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The Shia-m	By : Aline Category: +S through Z > Thundercats Views: 4162 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the series of Thundercats, this belong to Cartoon Network, I think, there's no profit being made from this piece of fanfiction.

Chapter List
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Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters or the series of Thundercats, this belong to Cartoon Network, I think, there’s no profit being made from this piece of fanfiction.

Chapter 02. Younger than anticipated.
Tygra raised his hands over his head and yawned, stretching his muscles in the process. Almost immediately he winced and pulled his arms down. He was still sore despite going an entire day following Cheetara and the healer’s instructions of staying in bed. It had been incredibly boring. What he needed was some exercise to get back in shape. He was not going to lie about uselessly. He was not going to become a burden; that was Lion-O’s job.
He escaped his room and got out of the house that the wolves had assigned them. It was a small cabin, close to the town’s wall and subsequently to the woods. Tygra found a convenient side door and he slipped out unnoticed. It was still early in the morning, and the majority of the village inhabitants were just waking up and barely starting their morning routines. The door Tygra went out from opened to a path that guided the tiger to a nearby stream. Surely the town got its water from there.
He just wanted to explore a bit. Cheetara would kill him if he took too long and they found him missing for breakfast. He walked along the stream for some minutes, as he was almost sure that it’d guide him to a spring. He found himself lapsing unintentionally into old memories that he had thought long forgotten.
The day they had arrived to the village he had been too dizzy and gone to even realize where he was. But the next day, even bedridden, he had recognized the place, or should he say, the alpha wolf.
Yero had visited him to make sure he was going to recover quickly. Tygra had looked at him for the longest time before a muddy memory had arisen. He knew the wolf, and knew the village of black wolves. He had lived in a nearby town with his parents when he had been a young cub. Yero had been pleased that he had remembered him, and had asked him how had he been treated. Tygra hadn’t known at first what to say. He recognized Yero, but too many years had passed by without them seeing each other. Tygra’s memories were blurred and tinted in pain for his parents’ deaths; besides, he had been three when he had been taken to Thundera. There was not much he still remembered from those early years. Yero had seemed to understand and hadn’t pressured much, though Tygra had the feeling that the wolf didn’t feel comfortable around the cats, especially Lion-O.
The tiger stopped for a while and leaned on a tree. He crossed his arms and breathed deeply. It was nice to enjoy the peace and quiet of the forest. He vaguely remembered that he used to play close to the stream when his mother visited the wolves. The spring had swallow waters, and the pups had enjoyed getting wet in summer, when it was too hot to even move. Tygra had often joined them.
He closed his eyes and tried to remember more. His hometown had been close, but he couldn’t precise which way. He was only sure that his parents used to hang out with the wolves a lot. In fact, he had virtually no memories of his hometown. His mother had really spent a lot of time with the black wolves. They had been practically an extended family to him. At least he thought it had been like that. Everything had changed with his parents’ deaths, but Tygra couldn’t remember why.
“You should be resting. Those stitches aren’t ready yet. It’d be too bad if you manage to reopen the wound.”
The tiger smiled despite himself. That voice used to talk to him about the forest and the creatures you could find in it, both real and fantastic. That was one thing that he hadn’t forgotten and held dearly inside him.
“Kraus. I’m not doing any strenuous activity. I’m not about to injure myself, I can assure you.”
The cloaked wolf only nodded. Tygra didn’t remember if he had ever seen the healer’s eyes. The voice was the only thing he remembered of the old wolf.
“Have you eaten something yet?”
“No. I was just about to return.”
“Very well. How about we walk together?”
Tygra smiled again and started to walk with the healer towards the village. The wolf’s presence was incredibly calm and the tiger felt reassured by it, but he couldn’t help to talk with him about a particular memory that was starting to distress him.
“I seem to remember that my mother considered you a very dear friend.”
“We were close. She and your father were much appreciated by the pack. Their deaths were lamented by all of us.”
Tygra closed his eyes in remembered pain. He could almost see the flames that had engulfed his town. His mother had run through the forest with him. She had been injured, but she had carried him trying to reach safety. He could remember listening to his mother’s laboured breath as she had run while he had looked at the flames behind them.
The tiger sighed. His mother had reached the wolves’ village. And he was almost sure that she had asked them to care for him. But…
“You and your family were always dear to us, Tygra.”
The prince bit his lip in annoyance at himself. It had been a long time ago, and he had had a good life with his father and brother. But now that old memories had resurfaced he couldn’t help but wonder.
“I understand why you let Claudus take me, but why you never visited? I didn’t get to see you again, and it was… confusing. Though I know that you did what you thought best, I’m not a wolf after all.”
Kraus made an effort to not growl in anger. So, they had let the cub go, hadn’t they? He never had really expected that Claudus had told Tygra what had actually happened, but that didn’t mean he was any less affected by it. He tried to comfort himself with the thought that the little tiger had not been treated badly, and had in fact found a family. But he’d never forgive Claudus and Jaga for denying the tiger his gift.
“Things are not always as they seem Tygra. I’m truly sorry we were unable to be present in your life. It should not have been that way.”
Tygra shrugged. It didn’t matter anymore. He was no longer the shy and fearful cub that had spent his first month in the palace without talking and barely eating. He had adapted, and grown up.
“It’s fine. I’m being melancholic I guess. I had forgotten about this place, and everything related to it. I suppose I just didn’t want to remember before.”
The healer nodded in understanding. There was no real need to tell Tygra the truth about his adoption. The lion was dead. And Tygra will soon forget about him anyway.
They were practically at the side door of the wall, and Kraus was hesitating. There were so many things that could go wrong. He could potentially damage Tygra’s psyche. And what if he couldn’t stop the magic? His control over the staff had been diminishing over the last few years. Some things had started to change in the forest as a result of that, though they had not been visible yet.
He didn’t want to hurt the tiger unintentionally. If only the cat had developed a bit of his gift, they would have had the chance to find a different solution.
“Tell me Tygra. Do you remember the stories I used to tell you? About the forest and what lies within it.”
‘And below it.’ Thought Tygra absently and frowned. Kraus had pictured the forest almost as a living thing by itself. Magical, and containing many secrets. Tales for a toddler, like he had been.
“Not much I confess. I was barely three when I left. My memories are fragmented at best. I just don’t recall many things of those times.”
“I suppose it’s normal. You used to be so sensitive, you said that you could feel the forest and talk to it.”
Tygra scoffed in embarrassment. It was true that when he had been a toddler he had used to think that there had been voices around him, talking things he hadn’t understood. He had used to have strange dreams that he didn’t remember anymore. Sometimes, even had believed that someone had been watching him when he had been alone. Jaga had said it would pass, and had done something; some kind of meditation with him, and the dreams had stopped.
“I had an active imagination. I believed in tales and fantasies. Jaga helped to put things in perspective.”
“Really.”
Tygra thought he heard a growl under the simple word, and looked at the wolf in confusion. Kraus shook his head and sighed.
“We should never abandon imagination. It’s a wondrous thing.”
Tygra smiled. They were standing just outside the entrance. The sun was already up and no doubt Cheetara and the others had already discovered his absence.
“I should go to the cabin before Lion-O decides that I can go without breakfast today.”
“Oh yes. It’s getting late, and you should drink this before you eat anything else.”
The wolf produced an amber flask. Tygra looked at it and made a disgusted face. It was the nutritive infusion he had been taking the entire previous day. He had consumed at least six litres of the thing, and it tasted awful. It was supposed to help him recover from the blood lost, but he felt fine already.
“Ew. Can’t we forget that? I’m not dying of anaemia, and I feel perfect.”
“You were very weak. And it’s better safe than sorry.”
“But I don’t like the stuff!”
Tygra actually whined and Kraus was very tempted to compare him with a spoilt little child.
“It’s the final dose. Just drink it without thinking about the taste.”
Tygra scrunched his face in distaste, but took the flask anyway and drank the entire contents in one gulp.
Something was wrong.
The taste was not the same. It was a bit more acid and had a touch of a sour fruit. Almost immediately he started to feel dizzy and like a hot ball had sunk into his stomach. His legs gave out and he fell to his knees, feeling the world turning around. His eyes widened and he looked at the healer in horror.
“K-Kraus?”
“I’m sorry Tygra. You’d understand later.”
The staff began to glow and a brilliant light surrounded Tygra, who screamed in anguish. His vision blackened and he lost consciousness.
Kraus felt the energy of the stone pull at his own as he tried to control its course and intent. It was too much. He could not allow the magic to escalate, or he’d lose his precarious grab on it and it’d be a disaster. He concentrated hard on the flow of energy and attempted to stop it. It retaliated and almost knocked him down. Kraus grabbed the staff with both hands and focused entirely on containing the magic that didn’t want to leave Tygra’s body. Too much. It was too much, too long. He had to stop it now!
With great effort, he finally succeeded in retaining the energy and forced it back into the staff. Some of it dispersed, and yet a bit was assimilated by the tiger. Kraus gave a few deep breaths in exhaustion. The magic was starting to reject him. It won’t be long before he’d had to stop using the staff to prevent an accident. Maybe he’d still have a few years, but no more than six.
He looked up to the point where Tygra had been, and stared.
Tygra had not been wearing his armour, only shirt and pants. Both articles of clothing were now lying in a heap on the ground, and a bump revealed something rather small moving around under them.
Kraus gulped. He couldn’t force himself to approach the pile of cloths. He looked as the bump finally found a way out and a tiny face appeared. The wolf felt his blood freeze. The cub looked at him and big brown eyes widened in recognition. It took moments for the small tiger to untangle himself and ran precariously towards the cloaked figure of the healer.
“K’aus! You here!”
“Oh dear.”
Sweet benevolent spirits! It had been too much! Damn, damn, damn! This was not what he had been aiming at. The spell was supposed to end when Tygra reached an age suitable for him to start learning how to control his innate magic. Perhaps six or seven. Not three! He was too young to control spiritual energy, and his gift would be erratic for at least another two years.
He looked down at the cub, whose eyes were starting to get wet. He had been fully prepared to explain a seven year old why he was in the wolves’ village instead of the cats’ palace, but now he felt lost.
He sighed in resignation. At least he had been able to stop the spell before it killed Tygra. He picked the cub up and felt the tiny fists grabbing onto his cloak tightly. A quiet sniff was heard, and Kraus patted the child’s back comfortingly.
“Come Tygra. We’d find a way around this. Somehow.”
He walked into the village, already setting his mind into the oncoming confrontation with the rest of the cats.
&&&&&&&&
Lion-O was considering ordering everyone into the tank and just go. Tygra was better, and he had stayed in bed at Cheetara’s insistence all the previous day. The tiger was not one to deal well with sickness, unless he felt really bad he always complained when he was ordered to rest. No doubt he had suffered the bed in boredom for the entire day.
The lion scowled, looking at the wall of his room. If Tygra felt up to it, they were leaving that very day. His brother could still rest in the tank; his injuries had been treated and were not incapacitating him any longer. Lion-O was feeling restless. There was something wrong with the black wolves, and it was not only the fact that they had known Tygra since he had been a cub that was bothering the young king.
They were hiding something. Lion-O didn’t think that the alpha had been entirely truthful when he had spoken to them about Tygra’s past. The lion didn’t doubt that the tiger’s parents had been good friends with the wolves, or that they trusted them with their cub when they were out hunting. Yero had also told them that the tigers’ town had been close to theirs, just half an hour walking through the forest, and that they had traded supplies on a regular basis. He had even told them how the town had been annihilated by the rats, and how Tygra’s mother had barely managed to get her cub to safety. But there was something else there. Lion-O couldn’t pinpoint what exactly it was that was making him unease and distrustful of the alpha wolf. Maybe the way he looked at him, with barely concealed disgust, was what had Lion-O’s nerves taunt. He wanted to get away from the wolves’ village as soon as possible.
Making his mind, he got out of the room ready to tell the others to be prepared to leave. He found Cheetara passing along the small dining area, evidently distressed.
“Cheetara? What’s wrong?”
The female cleric paused and looked at him with some surprise. Then she sighed and shrugged.
“Tygra is not in his room.”
Lion-O was about to panic at that announcement, but Cheetara continued without giving him the chance to think much about the implications.
“I’m probably been silly. His wounds weren’t that bad after all, and surely he just went out for a walk. But he’s supposed to be resting! And he promised he’d take things easy!”
Lion-O relaxed when he realized that nothing bad had happened, and that Cheetara was only miffed that Tygra wasn’t following her instructions.
“Don’t worry Cheetara. He’d be back soon. Tygra had never liked to stay in bed for too long.”
He was actually glad that his brother had fled the room. That meant he had recovered, and that they could go back to their quest without further delay. He didn’t want Tygra to get comfortable in the wolves’ company. The tiger had recognized the place already and had been remembering bits and pieces of his early childhood, though he had not been entirely open with the alpha, and Lion-O would prefer that his brother didn’t get too close to the old wolf. Maybe he was being paranoid, but he’d sooner listen to his instincts than receive nasty surprises. The attack on Thundera had taught him that.
Panthro joined them, and the kittens woke up when Cheetara was making breakfast. They waited for Tygra, but after nearly an hour had passed the lion started to feel restless. He decided to go looking for his errant brother and make sure that everything was ok.
He found a commotion going on close to the alpha’s home. There were a few wolves, and the healer at the middle of it all, apparently trying to explain something. Lion-O looked at the baffled face of the alpha, and could have sworn that the wolf would have been gaping in astonishment at whatever the healer was showing him if it wouldn’t look so undignified.
Out of curiosity Lion-O gave a few steps towards the small group. One of the warriors heard him and moved to face him, allowing him a good view of the healer in the process.
At first Lion-O thought that the old wolf was carrying a bundle of cloths, but then the bundle moved and the lion could see that it was a cub.
A tiger cub.
Anxiety grabbed him, and he hurried over to where the healer was trying to make a still shocked alpha wolf to say something. Once Lion-O took a good look at the cub, he decided that the alpha’s reaction was the appropriate one.
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The Shia-m