*A city is in flames, after the inhabitants have been quarantined for nearly month. Many Thundarans run from the burning city carrying their belongings. All of them are Black Leopards. One family of five stops. "Why are we stopping?" asks a small girl, no more than four. "Your mother needs to rest." The man replies. They resume walking. The girl falls behind. "Daddy….daddy…..wait up!" The family stops again. "Obsidian," the woman says, "can you carry her?" A boy of about eight nods and picks the girl up on his back. "Here you go, little sis’." The girl puts her head on his shoulder and smiles at her other brother, who is about six. "Thanks, ‘Sidian." She says. "Daddy?" says the six-year-old boy, "Why do we hafta leave Silvera?" The man frowns. "Leo **LAY-oh**, you know that we got sick with a great disease." The boy nodded. "Well, we sent word to the Thundercats, the rulers of Thundera, to ask for help. Of the 2,500 of us in Silvera **Silvera is their city** only about 150 have survived. The Thundercats arrived too late to help us. Instead they put the city under quarantine and then burned the city. It is because of the Thundercats that we must leave." The girl lifted her head off the shoulder of her brother. "Then someday I will destroy the Thundercats," she thought. "I will destroy them for ruining my life."*

*It is ten years later. A Black Leopard boy of sixteen stands infront of a small wood house. He is with a Black Leopard woman and girl. The girl is fourteen. About ten feet away stand a man and a boy of eighteen **the boy is 18, not the man**. "I’ll miss you Leo," says the girl. "I’ll miss you very much." The boy, Leo, smiles. "Yeah, I’ll miss you, too, sis." He walks away to stand with the other two men. As the three walk away he turns his head back. "Take care of our mother while I’m gone!" he calls. "Don’t worry," says the girl, "I will."

A few days later they get a message. It reads: "To the wife of Kaminidus the Black Leopard, We regret to inform you that your husband and two sons have been killed in the war against the Pumas." As the girl reads this to her mother her voice shakes and tears run down her cheeks. "Oh…no, it can’t be!" she says. "Father…. And Leo and Obsidian….. All dead."*

*Two years later the Black Leopard village is going up in flames, the result of fire arrows sent by the Pumas. Nearly all the houses were made of wood. A girl of sixteen runs from the village to what looks like a grave situated near a stream. Her face is streaked with soot and tears. As she kneels down besides the grave, anger and hatred fill her face. "I, Leona, swear by Thundera, by the moon, stars, and sun, by my father Kaminidus, and my mother Dusk, by my brothers Leo and Obsidian that as long as I can put an arrow to a bow I will wreak havoc among the Thundercats and Pumas!!!!!!"*

Pumyra sat in her room, thinking about her past. She smiled, remembering her fifth birthday party.

*"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday, Pumyra, happy birthday to you!" "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" exclaimed the young Pumyra. "Everything’s so pretty!" "You’re welcome, Pumyra." Says Pumyra’s mother. Pumyra opens her presents. "OOOHHHH!!! What a pretty pretty pretty dress!" Everyone laughed. "We’re glad you like it, ‘Myra." Says her father. Pumyra grins. "This is best birthday EVER!"*

Pumyra’s smile faded as she remembered some of her not-so-fond memories. There had been a rivalry between the Pumas and the Black Leopards, but it wasn’t much….for a while, anyway. Then, when she was eleven, the rivalry blossomed into an all-out war. The Pumas had thought the war would be over within a few years, at the most. After all, they greatly outnumbered the Black Leopards. The Black Leopards had maybe 150 fighters, and 75 or so in their village who couldn’t fight, or were too old or not old enough. The Pumas had around 200 fighters and another hundred as back up. But for some unknown reason the war lasted until Thundera’s destruction. "Maybe it was the Black Leopard archers," she thought. "They attacked with arrows and struck so many of us down." She shook her head. "Oh, forget about that, ‘Myra, it happened years ago." She said out loud.

"What happened years ago?" came a voice.

Pumyra turned around in a hurry. Standing in her doorway were Wily Kat and Wily Kit. "Jeez, you two startled me."

"Sorry," said Kit, "but what happened?"

Pumyra shook her head and smiled sadly. " Everything happened. Everything."

About three miles away, a Thunderan woman of 26 stared at the sky. "The sunset is so beautiful," she said like she was in a daze, "So beautiful….." The woman frowned. "There were sunsets on Thundera like that. I used to watch them from my room in Silvera." She hissed at the memory. "Until the Thundercats burned it down!" She jumped down from her perch in a tree. "Soon I will begin my attack on the Thundercats. Or at least I SHOULD begin my attack." She muttered. "The Black Leopards WILL be avenged! And I, Leona, last of my people, will be the one to do it."

At Cats Lair, everyone was getting ready to eat. "Kat! Kit! It’s time for supper, snarf, snarf." Snarf called.

Kit and Kat were behind him, about to sneak up on him. At a nod from Wily Kit they both shouted "BOO!"

"YAHHH!!! Snarf, snarf, DON’T DO THAT!!"

"Aw, c’mon, Snarf, it was JUST a joke." Wily Kat said.

"Some joke." Muttered Snarf.

An hour later supper was finished and they were discussing plans for the next day.

"Bengali will be heading to the Tower of Omens," said Panthro, "And Cheetara will be heading back here."

"Correction," came a voice, "Cheetara’s already back here."

They turned around and saw Cheetara standing there.

"Welcome back, Cheetara," said Panthro, "but why are you back a day early?"

Cheetara grinned. "Why not? Lynxo said he could handle things without me for a day."

"Pull up a chair," said Lion-o, "We were just discussing plans for tomorrow. I’m thinking of scouting out another area of the forest that we haven’t been around that often."

"I’ll go with you, Lion-o." Tygra volunteered.

"Thanks, Tygra. Anyone else up for joining?"

Cheetara smiled. "I’m up for it."

"Then it’s settled. Lion-o, Cheetara, and Tygra will scout out part of the forest." Panthro said.

"Snarf, snarf, but why are you scouting out that part of the forest, Lion-o?"

Lion-o rolled his eyes. "Because we haven’t really been in that part of the forest all that much, and Panthro’s been getting some life-form readings over a part of it."

"I still don’t like it, snarf, snarf."

"That’s ok, you won’t be going with them." Said Pumyra.

They all started laughing at that. After a few minutes they all headed off to their various posts, or in the Thunderkittens‘ case, to bed.

The next day, Lion-o, Tygra, and Cheetara set out towards a certain part of the forest. "Which way did Panthro say it was?" Lion-o asked.

Cheetara and Tygra pointed simultaneously in a northerly direction. Lion-o blinked. "Uhh…thanks."

After walking a few miles they stumbled through a thicket and saw a small stone house.

"Great Jaga!" said Tygra, "Who could’ve built this?"

"I don’t know," said lion-o, "Do you, Cheetara?"

Cheetara shook her head no. "But look at this garden!" she said, pointing to a small garden with some beautiful white roses, and other flowers, growing in it.

"I’m going to see if anyone’s inside the house." Said Lion-o. Tygra followed him and together they opened the door. To their surprise it was unlocked. It was a small house, only two rooms, a bedroom and a kitchen/living room.

Just at that moment, the owner of the house returned. She saw Cheetara outside and put down the deer she was carrying. She then picked up a small log, about a foot-and-a-half long. She crept up behind Cheetara. Cheetara turned her head. "By Jaga-" was all she could gasp out before the woman swung the log, leaving Cheetara unconscious. The woman went into the house and did the same to Lion-o and Tygra, who, unlike Cheetara, heard nothing. The woman frowned. "Three Thundercats." She spat. "A cheetah, a tiger, and…. Holy Thundera! The Sword of Omens!" The woman sighed. "Well, seeing as this one holds the Sword of Omens, there’s NO WAY I can kill them NOW." Instead she dragged them over to a stream which was about 4 ft. wide, and 3 ft. deep. She loaded them onto a raft and began to drag them upriver towards Cats Lair. When she was within half mile of Cats Lair she dumped them off the raft. She then got on the raft herself and rode it down-stream to her house.

At Cats Lair…"Hey, Panthro? Shouldn’t lion-o be back by now?" asked snarf.

Panthro looked worried. "Yes, he and the other should. However, each of them carries a tracer device with them. We should be able to find out where they are." He checked the computer for the signals from their tracing devices. "Got ‘em! They’re about a half-mile from the Lair. I’ll take the Thundertank to get them."

A few minutes later, the Thundertank had reached lion-o, Cheetara, and Tygra. He saw them lying in a pile by a stream." Panthro hopped out and ran to them. "Lion-o! Tygra! Cheetara! Are you guys all right?" He realized that they were unconscious so he carefully loaded them in the Thundertank and drove off.

A few minutes later, at Cats Lair, they had been revived. "Hey, what happened to you guys?" asked Pumyra, who was taking care of them. "You’ve got some nasty lumps on your heads."

"We found this house," said Lion-o, "and Tygra and I went inside, seeing as it was unlocked. We looked around and the next thing I knew, I got hit by something and then I was here."

Tygra nodded. "Same here," he said.

"I staid outside," said Cheetara, "To look at the garden that was there. There were roses in it, and also some flowers from Thundera, Aatias, I think. I heard some footsteps and turned around, thinking it was Lion-o or Tygra. It was a Thunderan, holding a small log. The Thunderan swung the log before I could react."

"So you saw the person who attacked us?" Tygra inquired.

"Yes."

"What did this Thunderan look like?" asked Panthro.

"It was hard to tell," said Cheetara, "But I think it was a woman."

"Ok, but what did she look like?"

Cheetara glared at him. "I’m getting there. Her skin was gray, I think, but darker than yours, Panthro. Her hair, as far as I could tell, was black." She shook her head. "Remember, I only caught a glimpse of her before I was knocked out."

"What kind of Thunderan could she be? A Panther?" asked Lion-o.

"Maybe a dark one…" said Tygra.

Pumyra frowned darkly. "Or a Black Leopard."

They all glanced at Pumyra. "Y’know, that could be…" said Tygra. "I’ve never seen a Panther with darker skin then Panthro’s."

Cheetara got out of the bed she was in. "Why don’t we contact Lynxo at the Tower of Omens and ask him to tell us what he may know about Black Leopards."

"Good idea," said Tygra also getting out of his bed, "Let’s go do that."

All of them, including Lion-o, went to the control room to radio Lynxo.

"Cats Lair to Tower of Omens, do you read me?" said Tygra.

"Read ya loud and clear, Tygra." Snarfer answered. "What’s up?"

"Not much. But we need to talk to Lynxo."

Snarfer was a bit surprised, but got Lynxo, who was in the room with him.

"What do you need me for, Tygra?" said Lynxo.

"We need you to tell us all you know about the Black Leopards."

Lynxo was surprised. "The Black leopards? Now that’s one of Thundera’s tribes you don’t hear much about."

"Can you tell us about them?"

"Of course, of course. Let me see…." There was a pause. "I don’t remember all that much, but about a hundred years ago, there had been a war between the Black Leopards and the Leopards. At the time, there was a Black Leopard Thundercat named Silvera. She was also General of the Black Leopard army, and had led the Black Leopard army into battle. The present Thundercat lord was upset, he believed she had disobeyed orders. Silvera disagreed, saying that she was merely protecting her people. The Thundercat lord, Jaman, I think it was, said that in doing so she had wiped out the entire Leopard race, not including the Black and Snow Leopards. Silvera was furious. She believed that it was necessary to keep the peace that she had done this. When he heard this, Jaman told her that she was no longer a Thundercat, and that there would be no more Black Leopard Thundercats. When Silvera died the Black leopards erected a city in her honor, and named it Silvera, after their hero."

"Woah, woah, woah, lemme get this straight," said Lion-o. "She destroyed an entire race of Thunderans and they called her a HERO?!"

"Yes, lion-o. The Black Leopards were a very warlike tribe, but very peaceful as well. About twenty years ago, a sickness struck the city of Silvera. The Black leopards asked for help from the Thundercats, but none came until it was too late. Only a few hundred survived the sickness. The Thundercats then burned the city in hopes of destroying the sickness. It worked, but it left the remaining Black Leopards without homes. The black Leopards relocated and built a village in a valley twenty miles from the mountains where the Bengal tigers and Snow Leopards lived. For ten years they lived in peace, but then there came a war between the Black leopards and the Pumas. However, Pumyra can tell you about that better then I can."

"Thanks, Lynxo," said Tygra, " And, yes, I’m sure Pumyra can tell us about the rest." He turned to Pumyra. "Ok, Pumyra, tell us what you know."

"Well," said Pumyra, "When I was eleven, the war between us started. There were some disagreements over farming land. The Black Leopards had begun farming on Puma land, and they would not agree to stop doing this. So, we declared war on them."

"Who won the war?" Lion-o questioned.

"The war…. It went on until Thundera exploded, I believe. Why it didn’t end sooner, I don’t know. We should have won; the Black leopards only had 150 fighters, and 75 that couldn’t fight. We Pumas had 200 and another 100 as back up. However…." She hesitated. "However, their archers cut down a good many of our troops before we could get in close. "

"Is there anything GOOD about them you remember?" Cheetara asked.

Pumyra closed her eyes, digging through her memories. "Their gardens. They had a great many Aatias, both white and purple." She again closed her eyes. "Oh! I remember, one time before the war I was taken on a tour of their village and nearly every piece of wood furniture had all sorts of carvings. On the legs of beds, chairs, and tables were carved vines and flowers, and little Thunderans. Yes, the carving was magnificent." Her face clouded. "However, that was one of the few times a Puma was allowed in the Black Leopard village."

"The carvings…There were all sorts of carvings on everything wood in that house." Tygra recalled. "That’s what Lion-o and I were looking at when we got clubbed on the head."

"I say we go back there tomorrow." Said Lion-o. "And see what exactly is going on."

"No, Lion-o, you stay here." Said Panthro. "Tygra, Pumyra, and I will check it out."

Cheetara nodded. "Is that really the best idea?" she thought. "Pumyra still has hate for the Black Leopards even now." However, she banished the thought from her mind, and soon it was the next day.

"Ok Tygra," said Panthro, "you’re the only one of us who knows where we’re going. So…where are we going?"

Tygra laughed at his friend’s comment. "As I recall we pretty much followed this stream," the Tiger said. "We pushed through a couple of bushes, and there we were."

They walked another mile or so before finding it.

"By Thundera…." Pumyra gasped. "It’s a smaller version of the Black Leopard village!"

Panthro was equally impressed. "Well, I never saw the Black Leopard village, but I gotta hand to whoever built this: it’s a nice piece of work."

"I appreciate the compliments," came a voice, "But I do NOT appreciate the trespassing!"

The Thundercats looked around in shock.

"Who’s there!" Panthro thundered. "Show yourself!"

"Oh, I’m hurt," teased the voice. "You forgot to say please." With these words the Thunderan jumped down from the tree branch she was on. The Thundercats stared in shock at the Thunderan woman. Her skin was as Cheetara had described it, a dark gray. Her hair was black and tapered to a point a few inches below her shoulders. When Tygra looked closely he could make out a few dark spots. She wore a dress similar to Pumyra’s, only with two straps and no holes in the sides. The dress reached to a few inches above her knees and her boots reached to a few inches below them. She wore finger-less gloves which reached only to her wrists. All of these were black. She held a bow, and on her back was a quiver of arrows. Among all the black and gray her jade green eyes stood out like a rose in cornfield.

The woman’s face spread into a small, mocking, smile. "Oh, yes, " she said pointing to Tygra, "you’re one of the Thundercats I knocked unconscious yesterday. How’s your head feeling?"

Ignoring her question Tygra said, "it’s about that matter we came here."

The woman looked skeptical. "If want an apology you’re not likely to get one."

"Look, can you AT LEAST tell us who your are?" said Panthro, fighting his growing anger.

"Why not. I am Leona, daughter of Kaminidus and Dusk, sister to Obsidian and Leo. And I don’t like Thundercats." She glared at Pumyra. "Or Pumas."

Pumyra returned the glare. "Well, I have to say the same about you."

Tygra looked at Pumyra. "Pumyra," he said, "we don’t want a fight."

Pumyra laughed in disbelief. "You can’t try to NOT have a fight with a Black Leopard! They’ll never turn down a challenge! Not even if they’re half dead!"

Leona narrowed her eyes. "You say that like it’s a bad thing."

"It only proves how warlike you Black Leopards are."

"See, I was always taught never to give up fighting, never to give up trying. And if you had to die because of a war you should die in battle, die a warrior's death. An honorable death."

"And what about all those Black Leopards we fought who were begging us to have mercy?"

"They were not asking you," Leona said, "to spare them, rather to kill them there and then."

"And how would you know?" Pumyra countered. "Were you in those battles?"

The Black leopard’s eyes gleamed with hate for the Puma. "I was in the battles. Maybe not in the earlier years, but I fought in the battles. Now tell me, Puma," she spat, "did you have any family members who fought in the war?"

Pumyra seemed a bit confused by that question. "No." she answered finally. "I had no family members who fought in those battles."

"See, there’s a difference between us. My father and brothers all died fighting on the same day, killed by your soldiers." Her eyes again gleamed in hate. "My mother died soon after."

"How touching." Pumyra sneered. "Why don’t you join them!" With that Pumyra loaded one of her marbles into her sling and shot it at her.

Leona dodged aside and returned fire with one of her arrows. Pumyra dodged this. However, it found its way to Panthro’s shoulder.

"Ahhhhhhhhh!!!"

"Panthro! Are you alright?"

Panthro grimaced. "Ahh…I’ll be fine."

"I don’t know, that arrow went in pretty deep.

"Tygra! I’ll be ok!"

Tygra returned his gaze to the battle. Leona had a cut on one cheek as well a burned left arm. Pumyra had a deep scratch on her shoulder where one of the arrows had barely missed her neck, and one of her ankles was bleeding. Pumyra hurled an explosive marble at Leona, who dodged it right in time. However, it hit Leona’s house, sending it up in flames.

"NOOOOO!!!!!" Leona stood in astonishment watching her house catch fire. For what seemed like an eternity she stood there, watching. She then turned to Pumyra and the other Thundercats. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and hatred shone all around. "First the Thundercats burn my city, Silvera, then the Pumas burn my village, now a Thundercat, who is coincidentally a Puma, burns my home." Hatred and barely suppressed rage shook her voice. "You have two choices, Thundercats, leave now and live or stay."

Tygra helped Panthro up from where he had been sitting. They then walked up to Pumyra and took her gently by the shoulder and led her to the Thundertank.

As Tygra turned his head to take a look back he saw Leona, her hair flying in a small breeze that had come up, though not enough to spread the fire. She was standing there, bow and arrow in hand, although nothing more than her silhouette was visible. When they had gone Leona went over to a tree where she had left the cloak she normally wore. "It looks like I’ll be sleeping outside tonight."

At Cats Lair everyone was doing their best to help Panthro and Pumyra. There was a slight problem, seeing as Tygra needed help removing the arrow from Panthro’s shoulder, but Pumyra was glad to help. After that was done Tygra immediately started bandaging Pumyra’s shoulder.

Pumyra winced as Tygra tied the bandage. "Sorry, Pumyra, but that was no little scratch!"

The Puma rolled her eyes. "No really? I thought it was just a paper cut."

Wily Kat and Kit, who were standing in the sickbay watching, laughed. "How would you get a paper cut on your shoulder?" laughed Kit.

"I’m not exactly sure…." Said Kat.

Cheetara came into the room. "Tygra, Panthro, Pumyra," she said, "Lion-O’s holding a council meeting. He’d like you to be there, if possible."

"Sure," said Tygra, "we’ll be in in a minute."

The spotted feline nodded and walked out of the room. Tygra finished putting the bandage on Pumyra’s arm and helped her stand. Panthro was mentally telling them to hurry up.

"Alright, Panthro, alright. We’re going." Laughed Tygra.

They walked into the council room and took their respective seats. Everyone was there with the exception of Lynxo and Bengali who were at the Tower of Omens. When they had all been seated, Lion-o turned to Tygra and said, "Tygra, I want you to tell us everything that happened. Panthro and Pumyra are both wounded, and you’re looking completely exhausted."

Tygra sighed. "Ok, here’s the story. We got to the house and Panthro started saying how nice it looked. Than we heard this voice saying she appreciated the compliments but not the trespassing." Panthro cut in at this point.

"I challenged the voice to come out of hiding and she did."

Tygra glanced at Panthro. Before he could say anything, Lion-o cut in. "Is this the same person who attacked us?"

"Apparently so. When She came into view she said that I must be one of the ones she ‘knocked unconscious yesterday’. Panthro asked her to at least tell us who she was."

"And did she?" asked Lion-o.

"Yes." Said Pumyra. "I believe her exact words were ‘I am Leona, daughter of Kaminidus and Dusk, sister to Obsidian and Leo’. She then added that she didn’t like either Thundercats or Pumas."

"After a couple of minutes of insults exchanged between Pumyra and Leona, Pumyra hurled one of her marbles at her. Leona returned fire with a bow and arrow." Tygra said.

"Pumyra dodged the arrow," Panthro put in, "and it hit me."

Wily Kit winced. "Ouch."

"You got that right, kid."

"Eventually," said Tygra, "one of Pumyra’s marbles hit the woman’s house. It went up in flames."

Cheetara’s face showed sympathy. "That poor girl…."

"Uh-uh." Pumyra shook her head. "That wasn’t no girl. I’d say she was around 25 or so."

"Well, I still feel sorry for her. Watching your home burn down isn’t exactly the funnest activity."

"She said that she had seen her two other homes burn down," Tygra commented. "Silvera and her village."

The Thunderkittens were incredulous. "And she let you go?!"

"Amazingly." Pumyra said bitterly. "They’re not exactly known for their mercy."

"On the contrary," corrected Tygra, "They rarely denied mercy to anyone who asked them."

Pumyra looked at him in astonishment. Tygra smiled. "The war went on for what? Ten years? You’re going to here something about it in that time-span."

Pumyra realized that was true. "Yeah, I guess you’re right." Inside her head she was screaming in frustration. "You don’t understand! They killed HUNDREDS of my people! How can you call that MERCIFUL???!!!!!!!"

Lion-o decided to say something at this point. "Guys, what do you think we should do about this?"

Cheetara looked at Pumyra and knew that having her go back to where they had fought would be a mistake. She hated to do this but……"I say we leave things where they are. We go on with our lives. This woman obviously doesn’t want any help. We’ll only get rejected if we go back there."

The other Thundercats looked at her in astonishment. "Cheetara, are you sure?" Lion-o finally found his voice.

"I’m sure lion-o." Cheetara glanced at Pumyra. "We don’t want any more wounded Thundercats on our hands." She got out of her seat. "If you’ll excuse me." With that she walked out of the room.

*The animal stormed closer, waiting, pouncing, about to eat her….."NOOOO!!!" "Leona! Leona, honey, it’s ok, it’s me, your mom." "Mommy?" the young Leona says. "Yes, honey, mommy." The young Leona bursts into tears. "Mommy, mommy, there was this animal…and it was chasing me…and it was gonna eat me! I don’t wanna die!!!!!!!!!" "Leona, calm down! You’re not going to die! I won’t let you." Leona sniffles. "You won’t?" "You’d better believe it." Leona smiles. "Yeah, you’d whip any ol’ animal’s butt who came after me, wouldn’t you?" "I’ll always be there for you, honey. Always."*

Leona recalled that memory with a mixture of happiness and sadness. She wrapped her cloak around her as she watched the sky darken. "Rain. Those are rain clouds. And if there’s anything worse than seeing you’re house get burnt down it’s seeing your house get burnt down and then be outside in a rain storm." She shivered. "And it’s heading towards winter, too. With my luck I’ll end up with pneumonia."

"Honey, why are you always so negative?"

"MOM?!"

"Yes, Leona, mom."

"But how? You’re dead!"

"Leona, Leona, Leona," the voice laughed. "It really is your mother, Dusk."

"Would you AT LEAST tell me what the heck is goin’ on here!?"

"Leona, I’m speaking to you from the Astral Plane, the realm of the dead."

"Say WHAT?!"

"Give me a chance to explain! I’m here in the Astral Plane. I saw what happened Leona. I saw your house burn down. I even saw our village."

"You saw our village get burnt down? On Thundera?"

"Mm-hmm.

"But...but…why are you contacting me NOW?"

"I figured you needed me more now than then."

Leona broke down in tears. "Mom…mom…I missed you so much!"

A ghostly figure appeared, similar to what Jaga looked like when he appeared to Lion-o.

"Mom?"

"Hush Leona. Hush, and listen. I have spoken with Jaga, former adviser to Cloudas, former lord of the Thundercats. As you can imagine, they do not want you to destroy the Thundercats or Pumas."

"But I swore-"

"I know, I heard you. You swore by Thundera, the moon, stars, and sun, by myself and your father, and by your brothers."

"So you can understand why I’m reluctant to break that promise."

"Yes, Leona. But you must."

"Mother, what are you saying! You know as well as I that the Black Leopards NEVER break a promise unless it is to save someone they love! And I will tell you right now that there is NO ONE on the Thundercats that I feel even the SLIGHTEST bit of affection for."

"Will you do it for me, then?"

Leona stared in shock. "Holy Thundera…..Leo?"

"You’d better believe it, little sis’."

Dusk smiled at the figure that had joined her. "Leona, all of us are here. Your father, your brothers, me….oh, and there’s someone I’d like you to meet." A new figure came into view, and the other two respectfully stepped out of her way.

"You are Leona?" the figure said in a questioning tone.

"Yes, I am Leona." A fact dawned on Leona. "Holy Thundera! You’re…you’re Lady Silvera, aren’t you?"

"Yes." Lady Silvera must have been beautiful when she was alive, and she had risen to the Astral Plane looking the way she did when she led the Black Leopard army into battle. Coal black hair fell to her waist, tied in a ponytail at the base of her neck. Her eye color was hard to tell, everyone speaking from the Astral Plane had a blue glow around them.

Leona got down on one knee. "It is an honor-"

"Cut with the formalities. I always hated them when I was alive. That’s half the reason Jaman and I never got along."

Leona stood up.

"Leona, do not destroy the Thundercats. The moment you kill, or fatally wound, a Thundercat, you will instantly have the rest of them chasing after you for the rest of your life. Which will probably not be all that long, under those circumstances."

"If not kill them, what do you want me to do?" Leona questioned.

"Bring them a message from those of us on the Astral Plane."

"I’ll be shot on sight! There’s no WAY I can make it! Besides, I want to live at least another six months."

The Thunderans on the Astral Plane conferred with each other for a few minutes, and then they turned to Leona.

"You want to live six months," said Dusk, "Then you will. It is then we will come to you again."

Dusk and Silvera faded from sight, but Leo remained. " You know, Leona, you’re so pretty that if I were alive and not your brother I’d probably be in love with you."

Leona smiled a sad half-smile. "Pretty? That’s stretching it a little. I am covered with soot, tears, and blood, and my hair is a total mess."

He laughed. "I’ll see ya in six months, Leona." He winked at her the way he had when they were children, and then faded from sight.

Six months came and went. Leona had begun repairing her severely damaged house almost immediately. However, since it was September when she began work on it, she had to hurry to get a roof on it. She got that done only a few days before the first snowfall. The Thundercats had faced attacks from the Lunatacs, Mutants and from Mumm-ra. At this time, all of the Thundercat enemies were either nursing their wounds or planning something.

Leona was working in the small garden she had. Her black hair was pulled back in a bun, with two wisps of hair, one on each side of her face, hanging loose.

"Leona. Your six months are up."

Leona turned around and saw Dusk, Leo, and Silvera floating a few inches above the ground. Dusk was the one that had spoken.

"Leona," Silvera said, "it is time you bring that message to the Thundercats."

"I’m thrilled."

"Don’t be sarcastic with me, young lady." Said Dusk.

Leona tried successfully to contain her laughter. "Umm…mom, I’m 26. I’m not all that young. Younger then you, but well…"

Dusk finished her sentence for her. "…I’m dead."

"Leona, it is important that you deliver this message." Silvera showed her what looked like a holographic projector. "This projector contains a message from we of the Astral Plane."

"The translation of that," Leo said, "is that it’s a message from a bunch of dead guys."

"Leo, how can you joke about some thing like that?" Leona asked. "You’re dead, and you’re joking about it?!"

he shrugged. "There’s not much else to do about it. You can’t cheat death." "As much as I’d like to," he added silently.

Leona turned to Silvera. "What does the message say?"

Silvera handed the projector to her. "Play the message."

Leona took it, wondering how the projector became solid when it left Silvera’s hand. She pressed the button that relayed the message. A bunch of ghostly figures stood in the projection. She recognized one as Silvera.

One of them spoke. ("that’s Jaga." Said Leo.) "Lion-o, we need your help. The Astral Plane has somehow been invaded by an enchantress who seeks to destroy all spirits who once held a position of power."

A woman of the Cheetah tribe spoke next. "We ask that you find some way to defeat her." ("That’s Lady Amber," put in Leo.)

Silvera spoke next. "We five, not the most powerful of those on the Astral Plane, but the ones believed to be in the most danger, ask only that you try to help us, nothing more."

A male Panther spoke next. "We ourselves will fight her, but we will need some help, as you have probably figured out. If we can not defeat her, it is up to you."

"On the Astral Plane, everyone is a spirit, even if they are not dead, that is how we must fight. However, this Enchantress has managed somehow to disengage that law. She is here, and while the rest of us are all in spirit form, she is as solid as you are." Spoke a tall, strong-looking Tiger.

Jaga spoke again. "Please help us, Thundercats. If the Astral Plane is destroyed all other worlds may follow."

The hologram shut off. "So, I deliver this message and try not to get myself killed in the process, am I right?" asked Leona.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Let me explain. You go in at night and leave the projector on a table or something where hopefully they’ll notice it. All you have to do is not get caught."

"Easier said then done, older brother. You know how tough that security system must be? I may have been able to sneak around Puma campsites without being noticed, but the Cats Lair is a whole ‘nother thing."

Dusk appeared either confused, or shocked, or both. "Back up a little. Since when where you sneaking around Puma campsites?"

"What, you didn’t know? I was one of the top scouts for the Black Leopard army."

"But I specifically told you to stay OUT of the army!"

"Mom, six months after I turned 16 I was recruited to the army, and personally I was glad."

"16?! I thought for girls it was 18!"

"It was. For a while. Then they changed it."

"Leona, you could have been killed!"

"Mom, I appreciate the concern, but I wasn’t killed. And in the army there’s always a chance of dying. You know that."

Silvera cleared her throat. "Look, this is interesting and all, but we’ve got other things to do."

Leo turned to Leona with an amused smile on his face. "So, you know the drill? Sneak in after dark, put the projector somewhere, sneak out?"

"Yeah…but how do I get in?"

"I don’t know. Look for an open window, or something."

"How helpful."

He shrugged. "Sorry, I can’t help you. But I’ll be seein’ ya!" He, and the other two, disappeared.

Leona looked at the sky. "Ok, it’s around 3:00 in the afternoon, it’s March, it’ll be dark around…. 7:30. I’ll go in at eight."

Later that day, at 7:30 PM, Leona began jumping through the trees to get to Cats Lair. She ran into a problem when she reached the Lair, however. "Oh great. There’s a twenty foot open space between these trees and that gorge, and then there’s that gorge. Well, seeing as it’s dark I’ll just make a break for it and try and leap across the gorge. It’s risky, but I’ll try it." She gathered her cloak around her and backed into the woods a bit to get a running start. She ran the twenty-some feet and jumped when she saw the gorge. Her claws barely grasped the edge of the gorge. "Ohh…ok, Leona, get a grip." She pulled herself up. "That does it, I am not doing that again! Of course, I’ll have to get back across the gorge…"

Inside the Lair, Tygra was on watch. "That’s funny," he thought, "I thought I saw someone. It must be my imagination."

Leona walked around Cats Lair looking for an open window. To her surprise, there were three of them. "Ok, I’ll just take the middle one." Thought the black caped feline. "Oh….dang. I forgot about getting up there in the first place. Well, there’s always the ever-popular grappling hook idea. I just hope the rope is long enough."

Luckily, the rope was. She pulled on the rope to make sure it was firm, and began to pull herself up. When she reached the window she realized it was a bedchamber. She looked around it, making sure it was empty. She saw a table near the window. "This is easier than I thought. I can just reach through the window and put it on the table." As her arm passed through the window an alarm sounded throughout Cats Lair. "Oh dear." Thought Leona. "The windows must have an invisible security field on them!"

Quickly Leona put the holographic projector on the table and began scooting back down the grappling rope. Just at that moment three Thundercats burst into the room. "What the heck! No ones here!" said one.

"Look! A grappling hook! Someone must have heard the alarm and gotten out of here."

The three of them ran to the window. "No, there’s still someone on it! Everyone, PULL!"

Leona, who had gotten about halfway to the ground, found herself being pulled up. She was instantly glad that the hood of her cloak was up. With the combined strength of the three Thundercats she was soon hauled through the window.

The Thundercats, she realized, were Panthro, Lion-o, and Tygra. As she lay on the floor, seemingly unconscious, they discussed what to do with her. Since neither of the three were looking in her direction, she attempted to get up and sneak out the window. Right when she had one leg out the window she was pulled back by the collar of her cloak.

"It seems like our "visitor" wasn’t unconscious after all." Panthro said. "Ok, now WHO ARE YOU?"

Leona, now being held by the neck a foot above the ground, was trying to get some air, and trying to reach the dagger she carried in addition to her bow and arrows. After all, it was hard to shoot someone only two inches from you. Finally she grasped her dagger, and kicked out, hitting Panthro in the stomach.

"Oof!" Panthro let go of Leona, and Leona fell to her knees, gasping for breath. Panthro was charging Leona, seemingly to pick her up and swing her against the wall.

"Panthro, wait!" yelled Lion-o.

Panthro stopped, and Leona stood up, standing in defensive position. Lion-o approached Leona cautiously. "Look, I don’t know who you are, but you probably have a good reason for being here."

"Yeah, like assassinating the Lord of the Thundercats." Said Panthro. "Why else would this person, mutant, or whatever, be in your chambers?"

At this Leona felt her blood boil. "He calls me an assassin," she thought, "but that has never been true. Though my people have lived as mercenaries from time-to-time, we have never killed other Thunderans outside of war."

"Could be," Lion-o said slowly, "But an assassin would know more about the defenses of Cats Lair, wouldn’t it?"

"I suppose. But why are you defending this…this thing?!"

"I have no idea."

Tygra stood behind Lion-o watching with amusement. "Here’s an idea. Why don’t we just throw back the hood and see who it is?"

Lion-o and Panthro just kinda stared for about a minute at Tygra. "Good idea." Said lion-o. He turned to Leona. "Ok, you’ve got two choices. Throw back the hood, or I'll throw it back for you."

Leona moved her hands up as to pull back her hood, but instead she lowered her head, and ran forward in a futile attempt to escape. She had gotten twenty feet outside of the door she was tackled to the ground.

"Ahh!" She scrambled back to her feet with difficulty and started to run in a panic. This time she barely got five feet. Then the hood of her cloak was grabbed, yanking her back into Panthro’s arms. Lion-o, Tygra, and especially Panthro were incredulous.

"You!"

"Yeah, me." She undid the clasp on her cloak and struggled out of Panthro’s grasp. She backed up a few feet and began to run—towards Panthro, amazingly. She grabbed his shoulders and used him as a vault into a flip. Tygra and lion-o barely got out of the way of her feet as she was coming down. She ran at top speed back to the room she had come from. She reached it and ran to the window, swung herself over, and began climbing down. But, when she had been pulled up earlier, the grappling hook had come loose. So, before she had gotten a quarter of the way down, the hook lost its grip on the window and Leona went tumbling down through the air. "NOOOOO!!!!!!!!"

The three male Thundercats got into the room just in time to see her fall. THUD! All three of them winced at the sound. "That had to hurt." Lion-o commented.

"Come on," said Tygra, "We should see if she’s ok."

The other two grudgingly agreed. "I guess you’re right." Said they gray-blue skinned Panther. They went outside Cats Lair and checked it out.

After one look Tygra immediately decided what to do. "We should take her inside."

"We should WHAT?!" Was the reply from the other two.

Tygra looked at them, exasperated. "if you had fallen out a Cats Lair window you’d want us to help you, wouldn’t you?"

"Well, yeah, but she just tried to kill me!" Lion-o pointed out.

"We only assumed that. We didn’t exactly give her a chance to explain, did we?"

"No."

Panthro picked her up in his arms. "let’s take her inside."

They took Leona inside and put her in the sickbay where Snarf was cleaning up. "Snarf, snarf! Who’s SHE?!"

Panthro glared at the red and yellow furred animal. "Go get Cheetara," he said gruffly.

"jeez, snarf, snarf. Just asking’."

He went and got Cheetara. "Holy Thundera! Is that who I think it is?"

Tygra nodded. "This is her. Leona. The Black leopard. The one who shot Panthro and Pumyra. The one who knocked three of us out. And the one who we caught sneaking into Lion-O’s chambers."

"Oh, is THAT why the alarm went off."

"Yep."

"Well what did you do to her?"

"Excuse me?"

Cheetara sighed. "Why did you bring her to the sickbay?"

"ohh…she fell out the window trying to get back down."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Anyway, I’d better run some x-rays of her. She might have some broken ribs, arms, legs, etc…"

"What he’s saying is she might be hurt." Said Panthro.

Cheetara laughed slightly. "Do you need any help?"

"No, I don’t think so. However, I don’t think it will really be necessary to have her in the sickbay. Could you make up the guest bedroom?"

"Sure, Tygra. I’ll have Snarf do it in a few minutes."

"Thanks, Cheetara." Cheetara walked out and Tygra began to do the x-rays. "Well," he said. "She has a concussion and a sprained ankle, but other than that she seems to be ok."

He took her to the guest bedroom and laid her in the bed. A few hours later, Cheetara came in to check on her. "Tygra, Tygra, Tygra," she said. "She is still wearing her boots, gloves, bow and arrows, and dagger." She shook her head and removed all the items she had named. Cheetara went to her room and came back with one of her bathrobes. She removed Leona’s dress, which by then was not exactly clean, and two years old to boot, and put on her the robe she had brought in. Cheetara left because it was around 11:30 at night, and she needed her sleep.

A week or so later, Leona woke up. She opened her eyes and saw Wily Kit seated on one side of her bed and Cheetara standing on the other. "Wha? Where am I?"

"You’re in Cats Lair. I’m Wily Kit, and this is Cheetara."

"Cats Lair? What the heck am I doing HERE?!"

"I believe that would be because you fell out a window after trying to assassinate Lion-o, Lord of the Thundercats." Cheetara said.

"ASSASSINATE?! What do you mean? I wasn’t trying to kill anyone!"

"Then why were you sneaking through lion-O’s window?"

"I didn’t know it was his! The window was open, and I figured that you wouldn’t let me in the front door, so I climbed through. All I wanted was to deliver a message and get out of here alive!" She furrowed her eyebrows. "Speaking of which, did you happen to see a little silvery-blue box laying around?"

"Little silvery-blue box?" Kit shook her head. "Haven’t seen any of those around."

"Is this box important?" Cheetara inquired.

"More then you know." Leona bit her lip, trying to decide if she should tell them about the message. She decided on "yes". "That box is a holographic projector containing a message from—" she broke off. "You’re gonna think I’m crazy."

"Tell us anyway!" said Kit. "Please!"

"Fine. The projector contained a message from the Astral Plane."

Silence. "I told you you’d think I was nuts."

"The Astral Plane? But that would mean that the message was from…."

"…. A bunch of dead guys." Wily Kit finished Cheetara’s sentence.

"I know, I know, but it really is! But will you PLEASE do me a favor and check around wherever I climbed through the window? It must have fallen on the floor."

"Snoop around Lion-o’s quarters?" Wily Kit said with a grin. "Sounds like fun."

"Wily Kit!" reprimanded Leona. "You will NOT snoop! You will merely go in and look around."

"It’s the same thing!"

"I know," said Leona. "But when you say you were snooping then you’d be in instant trouble. By going in and looking around you put the same thing more diplomatically. And thus avoid punishment."

"You sound like you’ve tried it." Cheetara said wryly.

"I have. Sadly, it doesn’t work to well when you’re a prisoner of war."

"You were a—"

"Yes. It wasn’t a pleasant experience."

Cheetara sank down into a chair. "I’m so, so sorry."

"Not your fault." Leona said gruffly. "Now, about that box…."

Wily Kit stood up. "I’ll go snoop—uhh, look around Lion-O’s room for it."

She did that and came back in a few minutes with the projector. "Is this it? It was under the table near the window."

Leona took the box from Wily Kit, then handed it to Cheetara. "here. Press the button on the top."

Cheetara pressed it and the message played.

The two Thundercats watched in a type of awe as the message played, and ended.

"Well," said Cheetara, "This certainly is impressive…. I know two of them were Jaga and Lady Amber, but who were the other three?"

Leona got a weird look on her face. "Umm…The third one to speak was Lady Silvera. And I’m not exactly sure who the other two were. Either I stopped listening at that time, or Leo topped talking."

"Who’s Leo?" Wily kit asked.

"He is…. Was my brother."

"Huh?"

Rolling her eyes, Leona said, "Well how do you think I got a message from the Astral Plane in the first place? The projector didn’t just fall out of the sky and land on face, y’know." Leona got out of her bed, then realized for the first time she was wearing Cheetara’s robe. "Ok, what happened to my dress? And my other stuff?"

Cheetara smiled. "Your dress and cloak are in that closet, as are your gloves, bow and arrows, boots, and dagger."

"Oh." She walked over to the closet and took out her dress. "Do you mind?"

Kit and Cheetara walked out of the room. "Sorry!" called kit.

Leona took off the robe and got dressed, then tried to open the door. It opened from the outside, and Cheetara and Wily Kit walked back in.

"How do you open that door?"

Wily Kit showed Leona a button on the wall. "You press this."

"Oh."

At that moment voices were heard from other parts of the lair. "Cheetara! Wily Kit!"

"That’s Lion-o" Kit assured Leona, as Cheetara yelled,

"We’re in the guest bedroom, Lion-o!"

Lion-O, Tygra, and Panthro rushed in. "Cheetara…the Astral Plane…." Lion-O said, panting. "It’s under attack!"

"We know."

"What?! How?!"

Cheetara glanced at Leona who was leaning against the wall. "A little bird told us."

Lion-o and the others followed her gaze. Leona only had one thing to say.

"Tweet."