"Did he say how he'd do it?"
"Or when?"
"If there was
counterspell?"
"Maybe there was a mere joking
gesture in it?"
Lion-o got up and moved over to
where Pantro, Tygra and Cheetara were completely
swamping the two kittens with questions, one after another. The twins were
exhausted. Kat looked toward his lord with frightened, tired and frustrated
eyes.
"All right," Lion-o said
shoving through the crowd toward the two kittens. He turned around to face the
other adults. "Knock it off already, okay? Lords of Thundera, they're just
kids for Jaga's sake."
Cheetara nodded and pulled a pallet
up into Lion-o's room followed by two smaller ones.
His room was the biggest so the adults quickly decided that for tonight, they
would take shifts at the control room and stay together for the rest of the
time. If what the twins said was true, more numbers was safer. Also, it would
make sure they had a good eye on the kittens. The children would be the only
ones who would sleep the entire night.
"All right," Lion-o continued.
"Do we all know the guard schedule?"
Tygra nodded and Pantro
repeated it. "Me, You, Cheetara, Snarf and then Tygra."
"The Thunderkittens aren't
upset because they don't get to help are they?" Tygra asked cautiously at
the circle of adults.
"Nope," Snarf called out.
The adults turned around to look at him. He was busy pulling the covers up over
the young kittens. They were out like lights. After everything, they had a
right to be tired. Tygra smiled at Pantro who left
and as he did whispered to Tygra, "If Mumm-ra
harms one hair on those twins' heads, I'll rip him apart piece by piece."
Tygra looked at Cheetara. She had
the same thought he did. Her pallet was on one side of the two twins' pallets.
Lion-o's bed was on the other. The tiger smiled and
dragged his own bed in-between the two.
For the most part of the night,
nothing happened. Then, Kit suddenly sat up. The males were in the room and had
secretly decided to have one of them awake for periods to make sure nothing
happened, particularly to the twins. Lion-o was the one awake when the child
let out a gasp and sat right up followed quickly by her brother.
"Kit, Kat, what's the matter?"
"Lion-o?"
Kat asked surprised. "You're awake. Why?"
Lion-o got up and sat on the
kitten's pallet. He opened his arm to the girl and she quickly joined them.
Lion-o smiled and slowly gave the two a small squeeze almost like he was afraid
to do so. "We thought you two might get scared tonight so we thought it
best if there was a for sure comfort waiting for you."
Kat smiled, looked a tad embarrassed
but hugged his lord back. Lion-o then reasked,
"What's the problem?"
Kit looked at her brother. He nodded
and so she let out a sigh. Then slowly he spoke.
"Well, where's the Sword of
Omens?"
Lion-o patted his thigh. "Right
here, I never go anywhere without it. You know that."
The two twins
backed away, suddenly afraid.
Lion-o drew them back again.
"Look you two. It won't hurt you."
The kittens looked at one another
uncertainly. They sighed but Lion-o said nothing else.
"Don't worry you two. We won't
let anything happen to you." Kit lay down on her sheets and looked at her
lord. He stroked her fine hair. Both the twins hugged Lion-o and he smoothed
their hair. As he held them he thought of what the sword could do to their
delicate frail bodies. He silently added to himself, "I'll die first."
"All right, Thunderkittens! Come here! NOW!"
The twins looked up from their
cards. That was Pantro. He sounded upset. They looked
at one another with what-did-we-do-now-looks.
"Where are you?" Kit
called back as she and her brother got up. They were nervous. Pantro was the only adult here. There was no one here to
shield them from the panther's anger. They had long sense learned to respect
the adult and tried not to get on his nerves or bad side. Obviously they'd
overlooked something.
The twins found the grey cat in the
control room. "Okay, you two," he spat. "I never thought I'd see
the day where you'd make something as fierce as a Mumm-ra
threat to get us to pay attention to you!"
"But Pantro
we didn't," Kit insisted.
"Yeah," her brother chimed
in. "We really did hear him. We wouldn't lie about this!"
The kittens were trembling. Pantro was cracking his knuckles and for a brief second the
twins thought he would take off his belt and give it to them hard on their
rears. He glared at them. Kit darted behind her twin. The panther darted
forward around Kat and took Kit firmly by her wrist.
"If you did
hear him, how come nothing's happened?!"
"I don't know! I just know I
heard what I heard!"
Pantro
seemed to relax. He looked deep into her eyes. Tears filled them. She cringed.
He sighed as if he was agitated with her even though she'd done nothing. She
turned to her brother. He looked at Pantro.
"Go to your room, both of
you." The panther ordered pointing. "I don't know if you're telling
the truth so until I get to the bottom of this, you're both grounded. Confined
to the Lair until further notice, understood? Young man?
Young lady?"
Kit clutched her fists together into
small balls. She was fuming. Still, she turned and stormed upstairs. Pantro almost went after them, deciding he’d
been too harsh but couldn’t bare to see their hurt
and disgraced faces. He would apoligize at dinner
that night, he decided.
Dinner was uneventful. The twins
accepted the panther’s apolgy
but they asked everyone not to mention it. The adults, feeling merciful,
complied. They also let the twins out of their chores. Kit went to investigate
the pyramid again. Kat tried to talk her out of it but couldn’t.
Everything he said went in one of her ears and right out the other.
“Kat,” she
begged, grasping his hands. “Please. We have to know
if this threat’s for real. You need to stay here.”
“Kit, I’m
not scared. I-“
“I know you aren’t
scared. At least not anymore than I am. But listen, you need to stay. If only
one of us, disappears they’ll think we just went to
the shower or to get a snack or something.”
“I still don’t
know sis,” he said, worridly.
“You would need reinforcements.”
“Kat,” she
pleaded, grasping his fingers tightly and staring into his eyes with her amber
eyes, “Please, promise me you won’t tell. Please.”
He sighed. “I won’t. But if I get a bad feeling, like you’re in trouble, well you know we’ve
both come to trust our sibling instincts. I’ll have
to do something, okay?”
Kit nodded. She hugged her brother. “Thanks Kat. I’ll be back. I
promise.”
“Okay, just do me a favor and come
back unbroken and whole not torn apart and bleeding.”
Wilykit giggled. But it was nervous
laughter. She gave her sibling a quick peak on the cheek then darted out the
door.
Kat watched her go. Then, a fierce
panic came over him. He ignored it and pulled out a book. But all he saw were
dark burning red eyes. And his sister. Or some of his sister. Her managled body thrown into a fire and burnt. Burnt a darker black than imaginable. And
the single sound echoing over and over. A scream.
A young girl’s scream. That would always call but
would never be answered…
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