"You mean to leave tonight?"

WilyKit nodded. "WilyKat tested the space boards and the new charger. They both work great. Near as we can figure, it'll get us over the ocean. So, I'm gathering supplies and advice before we go." She looked at Nayda with a soft smile. "Can you spare any?"

The Warrior Maiden nodded. "Of course we can." She ventured into the hut and Kit could hear her discussing with Willa, though the exact nature of her words wasn't clear. But when Willa emerged a moment later, she deposited a bow and quiver of arrows, as well as two small blades into the kitten's hands.

"They may not be as strong as the weapons you Thundercats normally use," She admitted, "But take them with our blessing. May the spirits of the forest follow you and grant you strength."

Taking them with reverence, WilyKit nodded. "Thank you."

Nayda produced a small bag. "And take these as well."

WilyKit opened the bag and found a collection of herbs, tied in different colored bands. And a single large stone. She looked up, inquisitive.

"Boil the red ones in water to ease pain." Nayda advised. "Pound the green and dampen to make a paste to disinfect a wound. The blue ones added to food will boost immunity." She reached out and plucked the stone. "Add this to water you cannot boil to make it drinkable."

The kitten felt overwhelmed and even a bit disappointed in herself. She'd not thought of any of these things.

"Th…thank you." Her voice came out soft.

Nayda knelt to her level. "We've beseeched the gods for you both." She took hold of her friend's shoulders tightly. "You're both strong. I know you will succeed!"

Willa spoke to her with similar conviction. "I know the others—the others on Third Earth—have not given you as much confidence."

Despite herself, Kit shook her head. "No. They haven't." She shrugged. "And with what I've heard, I can't really blame them."

Willa shook her head. "No. They're wrong. They forget that you Thundercats have been doing the impossible since you arrived here." Her voice thundered. "I do not doubt you will again."

Oddly enough, that lifted the kitten's spirits. Hearing that sort of conviction helped her believe it herself. "Thanks."

Nayda stepped back as the kitten prepped herself to leave. "Oh and WilyKit?"

"Hmmm?"

"Once you've saved them, we would very much love to attend that feast."

Kit smiled. "We'll see you there." She added. "All of us."

OOO

"What are you doing, Tygra?"

The tiger looked down and waved to his lord. "It occurred to me and Panthro that while we cannot interact with this world easily, we can interact with a thing else Mumm-ra's spell cast away. Including…" he reached up and slapped the metal. It responded with a loud clang. "The Feliner."

Hope lit up the lion's face. "We'll be able to follow them?"

"It's certainly looking that way." Tygra jumped down. "All the internal devices are responding and while it'll be a tight squeeze to fit all of us in there, it's absolutely doable." His face darkened a bit. "It still doesn't appear we can influence much of the world but perhaps if we're with them…"

"It will make more difference than we can imagine." Lion-o finished. "If we can be close, we may yet find ways to guide them. Panthro certainly did."

The two shared a laugh at that. "I'd expect no less," Tygra admitted. "And of course. You're right. Mumm-ra's spell is strong but we'll find our ways around it."

OOO

"I know you can't give us much. You've already given us so much." WilyKit looked up at the female mummy. "But how will we know which way to go?"

Mumm-rana smiled. "You are covering your bases."

"As much as I can," she admitted with a shrug. "And I'm better at maps and direction than my brother is."

The old mummy priestess gestured her forward to the cauldron. "You remember what I told you about how to get there, then?"

Kit nodded, firmly. "Start at the Village of the Nai People. Keep the sun on your back and follow the sea horizon until the waves foam dark."

Waving her hand over the water, Mumm-rana gave a command in a language so ancient, it had syllables Kit no longer knew.

The water took on the form of a beach, dark in color with skeleton trees, long arching branches. As the visions changed, Mumm-rana spoke.

"Follow the pointing of the dead trees."

A pathway, full of dead leaves and fallen logs gave way to a lush jungle, so dense the sun was blocked out.

"Mind your step inside the green. Always to the right, always to the left, never level nor high."

The water turned white and it took the kitten a moment to realize she was staring at a vast salt flat. Easily larger than the Forest of Unicorns in size.

"Follow the shadows. Stray not from the dark. Hold close to your ear and blade."

White turned to dark and a plain full of tumbling rivers, with huge rocks. Barely any land between them and only brush to be seen.

"Between two trials is found calm."

A long towering mountain, no, several mountains, packed with snow and ice. Steep and rugged with no path to be seen.

"Go neither up nor side by side. Salvation is found below." The top of one mountain curled into a beckoning motion. "But take heart as one trial remains."

A black plain with a single river of molten rock leading up a single black mountain, flat at the top where the tips of a temple pillar could be seen.

"You can cross neither by jump nor rock. The bridge comes from within. Not without price, not without cost, may you cross Straight up, with no place for rest and weariness."

The images went dark.

WikyKit swallowed but commanded the hints to memory even as she jotted them down on paper she had brought.

"That is all I can offer you in terms of advice." The mummy raised her hand and the waters turned white with an eerie blue glow. A small orb, barely bigger than a walnut rose into the air. Mumm-rana took it gingerly and pressed it into the girl's hand. "And this. Guard it well, for you can only use it once."

"What is it?" Kit cupped her hand protectively around it.

"It will allow you to break the barrier of Mumm-ra's spell for aid. But it is not permanent and cannot be used twice. So, save it for when you have no other choice."

Temptation ate at the kitten's heart. Oh to see them…hear them! But she nodded and tucked it tight into her pouch, away from her other pellets.

"All I can offer now is my good thoughts." Mumm-rana smiled. "Go with good hearts and goodness will reward you."

Kit could only hope she was right.