Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

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
- 3
- 4
- 5
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 04. Sneaking away… unnoticed?
Despite the rocky beginning, Tygra seemed to accept kit, kat, and snarf as playmates. As long as they played within view range of Tana, the tiger didn’t mind their company. He hadn’t talked much yet, and hadn’t asked for Tana’s pups or his other friends. Yero was thankful for that, as he wouldn’t know what to tell the cub, so he was not pressing his luck.
Tygra however was very observant. He had noticed that Tana’s pups were not in the house, and that the rest of the wolves were keeping their distance. He also noticed that the cats were trying to make him leave Yero’s home and go with them.
He was pretty much confused and a bit scared. One moment he had been in the gardens of the palace, trying to find a way to get out without being noticed, and the next he had found Kraus. He didn’t quite understand how they had gotten to the village so soon without the shadows. He knew that the black wolves could use the shadows to move faster, his father had told him about it, and he had watched Kraus and Yero doing it. He hadn’t given it much thought, the how was not important, what was important was that Kraus had gone for him. The old cat had lied. He had told Tygra that the wolves knew that the best place for him was with his own species, because wolves had not a clue of how to raise a cat.
It had been a lie. Tygra had not believed it, and had waited for days for Yero or some other to show up, and explain to him why he was with the cats. He had been so happy when he had found Kraus and had been taken home again.
But the cats were still there.
Tygra knew that the cats were not supposed to be there. These cats were not tigers, and his family had always told him that only tigers were allowed in the wolves’ village. But King Claudus had entered to take him away, and now these new cats were living there. Tygra was afraid. He supposed that they had been sent to take him to the palace again, and he didn’t want to go. His mother had left him in the wolves’ care. Yero and Tana had promised her that they’d raise him. He had to stay where his mother told him to. Maybe if he could show the cats that he wanted to stay with Tana, they’d leave.
Tygra didn’t understand why King Claudus wanted him to live in the palace. The other cats hated tigers, didn’t they? His uncle had said so. Tygra’s mother had always complained that he shouldn’t say such things to the cub, but had never said that it wasn’t truth, so it must be. But these cats didn’t act like they hated him. Not even like they hated the wolves, though they kept their distance. They seemed to be too interested in Tygra, and the little tiger didn’t like that. He couldn’t phantom what the cats wanted with him. He could see no reason for them to want him to go with them, and he didn’t trust them.
On the other hand, he was starting to like Kit and Kat. They were still cubs, just older than him, and they wanted to play and have fun. Snarf was harmless and all he did was run along with the kits and sleep on Tygra’s lap. They never had mentioned anything about leaving the village, so Tygra was starting to trust them, but not enough to chat openly with them. He played mostly in silence, save for a few laughs now and then, and answered in monosyllables or head movements.
It was starting to frustrate Lion-O.
The lion had taken to look from a distance as Tygra played with the kittens. It had been three days, and he wanted badly to talk with his brother, and see how much he remembered. But every time he approached the cub, Tygra looked distrustfully at him and ran towards Tana. Lion-O was at his wits’ end. He needed to find a way for Tygra to talk to him, or just let him come near by. Cheetara told him that he needed to be patient, but it was hard to be patient when they were running out of time. They needed to move. Mum-Ra would also been looking for the stones and any other means that could give him more power. They had to get ahead of the mummy or they would be doomed.
He needed his brother by his side. He needed Tygra to return to normal. He didn’t believe that there was nothing that could be done. Someone had to have a solution! But he had to take his brother out of the village in order to go find it, because the wolves were not willing to help him with that particular task. Unfortunately, it was clear that Tygra was not going anywhere away from Tana. He seemed glued to the female wolf’s side, and not even Yero could make him leave her for long periods of time. Lion-O didn’t trust the wolves, but apparently Tygra did, and was not willing to leave them.
The young king didn’t know what to do. He was very tempted to just grab his brother and leave the village without explanation. The only thing stopping him was the scared look Tygra sent him every time he got close enough to the little tiger. His brother was afraid of him, and Lion-O had not a clue why.
Lion-O asked Panthro if he had any idea of what had happened when Tygra had been taken to Thundera, but the general said that he had been on the field at the time. When he had returned to the palace, Tygra had already been there for about four months. He remembered though that Tygra had been a very quiet cub. The queen had been the only one to get him to talk in full sentences.
Cheetara had the theory that Tygra may not remember anything about the city or the royal family. He was around three, which meant that he certainly couldn’t have met Lion-O yet. His memories may be settled before Claudus had adopted him, and that would mean that he wouldn’t know if the “new cats” were friendly. Tana had told them that Tygra’s family had been highly intolerant towards any cat without stripes, and the cub had been growing up with his relatives teaching him to never get close to such cats. Lion-O had gritted his teeth when he had heard that. It was no wonder that Tygra barely looked their way.
Fortunately, Kit and Kat were making progress. Tygra seemed to be at ease with them, but he continued to check on Tana’s whereabouts once in a while when he was playing. Tana was also helping, encouraging Tygra to spend time with the kits and talking to Cheetara and Lion-O freely in front of him. Yero however frowned at his mate’s efforts, and it wasn’t lost to Lion-O the way Tygra listened attentively to whatever the alpha wolf had to say. Kraus was also a constant presence in the background, and it gave Lion-O the creeps. He couldn’t take out of his head that Tygra ending as a three years old cub had not been an accident, but he couldn’t think of any reason why the healer wolf would want to do that to his brother. It was just crazy, but still the idea refused to go away.
&&&&&&&
While Lion-O worried about his brother, and how to get him out of the village, Yero was thinking the best way to prevent the Thunderians from taking the cub away. He was not going to allow the same thing to happen again. Tygra was going to stay where he was supposed to, and no Lord of the Thundercats was going to interfere.
It was on the fourth day that Yero was with Zama and Theus, trying to get ideas. Both animals had been watching the cats and knew that the recently proclaimed Lord of the Thundercats was not going to let go of the tiger. He was his brother after all. Yero scoffed at the notion. He was too immersed in comparing Lion-O to Claudus to see that the young lion was a very different king. He wanted the cats out of the way. He didn’t particularly care about what they’d do with their lives as long as they were out of his village and away from Tygra. Zama and Theus had the feeling that the last part was not going to happen, but trying to make Yero see that simple fact was proving to be harder than expected.
Yero was growling at his companion’s uncooperativeness when Tana joined them. The first thing the alpha noticed was the absence of a cub at her side. He immediately was asking what had happened, imagining all kinds of violent and bloody scenarios. Zama actually hid a grin while Theus rolled his eyes, and Tana sighed, dropping her head in mock despair at her mate.
“Would you calm down Yero? Nothing happened. Tygra is playing with the kittens at the outskirts of the forest. I left him with them about an hour ago. I have been preparing lunch with Cheetara and she just left. Tygra has not come running to me, which means that he’s actually distracted enough to not notice my absence. And before you say anything, I think it’s good that he stops looking around for me every five minutes. He can’t be stuck at my side permanently!”
“But Tana! Do you realize what’s at stake here? The cats want to take him away with them, and we can’t let that happen!”
“Yero, I don’t really think they’d want to take a cub on a dangerous quest like the one they are taking.”
“Of course they will! These are cats Tana! They think they’re above every other species, and would rather take their chances with a cub in a battlefield than leave him in safety with any other animal!”
“Yero, you’re being unreasonable!”
“Have you forgotten Claudus? The mighty Lord of the Thundercats that knows what’s best for his own people?”
“He’s dead Yero. These cats are sticking around. They know they have no place to go, and I think they are really considering what’d be best for Tygra.”
“Don’t be so naïve! They are waiting for the chance to sneak out of here with Tygra. An opportunity that you have just given them Tana!”
The female wolf was about to protest, but Zama’s voice interrupted the squabble.
“Well, why don’t you let them?”
Both wolves turned to him. Yero started growling.
“Are you out of your mind? Tygra’s place is here! He needs to be trained! Besides, I’m not about to let the cats take him into a suicidal war against Mum-Ra!”
“Yero, they are not going to do such thing!” Said Tana scandalized.
“Where do you think they’re heading to? The entire purpose of their quest for looking the stones of power is to beat that cursed mummy!”
“Alpha Yero, perhaps we need to calm down.” Said the crow. “We know that the tiger should be left here, where he’d be safe and trained to take on his responsibility. But we can’t force the cats to simply leave him and continue on their way. Like it or not, they’re his family now. You honestly don’t believe that they’d leave their cub behind in an unknown village, with animals that are perfect strangers to them.”
“For Tygra they are the strangers! For all he knows he’s an orphan now, he doesn’t remember them!”
“But they do. Besides, what makes you think that he won’t remember when he gets older and the magic of the stone opens his mind?”
Yero growled in frustration. He knew that Tygra would eventually remember his entire life. Kraus had explained to him that the memories would likely come back the moment the tiger bonded with the stone. By then, he would have control over the magic and would be able to resist the onslaught without his mind being shattered by it. Yero didn’t look forward to the moment the tiger would demand explanations for the wolves’ actions, but he was confident that Tygra would understand the necessity of them.
Theus continued talking, now that he had the wolf quieter.
“The cats don’t like the rest of the species, and really, we don’t like them either. That’s a fact we all had grown up with. Given that fact, you can’t possibly expect they’d be willing to entrust us with one of their cubs. Specially one that they see as a member of their royal family. Besides, we have to accept that they actually have no reason to trust the wolves.”
“They’d have to.” Insisted Yero. “They’d have no other choice.”
“We know that. But it’s them the ones that have to be convinced of it.”
The crow looked apologetically at Yero’s mate, and continued.
“I’m sorry Tana, but I think they will try to take Tygra away. They really are not thinking about the danger they’d be facing. They are more concerned with finding a way to fix the problem. The lion is still thinking about an adult Tygra, and is not really considering that a three year old doesn’t have the skills and abilities of a grownup who can protect himself.”
“Which is why we should get them away from the cub!” Yero insisted. “There is no way for Tygra to return to his proper age, apart from naturally growing up again! It’s a fact!”
“Yes, but they are the ones who need to accept that, and they are not going to do it if they’re not allowed to try. That’s why I agree with Zama. Let them go with the cub. They’re not going to find a cure, and soon they’d realize how impractical it is to have a little cub tagging along when you have no den, or any place you can call home, and you’re trying to fight a dreadful monster.”
Yero shook his head in negation. He couldn’t believe they were actually suggesting letting Tygra go with the cats.
“You two have lost your minds. Tygra can’t go with them! He’d get injured, or worse! There are many dangers in Third Earth, and the vast majority are in fact not caused by Mum-Ra. What if the lizards’ army attacks them? What if something else attacks them?”
“In fact, it will be very convenient if that happens.” Said the chameleon. Yero growled and Tana let out a distressed sound.
“Zama, how can you…?”
“Oh, please! It’s not as if you, or even us, can’t follow them! The old cat cleric is dead, and the curse he put on us, to prevent us from looking for the tiger, was broken the moment the new Lord of the Thundercats knocked at your door, asking for assistance. We can follow their every move, and make sure that no harm befalls the cub. They only need a little scare to realize how dangerous their mission is, and they’d be begging you to keep him safe until they have a proper home.”
Tana looked anxious, and Yero was about to protest that he’d rather not let Tygra out of his sight, when Kraus’ voice interrupted them.
“An interesting theory, and I’m afraid that we’d have to try it.”
The four animals turned at the door to look at the healer. Yero paled visibly.
“They are gone, aren’t they?”
Kraus sighed and nodded.
“Just now. The lion insists that he’s going to find the way to get Tygra back to normal. They’re heading north.”
“We can still stop them…!”
“No, Yero.” The old wolf put a hand over the alpha’s arm, to stop him from dashing out and call the warriors. The alpha frowned. “Theus and Zama are right. They need to see for themselves. To be convinced that there’s nothing they can do. To be willing to let go of the cub. They are his family Yero, and they care for him. Once they’d realize the danger, they’d do the right thing.”
“Are you sure of that?”
“They’re not Claudus and Jaga, and the situation is very different. We just have to make sure to not lose them.”
Zama and Theus were out of the window immediately, to track the machine that the Thunderians used. They’d be watching, and waiting for the right time. They’d only intervene if necessary.
&&&&&&&&
Tygra was feeling very tired. He had been playing tag with the thunderkittens close to the walls of the village. He had not thought about Tana’s whereabouts in a while, he had been engrossed in the game. Now they had proposed to play hide and seek, and he was trying to find a suitable hiding place that wasn’t too far from the walls. Kraus had told him to never enter the forest alone, so he was avoiding walking in that direction.
However, he was starting to feel apprehensive. His ears twitched and stood in attention. He could hear faint noises, like whispers, that came from somewhere around him. Someone was watching him.
Tygra stopped and looked fearfully towards the line of trees that signalled the border of the forest. The trees and bushes were more there, making the vegetation look dense from that point on. The canopy of foliage let very little light through, so Tygra couldn’t really see beyond the initial line of trees. He knew there was a path somewhere, which led to his own town. His own, burned-out, town.
The cub continued walking, but the whispers didn’t stop, and he found himself looking towards the forest again instead of paying attention in front of him. He collided with a hard surface and fell on his butt. Mewling in surprise and pain, he looked up to the big machine that had stopped him. It was the tank. Kit and Kat had showed it to him earlier in the day, talking excitedly about how cool it was to ride it. At the moment, the top was closed but one small door on the side was not, and Tygra peeked inside curiously. It was very plain inside; just metal everywhere, with some crevices and rectangular shapes, like boxes, and there were some seats that didn’t look very comfortable. In one of the corners, between two such boxes was a pile of fabric, where snarf was sleeping peacefully.
Tygra considered turning around and return to the village, but the feeling of being watched intensified, and he looked behind him to the forest again.
There was an eerie mist forming around the trees and bushes. It was translucent and looked to be moving. The whispers were louder, and Tygra could actually understand some words.
… chosen one… shouldn’t have left… shouldn’t…
… back… is back…
… no control… should have…
… kill you…
Tygra crawled inside the tank and moved at the side of the open door, so he could no longer see the forest. The whispers stopped, and he felt a soft body rub against his legs.
He yelped in fear and almost fell again. Snarf mewed at him and continued rubbing himself against him. Tygra sighed in relief and pet the furry creature, which immediately dashed towards the pile of blankets and mewed again, evidently inviting the cub to share the self-made bed. Tygra looked at the door and thought about going with Kraus and tell him that he was hearing the voices again, but he was afraid. What if the mist was still outside? Maybe he should wait a bit. If Kit and Kat found him, they could take him to the house and he’d ask Tana to look for Kraus.
Snarf mewed once more, and Tygra decided to sit with him and rest. He gingerly walked towards the nest of blankets and sat comfortably among them. Then he decided that he’d be cosier laying down and soon he was cuddling with Snarf, using the pet as protection from whatever was outside the tank.
His eyes were firmly looking towards the door, but after a few minutes he felt the tiredness again and yawned. He was cosy and warm, and there was no strange feeling of anyone watching him anymore. The cub finally relaxed and fell asleep.
&&&&&&&&
Lion-O was discussing with Panthro while they walked through the gates of the village, and towards the tank. He was excited because the sword had finally shown him something. He had asked a simple question: How could he help his brother? And the sword had answered showing him the stones of power. He knew they had to go, and he supposed that once he had the four stones he could use the book and Jaga would tell him what he had to do with them to get Tygra back to normal.
Panthro was sceptical. He didn’t put a lot of trust in magic, and he thought that it was better to let magic to the ones that could actually understand it. At the present moment, those persons were the wolf healer and Cheetara. Both of them had agreed that it would be really dangerous to try to return Tygra to his rightful age, and both had even emphasized that it would do more harm than good. Lion-O however was not ready to accept that, and was insisting on following the sword’s advice. He was not giving up, and Panthro knew that there was nothing they could do to convince the young king to listen to the healer.
“Ok. Say that we get the stones relatively quickly. What if it doesn’t work? What if we end up hurting Tygra?”
“It’s going to work Panthro! I’ll use the book of omens and Jaga will tell me what to do. We have Cheetara to help! We only need to hurry up and get the stones as soon as we can.”
“Fine. What do we do with Tygra while we are hunting for the stones?” It was practically a rhetorical question. Panthro knew what Lion-O was going to answer, but he still hoped that the lion would see reason and accepted to leave Tygra in the village, where at least they’d be sure that he’d be well taken care of. But Lion-O looked at him with determination.
“What kind of question is that? We’ll take him with us!”
“Lion-O…”
“I’m not leaving my brother behind Panthro!” Said the king between clenched teeth, and the general sighed.
“Fine. We should tell the others. And the wolves aren’t going to be happy.”
“I could care less. Tygra is my only family. I have been letting them to take care of him because he doesn’t recognize us, but they can’t keep him from me. I’d talk to the alpha after lunch while you and the others prepare everything. If they truly care for Tygra, they’d agree to let me try to return him to normal.”
“Ok. Technically everything is ready. We could go at any time.” Said Panthro with a sigh. Lion-O didn’t notice his sarcastic humour.
“Good. Maybe I should go talk with Yero now. Do you know where the others are?”
Panthro shrugged and was about to say that he had no idea, when they reached the tank. The Thunderkittens came out of it, both making signs of silence to the two grown up cats. Lion-O looked amused at them.
“What’s with you two?”
“Shush. Tygra is asleep with Snarf. We were running all morning and he’s exhausted. If you talk too loud you’d wake him up.” Said Kit.
Lion-O’s eyes widened and hurriedly looked inside the tank. His brother was tucked in a pile of blankets in a corner, cuddling with Snarf. Lion-O smiled at the picture. He could go and tell Yero that they were leaving… or they could just leave.
He’d deal with Tygra when he’d wake up, but now that the tiger had finally left the wolves’ side it was too good an opportunity to lose. Lion-O made his decision quickly and looked towards Panthro.
“Find Cheetara. We’re leaving now!”
&&&&&&&
Kraus looked from his vantage point over the wall as Lion-O discussed with a distressed Cheetara. It was evident that the female thought that taking Tygra with them was not a good idea. Kraus agreed with her. But it was also evident that the lion was not going to be convinced.
Kraus debated with himself if he should go down there and pick up Tygra. The Lord of the Thundercats was unlikely to react well to the disappearance of his brother. The wolf didn’t want to let the tiger cub in the lion’s hands, it felt too much like what had happened with Claudus was repeating itself.
Only, Lion-O was not Claudus. The deceased King of Thundera had taken Tygra when he had had no right to do so. Lion-O on the other hand, had grown up with the tiger. For the lion, Tygra was his brother, his family. Like it or not, the young lion had every right to take the cub with him. Tygra wasn’t aware of that fact at the moment, but he’ll remember as soon as he had the right age. It’d not do to alienate the cats when they had the opportunity to correct the damage that had been done.
Kraus looked towards the forest. He could feel the energy that was slowly accumulating. It was very dark, and was flowing from the sword buried deep in the entrails of the earth. It was already infecting the forest’s spirits, and Kraus was sure that it was somehow feeding its master’s powers. In a couple of years, the stone would cease to be able to restrain it.
He watched as the lion finally got the female cheetah into the tank and the machine started its way. They were not going into the forest, but rather all along the edge, towards the open fields of Hinai. They were going to pass a few good miles away from the Elephants’ mountain.
Kraus shook his head. Those fields were very dangerous. Hell, everywhere in Third Earth was dangerous! It’d be a miracle if they’d actually get to the night without having some incident.
He was worried about Tygra. The cub had used to have nightmares when her mother had died. Tana said that he had been sleeping quietly, and had not reported to hear voices yet, but they should stay alert. Tygra had been unnaturally silent. He might not be telling them if he had any bad dreams or other problems.
Kraus sighed and got down of the wall. He had to inform Yero of the cats’ departure. They needed to keep track of Tygra, and be ready for when the cats needed help, because he didn’t have a doubt that they’ll need it.
- 3
- 4
- 5
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Shia-m