyramid. Didn't mean the night didn't fall cold though. At least that was something they could do something about.

"No boats?" Kit's voice was dark, full of weight. She'd not considered the impact stories and superstitions would have on their attempts to fry passage though, with the way the Berbils reacted, perhaps she should have. The idea they didn't even have a chance with a boat sank her heart.

"No. The Nai refused to part with any once they knew where we were going. The fishing villages down the coast didn't have any large enough to make the king journey, and the Tuskans don't have the range."

They wrapped their blankets close, staring into the flames.

"So, now what?" Despite herself, dismay crept into the female kitten's voice.

WilyKat considered, thinking. Neither one of them were willing to accept this as defeat. There had to be answer, a way, a method. All they had to do was cross the ocean. It was the smallest ocean on the planet and once they hit land, they could walk…

"What about our space boards?"

Kit stared at him, "What?"

"Our space boards. I know they have a limit now but what if we could make something where they could…recharge? Maybe even while we used them? Like the communicator hubs we have—had in our room?"

WilyKit had to admit, while her first impulse was to say her brother had lost his mind, she was considering what he said. "Like solar?"

"That's my best bet." He frowned. "You still have the electronic pad from Tygra?"

Reaching into her shirt, WilyKit withdrew the old tablet. "Yeah, why?"

"Tygra keeps the semantics of everything. I bet we can find some chargers in here." Taking it from his sister, WilyKat opened the main directory and began sorting through topics. Tygra was organized but also he kept an extensive library.

"This might take a little bit.."

OOO

"Is he right?" Lion-o directed his question to Panthro and Tygra. "Could they create a charger to work on the spaceboards while they are in use?"

Panthro shrugged. "Wouldn't be too hard actually. Never saw the need before so I didn't bother…" Guilt pooled in his eyes and Tygra was quick to lay a hand on his shoulder.

"Past. Nothing to be done about it now. Let's see what we can do to help."

So, Tygra and Panthro listened as WilyKat plowed through the notes and realized two things: one, that Tygra's obsessively detailed notes were a true blessing and two, that WilyKat had much more of an understanding of mechanics than they realized.

"Wonder why he never told me." Panthro mused.

Bengali eyed the panther, though without poison. "Did he ever come when you were working and just watch?"

"A few times," Panthro admitted with a downtrodden face. "I usually told him to go play." He watched the kitten plow through notes, talking aloud in terms he and Tygra used frequently when discussing projects, and WilyKit just nodded numbly. "When all this is done, I'm changing that."

Tygra nodded silently. While he knew WilyKat was certainly interested in the process of how their vehicles and other mechanical advancements went from design to finished product and he knew if the space boards had minor issues while the kittens were out, it was WilyKat that handled it…he never thought he'd self taught himself so much.

What else had they failed to notice?

"Will the space boards get us there in time though?" WilyKit was saying. "Can they cross an ocean?"

"We'll need to rig them to snap together…sorta…and have to sleep that way. But I bet we can cross that ocean in five days."

"Five days?" WilyKit blinked. "They aren't that fast!"

Her brother gave a grin that Tygra and Panthro knew all too well. It was the smile of someone who knew they were doing something potentially dangerous but the outcome was too tempting to pass up. "They can if I remove the safety."

Panthro sat, watching the kitten work all afternoon. Occasionally, he would leave and come back with scrap the Berbils had. WilyKit stayed quiet, helping him brainstorm when asked.

By the time the two forced themselves to go to sleep, Panthro was storming off toward the nearby fields. "Panthro?" Cheetara's voice followed. "Are you alright?"

"I'm gonna help, somehow."

He spent a good three hours staring at overripe candy fruit, focusing on what the twins could lose, what might happen if they failed, if Mumm-ra learned they were alive.

Eventually, despite the spell, the fruit cracked in his hands, smearing them with bright red juice and pulp.

And he headed back to where the kittens slept, as if one a mission.

The others watched as he went to work.

OOO

WilyKit woke up first for once. But as soon as the sleep cleared from her eyes, she stared at the surprise laid before her. Grabbing her brother's shoulder, she shook him. "WilyKat! Look!"

He woke up quicker than usual, probably due to the alarm in her voice. Rubbing his eyes, he asked, "What? What is it?"

She pointed. His eyes followed.

Next to the scrap that was the beginning of a charger and space boards, there was red written words. Out of candy fruit it looked like.

Very simple. But enough he could ascertain: 2 wires to 1, take 2 studs off this chip, and various other similar instructions.

He smiled, brightly, and his heart felt lighter than it had in days. "Thanks, Panthro," he said before taking up a wrench and diving back to work.