Dark Secrets
Part Two: Search for
Answers
Sequel to: Sorcerer
and Sorceress
WilyKat
swallowed hard again. His eyes were so wide; he could feel the liquid turning
to dust. The tears could remain in his eyes no longer. They trailed from his
cheeks and he didn’t bother to wipe them away.
No
dear Jaga, he thought. Please no! Not my Mama!
He
couldn’t just sit here. He had to do something! He was acting rashly and he knew
it. Nevertheless, he crept closer. He opened his mouth to yell down to her. He
wanted to yell, “Mommy, it’s me! You love me! It’s your WilyKat!”
But
before anything left his lips, a hand clamped over his mouth and a familiar
voice hissed, “Shh, you’re gonna get yourself killed you idiot!”
Kat
turned his eyes. He was staring right into Kit’s.
He
pulled down her slender hands. “WilyKit!” he whispered urgently. “What in
Jaga’s name are you doing here?”
“Saving
your life for starters.” She snapped.
Kat
snapped back. “I was doing fine.”
She
rolled her eyes. “Suure you were.”
Kat
sighed. “Kit? How did you know I was here?”
Kit
smiled. “Three things: A, your attitude: you were never so quiet. B: I saw you
sneak out. And C: you told me.”
“No
I didn’t.”
“Yes
you did, subconsciously.”
WilyKat
turned his whole face to face her, eyes wide.
“Yes,” she nodded. “You did. The words I believe were: “Kit, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this. Forgive me, sis. Help me.”
Before WilyKat could say anything Kit continued, “I heard you Kat. In my head.”
“Telepathy,” he said simply. She nodded. Kat returned his gaze to the gathering below them. He wiped the tears away again. A hand placed on his shoulder. He saw WilyKit kneeling down by him.
“It’ll be okay, Kat.” She murmured gently. Kat shook his head.
“She’s not dead, Kit.”
“Yes,” Kit argued. “Yes she is. That Cesira’s power. You know as well as I do that she’s gone.”
Kat nodded. “But she’s right there.”
“No she’s not Kat. Our mother would never turn on us. I know that just as well as you.”
Kat shook again and let the tears stream down his face. His sister was close to tears but instead of collapsing in wails, she took her brother’s chin in her hand.
“WilyKat, please get a hold of yourself. I haven’t seen you cry in so long. I want to cry too but here’s not the place. They might hear us.” She grinned. “You always were a ‘Mama’s boy.’”
Kat turned to her, tried to glare but couldn’t. She drew him close to her, held him like he was her own son, her hands pressed into his hair. He never took one eye from his mother. She was talking now.
“Now, we all know that our little spy, Ratha has infiltrated the Lair to learn of the twins’ weaknesses. I know them but while I do most of the work I will need a little assistance. So this is mainly for you worthless whores.”
Kat shuddered. His mother’s voice so familiar yet so different. It was colder, meaner, ruthless. She tossed her hair aside and approached Pumyra. Kat suddenly felt a tugging at his shoulder.
Whirling around, Kit tugged him to his feet and whispered, “Kat we gotta go warn the others about Ratha. She’s a traitor.”
Kat sighed. “Who isn’t?”
Kit took her twin’s hands tightly. “Kat we’ll make it through this. We will. But we have to tell the others. Please?”
Kat still stared out at his mother.
“WilyKat?”
He swallowed. Kit went on.
“Please?”
Kat stared at his mother. She was leaving. The tears began to fall. He nodded.
“Let’s go home.”
Chapter Two: Ruthless
Kitra
stepped away from the whores and disappeared down the hall. As she walked, a
faint glow surrounded her, weak at first then brighter. By the time it faded,
Kitra had vanished. Cesira stood in her place.
She
laughed and tossed her black hair behind her shoulders. She had seen the shadow
of both of the twins out of the corner of her eye. The plan was in motion. But
she hadn’t countered on something.
The
kittens had figured out already it wasn’t their real mother. Kat had been
caught up in his emotions but in the back of his mind, he knew it wasn’t her.
She would have to convince them otherwise. But how?
“Alluro!”
she suddenly screeched. A small servant Thunderian appeared. She was tiny; her
clan was the small white cat clan, a distant cousin of the kittens. She looked
at Cesira and slowly said, “He’s with…with Chilla.”
“Then
go get him you imbecile!”
She
shook but slowly dared, “But..but he said that they were plan…”
“Shut
up, bitch!” Cesira spat. She swept down with her left hand and grasped the
child around the neck. The child was only about six but even though Cesira was
only twelve and a half, she was able to hold the kitten suspended. She glared
at her with laser eyes and tightened her grip.
The
child tugged desperately her mistress’s hands but Cesira clung to her with
superhuman strength. The child’s face began to puff, her lips turned blue. She
could feel her breath battling against her closed windpipe, trying to get to
her heart and lungs.
Cesira
spoke, “Did I ask for a reason, child?”
“No,”
she managed to mouth. “I’m sorry. Forgive me. I will go get him, please let me
go.”
“Oh
no,” she spat. “You’re going to pay for your insolence.”
She
switched the kitten, taking her under one arm, like a sack. The kitten could
breathe again. She sighed with relief before she became aware of the increasing
pressure on her abdomen.
She
gasped. Her stomach was being crushed. She moaned. She felt the force began to
puncture her skin. Gradually, the elbows pushed their way into her skin and
ripped it. Blood began to leak out.
“Alluro!”
The
Lunatack got up and joined Cesira out in the hall. He took note of the child
under Cesira’s arm. Her breasts were expanded, from the immense pressure. She
looked up at him with begging eyes and mouthed slowly, “Help me.”
Though
Alluro wasn’t sentimental he couldn’t help feeling sorry for this child, even
if she was a Thunderian.
“Cesira
shouldn’t you let her go,” he suggested. “We’ll need all the servants we can
keep. Even if she is,” he spat. “Thunderian.”
Cesira
amused by Alluro looked down at the girl. She nodded.
“Get
out of my sight bug,” Cesira cursed, tossing the girl aside. The child
immediately scrambled away.
Cesira
turned back to Alluro.
“The
twins were here, today.” She told him. He seemed surprised but merely nodded
agreeing with her. No one dared to argue with her. If they did, they were
thrown out, in two pieces.
Cesira
continued. “I need you to help break them. They saw their ‘mother’ but they
know it’s a trick. I want you to convince them otherwise.”
“Oh,”
he sneered, suddenly unafraid of her. “How? Go into the Lair and hypnotize
them?”
She
smiled. “In a sense, yes.”
He
stared at her. She grinned and pointed to his club, which hung by his left hip.
“Tonight,
I want you hypnotize them. As a matter of fact, I can give you this:” she
handed him a small pendant. It was black and coated with a silvery layer. “It
will show you anything you want to see, merely think it. So tonight at nine
o’clock, double check that the kittens still go to bed then. Then, do your
stuff. From here.”
“Cesira,”
he said slowly, “My psychic club doesn’t go that far.”
She
smiled. “Yes it does. See Alluro with my added power,” she paused and her grin
spread wider. “You can haunt their dreams.”
WilyKat
sat by the window. Cheetara meanwhile had taken WilyKit to the Tower of Omens.
Bengali and Lynx-o had returned and needed the extra help. They claimed they’d
left New Thundera with Pumyra but couldn’t remember what had happened to her.
Lion-o
however, was wondering the kitchen, gradually cleaning up. Pantro had watch and
Tygra needed to check on Ratha. Snarf had gone to help Cheetara and the others.
Lion-o was keeping busy. Finally, he could stand it no longer and put the last
dish away, wiped his hands, and headed toward WilyKat’s room.
As
he climbed the stairs, he felt that twinge of worry again. Kat had told him
about Cesira’s plan. But he’d left something out. He had barely touched his
dinner and didn’t beg for some dessert either.
“WilyKat?”
came a call at the kitten’s door. He looked up but didn’t say anything. He was
busy thinking about Cesira. He knew that that girl had made an illusion or
something that looked and sounded like his mother. Still, looks were sometimes
enough. At the sight of those familiar eyes he’d felt certain his young heart
would turn to ice and shatter into a million bits.
He
knew (though he tried to hide and deny it) that somehow or another he would
have to face her. He didn’t know if he could do it. He would try, and he might
stay on his feet without faltering for a bit but he knew somewhere deep in his
soul that only one thing would give him the strength and courage to attack a
look-alike of his mother. Problem was, he didn’t know what that thing was.
“WilyKat?”
came the voice again, Lion-o. Kat sighed but once again didn’t answer. Instead
he focused his eyes outside into the darkness. A slight swoosh indicated that
Lion-o had opened his door and the kitten soon felt his mattress fall under the
added weight. A hand placed itself on the child’s shoulder.
WilyKat
turned around and looked directly into his Lord’s eyes. Lion-o stared hard at
the child’s face. His eyes were watery a bit at the bottom but no tears spilled
out. His hands clutched a pillow tightly pressed between his arms and knees.
“WilyKat?”
Lion-o said slowly. He lifted some of the child’s bright mane and let it fall
in-between his fingers. “Are you okay, kiddo?”
Kat
shrugged. Lion-o sighed and rolled his eyes.
“WilyKat
listen to me!” he grasped the child by the shirt tightly but he wasn’t fierce
or rash with his actions nor with his words. That was Pantro’s job. He was
however, very firm.
“Something’s
wrong and I want to know what it is!”
Kat
gradually moved his Lord’s hands down. He looked back at Lion-o and responded,
“Nothing’s wrong!”
“Don’t
give me that! Something’s bugging you!”
“Right
now: you are.”
Lion-o
narrowed his eyes. But then he sat back. “Okay fine. If you won’t tell me, go
tell Tygra. He could use the help with Ratha.”
Sudden
remembrances of that traitor made the child narrow his own eyes. He spat, without
thinking and forgetting who she was in the others’ eyes, “I’m not going near
that whore!”
“WilyKat!”
Lion-o shouted, surprised and in a split second ashamed at the kitten and angry.
He
grasped the kitten’s cheeks tightly. He leaned close to the child’s face and
pinched his hands tighter.
“Kitten,
you will not speak like that again, especially about one of your countrymen.
Understood?” the lord’s eyes were narrowed extremely and his tone of voice was
one of cold steel.
Kat
tore Lion-o’s hands off and leapt up.
“Afraid
of the truth Lion-o?” he tried his Lord. Lion-o was on his feet in a moment.
“Sit
down, Kat. NOW.”
The
last word was cold as ice and the tone was the common adult
listen-to-me-right-now-young-man tone. Kat for the first time, stood up for
himself.
“It’s
true! She’s a traitor! I heard it! I swear it!”
“Kat
its one thing to do what I asked you but to use your dislike of someone and a
mission to shout false accusing…”
“Shut
UP!”
Lion-o
glared at him. And Kat for the first time stopped himself. Lion-o was speaking
to him like a father for the first time. It was the first time; he’d heard
these words, “Watch your tongue, young man.”
Kat
recovered swiftly. “She is a traitor! I heard it with my own ears! She’s a cold
hearted BITCH!”
Lion-o
darted forward, clasped the kitten’s shoulders in his palms and shoved him down
on his bed hard. The kitten glared up at him. “Why don’t you believe me?”
Lion-o
sighed. “Kat,” he said suddenly calmer. “I don’t want to believe you. Thing is
I have no reason not to but I also have no reason to. She hasn’t tried
anything. You however,” he chose now to point a finger directly in his face.
“Know better than to talk like that, angry or not.”
“Why
not?” he muttered under his breath, “You do.”
“Kat
look,” he continued. “Get a night’s sleep to think it over. You think better
with a cool head. Just do this, try to accept her.”
“But
Lion-o,” he protested, “I heard…”
Lion-o
silenced him with a hand. “I have no reason to believe you’re telling the truth
or lying. Until I get a reason to, I remain neutral. Just try to accept her,
okay?”
Kat
sighed inside as Lion-o left. He felt his eyes brim with unwanted tears. He
knew that was gentle way of putting a dagger to the kitten’s heart. It said:
I’m
taking a stranger’s word over yours.
Alluro
peered into the small black sphere and thought, “Show me the Thunderkittens.”
Almost
immediately the small gem lit up like a small star. Huge waves of black beams
spun in a diamond around the gem’s front face. Then to the Lunatack’s shock the
face split slightly. The left side turned deep red and then with a bright flash
the image appeared.
In
Cats Lair. WilyKat was tossing, turning. He was trying to sleep but failing. To
Alluro’s absolute shock, his hands moved as if on their own and seized his
psychic club. But he didn’t call upon his hypnotic powers. Instead a slight
mist flew out from within the small sphere. It traveled from his club through
the gem.
WilyKat
sat up suddenly. He felt something cold in the air. Something bitterly cold.
But as he tried to analyze the source, the faint mist invaded his lungs and
attacked his mind. His eyes drooped almost instantly. The kitten’s eyes rolled
back into his head and he collapsed, out cold.
Alluro,
in his room, in Cesira’s cave, whistled. He laughed. “I like this.”
He
diverted his look back to the small black gem. This time the right side lit up,
bright yellow this time. The beams spun out again. This time in a single
circle. The ends seemed to take on spheres of their own. Suddenly at once, the
spheres flew to the center of this half of the gem.When Alluro could see again,
he saw WilyKit.
The
feminine twin was tossing as well. She had stayed the night at the Tower of
Omens. She hadn’t told the others about the pain in her heart and neither had
Kat but concealed pain just made it worse. Every second she stayed in that bed,
her heart tore and bled in her young soul. She knew that wasn’t her real mother
but she looked just like her!
Alluro
turned back to WilyKat.
The
kitten, though unconscious still had that aching pain in his heart. His eyes
still saw those deep amber eyes. Still heard that honey-sweet voice. Still felt
that clover-soft touch. Still smelt that gorgeous aroma.
The
Luantack once more diverted his glance to WilyKit. She was actually asleep!
Alluro hadn’t used the mist yet. So why was she…
At
a closer glance he saw something that made a small slither of pity creep into
his hard heart. The kitten’s cheeks were red, tear-stained. She still tossed
ocassionally. He swallowed hard, surprised that he was feeling pity for one of
his enemies. She was miserable.
The
two twins seemed to toss almost in unison. They both flung their arms up and
cried in a voice so choked with pain, Alluro couldn’t help getting a little
teary eyed.
“Mama!”
He
stared hard. He couldn’t help it. He’d never seen the kittens like this.
Kit
reached over under her pillow, blindly. What she retrieved made the lunatack swallow
hard. These two were miserable enough. Did he have to MAKE them more depressed?
That in itself seemed an impossible task.
The
female kitten pulled something out and stared at it, tears streaming from her
face. It was small. Cover head to toe in white fur, the small stuffed cat
stared back at her with blue glass eyes. Emboided in the side were the words:
In
my heart you’ll always be my little girl.
Kit
buried her face into the stuffed animal’s side and wept. Her tears stained the
animal’s fur and made it collapse under her head’s weight. Every Thunderian had
some kind of stuffed creature when they were younger, even Pantro. Kit and
Kat’s mother had given them stuffed tabby cats, for their clan. She’d sown
delicately into kit’s those words. In Kat’s were the words:
Two,
twelve, twenty-two, or one-thousand and two, you’re always a little boy in
Mama’s eyes.
Alluro
stared for a time before he felt the tears spill down his cheeks. Using the
back of his hand, he swept the drops from his face. He dared to look back at
the masculine child.
Kat
was shaking as if from a cold or the chills. At closer glance it was clear that
it was merely sorrow. He turned his face and buried his face into his pillow.
Within minutes, Alluro could see streams of tears running down the fabric.
Ocassionally, the kitten would scream out loud,
“NO!
Mama! No! Come Back! COME BACK!I NEED YOU! HELP ME DEFEAT THIS WITCH! DON’T LET
HER TORMENT ME LIKE THIS! Come back Mommy! Come BACK!”
Alluro
felt a shadow pass over his back. Turning around, he came face-to-face with
Cesira. She caught a glance of the kittens in the sphere and laughed.
“Do
it Alluro.”
“But…”
he began to protest. Cesira silenced him with an icy glare that made Chilla’s
look like rosy cheeks. He lifted his club. It was shaking. He realized the
shaking was his hands.
“I
want you to scare them first.” Cesira ordered. “They’re still assuming I’m an
illusion meant to torment them. Look how much it hurts even knowing who I am.”
Alluro
could only nod.
“Think
then, Lunatack.” She sneered. “if it hurts this much when they think I’m a
illusion, just IMAGINE how deep it will cut if they believe I’m really their
mother?”
“Cesira,”
Alluro dared.
“Yes?”
“Why
them?”
Cesira’s
mouth dropped. “What did you say?”
“Must
you be so cruel? Don’t get your joy from their pain. I’m not sentimental but
anyone with half a heart must have some sympathy for them! I had a mother! I
know how deep it hurt when she died. To see her as you want the twins to see
you…I didn’t know anyone could sink so low!”
Cesira
stared deep into the hyponotic Lunatack’s eyes. “Listen, you will do it.” Her
eyes lit up. Alluro’s glowed, matching hers.
“Yes,”
he responded in a monotone. He lifted the club. Two beams shot out. One toward
Cats Lair, the other toward the Tower. Cesira stared as the twin beams sank
deep into the kittens’ minds. A huge smirk passed her cold face as their dreams
turned darker than space. She laughed aloud.
“Sleep
well, kitties.”
WilyKat
whimpered in his sleep slightly. At first, his sleep had been troubled, and
interrupted with every sound. Now a strange calm settled over his mind and he
felt his thoughts blackened in a cloud of exhaustion.
WilyKit
reacted in a similar manner. Her dreams felt a faint mist cloud over them. She
swore it was as ifa shadowy being had passed their dark form over her brain.
She could feel the icy coldness as the threatening shadows of the darkest souls
seeped into all the folds and crannies of her brain.
Both
of the twins then surrended their thoughts as they drifted into a land of murky
and merciless images and screams…
*
* *
The
Feliner cut through the dark of space. The stars themselves were of no help to
the pilot, Pumyra.She could feel the evil and coldness in the dark atmosphere.
Bengali and the others were asleep in the back. She trembled.
Suddenly,
the puma lifted her head. She sat back suddenly. Two stars glared out at her.
Literally. They turned bright crisom. The Thundercat moved her hand to trigger
the alarm that would alert the others. But to her shock, her hands were frozen.
She couldn’t move them. Her mind was functioning but it was as if a roadblock
was halting her message before it reached her muscles.
With a bright black light, a small figure appeared
in front of her. The figure was a shadowly figure that sat perched on the
control panel. Pumyra immediately leapt back and took on a defensive state. Or
tried to.
With a bright flash, The girl appeared. HER.
Pumyra didn’t know why she thought of her as ‘the
one.’ It had just popped into her head.
She looked so much like Celeano, that the Thundercat
was speechless. She was smaller. Her hair was a silky black and fell shorter
than the other Sorceress. Her dress only fell to her knees but it was a slick
leatherly black. The dress was tight and looked uncomfortable to Pumyra. The
child had deep black eyes and her skin was a pale white. Her lips were slender
and a pale blood red. Over her slick feet were tiny black heels.
“Who are you?” Pumyra demanded surprised she could
talk and move again.
The girl laughed. It was a hideous laugh, so hideous
that Pumyra felt her hair stand on end. She instictively pulled out her sling
and a handful of bombs. The girl merely laughed again and twisted her left
hand. Pumyra’s sling came to life in her hands. She screamed as it tightened
its way around her, binding her hands, arms, and legs.
The swift child leapt to her feet and swept Pumyra’s
feet out from under her, leaving her face-down on the ground. The girl knelt
down and sat on the Thundercat’s back.
“Who am I?” she mused. “My name’s Cesira and I’m the
only daughter of Celeano, the Dark One.”
“Celeano’s daughter?!” the puma demanded, stuggling
against her bonds. Cesira flicked her wrist and Pumyra froze.
“Yes, Thundercat. People call me, The Evil One. My
mother used to brag about killing the kittens’ father, the Thunderian God of
Goodness.” She paused and laughed. “That was bull. She’s jealous. That’s why
she was so mean to me. She was furious that she couldn’t kill him but her
DAUGHTER could.”
Pumyra spoke softly, “You murdered him. But you’re
the kittens’ age.”
She laughed. “Yes but from birth I was corrupted. I
was two months old Pumyra. Two months. Yet my magic was powerful enough to do
him in. My mother was evil but my mortal father had a special blood flowing in
his veins. That he passed onto me and my half-brother, best known as Mumm-ra.”
“Mumm-ra’s sister!” the puma shrieked again. “Great,
a daughter of Celeano and a sister of Mumm-ra’s. No wonder I hate you.”
“Yes Thundercat.” She sneered. “My mother could never forgive for having the blessed bloodline. She always said she deserved it more. But she was denied it. My grandmother, Cerili, better known as Darkstar,”
“Darkstar!” Pumyra screeched. Everyone knew Darkstar. “The… woman who started it all.” Pumyra gasped, “The CREATOR of EVIL!”
Suddenly, Pumyra could say nothing more. Her lips
turned to a wet wax and ran together. Cesira knelt down so she was right in her
face.
“Don’t interrupt me.”
Pumyra merely nodded. Her lips seperated again. She
cringed.
“As I was saying,” cesira continued. “My grandmother
knew that Celeano wasn’t evil enough to handle the power.” She felt her grin
spread. “But…I am.”
“And here’s how you come in,” the girl continued.
“You’re helping me kill the kittens.”
“NO!” Pumyra suddenly snapped her sling and kicked
the girl away from her. She slamed into the controls. “OVER MY DEAD BODY!”
“oh, really,” she sneered. She darted forward and
grabbed the adult. Slamming her against the ground she put one hand against her
forehead, hard. She concentrated and let her magic of the mind enter the
Thundercat.
“NO!” Pumyra screamed again. “PLEASE NOT ME! THOSE
KITTENS ARE LIKE MY CHILDREN! PLEASE DON’T MAKE ME!”
“Oh no,” Cesira mocked. “You’re the weakest minded
of these four. You feel neglected. I can give you meaning. Weaker mind, easier
to control and you WILL help me.”
“No,” she murmured, clearly weaker now. “Please….”
*
* *
In her sleep, WilyKit screamed. Her screams echoed
throughout the Tower. Snarfer in the kitchen getting a snack, heard her.
Lynx-o, on watch, heard her. Bengali roused from his sleep almost immediately
and suddenly all three were tearing to her bedchamber.
WilyKat, in Cats Lair screamed. Lion-o heard him in
the Control Room and the others heard him. Immediately, all four were tearing
to his chamber with Snarf not far behind. Even at the end of his hall, his
tormented screams were clear and tore like a knife into their souls.
*
* *
Lost
amid murky, torturing dreams, the kittens were forced to watch the only thing
that could cut further than Pumyra’s capture. Their mother.
The
twins saw the rocks fall. With a awful rubble, they tumbled from the cliff. Kat
ran forward screaming, “Mama!”
Kitra
looked up and screamed. Before she could do anything, a fierce blow struck her
brow. She collapsed, hands to her head. Another rock crushed one rib then
another. The broken bits of bone punctured her left lung, making her breathing
labored. She felt another rock crush her right arm. She screamed. Her eyes
became gummy as blood slowly leaking into them from the first blow. Kat and Kit
tore to her as the stones began to cover her. She heard her daughter shout,
“LEAVE US!” then the stones flew off.
Kat
gathered her into his arms. They hadn’t told the others this. She wasn’t dead
when they found her. She died in their arms.
*
* *
“Nice
Alluro,” Cesira commented. “That should scare them a little. Don’t try to
convince them yet,” she cautioned. “They won’t believe it if it comes the first
night.”
“Cesira?”
he asked. “What gives? The way the Thundercats are screaming would wake the
dead. What’s up with the kittens? They keep screaming, eyes shut.”
The
girl laughed. “The Dream Curse.”
Alluro
turned around. “What curse?”
She
grinned. “They can’t wake up until YOU let them.”
“WilyKat!
Wake up! Wake up! WAKE UP!” Pantro sat on the kitten’s bed and started shaking
him, surprised at the amount of strength he was exploiting. The kitten’s head
flopped back with each shake but he still screamed, still didn’t wake up.
“Tygra!”
Lion-o ordered. “Go get a drug to calm him down. If we can’t wake him up, we
need to make him calm down before he hurts himself.”
The
architect immediately obeyed, his heart pounding in his chest. Cheetara took
the kitten’s arms and tried desperately to hold them still. The child was
surprisingly strong for his age. Tygra rushed back in quickly emptied a
sedative into the child’s arm. Soon after, his muscles slowly relaxed. But he
was still screaming.
“Kat!
Stop it!” Cheetara was begging now. She pulled the kitten up and wrapped her
arms around his body. He was shaking. She was close to tears. The kitten’s
voice was turning high. He was using all his lungs to scream.
Lion-o
close to a panic, clamped the kitten’s mouth shut. He knew that if he screamed
any longer, he’d damage his throat. The kitten had calmed down a tad. Lion-o
let out a sigh of relief. Then, as suddenly as he’d calmed, he turned wild
again. He began to struggle against the cheetah’s arms and eventually burst
them. He thought she was Celeano.
*
* *
“WilyKit!
Wake up! Please! WAKE UP!” Bengali begged her, shaking her with all his might.
Her head drooped with each shake but she still remained screaming. Snarfer
rushed in again and tossed some cold water on her face. She made no response to
it but kept screaming.
Lynx-o
soon followed the snarf with something in his hand. It was a liquid and it
smelt of herbs and strange spices. He told Bengali to hold her head up.
“Force
her mouth open, Bengali.” The lynx told him. Unsure of what else to do, Bengali
complied. The lynx poured some of the liquid into her mouth. She seized her
howling but still shook with fear. Bengali held her as close as he dared.
Lynx-o put the glass on the table top and smoothed the girl’s hair talking
soothingly.
“Kit,
if you can hear me, dear,” he said gently. “Calm down, little one. You’re safe.”
*
* *
Alluro
sat watching while Cesira laughed. Finally, he could stand it no longer. He
seized his psyche club and commanded into it,
“Wake
up Thunderkittens!”
*
* *
Kat’s
eyes flew open. He struggled against the bonds that held him. The only thing he
heard was Celeano’s voice not Cheetara’s.
“NO!”
he screamed, throwing out his arms, absent-mindedly, “No leave me alone!”
Cheetara
tightened her grip and called out, “Pantro!”
The
panther turned and ran back in through the door. Cheetara seemed able to
control him, so the others had gone to tell the Tower of Omens what was
happening. But Cheetara called his name as he left. He darted back in. The
kitten’s eyes were open but Pantro could tell he was still sure he was being
attacked or something. Cheetara had a few scratches on her cheeks from the
kitten’s claws.
“WilyKat
calm down!” the panther dropped down to the kitten’s level and grasped his
hands in his own. The kitten was beginning to break free from the cheetah’s
grasp. Pantro took the kitten from her and encased him in his own mighty arms.
He stopped struggling almost immediately. He was starting to come back to the
present.
“P..Pantro?”
he requested looking up. The panther sighed in relief and nodded and gave him a
brief squeeze as a hug. Cheetara hurried to tell the others that WilyKat was
lucid again. Kat trembled.
“Kat?”
Pantro said slowly. “Are you okay? You were crazy for at least thirty minutes.”
WilyKat
shook his head. No, no he wasn’t okay. The tears leaked from his eyes and he
buried his face in the panther’s chest.
“WilyKat?”
Pantro tried again. “Are you…”
“No,”
he murmured, face in the panther’s coarse fur. “No, no, no.”
*
* *
Kit’s
eyes flew open. With a final scream, she jolted back to present. Bengali
tightened his arms around her. She looked up. Bengali was looking ahead,
waiting for the others to get back from talking to Cats’ Lair.
“Be..Bengali?”
she asked. Bengali’s head snapped down. He sighed in relief and hugged the girl
gently. There were tears in her eyes.
“WilyKit?
Are you alright?” he asked gently. Kit’s eyes glazed over with tears, answering
the tiger in a second. He drew her closer. She buried her face into his chest
as he rubbed the sides of her face. She clutched him tightly, tighter than she
normally would.
“Bengali,
so awful. I couldn’t wake up! I couldn’t! I TRIED! I COULDN’T! JUST COULDN’T! I
thought it was REAL!”
“It’ll
be alright Kit.” He assured her. He tried a fake laugh. “Besides aren’t you a
little old to be afraid of the Plundarian?”
Kit
nodded. The Plundarian was an evil giant Mutant that adults told their children
about. Kit shuddered again. She knew Bengali was trying to make her forget her
dream.
But it’s hard to forget a nightmare that’s true.
Chapter Seven: A
Heart of Stone
“Alluro!”
Cesira shrieked. “What are you doing?!”
He
glared at her. “Stopping their pain! That’s enough!”
Cesira
dropped down by him. “SHUT THE HELL UP! I DECIDE WHEN IT’S ENOUGH! ME AN ME
ALONE, UNDERSTAND?”
“Shut
up!” the Lunatack spat back.
Cesira
grabbed Alluro by the shirt and yanked him to her. He was a whole head taller
than her but it didn’t matter. The girl had him.
She
tossed her arms around and to the hypnotic Lunatack’s shock, she actually
lifted him from gravity. With a wide arch of her arms, he was suddenly flung
into the wall. Shards of shale rained down on him as he grodigly sat up.
Gods,
he thought as he rubbed his head. That girl can throw!
She
was glaring at him. Stepping closer, alluro noted the small insects that were
usually a river on the cave’s floor, ran from her feet. It was like the parting
of a sea.
She
stood before the lunatack and put her hands on her hips, her legs
shoulder-length apart.
Alluro
shakingly climbed to his feet and looked the girl in the eyes.
She
spoke and her tone of voice made the Lunatack shiver. Her voice made her
mother’s seem like the voice of a goddess of peace and understanding.
“Let
me remind you Alluro. You and Chilla are helpers. I’m the big cheese. What I
say goes, no questions asked. You don’t speak unless I give you my say-so. In
other words Lunatack: You’re expendable.”
When
the Lunatack merely sat back and rubbed his goose egg, she continued:
“Meaning
Alluro, I hold your sweetheart’s cold life in my very hands.”
Alluro’s
smirk look fell from his eyes instantly.
“Ah,
yes.” Cesira smiled. “I thought that would interest you. You piss me off, and
it’s curtains for Chilla.”
He
narrowed his eyes at her. She merely tossed her hair and called, “Pumyra! In
here!”
The
puma obeyed, her mind wasn’t hers anymore. She fell to her knees before the
Sorceress and bowed, her lips to her feet. In her angry mood, the young girl
purposely gave the Thundercat a kick in the face. The female staggered back,
nursing a split lip.
“Call
Ratha bitch.” Cesira ordered. “Tell her it’s time to reveal her treachery. Tell
her to make sure the Thundercats get the message. Tell her to make threats.
Make them want to destroy her.”
“To
summarize, Thunderian,” Alluro spat. “Tell Ratha to act like her.” He jerked
his thumb at Cesira.
The
Sorceress’s face clouded over but she said nothing but merely watched Pumyra
rush from the room. She then departed herself, catching Alluro’s eye. With an
evil smirk.
For
some reason Alluro went to his room himself. As he walked in, his heart skipped
a beat. He tore to his bed. Chilla was tossed over it, her form motionless. The
hypnotic lunatack clutched her in his arms. Her head loaned over his arm. Her
eyes glued shut.
“CHILLA!”
He shook her desperately. She merely flopped with his movements. Alluro dared
to put his hand to her throat for a pulse. He sat there for a full five
minutes. There was no pulse.
“CESIRA!”
he called. Suddenly her face appeared over him. She smirked.
“Believe
me now?”
“Yes!
Now bring her back!”
Cesira
smiled. With a wave of her hand, the Ice Lunatack gasped for air. Not caring
now what happened, Alluro buried his face into her hair.
“Remember
this,” the cold voice sneered. “Next time, I won’t need her. Next time, I won’t
bring her back.”
Alluro
shuddered and pressed his lips against Chilla’s pale conplexion as she fought
for consciousness. In his mind he thought with a disapproving and shocked face,
“You
have a heart of stone.”
“Thunderkittens?”
Kit looked at her clock. It had been two days since that horrid dream. She’d
clutched the white tiger as if for dear life and requested simply, “I want my
brother.”
Lynx-o
had decided that was probably best for them both so despite the time, he took
WilyKit back to the Lair. The others had seemed surprised at their arrival but
nevertheless had invited them back. Lion-o had invited the lynx to stay the
night but he had declined saying merely that WilyKit needed her twin probably
just as much as he needed her.
“Lion-o?” Kit asked sitting up. She rubbed her eyes and shook her brother awake. His arm was draped over her waist. Kat moaned and slowly got up.
“Be
grateful I letyou two sleep in.” he smirked.
The
kittens looked up at him. “Well?”
He
laughed. “Ratha’s feeling better. She wants to look around Third Earth. I
thought you two could give her a brief tour.”
Kat
and Kit leapt to their feet and said coldly and plainly, “Over our dead bodies.”
Lion-o’s
look silenced their further remarks. He spoke and his tone of voice was firm.
“WilyKit,
WilyKat. You two get dressed and eat then you ARE taking her out. Understand?”
“But
Lion-o…” the twins began to protest. Their lord silenced them with a mere look.
Kat muttered under his breath, “And they say ‘our’ generation doesn’t listen.”
*
* *
“And
that’s the Warrior Madiens’ Kingdom.” Kit said coldly pointing. Ratha walked
with them but was obviously thinking of something else. She stayed as far from
the boy as she could.
“Say
Kit?” Ratha asked suddenly. “Can I talk to just your brother for a minute?”
Kit
was about to protest but suddenly had this feeling Lion-o was watching the
whole thing on the moniters and would give her a sound thrashing if she didn’t.
She sighed.
“I
guess so.”
Reluctantly,
Kit left the two alone but stayed within earshot. She wasn’t leaving him
completely alone with her.
*
* *
“Lion-o?”
The
young lord turned from the moniters and was face to face with their local
psyhic. Cheetara frowned at him and took a seat across from him.
“What’s
wrong, Cheetara?”
“I
think you know.”
“What
do you mean?”
“The
kittens and Ratha Lion-o.”
“What
about them?”
“Did
you EVEN hear them out?”
“Well
uh,”
“I
thought not.”
“But
Cheetara, they’re accusing someone without proof!”
“how
do you know they don’t have proof?”
Lion-o
begna to answer but Cheetara cut him off.
“Lion-o,
while you’re trying to make a new friend, you’re losing two in the process. Is
it worth it?”
*
* *
“I
know how you are Ratha,” Kat spat. She neared him. “So don’t touch me, bitch.”
She
shook her finger. “I’d watch my tongue kitten. You were raised better than
that. Weren’t you?”
Kat
didn’t answer. “Ratha, I know you’re evil but you aren’t getting my friends.”
“And
I’ll tell you something cub.” She whipped her left arm around and when she
haulted held a staff. “You’re time’s up!”
She
swung at him. He ducked easily. She was fast. But he was more agile. She ran
toward him, her hair flying behind her. She swung again. This time she
connected. A severe headache seized the cub as her staff hit his left temple.
As he struggled to get his vision back to normal, another blow struck his face.
He fell to the ground, blood dripping from his nose. This time he whirled
around and flung a pellet at her. It exploded in her face making her howl in
pain. As she clutched her face, a sudden blow made her fly forward and Kit
landed on her feet behind her.
Ratha
climbed to her feet. A twin was on either side of her but she laughed. She knew
they would team up against her eventually so she was prepared. With a huge
surge of power beams rocked out from the small pendant she had around her neck.
The kittens rocked back. Kit hit a tree and her brother fell back into the river,
hard.
WilyKit
sat up, rubbing her head. She was soon aware though that the pain was much more
serious than just her head. That had been fire! Her fur was scorched and her
mouth was bleeding and dry. She caught sight of her brother in the river. He was
still.
“Kat
no!” she got up and ran toward him but Ratha was closer. She picked him up in
her arms and neared the other kitten, smirking. She knew that Kit wouldn’ t
dare do anything now. She might harm her brother. But the air was practically
vibrating from her anger.
“Life’s
not fair is it?” Ratha sneered. Kit was about to tell her just where she could
burn but a voice interrupted her.
“Put
him down bitch!”
Ratha
turned. A cheetah burst from the trees and Ratha got a boot in the face. She
dropped the cub and tumbled back. Cheetara caught WilyKat in her arms and
turned to Kit. The poor cub had burns all over her. Her brother had had a
rougher time. He was bleeding and Cheetara could tell his nose was broken. Kit
turned to Ratha.
“Kit
no,” the cheetah said gently. Kit turned around. The Thundercat shook her head.
“She started it, not you. But if you keep on fighting when you need not to,
what will it achieve?”
Kit
sighed. She wanted to pound that tigeress into the ground. In fact…
“KIT
STOP!” Cheetara yelled after the kitten in vain. The small girl tackled the
tigeress and they were both soon rolling in the river. But Ratha was stronger.
She soon had the cub on her back, under the water. Kit had known by the way Kat
laid that he must have hit his head. She was angry. Desperately, she clutched
at Ratha’s neck with vengence surging through her blood. But Ratha was suddenly
torn from her and cast ashore. Kit sat up and glared at her. No doubt she would
have struck at her again had a arm not confined her hands and lift her up.
Cheetara looked down at her both amused and disappointed.
“WilyKit,”
Cheetara said gently as the white tiger ran off, “I know you’re angry but that
was silly. She’s twice as strong as you are. And look at you, even now!”
For
the first time, Kit realized how much damage that single blast had done. Her
fur was singed, brusies from the impact to the tree were spreading and her face
was cut and so were her arms and legs, some very deep.
The
pain was beginng to creep into her limbs. But how could the battle have been so
short? Unless…
“Course,”
she muttered mostly to herself. “Cesira gave her power.”
“Now,”
Cheetara cut in. She smiled. “Let’s get you two to Tygra. And quickly.” Kit
sighed but nodded. She felt disgraced having lost so easily.
“Don’t
feel bad, child.” The woman said, as if having read her thoughts. “She had the
advantage. Too much of an advantage.” She shot a glance down at Kat.As the trio
left a single voice broke the silence. Kat’s voice, weak and seemingly
heart-broken.
“I
tried to warn you.”
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