The Sirens Song, Chapter 2
We have been here since the dawn of man. We were born of the Darkness, our great father, he who fought against the lights of the world and lost now lies weak and curses the lights, those of the moon and stars and even the ever burning sun. But we endure. We have been called legend and myth, stories to frighten small children into obedience. Some say we are nothing but fairy tales, some say we never existed at all. They are all wrong, for we do exist and we live! And we are hungry! "I don't know why we have to dress up. It's only a baby shower, not a royal ball!" Blade protested. "Back on the world of Sprite we would have just feasted and presented gifts after the child was born, not before. It is a bad tradition." "I know my love, but that is the way things are done here." Link said as he adjusted the belt holding Blade's formal robes together. With a final tug he smiled and gazed into the eyes of his lover. "Now don't you make a right royal prince." Blade laughed, causing his muscular body to shake in mirth. "Never, my liege!" he said, knowing this would get a rise out of Link. As predicatble about his parantage as ever, Link smirked and said "Only because my mother and father were King and Queen of Sprite. It wasn't my idea." "Be that as it may, you are still the most beautiful prince I have ever laid eyes on." Blade said as he pulled Link in for a fierce kiss. The amirite royal kissed back just a fiercely then pulled back. "We better get downstairs now or we may never get to the party." The darker liger grinned. "Would that be so bad?" Link laughed and opened the door. "Forget it lover, you're not getting out of the party. Now march!" Together the two men went downstairs where Cheetara and Panthro were receiving vistors and well wishers. The Great Hall was festooned with bright banners of pink and blue while balloons of silver and gold floated around aimlessly overhead. In her rocking chair Cheetara glowed with happiness, her advanced pregnancy making it hard for her to stand up for too long. Beside her Panthro beamed as friends and family congratulated and praised them. Some knowing parents even went so far as to wish them the best of luck, knowing how challenging parenthood is. From her chair, Cheetara looked around the room and smiled at all the happy couples. To the left of her was Lion-o and his recently annointed queen, Lynxana. The cheetah saw that the new queen already had a glass of champange in her hand, but she wasn't worried. Ever since their marriage had been recognized by the council, Lynxana had calmed down quite a bit and hardly drank at all anymore. It had shocked everyone when this announcement had come down and it had been an even bigger surprise to find out that it had been Tygra, leader of the council, who had been her biggest champion.Surprising because everyone knew that Tygra and Lynxana were like oil and water; hardly ever getting along. Cheetara secretly suspected that this was because of Az. Tygra would do just about anything to please his human mate. Thinking of them, Cheetara searched them out and found Tygra speaking to a well known Tuskan scientist and seeming to enjoy the conversation. Beside him Az swirled the contents of her glass while her eyes wandered the room in boredom. When she caught Cheetara's eye, she blushed a bit, looked at her mate, rolled her eyes then shrugged her shoulders and smiled in resignation. Because she was so bored, she did not see the blur of yellow fur that raced past her, snatching the glass from her hand. "Taz! You bring that back here this instant!" Az yelled, yet she could not keep the smile off her face. She had been bored with all this shop talk between scientist so this brief reprive was welcomed. Taz, a man of Cheetara's own clan, came to a halt and took a big draught of the champange then answered with a grin. "You snooze, you lose angel girl!" Tygra stopped his conversation to look sharply at the male cheetah and frowned in his direction. The very mention of "Angel" always made him a bit nervous and who could blame him? After Az had come so close to losing her soul to someone as evil as Elias, he could never hear that name without a mental shudder. Cheetara herself had not been here; she had been on New Thundera manning the New Cat's Lair. She had asked for her reassignment after her near death experience and after entering this time and demension. As if sensing her thought, Tara came over with a glass of Berbil Fruit Punch. "How are you doing sister?" Sister. It had taken her a while to accept this term of endearment, but it was as close to the truth as any. Several years ago Cheetara had been running her paces as she normally did when she had been tripped and plunged headfirst over the cliffs. Before she had hit the rocks, her pyschic energy had raged out of control due to her fear and a perfect copy of herself was created. Both were Cheetara; both with the same memories, feelings, and powers.Everything was duplicated right down to the DNA molecules. The real Cheetara had fallen to her death and was later combined with Tashi to create Tara while the copy had been suspended in time and space until she had been needed. * "I'm doing fine, just looking around." Then she nodded towards Taz. "I think your man is going to get it here soon." Tara looked up and grinned to see Az shooting a thin beam of light at the masculine cheetah, setting the edge of his battle apron on fire. Taz jumped and started smacking at his legs, trying to get the fire out. When the blaze began to grow Tara sighed and said, "I told that boy that messing with Az was playing with fire. Now maybe he will listen to me!" and walked off to help her lover with his predicament. Cheetara giggled as Tara grabbed a glass of water and put out the flames in one drenching, then looked to see where Lynx-o and Pumyra were. The lynx was smiling from ear to ear with the puma beside him but the events of the previous year and the secrets revealed had taken a toll on the older man. He had formally mated Pumyra and had taken her with him back to New Thundera with him. It wasn't that he didn't trust his woman around Tygra, it was just that he felt better with her within ear shot. The mated couple were able to be at this party only because Wilykat, being the only Thundercat not in a relationship, had offered to watch over the affairs of New Thundera until they could return. Pumyra was talking to Wilykit, who herself was beginning to show the glow of pregnancy, though she wasn't yet showing. However the love that her handsome white tiger showed her was apparent to all. Bengali had never seemed so happy and Cheetara hoped that this would never change. Everything seemed perfect and the cheetah smiled in contentment. A slight kick in her ribcage caused her to smile wider. "So you're happy too, are you little one?" Panthro bent down to hear his mate. "What was that?" "Nothing." she said as she rubbed her belly lightly to get the child back to sleep. "I was just saying to the baby how happy I was right now." The panther straightened up and said nothing, but he too was happy with the way his life was right now. Many miles away a shadowy figure waited in the forest for word on their prey. Shortly another joined and they began to speak lowly. "Have you seen them? Are they strong and virile?" asked the first being, the voice gravelly yet with a touch of a femine lisp. "Yes." hissed the second voice, also sounding a bit like a woman. "They are perfect for our designs." "How many?" "There are eight in total, though two of them may prove to be difficult." "Nonsense, none has ever resisted us and none ever shall!" the first said, the anger causing the other to cower. "Go. Tell the others to prepare. Give them all the information they need to be ready, for we attack on the morn." "As you command!" Silently the second figure slipped away, almost undectible to the untrained eye while the first stayed behind to gaze upon the Cat's Lair, the eyes blazing red with greed and determination. "Soon, very soon, we shall be strong again."
We have been here since the dawn of man. We were born of the Darkness, our great father, he who fought against the lights of the world and lost now lies weak and curses the lights, those of the moon and stars and even the ever burning sun. But we endure. We have been called legend and myth, stories to frighten small children into obedience. Some say we are nothing but fairy tales, some say we never existed at all. They are all wrong, for we do exist and we live! And we are hungry! "I don't know why we have to dress up. It's only a baby shower, not a royal ball!" Blade protested. "Back on the world of Sprite we would have just feasted and presented gifts after the child was born, not before. It is a bad tradition." "I know my love, but that is the way things are done here." Link said as he adjusted the belt holding Blade's formal robes together. With a final tug he smiled and gazed into the eyes of his lover. "Now don't you make a right royal prince." Blade laughed, causing his muscular body to shake in mirth. "Never, my liege!" he said, knowing this would get a rise out of Link. As predicatble about his parantage as ever, Link smirked and said "Only because my mother and father were King and Queen of Sprite. It wasn't my idea." "Be that as it may, you are still the most beautiful prince I have ever laid eyes on." Blade said as he pulled Link in for a fierce kiss. The amirite royal kissed back just a fiercely then pulled back. "We better get downstairs now or we may never get to the party." The darker liger grinned. "Would that be so bad?" Link laughed and opened the door. "Forget it lover, you're not getting out of the party. Now march!" Together the two men went downstairs where Cheetara and Panthro were receiving vistors and well wishers. The Great Hall was festooned with bright banners of pink and blue while balloons of silver and gold floated around aimlessly overhead. In her rocking chair Cheetara glowed with happiness, her advanced pregnancy making it hard for her to stand up for too long. Beside her Panthro beamed as friends and family congratulated and praised them. Some knowing parents even went so far as to wish them the best of luck, knowing how challenging parenthood is. From her chair, Cheetara looked around the room and smiled at all the happy couples. To the left of her was Lion-o and his recently annointed queen, Lynxana. The cheetah saw that the new queen already had a glass of champange in her hand, but she wasn't worried. Ever since their marriage had been recognized by the council, Lynxana had calmed down quite a bit and hardly drank at all anymore. It had shocked everyone when this announcement had come down and it had been an even bigger surprise to find out that it had been Tygra, leader of the council, who had been her biggest champion.Surprising because everyone knew that Tygra and Lynxana were like oil and water; hardly ever getting along. Cheetara secretly suspected that this was because of Az. Tygra would do just about anything to please his human mate. Thinking of them, Cheetara searched them out and found Tygra speaking to a well known Tuskan scientist and seeming to enjoy the conversation. Beside him Az swirled the contents of her glass while her eyes wandered the room in boredom. When she caught Cheetara's eye, she blushed a bit, looked at her mate, rolled her eyes then shrugged her shoulders and smiled in resignation. Because she was so bored, she did not see the blur of yellow fur that raced past her, snatching the glass from her hand. "Taz! You bring that back here this instant!" Az yelled, yet she could not keep the smile off her face. She had been bored with all this shop talk between scientist so this brief reprive was welcomed. Taz, a man of Cheetara's own clan, came to a halt and took a big draught of the champange then answered with a grin. "You snooze, you lose angel girl!" Tygra stopped his conversation to look sharply at the male cheetah and frowned in his direction. The very mention of "Angel" always made him a bit nervous and who could blame him? After Az had come so close to losing her soul to someone as evil as Elias, he could never hear that name without a mental shudder. Cheetara herself had not been here; she had been on New Thundera manning the New Cat's Lair. She had asked for her reassignment after her near death experience and after entering this time and demension. As if sensing her thought, Tara came over with a glass of Berbil Fruit Punch. "How are you doing sister?" Sister. It had taken her a while to accept this term of endearment, but it was as close to the truth as any. Several years ago Cheetara had been running her paces as she normally did when she had been tripped and plunged headfirst over the cliffs. Before she had hit the rocks, her pyschic energy had raged out of control due to her fear and a perfect copy of herself was created. Both were Cheetara; both with the same memories, feelings, and powers.Everything was duplicated right down to the DNA molecules. The real Cheetara had fallen to her death and was later combined with Tashi to create Tara while the copy had been suspended in time and space until she had been needed. * "I'm doing fine, just looking around." Then she nodded towards Taz. "I think your man is going to get it here soon." Tara looked up and grinned to see Az shooting a thin beam of light at the masculine cheetah, setting the edge of his battle apron on fire. Taz jumped and started smacking at his legs, trying to get the fire out. When the blaze began to grow Tara sighed and said, "I told that boy that messing with Az was playing with fire. Now maybe he will listen to me!" and walked off to help her lover with his predicament. Cheetara giggled as Tara grabbed a glass of water and put out the flames in one drenching, then looked to see where Lynx-o and Pumyra were. The lynx was smiling from ear to ear with the puma beside him but the events of the previous year and the secrets revealed had taken a toll on the older man. He had formally mated Pumyra and had taken her with him back to New Thundera with him. It wasn't that he didn't trust his woman around Tygra, it was just that he felt better with her within ear shot. The mated couple were able to be at this party only because Wilykat, being the only Thundercat not in a relationship, had offered to watch over the affairs of New Thundera until they could return. Pumyra was talking to Wilykit, who herself was beginning to show the glow of pregnancy, though she wasn't yet showing. However the love that her handsome white tiger showed her was apparent to all. Bengali had never seemed so happy and Cheetara hoped that this would never change. Everything seemed perfect and the cheetah smiled in contentment. A slight kick in her ribcage caused her to smile wider. "So you're happy too, are you little one?" Panthro bent down to hear his mate. "What was that?" "Nothing." she said as she rubbed her belly lightly to get the child back to sleep. "I was just saying to the baby how happy I was right now." The panther straightened up and said nothing, but he too was happy with the way his life was right now. Many miles away a shadowy figure waited in the forest for word on their prey. Shortly another joined and they began to speak lowly. "Have you seen them? Are they strong and virile?" asked the first being, the voice gravelly yet with a touch of a femine lisp. "Yes." hissed the second voice, also sounding a bit like a woman. "They are perfect for our designs." "How many?" "There are eight in total, though two of them may prove to be difficult." "Nonsense, none has ever resisted us and none ever shall!" the first said, the anger causing the other to cower. "Go. Tell the others to prepare. Give them all the information they need to be ready, for we attack on the morn." "As you command!" Silently the second figure slipped away, almost undectible to the untrained eye while the first stayed behind to gaze upon the Cat's Lair, the eyes blazing red with greed and determination. "Soon, very soon, we shall be strong again."