"No, I will not learn to fight!" We had been discussing my education, which would be split up between the Thundercats. Panthro had just said he would teach me mechanics and martial arts. "I hate to fight! I always have! Don't try to change my beliefs-I am a Christian, and as such, I am not going to even learn to fight! Besides, someone always gets hurt in a fight, and I hate to see people hurting."
"Brittany, you must learn. It's part of survival, and in this world, particularly in this world, you must learn to fight to protect yourself, especially against the Mutants. We will not be able to protect you all the time." Panthro lectured me patiently.
"No!" I stalked away angrily, going over to the window and looking out at the forest. I had already spent much of the month I had been here exploring it. The forest had become one of my favorite places.
"I'll let you think about it, but will you at least let me teach you some mechanics? It may come in useful some day," said Panthro.
"All right. Mechanics yes, martial arts no." I didn't look at him.
Buzz, buzz! The alarm! I found myself runnign with Panthro up to control room. Tygra and Cheetara were already at their stations, Lion-o gave up the control board to Panthro. The scene in the courtyard of the Cat's Lair came up. A shudder wracked the Lair tself, knocking me down. "Skycutters! Those blasted Mutants again! swore Panthro.
Mutants! A sudden chill of fear ran through my body, and I found I could not move. Always before, they had only been on the Thundercats' shows. But now I was seeing them live, and I was frozen with fear.
An explosion. Tygra was thrown back. His station was in flames. "Tygra! Are you hurt?" someone shouted. There was so much smoke I couldn't see who. I thought it was Lion-o, but I wasn't sure.
"No. But my control board is completely demolished,"he said.
"enough of this nonsense!" roared Lion-o. He was already out the door with the Thunderkittens and Tygra close behind. Somehow, I found myself moving out with them.
Once outside, Lion-o brought down the two skycutters with the Sword. The Sword! I had never really seen it before, never given it much thought, but it was magnificent. The power that came from it was pure, the purity of the forces of goodness.
I heard Wilykit yell out, "Look out Brittany!" I looked up. A stray bolt form one of the downed skycutters was coming in my direction! Agh! The pain! I am on the ground; nothing is in my mind but the pain. Is the how it ends? I wonder as blackness welcomes me.
Voices. I hear Lion-o and Panthro talking, but I do not open my eyes. Oh, I had forgotten the pain in the numbness of sleep. How long have I been out? The pain seems lessened, but I am still very sore.
ReplyDelete"She must learn to defend herself. This is a perfect example of what can happen. Lion-o, she is not as strong as a Thunderian, she nearly died!" I heard Panthro say in despair. I nearly died? Aye, the pain was indeed that great. I grimaced. Then I regressted the motion as a fresh wave of pain came to my face. I still had my eyes closed.
"Panthro, it is her belief not to fight. Perhaps she will consent to learn to defend herself, perhaps not. It is her choice and we cannot force her," said Lion-o. So, he had that much respect for me. I admired him all the more for it. I smiled, and opened my eyes, grimacing with the pain it brought. Light poured into my vision and nearly blinded me. Daytime, then. I was back in my room, but now there was a chair in which lion-o now sat beside my bed. He looked extremely worried. So did Panthro.
"Lion-o, what if we lose her? She is only a child," said Panthro.
Then the Mutants will answer to me," said Lion-o darkly.
Panthro looked at him with an equally dark expression the frightened me a little. "Not alone, be certain of that," he declared.
"Brittany has only been with us a month, but already I feel very protective of her," returned Lion-o.
"As do I. As do all of us, I think. She was so frightened when she first came to us, I think she has touched us all. Those blasted Mutants!" I could tell Panthro was extremely worried by the tone in his voice, and it made me feel guilty because I had flat out refused to let him teach me to fight. I groaned and tried to sit up.
"Brittany! Don't try to get up," said Panthro, rushing to the bed. He restrained me, pushing me back down. Every muscle in my body protested the action, and I complied with a small yell.
"Don't worry. I won't try. I hurt too much for that," I said. "How long have I been out?"
"A week. We've been taking turns sitting with you, hoping you would wake up," Lion-o told me.
"A week? I didn't think I could sleep that long!" I exclaimed.
"You can, if you're in a coma," Panthro returned.
A coma. That frightened me. I had heard that people died of such things, which I kne to be true from personal experience: I had lost a dear friend once. But they had said I had nearly died, so it didn't really surprise me. "Well, thank you for watching over me," I said.
ReplyDelete"Rest now. You're still very wek and sore, it shows on your face. In a couple of days you should be all right," Lion-o told me."What can I do in the meantime, jst lay here and look at the ceiling? I'm not that sort; I'm the kind of person always has to be doing something to be happy. Besides, I'm also hungry."
"Do you like games?" asked Panthro.
"Yes! Do you have any cards or board games? Maybe a chess set?" I asked excitedly.
"Yes, yes, and yes," laughed Lion-o. "I'll get Snarf to bring you some food and games. Perhaps he'll talk with you a while." With that, he turned and walked away.
Panthro turned to me. "Brittany, please rconsider martial arts, at least to defend yourself. I don't want you hurt again because you didn't know how to defend yourself. Also, if you don't know how to fight, don't go into middle of a battle, blast it all! That was sheer stupidity!"
I looked at him. I saw the worry and care etched into his face and felt a fresh wave of guilt and humility as I realized he was right. Reluctantly, I agreed that I should learn to fight. He smiled and said he'd see what he could do and left me alone.
A little late Snarf came in with a cart. I saw the top was covered with food. Food. I thought again how it was all very strange, that I knew none of the foods I was eating now. I found I had to readjust my eating habits and learn these new and exotic foods. The second shelf was covered with games. Some I had never seen before; others looked familiar.
ReplyDelete"Lion-o said you wanted some food and games," said Snarf upon entering my room.
He, however, had brought in way too much food. "Yes, but I don't know if I can eat all this! But I'll certainly try, seeing how I haven't eaten in a week, with your help, I trust. And thank you for the games," I said.
"Well, you're still a growing girl. Eat as much as you can. I'll help, since you asked, and then I'll take the rest away. Would you like to talk with me while you eat? Afterwards, I'll play you a game or two before I get back to my work," offered Snarf.
"I can eat, talk, and play games all at the same time. It'd save time for you, and I had plenty of practice back home. My grandmother taught most of the games I know. God how I miss her! We played so many games together." I said as I took a bite of breadfruit.
We played games for two hours, and then Snarf returned to his work, leaving me alone again. God had been merciful, the pain was nearly gone. I rested my head against the headposrt of the bed and closed my eyes. Memores and bits of dreams floated back to me. I dreamed of my family; I thought of what had happened to me. All I knew was how much I wanted to go home, but also of how the Thundercats had also become my family. I knew if I went home, I would miss them greatly, perhaps as much as I miss my own family now. Tygra's warning came to mind: You may never be able to go home. It was so ominous, so foreboding. I shivered. But would it be so bad, just to stay here? I could have fallen to worse fates, I rationalized. Instead here i am, with my heroes. I smiled and closed my eyes. I slept. And I dreamed.
I walk into Grandma's house. There comes from the kitchen a familiar aroma of different foods. I smile. As usual, she has cooked too much food for us to eat. "Grandma, I'm here!" I shout.
"Come in and wash yours hands. Then sit down and eat," she tells me.
There is nois behind me. I turn. But it is only Grandpa. We go into the kitchen.
The scene changes. I am in the courtyard of what I recognize as Cat's Lair. A battle is raging. And I am in the middle of it!
I wake up screaming! Tygra and Cheetara rush in, their rooms being the closest to mine. "No, no! Get me out of her!" I am shouting, my eyes closed. But I am sitting up. Then I realize it is only a dream and begin crying. Cheetara comes over and puts her arms around me and I cling to her, like a child to a mother. In a way, since I have arrived here, she has become something of a mother to me. SHe just holds me for a minutes, trying to quiet me. SHe waits till I have stopped sobbing.
ReplyDelete"Tell me," she says softly.
And I tell her. I am frightened again, and she comforts me. I understand that she is trying to comfort me. Tygra says as he watches us, "Brittany, try to get some more sleep. It is late. Come, Cheetara." And they leave, but I am unable to get any sleep. I go to the window and look out at the stars. I seem to be doing that quite a bit lately, as if the stars can give me any comfort, which, in a way, they do. A shooting star shoots by, and I realize I was meant for this.
Early the nest morning, I came downstairs to eat breakfast with everyone else. Wilykit was the first to greet me. "You must be feeling bette,r then," she said.
"Yes, much better. But there's still some soreness, but it'll pas."
"Well, I've been working on another spaceboard for you. Would you like to try it after breakfast?" asked Panthro.
"Great! Thank you, Panthro," I said with a smile.
"Wilykat and I will teach you how to use it, Brittany," offered Wilykit.
After breakfast, I went out in the courtyard with the Thunderkittens where Panthro was already waiting with my new spaceboard. It seems a little frightening, but I was determined. When he handed it to me, I looked it over. It looked like a skateboard, only with no wheels. It also had the Thundercat insignia on it. I said as much about the skateboard resemblance. At their blank stares, I explained what a skateboard was.
"Do you ride those back in your own time?" asked Panthro.
"Well, I've tried, but I never quite go the knakc of it. I think the wheels were off-balance. No, I ride a bicycle instead. In fact, it's my mains means of transportation."
They started teaching me despite my fear. By mid-morning, I had learned to ride a spaceboard well. I decided I'd keep practing.
I learned a spaceboard uses the earth's gravity to stay afloat on the air, much like a magnet. (The first of my lessons in mechanics, Panthro said.) Then we proceeded to the martial arts lessons.
By mid-afternoon, I had learned to fall correctly (Thundercat-style, of course) and block punches to the head. It seemed relatively easy, so far. But Panthro warned me, I have a long way to go, and it gets harder, which I didn't doubt for an instant. We kept on with the lessons until Snark calle us in for supper.
"Brittany, perhaps I should take you to the Thundrillium fields tomorrow," Tygra said after supper.
ReplyDelete"Thundrillium fields? Why?" I was curious.
"Let's just say, for a science lesson."
Lion-o said, "Who'll be next?"
"How about some pointers on running and gymnastics?" suggested Cheetara.
"If you with, you can come to me for some blacksmithing skills. They, too, could come in useful to you, too, someday," said Bengali.
"And we could teach you waht we know about the art of cunning," added Wilykit.
"These are all very good skills to know, Brittany," said Lion-o. "Why don't you try them all? Oh, not all in one day, of course. Intermittently, perhaps something different each day. Perhaps even I could teach you something-like swordfighting! You never know," he said with a smile.
I decided to take them all up on their offers, thanked each of them, and then excused myself to go to bed. Yes, this was most definitely going to be an interesting life.
The next day, Tygra met me in the courtyard and we went to the Thundrillium fields together. When we got there, he picked up a piece of thundrillium and showed it to me I took it, thinking it somehow looked familiar. Maybe like it in my own time. I tried to think of it. What was the saying?
"This is what we use to fuel the Cat's Lair and all of our vehicles, Brittany," Tygra was saying, but I wasn't paying full attention. It's like a rock in my collection, I thought. I had a rock collection that I used to look at all the time when I was with my family.
I interrupted him. "Tygra, this looks familiar. Almost like gold, but not quite. Somehow different."
"Gold? That worthless metal? Hardly," replied Tygra.
"Fool's gold! That's it! Tygra, just as gold is worthless to you, this stuff is a sworthless to my people. They can this iron pyrite. Gold is extremely valuable to us because it can be used as money, jewelry, or merely for decorative purposes. But they always threw iron pyrite out because they find no purpose for it. They called it fool's gold because it looks similar to gold," I explained to a shocked Tygra.
"I didn't realize what gold was to you. But you seem to know your science."
"Well, only the rudimentary basics. Not hardly enough to be called a scientist," I chuckled. "I remember seeing a statue made of gol once. It was of my loard Jesus Christ and it was very beautiful. Gold is often used for religious purposes, and I have always been a very strong Christian believer."
"Let's get to work, and when we return to the Lair, we'll tell the others what we have discovered," said Tygra.
We finished our work and returned to the Cat's Lair by dusk.
Later, in coucil, we told the others what we had discussed. "Hmm, perhaps if we could find a way to get you back hom, maybe we could set up elations with your people. We could create a trade agreement: thundrillium for gold," suggested Panthro.
ReplyDelete"NO! That's about the worst thing that could happen to the Thundercats, as well as everyone else on Third Earth! Panthro, my people must never know that the Thundercats and te Thid Earth truly exist. Thet are not ready for space travel, and they are greedy. Yes, I am ashamed to admit it, becase they are my people, but it is the plain truth. They would invade Third Eart and subjugate its peoples. It would be interstellar war between two different times and two differentEarths! I'm afraid to think of what would happen as a result of that. Now, if I said that there in my own homeland, I would surely be assassinated, but as young as I am, I have still followed the political controversies on television, and I know my people would do such a thing. I'm sorry, Panthro, but the answer to that particular suggestion must be no. They just aren't ready."
"Well, I can see your point of view on that. I must compliment you on your argument," replied Panthro, as I let out a sigh of relief.
"Brittany if I taught you blacksmithing, do you think you would be able to make jewelry out of any gold we might find while mining for thundriliium?" asked Bengali. "Perhaps if we could get you home, you might be able to make a living for yourself out of making gold jewelry."
"Thank you, but I'm not sure. The only way to find out will be to try," I returned.
"Well, let's all get some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us in the thundrillium fields tomorrow," yawned Lion-o as he stretched. "Brittany, if we find any gold while we're there, I'll remember to save it for your blacksmithing lessons." With that, council was adjourned.
"Bengali, why don't you stay here with Brittany and guard the Cat's Lair? Lynxo-o's at the Tower of Omens and Snarfer is at the Cat's Lair on the New ThunDera. In the meantimes, you can teach her some blacksmithing with what we have in storage," said Lion-o early the next morning. We had met in the courtyard, and the others were preparing to leave.
ReplyDelete"All right. O.K., Brittany, let's get to work," said Bengali.
All that day, he showed me the basics of blacksmithing. He used a furnace to heat the metal we would be working with and showed me how to stoke the furnace. While the metal was heating, he got out the anvil and hammer as well as two pairs of tongs. "We can't let the metal stay in the heat too long, or it will melt. We'll take the metal out of the fire with these tongs." He instructed me in how to hold the tongs, then, once we had the metal on the anvil, he showed me how to work with it. He let me try a few things myself, but after we got done with each step, he'd melt the metal down again and we'd start again, always with something different. This went on until about noon, when the Lair alarm sounded through the corridors of the Cat's Lair, startling us.
I spun around, just as a bolt from a nosediver found its mark beside me and bolted for the Lair doors. "I'll radio for help!" I shouted back behind me.
"Hurry! I don't know how long I can keep this up!" Bengali shouted back as he dodged a skycutter.
I ran up the stairs to the control room as fast as I could. When I got there, I tured on the screen and the radio as Panthro had shown me. On the screen was chaos. Bengali was doing his best, but I knew instinctively he needed help. FOr that matter, so doI! I had never manned the Lair's defenses before; there had always been someone else for that. But Bengali was outside and I was here. "Cat's Lair to the Thundertank: Come in, please! Panthro, come in! Anyone! This is an emergency!"
"Brittany, we're already on our way! The Sword has already told us; just do your best!" the radio returned in Panthro's voice.
"Panthro, tell me how to work these blasted controls!" I yelled.
Patiently, ever so patiently, he told me. And with a vengeance now even I knew I possessed, I fired. I took down a skycutter, but the other one fired at me. The bolt knocked me from my seat. I jumped back into it, and began firing again. Another jolt. This time, I'm prepared and I stay in my seat. But I hear a popping noise, then an explosion. Pain, searing pain! Fie has broken out in the control panel and has burned clear through my clothes to my skin. The fire spreads quickly as I struggle to rise and inform Panthro of the situation. But the radio is out. I look quickly to the screen. The Thundertank has arrived just in time! I look around the control room and see the fire is spreading out, getting out of control. I gram an extinguisher and fight the fire until the extinguisher givers out. Damn, what else could go wrong? I am thinking as I dive for the door. Luckily, it open. There is enough fortune left that the fire has not damaged the door controls, but another jolt rocks the Cat's Lair. I had to ask, I think as the floor looms up at me. I fall, face first, which is all I am aware of as darkness takes me once again.
"Easy. You've hit your head and have a possible concussion. " Cheetara's voice.
ReplyDeleteSomething is in my eyes. Blood. "The control room! Must..."I struggle to rise from where Cheetara is holding me
"Don't move," she commands me.
"But, the fire..." I manage to say weakly.
"...is out," says Panthro as he emerges from the ruins of the control room. "There's a lot of damage, but it can be repaired. How is she, Cheetara?"
"A little delirious, but she'll recover," she replies.
"I'm sorry. I tried to help, to protect the Laird, God..." I bablle incoherently.
"Don't worry about it. Come on, Cheetara. We've got to get her to her room," I heard Tygra say. Why is my hearing growing dim? The light is fading. I try to fight it, but I am losing.
"Pumyra, been called. She'll be here soon, Brittany. Just relax and..." Cheetara is talking to me, trying to keep me awake, but I hear nothing more.
The dream goes on and on. I am running but I dont' know from what. I stop, and look back. A tornado! Winds pick me up and toss me back and forth. Buffeted, I scream. But I cannot hear myself in my dream. I try to wake up, but I can't!
ReplyDeleteI am back on the ground, running again. But this time, I stop and sit down. There is a peculiar mist about me. Suddenly, I can make out a familiar shape coming towards me. A woman. It's Cheetara. "Brittany, come back to us," she is pleading, holding out her hands to me. I stare at her. "You must come back. Please." She is crying. I keep staring. I want to go to her, ask her why she is crying, tell her I'm all right. But I can't! My voice won't come and I can't move; I feel like I am rooted to the spot.
I open my eyes. Cheetara is stand at my window, looking out. "Cheeteara?" I croak weakly.
"Brittany! Thank Jaga, we thought we had lost you!" She comes over and kneels besie my bed.
"Cheetara, there was a dream. You were there, and you were crying, and pleading, but I couldn't reach you. I don't understand it..." My voice trailed off.
"It's all right, you'll be fine. Brittany you did well enough. Those were Thundranium sheels the Mutants used. It wasn't your fault."
I frown. "Thundranium? Oh,yes, it weakens Thundercats." Then I smiel. "So it wasn't my fault. But Bengali!"
"He is well. He suffered a cut to the arm, but other than that, he is all right."
"Thank God," I let out a breath, realizing I had been holding it. "That's all I needed to know."
"Now that you're awake, your recovery will go swiftly. But I'll help you all I can," Cheetara offered.
"Thank you." And with that, I sleep again. But this time, it is a peaceful sleep, free of disturbing dreams that can haunt the mind.
The next morning, CHeetara came in after breakfast. "Well, you can get up now, but be careful. You seem stronger, but no need in taking unnecessary chances," she told me.
Unnecessary chances. How I hated that terms! These walls chafed at me, and I wanted to get out. I stood up, ever so tentatively, and walked to the window. It was a beautiful day, and it made me want to get out even more. Sudeenly, everything went black. When I came to, Cheetara was by my side. "What in the world happened?" I whispered, dazed.
"You fainted." Does your head hurt?'
It did. "Yes, very much so." I groaned.
"Here. We'll be more careful next time." Cheetara helped me up and began walking me toward the bed.
"No! Cheetara, I'm not giving up so easily. If there's one thing I've learned from you, it's determination. I want to go downstairs with the others," I told her.
"All right," she said with a laugh. "You are becoming a true Thundercat, if only in spirit as of yet!"
As we walked down the hall to the stairs, I winced as pain shot across my chest. I had forgotten about the burn, and now I was paying the price for it. "Brittany, are you all right?" Cheetara had become extremely alarmed.
"I'm all right!" I snapped. Then I stopped. SHe didn't deserve that. "Cheetara, I apologize. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that."
"You're in pain. When people are in pain, they often say and do things they don't really mean. Let's go on." I thought her very patient, but I also knew I had hurt her.
ReplyDelete"Cheetara, how long was I out?" I asked her, hoping to initiate a conversation, hoping to ease the tension.
"A week." Very clipped, very impersonal. She said nothing more, looking straight ahead, as if intent on our destination.
When we got downstairs, I went over to a chair and sat down, much relieved. Then I became away I was being stared at. Snarf rushed to my side. "Brittany, you shouldn't be up!" he cried.
"I want to be downstairs with everyone else," I said. "Besides, constantly being by myself, cooped up in that room all the time, I get lonely."
"I can imagine," said Lion-o. "How are you feeling now?"
"A little sore, but I'll manage," I replied.
"We found some gold for you to work with," said Panthro, opening a bad on the table. Out tumbled enough gold to feed an entire hungry nation! I gasped, and said so. "So much, oh, thank you! If I were back home, I would use this to lep those who need it more than I do. God knows with you folks and my own family, I don't need it. But thank you, thank you very much!"
ReplyDelete"You are to consider us family, as well, Brittany. But you said there were hungry people in your time. Why is that? Isn't there enough food to feed everyone?" asked Cheetara.
"No, not really. There are billions of people in my time, so you can se the problem. But that isn't the only problem. War. My people have a tendency to fight amongst themselves. Innocent people get hurt, even killed. When other ocuntries try to send aid, that country;s enemy more often than not stops the aid from reaching them. The innocents are the ones who pay the price for their government: they usually starve to death. I've seen pictures of this that I never care to see again. Not only that, war also puts a country in debt. Thus, they must spend their money on the war, instead of on badly needed food for their people," I finished with a sigh.
"Can't they grow food?" asked Lion-o.
"Not during wartime. They need soldiers, so that is where the men go. Not only that, we have advanced so far, that evern if they should try, one bomb will destroy several entire fields."
Cheetara looked at me, amazed. "For one being only twelve years old, you sure understand quite a lot." She smiled. "How do you know so much? Surely you have studied!"
Indeed, I had studied, and so I gave them such confirmation. "But I have also read books at my own leisure, whenever I could, and I admit I also watched T.V. quite a bit as well."
"If we could find a way to your time, perhaps we could help out in this particular situation, but your people must also be willing to cooperate, and stop fighting amongst themselves," said Lion-o thoughtfully. "Do you think they could do that?'
I shook my head. "I'm not sure. I really doubt it; there would be so much to do-life as they know it now would have to be changed forever. All the present governments would have to be abolished, and a new one set up for the entire world. Not many people would go for that; they are a proud people, and I don't know if it would hold. There will always be factions trying to break away, to form their own governments; there will still be fighting, which will once again lead to the problems mentioned aforehand. Not only is it human nature, it's a vicious circle. My people are just too stubborn. But then again, who knows. There's an oldsaying: anything goes. My people may just surprise me yet-it may work, it may not."
"The only way to find out is to try, what harm can it do?" said Cheetara. Her arms crossed, she walked over to the window, head bowed. "If your people are anything like you, perhaps they will change." She turned to face us. "Then again, people are not all the same. From what I've seen Brittany is a very open-minded individual. It is a possibility that not all her people are as open-minded as she is. They may not be able or may not want to change, even for the better. She has stated it is human nature to quarrel, but that is natural of any sentient species. There is also the faction she demonstrated called Christianity, of which she has been raised of member of all her life, and this shows not all of her people wish to fight. It shows promise and hope for her people, which is very good. But it is also not good, Brittany, that they will not even learn to fight to protect themselves, because there will always be those who will wish to destroy them. Their strength is also their weakness, unfortunately."
"Yes, I found that out the hard way," I said with a grimace.
ReplyDeleteLion-o got up. "It is my opinion that you people are basically good, but they still have a long way to . Perhaps those few with whom you were raised will change you world for the better."
"I certainly hope so, I'm tired of all the fighting. It's the only thing about my world I don't miss. But there are others besides the Christians who are good; the Hindus, Buddhists, and all the other First Earth religions, except those dedicated to destroying our world," I said with a halfway grin.
Panthro headed for the door. "Thundercats, I say enough politics; we have work to do. Let's get to it!"
"Thundercats, Ho!" they shouted in unison. It felt good to be allowed the privilege to be in this group's presence. I picked up the bag, and headed for the blacksmithing workshop, injuries notwithstanding.