This is the prelude to a Thundercats fanfic that's been rummaging inside my head. It's the blossoming of...well, you'll see.





“GAH!” she gasped, jarred from her slumber.

Breathless and afraid, the youngest Thunderkit looked about her in confusion, desperately trying to determine where it was that she was.

“…the woods…” she murmured to herself.

It had been days since she and her brother had fled the city of Thundera after the sudden attack upon the great nation at the hands of the Mumm-Ra and his minions. It was a tragic day for her people, but also one of hope as it lead the pair into the company of the new Lord of the Thundercats and his crew. Never in her life had the young kitten dreamed she’d be sharing a campfire with the highest of the kingdom’s citizens. It was quite a change from begging for money on the street and sleeping in an abandoned hovel of a home. Yet, here she was huddled next to her brother who slept soundly beside her with the other Thundercats spread out around a dying fire in the cool of night.

“Can’t sleep?” a voice asked.

“Eh?” she exclaimed, realizing that she was not the only one unable to find sleep this night. “Lion-o?” she squeaked, peering just passed the meager campfire where the young king sat, his back turned to her as he spoke. “I…I had a bad dream.” she admitted, scrambling to her feet.

In a heartbeat she had scurried over to his side, dropping unceremoniously beside him.

“Must have been some awful dream.” he said, glancing down at her. “Your face is red.”

The tiniest cat touched her cheeks, trying in vain to dismiss the redness that had found its way there. She heard him chuckle, his first sign of merriment in days, which only served to deepen the crimson tinting her visage.

“Sorry.” he said, patting her head fondly. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“It’s okay.” she replied, folding her hands atop his as they rested warmly upon her head. “Cheetara told me that you used to laugh a lot before…” she trailed off.

Silently, he withdrew his hand from her hold and restored his eyes to what had held his attention just moments ago. Following his gaze, WilyKit’s eyes drifted up toward the starry moonless sky. Silence ensued between them for what WilyKit was sure was a small eternity before the quiet was broken.

“It’s…hard for me to smile right now.” he confided. “I can’t help but think that I let my father down. I was just a big disappointment to him. He always wanted me to be more like Tygra, but…” he paused, as if searching for the words, yet when he found none…

“But, that’s not right.” the girl said.

“Hmm?” he murmured, returning his attention to his diminutive companion.

“That’s not right.” she repeated. “Tygra is Tygra, so you shouldn’t be more like him. You should be more like Lion-o, because there’s only of you and if you don’t be Lion-o, then no one will be Lion-o.”

The young king regarded the kitten with a blank stare for the expanse of a moment before bursting out into a fit of hearty laughter. Jolted from their slumber by the boisterous commotion, both Tygra and Cheetara were up in an instant ready to defend the group. WilyKat and Snarf, for their part, were content to remain blissfully unaware as sleep maintained its hold over them.

Sheepishly yet at once gleefully, Lion-o and WilyKit looked at the two adults with humor in their eyes.

“Ah…sorry about that.” Lion-o said. “False alarm.”

“I’m sorry, too.” WilyKit chimed in.

Tygra grunted something that Lion-o was certain wasn’t appropriate for young ears while Cheetara simply sighed and returned to her bed of leaves.

“Wow!” Lion-o whispered conspiratorially to WilyKit. “Your brother sleeps heavier than I do.”

The youth giggled. “Yeah, he can sleep through ANYTHING!” she whispered back. “There was this one time…” she continued to say, regaling her teenage companion of the many adventures she shared with her twin counterpart.

The night continued on and the two cats held each other’s company, spinning tales of days gone by. When one began a story, the other finished with a similar one of their own, weaving anecdotes from one past into another as though they were one in the same, as though their separate histories were one.

WilyKit was happy. She had been told of her new king’s former mirth, but she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes. She hadn’t been able to hear the delightful way he chuckled, or seen the way his eyes sparkled when he smiled. Although she was young, she was old enough to know that this feeling she felt for her king was special. She’d never felt it before and she wasn’t sure if she ever would again, but she would remember.

As night drifted to day, the sun began to stretch its light across the horizon, dappling its rays through the trees to greet the travel weary band. The conversations of the evening had long since ended. Neither recalled who had fallen asleep first, or when the grassy stretch of forest floor called them down to it, but when morning arrived and the girl found herself nestled safely beside her flame-haired companion, it didn’t matter. Something had been lit on the inside of her. A fire that she didn’t know was there, but that she was too small, yet, to recognize and explore. But, this was only the beginning of that journey.

…her journey.