New Beginnings

Part 2

      Leopara looked up in awe at the great fortress before her as they approached it.  It resembled a cat. It had a white body that was cut right into the cliff and a blue-black head.  From a collar, hung the Thundercat insignia.  It filled Leopara with a warm feeling of pride.  She felt lucky that she had a part in holding up the code she had been raised into.

      < Nice, very nice, > Nikkita complimented.  < I wonder what the others of your kind look like, > she added almost to herself.  She licked her jowls.

      Nikkita stopped just before the bridge.  Bengali and Leopara got off of her back and approached the bridge.  They walked up to the Lair while Nikkita sauntered behind them.

      Leopara was surprised when Bengali held the door open for her.  It made her feel special.  No one had ever done that for her, not that it was that big of a deal!   

*           *           *

      Tygra looked up as the door to the control room opened.  He smiled when his cousin walked into the room.  “Bengali!  What’s the occasion?  You usually prefer to stay at the Tower.”

      “Weeeell,” the white tiger started.  “I kinda found something I didn’t expect.”  He smirked.

      Tygra frowned.  As far as he knew, Bengali only talked like that when some pretty girl caught his eye.  I’m no better than he is, Tygra thought, thinking unhappily of a certain little boy that had looked a lot like him.  Still, both of us should know better by now.  “Go on.”

      “You see, I saw a ship enter the atmosphere while I was on guard duty at the Tower.”

      “Yes, I believed I picked up readings of that.”

      “When I got to the craft, I discovered someone who we all thought had been killed on Thundara when it was originally destroyed.”

      “Oh, really.  And who would that be?”

      “Leopara, Lion-O’s sister.”  He reached out and pulled someone through the door.  Even if her markings, clothing, and her height hadn’t been a giveaway, the Claw of Thundara, which she had in her hand, was.

      Though disappointed that it wasn’t the boy, Tygra still managed to smile.  “Leopara,” he said, standing, “Welcome to Third Earth.”

      She looked over at him.  Her turquoise eyes widened as she recognized him.  “Tygra!”  She squealed as she dashed across the room and into his waiting arms.  “If you’re alive, that means Lion-O’s alive!”

      “Yes, Leopara, alive and well.”  He looked into her face.  “You’ve grown up into quite a lovely young woman.”  Like your mother was before she died.

      She stood back and bounced happily.  “Ooh, yippy!  I’m so happy now!”

      Tygra’s eyes widened with shock as he watched her heaving bosom bounce along with the rest of her.  Holy shit!  There is no way in Hell she could have gotten a chest like that from her mother’s side of the family!  She is most definitely Claud-us’s daughter!  “Uh, Leopara, you’d be about twenty-two now, right?”

      “Twenty-four,” she corrected politely as she stopped bouncing.  The Claw of Thundara pulsed, as if personally amused by her innocent expression.  She looked him over and bit her lip thoughtfully.

      Great.  She’s in heat, too.  “Close enough.  Don’t you think it’s about time that you… um… stopped reacting like that?  You’re not exactly a little girl anymore, and that show you just put on would have been a strain on even Jaga.”

      She blinked, and then glanced down at her breasts.  “Oh.”  She blushed a dark scarlet.  “It’s just that I’ve mostly been around Nikkita for the past ten years, and haven’t really been near a man during that time, too.”

      “Nikkita?”

      Leopara waved towards the door.  “My cat.”

Tygra looked, only to stare in shocked surprised at a winged snow leopard.  The cat glanced over him, and purred seductively.

      Ignoring the cat, he turned back to Leopara.  “If you would like, Leopara, I can contact Cheetara and have her take you on a tour around the Lair, then show you to your room.  It’s getting dark out, and I’m sure you’re going to be tired.”

      “I’m not tired,” she replied, stifling a yawn.

      Even though she’s grown physically over the last decade, Tygra thought, she obviously needs to grow up mentally.  Hmm… she kind of reminds me about Lion-O when he first got out of that pod.  He chuckled.

      The door opened again, and Cheetara walked in, followed by Snarfer.

*           *           *

      Cheetara’s first thought was that she was dreaming.  She shook her head and blinked again at the female leopard Thundarian in front of her.  “Who-”

      The leopardess ran across the room and hugged the cheetah.  “Cheetara!  I’m so happy!  It’s been so long since I last saw you!”  The girl looked up at her.  “You do remember me, don’t you?”

      Wait a minute… she’s not a girl, she’s just a short young woman.  Something in her head clicked.  “Leopara?  Is that you?”

      The young woman squealed happily and started to bounce in place.  “Wee!  You do remember me!”

      Tygra cleared his throat.  Leopara stopped bouncing and blushed heavily.

      Obviously Tygra has told her that she’s not a little girl anymore.

      Snarfer peeked out from behind Cheetara’s leg and glanced up at Leopara.  “Hey, I know you!  I saw you at that dinner dance!”

      Leopara looked down at him.  “I do remember dancing with a snarf… but you all look the same to me, no offence.”

      “None taken.  I’m Snarfer.  You called me ‘Snarfy’, remember?”

      She blinked, and smiled.  “Oh, yes!  I see!  You’ve got that cubbish look about you, still!”  She bent down and hugged him.  “Oh, it’s been so long!”

      “Cheetara,” Tygra said.  “Can you take Leopara and her… cat on a tour ‘round the Lair, then take them to one of the spare bedrooms for tonight?”

      “Cat?”  Cheetara glanced around the room, and then spotted the winged snow leopard.  “Oh.  Yeah, I can show them around.”  She took the leopardess’s hand (she’s half lion and half leopard, Cheetara mentally corrected) and led her from the room.  “Come on, Leopara.  You can come, too, Snarfer.”

      “What about Nikkita?” Leopara asked.

      Figuring that ‘Nikkita’ was the name of the cat, she smiled.  “Nikkita can come, too.  Don’t worry.”

*           *           *

      When the women and Snarfer had left, Bengali turned to his cousin.  “She’s cute, isn’t she?”

      “I’m assuming you mean Leopara,” Tygra replied.  He glared at the white tiger.  “And you are to keep your hands off of her!”

      Bengali’s jaw dropped, and he started to get angry.  “Why?  So that you can have her all to yourself?!”

      “Bengali, she’s still an innocent!  Remember Pumyra?  Because of your lack of forethought, she’s now afraid to love anyone anymore!  If you hurt Leopara, you’ll get into a fight with Lion-O, and only one person will walk away from it!”

      “Hey, I can take care of myself!” Bengali snapped.

      “Oh, yes, I know that,” Tygra jibed.  “Use your head, Bengali!  Do I have to mention Siber-”

      “DON’T SAY HER NAME!!!!” Bengali shrieked.  “If you do, I swear you’ll regret it!  She’s dead, Mom’s dead, and Dad’s dead!  That was years ago!”  He shook with the need to repress his tears.

      “And Leopara is mentally as old now as she was then!  The last thing I need is to lose the only person in my family!  I don’t have anyone left, either!”

      “Don’t look at me!  It’s because of your stupidity that Tigara and Snowtiger are gone!”

      Tygra flinched.

      “And I wouldn’t be surprised if your parents committed suicide because of that!”  He turned and ran from the room.

      Why did he have to remind me?! Bengali thought, racing to his room.  Just when I think I’ve gotten over the loss of them, he has to remind me again!

      He threw open the door and collapsed against it.  He seethed inside, intent on bottling up his hidden emotions.  No one could understand how I feel, he thought.  No one.

      He walked slowly over to his bed and slowly sat down.  He reached under his pillow and gently withdrew an envelope.  Opening it, he took out a picture.  Holding back tears, he studied the picture, memorizing the faces he was afraid he’d forget.

      It was of his family.  His mother, Sibey, was sitting next to his father, Baja (you pronounce the “j” in his name).  They had always been happy together, and hardly ever fought (through, granted, when they did fight, it had always frightened him).  Bengali sat next to his mother with his little sister, Sibera, sitting in his lap.  Sibey and Sibera, unlike any other white tiger Thundarian, had brown eyes instead of blue.  The reason was that one of Sibey’s grandparents had been a red tiger.

      Bengali gently traced the side of his little sister’s face.  She had been Daddy’s girl, Mommy’s angel, and Bengali’s little doll.  She had adored him, but he had never appreciated it… that is, until it had been far too late.  Then he had forced himself to move to his own apartment, and leave his grieving mother and father alone.

      The door opened.  Bengali shoved the picture back into the envelope and under the pillow.  Cheetara walked into the room.

      “Leopara’s in bed,” she said, closing the door and locking it.  “Apparently, she was more tired than Tygra and I thought.  She fell asleep the second her head touched the pillow.”

      “That’s not why you’re here,” he stated.

      “I heard you and Tygra fighting.  I figured you could do with a little pampering.”  She walked over and sat in his lap.  Her scent intoxicated him as she curled her body up against his.  “What do you say?  A night with me, spending only half of it asleep?”

      “That sounds pretty good right now,” he purred, nipping her neck.

*           *           *

      Tygra slowly sat down.  Bengali had really hit the spot.  His heart ached painfully as he remembered his past.

      Tigara had disappeared seven years before Thundara was destroyed.  The only evidence they had was that she had been kidnapped… but willingly.  They searched for three years straight before Lord Claud-us had regretfully announced her dead.  She did have a twin brother, but he had died immediately after birth.

      Romtel and Tigala, Tygra’s parents, had also disappeared, but it had been two weeks before Thundara was destroyed.  They hadn’t left so much as a footprint behind.

      Snowtiger was a different case.  He had been in the last convoy with his mother and great-grandmother.  Unfortunately, Panthro claimed that all ships in the last convoy had been destroyed, thus killing all hopes that the boy had been spared.

      I had better contact Lion-O and tell him about his sister, Tygra thought regretfully, before I fall into another state of depression.  He squeezed his eyes shut, trying hard to fight back the tears.  Damn him!  Why does he get his sister back?  He doesn’t deserve it!

      Tygra, you should be happy for him.  Stop acting selfish.

      He sighed, and then switched on the communicator with a forced smile.  “Third Earth calling Thundara.  Come in Thundara.”

      The screen cleared to reveal Pumyra.  “Hi, Tygra.  What do you want?” she asked almost a little shyly.

      “Is Lion-O there, Pumyra?” Tygra asked.  The smile became genuine as he looked at her.

      “Yeah, I’ll go get him,” she answered. She got up out of her seat and walked to the door, unconsciously waving her hips.

      Tygra watched her figure as walked.  “Hmm… Cute butt,” he whispered softly.  Despite his earlier convictions, he found himself intent on making her his next lover.  He just had to show her that not all men were like Bengali.

      Pumyra turned around as if she heard something, shook her head, and went out the door.

      Soon, Lion-O was there.  He took one look at the smile Tygra had on his face and went, “Okay, what’d you do?”

      Tygra just kept on smiling.

      “What?” Lion-O asked.

      “Well, let’s just say that there is a surprise waiting for you here at the Lair,” Tygra answered, his smile widening.

      “A surprise,” Lion-O said flatly.  “What is it?”

      “Oh, I’d say this is a surprise I’d get excited for.”

      “Really?   What is it?”   Lion-O was still trying to act more grown-up.

      “Well, you’ll have to come here and find out.  It’s only once in a lifetime that someone gets something this… oh… special and unique.”

      “All right.  I’ll come.”   Lion-O said.  His curiosity had taken hold of him.

*           *           *

      Leopara’s eyes flew open when a rough and slimy hand covered her mouth.   A foul odor assailed her sense of smell.  She almost gagged at the smell of an unwashed body, filthy with sweat and dirt.  The creature’s grotesque face filled her entire line of vision.  He was ugly; actually, ugly was too weak of a word for him, but it was all Leopara could think of.  If she had still been a child she would have screamed, jumped out of bed, and run for her life at the sight of him, most likely to hide under her father’s bed.  His eyes were large and cruel, and in them, she saw a kind of dangerous hunger.  She tried to get out of bed, but she only got tangled in the sheets.

      Panic filled her.  She began to kick and struggle against the monster and the cloth around her.   She gathered a breath of the air that was tainted with his smell and prepared to scream.  Just as she was about to, she felt his other grimy hand close around her neck.  The sound of her scream died in her throat.  She began to thrash her limbs about even more wildly then before, only getting more tangled.  This creature was trying to kill her!   Her lungs were screaming and burning for air that she couldn’t get.  She felt something begin to cloud her mind.  Her vision was becoming a bit reddish and fuzzy.

      “Get away from her, S-s-slithe!!!!” Leopara heard Snarfer yell.

      The reptile, now so named S-s-slithe by Snarfer, loosened his grip just enough for her to suck in a grateful gulp of the life-giving air.  The air began to clear her head and chased away the heavy cloud that had shadowed her mind.

      “And what are you going to do about it, fur ball, yes-s-s?” the ugly thing taunted the cute fuzzy lizard.

      “I’m warning you, reptile,” Snarfer said quietly.  He growled.  Leopara thought it sounded more like an agitated purr.  She would have laughed if she weren’t in this situation.  She began to think that maybe getting out of “S-s-slithe’s” grip would be impossible after all.

      “If it’s a fight you want there, S-s-snarfer,” S-s-slithe hissed, “I’d be glad to play with you.  That is-s-s, if you think you’re up to it.  Maybe I’m not s-s-strong enough to fight you,” he said in a mock meek voice.  “Oh, no!  Maybe you’ll win!”  His face reflected his feigned distress.  His look again turned determined and smug.  “Well, bring it on, S-s-snarfer,” he taunted mercilessly.  “Or are you chicken?  Are you a little yellow-bellied lizard?  Oh, never mind, you are a yellow bellied lizard.  All talk and no walk?  Are you-”

      He was interrupted.  He’d most definitely gotten Snarfer riled.  The little snarf yelled a battle cry somewhat worthy of a true Thundercat and sprang at S-s-slithe.

      The big green lug was either too slow to dodge out of the way of the snarf, or he was just too stubborn, self-conceited, stupid, and arrogant.  He was probably all of those.  He just stood there as Snarfer charged at him.  At the last possible second, Snarfer turned and whipped his tail toward the mutant’s legs knocking him completely off his feet.  He fell with a grunt and the little snarf pounced on him.

      He had released Leopara about the minute Snarfer had yelled.  She pulled herself out of the sheets, fell to the floor, and searched frantically for the Claw of Thundara beneath the bed.  She felt the stick part of it just out of her reach.  She fell to her stomach, painfully squeezing her shoulder between the sideboard and the floor.  She touched it with her fingertips and tried to force more of her arm underneath the bed to get it.

      She grabbed onto it and pulled it out.  When she raised it above her head to strike the monster, she was just in time to see Snarfer sink his teeth into S-s-slithe’s arm, adding to a surprising amount of scratch and bite marks.  The mutant cursed and whipped his arm away from him.  Poor little Snarfer went flying through the air and there was a loud bang as he crashed into the wall.  He fell to the floor limp and unconscious.

      S-s-slithe turned to face her.  She could see that despite his size and pathetic attempt at frightening the creature, Snarfer had fought well.  S-s-slithe was bleeding from the numerous scratches and bites that were scattered on his body.  She took her defensive stance with the Claw raised behind her and her hand in front of her as if to ward him off.  He took one look at her and said cruelly.  “So, you want to play too!”    He chuckled.   “I could probably step on you.  You’re so much shorter than the others!”

      Leopara growled quietly.  She had always known that she was short but still, that was no need for him to make fun of her.  She spun the Claw staff behind her to dazzle and confuse him.  This was also to help gain more momentum in a strike.  Then she brought it down hard on his head, but it didn’t even make him blink.  He either had a hard head or no brains.  Probably both, she thought.  She was surprised the Claw hadn’t cracked.  She blinked and thought fast.  He wasn’t wearing any shoes….

      She whipped the Claw quickly to his feet and it glowed red for an instant.  S-s-slithe’s feet burst into flame.  The reptile howled and did a little dance to put them out.  “That was for coming in my room and hurting poor little Snarfer!” Leopara snapped.

      The Claw flew up from his feet to connect right between his legs.   S-s-slithe squeaked and grabbed his crotch.  He staggered backward.  Leopara turned from him and said in a sweet tone, “That was for calling me short!” She turned from him to run out of the room.

*     *     *

      S-s-slithe jumped to his feet and grabbed the she-leopard from behind.  Damn, she may be short, but she’s no wimp! He thought to himself as he found he had to crouch a bit to wrap his arm about her.

*           *           *

Leopara immediately started scratching and kicking him.  He must have been tougher than he looked, or, as I said before, had no brains.  Either that or he has so much fat down there that it actually saved him from some of the blows (I’ll let you decide).

With his arm wrapped around her neck, he used his other hand to hit her in the side of the head.  Her world went black in an instant.

*           *           *

      S-s-slithe hefted the body of the Thundercat onto his shoulder and went to retrieve the snarf.  He couldn’t leave the creature; he’d tell who attacked and kidnapped the she-cat.  With the snarf over his shoulder, he made his escape out the window.

      He was in such a hurry he never noticed that there was a big piece of his loincloth on the floor next to the bed.

*           *           *

      Mumm-Ra smiled as S-s-slithe dropped the she-cat and snarf on the floor in front of the cauldron.  “Very good, S-s-slithe.”  He turned to a hidden door.  “What do you think, girls?”

      “I say he should have been faster,” one said.  She smiled wickedly, her brown eyes flashing.

      “And less messy,” the other giggled.  Her blue eyes narrowed cruelly.  “To think he let himself get beaten up by a ball of fuzz.”

      S-s-slithe’s jaw dropped when he got a better look at the girls.  “Holy shit!  You two… Mumm-Ra they’re… I thought….”

      Mumm-Ra chuckled.  “Meet my protégées, S-s-slithe, the Demon Child and Devil’s Girl, the only other terror on this planet besides me.”

      “I guess the Wollos weren’t kidding!  But how did you get them?  I thought….”

      “Who cares what you think, S-s-slithe?” Mumm-Ra said.  “Demon Child, my darling, send S-s-slithe home.  Devil’s Girl, clear his mind of everything he saw here, so that he won’t squeal if caught.”

      The last thing S-s-slithe remembered before his memory was erased was watching the girl with brown eyes form a ball of pure red magic in her hand, then throw it at him….

*           *           *

      The next morning, Nikkita walked into Leopara’s room.  < Leopara? >  She stopped.  < What?  There was a fight! >  She turned to the door and roared.

      A door opened a little further down the hall, and Bengali soon appeared, wearing only his pants.  Cheetara soon followed, wrapped in a sheet.  “Leopara!” Cheetara screeched, dropping the sheet that had covered her naked body.  “Great Allah!  She’s gone!”

      Bengali looked at the torn and rumpled sheets, the blood spot that adorned one wall, and the small splatters of blood from the center of the room to the window.  He bent down and picked something up.  “S-s-slithe,” was all he said.  “I had to have been.”  He looked up.  “Cheetara, cover yourself and tell Tygra what happened.  I’ll contact Lynx-O.  We’ve got to find Leopara!”

      Nikkita watched as they ran out of the room.  Whoa, baby, she thought, licking her chops.  I don’t blame that cheetah for going to that buff tiger.  God, he smelled good enough to eat, even after a serving of sex!  I wonder if the other tiger smells just as good….

      She hit herself in the nose.  Nikkita!  Forget about those gorgeous tigers for now!  You’ve got to find Leopara!

*           *           *

      Lion-O guided the Feliner carefully.  Panthro, Pumyra, and the Thunder Kittens had decided to come with him.  It had taken one hell of an argument to get Panthro to let him drive the Feliner.  He’d left Torr in charge of the Lair on Thundara.  He could handle things there.

      He could see the atmosphere of Third Earth approaching rapidly.  Or more like he was the one approaching it.  He readied the ship for its descent into the atmosphere and angled it so it wouldn’t burn up.

      “You’re doing good!” Panthro commented.

      That was rare.  A comment from Panthro?  “A comment?!  From you?!” Lion-O asked with surprise.  “And you were the one who said I shouldn’t drive.  I haven’t seen anybody get sick yet.”

      “Speak for yourself,” Wily Kit whined and then puked into her barf bag.  Wily Kat looked away and tried to hold down his own stomach.  “I hate space travel….”

      Lion-O was just about to reply when the communicator switched on and Lynx-O appeared.  “Lion-O, you must hurry!  Someone has taken Leopara!  Tygra….”

      Lynx-O didn’t get any farther.  “LEOPARA?!?!?!” Lion-O shouted at the top of his lungs.  The Feliner did a neat little barrel roll as he leaned against the controls in shock. 

      “Lion-O watch what you’re doing!” Panthro shouted. 

      Wily Kit puked again, not necessarily in the bag this time, though.

      Lion-O thankfully paid attention to the controls.  “Leopara?  My sister?  Is she there?  Where is she?”

      “Lion-O, she’s been taken.  Tygra, Bengali, and Nikkita . . .”

      “Nikkita?” everyone in the ship asked at once.  “Who’s Nikkita?”

      “Yes, Nikkita!” the lynx replied tartly, getting a little annoyed with the interruptions.  “That’s Leopara’s over-sized pet cat with a sex problem!  Bengali told me the whole story and then some!  Anyway, Tygra, Bengali, and Nikkita have gone after her.  S-s-slithe was the one who took her and Snarfer.  But S-s-slithe is not smart enough to have known she was here and to sneak in to take her instead of storming the Lair.  Someone must have informed him about her and told him to kidnap her.  We think Mumm-Ra may be behind this.  So they split up.  Bengali and Nikkita went to check out Castle Plun-Darr and Tygra has gone to check out Mumm-Ra’s pyramid.  I have the Tower covered and Cheetara has the Lair.  They’re going to need your help.”

      “Right!”  Lion-O growled.  “I’ll go to Mumm-Ra’s.”

      “I’ll help Cheetara,” Pumyra said.

      “The kittens and I will go pay a visit to the mutants,” Panthro said happily.  “We haven’t visited them in such a long time….”

*           *           *

      Leopara raised her head, and looked around.  Her head hurt.  Wherever she was, she didn’t like the look of the place.  The stone beneath her hands was icy cold, a pool of water bubbled near a door, and a stone coffin leaned against a wall nearby.

      “Leopara,” she heard Snarfer say.  She turned around to look at him.  Good thing he wasn’t a man, otherwise she’d be begging him to fuck her.  “Are you okay?”

      “Yes, I’m fine.”  She stood up and took another look around.  Four foreboding statues looked down menacingly at her.  She shivered.  “Where are we, Snarfer?”

      “Mumm-Ra’s throne room.”

      “Mumm-Ra?  Whose Mumm-Ra?”

      Somebody giggled.  Correction, two some bodies giggled.  Snarfer squealed in fright and jumped into Leopara’s arms, whimpering.

      “‘Whose Mumm-Ra?’” someone mimicked in a high voice.  “‘I’ve never heard of Mumm-Ra the Ever-Living before!’”  The giggles continued, louder this time.  “‘Never mind that he’s only the most powerful and dangerous being on Third Earth!’”

      “What was that?” Leopara whispered to Snarfer.  “It sounded like it came… from over… here….” She walked over towards the sound.

      There was a shriek, and two sets of footfalls were heard running down a connecting hall.  “Let’s get out of here!” a different voice said.

Leopara could have sworn she saw something white and green and something brown and orange but they disappeared too fast for her to be sure.  She ran down the hall, following the sounds. 

      Before long, she reached another hall, but this one was bright and cheerful compared to the other room… and tacky.   There was color and bright lights everywhere, everything clashing with everything else.

      “Talk about someone with bad taste,” Snarfer said, blinking as if the color hurt his eyes.

      Leopara’s position didn’t move, but her eyes did.  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the two figures: one white and green, the other orange and brown.  They were hard to see because they blended in almost perfectly with the tapestries, and she only saw them because they moved.  They snuck quietly from one side of the hall to the other, opened a door and disappeared inside.  Leopara followed them.

      She opened the door and looked inside.  The brown and orange figure had disappeared out another door, but the white and green one hadn’t had time.  Leopara quickly pointed the Claw of Thundara at the door and shut it before the second figure could move.  Then she gasped when she saw the face.

      It was a female (that was obvious; you don’t usually see a man with size 32 DD breasts).  The young woman looked as if she was about sixteen, maybe seventeen.  She was dressed in a tight green T-shirt and shorts with a loose white tunic.

      That wasn’t what made Leopara gasp with shock, though.  Something inside her mind screamed out loud that she knew this young woman from long ago… but for the life of her, Leopara couldn’t place her.  Also surprising was that the younger woman was a Thundarian, and the fact that she resembled Bengali almost exactly.  Her hair was cut the same as his, but her stripes were vertical instead of horizontal.  Two pointed ears from either side of her head pointed upward, giving her the look of an elf.  Her chin was just as hard as Bengali’s, and she had the same sort of look he wore, a look of unhappy defiance.  She was tall; Leopara guessed that the young woman was about the same height as Bengali, maybe an inch or two taller.  Her eyes were brown instead of blue, but they still held that sort of sad/angry look.

      “Holy shit!”  Snarfer cried.  “She looks like Bengali!”

      The tigress raised an eyebrow and stood up straight.  She was taller than Bengali.  There was no doubt about that.  Leopara saw a flicker of anger in her eyes, and her lips pull back in a snarl.  “What?” the tigress asked sharply, her eyes narrowing.

      “Where’d you hear that word?”  Leopara growled at Snarfer.

      “Word?  What word?  Oh, you must mean ‘shit’.  I heard it in Bengali’s room when he was fucking Cheetara last night.”  He looked up at her innocently.  “Is it bad to say it?”

      Leopara shook her head.  “I’m not the one to ask.”

      “Answer my question!” the young woman snapped.  “How do you know about Bengali?  Who is he?”

      “Tell us who you are first,” Snarfer said, before Leopara could stop him.

      The young woman raised an eyebrow.  “I am Sibera Whitman.  So what’s it to you?”

                        *           *           *

      Lion-O crept down the hall toward Mumm-Ra’s throne room.  It was dank and dark in the mummy’s cursed pyramid.  It always was.  He was feeling a little edgy as he looked up at the cobwebs that draped from the ceiling.   Jaga only knows what monsters and traps Mumm-Ra might have hidden in here, he thought.   Makes you feel like something’s going to reach out and grab you.

      A hand snaked out and grabbed him.  He screamed like a little girl, but the sound was muffled by another hand covering his mouth.  “Easy, it’s only me,” Tygra explained as he released the young Lord.

      Lion-O sighed with relief, trying to catch his breath.  “Thanks for scaring the ever-living shit out of me!” he snapped at the tiger.

      Tygra smiled and checked the floor.  “Funny I don’t see any.”  At Lion-O’s insulted look he added, “Better yet, I don’t smell any.”

Lion-O was looking exceptionally angry.   He was probably all up tight about finding Leopara and didn’t want to lighten the mood a bit with Tygra’s humor.  “Well, excuse me, but I thought you might be something Mumm-Ra sent after me!”

“Alright, I won’t fool around again,” Tygra said seriously.  “You have my word.”  He smiled again as they continued walking down the hall.  “You should have heard that scream you made, though!”  He didn’t smile for long as the Claw Shield impacted with his head.  “Owe!”

      They must have taken a wrong turn or something because before too long they came to a door they never saw before.  Lion-O walked up to it, and pushed it open slowly.  The rusty door gave a screech of a creak in protest as it gave way.

      Tygra followed Lion-O in.   There wasn’t much in the room.

      “Nothing here,” Tygra said, looking around.  “Just a couple of beat up old blankets, a post with rope wrapped around it, a box of ripped and almost shredded stuffed animals, a couple of beds, a huge basket at the foot of one, and a huge, old cat sleeping in the basket.”  Tygra paused and looked back at the basket and the cat that was snoring quietly.  “Huge cat,” he repeated.  “A huge cat with sharp teeth….  Very sharp saber teeth….  Even though it looks as weak as a mouse….” The cat was large enough that it could stand at about Tygra’s chest, despite its lack in mass.

      The cat began to stir at the noise.  “Mm…. Kitten?  Cub?”  His eyes sleepily opened, the bags beneath them sagging.  He yawned, and stretched his long, skinny forelegs.  He glanced around and then focused directly on them.  At the sight of them, his eyes popped open and his ears went back in a sign of concern.

      “Thundercats?  Here?” he asked.  “I must still be dreaming.”  He raised his forepaw and rubbed his eyes.  He squinted at them, and then did a double take.  “Tygra?  What are you doing here?”  The cat got reluctantly out of its basket and walked around him, studying him.   “And how did you get to be a Thundercat?”  He shook his head.  “No!  It - it can’t be!  Can it?”  He looked up at Tygra.  “Are you real, or is that red headed brat playing another illusion trick on me?”  He looked over at the young Lord.  “Huh.  You must be Claud-us’s boy.  You’ve gotten bigger since I last saw you.”

      Tygra tried to get a better look at the cat.   “Who are you and how do you know my name?” he asked, recapturing the cat’s attention.  There was something familiar about this cat, but he couldn’t put his finger on it….

      The cat cocked his head to the side and smiled.  “Is your memory that bad, Tygra?  Or did you purposely forget about me after I scared away that little girlfriend that was flocking to your bed?”  His smiled widened to show all of his large teeth.  “Granted, I’ve lost a bit of muscle it the soft life I’ve led for the past ten years, but I’m still the same pet of your cousin.”

      Tygra tried desperately to ignore Lion-O’s accusing and questioning look.  He thought back to his past.  It hurt, to but he had to remember who this cat was… other wise it’d drive him nuts….

*           *           *

      Tygra glanced out the window to his room.  He saw a figure darting through the shadows toward the house.  That will be Renate now, he thought.  He watched as she slipped into the backdoor that he had purposely left unlocked.

      He decided he should make one last, quick check on Tigara and Sibera to make sure they were both asleep and wouldn’t be bugging him anytime soon.  He quietly opened the door to Tigara’s room and peeked in.  Tigara was asleep with Sibera right beside her.  Nokia was absent, probably taking care of ‘nature’s call’.  Sibera was sleeping quite normally, though she was sucking her fingers.  It was his sister’s position that brought a smile to his lips.  She was in her position that she’d had since she was born.  She was laying face down with her knees drawn up beneath her and her cute little derriere and tail up in the air.  “Oh, ‘Gara.  You look so cute like that,” he said with a chuckle.

      An angry roar and an ear-piercing scream shattered the silence of the moment.

      Tygra ran to the window to see what had happened.  What he saw, though, was something totally unexpected.  Renate was running from none other than that notorious Nokia, Bengali and Sibera’s pet.

                        *           *           *

      Tygra looked at the large cat again.  He had the same bluish-gray fur and had the same matching saber teeth, all right, but he had indeed lost a lot of weight, and his skin sagged from his bones.  “Nokia?  Is this… really you?  You’re so old….”

      The large cat smiled.  “Sí, me llamo Nokia.”  His eye twinkled, a spark of his droll humor still there.

      “What was that?  German?” Tygra asked before he could stop himself.  He never was going to get what the difference between foreign languages was.

      “Spanish,” Lion-O corrected, raising an eyebrow as if it should have been obvious.

      Tygra groaned mentally.  Great, I just got corrected by Lion-O.   How pathetic is that?

      “Sí, español,” Nokia said, nodding at Lion-O.  “Buena, señor.  ¡Fantástica!”

      Tygra shook his head.  He had always hated the blasted cat, and now was no exception.  Then he stopped.  Wait!  If Nokia is here, then… Oh, God!  Tigara!  Sibera!  Oh my God, can it be?  Oh, God, please!!!!  “Nokia?” he asked.

      “¿Sí?”

      “Enough Latin!!” Tygra yelled angrily.

      “Spanish!” both Lion-O and Nokia corrected.

      “WHATEVER!!!!  Nokia, are Tigara or Sibera here with you?”

      Nokia face lightened and he smiled again.  “I was wondering when you’d get around to them.”

      “Sibera?  Tigara?”  Lion-O asked.  The names sounded vaguely familiar, like déjà vu almost.  He tried to think of where he’d heard them before.

      Tygra unconsciously held his breath while waiting for the cat’s reply.   Could it be he had finally found his sister and cousin after so long a time?  Oh, I hope she’s here.  I really do.

      Nokia looked up at nothing in particular and seemed to be thinking very hard.  “Hmm, what did happen to them?”  He scratched at his ear with his hind foot and gave a yawn that was a bit overdone.  “Oh, dear.  I don’t remember.  No.  But maybe I could show you two around anyway.”

      Tygra felt his heart sink.  Not again….  Well, so, much for that.   I just hope that wherever they are they’re happy and safe.

      “A tour?”  Lion-O asked skeptically.  “Of Mumm-Ra’s pyramid?”

      “Yeah, sure, why not?”  Nokia yawned and stretched again.  He sauntered toward the open door.  “Who knows?  Maybe we’ll see some things along the way.”   He chuckled and flashed them another saber-toothed grin.

      Tygra noticed the cat’s gesture and it made him wonder.  Maybe Nokia isn’t being entirely truthful about this.  I think he’s hiding something.  His hopes rose again.  Maybe they are here!  Blast Nokia and his nasty sense of humor to Hell!  He felt a hand land lightly on his shoulder and glanced at Lion-O, who offered him a sympathetic smile.  They were about to start out into the hallway when….

      “Excuse me Thundercats, but Royalty before nobles,” Nokia said with another laugh and led the way down a dark hall they had not seen.

      What a lovely trio they made, a young lord, who is obviously confused and on his guard; a red tiger, who is rushing back to his past; and a ‘royal’, cocky, old, shabby, Spanish-speaking cat to lead the two.

*           *           *

      Nikkita crept down the hall of Castle Plun-Darr with Bengali following just behind her.  It had taken quite an argument with him to let her lead.  It had been hard because she couldn’t talk to him in mind speech like she could with Leopara.  She had practically had to pantomime.  This little incident with Leopara had brought her out of her thoughts of Bengali and how cute he was.  The other tiger at the Lair was cuter, though.  He didn’t have Bengali’s hard look and gruff voice.

Leopara, where are you? She thought and reached out with her mind to touch her friend.  There was nothing though.  She couldn’t sense Leopara at all.  It was like she had just disappeared.

      She could lead because she had better senses and could smell the mutants if they came.  Anyone should be able to smell those guys coming from like a mile away! She complained.  They probably haven’t taken a bath in months.  How can creatures live like that?  At least I groom myself everyday.  She slinked further into the darkness.

      They had searched so many rooms already.  Bengali had said he didn’t quite remember where the prison cells were.  So, they were stuck searching all the rooms.  Those dirty mutants could have her in another room and could be doing things that poor little Leopara had never even dreamt of in her worst nightmares.

      Suddenly, her nose caught the fowl scent of the one who had taken Leopara.   He wasn’t alone though.  There were about twenty others.  Should they go back or go forward?  Can Bengali and I take them all? She thought.  She stopped and glanced back at him.  He had also stopped and looked at her.  She held up her paw and pointed it ahead of them.  She shook her head trying to indicate that they shouldn’t go any further.

      Strangely, Bengali understood her crude pantomiming.  He nodded and motioned to her to follow him.  They went back but as soon as they had entered another hall, her nostrils flared with the scent of mutant.  She turned.  The scent attacked her from this side.  They had followed them.  They were trapped.

      Bengali must have sensed that something was wrong because he stopped.  Nikkita let out a growl just as the mutants appeared in the hall in front of them.  Not long after, mutants appeared from the way they had already come.  It was a trap! Nikkita thought angrily.  Oh damn it!  We played right into their grubby hands!

      When she glanced over at Bengali, she saw he had already begun to attack the mutants.  He hit the one that had taken Leopara over the head with his hammer and moved on to the next, which looked like a white thing, whatever it was.  He was doing a pretty good job of beating them.   

      That was when she noticed the other mutants approaching her.  She blinked.  Did they actually think she was going to resort to physical fighting?  No, she was a princess!  She didn’t do those things!  A rope flew from the mass of approaching mutants and lassoed around her neck.  It pulled taut and Nikkita was pulled forward.

      The canine mutant holding the other end of the rope laughed to the others behind him.  “Nyaa-a-ha, this beast is easily subdued!” he said.  “She is not even a challenge!  Nyaa-ha!”

      Nikkita’s royal temper snapped.  She growled a low warning.  Then she snapped with her teeth at the rope that was attached to her neck, grabbed hold of it and yanked with all her might.  The holder of the rope went flying over her head to land on some of the mutants Bengali was fighting.  The flying mutant managed to take down five of them.  Ha!  Not a challenge, huh?  Try this on for size.

      She bounced up into the air and beat her wings furiously.  The down draft of her efforts had the mutants temporarily blinded and stunned.  She let herself drop from the air to barrel into the mutants she faced.  They all fell from her thrown weight.  She laid atop them for a second or two.  Hey, you guys are quite comfortable, she thought as she casually got up off them and sauntered over to help Bengali, who didn’t seem to need any help at all.

      Something heavy landed on top of her wings and the rest of it fell to cover her face and the rest of her body.  It was a net.  She twisted around in it to see that more mutants had arrived and were walking toward her with their weapons drawn.  She followed her first instinct and bit into the net covering her.  A shock ran through her and the heat began to grow.  The damn net was electrified.  It took all her energy just to drop the net from her mouth.  She collapsed beneath it, panting.

      Oh, that hurt.

*     *     *

      Bengali whipped around in time to see Nikkita fall.  The mutants she had been holding off advanced on him.  He was now totally alone and surrounded by enemies.  Nikkita whimpered in contempt of the net that was holding her.  What was he going to do?  They were trapped and unless he could pull off a miracle, as good as captured.  That wouldn’t do Leopara any good, either.

*     *     *

      “Looks as though the odds are against you, Bengali,” a fat, green reptile taunted the Thundercat.  “Why don’t you surrender and save us and yourself the trouble of fighting, yes-s-s?”  That was the one who had taken Leopara.  Nikkita could smell him from where she was.  The scent was the same as the one from that piece of loincloth.  “You won’t do the leopard Thundercat any good by getting yourself killed.”

      “You let her go, S-s-slithe!”  Bengali growled.

      S-s-slithe laughed.  “I don’t think you’re in any position to make any demands like that, Thundercat.”

      Bengali only smiled as the mutants closed in on him.  “Well, Panthro, time to check out that new toy you made me,” he said aloud.

      The mutants hesitated.  “Hoo-hoo…. A new weapon?” someone asked.

      Bengali shrugged and concealed a smile.  “Nothing, just a little something Panthro whipped up for me in just this type of an emergency.”  

      Nikkita heard his fingers press some button on his hammer.  The only warning was a quiet beep.  Then every mutant in the place was yelping in pain.  She heard them fall to the ground.  Every single mutant was down.  I don’t believe it.  There’s no way he could have taken them all out that quickly.

      Then Bengali was by her side, freeing her from the net.  It only took a moment, and then she was free.  They could find Leopara now, but what in the world was the new weapon he had used?

      “Come on, let’s go find Leopara.  These idiots won’t be giving us any more trouble today.”

*           *           *

End of Part Two

 

 

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