--Long, long ago...

"Claudus has ordered planet wide evacuation.  At the next tremor even the reserve guard is to board up and ship out." spoke the leonine female to her remaining troops.

"But what about the Lord of the Thundercats?" a lynx featured Thunderian asked in concern.

"He is staying behind."

The protest and concerned whispers filled the hold of the space vessel.

"He the Lord of the Thundercats, leader of all Thunderians, it is not for us to question his decisions." the leonine female snapped out, "Claudus does this for his son, our future leader.  The flag ship must escape and be protected at any cost.  ANY COST.  Do I make myself understood?"

"But Leon-As, the ships we have left for this exodus are poorly weaponed.  The Plundaran's will wipe us out one by one and take the Flag ship as a trophy!  Aye, and our precious stripling would be lord as well!" spat out Cougara, another female warrior, "And we know what becomes of those taken by the Omen cursed Plundarans!"

"What will be, will be." Leon-As said coldly, "We all took oaths when we joined the guard.  We will bear whatever we must.  If the Lord of the Thundercats to be survives free and intact, we will have fulfilled our duty.  In time, grown and with the power of the Sword of Omens... "

"He will rescue those who still cling to life?" soft spoken Bobbkit asked, her green eyes luminous, sad.

"Or give us release from captivity...  One way or another." Leon-As concluded grimly.

************

-- In a galaxy far, far away...

"How much am I bid for thissss Thunderian?  Sssstrong!  Hardly damaged!  Look at the whipsssscars on her back, ssshe can take as much punissshment as you desssire!  A toy for your roughessst amusssements, ssshe will not break!  Gamesss that have driven othersss to sssuicide will not caussse her to ssseek her own life!  Ssshe is a treassssure for the right buyer!"

The lizard mutant cried out to the market place throng, hauling up on the chain attached to the female's neck until she raised her head and stared dully at the crowded space port bazaar.  Saur the merchant hoped he could get back his price on the used up Thunderian.  She'd put up a little fight at the last unloading of his merchandise, and had to be 'reprimanded'...  but since then she'd shown little sign of life beyond simply breathing.

Feh...  she'd sold so well during the first auction.  And the ones after that.  But always the would be owners returned her, angrily demanding back their monies...  Sorry, Saur thought, 'Buy As Is', no refunds.  But he'd thought the buyers were just touched in the head at first. Who wouldn't want such a sleek, strapping slave girl?  A few more whippings and she'd soon learn her proper place.  So he'd taken her back, at a discount of course, and was soon selling her again... and again...  And soon the word spread that she was ill omened, and unlucky things befell any who held her control collar.  Stupid
superstitious cowards!  No one wanted to buy her anymore.  At least not in any of the markets he normally sold at.

Finally he'd decided to widen his circuit.  This puny little galaxy was off the beaten path of most space travelers, but he'd heard that there was a growing strong hold of Plundar mutants living on the little blue green planet he currently was hawking his wares on.  Where there were Plundarans, there were slaves, and the market for slaves.  And they had a thing for Thunderians.  Maybe here he could sell the female.  In truth, his once thriving slave trade had deteriorated over the last few years he'd first gotten the troublesome cat.  Once he sold her here, he'd never take her back again.

***********

The Thundercats had gone shopping.  The Robears had told them of a great market and fair that was held every five years at an abandoned space port on the far side of the continent.  Sometimes merchants from other worlds, other galaxies even, would show up with exotic goods of all kinds.  That sounded good to Wilykit and Wilykat, and they'd convinced the others to come as well.  It hadn't taken much prodding.

The twins had ditched the older Thundercats and were soon canvassing the milling throng, laughing and joking.  They found a makeshift stage set up on the far end of the market area, where a lot of chanting was going on.  Maybe it was a religious ceremony?  Boring!  But learning more about the natives of Third Earth was always important.  The crowd here was thick, and TALL...  Wilykat left in disgust, but Wilykit pushed through to the front.  She was too close to the stage now to see what was on it, so she scrambled up the side of the far end, and raised a curious head over the edge of the stage.  Wilykit promptly lost the mischievous smile on her lips.

***********

Lion-O and Cheetara debated the finer points of the Robears' wares set up in the line of stalls near the Market's entrance.  Candy fruit and distilled drinks, weavings and leathers from the Warrior Maidens that had been brought along for trade.  Even some Thundercat items that Panthro had created for them, toys and little mechanical doo dads for amusement.

"Hey Cheetara, if being weapon smith for the Thundercats ever pales, Panthro has a bright future as a toy maker!" Lion-O laughed as he held up a clever little music box... deceptive in it's simplicity.

Cheetara's answer was lost in the panicked shouts of Wilykit as she thrust her way through the market place throng, yelling for the Thundercats with something like sickness, something like sorrow in her young voice.

"Lion-O!  Lion-O!  You've got to get the others.  You have to get everybody!" she yelled as she skidded to a stop in front of the two surprised Thundercats, panting through her words as each breath labored in her chest.

"I think I'm going to be ill!" Wilykit mewled under her breath, scrubbing at the wetness coming from her eyes.

"Are you sick, Wilykit" Cheetara asked in concern, bending to take a close look at her friend.

Her soft golden furred hands cupped Kit's face, feeling for fever.

"I might BE sick, but that's just a gut reaction to what I just saw." Kit panted, glaring at Lion-O now. "Why are you standing there like a lump, Lion-O!  Use the Sword, summon the others!!!"

"KIT!" Cheetara, scolded, surprised at the girl's anger, "Everyone is spread out through the Market!  Lion-O should only use the Sword of Omens if there is an emergency..."

"Don't talk down to me, dammit!" Kit snarled, voice almost weeping, "It's an emergency!  They...  There...  She...  Thunderian!   There is a Thunderian for sale!  Oh Cheetara... she looks so bad!  I think...  I think awful things have happened to her!"

Lion-O had already drawn the sword when Kit had burst in on him and Cheetara.  Raising it now he let out a familiar shout...

"Thunder... THUNDER... THUNDERCATS HO!!!!!"

A bright light flared from the sword's hilt as the Eye of Thundera sent out the shining emblem of the Thundercats, painting it on the soft blue sky in bold strokes of jet and crimson...

An answering glow brightened in the eyes of every Thundercat on Third Earth...

**********

"I have a hundred gold!  Do I hear one fifty?!" Saur called out to the growing crowd of would be customers.

He was in a good mood now.  The Thunderian was attracting a lot of attention.  Her well muscled body stretched out now for display, attractive enough if you liked your piece of ass furry, instead of scaled.  Her fur was dirty and matted, because none of the handlers wanted to clean this one after what happened to first bather who had been fresh with her.

But that mauling had been long ago when the leonine female had actually had spirit left.  Saur was sure the last punishment session had finally broken her.  He'd hired a professional for that one...  worth every gold he'd paid.  He'd have to keep her name for future business...

A disturbance in the crowd caught his attention. People were shouting, and pointing up at his merchandise.  A quick glance at the Thunderian had Saur catching his breath.  Her eyes had glowed like small suns, and suddenly she was writhing against her bonds like a mad thing. Inarticulate sounds of defiance pouring out her collared throat.  Saur snarled and touched the control rod at his belt.

The female slave screamed then, in sudden agony, body shaking as the power shocks coursed through her system... Invisible whips that laid bare her every nerve to excruciating pain...  Whimpering now she slumped to the ground... Mewling like a cub even as she hopelessly scratched at the band of metal circling her throat.

Saur pointed the control rod at the slave girl again, prepared to give her another blast of pain...  Only to have his wrist crushed in the grip of a grey furred hand...

***********
-- The Here And Now...

Panthro gripped the slaver's wrist so tightly, he knew that a breath's more pressure would snap the bones with in like brittle twigs.

"I don't think you want to do that." His deep bass voice was deceptively low and calm.

His eyes were anything but.  They flashed threat and retribution in equal measure.

"Sssir!  Unhand me!  I know my legal rightssss here!  I own thisss ssslave, and can do whatever I wisssh to her." Saur hissed, not easily cowed.

The crowd around the stage began to mutter, some in protest of the auction's interruption, others cheering on Panthro's actions.

"That woman is a free born Thunderian, and not a slave!" Panthro growled, his fangs glinting between words.

"I have papersss of ownerssship!" Saur defended himself, "Ssshe is mine by law!  Or are you above the law here, Thunderian?"

Panthro looked hard at the Lizard mutant, and amazingly... let go of him.  Just as the rest of the Thundercats arrived.

"Panthro!" Lion-O called out, "What are you waiting for?  Take care of that mutant scum, we'll free the girl!"

Panthro held up a hand, and nodded towards the ring of peace keepers that had worked their way through the crowd to the stage.

"The situation is under control." Panthro said, "Mr. Mutant Scum here and I are just concluding a piece of business here."

Confusion was the expression of the day.  For the Thundercats, for the peace keepers, for the crowd, and most of all for Saur.

"What buissssnesss issss thisss?" He sputtered, backing away from the large Thunderian cautiously.

He noted the peace keepers with some relief, but also saw that the Thunderians were all well armed and could easily take out the local police.  But Thunderians were usually a law abiding bunch.  That was his hole card.  He'd made sure, as he always did, that slavery was legal on Third Earth... or at least in this remote portion of it.  True, it wasn't that common, except for the very wealthy and powerful, or amoung the more primitive tribes...  But Saur also knew that these Thunderians might view rescuing the girl more important than adherence to the law.  He was prepared to bluster it out though.  He had nothing if not nerve.

"You were just about to sell me this pitiful slave girl." Panthro growled, moving closer to the slaver, who slowly backed away.

Saur cast anxious looks towards the crowd of peace keepers, who kept their distance.

"Bbbut, I already have a bid for her!" He protested, pointing to an expensively liveried servant who was now trying to sink back into the crowd.

"The August Personage, Dejanda, retracts all bids on the creature.  We want no trouble with the Thunder Cats of Third Earth." the slight, mouse haired, mousey faced servant called out in nervous fright, as the other Thunderians turned to stare at him.

"So, you've lost your bidder.  What a shame." Panthro said in mock sympathy, drawing closer to the slaver.

Saur was now backed up against the far end of the stage, not far from where the collapsed Thunderian slave was.

"Thisss isss an outrage!  I am jussst doing buisssness!  You have no right!" He tried to appeal to the peace keepers, "You can't let him do thisss!  I am an honorable merchant!  I will protessst this to the merchantsss guild!  You will face sssanctionssss!"

Disgust and amusement crossed the faces of the peace keeping force.

"You signed all the disclaimer papers before landing here, Slaver." their leader called out, mockingly, "You are not just selling the slaves, but auctioning them.  You are held by the rules of auction to turn over your merchandise to the highest bidder.  And I reckon your highest bidder is that big bruiser in front of you."

"Fine!" Saur spat in disgust, "A hundred gold then!  And may you have the joy of her!"

"I think a hundred was the retracted bid," another peace keeper added helpfully, "A bidder is allowed to retract their offer if they feel themselves in personal jeopardy from the sale of the merchandise."

"That'sss Sssstupid!!!" Saur shouted, now desperate, "Ssshe's worth a hundred gold eassily!  As a bed toy if nothing elssse..."

And realized his mistake to late.  Panthro's large, strong hand wrapped itself over the Lizard's throat, and began to slowly squeeze.  Saur's eyes began to bug out as he writhed, gasping under the assualt.

The peace keepers stirred uneasily.  They did not like the slaver, but they knew if Panthro went too far, they'd have to intervene.

Help for Saur however, came from an unexpected place.

"He's right, you know." her voice was soft, still ragged with pain, "I am worth more than a hundred gold."

Panthro glanced down at the Thunderian female in surprise.  A delicate tawny furred hand pushed back the mass of black tangled mane from her face, giving him a good look at her for the first time.

"Lea... " He breathed in stunned disbelief, his hand closing convulsively on the lizard mutant's throat.

"You are killing him." she stated, in a calm, pleased voice, "That's better.  Would you hurry a bit?  I want to see him die."

The shock of her words caused Panthro to drop the slaver, who fell to the floor wheezing and desperately trying to inhale.  Panthro had partially crushed his throat, and tears streamed down the mutants face as he realized how close to death he was.

"SssOLD!" He managed to spit out, "For the opening bid of 50 gold!"

"What?" Panthro said, not sure he'd heard right.

He'd intended to force the slaver to give away the slave, but from the approving looks on the local peace keeper's faces, knew that was as good a deal as they'd get.  It galled him to give even a copper to the slaver scum.  But with a shrug, he dug into his belt pouch and threw down a scattering of ten gold marks, five of them.

"The ssslave is yoursss then, Thunderian." Saur said, venomously, as he crawled towards the gold, "And all the misssfortune that followsss her as well!"

As he neared the glinting metal, a blur of black and golden fur sprang on him.  White fangs sank into the shoulder of the slaver, clawed hands raked his chest, seeking to rip the living heart from him.

"Control your property, Thunder Cat!" a peace keeper called out, "If she kills him, you will be held responsible!"

Panthro reacted swiftly, and dragged the female off the bleeding and screaming slaver.  She was deep in an almost berserker rage, she fought against Panthro, willing to go through him to get to the lizard man.  Panthro had no choice.  He stuck her hard, forcing her to the ground, his body holding hers into submission.  The blood thirsty yowls faded into shaking sobs.  The Thunderian shook back her black mane, still weeping, and offered Panthro her throat.

Scrambling off the female instantly, Panthro stared at her strangely.  Tearing his gaze from the now stilled form of the leonine Thunderian, he noticed that the slaver had taken the moment to gather his ill gotten payment and flee the stage.  The other Thundercats, who'd held off to see what Panthro's plan of action was, now converged on him and the Thunderian.  Kit and Cheetara immediately went to the female, to help her up.  She snapped at them, growling low in her throat.

Kit backed away, looking at the rescued Thunderian in confusion.  Didn't she understand that she was free now?  That they were there to help her?

"Panthro," WilyKat said, not seeing his sister's predicament, turned to tug at the bigger Thundercat's belt, "The slaver dropped this."

Panthro looked at the control rod placed in his hand, and over to the collar visible on the Thunderian slaves throat.

"How do we get that collar off you." He asked her as gently as he could, walking towards her.

"You can't."  she said, glowering up at him, "It's wired into my central nervous system.  I am a slave for life, Thunder Cat.  Your slave."

*****
-- Later at the Cat's Lair...

Panthro stalked back and forth, pacing the length of the conference room as the other Thundercats looked on in sympathy, and in some cases, amusement.

"Looks like you made out pretty well Panthro," Wilykat quipped, trying to lessen the tension in the air, "Wish I could bring home a pretty slave girl after an adventure!"

"Don't!" Panthro lashed out at the younger Thundercat, his voice lower than usual, almost a growl, "Don't *even* joke about this!"

WilyKit's face fell, and he shared a look with his twin.  The glare in her eyes made him wilt even further.

"What am I going to do with a slave?!  And one who hates me at that!" Panthro snarled in frustration.

"Panthro!  I'm sure the girl doesn't hate you." Tygra protested, his eyes bright and cheerful, "You saved her!  If anything she'll be grateful for your rescue.  She's just a bit in shock from this whole ordeal.  Give her some time."

Panthro snorted in disgust, then turned to his hereditary leader, seeking answer to his problem.

Lion-O sighed, wishing someone else was Lord of the Thundercats right now.  He'd never had to deal with a situation like this before.  Jaga's spirit had spoken to him on the trip back to the Cat's Lair, advising him.  But his words held little comfort for Lion-O, or his grey hued friend and team mate.

"We can treat her as a free woman," he said, repeating Jaga's wisdom  "but that collar around her neck is a constant reminder that she can be controlled by anyone who possesses the rod.  As well it is a symbol of every hateful and degrading thing that has happened to her since the destruction of Thundera.  In her mind, as long as that collar is on her, she is still a slave."

"Can't we destroy the rod?  Even if we can't get the collar off of her?" Wilykit asked.

"Good question, Kit." Panthro replied, "But I examined the collar and rod thoroughly.  Trying to remove the collar will kill her.  Destroying the rod will release the collar's pain command.  It's the rod that keeps the pain command from being active.  The only switch on the rod is it's off switch.  When you turn it off... "

He trailed off.

"... the pain starts." a husky female voice finished for him.

The object of the conversation stalked into the room.  If Thunderians still had tails, hers would have lashed in agitation.  The Thundercats noticed the profound change in her appearance.  She'd been to the bathing room, and her fur was now clean and brushed to a glossy shine.  Soft tawny gold all over, with lighter gold tinged cream around her eyes and mouth.  Her upper lip had the puffy split pads of the more common blooded Thunderians, but otherwise she might have passed as one of noble blood, her features being fine boned and even.  Her mane was thick, long and lustrous, and black as Mumm-Ra's heart.  She was sleek with rippling muscle moving sensuously beneath her naked fur.  She'd left the choice of clothes brought for her by Cheetara and Wilykit in a discarded heap with the used towels and brushes.

"That is why slaves who are *wired* never run away.  To go farther than the range of the rod is to be the victim of unthinkable agony.  It's a mark of status, you know.  Only the most valuable or most dangerous slaves merit this kind of control collar.  Palace gladiators, noblemen's courtesans, political prisoners..."

Her voice grew chill as she delivered the information to the dumb struck Thundercats.

"And you were?" Panthro asked, unable to help himself as he gazed into glacial green eyes.

"Unfortunate." she answered, eyes sliding away from his, to lock onto the slender gold wand in his hand.

"Bottom line is, destroy the control rod, and you might as well kill me.  I'd rather be dead than left to the living hell the collar would ensure me.   And trying to remove the collar is certain death.  A pretty dilemma, yes?" the smile on her lips was bitter.

"I want to free you." Panthro told her, reaching out with his free hand.

She flinched away.  He let his hand drop in embarrassment.

"But you can't, can you?  None of you can." her voice was hard with contempt.

She looked over at Lion-O, his face full of open dismay.  The Sword of Omens gleamed at his side, drawing her eyes to it's proud hilt, and something like shattered hope, and new forged hatred flickered in her emerald gaze.

"Lion-O," she purred, grace and menace in her swaying stalk towards the leader of the Thundercats, to stop mere inches from him, "I see the years have treated you well, kinsman."

"Kinsman?" Lion-O spoke startled, taking an unconscious step backwards.

"Aye.  Our mother's were cousins...   But I didn't expect you to recognize me.  I am after all, not even from one of the noble houses of Thundera.  My mother mated with a common born male."

Her gaze swept over the rest of the Thundercats, Tygra, Cheetara, Wilykit, Wilykat, and Panthro with disdain.  Lynx-O, Pumyra, and Bengali had not been at the market faire, staying at the Lair for reasons of their own.  But they sat in the council room quiet as the drama unfolded around them.  As the strange female's gaze raked over them, curiosity overcame her.

"Who are these?" she asked, "Your servants?"

"Lynx-O, Pumyra and Bengali are our fellow Thundercats!" Cheetara snapped, offended by the insulting way the woman they had ‘rescued' was treating her friends.

"Ah!  Things *have* changed during your reign then, kinsman.  Allowing common blooded Thunderians into your hallowed ranks." the leonine female commented, ignoring the hard looks Cheetara was giving her, "It would have been unheard of in Claudus's time.  When Claudus was Lord of the Thundercats, the best a Thunderian could hope for was to be part of the royal guard if they were not nobly born."

She turned back to Lion-O, and knelt down before him, resting on her forearms as her hair pooled on the floor in an inky mass.  Her warm breath tickled the short fine fur of his ankles.

"Please forgive my impertinence, Lord." her voice purred with just a trace of mockery, "I am ever thy humble subject.  And for your... rescue... I am suitably grateful.  How may I serve you?"

Lion-O looked down at the Thunderian female, slow heat burning his neck and cheeks.  He was glad that the natural fur of his kind hid blushes.  On Thundera, it had been common to wear nothing but your own fur, but the long galactic years since his
homeworld's destruction had made Lion-O used to seeing Thunderians in concealing garments.  On Third Earth, no one went naked, even when the weather was fine and there were no battles to fight.  The only time Lion-O himself was unclothed was when he was bathing or sleeping.  Seeing this Thunderian female in her natural glory now seemed a little shocking... and oddly exciting.  He wondered if the other Thundercats had these same feelings.

"You know my name," he said, grasping for something, anything to say, "But you've yet to tell us yours."

Still kneeling, she lifted her head, just enough for her eyes to meet his.

"I am called... Leon-as." she said her name like a sigh, as if recalling a wistful memory.

"Daughter of Leana?" Panthro blurted out, eyes blazing recognition.

Leon-As's slender frame stiffened at Panthro's words.

"My mother was called such." she relented, as though it pained her to speak to the dark Thundercat.

"She was of noble blood indeed." Panthro spoke, remembering the beautiful Thunderian he once courted.

Now he realized why this girl had reminded him of a former Thundercat.

"A brave and courageous fighter too.  She disappeared... "

"She took a mate." Leon-As spoke curtly, "As I said, a common blooded male.  She was no longer welcome in Claudus's court.  She set a... bad example for other Thunderians.  With some... encouragement, she went off planet with her mate.  But when I came of age, she sent me back to Thundera.  I joined the guard... "

Leon-As broke off, eyes closing tightly against memories that now brought her only pain.  Had she really been so happy to become one of the youngest Thunderians to attain an officer's rank in the guard?  Had it really been such an honor?  Cadet at thirteen, and captain of her own squad before she reached 16 galactic years...  Gods of Thundera...  It hurt to even think about being so young and so responsible.

Panthro watched the female form kneeling at Lion-O's feet begin to tremble, then to shake more violently.

"Leon-As!" he cried out in concern, running towards her.

But Lion-O was kneeling down by her side first, his red gold arms wrapped around her softer gold frame, pulling her up towards his chest.  The dark maned Thunderian collapsed against him, sobbing and clawing weakly against his broad shoulders. Lion-O winced in pain as her sharp fingertips went through his protective fur and pierced his skin slightly, but he did not let go, only held her more firmly and rumbled out nonsense words of comfort until she stilled once more.  Instinctively he continued a comforting purr while grooming the side of her face and neck with his warm, raspy tongue.  She smelled nice.
She tasted better...

"Lion-O?!" Panthro's voice sounded in his leader's ear like a clap of thunder.

As if shaking off a fog, Lion-O pulled away from the Thunderian female with a strange reluctance.  She'd gone limp under his ministrations, and now only Panthro's hands on her shoulders kept her from toppling to the ground.  She stared blankly at the Lord of the Thundercat's, her voice low, as if coming from a great distance, just barely registered in his ears.

"I am here to serve you master.  Do you wish to use me now?"

**********

Silence had swept the room as the leonine female's words sunk in.

Lynx-O whispered into Pumyra's ear, and she nodded her agreement.

"Lion-O, Thundercats...  I think all of tonight's excitement is wearing on our guest.  There is so much to take in, I am sure we can all think much more *clearly* in the morning." Pumyra spoke, her voice soft as fur, but adamant as steel.

She walked over to the frighteningly pliant Thunderian and gently took her arm.  Leon-As blinked at the smaller female Thunderian, an odd gleam in her emerald eyes.

"We are a little crowded at the Cat's Lair right now," Pumyra added as she led Leon-As out of the room, "You can stay with me tonight until we can work out something for you..."

Her voice faded out as the two Thunderians disappeared from the council room.

"She's been... conditioned." Lynx-O's words broke the new silence.

"Conditioned?" Lion-O asked, still somewhat dazed, "What do you mean, conditioned?"

"Her mind.  It's still as captive as her body once was." Lynx-O spoke slowly, feeling for the words that would best explain what he felt to be true.

"If she's been in captivity long, well...  I've heard about processes that can be used on the more strong willed and independent prisoners to make them...  tractable.  Who knows how many years that girl has been a slave."

"Too long.  If the age of some of those whip scars are any indication." Panthro growled.

It had taken an effort of will on his part to let Pumyra take Lea...  Take Leon-As away from him.  He still had the image of black hair and green eyes burned into his mind.  And the way she had offered herself to Lion-O had made him almost physically ill.

"Aye...  That long, and with that kind of spirit still evident, I'd say she's been conditioned more than once.  Maybe several times." Lynx-O spoke again, not sure how to say what he feared most.

"Conditioned... to be used sexually?" Cheetara asked, wrapping her arms around herself to keep from shivering.

Her anger at the strange Thunderian female had vanished under the horror she now felt.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Lynx-O said, with a laugh at how the other Thundercats gave away their surprise, "I can tell by how you all reacted to her.  Her voice is very passionate.  And the tension her presence and words have created has a certain
inflection."

The older Thundercat shook his head, remembering the compulsions of a more youthful time.

"That would not have served her well as a slave.  Beauty, spirit...  Those two qualities together can mean one thing to the wrong owner.  She has been used badly.  I am sure of it." he finished, unwilling to expand more on how she was most likely used.

"What can we do to help her?" Wilykit asked, her young voice grim.

The other Thundercats looked at her in almost guilty surprise.  She knew they were considering her youth, and weighing the wisdom of her and Wilykat's presence.  But though youngest in body of all the Thunderians present, Wilykit and her brother were Thundercats for a reason, more than their bloodlines and pellet pouches.  They were Thundercats for the blend of talents and skills that were unique to them, and their ability to use them well.

Wilykit knew that she and her brother would probably not be Thundercats so young, if their current lord had been full grown.  She had long suspected that it was the nearness in years Wilykat and she shared with Lion-O before the exodus that had made them desirable members of the team.  Still, they knew and had done more than most Thunderians their age.  More than Lion-O, who despite his grown up body was actually *younger* mentally than they were.

"I don't think..." Cheetara began, only to be interrupted by Tygra.

"I think that you can help Leon-As best by being her friend, Wilykit." the red and black Thundercat's words overrode Cheetara's.

"Tygra!" Cheetara glared at her companion.

"Face it Cheetara, your first thoughts are always to protect the youngsters.  It is an admirable trait, but this isn't something they can, or even should be protected from." Tygra spoke, and held up his hands to forestall, Cheetara's protests.

After a moment, Cheetara nodded, and turned to the younger Thundercat.

"Tygra's right.  Much as I wished you never need be exposed to such as this..."  She sighed, "But being her friend may not be as easy as it sounds.  There is something about her that rubs my fur the wrong way.  But I will try and be friends with her also.  We all will.  But what shall we do with her now?  According to Panthro, she'll never get that collar off.  Who will be responsible for *that*..."

Cheetara pointed to the golden rod that lay almost forgotten, hanging from a loop on his utility belt.  The weight of it seemed to burn against Panthro's thigh.

"As Lord of the Thundercats, I suppose I should..." Lion-O stepped forward, hand out towards Panthro.

"NO!" Panthro's snarl, cut through his leader's action, like the strike of an axe.

Lion-O froze, looking into Pantho's eyes in shocked surprise.

"She's mine." Panthro, spoke, having trouble keeping a sub-vocal growl from his words.

As the Thundercats looked at him in wary surprise, he amended his words.

"She's my responsibility.  I took her from the slaver.  I will find a way to help her get rid of that damned collar, if it takes the rest of my days."

"A noble sentiment, Panthro." Lynx-O's gentle, but firm voice broke through the mounting tension between the dark grey hued Thundercat and the red golden one, "But wise?  She may not share your concept of responsibility and concern.  What if she wants to leave the Cat's Lair?"

Panthro's form stilled, statue like, as he considered Lynx-O's words.  Finally he spoke, a soft rumbling promise...

"Then I will go with her."

*************

Pumyra’s room was comfortable.

It was full of warm, soft furnishings made by skilled Berbil hands, rich woods gleamed shades of umber in the glow of many beeswax candles that clung to walls in hand wrought iron holders shaped like flowers and birds native to Third Earth.  It was a bewitching effect, one Pumyra had carefully crafted for her own pleasure.  The center piece of the room was a large round concave of cushions and pillows.  Pumyra liked to use it as a bed, even though a more conventional sleep space was tucked against the far wall.  Tonight she’d give her guest the choice of which to bed down in.

“Pumyra.” Leon-As spoke the name slowly, as if tasting it.

“Yes?” Pumyra asked, turning to the leonine female, banking the fire of curiousity that had threatened to consume her ever since laying eyes on the new Thunderian.

Despite mistaking Lynx-O, Bengali, and herself as servants, Pumyra felt an odd kinship to this fellow Thunderian that she had not felt with the other Thundercats.  Equality based on one’s actions and talents was easily spoken of among her team mates, but Pumyra felt that subtle undercurrent of class distinction despite the pretty surface words.  It embarrassed her to feel it so keenly, when all the others made no mind of it.  It made her feel petty, and paranoid... but still she could not let that feeling go.

Lynx-O was respected for his age and wisdom had experience that the Thundercats valued, and Bengali was full of youth and enthusiasm, seemingly unaware of the difference of his birth station and their more exalted team mates.   Pumyra had her
fighting skill, as most Thunderians did, and the more valuable medical skills that the other Thundercats seemed to lack.  But de facto doctor or not, she often felt the servant that Leon-As had thought, than the equal partner and team mate she was supposed to be.

“Pumyra... where have the Thundercats been these long years?” Leon-As worded her question carefully, her reasons for wanting the information hidden in her heart of hearts.

“You mean since the destruction of Thundera?” Pumyra said thoughtfully, pulled from her own personal reverie, “Well, I suppose they’ve been here on Third Earth mainly.  I wasn’t with them then, nor Bengali and Lynx-O.  But from what we’ve been told, the flag ship of Thundera, the one they were in during the exodus, had been severely damaged.  Everyone was put in suspension capsules and slept through a ten year journey that brought them here.”

“To Third Earth?” Leon-As purred out the words, leading Pumyra to continue the tale.

“Yes, apparently the ship crashed here.  The Thundercats made this planet their new home, and have been it’s champions ever since.” Pumyra finished, as she sat down amoung the cushions on the floor.

“I see.  Champions of Third Earth... how very noble of them.” Leon-As smiled slightly, as she sat down close to the other Thunderian.

The faint trace of scorn in her words went unnoticed by Pumyra.  She was too busy trying to keep her breathing steady and even.  Leon-As was sitting so close.  Very close.  Pumyra could feel the warmth of Leon-As pressed against her side, and feel the moistness of her breath on her shoulder.

“Yes.  They thought they were the only survivors of Thundera.  It was a big surprise for them to find out years later that other Thunderians were right here on this very planet!” Pumyra chatted on, her voice just a little too fast.

“I’m sure.” Leon-As spoke softly, leaning forward so that her breath tickled the fur on Pumyra’s ear, “And they must have been very happy to find out there were more Thunderians.  They must have looked for other survivors with great vigor then.”

“Um... well... not really.  I mean...  We’ve been pretty much planet bound...?” Pumyra’s words faded out with a little whimper as Leon-As licked delicately at the side of her neck.

******

Lynx-O loped towards Pumyra's room at the Cat's Lair.  That the halls were dim lit,(the lights of the Lair's guest quarters being at their lowest setting of luminosity during the night), bothered the blind Thunderian not at all.  It could have been pitch black, and he'd have navigated the halls and corridors of the Lair with ease.  His senses of smell and hearing would have led him to Pumyra, even if he'd been unfamiliar with where the Thundercats had their spare rooms.  As it was, all the newest Thundercats had been set up in the same area until the Tower of Omens could be completed.  Soon, Bengali, Pumyra and he would set up a more permanent dwelling as they served as watch sentinels against the dangers to Third Earth.

But before Lynx-O sought out his own spartan bed, he wanted to check on his long time companion and the stranger she'd taken to her den.  He had not spoken of it in the council room, but he was gravely concerned about a physical aspect of Leon-As, not just her mental scars.  His sharpened senses had brought to him all the tell tale signs of lust in the Thundercat males when Leon-As had entered the council room.  And though he could not see her, he too had felt aroused just by her presence.  There was an obvious explanation for such a reaction, but Lynx-O hoped against hope he was wrong.  That was
why he'd asked Pumyra to take in the Thunderian slave girl.  He wanted to make sure before confronting the other Thundercats with his suspicions.

*****

Pumyra shivered as Leon-As continued to groom her shoulders and neck.  The leonine female's tongue rasped gently against cool metal neck band that Pumyra still wore.  Before Pumyra could object, the throat guard was unlatched, and her guest's mouth was over the pulsing vein that lay beneath her fur.  Teeth nipped that vulnerable spot, and Pumyra pushed Leon-As away, as if dreaming before, she now was awake.

"It must be nice." Leon-As said quietly, her eyes resting on the band of metal still in her hands, "To so easily remove your collar."

"It's for protection." Pumyra spoke through her breathless state, flushing with heat as she realized how malleable she'd become under Leon-As's manipulations.

It embarrassed her that she'd let things get so out of hand.  Lynx-O had wanted her to physically examine the new Thunderian, but she hadn't yet had a chance to even ask.  Now she was almost afraid to try.  In the days on Thundera, it was not uncommon to groom each other as a sign of friendship.  Indeed, she'd often shared a little communal grooming with Bengali and Lynx-O, for comfort and to re-affirm their sense of family.  But the caress of the leonine Thunderian's tongue had felt much warmer than mere friendship...

"Sorry.  Do you want me to put it back on you?" Leon-As asked, holding up the neck band.

"Mmm... that's okay, I usually take it off before I go to sleep anyways." Pumyra said, as she watched the slender fingers stroke the hard, sleek metal, "Speaking of bed... Do you want the pillow basket, or the wall unit?"

"The wall unit looks cold and uncomfortable." Leon-As said, as she eyed the object in question, "But I can see this is your usual sleeping space.  Your scent is strong here.  I don't want to put you out of your bed."

"It's not any trouble." Pumyra hastened to assure her guest, "The wall unit is not so bad.  Your first night here should be as comfortable as possible.  Please, take the cushions."

"Well, to be perfectly honest..." Leon-As paused a moment, head cocked, watching Pumyra through half lidded eyes.

"What?" asked Pumyra, nervously kneading at the cushion she was sitting on.

"Well, I'm not used to sleeping alone.  In the slave pens, we shared our sleep mats for warmth.  The only time I have slept by myself in the years since Thundera's destruction has been when a Master has me, and does not need my favors for the night.  Those nights have been extremely seldom."

Leon-As spoke of captivity and sexual slavery as casually as someone would of the weather.  It spooked Pumyra how easily Leon-As accepted the fact that she'd been... what she had been.  But, the Thundercat thought, realizing the other Thunderian was just about her own age, she must have been enslaved for nearly half her life.  Gods of Thundera... perhaps it was even natural for her by now!  That thought made Pumyra feel cold, and sick.

"I've disturbed you.  I'm sorry." Leon-As said, her back stiffening as she saw disgust touch the Thundercat's eyes.

Shaking out her jet coloured mane, she stood, and paced the small confines of Pumyra's room.  Leon-As was suddenly restless with the need to get out of the room now, out of the Cat's Lair, off of this wretched planet.  As a free-born Thunderian, she'd disdained the garments the slavers, and her various masters had tried dressing her in.  Being in her own fur had always been a link, however fragile, to her Thunderian heritage.  If she could not wear the uniform of the Royal Guard, she'd wear nothing at all.  Now, for the first time since Thundera shook herself apart in flaming convulsions, now Leon-As felt 'naked' as the other galactics considered being unclothed.

These Thundercats, with their ornamental raiments!  Not one of them wasn't clothed in some gaudy costume.  Looking at her... judging her...  What right had they?!  Let them live out year after year in the slave pens, passed from one master to the next so many times that the faces blurred together...  Let them live the life she'd led and dare to judge her then!

"Leon-As..."

She started as Pumyra's hand laid softly on her shoulder.  A moment, and the pained rage in her heart flared.  The voices in the shadows of her mind wailed... Strike her!  Rend her!  Make the Thundercat bleed!

"I am sorry too.  The things you've been through are scary and alien to me.  But I...  I like you.  I want to wipe out the evil that's been done to you.  If it can be done.  If you'll let me.  I'd like to help."

Pumyra's words slowly filtered through the mental fog that engulfed the dark haired Thunderian...  Faltering rays of light through rolling thunderclouds.  Leon-As stared at Pumyra with eyes too wide, too bright...  What had she been thinking?  It had almost happened again.  In her mind's eye she could see the lovely Thundercat limp on the floor, amid the scattered cushions, a rag of brown fur and seeping blood beneath leonine hands and mouth...  And that fierce sadness and self loathing, whose only match was the red dimmed tide of joy that sang through her heart and soul.

"Leon-As?" Pumyra made the name a question as she laid her other hand against the leonine female's cheek, "Are you okay?"

Pulling away from the Thundercat's clasp brusquely, Leon-As headed for the exit.

"Excuse me, please.  I need some air..."

The door was not locked, as she had half feared it would be.  It opened under her touch easily...

"Lynx-O!" Pumyra spoke out in surprise, as her guest nearly walked straight into the elder Thundercat.

"Pumyra, Leon-As" Lynx-O greeted the two females, noting the troubled air. "I've come to welcome our fellow Thunderian, is this a bad time?"

"Yes.  Get out of my way, old one.  I need to leave this place." Leon-As spoke rudely and tried to push pass the blind Thunderian.

"Please, Leon-As." Lynx-O put out a hand to block her exit, "Before you go, there is something we NEED to discuss."

"I have nothing to say to you, or any Thundercat!" Leon-As almost hissed in angry desperation, "Let me go, blind one, or I will MAKE you let me go!"

"Leon-As!" Pumyra spoke sharply, confused by the Thunderian's antagonism.

Unwilling to stay even a moment longer, Leon-As attacked Lynx-O.  She only wanted to get by the elder Thundercat, not hurt him, but if she needed to...  Abruptly Leon-As found herself on the floor, on her back, with all the air whooshed out of her lungs.  Well...  Lynx-O's age certainly hadn't slowed his reflexes or battle skills.  She rolled over into a crouch, a growl low and threatening in her throat.  Before she could spring at the blind Thundercat, his words subdued her more quickly and finally than any physical move could.

"Are you in Heat?"

The blunt question chilled her, and left her still and silent.

"Oh Gods of Thundera... " Pumyra breathed, sudden realization making her eyes wide, "Lynx-O, is THAT what you wanted me to check her for?"

"Yes.  I suspected it.  Now I'm sure of it.  Right now, despite the fact I barely know her, and am much to old for this kind of foolishness...  I want to physically subdue her and... Well, I'm sure you get the idea, Pumyra." Lynx-O said with a kind of quiet grimness.

He could feel the blood pulsing hot in his veins.  The scent of the she-cat was a taunting, elusive perfume that made the most private parts of him tighten and tingle with the need to mate.  Lynx-O didn't even want to think of what the female would do to the other, younger, male Thundercats over time.  Already Panthro wasn't thinking clearly...

"But, Thunderians haven't had Heats for generations!" Pumyra said in kind of horrified fascination.

"There have been a few throwbacks that have suffered through them.  It's very rare, and can usually be treated medically." Lynx-O answered his friend, "I've seen this once, a long, long time ago.  But there is something different here.  Isn't there, Leon-As?"

The leonine Thunderian remained on the floor, her head bowed, face hidden by the black veil of her mane.  Damn the sightless Thundercat!  Damn him for exposing this secret shame!  Damn him for knowing the truth!

"Go to hell, Thundercat." Leon-As growled out softly.

*****
“Ancient spirits of Evil!  Answer my call for knowledge...  Speak to Mumm-ra the secrets that are most hidden!  Reveal to me what can bring, *will* bring about the downfall of the Thundercats!”

*****
“If you’ve come to ‘talk some sense’ into me Lion-O, you can forget it.” Panthro spoke brusquely as he stared out his window at the starry Third Earth sky.

“Panthro, please!  You can’t be serious about leaving the Thundercats!” Lion-O knew his voice was close to begging, but he simply could not let this rift grow in what was the closest thing to family he had.

“Why?  By Jaga, at least you owe me an explanation!” he persisted, “Why would you leave us to be with this girl you hardly know?  Do your loins burn for her that much?!”

“You fool!” Panthro turned to face his lord with a snarl, “You are a fine one to talk of burning loins, Lion-O!  You all but became unsheathed right there in the council room!”

“That’s not true!  Panthro, you’re talking crazy!  Please... “ Lion-O moved forward, his hand outstretched to his fellow Thundercat, ignoring the accusation that had fallen too close to truth for comfort.

“I...  I am sorry, Lion-O.  You are right, I’m talking crazy.  But if you knew... “ Panthro’s words cut off as he turned away again, shoulders slumped in defeat.

It was not the Lion-O he was battling this night...  It was memories.

“But I don’t know, Panthro.  Not unless you tell me.  I know this girl means something to you.  If we are friends Panthro, won’t you help me understand what?”  Lion-O asked simply, his earnest youth in his every word.

“It’s a story you may find... painful.” Panthro spoke finally, eyes fixed on the patch of sky where the rubble of Thundera floated out of sight... but not out of mind, “But you are right.  You deserve an explanation.”

Lion-O straddled a nearby chair, resting his forearms on the back, and his head on his forearms.  Panthro’s voice took on the cadence of a court story teller, such as Lion-O had not heard since his infancy on Thundera...

As Panthro spoke, to him it was as if he lived once more in that span of moments...  When he had been newly made a Thundercat.

*****

“Leana, this is our newest recruit.” Jaga spoke with a rare smile on his usually somber face, “Panthro.  He is quite formidable with the martial arts with a mind as quick as his body is strong.”

“Mmm... And you look very, very... strong.” purred the golden lioness who stood beside Jaga the Wise.

Panthro felt his cheeks heat under the dangerously flirtatious look of the female Thundercat.  But he was no green cub, and young as he was he could give as well as receive.

“My lady is welcome to try my strength, if it please her.” he winked at her, “Anytime.”

“Well, it seems you two will get along together.” Jaga’s dry voice broke through the playful bantering, “Which is just as well, since I want you, Leana, to show young Panthro here the ropes.”

“Oh, that will be my pleasure Jaga.” Leana purred, reaching out a soft cream coloured hand to her new companion. “Very, very much my pleasure...”

*****

Panthro shut his eyes for a moment.  The pleasure of past memories now a bittersweet pain he both lamented and cherished.

“We quickly became friends, and though she was my senior, I began to look at her with the eyes of a lover.”

“So...  you were in love with Leana?” Lion-O didn’t have to struggle with the mental picture.

If Leana were as beautiful as her daughter, it was all to easy to picture.

“But, I don’t remember anything about any Thundercat, or even any Thunderian, like her.” Lion-O frowned as he searched his hazy boyhood memories, “And I think she would have made an impression on me!”

“Leana left years before you were born, Lion-O.” Panthro said, his eyes dark with pain.

“Left the Thundercats?  What could possibly make someone want to leave the Thundercats?!” Lion-O asked, still frustrated by the possibility that Panthro would follow Leana’s example after so many years.

“You heard the girl in the council room Lion-O.” Panthro said shortly, “She did it for love.”

“But... weren’t you two...?” Lion-O’s questions faded as he watched the agony in Panthro’s eyes.

*****

“Rules?  What Rules!” Leana laughed as she undid the clasp that trapped her ebony mane into a high pony tail.

Shaking out her loosed black tresses, Leana ran her soft gold hands through her hair, spreading it out like a dark veil around her shoulders.

“You, Panthro, are much too conservative for such a young Thundercat.” she chided as she straddled his supine form, running her claw tips through his belly fur, “In battle, no one is going to cry pax, or foul!  Show me the mutant who will fight fair and square, and I’ll show you Jaga’s secret vice.”

“Oh really?  Jaga doesn’t have any vices.” Panthro growled, as he wiggled under the tickling Leana was subjecting him too. “You would never have won this tussle in a straight out fair fight!”

“But I *did* win, now didn’t I, impudent cub!” Leana spoke smugly, tickling ever lower.

The sound of her claw tips moving past his belt made Panthro gulp for air.  By Jaga!  She wouldn’t... not here in the open!

“Leana!  Stop that!  What if someone should see?” he protested, searching the area beyond the sparring yard.

“So?  What if they do see?  It’s not what they don’t whisper behind our backs.” Leana stroked the line of fur just under Panthro’s belt, “I am grown, and you are grown...”

“And you are the clan Lion, and I am the clan Panther... nobles of the blood.” Panthro growled, eyes becoming half lidded in pleasure despite his misgivings.

“Fah!  If the thrice blessed clans want their bloodlines to stay pure, they can go and screw themselves!” Leana sniffed, “I love whom I love...  No one can tell me who to mate with!”

“Love... ?” Panthro’s eyes snapped open and abruptly he squirmed free of Leana, toppling her off him as he scrambled to his feet, “Leana...”

“What’s wrong Panthro?” Leana asked, confused by her would be lover’s bolting.

“Leana...  We play at games of love, as we do our games of war.  But that is all they are, or can ever be.” Panthro, said, unable to meet her clear green gaze, “We can no more love than we could as Thundercats make real war upon each other.”

“But Panthro... you have feelings for me!  I am not blind!  And I feel the same way.” Leana got to her feet and pressed herself against the trembling Panther, “Why do you deny this thing between us?”

“Because it can not be.” Panthro whispered, “Don’t you think I would roar out my vows to you before our friends and family if there was even a slight chance our mating would be accepted?  Your clan and my clan both would disown us!  And Claudus...”

“And Claudus would not want me to taint his precious new bride with my perverse denial of clan responsibility?” taunted Leana, angry now, “Or are you more afraid that he would ask you to step down as a Thundercat as well?  That even Jaga will not speak for you if you commit this disgraceful act of love?”

Leana began to laugh, but her eyes were full of bitterness.

“Because we nobles are *sooo* different!  Because it is our *duty* to keep as clear and clean a blood line for each of our clans as we possibly can!  Because as a good little tradition toady you will mate and beget little panther cubs for the good of your house and your name.  Well I guess I was wrong about you Panthro...  You are not so strong after all!”

“Leana!”

Panthro looked up to see his golden lioness stalking away, body stiff with anger, eyes streaming with tears.

He could reach out to her.  He could run after her and make her stop...  But as a Thundercat, and a noble of Thundera, Panthro knew he could not... Justice, Truth, Honor and Loyalty ...  He knew where his duty lay.

*****

“Oh.” Lion-O said, eyes wide. “But, why would it have been so wrong for you two to mate?  I know of no laws forbidding the crossing of clan lines.”

“Ordinarily there aren’t Lion-O.” Panthro answered wearily, “But hadn’t you noticed?  All your Thundercat nobles are the products of the strictest breeding along their clan line standard.  For those of us who are highest born, a certain responsibility exists.  A duty to not let our individual strains of Thunderian bloodlines be lost in the melting pot that is the gene pool of most Thunderians.”

At the blank look Lion-O was giving him, Panthro sighed, and tried to explain another way.

“ Can you imagine, Lion-O?  To no more behold the speed and grace of a pure Cheetah?  The fierce crimson and black beauty of the Tiger?  The golden nobility and strength of the Lion?”

“But...  To give up love.” Lion-O spoke slowly, eyes troubled, “That seems wrong.”

“It’s been our way for centuries Lion-O.  It can’t be wrong.” Panthro said shortly, “It can’t be.  Otherwise I gave up on my heart’s desire for nothing.  Do you understand?”

“Yes Panthro...  I think I do.”

**********
Leon-As stood up slowly, refusing to look at the lynx male blocking her escape.  Pumyra had gone to stand beside her team mate, a double barrier between the lioness and even the illusion of freedom.

"What do you want me to say, Thundercat?  That your suspicions about me are correct?" Leon-As spoke coldly, wrapping her arms around herself defensively.

"Leon-As, if what Lynx-O said is true...  A throw back trait is not your fault!  We can help you." Pumyra said, stepping towards her guest, "Let me examine you and..."

"Back off!" Leon-as snarled, her heart tightening in pain at Pumyra's easy assumption of innocence.

Looking at the lovely puma's kind face was to see the all that Leon-As had given up on long ago.  It was too late to change things now.  The choice made nearly a lifetime ago could not be unmade.  She had to get out, or risk seeing the unavoidable scorn replace the already wounding pity in Pumyra's eyes.  The Lynx had discovered part of her secret, but to drag out the rest, the Thundercat would have to rip it from Leon-As's senseless body.   Her resolve blazing in her eyes, she backed into a defensive corner, lips pulled back to reveal sharpened fangs.

Lynx-O pulled Pumyra back, placing himself between the two females, he spoke with calm firmness to the cornered Thunderian.

"I will have to tell the others.  I am sorry, Leon-As, but they deserve to know."

"Do they?  What right have you, old lynx, to break my privacy so?" the leonine female snarled.

"The right of one Thunderian to preserve the free will of all others of his kind.  I am sorry Leon-As, but if you are in Heat, the others must know.  To not tell them gives you an unfair... advantage."

"Advantage?  Why not speak plainly Thundercat!  This may be my shame, but it is also my power.  It is a weapon.  One that cannot be taken from me without destroying my value first." she laughed, tossing her black mane back.

"A weapon even knowledge cannot completely negate..." she purred, and began to move forward.

"Tell me, blind one, do you ‘see' with your hands?  What the eye cannot bring you, do you read with the touch of your fingers?  You suspect I am beautiful, do you not?  But you cannot ‘see' what the other male Thundercats do.  You can only imagine." her voice mocked him, yet seduced him with it's curiously caressing tones.

She swayed closer to the elder Thundercat, letting him become the focus of her world.

"But you don't have to imagine, Lynx-O.  You can ‘see' me with your own two hands.  The fine silken texture of my fur against your body.  The soft rounded curves of my breasts under your palms.  The tenderness of my lips pressed to yours..." she breathed out softly, hypnotically, suiting actions to words, and melting against the lynx in a full body kiss.

Their tongues met, and danced together to the music of their pounding blood.  Lynx-O gripped her shoulders to push away the she-cat, and to his consternation found himself pulling her tighter to himself instead.  His arms slid over her back and waist to embrace the warm, pliant body and press his firmness into the heated luxury of ...

"LYNX-O SNAP OUT OF IT!!!" Pumyra roared at him, deafening the lynx, and causing him to release Leon-As.  She'd watched Leon-As advance on her friend with a kind of horrified fascination, never seeing such blatant sexuality  so close up before.  Or used like an attack.  She herself had been half mesmerized, but the sight of Lynx-O all but mating with the leonine Thunderian before her very eyes had spurred her to action.  Reaching out, Pumyra pulled Lynx-O away from the dark maned temptress.

"What...?!" he said, shaking his head to clear it of the beguiling web that the lioness had woven around him.

It was only a moment of distraction, and a moment was all Lion-As needed as she slid past the Thundercats and out into the hallway, running as if the all the hounds of Plundar were at her heels.  Running through the familiar halls of a Cat's Lair, on an unfamiliar world.

The layout was similar enough to those back on Thundera.  She quickly made her way towards the Thundercat's vehicles storage area, an easy exit from the claustrophobic prison of the Cat's Lair.  She ran swiftly until a sudden shock wave of pain sent her crashing to her knees, an agonized keening her only means of action.

*****

"By Jaga!" Lion-O breathed out, "What is THAT?!"

An eerie wail rent the night air, and brought the Lord of the Thundercats to his feet, his sword in hand without conscious thought.

"It sounds like some animal, in terrible pain." Panthro replied, trying to discern where the scream was emanating.  It sounds like it's in the Cat's Lair!"

"Sword of Omens!  Give me sight beyond sight!" Lion commanded, holding the hilt of his weapon before his eyes.

"It's Leon-As!" he exclaimed, seeing through the apertures the golden furred form writhing on the floor next to the Thunder Tank, "She's in the garage!"

"What?  That's on the other end of the Lair from the sleeping quarters!" Panthro growled, as he hit the doorway running, "That fool!  She must have taken herself out of the range of the control rod!"

*****

By the time Panthro and Lion-O reached Leon-As, she was already unconscious from the pain.  Panthro scooped up her limp form, and headed towards the Cat's Lair medical facility, Lion-O close at his heels.  Gently the dark furred Thundercat laid Leon-As out on the cool metal examination table.

"She's so still, Panthro." Lion-O said worried, "Will she be okay?"

"I don't know, Lion-O." Panthro said gravely, looking down at a face so like, yet unlike the one he'd once loved, "I just don't know."

Her eyelids fluttered, and the leonine female mewed in distress.  Ahhhhh...  Sweet gods of agony... the ache lingered, but the pain was no longer intense enough to knock her out.  Damn!  Saur must have set the collar for it's shorter range.  She'd forgotten in her distress that he would have done so right before an auction.  Supposedly free from his grasp, and still he managed to make her miserable.  A pity the powerful pheromones her body produced had no effect on that cold blooded Lizard mutant!  His natural immunity had been one of the few things that saved him from the fate of so many of her past
'masters'.

Leon-as cracked open an eye, and saw the blurry blue gray fog before her slowly come into focus.  Panthro.  Her new master.  The one she hated most next to...

"Lion-O!  She's coming around!" Panthro exclaimed, as he hurried to get a cup of water for the girl.

The red gold lion male stepped forward, and smiled down at Leon-As.  If the fire in her emerald eyes was any indication, she was fine, and fighting mad to boot.

"You gave us quite a scare, Leon-As." Lion-O said gently, hoping to win a smile from her with his own.

"I'd forgotten how short my leash was." Leon-As said softly, eyes lowered, to hide her true feelings from the young Thundercat Lord, "It was my own fault."

Panthro returned to her side, and pressed a water glass into her trembling fingers.  Sipping at the cool, clear liquid, Leon-As revised her plans.  Much as she wanted to fulfill her quest, her mission, on her own, she *NEEDED* the help of the Thundercats to see it through.  Much as it galled her to admit it.  She needed Lion-O.  And she'd do anything to get him.  Anything.

"Panthro, my master.  This one is sorry for going beyond the reach of your hand.  Please punish this unworthy being as she deserves." Leon-As spoke with deceptively submissive sweetness, "But command me, I am yours."

Leon-As let sat up on the metal table, and posed her body provocatively.

"Perhaps as my punishment, you will give me to the young Lion-O for his pleasure tonight." she said, stroking her hand suggestively down her body, "I am eager to give satisfaction, my master.  Very eager."

*****

Deep in the shadowy heart of the Black Pyramid, a ghastly form wrapped in ancient bandages rose from the bubbling purple cauldron.  Throwing back his head, Mumm-ra's laughter echoed off the damp stone walls...

Oh, she was precious, he thought.  The very dagger that would wound the heart of the Thundercats.  A black haired, green eyed monster...  Yes...
 

*****

Lion-O stared at the Thunderian female, the sleek golden furred body offered to him like a sacrifice.  What must she have been through, he wondered with a hollow feeling of shock, to make her think of offering her own body for another's  "pleasure"... as punishment?

"Leon-As...  Your offer is very kind, and you *are* lovely... but..."

The lord of the Thundercats didn't really have the words to refuse gracefully. And to his own shame, he found a small selfish part of his soul wanted to accept.  But Lion-O had grown up enough while on Third Earth to know taking advantage of Leon-As's offer would be wrong.

"But you are *not* a slave here.  You are our guest, and free to come and go as you please." Lion-O spoke simply, from the heart, "If Panthro and I seem agitated, it's because we were concerned about you.  We had no idea how short the range of the rod and collar was...  You don't have to sleep with me...  With any of us to make amends."

Now it was Leon-As who stared up at the Thundercat in shock.  He should be burning for her...  As close as she was, surely the pheromones would be working their worst on his male mating urge.  The lynx had fallen fast, under a concentrated attack...  Perhaps because his senses were so acute.  No matter, time and proximity would work their dark wonder, as they had always done before.  It was sad really, this boy was trying so hard to be noble...  And nobility was of no use to her anymore.

"I should have done this from the start." Panthro's rueful rumble interrupted her train of thought. "Leon-As...  I think this belongs to you."

She looked at the golden rod held out to her, then up at the dark hued panther male.  His eyes were pain darkened amber.  It hurt him in a way words could not describe, to see Leana's golden cub try to barter her body to Lion-O.  It made Panthro feel ashamed that he had not returned the control rod to her immediately.  Events of the earlier evening hadn't really given him a chance to do so, and Panthro wasn't about to waste even a second more.

The laughter that filled the medical chamber had a sharp, jagged edge to it, like broken glass.  It was far too close to sobs for the two male Thundercats.  Leon-As wrapped her arms about herself tightly, as if to keep her self from breaking apart with the strange and painful fit of mirth that shook her.

"Do you know what the cruelest thing a master can do to me?" she asked, almost hiccuping with the need to draw oxygen and talk at the same time, "Sometimes I'd be left alone in an open room with the rod.  No chains, no locks, nothing to physically keep me from simply picking it up and walking away."

"I don't understand." Lion-O said, perplexed, "Why?"

"Because, I cannot touch it without negating it." She shrugged, feigning amusement, "Oh, that's the best part.  The joke, as it were.  It's matched to my genetic code.  Everyone else... anyone else... they can touch it fine.  But not me.  Never me."

Leon-As gave an overly bright and cheery smile, "Otherwise, don't you think I'd have stolen myself back by now?"

"I'm... sorry." Panthro said, chagrined, "I didn't know."

"But what if we put it in a bag or something." Lion-O persisted, trying to see a way out of the dilemma, "Something to insulate it.  You could carry it with you without touching it."

"Been there.  Done that." Leon-As said, shaking back her black mane, wishing it were so easy to shake off the memories, "A control rod has to be handled periodically.  It has to be directly touched by a living being.  And tell me young lion lord, who does a rogue slave trust to fondle the thing that can make her submit to even the basest defilement?  You, perhaps?  Lion-O, Lord of the Thundercats..."

Lion-O drew back from the statement that was half scorn... and half... suggestion?

"But luckily I don't have to rely on trust.  Fate has already made me the slave of a fine Thundercat noble.  I'm sure Panthro will make me an excellent keeper." Leon-As let her voice slide over into tones of soft accusation, and looked at the male panther with a banked heat that made the skin crawl.

"Unless, and until you give me away to a new master, I belong to you, Panthro.  Wether you actually use your power over me or not, it remains there to be used.  At anytime, in any place, you could order me to your will.  Eventually, the rod wielder can force my compliance to... anything.  Sometimes I comply swiftly, simply to have the illusion that it was my own choice."

"But Leon-As, you do have the freedom to make your own choices here!" Lion-O almost growled, frustrated.

"My freedom.  My own choices..." she laughed again softly, giving the young lion lord a half smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.

"For long as I am allowed.  Your generosity is overwhelming, my lord Lion-O.  How shall I reward it?  Truly, if my body is pleasing to you, and it is my choice...  Than I choose to serve your pleasure with it.  Will you honor my choice?"

"... I..." Lion-O was at a loss for words.

He looked to Panthro looking for guidance, and found his friend glaring at him with a fierceness that brought Lion-O's hands up in an automatic defensive gesture.  He had to find a way out of the fix Leon-As had placed him in!

"NO!"

The cry came out explosively in the small medical chamber.  But it came not from Lion-O, but the older lynx Thundercat at the entrance.

"Keep away from her!  Lion-O, Panthro, both of you back away from the girl.  She's playing you against each other.  Don't look at her.  Don't listen to her.  And most importantly, Don't Touch Her!" Lynx-O commanded, as the other Thundercats crowded in behind him.

The blind Thundercat had gathered everyone in the Lair to confront the lioness now trapped with in the medical bay.  After the events in Pumyra's room, he didn't want ANY Thundercat facing her alone.

"Lion-O," Leon-As said, reaching out to the young male, her voice soft yet insistent, "Don't let him turn you against me like this!  What harm have I done that you cannot even *look* at me?  Touch me... "

Lion-O faltered, and unconsciously reached out his hand to Leon-As...  Only to be knocked aside by a blur of black spotted gold as Cheetara threw herself between her lord and the stranger that set all her warning senses off.

"Back off!  I don't know what kind of trouble you mean to stir up, and I don't really care!" Cheetara snapped at the surprised lioness, teeth bared, "But to get to Lion-O, you'll have to deal with ALL the Thundercats!"

"Why, you bitch!" Leon-As's soft beguilement turned to snarling rage in a heart beat.

Before anyone could react, the leonine female had flung herself at the cheetah, and both were suddenly rolling on the med bay floor.  They were like two wild things, caught in the throes of a primitive fury.  This was no petty exchange of blows, but a savage battle with simple survival as the prize.  Leon-As ripped into Cheetara, negating her specialty of speed with close quarters combat.  While Cheetara could hold her own in a group melee, a one on one of fang and claw left her wanting... and bleeding...  Leon-As had her teeth in the cream coloured fur of Cheetara's throat...  And suddenly the lioness arched away from the Thundercat, her body convulsing in agony.

"Panthro!" Cheetara, choked out, hand at her throat, feeling for damage, "Thank you."

Leon-As lay on the floor panting as she recovered from the torment of her collar.  Looking up at the panther holding the control rod, she smiled through her receding pain.

"You see, Master?  Your will is my will.  What you desire of me I must obey.  Freedom of choice is only a pretty dream you feed to cubs to keep them from crying in the night."

"Leon-As." Panthro, whispered, "I'm sorry.  You gave me no..."

"Choice?" Leon-As started to laugh, but hissed in pain instead as the movement aggravated her stressed nerve endings, "Ahh... it hurts."

When Panthro tried to go to the fallen Leon-As, Cheetara and Lynx-O pulled him back.

"But she's in pain." he protested.

"She'll get over it." Cheetara said unsympathetically.

"It's too dangerous for any male to touch her right now, Panthro." Lynx-O concurred.

"Don't waste your concern on me, Master."

Leon-As mocked gently, as the other Thundercats closed in around Cheetara and Panthro, united in their concern for their friends.  She closed her eyes and concentrated on blocking out the fading fires that made her own body a weapon against itself.

"I haven't been a cub for a very long time.

*****
to be continued

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