Path Into the Darkness

 

Part One: WilyKit

 

Chapter One: Questions

 

WilyKit let out a loud groan and rolled over in her sleep.  She was having the dream again.  It wasn’t a nightmare, and it wasn’t even an altogether unpleasant dream, but it always left her with the same feeling when she awoke from it—confusion.  Confusion born from a blend of strong desire and longing coupled with intense feelings of regret and shame.  

 

WilyKit stood in a dark jungle in the middle of the night.  She wasn’t on Thundera, nor was she on Third Earth.  She wore clothing that was skintight but not uncomfortable, attire that eased her movements while accenting her enviable physique.  She was at the edge of some sort of settlement, too wild to be a city but too advanced to be labeled a village.  In a strange way it reminded her of the place on Third Earth in the unicorn forest where years ago she and her brother had followed Chilla and the man they later learned the hard way was an evil demon named Damien, and where they had been imprisoned for a time.  Where she was now was far more advanced and the structures were altogether different, but it held the same air of mystery and enchantment that the supernatural place in the unicorn forest had.

 

She could taste the lingering flavor of freshly roasted meat on her lips and when she looked down, she saw her hands stained with blood and dirt.  Her feet were sore and her muscles tired, but her entire spirit felt wild and alive.  She became aware of a hand gently caressing her neck and slowly working it’s way up her neck, it’s long fingers tangling themselves in her brilliant red and black mane.

 

“You’ve surpassed all my expectations,” a smooth and charming male voice whispered in her ear.  She felt the hand slide back down to her shoulder and another one on her opposite side, and both hands began to massage her gently and sensuously.  “Now we can complete our celebration together,” he continued, and accentuated his words by placing soft, tantalizing kisses along her jaw line before meeting her lips.

 

WilyKit returned the passionate kiss and leaned on the man’s strong shoulder, allowing him to lead her to the place where they would spend the rest of the night.  Once they entered the small home, she shed her clothing and stretched out upon the bed while the mysterious man took a wet cloth and cleansed her hands and face of the blood and dirt that soiled them.  His touch was gentle and intoxicating, and she wanted nothing more than to hold him close to her.  She loved that man deeply, and she knew that he returned the feelings with equal strength.

 

Soon the man joined her on the bed, drew her into his arms, and made love to her with an intensity of warmth, passion, and affection that she had never felt with anyone else before.  The two lay there cozy in the afterglow for a time in one another’s arms, he eventually drifting off to sleep before she.  She turned her head and gazed upon her lover’s sleeping face.  The dim light of the room obscured his features to an extent.  From what she could see, however, was that he was not Thunderian, that was for certain.  His skin held no fur.  Instead it was soft and smooth, and light in color.  A mane of thick, lustrous dark hair covered most of his head and grew in a longish and wild fashion, cascading down to his shoulders.  Two pointed and long, but slim, ears poked through his hair.  She could see that he had large eyes, a wide mouth, and a small button nose.  She was also able to make out two other features, ones that startled her as the identity of her lover hit the dreaming WilyKit like a ton of bricks.  There were two small pointed horns and a crescent moon upon his forehead.

 

WilyKit woke with a start.  That dream, she mused.  Why do I keep having that dream about that Lunatac?  I only know a few of them and I’ve certainly never been in love with one.  So who is this guy and why do I keep dreaming about him?

 

The distressed Thundercat sat up, trying to shake the dream from her consciousness, and realized that it was now morning.  Her room was filled with sunlight and as she glanced at her timepiece she saw that it was about time that she got out of bed anyway.  As she rose and dressed the dream began to slip from her mind and faded into obscurity once more.  She became aware of shouting down the hall, and when she paused to listen she could hear Pumari complaining rather vocally.  “I bet Snarf made her clean that room of hers,” she laughed to herself, thinking about the scattered toys and clothes that littered the floor of the girl’s quarters.  She knew all too well how compulsively neat Snarf was, and how he expected the rooms of children to look, and Pumari’s housekeeping habits left much to be desired.  Snarf and Pumari had been having several arguments about the state of her quarters lately.  WilyKit then heard Snarf shout something about a “den of sloth” and laughed out loud again.  “Snarf will never change,” WilyKit said to herself as she checked her reflection in the mirror one last time before she departed her quarters.  “He used to give WilyKat and I the same lecture back on Third Earth all the time.”

 

As she made her way down the hall, WilyKit then got to thinking about their past on Third Earth and some of the stunts she and her brother had pulled as children.  Between her, WilyKat, and essentially raising Lion-O from infancy, old Snarf had certainly had his hands full with rowdy kids for a good deal of his life.  Pumari and later Chet had arrived only a short number of years after she and WilyKat had outgrown the need to have a snarf look after them, and the new generation of Lair children were promising to be just as much a handful as those of the generation before.

 

WilyKit then drifted back into more distant memories, of when she and WilyKat were young children, before they had been forced to flee the dying Thundera.  She remembered her and WilyKat’s childhood nanny, a female Snarf named Clarece.  Clarece had lived in Cat’s Lair as did several snarfs in those days, and she hadn’t gotten along with Snarf Osbert in the least.  WilyKit recalled many amusing fights between the snarven pair, their arguments usually revolving around which children were more well behaved—Clarece’s WilyKit and WilyKat or Osbert’s Lion-O.  Back then, the three of us were the same age, WilyKit thought, realizing what a strange thing that truly was.  Ever since their arrival on Third Earth, Lion-O was physically a good ten years older than she and her brother due to his malfunctioning suspension capsule, but chronologically Lion-O was a little over a year their junior.  WilyKit then thought about Snarf Clarece again.  Neither WilyKit nor her brother had seen Clarece since Thundera was lost the first time.  Clarece had left the Lair to return to the Valley of the Snarfs shortly after the disastrous earthquakes that heralded the beginning of the destruction of their world began.  After Clarece left, WilyKit and WilyKat had been turned over to Snarf’s care because they were orphans and were to be trained as future Thundercats.  In fact, the two of them had been Thundercats-in-Training for as far back in her childhood as she could remember.  Suddenly that struck her as rather odd.  Most Thundercats did not train until they were much older.  Why was it that she and her brother were exceptions to that rule?

 

WilyKit made a mental note to ask Tygra, Panthro, or Cheetara about that sometime.  However, it would have to wait a bit, for that day she was supposed to go with Lynx-O and the kids out to an archaeological dig in some ruins that had been uncovered recently.  The rubble was identified to be a part of Old Cat’s Lair, the Thundercats’ home that was destroyed along with Thundera itself those twenty-some years ago.  Several of the building’s rooms had been somewhat preserved in air pockets underneath a mountain of hardened lava and rubble, and once they were opened up the Thundercats were thrilled to discover a time capsule of sorts that took them back into the pre-explosion past.  The Thundercats had been overseeing the careful excavation of the site for weeks now, and this was WilyKit’s first chance to go since her return.  She was eagerly looking forward to it.

 

WilyKit finally arrived at the dining area and saw several of her fellow Thundercats still eating breakfast, except for her brother, who was still asleep.  She knew he had been on night watch the evening before, however, so she wasn’t surprised to see him absent.  Lion-O was not present either, for he had gone into the city early on some political business.

 

“Good morning WilyKit,” Lynx-O greeted her as she took her seat.  “I’m glad you were able to join us for some breakfast.  I was worried that we might have to head off to the site without you.”

 

“Yeah, I just slept in kinda late,” she said, suddenly struck by a very strong feeling of wooziness.  All of a sudden, the aroma of Snarf’s fresh berbilberry pancakes and sweet candy fruit syrup clashed with the odor of smoked breakfast meat, making her feel nauseous, and she clutched the side of the table as she tried to keep steady. 

 

“WilyKit?  Are you all right?” Cheetara asked, concerned when she noticed the younger Thundercat’s distress.

 

“I’ll be fine.  I—I just don’t think I can eat anything,” WilyKit murmured.  She glanced at the serving plates of food, wondering why the scents were bothering her so much.  Normally she had a healthy appetite and would have devoured a full plate of both the pancakes and the meat, but today her stomach lurched violently at the mere thought.  She realized that had to get out of the room and away from the odor or she might very well puke right on the table, and ruin everyone else’s meal.  “Listen,” she said quietly, “just have Snarf pack me a lunch or something and I’ll go start up the Whisker for us to get over to the site, ok?”

 

Before the others had a chance to answer, WilyKit darted out of the room and headed for the garage.  The sudden movement made her feel even worse, and she ducked into a bathroom as she realized that she couldn’t hold back the inevitable.  She didn’t make it to the toilet and instead fell against the sink.  Her entire abdominal cavity began to spasm uncontrollably as she vomited into it.  By the time she was finished, WilyKit had lost her strength completely—not out of just illness, but out of shock, fear, and disgust when she saw what she had left in the sink.  Instead of the clearish yellow stomach fluid and bile that would have normally come up after vomiting on an empty stomach, the sink contained an unnatural looking dark maroon fluid, almost the color of blood but not quite.  “Lords of Thundera,” she whispered hoarsely, shaking.  “What is the matter with me?”

 

She leaned against the fixture stunned for several moments, and then finally turned on the faucet.  Her strength began to return, and she quickly started cleaning the sink.  Whatever had just happened, she did not want anyone in the Lair to see it.  She had no idea what it was and the other Thundercats were worried enough about her because of her memory loss anyhow.  Besides, she rationalized, she already was feeling better, and it was likely nothing more serious than a bad reaction to something she ate the night before.  She wiped the last trace of the emesis out of the sink and decided that once she got some fresh air she would be fine.

 

There was a knock at the bathroom door.  “WilyKit are you coming?” Chet called to her.

 

WilyKit threw the soiled towels into the trashcan and emerged with a friendly smile on her face.  “Yup, I’m all ready to go.”  With that she followed Chet down the hall to the hangar and did her best to forget what had just happened, and focused on intently on the project of the Old Cat’s Lair excavation instead.

 

* * *

 

Several hours later, WilyKit was feeling much better and was quite involved in the excavation of the intact remains of Old Cat’s Lair.  Their crew had determined that the section they stood in was part of the western half.  In her own distant memories of the old Lair she recalled that the portion she now stood in had been largely unused and closed off for as long as she could remember, it’s rooms primarily used for storage of old weapons and artifacts.  That wing also contained some unoccupied quarters that had last been used by the previous generation of Thundercats.  There had been no need for that space back in the time she could remember, so she supposed Jaga had simply kept it closed off to save on the Lair’s heating and utility costs in power.

 

WilyKit stood alone in one of the rooms that once belonged to a long-gone Thundercat whose identity was yet to be determined.  That particular room was emptied of most of the owner’s personal belongings, as though it had been cleared in a hurry, which struck WilyKit as unusual.  Thus far the other uncovered chambers that belonged to Thundercats who had died in battles were still full of their personal affects, left as a memory to their owner presumably until the room was needed again. 

 

Lynx-O was several feet away in a different section.  He busy sorting through the items in a chamber that he had determined belonged to a Thundercat of the previous generation called Firestripe.  Lynx-O had known Firestripe personally back in his days as a citizen of Old Thundera, and he had respected him a great deal.  Once the determination had been made, Lynx-O had asked if he could have the task of sorting through his chamber as it meant a great deal to him personally, and the others were happy to oblige him.  Young Chet eagerly assisted him, while the lynx told the cub various stories of the past Thundercats. 

 

Meanwhile, Pumari helped some of the other Thunderians at the dig open up a chamber that had belonged to a Thundercat named Sibera.  That Thundercat had died around the same time WilyKit and WilyKat were born.  Vaguely WilyKit recalled the story, perhaps told to her by Snarf or Clarece long ago, about how Sibera and another Thundercat named Scarlette were both killed in a battle in the Gatoria province.  The tragedy of the event was not that they had been killed in battle, although that was certainly sad enough, but that they had been killed by one of their own people.  Gatoria had not been overrun with Mutants or raiders, but by an insurrection of rogue Thunderians that wanted power for themselves.  The identity of the killer had never been mentioned.  As she searched her memory—the part of it that was actually working, she thought somewhat bitterly—for more details of the story, she also wondered if Scarlette’s personal chamber had been found with the others.

 

WilyKit’s thoughts continued to drift and wander as she sifted through the rubble.  She saw the remains of a poorly preserved dressing cabinet and carefully opened it.  The material crumbled in her hands, badly decayed from time and the heat of the lava that had once encased the room.  Inside it she found some clothing.  It too was in poor condition, although the cabinet it was held in had apparently preserved it enough to keep it intact and recognizable.  Among the garments she found a male Thundercat uniform with, to her surprise, a Thundercat insignia still upon it.

 

“What Thundercat would have left something this important behind?” she wondered aloud, genuinely puzzled.  Thundercats that died in battle were always buried with their insignias, and those that retired took their belongings with them when they left the Lair and were generally buried with them upon their death as well.   Being a Thundercat was an honor and a privilege that few attained, and it made no sense to her that one who had the title would have so carelessly discarded something as important as their insignia.  “Whose could this be?”

 

She got her answer when she unfolded the uniform to examine it more closely, and a leather-bound journal fell from it’s folds onto the ground, even more well preserved than the clothes that protected it.  WilyKit set the uniform and insignia aside to examine the journal.  Immediately her question as to the identity of the room’s past owner was answered.  Handwritten inside the cover was the name of the Thundercat whose room she sat in.

 

“Grune the Mighty.”

 

She whispered his name out loud as she read it, her thoughts racing at the amazing discovery she had just made.  Holy Thundera... Grune the Mighty... that was Grune’s title before he turned to evil and became known as Grune the Destroyer... and this is his journal!  His thoughts and his life before he turned to the darker path of greed, hate, and destruction that destroyed him.  WilyKit was fascinated.  She had always wondered why it was that Grune went bad, and what had snapped in him to turn him down such a troubled road.  She knew that Grune could not have always been evil.  Not if he had once been a Thundercat, and not if he had once been a close friend of Jaga the Wise.  Maybe the real answer to that lies in here.  WilyKit opened the book and began to read, but she was interrupted before she could get to the second page.

 

“WilyKit!” Pumari shouted from across the way.  “Didn’t you hear us calling you?  It’s time to go back to the Lair!”

 

WilyKit looked up, shaken out of her reverie.  “No I didn’t, Pumari, I’m sorry.  I’ll be right there,” she called back.  She quickly shoved the journal into the bag she had brought along with her.  She then quickly caught up to the others and mentioned her finding to them on their way back to the Lair.  Naturally they were all curious about it, but she asked if she might keep it long enough to read it before turning it over to the others for a more thorough examination.  Lynx-O agreed readily, and by the time that discussion was over they had arrived back at Cat’s Lair.

 

Much to WilyKit’s surprise, the entry hall was brightly decorated in festive décor as she and the others walked in.

 

“Surprise!” the Thundercats present—WilyKat, Cheetara, Lion-O, Pumyra, Tygra, Panthro, and Snarf—shouted in unison.

 

“What?  What’s all this?” questioned the stunned WilyKit.

 

Lynx-O chuckled beside her.  “We’ve been planning this for a few days now, WilyKit.”

 

WilyKat grinned.  “We wanted to have a party for you, but thought it would be fun to surprise you.”

 

“We waited until you were scheduled to spend a day out so we could set everything up.  It was WilyKat’s idea.  It’s just our way of saying we’re glad to have you back with us again,” Lion-O said warmly.

 

WilyKit beamed, genuinely touched by her friends’ affectionate gesture.  “Thank you so much, guys!  You’re the greatest!”

 

The celebration then began in earnest, and WilyKit soon forgot all about both her own troubles and Grune’s journal.

 

* * *

 

A few more days passed, and life was relatively normal in Cat’s Lair again.  Normal for everyone, that was, but WilyKit.  She was feeling more alone and scared than she had ever felt before.  The dreams she had were getting more graphic, vivid, and unsettling each time she had them, and many nights they turned to nightmares.  Instead of just the night with her Lunatac lover, now she also dreamt of dark ceremonies and rites that took place in the moonlight.  She saw flashes of herself seeing and doing things she couldn’t immediately identify, but she knew them to be wild, uncontrolled, and violent.  Other nights she dreamt again of the Lunatac, and her tangled with him in uninhibited lust and desire that left her feeling alive, wanted, and loved, but shameful and dirty when she awoke. 

 

As if her dreams were not bad enough, she also had recurring instances of the sickness she had first suffered on the day of her visit to the Lair ruins.  She suffered the nausea and the ensuing purplish-red vomit nearly every day, and nearly always within half an hour of waking from one of her dreams.  The attacks became more frequent and began happening without her sleeping or dreaming first.  As a result, she was not sleeping well, felt exhausted, and ate only when she felt she absolutely had to.  She could find no explanation for it, and it terrified her, yet for some reason she could not bring herself to mention it to anyone, even WilyKat.  Instead she began avoiding parts of the Lair with strong scents, and made excuses for her odd behavior, passing it off as a cold or a flu or simply being tired, hoping that whatever was happening to her would simply stop and go away on it’s own. 

 

One afternoon she was wandering aimlessly around the Lair, lost in her thoughts, when suddenly she remembered the question she had several days prior about why she and WilyKat had been trained so young as Thundercats.  Since none of the Thundercats were particularly busy that day, she thought it was as good a time as any to go ahead and ask about it.  She figured her brother would probably be interested to know as well, and as luck would have it, she found him with Tygra in the sun room of Cat’s Lair.

 

“Hey, just the Thundercats I was looking for,” she greeted the two of them cheerfully as she took a seat by the window.  “Are you guys doing anything important?”

 

“Not unless you call discussing Snarf’s candyfruit pies important,” WilyKat answered with a grin.  “He’s baking a bunch of them today.”

 

Tygra gave WilyKit a questioning look.  “Is there something you would like to talk about with us WilyKit?”   Like the other Thundercats, he had noticed her erratic behavior over the past week or so, and he was concerned about her.

 

WilyKit looked from Tygra to her brother and nodded.  “Actually, yes.  Tygra, I was recently wondering about some things and I was hoping you’d be able to answer some questions for me.  Is that all right?”

 

“Certainly,” Tygra replied.  “You know that you can ask me—or any of us for that matter—anything.  What’s on your mind?”

 

“The other day I overheard Snarf and Pumari arguing, and it reminded me of when Kat and I were little, being taken care of by Snarf Clarece, living here in Cat’s Lair as Thundercats-In-Training.”

 

WilyKat grinned at the mention of their old nanny.  “Snarf Clarece... wow, we used to give her so many headaches with the pranks we used to pull.  Remember how she and Snarf used to fight when we’d team up with Lion-O and get into things, and the two of them would get into a big blowout over which of us was the bad influence on the other?”  He laughed at the memory.

 

Tygra laughed too.  “I remember that.  That was a long time ago now.”  He turned toward WilyKit, waiting for her to continue.  WilyKat also quieted down and watched his sister with interest.

 

“Yes it was,” WilyKit agreed with a smile.  “But my question was about something else, Tygra.  I was wondering… I mean, as far back as I can remember, before we were finally anointed as Thundercats when we turned 12, WilyKat and I were Thundercats-In-Training.  Why were we trained and anointed so young, while Lion-O, who was only a little younger than us, was made to wait until he was much older?”

 

Tygra paused thoughtfully for a moment before answering.  “Well WilyKit, that’s somewhat of a complicated issue.  Lion-O was the future Lord of the Thundercats, and as such he required special training.  There was no need to anoint him early, since Claudus and Jaga were still alive at that time.  We thought it best that Lion-O have a childhood relatively free of responsibilities since he would have very serious ones in his adult life,” he explained.  “You two on the other hand, even as toddlers, showed so much talent and promise that we wanted to train you as early as possible.  Also, because the two of you were in our care in Cat’s Lair, we felt it was your role in life to become Thundercats.”

 

Both WilyKit and WilyKat listened to Tygra carefully.  However, his explanation opened up the door to another question that both of them had at one time or another throughout their lives.  “Okay, I understand that, Tygra,” WilyKit said.  “Can I ask you one more question?”

 

“Certainly,” Tygra replied.

 

“Why were we in Cat’s Lair as infants?”

 

The tiger’s face darkened slightly, but before he could say anything, WilyKat answered WilyKit for him.  “Kit, you know the answer to that.  We were orphans left in the Thundercats’ care.”

 

Tygra relaxed visibly at the male twin’s statement.  “Yes, that’s right, WilyKat.”

 

Tygra’s odd mood shift did not go unnoticed by WilyKit, and it fueled her curiosity further.  Is there something Tygra doesn’t want us to know? 

 

“Yes, I do know that,” she stated, “but Tygra... who were our parents?  What happened to them that we were left as orphans to be raised in Cat’s Lair by the Thundercats, instead of in some regular orphanage?”

 

WilyKat’s eyes turned to Tygra with curiosity matching his sister’s when he heard her question.  Both the twins realized that in all the years they had lived among the Thundercats, their entire lives, no one had ever really answered that question to their satisfaction.  On the few occasions they had thought to ask, it had been Snarf they questioned and he never had given them a straight answer, only a vague story that was enough to satisfy them at the time.

 

Tygra’s hesitation once again became noticeable.  “Your parents... well, what do you want to know about them exactly?”

 

“Who were they?  What happened to them?  How did they die?” WilyKit asked.

 

“Yeah,” WilyKat continued, “I’ve wondered that too.  We know that one of our parents was a lion and one a tiger, but that’s it.  And how come we’re the only hybrid Thundercats?”

 

“That answer is simple,” Tygra responded quickly.  “The Thundercat nobles are specialists, and usually the star athletes and champions are descended from a single race, having the specially developed abilities and talents of their people.  Hybrid cats have a wider range of abilities but they are less specialized, so often it is harder for them to make it through the physically demanding trials for whatever position they’re competing for.  You aren’t the first mixed-race Thundercats though.  There have been several in the course of our history.  You two are simply the only ones within the last three generations.”

 

“Oh, that makes sense,” WilyKat said thoughtfully.

 

WilyKit noticed that Tygra seemed rather quick to change the subject, and it was starting to bother her.  When she thought about it, she had been met with the same sort of evasiveness from Snarf when she and WilyKat had asked him many years ago.  What were they hiding from her and WilyKat, anyway?  She hated to think that Tygra would deliberately lie or withhold something important from them.  Determined now to get the answer, she persisted with her questioning.  “Tygra... what about our parents?”

 

The tiger shifted slightly in his seat.  “Your mother was young, only 19 years old when she had you.  The Thundercats knew her very well.  She loved the two of you very much.  Sadly, she died in an accident not long after you were born.  That’s why you were left in our care.”

 

“But what about her family?  What about our father and his family?” WilyKat asked.  Now that his sister had brought the matter up, he too was curious to learn the whole story.

 

Tygra looked away for a long moment, as though he was trying to think of the best way to phrase the answer, before he addressed the question.  “I don’t mean to hurt you by saying this, but you two were, well… not planned.  There was no way for your father to be in the picture, really, and no way for him to be the parent that you two deserved.  As for your mother, she didn’t really have any family capable of caring for you, so she entrusted you to us.”  Tygra then smiled.  “And I must say I’m glad she did.  You two were quite a blessing to all of us, and never once have we regretted having you with us.”

 

Both twins smiled at his warm statement.  “Thanks, Tygra,” WilyKit replied.  “We feel the same way about all of you.”

 

“Yeah, definitely.  You guys have been great to us,” WilyKat agreed.

 

WilyKit thought about what Tygra had told her some more, and a thought suddenly occurred to her.  “Tygra, wait a second.  Even though our mother is dead, you mentioned our father couldn’t really be in the picture.  Is it possible that he might still be alive though, that could we meet him?” she asked hopefully.

 

“To meet our father... wow, after all these years, that would be something,” WilyKat said hopefully.

 

The dark look crossed Tygra’s features again.  “No, I’m afraid there’s no way you could meet him.  He’s no longer alive.”

 

“Are you sure?” WilyKit asked.  “Because if there’s any chance, I’d like to—”

 

“I’m positive,” Tygra stated, cutting her off abruptly.

 

“Oh,” WilyKit said, clearly disappointed.  She settled back into her chair.  “So who was he?”

 

“He was an important man, a powerful man.  That’s really all I can say about it,” Tygra answered, clearly not comfortable discussing the matter.

 

“But what was his name, Tygra?” WilyKat asked.  “I mean, we never even knew that much about him, or our mother.”

 

Tygra stared out the window, frowning sternly.  “I think it would be best if the two of you dropped this now.”

 

“Why?” the twins replied in unison, stunned.

 

The tiger sighed heavily and offered them a sympathetic look.  “I’m sorry.  I know this must be very frustrating for you.  I understand that the two of you want to know about your parents and your roots… but I need you to trust me and to listen to me.  It’s best to not open up old wounds that time has already healed.  All that you really need to know is that your parents were both good souls who loved the two of you dearly.  Your father was unable to raise you because of circumstances beyond his and your mother’s control.  Please believe me when I say that they both wanted the best for you, and the Thundercats agreed to abide by their wishes.”

 

“But why can’t you just tell us their names?” WilyKit insisted, her voice rising with frustration.  “Especially if our father isn’t alive, I would like to know who he was.”

 

“So would I,” WilyKat agreed.  “What harm would there be in telling us his name?”

 

“You don’t understand the situation,” Tygra said with a shake of his head.  “And I’ve told you all I can about it.  I agreed—we all agreed—to do what’s best for you, and that includes leaving this matter closed.  Trust me, WilyKit, WilyKat.  It will only hurt you if you pursue this matter.  Please… let it go.”  His voice began to take on a pleading tone.

 

The twins were not persuaded.  “But Tygra—” WilyKat protested.

 

“I said that’s all I can say about it,” Tygra snapped.  “Now let it be.”  With that, Tygra stood and walked out of the room.

 

“What was that all about?” a now very angry WilyKit cried, fighting back tears of frustration.  “Why won’t he tell us?  What could be so bad about our parents that he even can’t tell us their names?”

 

“I don’t know,” WilyKat said thoughtfully.  “But Tygra’s never let us down before.  Maybe we should take his word on this and forget about it.”

 

WilyKit stared at her brother incredulously when she heard his words.  “How can you say that?  Don’t you even care who we are, or who we came from?  How can you just stand there and let it go?”

 

Now it was WilyKat’s turn to sigh.  “I know who we are, Kit, at least as much as I need to know.  We’re Thundercats.  They’re our family, they’re always been our family.  When it comes down to it, that’s what really matters, Sis.  If Tygra says that digging into who our biological parents are will hurt us and not to do it, then maybe we should listen to him.”  He took a few steps toward her and met her eyes.  “And frankly, I think you should too.  You’re under enough stress already and I don’t think you can handle much more.” 

 

WilyKit narrowed her eyes at her brother’s remark.  “What is that supposed to mean?” she snapped defensively.  “I can handle plenty!”

 

“Can you?” he replied, raising his eyebrow at her.  “You still can’t remember what happened to you or where you were when disappeared.  Maybe you should concentrate on the missing gaps in your own recent past instead of things that happened over thirty years ago.”

 

“How dare you treat me like I’m crazy,” WilyKit yelled angrily, her eyes filling with tears.  “You know damn well I want to know what happened to me!  But I don’t!  I can’t remember!”

 

“I know that,” WilyKat said reassuringly, hoping to calm her down again.  He had been worried about his sister for days, and upsetting her was not his intention.  “That’s why I’m worried about you, Kit.  You were gone for weeks.  That’s a big chunk of your life missing that you can’t account for.  I just think that finding out where you were and what happened should be your first priority for your own peace of mind.  Once you’ve straightened that out, then we can both ask Tygra.  He’s worried about you too, you know.  In your fragile state—”

 

“‘Fragile state’?” WilyKit cried indignantly.  “I’m not a doll, and I’m not going to break!”

 

WilyKat put a hand on her shoulder.  “Aren’t you?  Look at yourself, WilyKit!  You’re ranting and raving just because Tygra wouldn’t answer a question.”

 

“A very important question,” WilyKit protested angrily, wrenching herself away from her brother’s touch.

 

“Important, yes, but not life-or-death,” WilyKat argued.  “It can wait, and although it might be hard to accept, I think we would live just fine even if we never knew the answer.  Tygra at least seems to think that we’ll be happier if we do.”  He glanced away for a moment.  “But it’s not just the question of our parents I’m talking about, Kit.  There’s other things too, things that I haven’t wanted to mention but I know are happening to you.  I know you’re not sleeping at night.”

 

WilyKit eyed him suspiciously.  “What are you talking about?”

 

“I can hear you call out in your sleep. Your room is next to mine, and the walls aren’t that thick.  I hear you cry out while you dream, sometimes screaming, sometimes crying, sometimes calling out like you’re afraid, and sometimes like you’re facing something you don’t want to see.  I’ve even seen you sleepwalk a few times, Kit, and that scares me.  You’ve always been a sound sleeper, but not ever since you’ve come back from wherever you were those months,” WilyKat said, his tone full of concern.

 

“Well, like you said, I’ve been under stress,” WilyKit explained nervously, shaking a little as she spoke.  She did not realize that the others had picked up on her erratic sleep patterns, and she wondered what else they might have been thinking.  She had not wanted to worry them, and she already felt somewhat guilty about putting them through the worry and pain of her disappearance.  She also had no desire to delve into the specifics of her dreams about the jungle, the wild and alive feelings that somehow felt wrong, or the mysterious Lunatac lover with any of them, her brother included.  She had no idea if the dream was a memory or a subconscious projection of some sort, and she certainly didn’t want to deal with whatever it was right now, when she was already upset about something else.  “I’ve been having strange dreams, Kat.  They’re probably what’s keeping me from sleeping right.”

 

“What kind of dreams?” WilyKat questioned as he put a comforting arm around her.  “What are they about?  Maybe if you talk about them we can figure out what happened to you and where you were.”

 

“No,” WilyKit protested sharply.  She lowered her voice, noting the startled look on her brother’s face at her reaction.  “I mean, I can’t tell you.  I—I don’t remember them when I wake up,” she lied.  “Please Kat, just let me deal with this on my own.  It’s getting better.  I’ll be fine, really.”

 

“Fine?” WilyKat repeated dubiously.  “Kit, you’re anything but fine!  You’re distracted and on edge all the time, probably because you’re not sleeping.  You’re having dreams that are affecting you negatively even when you’re awake, you’re sleepwalking, and... Kit... I—I,” he faltered, not quite knowing how to phrase what he was thinking, so just blurted it out to get it over with.  “I know about the purplish puke.”

 

WilyKit’s thoughts raced in horror.  “What?” she whispered hoarsely.  Gods of Thundera, no!  I hid it, she thought wildly.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about—”

 

“That’s a load of bull,” WilyKat said forcefully, deliberately meeting her eyes.  “Don’t lie to me, Kit.  I heard you yesterday.  I saw the towels in the garbage that you must have used to wipe your mouth.”  His voice grew heavy with emotion, as he was far more worried and concerned than he was angry.  “Sis, I’m so worried about you!  What’s wrong?  Are you sick?”

 

“Nothing’s wrong,” she argued tiredly.  “Look, it’s probably just some weird bug I picked up when I missing.  Like you said, we don’t know where I was, so it’s probably some off-world cold or something.  I feel fine most of the time, and I think it’s getting better.  But I don’t want to worry anyone, ok?  Please, Kat don’t tell anyone else about this.”

 

WilyKat frowned.  “I don’t know.  I’m not sure you should keep this to yourself.  What if it’s serious?  You’re not a healer, you know.  This could be worse than it looks.”

 

“Please,” she pleaded with him in low tones, to make sure no one but him heard in case they were in the hall.  “I really think it’s going away,” she insisted, her tone sounding far more optimistic than she actually felt.  “If it gets worse I promise I’ll talk to Pumyra, but right now I’d rather not worry them, all right?”

 

WilyKat took a deep breath and sighed.  “All right, but on three conditions.  One is you listen to Tygra and drop the issue with our parents for now.  I don’t want you any more stressed than you already are.  Two, you concentrate on straightening out these dreams and the lost memories and all that other stuff.  You gotta take better care of yourself.  And three, if you get any worse, all bets are off.  I’m not going to stand by and watch you suffer.”

 

She hugged him tightly and smiled.  “Okay, Kat, you’ve got a deal.  Thanks for understanding.”

 

He hugged her back. “No problem. You know I’d do anything for you.”

 

WilyKat couldn’t see her face as they embraced, but it held more an expression of apprehension than one of relief.  If only I felt as sure as I sounded just now...

 

 

Continued

 

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