Claudus City: Northern Sector

Lion-O looked at the destruction of the Northern sector of Claudus City in shock. He could not believe what he saw. Most of the homes were destroyed, scared children in their mothers arms, and the death of tigers.

Tygra and Talia were most hurt by it. Around them were corpses including tigers frozen in Crystal River, trying to escape the cheetahs, lynxes and pumas. Tygra and Talia walked to the river. He turned a body over and Talia gasped in shock. The tiger was blue all over, fur frozen, body ice cold. Talia begin crying and Tygra put his arms around her, comforting her.

Panthro could not believe the devastation either. He could not believe that Cheetara would be a part of this. She has been his friend for years and he never thought she could do anything like this.

Lion-O continued to rummage over the destruction. Even though their were only a few tiger deaths, they were gruesome. Lion-O walked to the river and saw bodies frozen in the water. He saw dead tigers missing an arm or leg, who more than likely bled to death. The worst thing he found was a decapitated tiger. His head must have blown off on impact from a powerful gun or cannon. The image and gruesome picture of how it may have happen almost turned the young lord's stomach.

"Cheetara, how could you do this?" Lion-O whispered.

Panthro walked to his leader. "How are you doing?"

"I'll be all right, Panthro," the young lord sighed and looked at the two tiger Thundercats. "It's Tygra and Talia that we should worry about. After this, they will certainly want me to fight Cheetara for what she's done, what she's been a part of."

"I know. I can't believe it either, and you're right about Tygra and Talia. They would probably want you to fight now."

"And you, Panthro? What about you? Would you want vengeance too when Cheetara attacks the panther clan?"

Panthro thought for a moment. He had forgotten that Cheetara would attack the panther clan. After all, they were aligned with the lion and tiger clans. "Whatever you decide to do, Lion-O, I'll back you up one hundred percent."

"Thanks, Panthro. I think this war is going to separate us; a group of us will be on the lion's side and another on the cheetah's side. We must hold strong to the Code of Thundera for all of us to stick together...and somehow bring Cheetara back."

"What do you want us to do now?"

"We'll gather all the deceased and keep them away from the women and children until we can arrange a proper burial for them. Then we'll escort the survivors to a nearby shelter. This part of Claudus City is destroyed. It'll be days before the rebuilding can began. After we finish here, I'll talk to the cheetah elders. They must be hiding somewhere."

"I was talking to a few of the survivors. They saw lynxes and pumas with the cheetahs. One of those clans could be holding them."

Lion-O nodded his head. "I'll talk to the cheetahs first and then the lion clan elders, although after this, they won't listen to me. They will plan a full scale assault on the cheetahs." Lion-O grew angry. He felt like punching something. "How could you do this Cheetara?"

Panthro laid a hand on Lion-O's shoulder trying to calm him down. "Come on, Lion-O. Let's get started on the cleanup."

Lynx Headquarters

"Victory is ours!" Chase cheered as he and the other lynxes, pumas, and cheetahs raise their drinks in the air. Cheetara did not bother raising hers. She did not want to drink at all. All she could think about was Lion-O and what he thought of her after seeing the destruction of the tiger village. Not wanting to be in the room anymore, she stepped out.

Cheetara entered her bedroom. She put her glass on a coaster on her desk and pulled out her personal bag from her closet. Looking through her bag, she pulled out her album. She sat on her bed and opened it, turning to the section she loved most about the album: pictures of her and Lion-O during their courtship. She smiled at a picture of the two of them standing next to each other, another one of Lion-O holding Cheetara off the ground in his arms. She had her arms wrapped around his neck. In another picture, Lion-O and Cheetara had their legs in the lake behind Cat's Lair. He had his arm around her and they were in their swim wear smiling in the picture. Lion-O wore a pair of blue swimming trunks and Cheetara wore a gold colored swimsuit. She traced her fingers over Lion-O's image longingly.

A knock at her door disturbed her. Cheetara quickly put the photo album behind her pillow. "Come in."

Chase entered. "Why did you leave the party? You should be celebrating, not cooped up in your room."

"Celebrate that I was part of a war where people died? I don't think so."

"We had no choice but to kill."

"Kill, not slaughter, Chase. I saw some of the dead bodies. Some of those tigers were missing an arm, leg, or worse a head. In the next battle, this will not be allowed."

"I guess some of the fighters did go too far," Chase said sitting on her bed beside her. "So, when's our next attack?"

"Without a doubt, the lions will get involved. What I want to do is--"

A rapid knock interrupted Cheetara's words. "It's open."

Lydia entered. "Cheetara, Lord Lion-O's here."

At the sound of his name, Cheetara looked up with a little gleam in her eyes. She immediately jumped off of the bed and ran out. Chase ran after her. Cheetara slowed down and peeked into the board room where she saw Lion-O talking to the cheetah and lynx elders.

"There was no reason for you to attack the tigers this morning."

By the tone of his voice, he was obviously upset. Cheetara did not care. He was there, only a couple of feet away from her. After seeing him in her album, all she wanted was to be held in his arms again. She was about to step in, but Chase pulled her back.

"You can't go in. He may arrest you for leading us this morning," Chase said.

"He wouldn't do that. I'm his--"

"His what, Cheetara?" Chase asked taking Cheetara's left hand and putting it in front of her face. There was an empty place where her engagement ring was one placed. "You broke up with him, remember? He could be still angry at you for leaving him and arrest you as punishment."

Cheetara had never thought about it like that, but a part of her did not think Lion-O would arrest her. Thinking Chase might be right, Cheetara just leaned on the wall, listening to Lion-O. Lion-O looked back at the door as if someone was looking at him, but soon turned back to the elders.

"The lions are our enemies. The tigers are also our enemies. We have no choice but to defend ourselves," Carvel said.

"The tigers haven't done anything. You attacked them, which will provoke the lion clan to disobey my orders and attack you. I told Cheetara that the lions wouldn't attack, and for some reason, she didn't believe me and attacked anyway," he looked around at the elders. "Cheetara is the leader of this war for your side. Where is she? Why isn't she in here?"

Chase placed his hands on Cheetara's shoulder. "Go to your room now, Cheetara."

"But, Chase--" Cheetara protested.

"You must go. For your own safety."

Cheetara quietly nodded and ran back to her room. With Cheetara gone, Chase entered. "She's not here, Lord Lion-O."

Lion-O turned around to meet Chase. "Who are you?"

"I'm Chase."

So this is Chase. Lion-O thought looking Chase over.

Chase looked over Lion-O...his competition. So Chase was not as tall or as muscular as Lion-O. Chase did not think Cheetara would find that as interesting in a man as long as he was from her own kind. Both of them being cheetahs would only benefit their relationship. Chase and Cheetara also had a past that they could build on. The male cheetah had met her parents and knew more about Cheetara than anyone else.

"Have you seen Cheetara?" Lion-O asked.

"I have but she left, knowing that you would come looking for her after this morning's attack. She doesn't want to see you, Lord Lion-O, and she doesn't want to come back to the Thundercat organization. So I think it's best that you leave."

Lion-O got a bad vibe from Chase but tried to shake it off. He turned back to the elders. "You all made a terrible mistake. The lions will come at full force to attack you. If you are trying to take over New Thundera then your cause is evil, and if the lion, tiger and panther clans fail in defeating you, then I may have no choice but to fight you." And with that comment, the Lord of the Thundercats left.

Tiger clan Headquarters

The tiger elders told the lion and panther elders what had happen this morning to the tiger village at Claudus City.

Luther slammed an angry fist on the table. "You see what happens when we listened to Lord Lion-O and not attacked? Our own allies get attacked, and what a cruel attack it was."

Tyland added. "It was cruel as it was gruesome. I and the other elders just returned. We saw tiger bodies frozen in Crystal River, bodies parts missing, one was even decapitated. Most of our forces came from the Northern sector of Claudus City and with them dead or captured and weak, they won't be able to create illusions for a while. Worst of all, they have captured some of the tigers and have imprisoned them somewhere. I suspect they are at the lynx headquarters."

"A cunning and ingenious plan established by that wretched She-cat," Lanardi sneered

"She obviously did that to break the tigers from our alliance...to weaken us," Lionel added.

"The rest of the tiger elders and I believe that, too, "Tyland said.

"What are you planning to do?" Lavarius asked the tiger elders.

"On our way back, we decided to stay, although our forces will be few now."

"Don't worry about that, Tyland, the panther warriors will make up for it. We are much stronger and are better fighter than the cheetahs," Pantharo said confidently.

"And our panthers are standing guard at the populated cities in case they strike," Panala, another panther elder spoke.

A tiger entered and told the elders that they have a guest. After giving the tiger approval for the guest to enter, Lion-O stepped in.

"If you think we aren't going to strike the cheetah clan now after what they've done to our allies, then you are wrong," Luther said.

"I understand you and the tiger elders anger, Luther, but--"

"But nothing, my Lord. You saw for yourself what the cheetahs, and now I hear their allies, the lynxes and pumas, did to the tigers. Even we weren't so gruesome as to amputate body parts. The cheetahs are out for blood and are evil. We also learned that Cheetara, your second-in-command, your fiancée, led them." Luther said calmly although he was very angry.

Despondently, Lion-O stated, "Cheetara is no longer with the Thundercat organization or my fiancée. She left to lead the cheetahs."

"So the cheetah decided to show her true spots," Lanardi said darkly.

Lion-O gave a dark look to Lanardi.

"Now that you are finally opened to the truth, will you lead us?" Lionel asked.

"I haven't decided. I must speak with the other Thundercats before I make a decision," Lion-O said and left.

"There's no doubt he will lead us now," Tyler another tiger elder said and continued. "Tygra and Talia will certainly convince Lord Lion-O to fight and with the Sword of Omens on our side, the cheetahs will be no match for us."

Cat's Lair...that evening

All the Thundercats were in attendance for this meeting. Pumyra and Bengali were on the monitors on Third Earth at Cat's Lair, and the twins shared a split screen with them. Lion-O had just finished explaining to the Thundercats on Third Earth about the tigers being attacked and his conversation with the cheetah elders as well as the meeting at the Tiger Headquarters.

"Are you going to fight, Lion-O?" WilyKat asked.

"I haven't decided yet, but I do know what direction I'm leaning towards," Lion-O answered.

"You must fight, Lion-O. You saw what the cheetahs did to the tigers," Talia argued.

"I saw what they did, Talia, and I know you and Tygra want me to fight because of that," Lion-O pointed out.

"I wasn't there, but I do think the cheetahs cause is evil. I'm not just saying that because I'm a tiger either," Bengali said over the monitor.

"The cheetahs have knocked down the tiger's support in the war greatly and now most of them are prisoners. They won't be able to use their illusions for a long time," Tygra said and continued to pressure his lord. "If the cheetahs continue to fight as strong as they are now, then they will take out the lion and panther clans and then us, just like Cazar. You must fight now in order to stop history from repeating itself!"

Lion-O knew Tygra had a point. Cazar conquered all the clans that stood in his way and took out all the Thundercats except for Lord Koran, Lion-O's ancestor. The story was the same as Cazar, but it was still different. Instead of Cazar leading the war, it was Cheetara, the woman he loved, the woman he wanted to marry. He could not imagine himself fighting her, hurting her.

"If I fight, then there is a chance, a big chance that I will have to fight Cheetara. I just can't do that." Lion-O said solemnly.

"Lion-O, I understand that you still love Cheetara, but it's quite obvious that she doesn't love you anymore. I'm beginning to wonder if she ever did love you," Talia said.

"How could you say that?" Lion-O asked.

"Well, look at the facts, Lion-O. It was quite obvious to everyone that you had feelings for her, but she kept her distance. She was angry with you for trying to start a relationship with her at first. Would a person who loved you do that? If she really loved you, she would stand by your side no matter what the cheetahs said or did. But it's quite apparent that Cheetara didn't."

Panthro, who was quiet all night, looked at Tygra and Talia and how they were acting and talking to Lion-O. "That's enough! Tygra! Talia!"

The two tigers glanced at the angry panther confused. "We're only expressing our thoughts," Talia said.

"You're doing the same thing to Lion-O that I think the elders did to Cheetara...confusing and pressuring her to leave the Thundercats to defend her kind. This is a hard choice for Lion-O. If he fights, then he will have to fight Cheetara. He loves her, and incidentally, Cheetara does love Lion-O. I'm pretty sure that it was very hard for her to leave. Just because Lion-O and Cheetara didn't start off as you and Tygra did doesn't mean that she didn't love him!" the angry panther snapped back at the female tiger.

Talia sat there in shock and insulted at what Panthro said.

"Who are you to talk to my girlfriend like that?" Tygra asked angrily. "You don't even have a girlfriend, except that Thundertank."

"WHAT?!" Panthro roared.

The three Thundercats began to bicker until Lion-O had enough of the arguing.

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" Lion-O loud voiced roared silencing everyone. "Don't you see what this war is doing to us. It's separating us, turning us against each other. Now, I have made my decision, and I don't want to hear a word against it. As for now, I will not fight in the war. So far, it seems like the cheetah cause is evil, and I'm having a difficult time accepting that because of Cheetara. However, if the lion, panther and tiger clan began to lose, then I will lead them, which means I will have to fight Cheetara....something I'm not proud of and hope that I will never have to do."

"How do you know that the Sword of Omens will let you fight her?" Lynx-O asked.

Everyone paused in quiet solitude at the question.

Tygra finally remarked, "If the cheetahs' plans are truly evil, then the sword will fight, even if it's Cheetara."

"Let's hope we don't have to find out," Panthro added.

Lion-O looked at Talia not wanting to think any longer about the question. "How are you coming on Cazar's ancestory?"

"I'm halfway done, I think," she answered.

"Good. Let's end this meeting and continue monitoring for activity," Lion-O remarked.