September 13, 1999

Written by Zhie, Edited by Faero

To see reviews of this story, click here.

        It was a warm spring evening on Third Earth. Snarf had just cleared away the plates and such from supper that evening. He flipped off the lights in the dining room, and made his way into the main control room. Tygra was on watch for the first part of the night. Lion-o had the second watch, and had gone to his room to rest until then. Kit and Kat were also in their room (although not necessarily asleep, as Snarf knew was often the case.)

        "Brrhh, snarf, snarf, where did Panthro go?" asked Snarf. "He was in here after dinner." He padded across on all fours to where Tygra was seated at the main console.

        "He decided it was too nice of a night to stay indoors. He said he was going to take a little cruise around the area." Tygra told him. "That way he could do a little night patrol out there, too. Catch what I don’t on the sensors."

        "It sure is starting to get dark out there, snarf, snarf." the furry creature worried.

        "Oh, Snarf, I think Panthro can easily take care of himself." Tygra laughed.

        "Not Panthro, Tygra. Cheetara went out for a run after dinner. I just hope she doesn’t get lost out there." Snarf said.

        "She’ll be fine, snarf." Tygra assured him.

* * *

        Panthro was enjoying the twilight breezes as he swerved the ‘tank around trees and away from Cat’s Lair. He was awfully glad that the anointment trials were over with – he and Tygra had been somewhat worried about what would happen if Lion-o didn’t pass the trials, but all that was behind them.

        He drove the Thundertank at a leisurely pace near the Berbil Village. He was careful not to drive too close – he still wasn’t sure if they slept at night or what – there was quite a lot he didn’t know about this planet yet. It was the main reason he had decided to take the Thundertank out for a drive this evening – to do a little exploring. He had tried to find Cheetara before he left, since she didn’t have watch until the next morning either, but he had overheard Snarf telling Lion-o she was out on a run. Panthro was hoping that he’d run into her, so to speak.

        It had been awhile since he’d had a conversation with someone about something other than building blueprints and vehicle plans, or Mumm-ra and the pesky mutants. Back on Thundera, it was somewhat like that, too. Most everyone spent their free time discussing how they would evacuate the planet, and things like that. There was one person, however, who always seemed able to completely put the "shop talk" aside and discuss last week’s Snarfball game or analyze Shakespeare with him when he wanted to. This was one such occasion that he needed a break from protecting the universe…

        He turned left near a wooded area. As he slowly maneuvered the vehicle past a clearing, he caught a bit of commotion out of the corner of his eye. Someone was behind the foliage about forty or fifty paces off. He couldn’t get the ‘tank to where they were without running over some of the bushes, so he turned off the engine and strode over to get a better look. It seemed awfully strange that anyone should be out this late, but then again, it was a beautiful night.

        As he approached, he noticed that there was a pond in the middle of the clearing. A few small forest creatures, unicorns and such, were at the opposite end drinking from the crystal clear pool. Another creature, although not one of the forest, became visible as he came around the brush. She was neck deep in water and looking rather sheepish. "Funny place to take a run." He observed.

        "Uh, hi." she said. " I *was* going to make a dive for it and hope you might not notice me, but I wasn’t really sure how long I could hold my breathe." she grinned.

        "Now why would you have done that?" he asked the cheetah.

        "Well…" she motioned cautiously by his feet. Panthro looked down, finding that he had almost stepped atop her uniform and weapon, which were a bit further away, under a grouping of bushes. He looked back at her. "Aw, come on. Nothing to be modest about. I saw you like that all the time on Thundera."

        The comment triggered many old memories for Cheetara. "Yeah, well, we’re not exactly on Thundera anymore, Panthro." she reminded him.

        "How’s the water?" asked the panther as he tossed his nunchukas down next to Cheetara’s staff.

        "It’s fairly cool, but extremely soothing. Hey, what do you think you’re doing?" she exclaimed, as he stripped off his uniform.

        "I figured you come use some company." he said, dumping the clothing aside. "How deep is it?" Panthro asked her.

        "Can’t quite stand on the bottom in the middle. Not very shallow on the edges, either." she informed the other ThunderCat.

        Panthro nodded and dove in. He swam around under water almost a full minute, forcing himself to adjust to the harsher temperature. He resurfaced behind her. "Boo!" he shouted, then laughed.

        "Oh no. You’ve frightened me." she said in monotone, and then, turning to him, slapped his left shoulder with the palm of her hand. "Tag – you’re it!" She dove down and resurfaced fifteen meters to his right.

        It wasn’t the conversation that he had expected, it was actually much better. He gave chase. As fast as she was on land, she had no great advantage while underwater, and he was easily able to catch up to her at the shallow end after a few darts around the pond.

        Panthro plunged one hand down into the water and grabbed her firm ass. "Tag – you’re it."

        "Hey!" she nearly jumped straight up out of the water. "That move is *not* in the rules."

        "It is when you play with me, honey." he said, flashing her a smile.

        "And what other moves do you have in your playbook for the evening?" she questioned demurely.

        "Well, I don’t usually reveal the whole book at once, but since you asked…" he said, moving closer to her. "…there’s this one." He told her, grasping her shoulders tenderly and dragging his hands down along her arms, over her hands, and around her hips, where he allowed them to stay and massage the area.

        "That’s a pretty good one." the cheetah, her voice quavering just a slight bit.

        "And this one." he said, moving his hands down a bit further, grabbing hold of her well conditioned ass. He squeezed the smooth flesh in his hands.

        "That’s also very nice." she purred.

        "And this." Another adjustment brought his hands up to her firm breasts, which he cupped in his hands and began to suckle on.

        "Mmrph." Cheetara began to lean closer towards him as he continued, closing her eyes, savoring each and every moment. She rested her arms over his shoulders.

        "And…" he drew her into his arms, pressing her closely to him. Her arms slipped around his neck. Panthro took a step closer so that they were meshed against one another. "…this." He said softly, gazing into her eyes. Gently, slowly, carefully, he wrapped one hand around the back of her neck and with the other drew her nearer by tightening his hold around her waist. Drawing a deep breath, he leaned forward. Her soft, full lips beckoned him without saying a word. He pressed his mouth firmly against hers. The sensation nearly caused Cheetara’s legs to crumple beneath her. She wavered slightly in the water, basked in the moonlight, but Panthro held firmly onto her. After a moment, the two parted briefly for air.

        A few feet behind them was a sort of ledge half submerged under the water. Panthro’s hands encircled the waist of the female cheetah. He easily lifted her up and sat her upon the ledge and grinned up at her. "The water still feeling cold to you?" he asked. She grinned back and shook her head.

        He continued to gaze upon her. "You are so beautiful." he whispered.

        "Oh, get off it." she giggled.

        "Well, now, I did have something along those lines in mind." he said, running his hands along her thighs.

        "I assumed as much." said the spotted sphinx.

        "Well, of course, if you don’t want to, I’d understand." He looked off into the distance for a moment, then focused back on her. "Actually, I guess I wouldn’t understand why you would pass up such an…opportunity." he winked.

        "You are so full of it!" laughed Cheetara. She kicked her foot against the water, sending millions of droplets to splash against the panther’s face. He responded by lifting her off the perch and carrying her to the deep part of the pond.

        "Don’t you dare!" she kicked her legs a couple of times before he reached his destination, but her fidgeting did nothing to help her escape. Once there, he promptly dropped her. The pond sucked her in, bubbles and foam creating a froth atop the surface surrounding Panthro. For an instant, but only an instant, he worried. And then, something began to tug at his left leg. His balance was lost, arms flailed out at his sides, the liquid engulfed him. Twisting around, his vision cleared, and he made out the figure of Cheetara, hands wrapped around his ankle, smirking at him. He squirmed out of her grasp, and burst through the water’s surface, a split second before she did.

        "That’s no way to treat a lady." she smiled at him, wringing out her mane.

        "You seemed to enjoy it." he gasped, trying to refill his lungs.

        She shrugged, then dove under again. He glanced around, trying to guess where she would resurface, but then felt her brush beside him in the water. She encircled him. He felt her anchor onto his legs. His knees became weak, but he stood his ground. She stayed submerged for what seemed an eternity to Panthro, yet in reality, was less than a minute. She stroked, licked, and nibbled, before returning to the surface to find a very pleased panther.

        "Mmmm…you must be a water sign." he mused, petting anything and everything he could get his hands on.

        "Well, I do like to get wet." she giggled.

*    *    *

        Cheetara sat on the edge of the pond dangling her legs in the water. Panthro had decided to swim a few laps around the pond before they headed back to the lair. The cheetah swatted a few insects away from her. She already had a few bites along her arms and neck, probably from earlier. She grinned and sunk back into the water.

        Panthro swam over to her. "Come back for more?" he asked, giving her rear a hearty squeeze.

        "I don’t know. I’m pretty worn out." she said, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and resting her head against his chest.

        "Aw, that’s okay, baby. It’s hard enough to handle me once." he grinned, and slapped at her rear, although underwater, it was more of a pat. A rustling in the bushes changed the mood.

        "Hello? Panthro?" Cheetara’s eyes widened. They both knew exactly whose voice that was. She took a huge gulp of air and plunged underwater. Panthro, who’s reflexes didn’t respond as quickly to the newcomer’s presence, looked up dumbly at the approaching figure.

        "Tygra…nice to see you. Aren’t you on watch?" Panthro asked. He began to wonder how long Cheetara could stay submerged so they didn’t blow their cover.

        "No, Lion-o’s on watch now. You’ve been gone for quite a few hours – Cheetara as well. I couldn’t pick you up on the scanners, and the sword didn’t sense danger, so I thought I’d just check and make sure things we okay." the council leader responded.

        "No, no problems here. Just taking a swim." she still hadn’t surfaced, but Panthro didn’t want to start looking around. The water was so clear that he knew he’d be able to see where she was, but so would Tygra, and he was trying to keep the tiger’s attention off of the rest of the scenery, including their clothing, scattered only meters away from him, still half hidden under the bushes. "Well, I’m fine, I’ll be back soon. You might want to go look for Cheetara if you’re still worried. I think she might be in the forest of unicorns." the panther bluffed. He just wanted Tygra to go somewhere else – anywhere else. Now he knew how Lion-o felt when Snarf was on his heels.

        "I already checked the forest on my way here." said Tygra, bluffing as well.  He wasn't as dense as they thought him to be sometimes.

        "Right. Berbil Village?" he was getting impatient, when a sudden burst of water exploded a yard or so behind him. She shook out her mane and sighed. Tygra only made a low guttural growling noise.

        "Hey, lay off. We’d have asked you along, but you can’t swim any way." Cheetara countered, sending a stream of water towards him. It hit him in the left shoulder, and he squirmed trying to get it off of him, as if it were some evil force that had latched onto him.

        "I bet he’s so afraid, he won’t take a bath in the tub." exclaimed Panthro, "Probably still uses the sink."

        "Yeah, he probably wears a life vest when he drinks a glass of water." Cheetara teased.

        Another growling noise came from the tiger, this one louder, and more menacing, but not one that could stop their comments.  They had been coming up with new and original ways to tease him about his inability to swim after an incident on Thundera when he fell off a canoe the three of them were on and into a lake.  He flailed around for a few minutes before realizing that there was only three and a half feet of water underneath him.  They hadn't let him forget since.

        "I bet he won’t go out when it’s raining for hear he’ll drown!" the two were enjoying a laugh at the expense of Tygra, who was not amused to say the least. He tried to act as if he hadn’t heard their jests. "You two are going to have a helluva time when you get out of there. You’re soaking wet – how do you plan to dry off?"

        "No problem." Panthro said, beginning to backstroke. "There’s a couple of emergency blankets in the back of the ‘tank."

        "Do you have a backup plan?" Tygra asked, a mild playfulness entering his voice.

        "Why would I need a backup plan?" questioned the panther.

        "Jaga always said you should have a backup plan – be prepared for anything." said Tygra.

        Cheetara raised an eyebrow and smirked. "And why would we need to heed Jaga’s advice now?"

        "You never can tell when something will happen. Like this." And with that, the tiger gathered up their garments and weapons in one swoop. He sprinted to the Thundertank and tossed the items into the front seat, all except Cheetara’s staff, which had rolled out of his grasp. The two other adult Thundercats hesitated only a moment before scrambling out of the water. That extra moment was all that Tygra needed to rev up the ‘tank and drive towards the lair, laughing loudly as he glanced over his shoulder to see an enraged Panthro trying to chase him down. Now this was fun.

        "Aw, damn." Panthro kicked his foot into the ground, forgetting the fact that he had no protective footgear on. He winced and cursed at his mistake. Sitting himself on a large rock, he began to dig the soil out from under his toes. "I’m going to hazard a guess that you can’t catch up to him." Panthro said as Cheetara retrieved her staff.
She nodded. "Without my boots, if I run and hit a rock or something, I’ll tear up my foot. And I’m still a little worn out for that, anyway. It’s still somewhat dark out, and we can probably make it back to the lair fairly quickly. We’re not too far away."

        "At least I know where Kit and Kat get it from." Grumbled Panthro. "Well then, let’s go." The pair took off at a steady jog towards home. "When I get my hands on that striped jackal…" threatened Panthro.

        "Oh, please, allow me." Cheetara insisted, her teeth chattering a bit. The early morning hours brought with them a cool breeze, chilling the air, as well as Cheetara, and her damp fur only added to the cold.

        The two approached the lair cautiously. "Now what?" asked Cheetara, arriving moments before Panthro. They stood across from the lair, the sun starting to peek out from behind the structure’s massive head. The drawbridge had already been retracted, the Thundertank safely on the other side.

        "Where is he?" hissed Panthro. In his hand was a large rock. Where he had picked that up, lords’ only knew. Cheetara didn’t remember him grabbing the object, but then again, she had been much more concerned with the cold and how to explain this to Lion-o when they got to the lair.

        "A bit drafty out here tonight, isn’t it?" called out a voice in answer to the question. Upon arriving at the lair, Tygra had retracted the bridge, then used his bolo whip to turn himself invisible.

        "Okay, Tygra, jokes over. Put the bridge back." Panthro said.

        "And if I do, what’s to say that you won’t try and get back at me for leaving you in your, ah, present state." Tygra snickered. It was his turn to do the teasing now.

        "It’s what I’ll do if you don’t put that bridge back." Panthro shouted. Then, to Cheetara, he said, "Maybe we should use that hidden communicator in your staff to call Lion-o. It’s better than freezing out here and being taunted to him."

        "Good idea, but I’ve got a better use for my staff than that." Cheetara backed up from the drop off to the moat, then ran forward. As she approached the edge, she extended the staff and used it to vault over the moat. She landed cleanly on the other side, then hit the emergency extension switch on the drawbridge. Within a minute, Panthro had joined her on the other side.

        "Ah, well, it was fun while it lasted." laughed the tiger.

        "Who says it’s over?" said Panthro. He looked in the front seat of the ‘tank, expecting to find his nunchukas and their clothing, yet found nothing.

        "Oh, yes, I do suppose you’ll be wanting your uniforms back." Tygra said slyly.

        "Damn right, we do." Cheetara took a swing at the air from which the voice originated.

        "Stee-rike one." announced Tygra, dodging out of the way. Cheetara took another try. "Swing and a miss, strike two." Tygra offered.

        "New batter." said Panthro, swinging his leg around to try and hit the tiger, but he missed as well. "Strike three, you’re out."

        "Actually, this is going to be pretty funny, watching the two of you walk in there. I’m going to enjoy this." he laughed. He was standing directly between Cheetara and Panthro, although they didn’t know it. At least, they didn’t until Panthro noticed the puddle which was forming between the two of them. The tiger continued to point out the misfortunes of their predicament, while Panthro motioned at the droplets of water sliding off of the invisible figure and clustering beneath him. Cheetara’s eyes widened as he let her in on this little secret. The two nodded to each other.

        "Y’know, Tygra, you’re right." Panthro interrupted. "We should have waited for you and taken you along." he admitted.

        "Glad you’ve realized your mistake." Tygra said, jokingly. "But that’s not going to make me make myself visible or give you your stuff back."

        "That’s okay. We’ll just have to go back into the lair, then. But, I thought we’d ask if you’d like to come with us the next time we swim." said Cheetara.

        "Just tell me when." The tiger said. He was starting to worry a bit.  This was going much more smoothly than he had expected.

        "I’m thinking I’d like to take another right now." Panthro said.

        "Me too." said Cheetara with an almost evil grin.

        "Maybe later." Tygra said quickly, beginning to back away.

        Panthro jumped at the opportunity before he lost it. He kicked his leg around at the same time Cheetara’s staff connected with the tiger. Tygra lost his balance, dropping the clothing and Panthro’s weapon, teetering backwards. The morning had brought in the high tide, and the water in the moat was high as well. Tygra fell backwards into the water, sputtering as he came up to the surface. Panthro and Cheetara quickly grabbed their things and put their clothing back on.

        "Think we should fish him out?" asked Cheetara.

        "If you insist." said Panthro. He went to the edge of the moat as Tygra’s whip came up over the edge, latching onto a tree. The tiger pulled himself up and shook himself off. Instead of being pissed, Tygra was laughing. "I guess I asked for that." he said.

        "Damn right you did." Panthro said, then added, "Next time, we’ll let you tag along."

        "And maybe, we’ll even let you play with us." Cheetara winked.

        The three climbed the steps up to the lair as the sun rose behind it, signaling an end to the night and the beginning of the new day.