Path
Into the Darkness
Part
Five: Grune
***Thundera, Thirty-Some Years Earlier***
Grune sighed as he watched the Thunderian sunset from miles above the ground, seated comfortably in the plush seat of the ship that was taking him home. The sky was a brilliant golden color, a color that he had not seen for weeks during his visit to the Third Moon of Plundarr. The last part of his stay had seemed like a hellish eternity, but the sabertooth was now filled with great relief, for the wearing trip was finally over. While he waited the final few minutes before landing, he mulled over the final events of his trip, after his foolishly impulsive visit to Kalin had taken place.
As he had suspected when he first arrived, the “peace mission” had turned out to be rather pointless and very little had been accomplished. King Lunaro never had any intention of trying to make peace with the Thunderians, and it was painfully obvious to the sabertooth. Grune supposed he had merely humored the Thundercats’ wish to work out a peace agreement as a means to make the visiting Thundercat feel like a unwelcome outsider and to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the suggestion of peace between their peoples by any way other than ultimate domination of one over the other was impossible. Lunaro’s wife, Sileira, was admittedly better about it all and Grune believed that she at least in part had wanted to see something work out. Besides, he had to at least credit her for having the breeding and manners befitting a noble and treating him respectably during his stay, even if she did show little ambition to do something other than whatever her husband approved of in the political arena.
Those were all minor annoyances that Grune could easily take in stride, however. What he had far more trouble dealing with was the aggravating memory of that night with Kalin in the club. He knew her to be an underhanded manipulator, a conniving criminal, and someone who should have been generally below his contempt as a noble Thundercat—but he simply could not stop thinking about her, and the kiss they shared. The fact that a woman other than Scarlette occupied his thoughts far more than his love herself bothered him greatly, and even after his departure from the Moons altogether and his relief that he would never have to see Kalin again, it still nagged at him.
Grune rationalized it to himself that he merely missed Scarlette, and that was why he was fixating on the hunter. He had been terribly lonely as a Thundercat on a world full of Lunatacs that hated his kind and his title, and Kalin’s attention was filling a void that the absent Scarlette could not. That’s all it is, he thought assuredly. But a small voice within him, one he refused to acknowledge consciously, told him that that it was only an excuse, and a thin one at that.
“She doesn’t matter now,” Grune murmured to himself as he shifted in his seat. “It’s time to forget that twisted Lunatac and focus on what I have at home. Scarlette.” He pictured the lovely face of his tigress and smiled. His strong and fiery love would never be capable of the same things that underworld assassin was. Scarlette would never lie to him or manipulate him, and that was why he loved her so. She was loyal. She was true.
The sounds of the impending landing snapped Grune out of his thoughts and back into reality. He waited for the ship to come to a stop, and then opened the door as soon as the safety lock disengaged. He stepped out of the ship and smiled as he saw the welcoming sight of Cat’s Lair’s impressive outline before him. I’m home, he thought happily. Home where I belong.
* * *
When Grune landed, Jaga was waiting for him on the steps of Cat’s Lair with Tessana, Chetland, and Tygra all beside him. “Ho, friend!” Jaga called out warmly. He gave Grune a smile, although Grune could have sworn that it had just a hint of sadness in it and—what was that other thing he was sensing—was it nervousness? The other Thundercats smiled politely as well as Grune approached them and returned the greeting.
“Ho, my friends.” Grune noticed as he joined the assembled Thundercats that Lord Claudus was not with them, and that struck him as somewhat strange. Traditionally the Lord of the Thundercats was expected to greet other Thundercats when they returned home from extended missions if at all possible, especially if they were highly political or diplomatic ones. As far as he knew, Claudus had not been scheduled to be away, so why wasn’t he there, unless something urgent and unfortunate had come up?
“It’s good to be home again,” Grune continued, and then posed the question that was on his mind. “Is there a reason Claudus wasn’t able to join you in greeting me? I had hoped to discuss some of what I experienced over on the Third Moon of Plundarr with him as well as the rest of you when I got back.”
Tessana turned toward him with a friendly smile. “Welcome back, Grune. Unfortunately Claudus was not able to make it here due to some unexpected personal business. He’ll be available shortly, for there are many things to be discussed.” A brief but distinct moment of silence filled the ear as she finished her statement, and Grune noticed a strange look passed between some of the other Thundercats. Tessana quickened her pace and spoke again to ease the awkwardness. “I’m sorry to hear that the peace mission didn’t go as planned.”
A few steps behind Tessana, Chetland snorted. “Those damned Lunatacs don’t know the first thing about peace. I don’t know why we even bothered sending anyone, we all knew this would happen.”
“We’re obligated to try if there is a chance,” Tygra said as they stepped through the great hall doors of Cat’s Lair and started down the hallway that led to the council room.
Jaga nodded in agreement. “Yes, Tygra, that is true.” He paused for a moment as he turned toward Chetland. “Thundercats are protectors of peace, and we do not condone war or hatred.”
The cheetah youth sighed. “Yeah, Jaga, you’re right. But it sure is a royal pain when we’re the only ones playing by those rules.”
“Maybe it’s time we changed the rules,” Grune said thoughtfully.
Immediately Tessana and Jaga turned sharply toward the sabertooth, giving him a questioning, if not mildly suspicious, look. “I’m not sure I understand why you would think we should change a code that has served us well for centuries,” the panther said, eyeing him carefully for a reaction.
Grune looked to his fellow Thundercats, surprised by the odd shift in their demeanor. He got a distinct feeling that something was amiss, or that he had missed something important in his absence. “I’m not talking about changing the code exactly,” he clarified, feeling somewhat defensive under the weight of his fellow Thundercats’ gaze. “What I’m saying is that I observed a lot while I lived among the Lunatacs. Our peace summit might have failed us, but I did learn some valuable insight into how they live,” he explained. “I’ll be the first to admit that much of what I saw was sickening, but surprisingly I also found it intriguing how deeply they believe their own ideals, different as they are from ours. And while their ultimate goals of destructive conquest are wrong, I find some of the theories behind their ways of thinking to make sense on some level. While I was there I met some,” he paused, searching for the right word, “fascinating individuals who opened up some paths of thought I hadn’t previously indulged before.”
Chetland’s eyebrows rose slightly at the sabertooth’s last statement. “I’ll just bet you did,” he muttered.
Tessana immediately shot the younger cheetah a withering look, and he lowered his head at the panthress’ stern gaze and grumbled a bit more unintelligibly.
That time there was no mistaking the undercurrent, and Grune was not willing to let it pass. “Excuse me?” he said, his voice taking a growling edge.
“Let it be for now,” Tessana cut him off. “It’s not our place to talk about this.”
“Talk about what?” Grune asked, his temper rising. It was now clear to him that something was going on that he was not privy to, and he did not like feeling like an outsider in his own home. He also wondered for a moment if whatever the issue was had anything to do with the “personal business” that had kept Claudus from being there to greet him.
The group of Thundercats finally reached the large double door that led into the council room, but Jaga stepped in front of them for a moment to delay their entrance. “As Tessana said, it’s really not our place to say anything, Grune. Once we’re all gathered, ask Scarlette.”
“Scarlette?” Grune asked. “What about her? What does she have to do with this? Jaga, what’s going on?”
“I think you know full well what she has to do with this,” Chetland snapped, not bothering to hide the disapproval and disgust in his voice.
The cheetah’s rudeness was enough to set Grune off, and he whirled to face him, glaring angrily. “Don’t you dare take that tone with me, boy,” the sabertooth growled. “If you’ve got something to say to me then be man enough to say it outright. It’s quite obvious from how all of you are acting that something is going on here. I am not in the mood for games!”
“Is that what you said to her?” Chetland retorted.
“Chetland!” Tessana and Jaga chastised him in unison. “Let it go, Chetland. That’s an order,” Tessana added, clearly irritated with the cheetah.
Grune, however, was beyond the point of letting it go. “No, let him continue,” he argued, meeting Chetland’s gaze. “Just who on Thundera were you referring to, cheetah? Scarlette?”
“On Thundera, what other her would I be referring to?” Chetland responded sarcastically.
Grune reached and grabbed Chetland roughly by the shoulder. “Chetland, I’m tired of—”
“Enough,” Jaga insisted, his face stern and his voice carrying far more assertiveness and authority than he usually spoke to his fellow Thundercats with. “Here is not the place. Take this inside and settle it there like Thundercats.” He finished the last sentence with a meaningful look at Chetland, before turning to Grune. “Grune... I know this must be frustrating, but Scarlette will explain everything to you. It’s not our place to say anything further until you speak with her.”
Grune released Chetland with a shove and reached for the door. “Fine. Let’s get to the bottom of this, then.”
An awkward silence again fell over the group, covering the atmosphere like a thick blanket of fog. As he stepped inside the still-empty room, Grune did not know what to make of what was happening, or why the others were behaving so strangely. Chetland was always a hothead, but until now he had never treated him so disrespectfully or angrily. The cheetah had made him feel as though he had somehow done something wrong, but what? Grune could not think of anything he had done that could be considered worthy of such malice and disrespect, even in that visit to Kalin—which he highly doubted they could have known about anyway. It made no sense to him at all, and he had no idea what the issue with Scarlette was. As his mind raced over the possibilities of what it could be, a dark feeling gnawed at him, increasing tenfold with each passing moment.
Grune strode to his usual seat and turned toward Jaga. “Where is Scarlette?”
“She is coming,” he replied evenly. “She and Claudus should be in here at any moment.”
The sabertooth nodded and went to sit down, but as he did he overheard a whisper, from Tygra to Tessana, a whisper that did nothing to ease his mood. “I hope he’ll be all right.”
What does Tygra mean by that? Grune wondered silently. He had only been gone for a few short weeks, after all. What possibly could have happened in that time that was so awful that none of them were willing to simply tell him about it? Was something wrong with Scarlette? Had she taken ill? Was she coming with Claudus to bear some bad news, perhaps about her competition with Tygra for position as Thundercat? Had Firestripe had chosen the mentalist youth over her, and she needed Claudus’ support to break the news to him?
Don’t jump to any conclusions, Grune told himself in an effort to keep himself calm. Remember, no matter what they tell you, you are a Thundercat, and there is nothing that you can’t handle—you are Grune the Mighty.
But there was no way that Grune the Mighty was in any way prepared for what awaited him when the council chamber doors opened again and the final arrivals to the Thundercat council stepped through, when Grune saw the sad, tear-stained face of his young love and the somber and guilty expression of his lord and ruler. He barely noticed Firestripe and Sibera come in behind them, the white tigress laying a consoling hand on Scarlette’s shoulder as she passed to take her seat beside Jaga. As he searched Scarlette’s face and eyes, a terrible and sick feeling swept over the sabertooth as Scarlette and Claudus took their seats.
Grune cleared his throat and stood. “I would ask why you weren’t present to welcome me back, but I have a feeling you’re going to tell me now, aren’t you?” he questioned. Grune was struck with an overwhelming urge to turn away, leave, or do anything to prevent himself from hearing what he was about to hear—and that scared him. Grune the Mighty was never afraid of anything.
“Grune…” Scarlette began, but her voice faltered as soon as she began to speak, and she choked on her words beyond speaking his name.
With a heavy expression, Claudus picked up where the tigress left off. “There are things we need to discuss with you, Grune,” he said sadly. “I’m not sure where to begin.” He paused, and looked to Scarlette.
The red tigress swallowed hard and nodded to Claudus, regaining her composure. “I’m all right, Claudus. I have to be the one to say this, as hard as it may be.” She then turned to Grune.
The sabertooth immediately went toward his distressed fiancée and reached to take her into his arms. “Scarlette! What’s the matter? You can tell me. You know I love you and that you can say anything to me—”
“Don’t lie to me, Grune,” Scarlette retorted, her voice suddenly taking on a cold and bitter edge as she turned away from him.
Grune was taken aback by her reaction. “What?” he repeated, visibly shocked. “Lie to you? How can you say that? I would never lie to you! I love you.”
“Do you?” the tigress replied, turning around to face him again. Fresh tears welled up in her eyes, and she choked back a sob, before taking another deep breath to steady herself enough so that she could speak clearly. “If you really love me... why did you do it, Grune? How could you betray me? Was she worth it?”
She? Grune’s stomach tied itself into knots as he realized that she knew about Kalin. No, he argued inwardly. How could she have found out about her? Besides, nothing happened... there’s nothing to know! Kalin is nothing to me!
Grune took another step toward Scarlette and met her gaze, his expression contrite as he searched for the words to explain what had happened with Kalin, although first he had to know just what she had been told. Because you don’t want to inadvertently let on how much you really were attracted to her, an annoying inner voice nagged. The sabertooth did his damnedest to ignore it. “I’ve never betrayed you, Scarlette. I swear to you on my honor as a Thundercat that no one but you has shared my bed since we’ve been together. What is this about?”
Scarlette’s teary expression hardened somewhat as she reached for a folder laying upon the council room table and pulled out a large glossy photograph which she then shoved in front of his face defiantly. “If you didn’t betray me, Grune, then who is she?”
To Grune’s horror, he was treated to the visual of a shockingly detailed picture of himself and Kalin in the private room of the club back in the Third Moon’s capitol. In the image Kalin was wrapped around his body like a snake ready to feast upon some very willing prey. The camera that had taken the picture had managed to capture not only the scandalous image of the two of them intertwined in a lover’s embrace, which was damning enough, but somehow managed to capture the very essence of the incredible chemistry—the incredible unwanted chemistry—Grune corrected himself, that the two of them had briefly shared. His heart pounded and his stomach lurched as he took in the sight. He felt a rush of incredible shame, like a child who had been caught sneaking where he shouldn’t have been, that made him flush beneath his sable fur with embarrassment. It was little surprise to him that Scarlette was so hurt and angry, and he resolved immediately to set her straight and make her understand. “Scarlette, I can explain this.”
Scarlette stiffened and eyed him dubiously. “Can you? Can you really, Grune? Because I’d love to hear the explanation. Who is she? Was she worth it? Was she worth destroying us?”
“No,” Grune growled in heated denial—a bit too heated, perhaps. Frantically he searched for the right words to make her understand how she had been deceived. “This is not what it looks like, Scarlette. What you see there—that was a setup. The Lunatac in that picture is a twisted, manipulative, mind-game-playing sociopath! She works for an underworld crime group on the Third Moon and—”
“Underworld crime group?” Jaga interrupted. “What on Thundera had you mixed up with such individuals, Grune? Weren’t you staying in the royal palace in the ambassador’s quarters?” he asked, his voice not without a hint of suspicion.
For the moment, Grune let the insult of his friend’s distrust of him go, as he was more preoccupied about his damaged relationship with Scarlette than anything else. “Yes,” he explained, “but Kalin approached me at a banquet at the palace.”
“Kalin?” Firestripe repeated, arching an eyebrow.
“Yes. That was her name,” Grune confirmed, before continuing his account. “She was friendly to me, and had asked me as a diplomatic gesture to meet some of her associates at a club she worked at. I saw no reason to turn her down, as I thought any insight we could gain into the enemy would be valuable to us. Once I got there, she brought me to a private room and attempted to seduce me, which is obviously where that picture came from. I turned her down, because I love you, Scarlette, and because I wanted no part of her games… but apparently she forced herself on me just long enough for her to get this picture. It was obviously a planned setup, to cause a rift in our relationship, and to get the rest of you to distrust me,” he finished. A glance around the room at the less-than-believing faces of his fellow Thundercats caused his own expression to darken. “I would hate to think that it worked.”
His words were met by a tense silence, and shifted gazes
that were more telling than any words could have been. Grune shook slightly, trying to keep his
emotions in check. They didn’t believe him. Him! An honorable
Thundercat! Instead they believed the lies Kalin or whoever else was
involved were selling them over one of their own. The sabertooth’s
wounded pride flared up and a spark of anger lit within him. How can
they not trust me... after I’ve gone through with them, all of my life that
I’ve given them...
“You don’t believe me,” Grune stated flatly, challenging them to prove him wrong.
Claudus sighed. “We want to believe you, Grune... but...”
“You don’t,” Grune finished. His voice was colder than ice.
Scarlette began to cry in earnest. “I’m sorry, Grune. I know I should believe you, but when I see this picture,” her voice trailed off as she turned away, her eyes landing back on the photograph that now lay upon the council table. “No picture can be faked that well. I believe you did what you said you did... but I can’t believe that you weren’t on some level... attracted to her.”
Her heartbroken and honest assessment of the picture sent a fresh stab of shame and hurt through his heart. “Do you really think I enjoyed that, Scarlette? That I liked being the subject of a sick game and power play?”
Scarlette slumped into her chair and crumpled her fist against the table in frustration. “It doesn’t matter anymore, Grune. Whatever you felt, it still happened, and the damage has been done. What we had is over. If you felt anything for her or not isn’t really the issue, not anymore.”
Grune frowned, finding false hope in her words. “Why does it have to be over, Scarlette? If nothing happened between Kalin and I, then why has anything changed? Gods, Scarlette, doesn’t the fact that I pushed her away prove that you can trust me, and that our love is strong enough to withstand things like temptation?”
The tigress’ lip trembled. “If your strength was the only one tested then maybe so,” she replied sadly. “But my will was not so strong, and I already doubted you. And in that moment of weakness,” she faltered again, blinking more tears from her amber eyes, “I destroyed any hope of our having a future together.”
The terrible feeling of dread that Grune felt before Scarlette and Claudus had come into the room filled him once more. “What do you mean, Scarlette?”
Scarlette bit her lip and glanced over at Claudus. The lion lord met her eyes and nodded slightly, indicating for her to proceed with whatever it was she had to say. Slowly she turned back to face Grune, while Claudus’ own eyes averted themselves from Grune’s burning gaze. “When I thought you betrayed me,” Scarlette said, “I—I betrayed you. I’m sorry, Grune.”
A heartsick pain that felt almost like a physical blow to his gut wrenched through his body at his lover’s words. “You what?” he repeated, hoping that he had misheard somehow.
“I betrayed you,” Scarlette said again, wincing as she saw the pained look in the sabertooth’s eyes. “In my despair, I sought comfort in the arms of someone else.” She looked away, unable to bear Grune’s gaze any longer. “I was wrong and weak, and I know that. Oh Grune, I am sorry, gods am I sorry, even more so now that I know it was all for something much less than it appeared,” she lamented, “but that doesn’t change the fact that it happened, and because of that, we can’t be together. Ever. You see, Grune,” she continued, somehow putting the ugly truth to words between tears of regret, “I am having his cub.” The grief-stricken tigress then buried her face in her hands and lost her composure fully, sobbing heavily.
The implications of Scarlette’s words sunk into Grune’s stunned mind slowly. She betrayed me... she bedded someone else... she didn’t believe in me... she betrayed me... The sabertooth’s body began to shake as he fought back a wave of overwhelming emotion. Surprisingly enough, it was not grief or heartbreak that emerged as most prominent in the turbulent mix—it was cold fury. Grune stepped forward and stared hard into the tigress’ eyes. “Who?” he growled in a low voice.
Scarlette looked up but did not answer.
“Who?” Grune demanded, the growing rage in his voice quite evident.
Scarlette opened her mouth to answer, but she could not force herself to say the name.
The anger inside Grune grew to a boiling peak, and his temper flashed through his unnervingly calm façade. “I said to tell me who he was, you backstabbing little whore!” he snarled, and grabbed her shoulders. The enraged sabertooth shook the slight tigress slightly, forcing her to look him in the eye.
When the confrontation turned physical, Claudus immediately stepped between them. “Back off, Grune,” the lion warned with a growl. “Just because you’re angry, it doesn’t give you the right—”
The Thundercat Lord’s reaction caused everything to suddenly fall into place for Grune. “You,” he breathed, staring at him in shock and disgust as the realization hit him. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
Scarlette saw the hateful gleam in the sabertooth’s eye and grew frightened. “Grune, don’t—”
“Wasn’t it?” Grune roared, his voice seemingly rattling the walls of the council chamber itself. The other Thundercats remained silent and shocked, not knowing quite how to react.
Claudus lowered his head in a slight nod of affirmation and took a deep breath so that he could speak and explain himself. “Yes, Grune,” he admitted. “I was the one she spent the night with. I know how much this must hurt you, Grune, and I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I—”
The lion’s apology was cut off with a roar of pure rage from Grune, who brought his fist down upon the top of one of the council chairs, breaking it in two. “You lying, cheating, backstabbing bastard!” he growled hatefully, and lunged at Claudus in heated fury. The sabertooth knocked the Thundercat Lord to the floor and immediately began to pummel him, unable to control the intense fury coursing through his body at that moment. Although the attack caught him by surprise, Claudus defended himself, but his reflexes were not fast enough to prevent him from taking several blows to the head from Grune’s flying fists. Grune was vaguely aware of the sound of screams in the background, those of Scarlette shrieking in horror. She knew she didn’t have the physical size or strength to break up the fight between the two male cats and she was terrified of what Grune might do in his rage. She knew all too well how deep Grune’s emotions ran, and it had been one of the things she loved about him, but his temper frightened her, especially as even at its worst she had never seen him come unhinged and lose control like that.
Although it was only seconds before the other Thundercats intervened, it had been enough time for Grune to keep the advantage over Claudus and land several hard punches. He was about to deliver his Lord a likely fatal blow to the base of the skull when he was pulled off of him by two of other Thundercats. Jaga took firm hold of one side of the sabertooth’s flailing body, while Firestripe restrained the other. Tessana and Chetland helped Claudus to his feet while a horrified Tygra stood near the door. Sibera meanwhile placed her arms around Scarlette in an effort to comfort her and calm her down.
“Grune, stop, please!” Jaga’s firm and urgent voice finally broke through to the raging sabertooth. Grune stood there a moment, dazed and panting from exertion, still restrained by Firestripe and Jaga, and looked over at the Thundercat Lord. Claudus was bruised and bleeding a bit, but overall not really hurt other than some bruises that would heal in time. The lion was growling and snarling despite Chetland and Tessana’s attempts to calm him.
Still furious, Grune growled again and lunged forward with the intent of taking another swipe at the lion, but a sharp tug from both Jaga and Firestripe prevented him from bringing the urge into the physical realm. “Don’t think for a minute this is over!” he snarled hatefully. “No one takes what is mine and gets away with it. You hear me, Claudus? No one, not even you, mighty Lord of the Thundercats!”
“Scarlette is not your possession!” an angry Sibera shouted at Grune.
Neither man heard the white tigress’ outburst. Instead Claudus growled back at Grune, his temper now roused. “Maybe she wouldn’t have needed the comfort of a friend if you hadn’t been foolish enough to be caught with your pants down with some Lunatac whore, Grune. Perhaps if you hadn’t let Scarlette down, she wouldn’t have needed me as much as she did that night.”
Grune roared again and moved to charge forward, but Firestripe and Jaga had still not let go. “Don’t you dare put this off on me, Claudus! Tell me, how long has this been going on? How long have you been lusting after my fiancé behind my back?” he demanded. “To think you called yourself my friend... you make me sick! You preach the Code of Thundera and you don’t even know the meaning of the words within it!”
“Grune, please calm down,” Firestripe urged, using all of his strength to keep the raging sabertooth in check.
“You too, my Lord,” Tessana added from Claudus’ side.
Again the other Thundercats’ urgings went unheard by the arguing pair. “That’s not how it happened, and you know it,” Claudus countered. “It was an isolated incident, and believe me, both of us regret it more than you can possibly imagine. We never planned for it to happen and we never set out to hurt you whether you will believe that or not.”
“Claudus has always upheld the Code, Grune,” Jaga interrupted. “He made a mistake, and both he and Scarlette have owned up to it to be fair and honest to you. He is sorry, you have to know that on some level, my friend.”
Grune rolled his eyes at the jaguar’s naïveté. “Oh, wise up, Jaga! Maybe they didn’t plan it, but you and I both know damn well that hurting me was the main reason she crawled into his bed.” Grune turned to cast a hateful glare in Scarlette’s direction. “My tramp of a lover thought she’d get even with what she thought was a betrayal on my part by going and sleeping with lecherous Lord Claudus. And what a convenient bedmate to pick, after all, for what better way to secure that position as a Thundercat she wants so badly than by giving their Lord a few cheap sexual thrills?”
“That’s not what happened!” Scarlette wailed, hurt by the venom in Grune’s words and tone. “How can you say those things about me? Did one mistake change what you think of me that much? Until a few minutes ago, you claimed that you loved me!”
“And that I did,” Grune said bitterly, “but not now… now that I see you for what you are, I realize that I could never love someone so weak, so opportunistic, so pathetic,” he spat. “You know what? You and Claudus deserve each other. I hope being his mistress and having his bastard child makes you happy, Scarlette. Enjoy the nice little life your prostitution has secured.” With that Grune wrenched out of Jaga and Firestripe’s grip and stormed out of the council room, slamming the door loudly behind him.
Overwhelmed, the emotionally spent Scarlette leaned heavily on Sibera. “I knew he’d be upset, I knew he might want nothing more to do with me, but this… this hatred? How could he say and think such awful things about us?”
Chetland frowned and glared at the door through which Grune had departed. “It sounds to me like he’s confusing us with all those evil Lunatacs he’s been hanging around these past weeks. Like he’s forgotten that Thundercats don’t act like that or something.”
“Maybe that’s it,” Sibera mused softly, following Chetland’s gaze with a distressed expression on her face. “But maybe it’s more than that…”
Jaga went over to his fiancée’s side and gave her a questioning look. “Sibera?”
“The Birth Hour of Darkness,” the white tigress replied. “Grune was born exactly on that hour. According to the lore of the ancient star readers that means it’s in his destiny to wrestle with the demons of good and evil all his life. No other birth hour contends with such an intense struggle. One born on the Hour of Darkness is capable of great goodness and selfless devotion to its ideals, but on the flip side, no other soul is capable of such deep and pure rage, hatred, and outright evil when the soul loses it’s balance and turns to that path. And sadly, that is the easier path for lost souls to take.”
“Evil always is,” Firestripe stated thoughtfully.
Tessana sighed with exasperation. “Sibera, I know you study the scrolls and I respect your interest in it, but the lore of the birth hours is rooted in superstition of elders and psychological debate. If you ask me, Grune’s anger comes from something far more tangible and personal than the position of the stars on the hour of his birth, and frankly this is not the time for a discussion of it.”
“You’re wrong, Tessana, it needs to be discussed now more than ever,” Sibera argued with a shake of her striped mane. “I’ve spent years of my life studying the star scrolls and charting transits and I can see his hour manifesting itself in the way Grune is slipping away from us as we speak. It would be wrong to ignore it and let his soul fall under the influence of evil!”
“What Grune needs most of all now is a friend,” Jaga said, his voice hushing the others in the room for a moment. “Grune and I have always been close, perhaps he will listen to me if I approach him the right way. Please, the rest of you stay here, and let me find him. If we say the wrong thing now it may indeed be too late.” The other Thundercats gave a nod of agreement, and Jaga hurried out of the council room to find Grune.
As the jaguar departed, Sibera eyed the hallway and his retreating form with apprehension. Despite Tessana’s dubiousness in regards to the Birth Hour of Darkness she believed wholeheartedly that it was the reason for the change in Grune’s behavior, and she dreaded that realization had come too late to be of any good. Historically the children of the Hour of Darkness are pushed onto the evil path when their wills are tested… I pray to all our gods that push did not come just now and it’s already too late, she worried inwardly. Oh Jaga, I hope that you can get through to him. If you don’t save him, then he is lost—lost to the darkness. Forever.
* * *
The enraged Grune stormed down the east wing of Cat’s Lair to his quarters, his heavy boots creating a thundering echo throughout the majestic halls of Cat’s Lair with each quickened step he took. When he reached the doorway to his bedroom, he kicked in the door, not bothering to open it. The wooden door creaked and gave way, swung inward, and bounced off the wall. Grune gave the door another angry shove as he stomped past it, into his quarters. Anger and hatred filled every fiber of his being, obscuring any clear or rational thought as he moved.
At random the sabertooth opened his drawers and closets, flinging clothes onto the bed and throwing any other articles that got in his way to fall wherever they may so long as they went out of his way. Grune picked up his suitcase, brought up to his quarters only a short while before by one of Cat’s Lair’s serving staff, and realized bitterly that it was still packed with his things from the trip to the Third Moon of Plundarr. “I should have just stayed there,” he growled with disgust, and unceremoniously dumped the contents of his suitcase—dirty clothes, a few other travel items, and his journal—onto the floor. Once the baggage was empty, he began stuffing it with clean articles of clothing and anything else he could find that meant something to him into it.
It was then that Jaga entered the room. “Grune,” the jaguar greeted him cautiously as he approached him, “you must calm down. Please. Nothing so terrible has happened here that cannot be worked out.”
Grune stopped his wild packing, turned, and faced Jaga with an expression of pure disgust and anger. “Do you really believe that? If so then you’re a fool,” he hissed. He shoved a shirt roughly into one of the compartments of his bag and let go of it long enough to face the other Thundercat. “The woman I loved with all my soul turned and hopped into bed with the first warm body she came across the minute she had even the slightest notion that I’d betrayed her. Did she wait to ask me for the truth, for my side of it, before she committed her selfish, weak act? No, she didn’t.” Seething, Grune retrieved a few more articles from his closet and shoved them into the bag. “Then, adding insult to injury is the fact that the man she betrayed me with was none other than our very own lord, King Claudus—our ‘friend’, our leader! The same man who is supposed to stand for all we believe in, the ideal that tells us to uphold and honor the Code of Thundera.” The sabertooth laughed bitterly. “Truth, Justice, Honor, and Loyalty indeed. Our esteemed leader can’t even be man enough to practice what he preaches on the most basic level. And I, the man he betrayed, am expected to simply forgive and forget?” he spat hatefully. “I don’t think so, Jaga.”
The hate and rage in his friend’s eyes unnerved Jaga more than he wanted to admit, but he was still determined to try and reason with him. “But you’re a Thundercat too, Grune. Honor and loyalty to those you love in the form of forgiveness makes that a part of our code as well… especially the ones who ask forgiveness truly regret their actions and their willingness to make amends is sincere.”
Grune was not swayed by Jaga’s words. “Then where was Claudus’ loyalty to me, Jaga? Or doesn’t that count?”
Jaga sighed, not sure how he could answer that in a fair way. Instead he tried to appeal to whatever feelings of friendship Grune had for Claudus and the love he held for Scarlette beneath the fresh wound of pain and betrayal he had been dealt that day. “Claudus does regret what he has done, Grune, and he is sincere in that. I have known Claudus as long as I’ve known you and I know him well enough to be certain of that. He doesn’t want to lose your friendship or respect. He and Scarlette never set out to hurt you, Grune, you must realize that.”
Unfortunately for Jaga, his words had the exact opposite effect that they intended. Hearing his closest friend defend the man that had betrayed his trust and bedded the woman he loved behind his back caused a fresh surge of rage to well up inside Grune. He let out a low growl and clenched his fist. “Whether or not they intended anything is irrelevant, Jaga, don’t you realize that? The fact is that they betrayed me, pure and simple, with no regard or respect for me. I refuse to stand by and honor any code of his when he can’t be bothered to extend me the same courtesy!”
Jaga grew angry at Grune’s stubbornness. “Do you hear yourself, and the rage you’re spewing like venom, Grune? You are a Thundercat! You are above this, above being so petty and vindictive! No one expects you to forgive Claudus or Scarlette immediately, and we all know how much they’ve hurt you! All we, your fellow Thundercats, ask is that you calm down and give Scarlette and Claudus a chance to make up their mistake to you.”
“Jaga, I want nothing from them!” Grune bellowed. He took the shoe he held in his hand, originally intended to go into his bag, and instead threw it against the wall with enough force to put a dent in the plaster. He faced Jaga with a hard look that forced the jaguar to meet his eyes and see the raw emotion he felt. “You ask what’s the matter with me when a better question is what’s the matter with you, Jaga? You know what they did, and how I feel about Scarlette! Do you have any idea how that feels, Jaga? Imagine that Claudus had taken Sibera instead of Scarlette to his bed for a night when you were away, when she doubted you without hearing your side, and would you be so willing to forgive?”
The jaguar’s normally unshakable resolve faltered under the weight of his friend’s words. “I—well—”
Grune did not let Jaga finish and instead pressed him further. “Imagine the burning, terrible image of Claudus with his lecherous hands all over your love and think about how you would feel.” He stared at him in silence for a moment, challenging him to deny the truth. Jaga gave no such denial, but the look in his eyes made it clear that although the jaguar probably would not feel any different, he would still forgive the Lord and his lover out of obligation to his Code. That was not something that Grune could understand or do himself, however, and it made him growl in frustration. “Damn it, Jaga, you’re supposed to be my closest friend. How can you sit there and take that bastard’s side and tell me that I should just smile and nod and tell him it’s all right and I forgive him because it’s the ‘right’ thing to do? Do you think I’m a fool?”
“I’ve never thought that, my friend,” the distressed Jaga replied.
“Good, because I’m not,” Grune retorted. “And forget about me forgiving them, Jaga. It’s not the right thing to do because what they did is not right!”
Grune was not impressed by Jaga’s speech. “Tell that lecture to Claudus,” he snarled. “I don’t care to hear it, Jaga. Right now the last thing I want is to be associated with that man or anything he stands for. If that makes me less than your ‘ideal Thundercat’, Jaga, then perhaps I shouldn’t be one anymore.” The bitterness in his words hung in the air like an oppressive fog.
“Be careful what you say, Grune,” Jaga warned in a low tone. “There are certain things that, once done, can not be taken back.” There were few things that were unthinkable to Jaga the Wise, but willingly turning one’s back on the Code of Thundera was one of them.
“Don’t I know it,” Grune retorted sarcastically. “Just look at Claudus and Scarlette’s unborn bastard cub for a prime example.”
The sabertooth picked up a few more articles of clothing and shoved them into his suitcase, his drive to pack and leave renewed. “You know what, Jaga?” Grune said suddenly, an impatient tone now mixed in with the anger and bitterness in his voice. “I’ve had it. I’ve had it with the lying, with the betrayal, and with the rest of you who do nothing but condone their sickening behavior while you hide the truth behind some prettily worded, empty code. From this day on, Claudus of Thundera and all those who would support him are no friends of mine,” he snarled hatefully. “Kalin was right... when it comes down to it there is no one you can depend on but yourself. Putting your trust in others only leads to being let down and abused. I won’t stand for it any more, Jaga. I can’t be the noble and forgiving Thundercat that you expect me to be. From this day forth, consider me resigned.” Grune then reached down to tear his insignia from his chest.
In that moment Jaga’s voice was surprisingly calm and even despite the situation and how the entire thing killed him inside. How badly he wanted to tell his longtime friend Grune not to leave them, and to vocalize an agreement with him that what Claudus and Scarlette had done was indeed an unfathomable act of betrayal. But the truth was that he could not. Jaga the Wise was a Thundercat, and he lived and believed in the Code of Thundera with every fiber of his being. No matter what he felt on a personal level for Grune, he could not turn his back on his Code for him, or anyone else. It was simply not in him.
Jaga turned to Grune with a look of sad finality on his features. “I implore you to calm down and reconsider this, Grune. For once you tear that insignia off and walk out that door... there is no going back. It will be impossible to return to the way things once were.”
Grune’s face was stony and his voice ice cold as he met Jaga’s gaze as his friend for the last time. “It already is.” The sabertooth’s clawed fingers then took hold of the Thundercat insignia on his uniform and ripped it from the fabric, the tear leaving a jagged hole in the pattern and the sound almost unbearable in the tense silence. Once the insignia was removed, Grune narrowed his eyes and threw it onto his bed in contempt and disgust. He then slammed his hastily packed suitcase shut and picked it up, storming past the stunned Jaga. Before he left the room entirely he stopped just long enough to turn and say one final thing. “The next time one of you oh-so-honorable Thundercats crosses paths with me, remember—you’re crossing paths with an enemy.”
And with that, Grune the Mighty was gone.
For many moments afterward, Jaga stood alone in what was once Grune’s quarters and watched the empty doorway in regretful silence. There were no words to describe how he felt at that moment. A man he had once called his best friend had just left calling him an enemy because he had chosen his faith in the Code of Thundera over him. Had he failed? Had he done the right thing? Jaga believed he had, and it was without a doubt one of the hardest things the jaguar would ever have to do.
Finally Jaga sighed and looked down at the floor, wondering how to break the news to the others. As his gaze fell downward, it caught sight of a brown leather-bound book, discarded and overlooked by Grune in his fit of rage. It’s his journal, Jaga realized, he left it behind. He bent down and picked it up, his fingers lingering on the cover briefly as he regarded it. Part of him wanted to read it, to understand what it was that had made Grune act the way he did, and what it was that had happened that would make him feel comfortable in discarding a code that Jaga had thought Grune once believed in as strongly as he did.
But in the end Jaga did not open it. The reason he gave himself for why was that he told himself that he should refrain out of respect to the man who had once called him friend, and that it was wrong to pry into what were his private thoughts, but that was a lie. The real reason Jaga chose not to look was because he could not bear the thought that if he came to understand why Grune made the decisions he did, that he might agree with them. It was a risk that Jaga emotionally could not and would not take.
“I have faith in myself and in the Code of Thundera,” he assured himself out loud, and set both the journal and the discarded Thundercat insignia in a now empty drawer of Grune’s dresser and shut it tightly. “I did all I could, and I did the right thing.” However, deep down, Jaga was not as sure as he had convinced himself that he was.
Having nothing further to do or say in the ex-Thundercat’s quarters, Jaga picked up the key to the room, left behind on a nightstand, and exited. He closed the door gently and with a heavy heart. The jaguar paused for a moment and then finally turned the key in the lock, securing it for what would be the last time any Thundercat of Old Cat’s Lair would enter it.
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