Darkness had fallen across Third Earth, and the forest was as black as could be. Both groups, the Thundercats and the mutants/luntacs, had split up and each individual was on his or her own searching the area for the village where the mythical magic people lived.

Tygra walked along a beaten trail searching for clues of a village. He had thought he saw the glow of a fire in the distance, but he now couldn’t figure out its position. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he was caught completely by surprise when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He whirled around and took a defensive stance.

"I mean you no harm." a gentle female voice spoke. Tygra saw a woman behind him holding a flaming torch, a woman he would have guessed as human or a species similar to them. She was very beautiful, with pale skin, long flowing black hair, and deep blue eyes. She wore an exotic looking robe that was ornately decorated.

"Who are you?" Tygra asked.

"My name is Celeste. I am a leader from the village that you are looking for."

"How did you know—"

"I know all about you, Tygra, and your Thundercat friends. You are looking for my village to save your unfortunate friend who inhaled the fulxiclan."

"The what?"

"The green haze, as you call it. It was sealed in that temple by sorcerers because of its deadly properties. Our people suffered at its hands many generations ago, until we created the elixir. Now your friend Cheetara has fallen victim to it and she needs the elixir as well. One of our scouts saw the entire incident happen, and we knew it would only be a matter of time before you sought us out. I have come to help you." Celeste told him.

Tygra breathed a sigh of relief. "You don’t know how happy I am to hear that! I was so worried that we would lose her. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your help."

Celeste reached over and took Tygra’s hand, and stared into his eyes. Tygra’s heart skipped when she touched him, and he couldn’t tear himself away from her gaze. "Come with me, Tygra. Let me take you to my village so you may get the elixir for your friend."

"All right." he replied, entranced. They started walking.

Chilla stood on a high tree branch trying to find the village from a high view. She suddenly had a strange feeling that she was being watched and turned sharply. She slipped on a slippery substance and lost her balance. She let out a shriek as she tumbled from the branch to the hard ground below. Chilla braced herself for the impact, but it never came. Instead something caught her.

"You must be more careful." a smooth, charming male voice told her. Chilla looked up and saw that she was in the arms of a tall, powerful man. He appeared to be of a race like humans, only something told her that he was definitely no wimpy human. He had silky black hair, pale skin, and handsome features. He wore something that looked like a toga. He was watching her intently with the most enchanting deep blue eyes she had ever seen. "Are you all right?" he asked her.

"Uh, yeah." Chilla answered. "Thanks."

"I’m always willing to help beautiful women in need." he replied with a smile.

Chilla rolled her eyes but smiled in spite of herself. "Nice line." she said with a laugh.

The mysterious man set her down gently. "I’m being quite sincere, Chilla. I know you aren’t used to that given the rather...uncultured... company you keep, but I know true beauty when I see it."

"How do you know my name?" she asked suspiciously.

"I know a lot of things. I keep myself informed on all of Third Earth’s developments. I know you’re looking for me and my village in order to find a cure for your companions. I’ve come to help you. My name is Damien. It’s a pleasure to meet you."

Chilla was taken in by his charm. She wasn’t sure why, but she couldn’t tear herself away from his handsome face. Usually she thought smooth-talking guys like him were full of it (and she usually told them so, she had certainly told Alluro off more than once in the many years she’d known him) but for some reason she didn’t feel that way about Damien. "Nice to meet you too," she stammered.

"Well then, if you’ll follow me, I’d be more than happy to accommodate anything you need or desire." he took her hand and flashed her a smile.

Chilla returned the smile, feeling uncharacteristically lighthearted as she was drawn into Damien’s supernatural charm. He led her off into the dark night toward his village.

Jackalman peered out from behind a few bushes as Chilla left with Damien. "I’d better figure out what they’re up to." He mumbled to himself. Something about Damien struck him as odd. He’d never seen Chilla act that nicely towards anyone, she seemed completely suckered in by the guy. Damien also seemed a little too helpful, and he was almost positive that he was up to something. Jackalman decided to follow them in secret.

Tygra’s eyes widened in wonder as Celeste led him into her village. It seemed primitive, but very blessed with resources at the same time. Nobody in the village seemed to be wanting for anything. Celeste led Tygra to a large structure that he guessed was some sort of palace.

"I can’t believe none of us have ever seen your village! It’s magnificent!" Tygra exclaimed.

"There are those who would take great pleasure in destroying it and taking it from us. We use our magic to protect it. It only appears to those who we deem worthy of finding it." Celeste answered.

"I’m honored." Tygra said.

"I could tell from the moment we met that there was no question of your worthiness. Strength, kindness, and virtue radiate your entire being." Celeste led him onto an outdoor patio that held a large banquet table filled with food and several comfortable seats. "Please, Tygra, do sit down and make yourself comfortable. It has been a long and tiring day for you."

"But the elixir—I have to get it to Cheetara as soon as possible."

"Cheetara will be fine. Right now you need your rest, my striped warrior. I sense your weariness. Please, accept my hospitality and allow me to comfort and soothe you for a little while, and then you can take the elixir and be on your way." She seated him in a cozy chair and rubbed his shoulders. Tygra felt the tension leave his body at her touch, and relaxed. "You must eat to keep your strength up." Celeste told him. She gestured to a servant-girl standing by the table. "Mirlana! Bring our guest some food and wine!" she ordered. The girl nodded and brought a tray over. She poured Tygra some wine and handed him a plate of food.

"Thank you, but I couldn’t..."

"Nonsense!" Celeste protested. "You need nourishment. Please, you are exhausted. If you must make the journey back to save your friend tonight, you must keep your strength up."

Tygra took the goblet. "Well, I suppose you have a point." he conceded. He sipped the sweet wine. It tasted better than any he had ever tried before. A warm sensation flooded his body and lulled him into a deeper state of relaxation. He finished it and tasted the food. The food had the same effect. Celeste sat next to Tygra and rubbed his shoulders. He sunk back deeper into the chair and relaxed. "So this is the good life..." he mumbled, as he fell into a light sleep.

Celeste watched him drift off. "So good you might never want to leave." she said quietly, and kissed his cheek, a mischievous grin on her lovely face.

Damien led Chilla onto the same patio that Celeste had Tygra. Chilla was just as impressed by the village and palace as Tygra had been. They saw Celeste and Tygra on the patio. "Sister!" Damien called. Celeste stood and smiled. "Damien, you’ve returned, and with another visitor I see."

"This lovely lady is Chilla. She has come to seek the elixir to heal her friend."

"Oh! Do you know Tygra? He has come for the same thing. The poor guy was so exhausted he fell asleep, so I thought it best that he rest for the time being."

Chilla was surprised to see Tygra there. "Yeah, well, Tygra and I aren’t exactly on the same side. The only thing we have in common is we both have to get the cure to heal our friends." she stated.

"Our village is a peaceful one, and I have no quarrel with either side of you outsiders. We will be more than happy to share the elixir with both of you, as well as our hospitality. Mirlana, come over here and see to it that Damien’s guest is made comfortable." Celeste ordered.

"Yes, Lady Celeste." the servant-girl answered, and led Chilla to a seat. She served her wine and food.

"Damien, I will return in a while. I’ll get the elixir ready."

"I’ll join you in a bit." he nodded, and Celeste left. Damien sat with Chilla. "Is it to your liking?" he asked.

"You bet!" Chilla exclaimed. "I haven’t had food this good since I left... well, since I’ve been on the run with the other lunatacs. A long time." She sipped the wine and felt the same strange sensations Tygra had felt when he tasted it. It relaxed her, and she settled into the comfortable chair.

"Your friends seem to bring you down and hold you back. Why do you let them?" Damien asked.

"They don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Sure, Luna’s a little overbearing at times, but we all do all right." Chilla said defensively.

"You don’t need to justify anything to me. I didn’t mean to seem judgemental, it’s just that you appear so unhappy. I can count the times you’ve smiled since we met on one hand. It’s a shame, your smile is rather pretty." he said, his voice oozing charm.

Jackalman was listening to the conversation, hidden in the bushes near the patio. He had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. "This Damien guy is using every cheesy pick up trick in the book, and she’s falling for it!" he snickered to himself.

Chilla started to forget herself as he looked into her eyes, but she shook herself out of it. "I shouldn’t be here, I have to get back to Skytomb with the elixir."

Damien rose. "Very well then, I will find Celeste and get it to you as soon as possible. I shall see you in a little while, my dear." he kissed her hand gently, turned, and walked out.

Chilla sat there trancelike, watching him go. "He’s so charming..." she breathed, a goofy lovesick grin on her face.

Tygra drifted back into consciousness, and noticed Chilla. "What on Third Earth are you doing here?" he asked suspiciously.

Chilla was snapped back into her usual attitude. "The same thing you are. Finding the cure for Alluro and Monkian. We heard how you Thundercats decided to get it on your own and leave us out, even after Luna helped you. That goes to show how good your word is." she snapped.

Tygra looked taken aback. "We were going to give it to you guys, we just wanted to get it first. We were afraid if we told you and you got it first, that Cheetara wouldn’t ever get it. Did Celeste bring you here too?"

"No, her brother Damien did."

"Isn’t Celeste wonderful?" Tygra sighed dreamily.

"Not as wonderful as Damien. He’s the most amazing man I’ve ever met."

Jackalman nearly puked after hearing that line.

"This is so strange. We’re both here, alone, not fighting..." Tygra mused.

"I, well, I just don’t feel like it. I’m in too good a mood to fight. There’s something about this place, it just makes you want to be—"

"Peaceful." Tygra said with a smile. "Truce, at least temporarily?" he offered.

Chilla nodded. "Temporarily, sure, why not?"

Damien and Celeste returned, each holding a flask. Celeste sat with Tygra, and Damien sat with Chilla. "We have brought you the elixir you seek." Celeste told them.

"Thank you." Tygra said, sitting up. "I’d better get this back to Cheetara right away. She needs it. I owe you a great deal of gratitude. Anything I can do..." Tygra started.

Celeste smiled. "Stay on a bit longer with us tonight?" she offered.

"I’ll come back and visit, as soon as I get this to Cheetara." Tygra said.

"Very well. I’ll walk you to the village border."

"I’d love that." Tygra replied, and gave Celeste a shy smile. She took his hand and led him off the patio.

Damien turned to Chilla and handed her the flask. "I suppose you will be on your way then, too." he said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Yeah... I don’t want to go, but Alluro needs this."

"He’s lucky that you care so much for him. He doesn’t deserve you, you know."

"Yeah, probably not, but I’m doing it anyway. He’s valuable to our team."

"None of your team deserves you. Don’t let them use you."

"No one uses me." Chilla said defensively.

"Of course not. However, if you’re ever feeling like getting away from it all... you know where I live. Take care, my dear." Damien then leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips, and vanished into the night. Chilla stood there a long time, unable to get Damien out of her mind, before heading back to Skytomb.

Jackalman collapsed in a fit of laughter after watching Damien successfully sweet-talk the icy Chilla. He found the entire scene priceless, and planned to have a big laugh about it once he got back with the others.

"You find something amusing, mutant?"

Jackalman spun and saw Damien standing above him, looking very angry. His handsome face was twisted into a scowl and his eyes were glowing with an evil light that stopped his laughter instantly.

"Didn’t anyone ever tell you that spying is rude?"

"I wasn’t spying, I was, uh, looking for Chilla. We’re friends."

"I know all about you mutants and who you are. Repulsive creatures. You were not invited to our village." he hissed.

"I was leaving anyway." Jackalman whined, backing up slowly.

"Oh no you’re not." a female voice hissed. It was Celeste, looking every bit as frightening as her brother now did. "Nobody trespasses on our grounds without paying the price, mutant."

"Look, I was just lost. I’ll go right now, I swear."

Damien hissed and bared glistening fangs. He grew about three times bigger, and blasted Jackalman with an energy beam that emanated from his hands. Jackalman fell backwards, and Celeste held him with supernatural strength. "To the dungeon with you." she laughed wickedly, and the two dragged their captive into the palace. They passed Mirlana, who gave Jackalman a sympathetic look.

"Don’t waste your pity on this creature, Mirlana. He’s not worth it." Damien told her. They went into the palace and threw

Jackalman in the dungeon, then climbed the stairs together. Their bodies reformed into the pleasing forms that they had earlier.

Damien turned to his sister. "We shouldn’t have let them go. They may bring others back to look for that jackal."

Celeste laughed. "Don’t be paranoid. Tygra is under my spell, and Chilla under yours. When they return, it won’t be to find that loathsome creature, trust me. It will only be to do what we have already begun to convince them to do: to be drawn into our power and stay with us as our devoted followers while we take them over, drain their vital energy little by little, until we absorb all their power and they are so weak that they are trapped in our village in order to stay alive."

Tygra walked into Cat’s Lair holding the flask. "I have it! We can save Cheetara!" he announced.

"Tygra! Thank Jaga! We were all worried about you!" Snarf exclaimed.

"Yes, the rest of us returned hours ago, finding nothing. Where have you been?" Lion-O asked.

"I was in the hidden village with Celeste—the one who gave me the elixir. She’s so amazing." he said dreamily.

"Tell us about it later, let’s save Cheetara now!" Panthro said.

The Thundercats rushed into the sickbay and administered it to Cheetara. Within minutes she stirred and opened her eyes. "What happened? Where am I?" she asked.

"You’re in the medical facility. You inhaled some poisonous gas during the battle, and we’ve been trying to bring you out of it. Tygra just came back from a healer in the unicorn forest who gave us the cure." Pumyra told her. "How do you feel?"

"A little tired, but basically all right."

"We were so worried we’d lose you!" WilyKat told her, giving her a hug.

"So Tygra, tell us about this healer Celeste..." Lion-O suggested.

Tygra then proceeded to tell them all about her, especially about how beautiful and friendly she was. They exchanged amused looks as he told his story.

Panthro grinned. "Sounds to me like you have a thing for this Celeste."

Tygra flushed. "No, I just think she’s nice, that’s all."

"Suuuure it is." WilyKat teased.

"Tygra’s in love! Tygra’s in love!" WilyKit chanted in a sing-songy voice.

"I am not!" he growled. His face indicated otherwise.

"Isn’t that special?" Lion-O snickered.

"He’s so cute when he’s in love!" the newly recovered Cheetara giggled.

"Look, I did you all a favor! I don’t appreciate being singled out for your amusement!" he snapped angrily.

"Relax Tygra, we were just kidding." WilyKat said.

"Yeah, we didn’t mean to offend you." Cheetara said contritely.

"Too late." Tygra grumbled, and stormed upstairs.

"What’s eating him?" Lion-O asked.

"Sometimes he gets touchy about his feelings. You know how shy he is. We shouldn’t have teased him. He obviously does have a thing for this Celeste woman, and he probably feels insecure about it." Cheetara said.

"We’ll just give him some time to cool off." Panthro said.

Chilla returned to Skytomb with the flask. RedEye had returned a while ago with no luck finding anything, and no one had heard

from Jackalman. She told them all briefly about Damien and him taking her to the village. The lunatacs and the mutants gathered

in the medical room while Vultureman administered the antidote to Monkian and Alluro. They both were revived shortly after receiving the elixir.

"Hoo hoo... my head hurts."

"What’s going on?"

"You were poisoned by some kind of fog that you breathed in. We just got our hands on the antidote and gave you the cure. Chilla found it." RedEye said.

"It was no big deal. I got to meet someone really—fascinating." Chilla’s goofy smile briefly returned.

"Oh, you mean that Damien guy?" Luna asked.

"Who’s Damien?" asked a healed Alluro, curious to know who it was that was able to have such a visible effect on his cold-hearted companion.

"He’s this guy who saved me from a bad fall, took me back to his village, and gave me that elixir. He knew I was looking for the cure to save you guys."

"What did you have to do to get it from him?" TugMug asked.

"Nothing, he just gave it to me."

"Cawww, why would anyone just give it to you?" scoffed Vultureman.

"Because he liked me!"

"Maybe he thought he’d get lucky! Hoo hoo!" the recently-recovered Monkian laughed. Several of the others laughed too.

Chilla’s temper rose. "Not everyone lives with their minds in the gutter, you losers. Why is it so hard for you to believe that someone might have just liked me?"

"Because we know you!" RedEye answered with a laugh.

Chilla let out a frustrated yell and headed for the door.

"Wait a second, yess?" Slythe spoke up. "Where is Jackalman? He should have returned a while ago."

"I didn’t see him." Chilla answered.

"You had better not have pulled any dirty tricks against us mutants, ice woman!"

"I said I didn’t see him."

"Then why isn’t he back?"

"He caught a whiff of you three and headed in the other direction?" she retorted.

"You were out a long time." Vultureman said suspiciously.

"Are you accusing me of something, mutant?" Chilla hissed coldly.

"You were gone a while, yesss? What were you doing? Having tea with your mysterious friend Damien?"

"He gave me some wine at his palace, and I kinda, er, relaxed for a little while." she answered nervously. She didn’t want to give out any details that might come back to haunt her in the form of endless taunting by the other lunatacs or the mutants.

"Wine, huh?" Alluro asked with a smirk. "Rather smooth, this Damien."

"Shut up! I don’t have to justify myself to any of you! Now why don’t you stupid mutants get out and go stink up your own fortress?" she snarled.

"If we find out that you have done something to Jackalman, you’re going to be very sorry, yessss." Slythe threatened. He led the way out, Monkian and Vultureman behind him.

"Thank the gods they’re gone." Luna muttered.

"So Chilla, what were you and Damien doing while ‘relaxing’?" TugMug asked.

"While you two were alone at his palace drinking wine?" RedEye persisted, enjoying her reaction. They weren’t about to let the subject go when they could get such an entertaining reaction out of her.

Chilla let out a low angry growl and gave the two of them an evil stare.

"For someone who didn’t do anything, you’re awfully defensive." Alluro commented.

"For someone who was just in a coma, you’re awfully energetic. I should have just left you asleep. You’re a lot less annoying that way."

"Sorry I’m not as good company as Damien." he replied, mocking her dream-like voice as he pronounced the name.

"You got that right." she said coldly, and stormed out.

Cheetara walked upstairs and knocked softly on Tygra’s door. "Tygra. Can I talk to you?" she called in. She got no reply. "Tygra, I’m sorry about before. We didn’t realize you would get so upset. Nobody meant anything by it. Can we please talk?" She still got no answer. "Can I come in?" she asked. There was no response, so she turned the knob and opened the door. To her surprise, the room was empty. She noticed a note scribbled on the bed. She picked it up and read it.

"I had to leave the lair and see her again. Now that I know Cheetara will be fine I feel comfortable in returning to the village. I don’t know when I will be back. –Tygra. P.S.—This has nothing to do with what happened earlier. You’re all forgiven."

"Oh no." Cheetara muttered. "This isn’t like him at all, to just run off like this. What kind of hold did that woman put on him? I’d better show this to Lion-O." Cheetara took the note and ran down the hall.