Death Feud

By Black Eagle

 

Part Two

 

            Tygra walked towards Leona. “How’s your head doing?” he said with the type of professional sympathy that doctors always excel in, whether or not the sympathy is real. For some reason it was.

            Leona curled her lip in scorn. “Spare me the sympathy. It isn’t needed. Or wanted.”

            “You had a concussion and were in a coma.”

            Leona sighed. “Your point?”

            Tygra shook his head in disbelief. “Never mind.”

            The other Thundercats were watching in amusement. “Well, it’s apparent that you’re feeling much better, so I guess you’ll be on your way.” Panthro said, attempting to get her to leave the Lair.

            Leona walked over to the window and stared out. “That has got to be one of the most pathetic attempts to get me to leave I have ever encountered,” she thought.

            “Guys?” said Lion-o, “Here’s an idea. Why don’t we just leave her alone, seeing as now is not exactly a good time for chit-chat.”

            They walked out the door, but Wily Kit stayed for a minute. “Leona?”

            “Hmm?”

            “No offense, but…. Why is it that grown-ups can get away with being rude but kittens can’t?”

            Chuckling slightly, Leona answered. “I never understood that myself, really. But you’d better be going.”

            “Why?”

            “Why what?”

            “Why should I go?”

            “Because the other Thundercats probably don’t want you hanging around me.”

            “Oh.”  The Thunderkitten walked towards the door and hesitated. “Leona?”

            “Yes, Wily Kit.”

            “Are you going to come down for supper when it’s ready?”

            Leona grinned, in spite of herself. “Heck, no, kid. Sorry, but there’s no damn way I’m going to sit down to eat with a bunch of Thundercats.”

            “Aren’t you gonna be hungry? Do you want me to bring something up?”

            “Not before supper, no…. But perhaps, afterwards….”

            “When afterwards? Right after, middle of the night…”

            “Why are you being so nice to me? The others hate me.”

            “I’m being nice ‘cuz I like you.”

            “Oh…. Could you bring something small, maybe just an apple or something, before you go to bed? Just sneak in or something.”

            “That little? You’ll starve!”

            “No, I won’t, don’t worry.”

            Kit headed out the door.

            “Oh, and Wily kit?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Thanks.”

            Wily Kit walked out, leaving Leona to herself, and her memories.

 

*A garden in the Black Leopard village. Leona kneels in front of it weeding. A figure comes up behind her and puts its hand on her shoulder.

“Buzz off, Raven. I’m having a really bad day.” Says Leona to the figure.

“I hate to disappoint you, but I’m not raven.”

“Captain N’farak **nuh-FAR-ak**!” Leona stands up and salutes. “I’m sorry sir…I thought you were someone else.”

“I can tell. Now, what’s this I hear about you disobeying orders and leading a group of our scouts into Puma territory?”

 “Sir? I don’t understand.”

“Give me a straight answer! Did you or did you not lead a group of our scouts into Puma territory?”

“I did not, SIR!”

“Do you know who did?” Leona hesitates. “No, SIR!” she lies, hoping she won’t get in TOO much trouble.

 “Are you SURE?”

“Yes.” The captain sighs. “All right. But do you have any idea who it is?”

 “No, sir.”

“Very well.” The captain walks off, probably to interrogate another scout. *

 

“I can’t believe I got away with lying to the captain! If that ever got found out…” she chuckled at the thought. “Of course, the captain only asked me if I had LEAD the group, not if I had been IN the group. Oh, well.” Again, she chuckled.

 

*It is the next day. The same group of scouts **spies, just t’ let you know** that captain N’farak was inquiring about are gathered in a small building on the outskirts of the Black Leopard army camp. The leader speaks. “I heard that Captain N’farak was asking questions about our little excursion yesterday. I also heard that none of you gave him any information. That gesture is appreciated. Today we will follow a slightly different route. Any questions?” A jumble of voices fills the air. “Woah, woah, woah, one at a time.” She points to one of them. “You first.”

“I don’t mean to sound pessimistic, but what if we get caught?”

“Simple. We don’t get caught.” A murmur went through the group again. “Are there any further questions?” No one answers. “Apparently not. Let’s go!”

They set off at a quick pace, carefully avoiding guard outposts; both theirs and Puma. They travel ten-some miles and stop, by command of their leader. “We are now within Puma territory, and have been for the past seven miles.” The seven scouts stand hands on their knees, panting. One of them looks at their leader.

“You’re just saying that (PANT) because you (PANT) need a break as much as the rest of us.” Their leader cracks a smile, hard to be seen, though, for all of them wear hooded cloaks.

“Ok, you’ve got me on that. I need a break, too.” They resume traveling and soon find themselves on the brink of a forest, a welcome change to the rocky wasteland they have been traveling through. They had not gotten ten feet inside the forest when someone drops a net on them. It covers all of them but one and he immediately begins to run at top speed the fifteen-some miles they had come, back to the Black Leopard base to inform Captain N’farak. Not exactly the smartest idea, but at the moment it was the only choice. *

 

            Leona frowned. “I wonder what happened to…. To…. Onyx, I think.”

 

**Note: I decided to change the flashback style from present time period to past, the way I write the non-flashback parts of the story. **

 

*The net came down on the scout troupe. Onyx, the only one not caught, ran as fast as he could to inform….”Oh man. Captain N’farak will boil me in oil when he hears about this….” He glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of a few Pumas chasing him and more dragging the net carrying his friends further into the forest.

“Hang on, guys, just hang on….” As he reached the outskirts of the Black leopard territory, the Pumas chasing him doubled back and headed the other way.

“Kara!” he snagged a foot soldier, a friend of his. “Where’s N’farak?”

“He’s at the camp, in his tent. Why?”

“There’s no time!” He ran off to find his commanding officer.

“Captain N’farak! Captain N’farak!”

“Onyx! What is it?!”

Onyx collapsed panting on the ground. “We were…ambushed….we went on an….” Onyx crossed his fingers, hoping the captain wouldn’t get TOO mad. “We went on an unauthorized scout mission.”

“You WHAT?! Who were the others in your group?!”

“There were seven of us, and our leader.”

“Their NAMES, scout, their NAMES!”

“Leoparda, Shadow, Raven, Castry, Leona, Pardak, and myself.” He paused, dreading the next moment.

“Your leader?”

Onyx took a deep breath. “Lieutenant Schorl.”

“No….Schorl….she wouldn’t….”

“She did. And if you don’t mind, sir, my friends are still out there.”

“Yes, Onyx…. Gather a rescue team…you lead it…. Schorl…how could she?”

Onyx went and told Kara, Miri, Laor, and Leonia what had happened. They gathered their weapons and set off to help their captured friends.*

 

Leona paused for a moment. “N’farak must have been devastated to find out Schorl disobeyed his orders so brazenly. His own daughter, his only child.”

 

*The rescue troop headed towards the last known location of their friends. As luck would have it, there was a clear trail where it appeared the large net carrying the seven scouts had been dragged. And there were always the muffled shouts and protests carried on the wind. Onyx picked out a few in particular.

“Raven, get yer spotted butt offa my chest!”

“Y’know, Shadow, this would be a lot easier if your foot WEREN’T half-way up my nose.”

“HEY! Watch where you’re draggin’ this thing, ya Puma idiots!”

Onyx chuckled, as did the others who had heard them. “I’m betting those were, in order, Schorl yelling at Shadow, Pardak yelling at Raven, and Leona yelling the Puma imbeciles who are dragging them,” volunteered Miri.

“What’re you betting they dragged Leona over a thorn bush on purpose?”

They started running towards where the sounds were coming from, an easy five miles away. “Get Leona mad on purpose?” said Onyx. “You’d have to be insane or incredibly stupid to do that!”

“Well, no one ever said the Pumas were smart…..”

Onyx considered this as they neared the Pumas, who were slowed down by having to drag seven fully-grown Thunderans behind them. “Nah. Much as I hate to say it, the Pumas ARE pretty smart.”

“Yeah, I suppose….”

They were now within twenty feet of the Pumas and their friends. The Black Leopards in the net caught sight of them, but did not make any movement that might alert their captors to their friends’ presence. Then, as the Black leopards closed in, Onyx gave the signal. There were six Pumas, and five “rescuers”. However, if they could get those captured free, the tides would turn. The Black leopards pounced.

“What in the world?! YAH!” The pumas were shouting out  several unrepeatable comments at the attackers.

“Miri, Leonia, free the others!”

The two females rushed to do that, and had ripped open the net when a Puma rushed up behind them and clubbed them both on the head. Leoparda and Castry jumped on the Puma simultaneously, knocking him unconscious.

But the odds were against the Black Leopards. Their weapons had been taken from them, and the Pumas were fully armed. Laor went down with a spear wound in the chest, and Castry was killed in an extremely brutal way, by having a spear thrust through one ear and out the other. Not that the same wasn’t done to the Puma’s. Arrows were shot between and through the eyes, spears thrust everywhere. It was a brutal battle. Eventually, the pumas came out victorious. All of the rescue party were either slaughtered or wounded. Of the original scout troupe, Onyx was bleeding heavily, Raven, Leona, Pardak, and Schorl were being taken away as prisoners. Leoparda’s head lay a few feet away from her body. As was already stated, Castry lay dead. Shadow, one of the best and most secretive of the group of scouts, lay with his face twisted in agony, both arms broken. Quite a few Pumas lay dead or wounded also, a few with snapped necks, courtesy of Shadow and Schorl. 

A Puma gestured towards the casualties. “They’re the lucky ones,” he said, “you are being taken for interrogation.”

Raven managed a smirk. “Oh, hooray, I just LOVE being interrogated.”

“Sarcasm will get you nowhere, Black Leopard.”

“Hey, dat’s MR. Black Leopard to you, Puma scum.”

Leona snickered. The sarcastic Raven always had a way of getting into trouble. He always managed to get out again, too. For that reason he was a favorite among the scout troupes.

“Oh, an’ what are YOU laughin’ about, girlie? Somethin’ funny to you?”

Before Leona could answer, a Puma kicked Raven savagely. “Keep walking,” he growled, “and don’t let me catch you talking again.” As the net had been destroyed, they were walking, hands tied behind their backs, and attached together by nooses around their necks—the Pumas weren’t taking any chances.

Raven’s hopes were dashed. He practically lived to annoy people, and how better then by babbling endlessly?

They walked the rest of the four miles left to go in silence, with the exception of a few obscenities every time someone tripped.

“YAH! Dang roots!”

“Stupid slagging thorn bushes…”

“Haven’t you Pumas ever heard of PATHS?!”

“I am getting soooo totally SICK of these vines!”

After numerous outbursts, the Pumas finally stopped. “You Black Leopards had better shut up soon, or your heads will be littering the ground.”

After that the outbursts were limited to occasional four-letter words.

Finally, they arrived at the base, where they were thrown into a large prison cell.

“Well lookie here, iron bars, iron walls, and iron benches! Everything’s color coordinated!”

“Shuddup Raven.”

“Ah, you’re no fun Leona.”

“We are captured, being held for interrogation, and nine of our friends are lying dead or wounded back there. I’m not in a mood for jokes.”

Things went on like that for days. They were well fed, however, and provided with blankets at night. Then the interrogations began.

A Puma strode round Raven. “Now sir, what’s your name, hmm?”

“None o’ your stinkin’ business.”

“Come now, friend, surely you can tell me your name. It’s only one simple thing.”

“Number one, I’m not your friend, number two, I’m not going to tell any Puma bastard anything.”

The Puma hauled back and punched Raven right in the jaw. Raven was thrown back several feet, but remained standing. “Is that the best you can do?” he said, spitting out a bit of blood. “My granny could do better then that.”

“Maybe so. But soon,” he said, “I’m going to slide this knife slowly around your throat.”

Raven blanched visibly. “Alright, alright,” he finally muttered. “My name is Raven Darkclaw.”

“Much, much better. Now why were you trespassing on Puma land?”

“No big reason. We were just going to a birthday party.”

“You are trying my patience, friend.”

“For the last time, I AIN’T YOUR FRIEND!”

Now the Puma had been slowly stepping towards Raven, edging him towards the wall. Now he turned around and walked back to the door. Then, giving no warning, he spun around and threw the knife, aiming right for Raven’s forehead. Raven jerked his head away just in time, but the knife still tore a good sized chunk of flesh out from his shoulder.

Raven gasped, holding his shoulder. The Puma walked to him, taking the knife now imbedded in the wall and slowly running it along the left side of Raven’s head, till he reached his ear where he began to cut, oh so agonizingly slowly. There were now several cuts reaching into his ear.

“AHHRG!!!!! All right! All right! What do you need to know?!”

“I knew you would listen to reason. Now, why were you trespassing on Puma grounds?”

“Scouting…mission.”

“To find out…..?”

“You know.”

The puma now began cutting along the edge of the ear where it met the head.

“To find out Puma military secrets!” Raven was speaking quicker now. “Like where the base was, and where prisoners were kept!”

“Now I have been informed that this mission was not authorized. Is this true?”

“Before I answer, who told you this?”

“I don’t believe it will do much harm. The one called ‘Schorl N’farak’.”

“Yeah, it’s true.”

“you sound upset. Why?”

“Oh, my, I don’t know! Maybe, just maybe, it’s because I’m being held captive by my enemies and am undergoing interrogation. But I don’t know WHY that would be.”

The interrogator slapped him. Hard. “We will see how cocky you are when you see what I did to your friends.” He nodded to a few guards. “Take him back to the cell.”

They did just that. Now, the four prisoners had been taken and put in individual holding cells to await interrogation. Now, as Raven was led back into the large cell, he saw the damage that was done. Schorl now had three diagonal cuts running across her face, and her uniform, of which she was so proud, was shredded above the waist. It looked as if her chest was being covered a by a torn in half blanket tied behind the neck and waist. Pardak’s arms had slashes down them and his face was a mass of bruises. Leona stood leaning against the wall, back turned to the door and he saw several welts, undoubtedly caused by whip. Her left arm had a bandage on it, probably a strip from the bottom of her cloak. When she turned around he saw that her lip was bleeding slightly.

“My gosh….guys, are you ok?”

Lt. Schorl saw how he was holding his shoulder and saw the blood dripping on the side of his face from his ear. “Are WE ok?! Are YOU ok?!”

“just peachy.”

“Leona!”

“What now, Lieutenant?”

“No need for rank here. Just loan me your cloak.”

“Use your own cloak, lady! Or Raven’s, for that matter! I’m already missing a foot off of mine!”

Raven went into a mock pout. “And I thought you liked me.”

“Dream on, pal.”

Schorl shook her head and tore a strip from the bottom of her cloak and wrapped it around Raven’s shoulder a good many times and tied it. “There. That ought to work.”

“That’s nice. Umm….”

“Yes?”

“What happened to your uniform?”

The Lieutenant glance down at herself. “it kind of ripped when Pumor threw a mirror at me.”

Leona rolled her eyes. “You’re telling me! It took forever to pick all those tiny little shards of glass out!”

Raven cast her a sidelong glance. “I didn’t know you were a doctor.”

“I’m not. But Schorl here didn’t want to be walking around with a mirror stuck on her front for the rest of her life.”

“Right…..By the way, who’s Pumor?”

“The big jerk interrogating us.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Oh.”

Leona leaned her back against the wall and winced as the pressure on the welts sent pain running through her back. She decided to change her position.

Pardak saw the expression on her face and walked over to her. “Leona, are you alright?”

“Who me? I’m fine,” again she winced as her back scraped against the cold metal. “Just fine.”

“Suuuure you are.” He draped his cloak over her shoulders. “That better?”

She shrugged it off. “I have my own cloak, thank you.”

Raven decided to break into the conversation. “Hey, Leona, what’s with the bandage on the wrist?”

Leona muttered something that sound like “ctonpiceglassticinoutscrlshder.”

“WHAT?!”

“I cut it on a piece of glass that was sticking out of Schorl’s shoulder!”

“Well why didn’t you say so???!!!!”

“I did!”

 

The interrogations went on for weeks. They had their effects on the captives each in a different way. Schorl became extremely quiet, and would stare at the wall for hours at a time. When she did speak, her words were harsh and hurtful.

Raven continued to make half-hearted jokes, and every so often would receive a laugh. More often, however, Leona would yell at him to shut up and then they would get into arguments, stopping only when the normally calm and helpful Pardak yelled at them to stop arguing and shut up.

Leona’s already harsh temper was now almost uncontrollable and she was constantly pacing back and forth across the small room. Every hour someone would ask her to stop, and she would; after a five-minute break she would start again.

Pardak sat sullen and emotionless in a corner watching everyone. When someone was brought in from interrogation, instead of asking if they were all right, he would sit and survey, helping only after he was asked. In truth, the only time anyone really showed any emotion was when they got into fights, which happened at least once a day.

Then, one day, they were all brought to the interrogation room together. When they were lined up in a row, side-by-side, Pumor, their interrogator, came in.

“well, well, well, all my ducks in a row.” He stood first in front of Schorl. “Well now, Lieutenant Schorl N’farak, how are you faring? I hope those cuts on your face are mending well.” Indeed, three scars cutting diagonally across her face shone out greatly because of their lighter color.

He moved to stand in front of Pardak. “Mr. Pardak Lerotan, the helpful guy, the one the others can lean on, I see your face has swelled down since our last encounter. You put up a good fight.”

“Miss Leona Sarino, best archer on the scout team, how IS your back doing? Fine I hope. Those cuts were nasty.”

“And now Raven Darkclaw, the joker who keeps everyone’s spirits high. Has that chunk of flesh grown back yet? No? too bad.”

He stepped back, surveying them all. “Doesn’t anyone have anything to say to me? Oh well. Let us proceed with the interrogation.” He picked up a whip. “Pardak, let’s see how you fare when the love of your life is being beaten like a dog.” He turned the guards. “Restrain them, all except Ms. Sarino.” He turned to Leona with a fiendish smile and cracked the whip. “time to get beaten, missy.”

Leona gave an enraged growl and leaped on him. From there it went downhill. Eventually she was overpowered and whipped. Schorl was burned lightly by torches held next to her skin, not bad burns, just enough to cause pain. Lots of pain. Pardak was kicked and punched without end. Raven was tormented much in the same way as he was the first time he had entered the interrogation room.

And throughout these happenings information was yelled forth because none of them could bear seeing those that they had spent the past two months with being beaten in these ways. Eventually, they were returned to their cell.

Once there Schorl had a…temper tantrum, for lack of a better phrase.

“I can’t stand this anymore! I can’t stand this!” she started sobbing. “One of these days I’m going to go INSANE!” her sobbing turned into hysterics. “I want to go HOME!”

They were all dumbfounded. Leona recovered first, having experienced similar outbursts at one time or another. She went over to the sobbing Black Leopard.

“Schorl. Schorl, listen to me! You need to stop this!”

“No—no, Leona you’re wrong. We won’t survive this! I won’t survive this!”

“Schorl you WILL get home someday! Your father is probably going nuts because you’re gone!”

Uh-oh. Wrong thing to say, Leona. “How do you know?! He probably thinks we’re dead!”

“Yes, well….” Leona’s “you’ll be alright attitude snapped.” “Well at least you HAVE  family to look for you!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

“It means that you’ve got someone out there waiting for you to come home! Someone who will NEVER quit waiting.” She paused. “Unlike some of us.”

That struck a nerve around the room. They all knew how Leona got jealous when she saw families walking together, particularly a family with two boys and a girl. Now Leona had turned and had her arm and forehead resting on the wall, a tear trickling down her cheek.

Pardak walked over to Leona and put his hand on her shoulder. “Leona—you have friends waiting for you at home. Don’t you?”

“Miri is dead now. But as far as I know, Kasrina’s still there.”

“See? You do have friends waiting. And I, for one, am waiting for everyone to cheer up. This place is altogether too gloomy.”

Raven made a face. “Gee, do you think? It seemed all bright and happy to me.”

“Now there’s the Raven I know. Come on, everybody, let’s do something fun!” Pardak’s statement was greeted with skeptical looks. “What? What did I say?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just that we are being watched by security cameras, oh, and there is the matter of the guard standing outside the door.”

At that moment, as if responding to Raven’s comment, the guard strode through the door. “I have orders to move you four to separate quarters.”

“Quarters? Did you say quarters?! As in decent rooms?!”

“Actually, yes.”

Raven turned and looked at his comrades. “This getting a bit too weird for me.”

The guard coughed, and Raven returned his attention to the Puma. “The females will be in one room, the males in another. The bedrooms are on either side of a large ‘living room’. That room includes a sofa, a large table, and a few books. You will be provided with changes of clothing in your respective rooms. Food will be delivered each morning, night, and afternoon to your quarters.”

The captives exchanged glances. Schorl finally spoke. “These ‘quarters’ sound pretty good to me. How heavily will they be guarded?”

“Guards will be posted outside all doors, and security cameras will be outside, but not inside.”

“It sounds nice enough…but tell me, why are we being sent to these ‘quarters’?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I don’t know.”

“MA’AM?!” all the Black leopards were shocked. “I-I’m a prisoner. Why did you address we as ‘ma’am’?” stammered Schorl.

“You are now guests of the General, no longer prisoners.”

They stood numbly, as the guard escorted them to their new homes.

Leona and Schorl were led into their new room, and as is only natural, looked around. There were two cots with mattresses laid on top of them; sheets and blankets on top the cots, and a thin pillow. There was a mirror, two hairbrushes, and a dresser; the mirror hanging above the dresser. There were sweaters, pants and shirts laid out, and in the closets there were some dresses. At the bottom of the closet were shoes in variety of styles. Amazingly enough, all sizes were equivalent to those worn by the two females.

The room of Pardak and Raven was virtually identical to that of the other two, with the exception of clothing.

Later that day, the guard reappeared with food. “How do you find your quarters, Lieutenant?”

Schorl shook her head in amazement. “They have beds and a bathroom, that’s all I can say.”

“I’m glad you find them suitable. And the other woman? How does she find them?”

“The ‘other woman’ finds them better then the prison cell, and worse then a hotel room,” said Leona as she walked up.

The guard frowned, nodded, and walked away.

This went on for several weeks, and every-so-often new books would be brought for the captives. Have freedom of movement they might, but they were never let to forget what their true status was. Prisoners of war.

Finally, one night, they decided to break free. They had been captive for almost six months, a relatively short time, but their treatment, up to the movement out of the prison cell, had not been the best.

When the guard brought the food that night, he delivered it to the room separating the two bedrooms, just like he always did. Pardak and Raven were out of sight, and Leona knelt sobbing on the floor next to a seemingly dead Schorl.

“Help, PLEASE help!”

The guard dropped the trays of food on a table and walked over. “What happened?”

“I don’t know! She just…she just collapsed all of a sudden. Th-there was no warning at all.”

As the guard bent closer to see if she had a pulse, Schorl’s eyes snapped open and she punched the guard square in the jaw, sending him sprawling head-over-heels into the wall, where the two males promptly leapt out of hiding and tied him up with a sheet, binding his arms in a type of straightjacket. His legs were tied with another strip of cloth. Before knocking him unconscious with a lamp, Leona tied a gag around his mouth.

As they hurried out of the room, Leona could not resist a laugh. “Helpless female act. It’s amazing how many people fall for it.”

It was a long race for safety, but they made it out of the prison camp with minimal injuries. They did, however, have a good-sized group of Pumas chasing after them, so there was no time for celebration. As they made their way towards the woods they had first been led through Raven chanced a look behind. “They’re gaining on us! Put on some more speed!”

Once in the woods, however, it was a different story. After hours of running, the Pumas gave up, and the Black Leopards made it to safety in their own home territory.

By dawn they had made it to the site of the Black leopard outpost which they had left on an unauthorized scouting mission six months earlier.

They found Captain N’farak standing near the edge of the outpost surveying the horizon. As he watched the sun slowly make its way through the sky he heard a tired voice coming from behind him.

“Lieutenant Schorl N’farak and scout troupe reporting for duty, sir.”

He spun around. “Schorl?! Is that really you?!” He gathered her in his arms in a gigantic bear hug. “I thought I’d never see you again!” the other soldiers heard the commotion and were amazed to see their friends alive.

“Leona? Leona Sarino? I don’t believe it! I thought for sure you were—"

“Dead? Kasrina, you know I don’t die easily.”

“Raven, are you still annoying the crap out of Leona with your jokes?”

“Still making jokes and loving it, BlackSpot!”

After Captain N’farak had declared a celebration, Leona and Pardak stood a little ways off from the crowd. Pardak turned to Leona and smiled. “Well, we did it. We got out of the camp alive.”

“We sure did,” Leona agreed.

Then the world seemed to stand still for the two Thunderans. Pardak lifted Leona’s head and bent down his own, and as Raven was making a joke about Schorl playing dead and Leona playing the helpless female, their lips met in a kiss that would remain in both of their memories forever.*

 

Wily Kit walked into Leona’s temporary bedroom. “Leona? I brought you the apple like you said.”

Leona looked up, startled. “Huh? Oh, thanks, Wily Kit. Listen, do you know when the Thundercats plan on going to the Astral Plane?”

Wily Kit nodded. “Tomorrow. Pumyra and Bengali are flying in from the Tower of Omens tonight. Lynx-o Wily Kat, Snarf, Snarfer and me are staying behind to watch over the Lair and the Tower.” She pouted.

Leona smiled slightly. “What do you think it would take for me to convince them to let me go also?”

“Why would you want to go?”

“Because this is my fight as well.”

“Oh…well, maybe if you can convince Cheetara she can convince Lion-o…”

“Great. How do I talk to Cheetara?”

“I’ll tell her you wanted to speak with her.”

“Thank you, Wily Kit. I really appreciate this.”

“It’s ok.” Wily Kit hurried out and was soon back with Cheetara in tow.

Cheetara looked at Leona, who was staring out the window, munching on the apple. “I was informed you wished to speak with me.”

Leona turned and looked at Cheetara. “Yes, I would like to talk to you.”

Cheetara shot Wily Kit a “why don’t you go somewhere else” look. She directed her attention back to Leona. “All right, then, what is it you would like to say?”

“Take me with you.”

“Pardon me?”

“To the Astral Plane. I have to go with you.”

Cheetara laughed incredulously. “You HAVE to go with me? I see no evidence to that. You are not a Thundercat. The message was, I believe for the Thundercats.”

“Look, I know all that, but why do you think I was picked out to deliver the message to you if I wasn’t supposed to go myself? Lady Silvera could just as easily have told you about it personally instead of having me bring the message.” She chuckled. “But I don’t suppose she really could have brought it personally, so to speak, seeing as she isn’t exactly alive.”

“Lady Silvera is the Black Leopard from the holographic message?”

“Yes.”

“This still isn’t your fight.”

Leona’s patience broke. “Ooh! I am so damned sick of being treated like a child who can’t fight! I may have had a concussion, and I may have been out for a week, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have the right to come with you! Speaking of which, how exactly do you plan to get there?”

“Jaga has promised to open a portal to the Astral Plane for us.”

“This Jaga…. Is he like your guardian spirit or something?”

“Or something.”

“Well why don’t you ask him? He’s dead, he’s on the Astral Plane, he would know whether or not I’m supposed to come!”

Cheetara had to admit it; the Black leopard did have a point. “I’m not making any promises, but I’ll talk to Lion-o. He’s really the only one who can see Jaga.”

Leona grinned. “Thank you.”

“Like I said, I’m not making any promises.”

“Mmm-hmm, no promises. Right.”

Cheetara left, and Leona snickered. “No promises indeed,” she thought. “She practically promised I’d go through that portal tomorrow!”

And that she had. Luckily enough, Lion-o was conversing with Jaga when Cheetara went to see him in his quarters. Jaga’s response to the question was “Indeed she should come. We would not have entrusted such a message to her if we did not believe it was for the best.”

So Cheetara informed Leona of that, and Leona proceeded to make sure her quiver of arrows was indeed full, and when morning came around she stepped through the portal along with everyone else.

Pumyra did, of course, protest, but her fellow Thundercats ignored her protests.

 

On the Astral Plane, a tall figure stood, or hovered, actually, above the ground. She surveyed the long-dead, and not so long-dead, Thunderans preparing for another assault against her. “Pitiful fools,” she thought. “They think that these ‘Thundercats’ can stop me. Hah!” She smiled, but it was a cold, evil smile. “Don’t they know? Living or dead, I cannot be stopped!”

As the Thundercats and Leona stepped out of the portal onto the Astral Plane, they were greeted by several figures, quite obviously Thunderan. Contrary to when they were viewed from the land of the living, they were more natural colors here. More natural colors as in they no longer glowed blue.

Jaga greeted Lion-o with fervor, and it was greatly apparent that he was relieved to see help finally arrive. The greetings, however, were cut short by yells coming from the battlefield.

They rushed to field, and found a woman, human, and was quite tall, standing at what appeared to be six-foot.

She was dressed in a tight fitting sleeveless black dress, clinging to her body until it reached her calves, where it flowed outward. It had a v-ed neck, and a silver belt forming a v-ed waist. From the point of the belt hung a large silver medallion. Triangular silver clips attached a black cloak to the straps of her dress. Large, silver, diamond shaped earrings dangled from her ears. Black hair extended to her waist, and blood red lips were the only amount of color on her pale skin. What was exceedingly eerie was her violet eyes, which seemed to hold a life force all their own.

“Who the hell is she?!” blurted Panthro after recovering from the first shock of seeing her.

Jaga shrugged. “We never actually got her name.”

“I sense something evil about her…but there is also goodness. It is faint, but it is there,” said Cheetara, tapping into her sixth sense.

Lion-o looked up at her where she was floating three feet above the ground. “Who are you,” he shouted, “and what do you want!”

The female laughed, a cold, humorless laugh that made everyone shiver. “My name,” she said, “Is Aquila, the Black Eagle, a sorceress of the Stellar Court. I am known as the Mistress of Feuds. What I want,” she continued, “are five Thunderan Talismans.”

Cheetara stepped forward. “Please, what are these five Talismans you speak of,” she said soothingly. “Perhaps we will be able to help you.”

“These five Talismans,” the sorceress’s voice rang out, “are known as the Eye of Thundera, Heart of the Sun, Spirit of the Moons, Thunder’s Blood, and Lightning’s Pride.”

All present blanched, although not visibly, at mention of the Eye of Thundera, but whether or not the black-clothed sorceress noticed could not be told, as her face was unreadable. The fact that it was approximately nine feet above the ground didn’t help much, either.

“You have ten hours,” she continued, “to deliver the Talismans to me. If, at that time, they are not in my hands, then the destruction will begin!” With an insane laugh and in a flash of black lightning, she disappeared.

“Well,” said Lion-o slowly, “that was unexpected.”

“Not really,” said Jaga. “She has come every day demanding the Talismans.”

“And every day,” continued a female Cheetah, presumably Lady Amber, “we have refused to relay them to her.”

“But why does she want these Talismans?” asked Tygra. “What special meaning do they hold for her?”

“The Eye of Thundera, as we all know, is exceedingly powerful. When combined with the four other Talismans it can give power beyond power to its bearer.”

“But what are the other Talismans? The names are slightly familiar, but I can’t place them.”

“The Heart of the Sun is a heart-shaped amber charm embedded in a small gold medallion. It was last held by the Cheetahs.”

“The Spirit of the Moons is a sapphire into which a crescent moon was carved. The moon was filled with silver. This Talisman was traditionally held by the Tigers” said a tall Tiger, named Oberon.

“Thunder’s Blood is also a sapphire, which has a streak of ruby running through it. No known stone is similar. It was handed down by the Panthers for generations,” said Panthron, a Panther bearing slight resemblance to Panthro.

“The last Talisman, which was watched over by the Black Leopards,” said Lady Silvera, “Lightning’s Pride, is onyx, polished smooth in an oval shape. There is a piece of gold embedded on the front, naturally, it seems, as no mark of chisel can be found that might have carved it.”

“And all these,” Jaga concluded,” were taken up to the Astral Plane with their bearers; not including the Eye of Thundera, as the Sword of Omens was already in the hands of another.”

Silvera smiled sadly **just try sayin’ that three times fast! **. “Unfortunately, the rest of us were not so lucky. We did not know that we would die. Jaga is one of the lucky—or unlucky—few who did.”

“And how,” said Lion-o respectfully, “did you die?”

Silvera spat. “Assassinated. It was that lying bastard Jaman, I swear!” She bit her lip, and blushed. “No disrespect meant to you, of course.”

“None taken,” he said.

“None taken by him, at least,” came a voice from behind her.

She scowled. “Shuddup, Jaman.”

“Silvera, you cannot order me around. I outranked you on Thundera, and I do here.”

“Jaman, just SHUT UP!”

“Ahem.”

“Yes, Jaga?”

“Now is not the time to be fighting, my friends.”

“Stuff it, Jaguar,” Jaman snapped. “This doesn’t concern you.”

“Oh, I think it does. We have an emergency on our hands and you two are bickering like kittens!”

The two former Thundercats stopped and glared at Jaga and at each other, then stalked away in opposite directions, Silvera reappearing as soon as Jaman was out of sight.

“Jaga, although I understand what you are saying—“ Jaga shot her a look saying “don’t mess with me right now”.

“Of course you’re not called ‘Jaga the Wise’ for nothing, I assume, so I’ll just leave you alone to do your ‘wise things’.” she finished.

“You care about him.”

“What? Care about who?”

“Jaman.”

“WHAT?! Are you INSANE?! Calling me childish is one thing, but saying that I CARE about Jaman?! You’re pushing the line there, mister.”

“But didn’t you two used to date?”

Silvera frowned. “We went out once. Only once. At the time he was searching for a bride, and at first I was flattered, being one of two female Thundercats, and then…”

“And then?” prompted Panthron.

“And then I dumped his sorry butt. We’ve been on bad terms since then. Honestly, the guy just can’t accept that not every female will fall for his ‘charming’ personality.”

Lion-o broke into the conversation. “Excuse me, but what magical powers can the four Talismans besides the Eye of Thundera harness? Why would this sorceress want them?”

“Because when all five are combined they can give limitless power to the bearer.”

“Oh.”

“But we’re not giving the Talismans to this witch.” said Panthro. “We’re going to stand and fight her.”

Lion-o rolled his eyes. “Yes, Panthro, that is the general idea.”

“You may feel free to explore the Astral Plane,” said Jaga to the Thundercats. “It will be nine-some hours before we must fight.”

They took his advice, running into  many old friends that had died on Thundera.

Leona wandered around the Plane, actually a large city that got larger whenever necessary, or so she assumed. While there was a few miles of open space, the ground was covered in fog, or some other cloud-like material.

She sat down on a bench just inside the large walls of the city, testing the barbed metal points of her arrows. She counted her arrows, realizing that they would do little damage compared to those of the Thundercats.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have come,” she said quietly. “I’ll probably end up making a big fool of myself.”

“Well if you make a fool of yourself, at least you’re a pretty fool.”

She looked up, and her mouth dropped open. “Pardak?!” She jumped up from the bench, dropping her bow and arrow quiver in the process as she flung her arms around him in a hug.

“I don’t believe it! It’s really you!”

“It’s really me,” he said.

She pulled back. “Wait…your shoulders…they feel…. I don’t know….”

“Rubbery?”

“Yes! Exactly!”

“Well, that’s how we of the Astral Plane feel to those who are alive.”

She glanced at him incredulously. “We of the Astral Plane’?” she asked. “Cosmos, you’ve only been dead for a few years!”

“Sorry. It’s just…this place, it gets to you.”

“Mmm-hmm. Suuuuuure.”

“You’re impossible sometimes, you know that!”

Leona broke into a grin. “I know.”

“And I know,” came a new voice.

“By Thundera….. Leo?”

“The one and only.”

She gave him a puzzled look, then an answer dawned in her mind. **Read: A light-bulb turned on over her head.** “You’re older! That’s what seemed wrong before!”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, when we enter the Astral Plane, the ones who are young can choose to age, and the older ones can choose to become younger.”

“Oh.”

 

They spent a few hours talking and finding old friends. However, much time was spent preparing for battle.

When the ten hours were up, the Thundercats and Leona came to the battlefield.

With a flash of black lightning, the same way she had disappeared, Lady Aquila of the Stellar Court reappeared before them.

“I do not see the talismans. Where are they?!”

“Listen up, witch,” said Panthro, “There is absolutely no way you are getting those talismans!”

She glared at him. “I’m a sorceress, not a witch, please remember that in the future. And I hope you prepared to fight, for I do not give up easily!”

Leona grinned, showing her fangs. “Lady—and I use the term loosely—we don’t give up easily, either.”

“Maybe so. But we shall see who wins.” The black-clothed sorceress raised her arms above her head, spreading them slightly, palms facing the sky.

“What is she doing?” whispered Lion-o to Panthro.

“You got me,” he answered.

Large balls of purplish-black lightning formed above her hands as Lion-o shot blasts from the Sword of Omens, Cheetara from the end of her staff, and Bengali from the Hammer of Thundera.

As Leona shot arrow after arrow, balls of fire were sent from Tygra’s whip, Panthro’s nun-chucks, and explosions followed from Pumyra’s marbles.

However, before they reached their adversary, she sent the balls of lightning, incinerating the arrows and demolishing the energy blasts and fire before smashing into the small group of fighters.

While they all dove out of the way, all of them ended up at least partially scorched.

Pumyra and Leona got up at approximately the same time and each unleashed another volley of marbles or arrows at the sorceress.

The woman held her hands out in front of her and they stopped moving. She smiled thinly and hurled the marbles and arrows back at them.

Both females got out of the way, as the other Thunderans got up.

“I will give you one more chance,” said the sorceress, Aquila as she had said her name was. “Give me the Talismans…or die.”

The reply? All shot their respective weapons at her.

“Very well, then.  And now you shall see why I am called the Mistress of Feuds.” As the Thundercats—and one non-Thundercat—watched, though they kept their guard up, she took a deep breath and began to chant.

“Friend is Foe, Foe is Foe, fight ‘mongst yourselves, die the way Warriors go.”

As she talked, it seemed to the Thunderan fighters that a red mist spread in front of their eyes, blinding them to the fact that they were with friends.

As they turned and looked at each other, they began fighting with the first person they saw. Lion-o and Cheetara, Panthro and Bengali, Leona and Pumyra, a sort of “rematch” of their fight when they first found out about Leona, and Tygra leaped at the sorceress—not the best idea, but she just repelled his attacks.

Jaga and the others had been watching, but could not fight, as they were no match for the living. “Jaga, they are getting pounded,” Silvera said. “We have to do something!”

“I know, I know…” He shook his head, thinking. “Wait…that’s it!”

“You have a plan?”

“You’d better believe it. Now,” he gestured to the others, “come with me.” They walked off.

Lady Aquila was getting annoyed at Tygra, as he was taunting her for staying in the air, though it was not much, really only a foot.

He hurled a fireball at her from the end of his whip, which dissipated in mid air, courtesy of a small spell.

She groaned, keeping this spell on them while dodging Tygra and repelling his attacks was proving harder than she thought. True, she had kept the spell on the Pumas and Black Leopards long enough, but it was easier when the fighting was already going on, the spell merely enforced it. “Besides,” she thought, “that was a different spell. Easier then this.” She frowned and unleashed a small telekinetic blast that stopped Tygra for a few minutes.

“Friend becomes Friend,” she chanted,  “Foe remains Foe, let the fighting stop, let disappear your woes.”

Immediately they stopped fighting, at the same time as the Jaga, Silvera, Amber, Panthron, and Oberon stepped up, Jaga calling the Sword of Omens to his hand, which meant pulling it out of Lion-o’s hand, much to his shock.

Jaga extracted the Eye of Thundera from the Sword, and the five of them stepped up to the sorceress.

“We have decided to give you the Talismans,” he said.

“WHAT?!” came the general response to his statement, “Are you INSANE?!”

Aquila chuckled. “I knew you’d come to your senses eventually.” As Lady Amber gave her the Talismans, the eight Thunderan fighters stood in shock and anger.

“The Eye of Thundera, Thunder’s Blood, Heart of the Sun, Lightning’s Pride, Spirit of the Moons….” She laughed, a semi-maniacal laugh. “Finally, I have them!”

She held them all in the cupped palms of her hands, then threw them up in the air, shouting one word…”Combine!”

They were surrounded by a ball of gold-colored light, and then the light was gone. In the place of the five Talismans was one large stone, glowing with power that dropped into her waiting hands.

She lifted it above her head. “I am the Mistress of Feuds! Darkness Swift, come to me; Feuds of Death, give me your Glory!”

All at once, the long-dead Thunderans, and the living ones, began fighting each, re-enacting feuds that had long been over, some for centuries, some for merely a few years.

Any fight that had ever happened between Thunderan clans sprung to life again, just as the day it had started.

But Aquila was not done. “Anger, Hatred, for ever after, you shall rule over Joy and Laughter!”

Any thought of not fighting that had been in anyone’s mind quickly disappeared, as anger and hatred grew quickly, seemingly strengthening the Mistress of Feuds.

 “I love a Death Feud,” she cried, “They’re the best kind! Everyone killing one another, never wanting to, but the hatred urging them on!”

The stone that was once the five Talismans pulsed brightly then, in a flash of light surrounding the entire area, it exploded, shattering into the five Talismans, each Talisman going back to it’s rightful owner.

With the explosion, the spells wore off, and all stopped fighting. “What…what happened,” was a common question, as everyone asked it the moment they were no longer under the spell.

Lady Aquila also was wondering that. “What happened! The Talismans, where did they go?!”

Jaga stepped forward. “It gives limitless power to the bearer, but the power only lasts a short while.”

“No matter, I can still defeat you!” Again, she held her arms up, forming the two destructive balls of purplish-black lightning.

Lion-o raised the Sword of Omens. “Thunder, Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats, HOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

As this new, red, light covered the sorceress her eyes widened in panic. “I will not be defeated! I am Aquila! I am the Black Eagle! I am IMMORTAL!”

And right when anyone else would have been destroyed, she raised her arms, cloak billowing around her. Her eyes glowed red for a brief moment, and her arms and cloak became two large black wings.

She flew upward, then, when she was fifty feet in the air, she spread her wings and wrapped them around her body, curling herself into a ball, and then in a flash of black light became an eagle, colored black.

As the bird flew away, all the Thunderans standing there heard in their minds, echoing, “This is not over, Thundercats, I promise you that! The Mistress of Feuds will be back!”

 

Once she had flown out of sight, Lady Aquila created a portal to her home. As she appeared in her quarters in the palace belonging to her Lord, she collided with a pillar. “Damn,” she thought and as she fell to the soft bed directly below her, she again became a human.

She was tired, she was mad, and she had a headache the size of Gemini’s quarters. And all she wanted was a nice long nap, maybe she’d have a dream about killing the Thundercats….Nah, after what had happened today, she wanted them out of her brain for the next week.

Just then a large bell rang, summoning all the Lords and Ladies in the palace to the Court. But not just any court, no, this was the Court of Lord Zodiac **pronounced zo-DIE-ack**, better known as the Stellar Court.

Aquila entered the Court along with many others, where she saw Lord Zodiac seated on his throne, his twelve attendants surrounding him, six on either side.

“Lady Aquila,” he said, “Step forward that we may hear your report on the five Thunderan Talismans.”

Aquila stepped forward from her place in the Court, and curtsied to Zodiac and his attendants. “My Lord Zodiac,” she said, fighting off feelings of nervousness, “I regret to report that plans to capture the Talismans have….failed.”

“Excuse me, Lady Aquila, but did I hear you correctly? Did you say failed?”

“Yes, my Lord.”

He sighed, annoyed that she, one of his better sorceresses and certainly one of the more powerful of the Stellar Court could fail this assignment. “Did you not obtain and combine the Talismans? Did you not destroy those who were guarding them?”

“I did, Lord Zodiac, obtain and combine the Talismans, but then as I was casting the spell for the Death Feud, the stone….separated, sir, back into the five Talismans.”

“And why did it do that?”

“Because, my Lord, the stone only gives limitless power for a short period of time. Then it separates, each Talisman going back to its rightful place.”

“I see. Well then, I do hope that you enjoyed your taste of ‘limitless power’, however short it may have been, as it would appear that no one else will ever have it. Dismissed.”

As Aquila curtsied again and walked back to her place, Zodiac called other Lords and Ladies to speak. A tear burned in one eye, but she quickly wiped it away,  knowing that tears shame a sorceress, especially one known as the Mistress of Feuds.

Her thoughts dwelt on this until Lord Zodiac dismissed the Court. She walked out, not talking with her friends and acquaintances as she normally did. Now she just wanted some peace and quiet….

 

The Thundercats watched the bird fly away, then, turning to Jaga Lion-o asked, “How did you know the stone would do that?”

He smiled wisely. “I recall reading it in an old text, although I didn’t remember until she had put all of you under her spell.”

“True, he cut it a bit close,” Silvera commented, “but it worked.”

Leona remembered something the sorceress had said, though it seemed a bit hazy, as it had been said while they were her spell. “A Death Feud,” she said suddenly, “Everyone killing one another, never wanting to, but the hatred urging them on.”

As the Thunderans gathered around gave her curious glances, she continued. “if a Death Feud is what we experienced while under her spell, let us hope that we never encounter her spells again.”

“But you heard what she said,” Pumyra remarked. “She will be back, and next time it will not be that easy to defeat her.”

Leona let out a chuckle. “If that was easy,” she laughed, “Then Thundera save us when it gets hard.”

 

Continued

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