January 3, 2000
Written by cou_grr (Dr. Zhie)
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“Good morning, Snarf.” Lion-o swung his
legs over the bed and stretched
himself out. It had been a long evening, helping Tygra figure out
the exact
population numbers and statistics, and practicing the speech Cheetara
had
written for him for the ceremony.
Today, he would unveil the Jaga Memorial Training School, a special
college
for the youth of the New Thundera society who believed in the code, and
had
the strength, courage, and will to enroll. A series of tests needed
to be
passed before one would be admitted, and even then, the curriculum would
be
rigorous.
Lion-o watched as Snarf simply rolled over at the foot of the bed.
The
lord had never grown too old to have his fury companion by his side, or
in
this case, at his feet. Stumbling somewhat down to the kitchen, he
fixed
himself toast and a glass of juice and took a seat in the vacant kitchen.
“Morning, love. Sleep well?” was the music that greeted his ears
as he
started in on breakfast. Pumyra hovered over him in an instant,
kneading
his tired shoulders as she spoke. “Sorry I had watch last
night. You could
have traded Snarf for me, you know.” She teased.
“Mmm, good morning, sweetheart.” He craned his neck around and
his lips
gently brushed against hers. “It’s my fault, anyway. I’m
the one who makes
the schedules, remember?” he said with a smile as she took the seat
across
from him.
“Think you could schedule a little mutual off time for us once all
this
dedication ceremony stuff is out of the way?” asked the cougar as she
eyed
up the muscular thunderian leader.
“Oh, I think I can pull a few strings.” He said, leaning forward
to kiss
her. Unexpectedly, he was thrown off the chair and onto the
floor. “The
heck - we must be under attack!” Lifting himself from the ground,
he made
his way around obstacles of chairs, doors, and other Thundercats
before
reaching the control room.
“Hi, Lion-o. Something wrong?” asked Panthro, reading the
expression of
concern from the lion’s face.
“Didn’t you feel the building shake? It was like the lair was
being fired
on!” exclaimed Lion-o.
“Nope, didn’t feel a thing. You all right?” asked the panther,
still
concerned.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay, I….maybe I just slipped off my chair.”
Reasoned
Lion-o.
“Well…okay.” Panthro seemed as unsure of Lion-o’s answer as Lion-o
himself
did as the lord left the room.
He managed to get only about six paces down the hall before he began to
be
shaken around violently again. This time, he ducked into a broom
closet.
There was much less space than in the hallway, and less of a distance
for
him to be thrown about in.
The jostling continued for what seemed like hours, but when he attempted
to
open the door, he found it to be jammed shut. In a panic, he kicked
at it,
screamed out for help, and finally grabbed hold of a mop, clutching
it
tightly against himself as he squeezed his eyes shut.
“Lion-o!”
He opened one eye. Darkness surrounded him.
“Lion-o!”
Both eyes, now. Blinking. Vision was hazy. He was on his
back, and in
such a smaller area than before, it seemed.
“Lion-o!”
One foot came forward to strike the door. Then the other.
Within seconds,
he was flailing about, kicking and pounding both fists wildly around
at
anything they could hit.
Light exploded as the door opened. “Here you are. We were
worried about
you.” A hand was extended to Lion-o, which he took hold of.
One which was
coupled with a farmiliar voice - Tygra’s, to be exact.
“Thank you, Tygra.” He said, somewhat embarrassed. His own voice
sounded
higher pitched and raspier than normal - due most likely to the
screaming
he’d done earlier.
“At your service, Lord Lion-o.” replied the tiger, helping
Lion-o to his
feet. To the lion’s horror, he was unable to look Tygra in the
eyes.
“What happened?” he exclaimed in that same, small voice.
“Thundera was destroyed. We had to relocate here.” Tygra
outstretched his
arms, motioning to the hundreds of other thunderians who were climbing
from
suspension pods which covered the entire landscape. More were
raining down,
all the way out to the horizon.
“I - I know that. But - I’m
little! I’m just a cub!” he protested.
“Although we left Thundera nearly two decades ago, the capsules kept
us
from aging.”
There was a sick feeling building in his stomach. “Where’s Snarf?”
asked
the cub. “I want to talk to him.”
Tygra cast his eyes downward. “I’m afraid that even with the
suspension
pods, sometimes, oversights occur. Snarf did not survive the
journey.” He
explained as Lion-o’s mouth hung open. “And…neither did
Cheetara or
Panthro.” He added sadly.
Lion-o shivered, trying to ignore the tears running down his
face.
“But…but what about the Berbils? And Mumm-ra? And Hook
Mountain, and
Snowmeow, and Snowman, and Hatchiman? What about the Lunataks,
the
Berzerkers, Safari Joe, and the Warrior Maidens, and Officer Mandora?
And…and what about Snarfer, Lynx-o, Bengali, and Pumyra?” Asked
Lion-o,
looking up at the tiger, visibly shaking now. Wilykit and Wilykat
looked on
from not far away, somewhat in awe of the imagination Lion-o seemed to
have.
“Lion-o,” said Tygra, placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder, “You
must have
been dreaming.”
The End