Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Fiction
vr 3.00
2008-02-16
"Kit/Kat" by Abraxas | 2000-04-07
Chapter Two
The sun set in a brilliant aura, like a swan fading into music.
At Cat’s Lair, the adult Thundercats supped quietly, feasting on a meal it had taken Snarf the better part of the day to prepare. The round, conference table was adorned by platters of meat bought from the local market, servings of vegetables hand-picked from the fortress’ garden and desserts of candy-fruit harvested from the Berbils. Throughout the stately chamber - the somber room, whose walls were framed by glassy views of starry night, whose ceiling was aglow with hanging fixtures of verdant light and whose air was cooled to combat the oppressive summer’s heat - the sounds of cutting, chewing and drinking echoed unison to the seductive, alluring odors emitted from the kitchen.
Panthro spoke up, gruffly, forcefully: “Since I finished first, I’ll begin first.” The others turned their eyes to him while they ate their food. “The repairs and upgrades to the Thunder Tank are nearing completion. I’m sorry - it’s taken so long - but I’ve been inundated with complaints, even from Snarf, that things’ve slowed quite a bit around here, that maintenance work takes longer and longer and, worse, that I’ve lost my edge.” Everyone was silent - Liono put down his cup and nearly formed an audible gulp. “Well, if it seems I’m off my feet lately the answer is simple: Tygra and I -“at the last moment he caught his temper - “Tygra and I have finalized the plans for a new defense system with multiple personal vehicles and weaponry. Ever since we discovered the old mines and abandoned factories of First Earth, I’ve made one crucial and critical discovery after the next. Trust me - when I’m through there won’t be another complaint lodged against me!”
Panthro was about ready to growl but Tygra reached out in time - the tiger restrained his friend with gentle strokes over his exposed chest, his wounded heart open for all to see, for all to know. Neither man acted on the merits of their conscious, restrained minds yet the sudden consolation worked: the panther merely slammed his cup on the table. It was a violent act that could have shattered the glass, spilt its contents, cut its holder badly, painfully but which only produced its desired effect: the rest of the Thundercats were stunned silent.
Without another word Panthro arose, looked to the left, to the only empty chair in the room and stormed out, fading into the murky oblivion of the lair’s interior.
Everyone looked at Tygra.
“Um, well, I,” the red and black tiger said, fidgeting, shifting along his seat that only then seemed entirely, unbearably uncomfortable. “I have studied the technology of First Earth and I believe there is, um, much there that can be valuable. I believe that understanding it and using it, um, will, um, make us stronger than the, um, Mutants.” He loosened his collar and his shirt. He was hot - beads of sweat profused the fur of his mane and the rest of his body both covered and uncovered. “I have finished several building designs for the, um, Wollows and the Berbils. And I have spoken to, um, Willa, about the security system and the Amazonian Kingdom.”
Liono, who had sat still and attentive all the while, noticed that Tygra’s eyes kept returning, kept falling upon the empty chair across the table and not at Panthro’s. “And you, Cheetara?” the red-maned lion asked.
Cheetara looked up to the Lord of Thundercats abruptly as if she had been caught in the course of guilty acts of deviance albeit committed only in daydream. “I’m worried, Liono, why don’t you try the Sword again?”
He complied, standing to unsheathe the mystical weapon, sitting to inspect the sacred object. “By the Eye of Thundera, I tell you the boy is all right,” he said at last. “There is no danger.”
Cheetara sighed and shook her head: “WileyKat’s education is going through another lull. He’s distracted, dazing off into space when he should be working. His listens, of course, but by his eyes I know his mind is elsewhere. I’ve caught him talking to himself and on more than one occasion I’ve seen him -“she paused and cradled her head in her hands. “Every year, at about this time, it happens. Every year, year after year, since -“again she stopped and readjusted. “I suppose that’s only natural. He’s growing, he’s changing - adolescence - but instead of getting better he gets worse. I sense something, something foul about him but I dare not question him, hypnotize him or read his mind or anything out of fear of what horrific memory I might unleash. Remember: he knows more, much more about what happened than we know and has he ever talked about it? Thought about it? Repressed memories and feelings can come out in drawings, writings but it’s not like that with him - it’s as if what happened never happened.”
“Is there no therapy? No, um, medication?” Tygra asked, relieved now that the focus of attention was no longer on him.
“The remedy the victim must administer himself,” the spotted-cat answered.
“That boy needs to learn a trade, if he’s to become a truly useful member of this team. It’s his last year of general education and it’s got to be fruitful, Cheetara,” Liono said, turning to the cheetah. She nodded a respectful ‘yes’ but her eyes were fixed upon that empty chair but then, just then, she looked at her left hand. “Tygra, I want you to take on that responsibility.”
“I, Liono?”
“Yes. I want him to learn discipline and I think you, too, would benefit from caring for him that way. No - it would be good for the both of you. You are tigers, somewhat and the boy clearly needs someone like him to guide him, to look up to - to admire.”
“I, um, would gladly do it but -“
“Excellent. Start off easy - get to know what he likes and school him around his interests.”
“But you know, um, what Panthro thinks of him -“
From behind the door, within the shadows, the darkness of the corridor, WileyKat overheard and understood the full-force and brunt of what the adults were saying.
“You leave Panthro to me.” Liono sternly rebuked Tygra: “And stop placating him, you’ll only encourage that sort of behavior.”
“Hi, Kat,” Cheetara said as though to break the atmospheric tension.
They boy walked toward the cheetah - he held her hand and leaned over to give her a kiss. He heard a giggle, stopped and drew back. He looked about the chamber but he could not see WileyKit.
She must be somewhere, anywhere, he thought to himself and spoke: “Hi.”
“WileyKat,” Liono said, standing behind the boy and platting his hands on his shoulders as he pulled him away from Cheetara. “You’re late.”
“I know - but didn’t you know?”
“Know what?”
“I had an accident. I crashed my hover-board into a tree and broke it.”
“Um, won’t Panthro be glad to hear that, too,” Tygra muttered under his breath - yet the adults discerned the clear and vivid remark.
WileyKat also heard it but did not react to it like the others. He kept his eyes firm on Cheetara’s breasts, on her beauties - sporadic giggles sprang up from the awkward silence. He squirmed under Liono’s grip - he wanted to turn back, away from the adults.
“You won’t have your hover-board fixed for a while - and I think that’s a good thing. Instead of wasting your time playing and frolicking all over Third Earth, you’ll be with Tygra, studying.”
“What?”
“You heard me; you’ll be Tygra’s squire. He’ll be your master and mentor.”
“OK,” he said, bowing his head, facing his and Liono’s feet.
“Oh, come now, you should be happy; you’re growing up the old-fashioned way.” Liono ran his fingers down and across WileyKat’s bushy, unkempt mane until the boy started to laugh. “That’s the spirit. Go to the kitchen, Snarf will make you something to eat before you go to bed. You should have a good night’s rest; you will have a big day tomorrow. A big day. Your apprenticeship will commence promptly after breakfast.”
Somewhere in the depths, in the garage, a furious panther’s rages echoed loudly.
“I guess he found your hover-board.” Liono stifled a chuckle. “Go, go before he comes up to look for you.”
* * * * * * * * * *
“I don’t care - it was no reason for him to be so angry at you, Kat,” WileyKit spoke as she spooned gravy over mashed potatoes. “After all, it was an accident. We’re almost done with the icky vegetables.” WileyKat was about to speak but she cut him off: “No, no, don’t, let me; let me take care of you. You need a lot of that, you know.” She put the spoon in his mouth and he ate of it - holding it upright like an extended finger, she continued to lecture: “And just how many accidents have those machines of his caused? When he built the Thunder Tank, he almost overran the Berbil village.” She ladled a large fill of gravy over what remained of the vegetables. “Or when he and Tygra worked on that new engine - the one that nearly destroyed Cat’s Lair - nobody ever yelled at him, cursed at him or even blamed him.”
WileyKit put the plate aside on the serving tray on the makeshift table. The silent, lonely bedroom was gloomy and dim except for the fluorescent lights of the bathroom behind the Thunder Twins that cast her form in shadows, his silhouette in darkness and for the sporadic colors of the television that displayed what program could be received through the interstellar antennae. Once again WileyKat was taken aback, forced and yet at once willing to take in his sister’s perfect beauty.
“We’ll teach him soon enough. I don’t want you to worry about that mean old man.”
She put a candy fruit in his mouth, letting him chew on it.
“And what about Tygra? Now you won’t be spending so much time leering at Cheetara while you sit in class. What - don’t you think I know how you ogle at her? How you undress her with your eyes? I bet you wish we were back on Thundera, don’t you? So your eyes and perhaps your hands, too, might wander and roam freely.” She took his free hand into hers and whispered: “Feel me.” She pressed his tentative fingers onto her exposed flesh. “There, there. I think they’re big enough for me right now, but I wonder when or if they’ll ever be like hers. But you don’t need her - she’s Liono’s and old, too, real old. Way too old for you. She’d never let anything happen that way - you’d have a better chance of getting lucky with a Warrior Maiden. You see I know what goes on in that little head of yours.” She smiled, drumming her fingers below his belt, under his tunic. “We came out of the same place, remember? Once, when we were intertwined, we shared everything - nothing is strange between you and me. I know all about you, WileyKat, what you hope and wish for.”
With a napkin she wiped his lips and the sides of his cheeks - and again took his free hand into hers and kissed it.
“You have me, you don’t need anyone else. Go, go wash-up. I have to do something here.”
He arose from under her to a fit of giggles.
“Oh, you,” she said, playfully shoving him a little.
As he walked into the bathroom, he looked back to see his sister reveal a strange, metal box - with a slight, wry grin she undid its lid and dropped an object of unknown nature within.
“Go - and don’t close the door. I need the light.”
WileyKat was out of view but the conversation continued.
“Tygra makes me nervous.”
“I don’t like that I have to - I mean, that I have to spend all of that time with him. Things are changing so fast it seems like I get to spend less and less time with you. I hate it when things change, Kit. I hated leaving Thundera, I hated when -“
“When what, Kat?” she asked - he had been very, unduly silent.
“When, when I - when I had to start school. I was so uncomfortable with Cheetara. And Tygra. I know he and Panthro talk about me behind my back. Now I have to call him ‘master’? That’s not fair, Kit, that’s just not fair. I’d rather call Liono ‘master’.”
He left the bathroom stark naked; his clothes, muddy and torn, lay lifeless at the base of the laundry chute. She approached him, embraced him as if to cover his body with hers, completely, totally - deliberately. She pressed firmly upon him, rubbing all the way up and down his back - she withdrew gently, tentatively, massaging across his chest.
She giggled then at what she felt - at what she alone always saw but now actually felt and without her hands.
“They shouldn’t treat someone so good so bad, Kat, but don’t you worry about it.” Grasping his shoulders, she kissed his lips. “Don’t you worry about it.”
“You are so beautiful, Kit. Have I ever told you?”
“All the time, you just don’t know it.”
He kissed her lips equally if not more passionately.
WileyKit slipped out of her clothes. WileyKat ambled into the bed, pushing the blanket aside for his sister. They guided each other toward one another and for a while, a long while, the Thunder Twins lay quiet and still, side-by-side, face-to-face.
* * * * * * * * * *
“Snarf, snarf!” he muttered - the passage resonated with that brief, base utterance.
Down in the subbasements of Cat’s Lair - strangely better lit than the upper levels - Snarf sped toward his bedroom. Running along the floor on four legs, scarcely inches off the ground, he regretted he had left the floors unswept and unvacuumed. Moldy dust combined with stagnant humidity to form irritating coughs and powerful sniffles.
“What a miserable place this is.”
The tall ceiling was braced by wooden beams and spanned by metal pipes. Ample fixtures filled the wide gaps between the crisscrossed supports. The walls were formed by thin, brown stones native to the site upon which the fortress itself stood. The floors, too, were made of the same rocks but smoothed and polished. The lithic tilework shimmered under the curious glow of the overhead lamps.
“Why would WileyKat want to live down here? Snarf, snarf! A boy his age should be up with the others, not -“
The door to WileyKat’s bedroom was slightly ajar - and through the open crack he saw a light on inside. His first thought, his first impulse was that the boy should not be awake but asleep. After all, starting tomorrow morning, his whole life would change forever. Nothing would be the same again. Again.
“That boy needs his sleep.”
Snarf reached for the doorknob but stopped just suddenly aware of the disturbances originating within the chamber. Perching his ear up against the doorframe, he listened attentively, stifling the coughs and sneezes that hat been muffling the sounds. Now quite intolerably clear, it seemed animals were loose in WileyKat’s room: unnatural grunts and snarls as if tapped from another place, another time.
“Must be from the TV,” he mumbled, trying to reason with himself. He recalled the food: “That’s right, he took his dinner down here. Well, snarf, snarf, that’s my department, isn’t it? I’ll just go in with the excuse that I have to collect the serving tray - yes - and in the process I’ll figure out what in Jagga’s name’s going on in there.”
He opened the door to the accompaniment of two roars: one masculine, one feminine.
“Kit! Kit!” a voice yelled at the top of its lungs. “Kit!” That last utterance lingered on and on forever, beyond the capacity of the body to prolong the duration of the spoken word.
“WileyKit?”
Snarf was confused.
He entered into the abysmal recess of WileyKat’s bedroom - all the while the animalistic uproar quieted but did not cease. Deep, deep within the midnight chamber, he became aware of subtle yet telltale sounds and just as quickly as he came in he went out. He dared not even shut the door for fear it would only alarm his overt, interloping presence.
Out in the hall Snarf was absolutely petrified.
“His own sister! Snarf, snarf! His own sister!”
He would have to tell Liono, the others would have to know.
All was quiet again; the whole world was deadly quiet.
“Cheetara, I’ll have to tell Cheetara! Tomorrow! Snarf, snarf. She’ll know what to do about this. I’ll have to tell her! Snarf, snarf!”
Ancient, reptilian senses alerted Snarf to the fact that he was being watched and overheard from inside WileyKat’s bedroom. Already disturbed and distraught beyond understanding, he slithered down the corridor, creeping silently over its stonework. And when he was no more than a few feet away from the dreaded chamber, the door shut against its inertial volition with a prolonged, deliberate snap.
END OF CHAPTER
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