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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.

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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 03. Dealing with a cub.
Yero looked as his healer and counsellor went to the forest, following Tygra. He was still displeased with their chosen course of action, but he couldn’t see any other solution. Even if the tiger accepted his role, he would have to return to be a cub anyway. He needed to be at the proper age to learn to control his gift, and by Kraus’ assessment he had lost the opportunity to do so long ago.
Still, it irked him to do things without the other’s knowledge. He would have liked to talk with the tiger first, but he knew that it would be difficult to get him away from the other cats, and Tygra didn’t really trust them anymore. Besides, he’d abide to the lion’s wishes. It was clear to Yero that the two cats were close, and he knew that once a tiger chose his loyalties he stuck to them to the end. Tygra would never leave his adopted brother now, and they didn’t need the rest of the cats getting a hold of a power stone that could potentially destroy them all. They had the one of the sword and were looking for the rest already; maybe they’d be able to find the other two stones. It’d be dangerous for them to have all four of them!
“You are gambling in a dangerous game, alpha Yero.”
The wolf sighed and turned to look at his companions. A chameleon was leaning on the opposite wall of the room. The big eyes were narrowed and focused on him.
“Would you rather deal with the rest of them? I’m not telling the cats about the stone, or the Shia’m. They have enough power as it is with the sword, and Tygra is not fit to bond with the staff thanks to them!”
“Regardless, it’d be much easier to just kill him, and let the stone choose another bearer.”
The wolf growled and bared his teeth. The other occupant of the room talked before the alpha had time to show his displeasure at the chameleon’s comment.
“I’d agree with Zama, but we really have no idea of what would happen if the chosen bearer dies without bonding with the stone. It may not choose another, and then we’d be as stuck as we are now.” The one who talked was a crow. The alpha turned to him but didn’t comment.
“Damn rats.” The chameleon spat. They had been trying to make the stone choose a different bearer since it had become evident that they had all but lost the tiger. Another voice joined the discussion.
“Why not try to reach an agreement with the cats? I’m sure everything would be easier if the other species are aware of the danger.”
The three animals turned towards the source of the voice. There was a mirror made of quartz rock on a table, it was glowing softly and over its surface one could see the reflection of an elephant. Their kind didn’t venture out of their secluded village too much, so they had invented the artefact to keep in touch with the other species, though they sometimes forgot what it was for, and it was necessary for someone to call them.
At the moment, the wolf huffed in annoyance.
“And risk another attack? We were foolish enough to let rumours reach the rats’ ears. We are not taking chances with the cats.”
The other two agreed with him, but the elephant sighed.
“Rumour being the key word here my friend. A rumour can be misunderstood where a truth given in confidence cannot.”
The crow shook his head.
“How can we know they’re not going to simply try to use the stones for their own gain? These are cats! The tigers were different. They never dealt with Thundera, and the cats’ king never looked out for them. Their own kind estranged them, and they in turn cut all ties with them. They lived in peace with the rest of us. No one can say the same about the rest of the cats.”
“We can’t trust the cats.” Said the chameleon. “They’d betray us like their ancestors did.”
“It’s dangerous to judge an entire species by the acts of a few individuals.”
“Nevertheless,” said the wolf, “I’d prefer to keep them ignorant of this. I don’t trust them to not have the hunger for power their ancestors displayed. We cannot put this particular stone in jeopardy.”
The other two agreed, and the elephant sighed in defeat. It was too much to expect for the animals to just forget years of hatred. He was happy that his village had little contact with the rest of the world.
They discussed for some time, worrying about alternatives to deal with the cats if they refused to leave the tiger behind, which was the most likely scenario. Yero looked out the window from time to time, expecting to watch Kraus return with a young kit running by his side.
However, when the healer finally appeared, it was not with the kid he had been expecting to see. Yero looked in astonishment at the small figure Kraus was carrying and his mouth went dry.
“A bit younger than expected, isn’t he?” Zama’s voice hissed at his ear.
Yero cursed loudly and stormed out of the room and the house. Theus, the crow, joined the chameleon at the window.
“Dear gods. This doesn’t look good.”
They watched as the beta warrior and two more wolves joined the alpha and Kraus in front of the house, and hide amongst the shadows when they saw the lion coming.
&&&&&&&&
“What the hell…?”
Yero was without words. Kraus had covered the cub with the discarded shirt, and the tiny thing was holding onto the healer’s cloak for dear life. Yero was afraid that the tiger had been hurt, but he couldn’t bring himself to lift his hands and take the cub. He had not been expecting a three year old to be dropped on them. He just looked in bafflement as Tygra looked around fearfully, trying to assess if it was safe to let go of Kraus.
“I’m sorry alpha.” The healer was explaining in a calm voice. Too calm for the situation, in Yero’s opinion. “The magic wouldn’t let go of him. It almost went out of control.”
This was not happening. It couldn’t be happening! They had needed Tygra to learn quickly, they were short on time! He was barely listening to Kraus explanation, and he was very busy panicking to notice Lion-O.
The Thundercat elbowed his way in front of the healer and proceeded to gape at the cub. Tygra looked at him once with wide fearful eyes and proceeded to bury his face in Kraus’ cloak. The lion’s nostrils flared, clearly recognizing his brother’s scent and simply not believing it. He started to babble and move his arms in agitation.
“W-what…? When…? How could this…? What the hell happened?! Is this Tygra? Tell me it’s not Tygra!”
“I wish he wasn’t, unfortunately…”
“What in the bloody hell…!”
The young king was beyond coherent speech. He extended his arms towards the cub and tried to grab him, intent on taking him away from the wolf. However, Tygra screamed as soon as he felt other paws on him and tried to climb over the healer’s shoulder in an effort to get away. Lion-O retired his hands, afraid that he had hurt his brother.
The commotion was attracting the village’s attention, and soon Cheetara and Panthro were behind Lion-O, trying to see what was going on. Both cats looked at the cub in Kraus’ arms and at their distraught king, and quickly put two and two together. Panthro was about to demand an explanation, when Yero finally seemed to get over his shock and ordered his two top warriors along with the cats inside his house, where they could talk in relative privacy.
Once inside, Cheetara tried to take hold of Tygra, but the little cub refused to let go of Kraus. That was until Tana, Yero’s mate, appeared and approached the healer.
“What’s going on?” She questioned. Tygra looked up at the sound of her voice and immediate recognition crossed his eyes.
“Tana!” He lifted his arms towards the female wolf, evidently asking to be held by her.
“Oh, forest spirits, what happened?” She took the cub in her arms and turned to look at the rest of the people in her living room, evidently expecting an explanation.
Yero and Kraus had prepared what they were going to say, or rather what the healer was going to say, seeing that it was he the one who had ‘found’ Tygra.
“I left the staff to purify in the spring the entire night. Its magic has been erratic lately; I was hoping to balance it. Apparently, Tygra found it and somehow managed to interfere and got himself caught in the flow of energy. It was almost out of control when I arrived.”
The wolves’ expressions were of horror and disbelief. The cats didn’t know how the staff worked, but understood that whatever Tygra had disturbed it had been the cause of his de-aging. One of the warriors spoke.
“What was he doing out there? Everyone knows not to approach the spring when the staff is being purified.”
“Everyone who is not a cat.” The other warrior pointed out, and the first dropped his ears in painful realization.
Lion-O continued looking at his brother in anguish. It was evident that the cub was distressed. He had the same death grip on Tana’s clothes that he had had on the healer’s cloak, and was avoiding looking at the rest of the animals. The lion’s brain was not working for the moment. He knew he had to do something, but couldn’t make enough sense of the situation to act. Yero was the one that asked the question everyone wanted the answer to.
“Can you fix it?”
Kraus looked at him seriously. For a second he was actually grateful that things hadn’t gone quite to plan. He doubted that Yero could act the anxiousness that he was displaying at the moment. Unfortunately that was little consolation, because he really couldn’t do anything to reverse the spell he had cast on Tygra, not even age him some years. To do so would injure his mind seriously. He answered with total resolution.
“There’s no ‘fixing’ this. We could hurt him badly if we try. He was lucky that I managed to stop the magic at all.”
The cats didn’t take those news well. Lion-O was on his feet in an instant.
“You mean to tell me, that my brother is going to stay like that? There’s nothing that can be done?”
“Unfortunately no. The magic is too powerful, and he’d lose his mind if we force it on him again. I’m sorry, but there’s nothing more than let time pass… again.”
Lion-O shook his head and walked some steps towards Tana.
“No. That can’t be true.”
“Lion-O!” Cheetara grabbed his arm, trying to calm him. They had to reason the situation. Magic was wild and unpredictable if no one was harnessing it. The healer was right. If Tygra had triggered some spell by accident, they’d only hurt him trying to reverse something that they didn’t know how exactly worked. But Lion-O was upset, and very worried to listen.
“There must be something we can do! We can’t leave Tygra like this!”
“You have to calm down Lion-O. I’m sure we’d find a solution, but you can’t lose control.”
“What am I supposed to do then?! If they can’t help us we’re out of here!”
He turned around and extended his arms, asking for the toddler. But Tygra was not looking his way, and it was evident that he wasn’t letting go of Tana. The female wolf threw him a reproachful look. Cheetara tried again to get her king to calm down.
“Please Lion-O, you’re scaring him. We must try to be reasonable.”
“Reasonable? With this?!”
Lion-O growled in frustration, more than ready to just snatch the cub away. Panthro took him by the arm, and pulled him away from the wolf and Tygra. Cheetara stepped in his place and the two females tried to make the little cub acknowledge the cheetah. Tygra barely turned his head, but refused to look at Cheetara or speak to her, and he cringed when she caressed his head. The cleric frowned, realizing that Tygra was afraid of them. Lion-O was still fighting his anger.
“Why isn’t he recognizing us? What else did your staff do?”
“That’s not magic. He’s three years old. He technically doesn’t know you yet. He practically lived here, his parents brought him over daily. As far as he is concerned, we are his family and the only cats he has ever seen have stripes.”
Lion-O clenched his fists, while the alpha wolf looked worriedly at his mate and the cub. Tygra had never acted like that when he had been a toddler. He had been a curious and energetic child, always happy to mingle with new people, until…
“Perhaps we should see exactly what he remembers. He was three when…”
“I think,” said Tana a little forcefully, “that all of you need to have breakfast and calm down. Cheetara and I are going to take care of Tygra. It’s no wonder he’s scared with all the tension in the room, and all your screaming.” She turned around and signalled the cheetah to follow her, talking softly to the cub. “Come dear, let’s see if we can find you some clothes. You must be hungry, it’s very late for breakfast.”
Both females left, leaving a dumbfounded assortment of males behind to fend by themselves.
&&&&&&&&
By early afternoon it was clear that Tygra was stuck in his three year old form, memories included. Cheetara and Tana had determined that the last of the cub’s recollections were perhaps of the destruction of his hometown. Though they were not able to find out much else. Tygra was not willing to speak freely, at least not in front of the female cat. That was saddening Cheetara a lot, especially because she wanted to hold the little cub and reassure him, but Tygra had denied her that small comfort. The tiger was afraid of her, and that hurt. She had known him since she had entered the clerics, and cared deeply for him. Hell, he even flirted with her whenever he had the opportunity! Cheetara wanted to cry.
The female cleric walked towards the cabin, where Lion-O was trying to enter the book of Omens, looking for assistance. Cheetara was also worried about the lion. Loosing his father had been bad enough, and now he was technically loosing Tygra too. She feared that he’d let his anguish guide his actions.
For the moment, she was sure that her king was not going to like the fact that she had left Tygra with Tana. She had had no other option. The cub didn’t want to go with her, even when both females had spent the day talking and trying to make him more comfortable with the cheetah.
Cheetara sighed and looked back towards the alpha’s home. Something that Tygra had said when Tana had been trying to coax him to say hi to Cheetara was still ringing in the cheetah’s ears. He had said “bad cats” while looking directly to her.
Tana had immediately apologized and explained that Tygra’s real family had not been fond of the rest of the cats. Some members of said family had been starting to teach Tygra to be distrustful of any cat that wasn’t a tiger.
Cheetara almost cried. The look on the cub’s eyes had been of such… resentment. She didn’t think Tygra’s behaviour was only due to hateful words from a relative directed at no one in particular. There had to be more.
She had asked how had Tygra ended up in Thundera, and Tana’s behaviour had immediately changed. She had only said that King Claudus had found the village and had taken Tygra with him. She had not elaborated more. The cheetah remembered having once asked to one of the clerics why had the King adopted Tygra. He had said: ‘Because a cat should not be raised by wolves.’ She hadn’t understood then, but she thought she did now. She absently wondered how exactly had Claudus discovered Tygra’s town. What should she tell Lion-O?
She entered the cabin to find the young king passing back and forth with a deep frown marring his face. Panthro and the kittens were not on sight.
“Where are the others?”
Lion-O stopped and looked up, noticing immediately that Cheetara was alone.
“They are preparing the tank. Where’s Tygra?”
“He’s with Tana. He’s still refusing to let me hold him.”
“You should have brought him over. We are going.”
“Where to Lion-O?”
“To some place where they can help him!”
“And where is that place exactly? Lion-O, we have no idea of what really happened. We can end up making it worse. If the healer cannot reverse his own staff’s magic, I seriously doubt we’d find someone else who can.”
“They don’t care about Tygra! They didn’t want to help us when we arrived! How could you leave him with them?!”
“Lion-O calm down! I know that you’re worried about him, but I do think that they really care about Tygra. They helped us as soon as they heard his name. And right now they know more about him than we do.”
Cheetara raked her hands through her hair and sighed. Lion-O had turned around and was really trying to control his temper, but it was hard. The cleric continued.
“He doesn’t know us Lion-O. We think that he’s mentally around the time when his home was destroyed. That means that he has just lost his entire family. He needs to be around people he trust, and right now we are not considered as such.”
Lion-O clenched his fists and growled.
“So, what are we supposed to do? Just leave him here and continue our way? I won’t do it Cheetara. I don’t trust the wolves! They are hiding something; I could feel it since we put foot inside this damned village! I’m almost sure that this whole mess is because of them! Tygra is not stupid. He wouldn’t have approached any strange magic that crossed his path! Especially considering that he was starting to remember things about this place. Surely he’d know if the staff had been dangerous to be close to!”
“Well, what does the sword say? Does it show you that something is amiss?”
Lion-O growled again in frustration. Neither the sword nor the book of Omens had worked earlier. It was as if they didn’t have anything to show to him. That generally would mean that there was no imminent danger around, but Lion-O didn’t agree.
“It shows nothing. But that doesn’t matter right now.”
“But Lion-O…”
“I’m not leaving my brother here Cheetara! We’re going tonight, and he’s coming with us!”
Lion-O got out of the cabin in search of Panthro. Cheetara sighed and massaged her temples. She sincerely hoped that Lion-O reconsidered his actions. If they ended up hurting Tygra, the lion was not going to forgive himself.
&&&&&&&
Yero was not happy when Lion-O demanded Tygra to be handed over to him. He claimed that he wanted the cub to get used to them again, and Tana surprisingly agreed. She said that they were Tygra’s kin after all, even if he didn’t remember them. Lion-O instinctually recognized a potential ally in her and pointed out that he was his brother, and that he just wanted Tygra to feel more at ease around him.
Yero knew it was an excuse. He was sure that Lion-O wanted to leave and he was stubborn enough to take the cub with him. It was Claudus all over again. Like father, like son. Though Tana didn’t agree. She had somehow gotten the idea that the cats were staying with them. Being the mother that she was, she didn’t believe that anyone would seriously consider taking a cub to a dangerous travel.
The wolf didn’t want to let go of the cub. Lion-O couldn’t press his point too much, because Tygra was hiding behind Tana’s legs, and was pretty much evident that he wouldn’t go with the lion willingly. The king was utterly frustrated by this, but he did his best effort to not show it. He needed Tygra to trust him. It was killing him to know that his brother, who had always been by his side, didn’t remember him.
Tana perceived his anguish and tried to coax the little tiger to speak to the lion, but Tygra refused. Yero scowled at the fear the cub was displaying. If only they knew what Tygra was thinking, or why he apparently had decided that he didn’t like the other cats. Not that he was complaining about the last part, but it was unsettling to see the usually social and blabbering cub so… mute.
Finally Tana proposed that they have dinner in the cabin with the Thunderians. If Tygra relaxed enough to play with the kittens, maybe they could coax him to spend the night there. Yero was sure that it won’t happen, and he didn’t like the idea at all, but accepted under duress of his mate’s glare. Tana always considered family to be the most important, and she couldn’t let Tygra lose his one more time. Yero only hoped she wouldn’t be extremely disappointed and sad when Lion-O showed his true colours to them.
So, they went to dinner with their guests in an attempt to make Tygra warm up to the cats.
The cub was very distressed and for the first fifteen minutes refused to let go of Tana, sitting in her lap and avoiding eye contact with the rest of the world. Then Wilykit started to play her flute and Tygra’s ears twitched. He cautiously turned around and looked at both kids dancing at the tune. He started to smile. Then Kat showed him some colourful balls and threw them to the air, making them spin and turn. Snarf also appeared and jumped into his lap. Tygra was surprised, but he pet Lion-O’s companion all the same.
Little by little, Tygra grew interested in the games the kits were showing him, and soon he was on the floor, aching to go and investigate them, but still not letting go of Tana’s skirts. The female wolf patted his head lovingly, and the cub looked up at her with worry written on his entire face.
“You can go and play with them sweetheart. I’d be right here.”
Tygra still wasn’t so sure. He looked around to see where the rest of the cats were. No one knew that the cub actually remembered the castle and king Claudus, and didn’t like the fact that the cats were still around. He feared that they’d take him away from Tana and Yero again.
Snarf rubbed himself on his legs, and Wilykit promised that they’d not leave the room. The cub finally surrendered to his curiosity and tentatively approached the two older kittens. They quickly engaged him into playing with the balls and soon Tygra was smiling and running along with them, though he still turned to look at Tana from time to time to assure himself that she was still there.
The evening went smoothly from then on. Tygra even took a seat beside Cheetara for dinner. It wasn’t until Tana and Yero were getting ready to go that things deteriorated.
They were unable to convince Tygra to stay with the cats for the night. Lion-O would have insisted, but Cheetara managed to make him see that they’d have to give Tygra his space and respect his choice for him to trust them. Kit hugged the small tiger tightly and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Tygra made a face.
“Oh, you’re such a cute baby Tygra!” She said with glee.
Tygra pushed away, and was about to inform her that he was not a baby. He was three years old, almost four, and his mother had recently told him that he was about to be a big brother. So, he certainly was not a baby, his new brother would be.
He froze, suddenly remembering that his mother was no longer with him. There had been flames, and screams, and they had run through the forest. She had fallen just reaching the wolves’ village and hadn’t get up again. His mother was dead. There would be no baby.
Kit noticed the change and the way Tygra’s eyes were misting. She tried to caress the cub’s face, wondering what had happened.
“Tygra? What’s wrong?”
The cub looked around and dashed directly towards Tana, who picked him up and held him tightly, sharing worried looks with Yero.
“It’s ok sweetheart. What’s the matter?”
Tygra sobbed and Tana looked at Wilykit for an explanation. The kitten looked as confused as the rest of them.
“I don’t know what I did. I just hugged him, I swear.”
“Tygra love,” Tana said, trying to calm down the distressed cub, “what is it?”
The tiger didn’t answer and Tana sighed.
“Do you want to go to sleep?”
A tiny nod. The wolf patted Tygra’s back.
“Ok, then say goodbye to our friends.”
Tygra did an effort to blink away his tears. He’d not cry in front of the cats. They were guests, and his father and Yero had always told him that one should be in his best behaviour when visiting someone. He turned around and waved his hand shyly to say goodbye. The cats answered him and Lion-O approached.
“How about you come early tomorrow to play again with kit and kat? Would you like it?”
Tygra looked doubtful, but he nodded. He flinched a bit when Lion-O patted his head with affection, but didn’t try to get away. The lion was willing to consider that an improvement.
As soon as the wolves and Tygra left, Lion-O sat heavily on a coach and sighed. Cheetara and Panthro soon were at his side.
“So, I take it you have reconsidered what we must do?” Said the cheetah. Lion-O looked towards the door with longing.
“I know that we can’t just snatch him away, not if he’s not comfortable enough with us. But I haven’t changed my mind. We need to continue, and I’m not willing to leave him behind.”
Cheetara and Panthro exchanged a look and the general spoke.
“Perhaps it would be best Lion-O. At least until he’s a bit older…”
“I’m hoping to find some way to return him to normal Panthro! I want him to remember me, all of us, and he won’t do that if he stays here!”
“But we are in a dangerous quest Lion-O. Tygra is just a cub…”
“The kittens manage well enough!”
“The kits are older and used to fend for themselves! Tygra is far too vulnerable Lion-O. We’d need to be constantly protecting him.”
“We’d manage. And he’s going to be normal again, I’d find a way with the sword of omens!”
Both older cats just sighed in defeat. Lion-O would not relent. The young king stood and walked to his room.
“Just be prepared. As soon as we find the chance, we’d get out of here.”
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The Shia-m