I hope you guys end up enjoying this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it~ I will take this moment to reassure everyone I have plans for the Tygra vs Lion-O love "triangle" over Cheetara, and how Lion-O and Leopara's relationship will grow. In the meantime... have a new chapter!
It did not take the cats long, now that they had the Thundertank, to follow the setting sun to the place it laid: a jungle, with seemingly no way forward.
Beams of sunlight dappled the jungle floor. Wind rustled the canopy above, making the light and shadows dance around them.
The jungle was far warmer and more humid than Thundera had ever been, filled with the sounds of nature; birdsong, the distant croaking of froogs- Leopara loved it. Every little sound made her ears perk and flick about to hear all the better. The Thundertank was warm from the sun's rays, and the gentle breeze that reached them tickled her fur, and kept her cool.
Leopara sighed softly, basking in her peaceful little moment.
But that was all it was: a moment.
Frustration was not an unusual emotion for her to sense, now more than ever; she liked to think that since… that day, she had learned to hone her ability to sense others' emotions to be precise and thorough when she wanted, and to slowly block out the ambient 'noise' when she didn't want to.
Yet, Lion-O and Tygra's frustrations, Panthro's disbelief, intruded upon her peaceful, calm moment.
"Come on, work." Lion-O pleaded with his sword.
"Are you telling me our only hope of finding the Book of Omens is if his sword gives him directions?" She opened one of her eyes to peek at Panthro, head turned towards Cheetara.
Between him and Cheetara sat Tygra. "And it's about as hopeless as it sounds." he replied smoothly.
Leopara scowled at the back of his head.
"Lion-O can get us there." Cheetara reassured Panthro. "He just needs to believe in himself." With a pointed look leveled at Tygra, she added, "It might help if you believed in him too."
Tygra held eye-contact with her for just a moment, before turning to stare directly ahead at Lion-O.
"Sword of Omens, give me Sight Beyond Sight." Lion-O commanded again.
Peaceful moment over, she stood and leapt down from the Thundertank, to speak with Lion-O- and immediately stopped in her tracks.
There it was… that… foreboding feeling… Like something… someone was watching them with dark, malicious intent.
Feeling shaken, she looked around- as if she would even be able to see…
To see him.
Mumm-Ra… Her fur stood on end with the thought, with an almost-electric jolt. Is he watching us? Her gaze slid towards Lion-O. No. It's… Lion-O.
Like the end of a trance, the feeling ended.
Was that… real?
Leopara took a deep breath and steadied herself. I must have imagined it.
"This is dumb!" Lion-O exclaimed, snapping her back to reality. "I don't even know what I'm looking for."
Cheetara was already approaching them. "Sometimes when you look too hard, you miss what's right in front of you." She rested a hand on his shoulder in a gesture Leopara could only describe as pressing against him. It made her stomach twist in a knot. "If you can master Sight Beyond Sight, it will show you what your eyes can't see."
Whatever words Lion-O and Cheetara exchanged after- they were too soft for Leopara to hear. A heavy feeling pressed down on her shoulders.
Leopara looked away.
Why do I… feel like this…? she wondered.
"Whatcha doin'?" WilyKat asked with a teasing lilt.
"Ooh, I know what they were doing~" To accentuate her point, WilyKit imitated kissing noises.
"No," Lion-O began defensively, but Leopara still felt… she could only describe it as vaguely sick- an ugly twisting of her insides. "We were just trying to get, uh, my sword to work."
Leopara dared to glance back at him. WilyKit stood in front of him while her brother flipped down from the vine he had been hanging from, she supposed, while Cheetara stood a little distance to his side- not pressing against him or even touching him.
"Why is this book so hard to find anyways?" WilyKit asked him.
"Did they forget where they put it?" WilyKat continued.
"In a way, yes." Cheetara answered. "You see, the Book of Omens wasn't lost, rather it was hidden with the intention it would never be found. Legend says the Book of Omens held both clues to our past and keys to our future. Because some believed it could be even more valuable than the Sword of Omens, the other animals would stop at nothing to get it." Cheetara explained.
The twins stared at her, riveted. Leopara watched Lion-O, entranced with her.
"The king knew it contained too much power to allow it to fall into the wrong hands, so he had the clerics hide it far beyond the kingdom walls, far beyond anywhere the cats had ever been. To keep it safe, they built a temple, one made with magic. The Tower of Omens was inaccessible to anyone but themselves and protected by ancient enchantments. They then sealed themselves into the temple forever."
Cheetara turned to face the three listening to her intently. "Its location would be a secret they took to their graves."
"That's why Grune and I knew we'd probably never find it." Panthro added, surprising Leopara.
"So we have to just get lucky and hope we stumble onto it?"
She hadn't even noticed he or Tygra approach Cheetara. She stepped forward, shaking her head. "No, Jaga already gave us the clue. With Sight Beyond Sight, Lion-O can take us the rest of the way."
"Maybe we just did." Lion-O said, pointing towards an opening in the twisting vines of trees. A stone wall with the head of a lion carved into it, its mane like the blazing sun. Lion-O led the way, followed closely by Cheetara, to the stone and grasped the few vines growing on it, pulling and tearing them to reveal a dark opening.
Cheetara walked up beside him. "How did we not see that?"
"I guess sometimes when you look too hard, you miss what's right in front of you." Lion-O looked up into the tree' Leopara followed his gaze to Snarf, holding a golden fruit. "Nice work, Snarf."
One by one, they followed Lion-O inside- Cheetara, then Tygra, herself, the twins, and finally Panthro. Snarf leapt down onto her shoulders with a "snya!"
The path leading to the temple- she hoped it led to the temple- was dark and narrow. She shuddered at the feeling of brushing against its damp walls, and her fur stood on end from unease, never knowing if there was a scorpion or a snake in the darkness.
When the path led through a large, open archway, she felt relieved- but her relief would be short-lived.
The walls of the cavern were gray, and oddly flat and reflective. The only path through the cavern was a walkway suspended in the darkness, leading to another stone door- as if they had passed through one already, this one engulfed by yet another blazing lion's head that towered over the pathway.
It was imposing and ominous, especially in such dim conditions. She raised her hand, conjuring a little orb of light so that they could see their surroundings all the better.
Dozens of little objects above and below caught and glinted in her pale white light. She glanced at them while following Lion-O.
Keys?
Spikes?
Leopara frowned, troubled. This… wasn't going to be good, was it?
The lion head loomed even more, what felt like a portend of judgment, up close. Lion-O pushed against the stone door in its maw, to no avail; it was locked. He looked back towards them and cheekily asked, "Think they left a key behind?"
"Yeah, I think they did."
Tygra patted him on the shoulder. "Actually, they left a few," he said while gesturing with his thumb upwards.
The keys jingled softly above them as Lion-O finally looked.
"We'll just have to try them all." Cheetara claimed, drawing her staff and using it to knock a few down. With more grace than keys ought to have, they fell into her open palm.
"This could take forever." Panthro groused.
"Cheetara, I don't thi-"
It was too late, Cheetara already put in the first key and turned it.
The room creaked and rumbled at this action, in a distinctly unpleasant manner.
"-nk… we should…" Leopara sighed softly as they all turned to look at the far end of the path. It was shaking. "...do that."
"I don't think we have forever." Tygra declared.
And no sooner than he did, the path began to crumble, and it did so at an alarming rate. "WilyKit! WilyKat!" she exclaimed, holding out her arms.
They panted and whimpered as they ran to outrace the crumbling path.
Just before it reached them all, they jumped. She caught WilyKit in the chaos, and latched onto Tygra's leg with as much strength as she could. Her orb of light extinguished, they hung in relative darkness- the spikes below seemed to loom all the closer for how little of their forms she could make out.
Tygra held onto his brother's ankle and held Snarf in one arm, while Lion-O, Cheetara, and WilyKat clung to Panthro.
"Whiskers." Lion-O swore.
"Find the key!" Panthro, who was holding them all up by the strength of his scarred arms alone, strained to say.
WilyKit quickly scrambled out of Leopara's arm and up the chain of cats, joining her brother on Panthro's back. "Leave this to the masters." WilyKat declared.
"Hurry! There's hundreds to pick from." Lion-O warned them.
Panthro groaned as they both climbed up. "Why waste time picking out a key…"
"When you could just pick the lock?" WilyKat finished, with a loud click.
The doors slid open, and the twins leapt inside, followed by Snarf and Cheetara. Tygra helped Leopara climb up, then leapt up himself with Lion-O, and together the brothers helped pull an exhausted Panthro into the new hall.
It was… surprisingly hexagonal, and suspiciously spacious.
"The Book could be just beyond that wall." Lion-O said.
They stood, staring down the path- wondering what could be next- before Panthro, feeling confident, took a step forward.
A single step was all it took to answer their questions.
He gasped as dozens of blades sprung from the walls of the hexagonal hall, the nearest one a hair's breadth from his face. The blades did not stop with a single surprise; they began to spin in place, like the drill of that machine they encountered in Cloud Peak Mine.
Before he, or anyone else, could properly react, Cheetara reached forward and pulled him back by his shoulder.
"Legend says the ancients rigged a series of obstacles near the temple meant to keeo outsiders away."
"Then this whole place is a death trap." Panthro observed grimly.
Cheetara didn't say anything for a moment, studying the pattern of the blades. Leopara knew what was going to happen before she even moved; she had seen the clerics train in obstacle courses like this hundreds of times.
Cheetara was going to make her way through those blades.
"Gotta move fast." Cheetara dashed and leapt forward, quickly becoming a golden blur through the spinning blades. Just as quickly as she bobbed through, the blades clanged to a stop, retracted, and the far wall rolled to the side to reveal a small doorway.
The hall now safe, they hurried through.
"Nice work!" Lion-O exclaimed as he passed Cheetara, holding up her staff extended to hold two pressure plates.
"Jaga would be proud." Leopara added.
Once they were through, Cheetara quickly followed them, and the doorway slammed shut behind them.
They ran through the dark tunnel for what seemed like ages before a light lit the end. The tunnel opened up into a vast room, twice as tall as it was wide, with stone clefts protruding from the walls and no visible doors.
That wasn't what drew the most attention in the room, however.
Centered in the room was a fountain with a single beam of light that ricocheted off the still surface of its waters.
Running ahead of the group, WilyKit and WilyKat knelt by the fountain. Excitement rippled through them. WilyKit exclaimed, "Look! Treasure!"
Simultaneously, Lion-O and Tygra jolted with dread. Oh no, she thought to herself.
Before anyone could protest, WilyKat exclaimed, "We're rich!" With these words, he shoved his arm into the waters and began grasping for whatever 'treasure' was beneath its surface.
"Wait!" was Lion-O's delayed response.
WilyKat did not wait. He didn't even stop or ask why. He was so focused fishing whatever it was out of the fountain, he didn't even notice when the disturbed waters stopped reflecting the concentrated beam of light. As the beam fluctuated and faltered, the eyes of two lion head caricatures flashed red.
Water gushed from the roaring mouths of the heads and spilled in thick sheets from the walls above.
"Ah, cripes." Panthro groaned.
With the room rapidly filling, no one had time to formulate a response, only to scramble up the walls. The protruding clefts provided purchase and brief respite before the water caught up with their ascent.
Panthro's ice-cold fear, as much as he tried to ruthlessly repress it, nagged at Leopara, distracting her. She risked a glance towards him and saw him half-curled up in the fetal position on his ledge.
Leopara wasn't the only one who took notice of his demeanor.
"Are you okay, Panthro?" WilyKit asked, utterly bewildered by the beads of cold sweat running down his forehead. Leopara couldn't help but echo the sentiment.
"I never told you guys," Leopara could barely hear his voice over the roar of water falling all around them, "-but I can't swim."
Oh, whiskers! Leopara cursed. She looked down at the rising water below and decided she could spare a moment. Immediately, she started stripping her dress off, leaving herself in her under-halter and small-clothes. Part of her was instantly embarrassed to reveal so much fur, but survival had to take priority- and swimming in dresses was ill-advised.
By the time she finished stuffing her dress into her pack, water was lapping at her feet. There was no time to take off her gloves or stockings; she had to move now. Leopara lept to the next ledge, heaving herself up with some difficulty.
Swimming would be easier, she groused.
Through sheer determination and Lion-O's suddenly offered hand, she pulled herself up. Together, the two of them raced as high as the ledges would allow.
The ledges only took them most of the way to a grating centered in the ceiling. That, they all hoped, must be their way out. While everyone else's chest soared with hope, Panthro's heart plummeted with dread. Even across the room, Leopara could sense it clearly.
By reputation and reputation only, Panthro should have been an amazing swimmer. Jaguars were well-known for their prowess in the water, even more than leopards or tigers.
However, that wasn't the case.
Once the water had risen high enough to cover their feet, and there were no higher ledges, panic began to claim Panthro from the inside out. Leopara quickly weighed her options. She could probably erect a barrier around him- ah, but she wouldn't be able to focus on it while swimming, and air would run out sooner rather than later.
She looked up at the vent. Maybe she could use the winds to cut through it? From there, she and Tygra could probably support Panthro through it.
Leopara reached for her staff. She patted her stomach once, twice, before realising her sash, and her staff, were tucked safely away in her bag.
Whiskers! Why didn't I set it aside?
"It's going to be okay, Panthro!" WilyKit reassured Panthro.
"Yeah, we'll just ride the water to the vent to get out!" WilyKat added, pointing at the vent. This seemed to be the plan everyone else had reached.
Panthro rumbled, but before he could remind the two that he couldn't swim, WilyKit piped up, "Don't worry! We'll teach you how to swim! It'll be easy."
He gulped, trying to quell his rising fear. "Alright then," he agreed, "-it doesn't look like I have a choice." He steeled his nerves, which were fraught with fear.
"Can your staff reach the vent now?" Tygra called out to Cheetara. They had ended up on the same side together, but on different ledges, unlike Lion-O and Leopara who were side-by-side.
Cheetara didn't respond immediately. Instead, she drew her staff and lengthened it. It did reach the grating, but no matter how much she pushed, she couldn't get it to budge. "I can't open it from this angle!"
The water now rose to Leopara's hips and was steadily rising. Taking a deep breath to ready herself, she waded off of the ledge and began to tread the water.
It was incredibly deep by now, and still had water flowing into it. This created a turbulent and choppy surface, with a distinct under pull. Forget about Panthro not being able to swim- this current might pull WilyKit and WilyKat under the surface.
Leopara swam across.
By the time she reached them, Panthro was having to strain to stand on his tiptoes, water lapping at his jaw. WilyKit and WilyKat were regarding the water with uncertainty now, and clinging to Panthro's arms. She was sure the two hard remarked about the water, with an "Oh, great," grumbled in response, but she hadn't caught it over the water sloshing in her ears.
Still, she reached out. "Kids, c'mere." she said, turning her face to avoid being slapped by the next wave of water. "I'm going to take you to Tygra."
"I'm here." Tygra said, startling her. Leopara's head whipped to look at him. He wore a serious expression. "I'll take Panthro, you take the twins."
Leopara nodded her agreement. With some trepidation, they dropped from Panthro's arms, bobbing freely in the water now. Leopara snagged them by their clothes and hauled them towards her. "Hold on around my neck. Use my ponytail and bag if you really have to."
"Won't that hurt?" WilyKit asked.
"I'll be fine." she promised. It would, probably, hurt if either of them suddenly latched onto it, from her head suddenly jerking more than anything, but she would rather they snagged onto it rather than get caught in the undertow.
The twins nodded and wrapped their arms around Leopara's neck. She turned to backstroke to the others- Lion-O and Cheetara- as she wanted to make sure the twins stayed above the water. Tygra thought about it carefully and decided to hook Panthro's arm over himself and swim sideways, at an angle. Panthro tried to kick and push his free hand through the water to help, something the twins had apparently been coaching him on, but mostly it came across as wild flailing and accomplished the task of slashing Tygra in the face.
Cheetara grunted and groaned as she strained against the grate. Lion-O was holding her and swimming against the current, trying to brace her so she had something to push against. Finally, she lowered her staff and panted. "Can't open it from this side!"
"Let me help!" Tygra said. Lion-O moved out of the way so Tygra could brace Cheetara instead. Lion-O watched the grate with rapt attention. Like the rest of them, he was praying for it to finally budge.
Except Panthro, whose distress rose considerably the moment Tygra left him to tread the waters by himself.
Leopara heaved a heavy sigh. "Hold onto Lion-O! I have to help Panthro."
The twins didn't argue. They instead detached and paddled to Lion-O, grabbing hold of him by either shoulder. It was just in time, as Panthro gasped, "I ain't gonna make it, kids." The waves washed over him once more, and he began to sink like a stone.
"Panthro!" Leopara exclaimed. She drew in a deep breath before diving into the waters. With her coordinated motions and the pull of the undercurrent, she caught up to Panthro, but not before her lungs began to burn with the need to breathe. She ignored this feeling and grabbed him from behind, hooking her arms under his, and began to kick towards the surface as hard as she could.
Panthro was of absolutely no help. In his renewed flailing, he accidentally backhanded her in the face, causing her to exhale the only air she had. She was forced to let go, bringing both hands to cover her mouth so didn't suck in any more water into her lungs. Kicking hard and fast, lungs burning in protest, she rocketed towards the surface, coughing and sputtering.
Cheetara was next to her instantly. "Are you okay?"
"No! I lost him!"
I should have trapped us in a barrier. At least Panthro would have stood a chance while the others figured out the puzzle.
"You did your best." Cheetara wrapped her in a hug. Leopara leaned into it for a moment staring straight down into the darkening depths. There wasn't much light in the room at all, but the water was relatively clear. She swore she could make out Panthro's dark blob at the bottom.
She pushed away from Cheetara. "I'm going again!"
"Leopara-!"
The rest of Cheetara's protest became muffled and distorted as water rushed to fill Leopara's ears. She kicked hard and quickly, determined to make it to the bottom. She would be out of breath then, but she could kick off from the floor and hopefully make it to the surface with Panthro before he finished drowning.
That was the plan, anyways. When she got there, Panthro was nowhere to be seen. Peopara looked around wildly, confused. Her diaphragm constricted, reminding her of her urgent need for air. Filled with frustration and reluctance, she kicked off from the bottom- without ever noticing the plug Panthro had swam through- and returned to the surface once again.
She gulped in air for a solid few moments while looking around with increasing confusion. Where was everyone?!
"Hey, kid." Panthro's deep voice rumbled at her from above. Her head whipped up with wide, surprised eyes. Panthro was kneeling down by the now-open frate, offering his hand. The others had all climbed out already and collapsed or doubled over to catch their breath. "Thanks for the assist. Let me return the favor."
Leopara sagged with relief. "Hopefully I don't smack you in the face and cause you to drop me." she joked, taking his large hand and letting him pull her out of the water as if she weighed nothing.
Once she was out, he remarked, "I guess not being able to swim has its advantages." It was a surprisingly cheeky comment, coming from Panthro.
"Who wants to bet that," Lion-O pointed towards a sealed stone door, "-leads to the temple?" He ran forward ahead of anyone else, eager for the tests to be over.
"How does it open?" Tygra asked, looking around.
The room itself was very plain and altogether rather dim. There was only the grate, the opening Panthro had entered through, and the doorway. Leopara spent a few more moments regaining her breath, and then using some wind magic to dry herself off enough to get dressed again, while the others began investigating the door.
"Do you, uh, think they left another key?" Lion-O asked.
"I don't think so." Tygra said. "There's no keyhole."
"And no keys, either." Cheetara added. "There must be something we're not seeing."
Leopara straightened and approached. She held up her hand and conjured her orb of light once again. It lit up the room brightly. "Maybe a little light would help?"
"Thanks." Lion-O said appreciatively.
"There's gotta be some sort of pressure plate or something." Panthro grumbled, feeling around the door and the nearby wall.
"No… I don't think so." Tygra said, looking above Leopara pointedly.
A bit puzzled, she looked up.
Her orb… specks of its light were… floating away?
No, not away. They were falling onto the door, which itself had begun to faintly glow. She lowered the orb. More and more of it was drawn to the stone door, lighting up the ancient Thunderan script scrawled into the stone. "'The touch of magic'…" she read aloud.
Leopara snuffed out her orb and placed her hand on the stone slab, closing her eyes and feeling her magic pulse into the stone.
It rumbled softly and began to move, sliding up into the wall.
She stepped back, waiting beside Lion-O as everyone else joined them. As it lifted up, sunlight flooded in under it, until finally it was up high enough they could walk out, even as it continued moving.
They stepped out onto a jutting cliff looking over a lush jungle valley with a beautiful, tall waterfall opposite them.
Lion-O guffawed for a moment before angrily snarling, "There's nothing here. All those traps and a magic door just to protect… more jungle? Maybe no one can find this temple because it doesn't exist!" His clenched hand trembled with fury.
Leopara frowned.
"Or maybe it takes more than getting past physical traps to find it." Cheetara said. Somehow, Lion-O calmed. "Believe in yourself." She reached out and gently grasped Lion-O's hand, and Leopara's gut felt like it was twisting again.
Leopara snapped her attention away, finding herself looking at Tygra who…
His expression looked twisted and shadowed as he looked at their hands. Leopara reached out to gently touch his shoulder, to feel his emotion and…
It was what she felt, but much stronger… laced with hints of the old anger he held towards Lion-O, and this new, twisting feeling.
He looked at her hand before shrugging it off.
That didn't stop her from feeling his emotions.
So caught up in trying to understand this feeling was she, that she hadn't noticed Lion-O draw the Sword of Omens until he was speaking. "Sword of Omens, give me Sight Beyond Sight." he commanded. The sword came alive with a faint red glow, matched only by the blue glow of Lion-O's eyes. When the glow faded, he sheathed his blade. "There's a switch." He knelt down and reached down the cliff face, grunting. "I can't reach it."
With a crack of his whip, Tygra smoothly stated, "Allow me."
Somehow, with the single swing of his whip he hit the switch- he must have, for there was a quiet rumbling.
And then, a roaring cat head not dissimilar from the palace's began to emerge from the water, connected to an arch with two smaller heads, one on either side of it.
As it slowly emerged, they hurried to climb down the cliffside, and eventually did. As they arrived at the cliff overlooking the river, three stone platforms emerged from the river, forming a path to the base of the temple.
As they finally drew near, Lion-O murmured, "The Tower of Omens."
"I can't believe I finally found it. Guess all it took was the right partners."
The ominous feeling she experienced earlier returned, weighing on her like a blanket. She paused. "Wait." They paused, looking back.
"What is it?" Cheetara asked.
"Lion-O… you remember your ceremony… how when you looked through the sword… you saw… him, and I felt him?"
Lion-O blinked at her confused. Not nearly as confused as the others. "Yes… why?"
"I… felt that… again earlier. When you were trying to use the sword to find the temple." she explained, glancing down. "I think he was watching us."
Lion-O frowned. "He must be trying to find the Book of Omens as well… it must be inside, come on."
"Indeed, I am." the raspy voice of Mumm-Ra claimed, chilling Leopara to the bone. She leapt forward and whipped around, cold sweat beading on her arms. His cruel visage seemed to mock them as his lips- if they could be called such- twisted into a smile and he held up a black lantern. Inside the lantern, she could see the face of Jaga. "So… you could sense me, apprentice of Jaga?" he rasped on, amused. Her heart pounded in her ears, threatening to deafen her.
"I led him right to you. I'm sorry." Jaga apologised.
Jaga.!
"Jaga, you're alive." Cheetara said in shock. The emotion echoed Leopara's own, and quickly tangled with grief.
Mumm-Ra chuckled darkly. "Hardly. He's nothing but a vapor in a jar, and I have little use for him now." With this, he callously tossed the lantern.
"No!" Lion-O exclaimed.
Cheetara was faster, darting forward and leaping to catch Jaga, curling up around his lantern to protect it.
As she lay on the ground, Mumm-Ra growled and aimed a stream of his purple lightning at her prone body, using it to throw her into the central pillar of the temple. Cheetara exclaimed in pain, before falling to the ground with a groan.
"Cheetara!" Leopara and Lion-O called in unison.
Tygra caught Lion-O's shoulder. "We have to get to the book."
"Go!" shouted Panthro in a deep voice. Leopara hesitated, while Lion-O and Tygra ranHe drew his nunchaku and twirled them. "Mumm-Ra's mine."
"Panthro, you can't fight him alone…"
"Ha! This bag of bones is no match for Panthro." he boasted, dashing forward to press the offensive against Mumm-Ra. Even old and withered, the servant of evil dodged around Panthro's many of Panthro's quick blows.
Leopara drew Jaga's staff, waiting.
A crackle of purple lightning filled Mumm-Ra's ghoulish hand as he struck out at Panthro. His hit found its mark. As if caught in a net, the lightning coiled around Panthro and seemed to restrain him for a moment.
Now! She swung Jaga's staff at him, unleashing a torrent of wind. Careful and quick!
Mumm-Ra leapt away from the strike, with such unnerving grace it was almost as if he were carried by a breeze.
"You shouldn't be deceived by appearances." he calmly rasped. "My true form is far more powerful." Darkness enveloped Mumm-Ra.
Leopara ran forward to stand by Panthro, slowly collecting magic in her staff. Whatever he was about to unleash would be powerful- her barrier had to be concentrated and well-timed.
"Ancient Spirits of Evil, transform this decayed form into Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living!" Mumm-Ra's voice boomed. In a flash of purple lightning, Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living emerged. In this form, Mumm-Ra was giant, dwarfing Panthro in sheer height and muscle, with large bat-like wings with a large spur on the main joint of them. His red cloak was gone, replaced bu a dull, golden helmet and an emblem on his chest. His bandage wrappings were greatly reduced, just ribbons around his forearms, a scarf around his neck, and a sash around his abdomen and hips, helping secure a dark blue sword belt.
Purple lightning continued to crackle all around him, casting eerie and dancing shadows around the temple.
And then, he flared his wings and raised his hands.
Beams of lightning began to rain down, steadily falling closer and closer.
With all her might, Leopara shoved her barrier forth around herself and Panthro. The beams of lightning danced on the barrier, pushing back. With bloodlust, they sought to pierce through.
"Huh, not bad, kid." Panthro remarked, looking at the barrier with… what, awe?
Focus! she berated herself.
So, of course, it was no sooner than that thought did two things happen concurrently.
First, she spotted Snarf hiding behind a pillar, WilyKit and WilyKat not far from him… completely out in the open, as if they were paralysed by the sight of Mumm-Ra.
Second, Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living opened his mouth, and another burst of his magical power bombarded her barrier.
But he needn't have bothered; the concern and fear she felt spotting the twins shattered her focus, and the full devastation of his electric storm rained down upon her and Panthro. She screamed in pain as the electricity tore through her body, an all-too familiar feeling- and then his burst of power slammed into her, knocking her across the temple until she slid to a stop near the twins, feeling battered and weak.
It was all she could do to hold onto Jaga's staff. She could hear WilyKit cry out her name, but the kitten's voice sounded far away, distant… a distant… concern…
Her vision swam and multipled as she looked towards Panthro.
Another blast of magic, too bright a flash, sent him hurtling through the air towards her, and crashing into a pillar beside her.
She was barely able to recognise when the twins ran in front of her and Panthro's prone forms to put themselves between Mumm-Ra and, well, them.
Oh, you silly kittens… she thought hopelessly and deliriously.
Mumm-Ra, all three of him, sized up the six kittens. To her extreme gratitude, the Mumm-Ra's found them all unworthy of his time or effort, and instead beat his wings to take to the air in search of more worthy targets.
Panthro recovered first, standing. "Get on my back, kids." he commanded WilyKit and Kat gruffly. He crouched down, looking her in the eyes. "Can you still use that staff?"
Leopara blinked at him, and slowly pushed herself up. Her head pounded with an alarming amount of pain; she grimaced and reached up, holding her head for a moment. A deep breath in, and a deep breath out, and she let her healing magics flow through her.
The pounding stopped and she looked Panthro in the eyes, nodding. "I can and I will. Move on without me."
Panthro studied her for the briefest of moments before nodding gruffly.
With the kittens on his back, he ran towards the tower priper and began t69o climb.
Leopara stood and sized up Mumm-Ra's location- which was easy to do as he was screaming in rage as he soar higher and higher- and began to spin Jaga's staff. He was chasing Lion-O, but she didn't see Tygra.
She sliced upwards with a yowl of anger, putting all of her rage and grief for Jaga into the motion. It was reckless, but she wanted as much power as she could get. A torrent of wind, so solid it was white, raced towards Mumm-Ra.
Her yowl must have given it away, because he looked in time to shift to the side, only being buffet by part of the blade instead of all of it. With a growl, she brought the staff down, using all of her will to drag the wind back towards the ground.
Anything to slow his ascent. To give Lion-O a little more time.
To her immense self-satisfaction, Mumm-Ra plummeted a good few feet. He looked down, irked. A blast of green light bounced off his helmet, and Mumm-Ra spat a beam of magical energy at his… foot.
Tygra flickered into view, his invisibility falling from him. Mumm-Ra began to shake his leg until the tiger lost his grip.
Tygra was not to be deterred, lashing out with his whip to catch Mumm-Ra around his other ankle.
"You won't shake me that easily!" he taunted Mumm-Ra.
Mumm-Ra continued shaking him for a moment, before spewing another beam of lightning at Tygra, this time not abetting until he lost his grip and began plummeting.
Leopara's heart raced for him, beginning to spin Jaga's staff again. An upward sweeping wind could save him-
Panthro reached out and caught him by the ankle, holding him easily.
She glared at Mumm-Ra and unleashed another cutting wind at him, this time growling to herself to fuel her anger. "No time to stop, Lion-O!" she screamed up at him.
Mumm-Ra darted, if flying could be described as darting, around the otherside of the temple pillar, evading her. She hurled another towards him, but… it was too weak.
It dissipated long before it reached him.
Whiskers! He's too far away now!
She needed to get up there! Now!
Mumm-Ra roared as he reached the top of the tower, so loud she could still hear it. "The Book of Omens and its power belong to me!"
"Thundercats, ho!" Blue lightning crackled from above, casting blue light across the temple. With incredible speed, the yellow blur of Cheetara began to circle the temple's outer walls, climbing higher and higher.
She ran as fast as she could, leaping from wooden 'step' to wooden 'step,' praying the peg wouldn't break under her weight.
The battle between Mumm-Ra and Lion-O thundered above, interrupted by a loud crack as Cheetara arrived. Not a moment later, she let out a cry of pain and nearly fell from the tower, which she clung to so as not to fall. "I got you!" Lion-O called. Not a moment later, the sound of his screams filled the air, followed by a dark chuckle.
"You are much like your father." Lion-O must have replied to him, something she couldn't remotely hear with her heart pounding in her ears and he so far from her, because Mumm-Ra viciously retorted, "Only that I killed him." Mumm-Ra let out another roaring growl, purple lightning flashed, and-
And Lion-O screamed in pain once more.
A brilliant white light flashed from the top, engulfing the whole temple- so bright she was blinded. She paused, sheltering her eyes as she strained to look up above.
It tore a scream from Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living. "The light!" he shrieked.
Leopara was the last to reach the top, breathless and exhausted, she all but collapsed on the stone floor when she arrived.
The only thing that gave her pause was the broken lantern cradled in Cheetara's arms.
She stared, broken-hearted. "Jaga…?" she asked shakily.
Cheetara shook her head. "He sacrificed himself for all of us."
Leopara's eyes burned with fresh, welling tears. Again, he sacrificed himself… and again, it saved them. That wasn't- it wasn't fair. For all their effort, for all her effort, they had barely managed to inconvenience Mumm-Ra, and Jaga, just a soul, had to save them.
A tense silence fell over the cats, faces turned away and eyes closed; but the little light that escaped the lantern did not go unnoticed.
"Look." said Tygra.
The little green light danced around in front of each of them, hovering near Cheetara's face and nearly resting in the hand Leopara reached out with, as if to say, "It is okay, child," before flitting up towards the book. It flew into the book, and with the faint clanking of gears, the cage it was suspended in slowly lowered itself. The book's glow faded as it hovered in place, waiting for someone to pick it up.
They turned to Lion-O. Cheetara offered him an encouraging smile, and even Tygra mustered one. Leopara stared at it, feeling numb all over again.
After a moment, their king strode forward and reverently claimed the red book, looking over its cover before he turned and addressed them.
"At long last, we have all the answers." He opened it.
"Well, what does it say?" Tygra asked eagerly, stepping forward.
"It says… nothing." He lowered the book in disbelief. "It's blank."
Thank you to everyone for reading, and a special thank you to Frankannestein, The Night Whisperer, Heart of the Demons, and to MercifulGoon! I always appreciate your guys's reviews!