Trust Issues -- Chapters 11 and 12
Another two chapters for your enjoyment. ;) Chapter 11 The Sword of Omens gave Lion-O what he ordered. It showed the outside of Cat’s Lair and it scanned around. The Lord of the ThunderCats didn’t see anything and he was beginning to wonder what was going on. “I don’t see anything.” He said as he pulled the Sword away from his face and sheathed it inside the Claw Shield. “That makes no sense. Why would the sensors go off and then nothing be there?” Ben-Gali asked. “I have no idea unless they malfunctioned. Let me get up to the control room and check and see.” Panthro said. “All right, we’ll keep working on the navigational panels.” Lion-O told him. The panther nodded and headed upstairs while Ben-Gali got back to work. Before joining the white tiger, Lion-O turned to Cheetara. “You should be in bed.” He told his wife as he wrapped his hands around her waist. “No, I can’t lay there anymore. I need to get up and move around. I want to hold Sahara.” The cheetah argued crossing her hands over her chest. “I just want you to be one-hundred percent. I worry you know.” Lion-O smiled. “I know you do but trust me I’m all right.” Cheetara said, moving her hands onto his muscular forearms. The Lord of the ThunderCats leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. “Promise me you’ll have Tygra check you out before you do anything else.” He told her. “I promise.” The cheetah gave him a peck on the cheek and then headed back upstairs to find the orange tiger. Outside the Lair, Dolosa hid in the shadows, trying to avoid the staring gaze of the Cat’s Eyes. Getting into this place is going to be harder than I thought, she said to herself. However, the shadow creature wasn’t about to let the ThunderCats stop her. With her plan proposed to Mumm-Ra it was too late to turn back now. Besides, it only took one ThunderCat and then the rest of the group would follow. Back on the inside of the Lair, Panthro struggled to understand why the sensors were picking up something that didn’t appear to be there. “Let’s run a thermal scan, see if we can’t pick up something that way.” He told the Kittens. WilyKit hit the buttons and a thermal scan commenced. After about five minutes it reported absolutely nothing. “Well that didn’t help.” Kat sighed. “All right well let me go up in the Cat’s Head and check a few things. We’ll be down for a few minutes but its possible there is only something flying around up there.” The panther told them. “Like when we had that bat problem about a year ago?” Kit asked. This made Panthro swallow hard. If there was one thing he couldn’t seem to handle, it was bats. “Do you want me to go with you?” Kat volunteered. “No, just keep an eye on the monitors in case you see anything.” The panther told them. No way was he going to have someone else up there in case there were bats. No way was he getting embarrassed. Without saying anything else he headed out of the control room and up toward the Cat’s Head. Dolosa watched as the great red eyes shutdown. Now was her chance. She slipped through the darkness and found her way to the main door of Cat’s Lair. With ease, the shadowy figure slipped between the cracks and entered the ThunderCats’ fortress. Like taking candy from a baby, she smirked. Chapter 12 Tygra checked over Cheetara in the sick bay. He was still puzzled by her condition but it appeared that she was doing fine now. “You seem perfectly healthy.” He told her. “You make that sound like it’s a bad thing.” Cheetara smirked. “I guess I’m just confused is all. One minute you’re lying on the floor passed out cold and you don’t wake up for two days. Then suddenly you’re better, as if it didn’t happen at all.” Tygra shrugged. “Well as long as I’m better, I’m happy.” She told him. He nodded and smiled. The orange tiger had always wished that he had acted on the feelings he kept buried deep inside for her but now it was too late. She was married to Lion-O and they had Sahara. “You ok, Tygra?” Cheetara asked. “I’m fine.” He said shaking his head as he pulled the stethoscope off and moved to put it away in the cabinet. The cheetah sensed that something was wrong but she didn’t push it. “All right well I’m going to see if the guys need help and then check up on Sahara. I’ll see you later.” She smiled. Again Tygra nodded and the cheetah took off. The orange tiger just sighed and slowly padded out of the room. Absorbed in his thoughts as he walked down the hall toward his bedchamber he didn’t even notice that something seemed to be following him. It could sense what he was feeling and knew that this cat would be its first victim. “Tygra.” A voice called to him. “Who’s there?” He asked as he spun around. “Someone who wants you.” The figure stood in the shadows. “Who are you?” Tygra asked not sure what this thing was. Then she stepped out from her hiding place. “Cheetara?” The tiger was confused now. “But you went to find…” “I changed my mind. I’m sick of being that cub’s play toy. I want a real cat.” The look on her face was one that told him she wasn’t playing around. “I wouldn’t do that to Lion-O.” Tygra said. “Since when does that matter? I know why you didn’t come after Lion-O when he resigned. You didn’t think he was ready, didn’t think he could handle it. Part of you wanted to be Lord of the ThunderCats, after all Jaga chose you to takeover if Lion-O couldn’t cut it.” Cheetara pulled herself very close to the tiger so that their lips were only inches apart. Tygra shook his head. “That’s not true.” He stammered. “Yes it is.” The cheetah looked deeply into his eyes and then pressed her lips against his. Tygra couldn’t help but respond. All the pent up feelings came out. Something inside him just couldn’t stop him from doing what he was doing. That’s when he felt himself getting weaker. His strength seemed to be draining from him. That’s when he heard an all too familiar voice. “What are you two doing?!” The question was shouted from across the hall. Tygra pulled away from the cheetah to see Panthro coming at them. “How could you?!” He bellowed. “I… I…” the orange tiger just stammered. Panthro grabbed Cheetara by the arm before she could take off. “What do you have to say for yourself? I thought you loved Lion-O.” He said. Before he knew it he felt her lips on his. The mighty panther tried to pull away but he couldn’t. He could feel his strength being sapped from him and that’s when they heard, “What the hell is going on here?!” To Be Continued...