#thunder kittens

Notes: a huge rewrite of one of my older fics. There is a lot to it. This runs as true to canon as possible minus the obvious that I expanded on everything.

OC’s: these characters will not live past the planet blowing up.

Politics: The politics of Thundera is going to play a big plot in this story. I will lay it out as things go forward but its basically clan mixing = bad. And obviously Tygra and Cheetara are mixing clans. So plot. XD

*~*

“Is that another shipment? We have 5 already…” Tygra’s eyes widened as more big boxes were pushed into the housing unit that he and Cheetara were now sharing.

She had moved back in with him a few days ago. It had been easy merging their belongings as they had done it before.

This was different.

They were trying to get everything ready for the kittens to arrive.

“Tygra? Who is at the door… I think I finally figured out the cribs. They mirrored the pieces wrong..” Cheetara called from one of the rooms, she comes out stretching. She looked as tired as he did. “…more?”

She watches as he meets the delivery guy at the door signing for it all. “Thank you… just uh leave them here.” He gives her a nervous smile as the guy leaves then leans over them. “High Chairs and other kitchen items…”

“Tygra, I’m getting a little overwhelmed.” She admits wringing her hands. “Every time we get one box finished another comes.”

“I agree.. we can’t do this entirely on our own.” The tiger grunts as he pushes the big boxes into the kitchen before lifting the second one on top of the first. “I don’t want to go to Jaga so quickly for assistance.. we did say we could handle it after all.”

“But Tygra, we’re full. We can’t even walk in here without tripping on something.”

He looks around the unit, it wasn’t small by any means. They were nobles and had nobility housing. It was more than big enough to house a family of four. They just had to get it all unpacked and organized.

“I may have an idea..”

*~*

“You two did what?!”

They glanced at each other sheepishly smiling at their friend. “…well… Jaga asked if we would adopt two cubs who lost their parents.”

“Twin cubs.” Cheetara adds.

“You two are adopting cubs?”

“You act like this isn’t something we would do, Panthro.”

The panther crossed his arms, “It’s not. You two just had big break up if I recall not 2 months ago and now you want to raise two kids?”

Cheetara blushes lowering her gaze, she rubs her arm embarrassed. She knew he was directing that to her. “…look, we really want this to work.” She finally says before looking up at him. “Jaga thinks we can do it..”

“I know we can.” Tygra stepped in. He reached down holding her hand. “We’ve been living together for a month so far …we’ve been fine. We’re going to make it work. We need your help though.”

“…with what? I don’t babysit.” Their friend says bluntly. “I don’t change diapers. Kids don’t like me and I don’t prefer them.”

Tygra pushes the door to their housing unit open revealing the giant mess. “…this.”

“By Thundera… how much stuff you two buy?”

“It was shipped to us from Claudis, according to Jaga. We need help. A third hand would help us out a lot and we could knock this out.” The tiger explained. “You’re good at putting stuff together… I thought I was but even I’m a little defeated with some of this furniture.”

“We’ll feed you!” Cheetara adds hopeful.

Panthro silently walks into the housing unit looking down at all of the boxes and what had been unpacked. He pushed on the highchair, it wasn’t stable, then he walked around looking over the boxes and what they were, he peeks his head into the nursey seeing a half put together crib and another waiting to be assembled.

He turns back to look at his friends, they looked exhausted and overwhelmed. Normally Tygra could handle this by himself but even he looked pushed to his limit.

He sighs shaking his head before smiling towards them, “Alright .. if we’re going to do this and I’m going to help, we’re going in some sort of order. Where are the cubs?”

“We don’t have them yet. Jaga is keeping them until we’re ready.” Cheetara explains. “And we were pretty organized. Tygra made a list and a diagram.”

“Every time we got started another shipment came in and we could never finish anything.” The tiger was embarrassed at how bad he’d let this get. He was usually the one who ran this sort of thing and kept everything in order.. right now, he was happily handing over that responsilbity.

“Ok, from now on new shipments stay outside by the door until we’re ready for them.” Panthro starts before walking to the kitchen tripping over a few boxes as he does, “So 5 boxes for the kitchen and dining room? Is that right?” He glances over to Tygra knowing his friend at the very least kept an inventory.

“Yes. 3 are in the dining room. These two are the others. The ones in the hallway go into the nursery. The others, I’m not quite sure.”

“Cheetara, you’re going to stay in the kitchen and get the small stuff unpacked. Don’t worry about the highchairs or any of that. Just the food, bottles, etc…” Panthro nods to her. “Can you do that?”

“Yes, of course.” She smiles relieved at having someone else figure it all out. She lets go of Tygra’s hand and starts to pull a box open.

“Tygra, you and I are going to get those cribs finished. From there we can find the rest of the furniture… that highchair is going to kill a baby..”

They both glanced over at it as it wavered before the top fell off. Tygra glances over smirking, “I thought you didn’t care for children.”

“I don’t but I don’t want to kill one either.” The panther reaches out grabbing his friend by the arm pushing him into the nursery. “Let’s go “Dad” … we have cribs to put together.”

Tygra lets out a surprised growl as he pulled down the hallway and pushed into the nursery. Cheetara looks up laughing as he was man handled. The tension was gone and the heaviness was being lifted now that someone was helping them.

Maybe, just maybe, this would work out.

*~*

Cheetara finishes unloading her third box. She steps back looking around the kitchen. They had received a lot of things the kittens wouldn’t need for a few years yet. She wondered why he sent all of this stuff, especially if they were going to be only temporary parents.

She sighs shaking her head not wanting to think too hard on it. She pulls out a stack of bibs, a smile crossing her features at the cute sayings. She turns and puts them in the basket on the counter.

She was getting excited again going through all of the things they received. In a few days they would have kittens in the house.

She could hear Tygra and Panthro working on something in the hallway. Once she was done here, she wanted to check on them.

*~*

Tygra gets to his feet and with Panthro’s help they bolt the crib frame together. He holds the ends as Panthro gets underneath it finishing it.

“There. That does it. Shake it. How stable is it?”

The tiger shakes it a few times before he nods, “It seems stable. What does it look like on your end?”

“Looks good to me.” He grins up at his friend through the middle of the crib. “Not bad. We got the changing table and both cribs put together.” He crawls out picking up the last piece of this one, together they get it put in place so a small mattress could sit in it.

“Thank you, Panthro.” Tygra sighs relieved at seeing things get put together and taken care of. “I honestly was afraid we weren’t going to get caught up.”

“Hey what are friends for?” Panthro watches as his friend sits on the ground leaning against the wall. He walks over sitting beside him. “Nervous?”

The other just chuckles, “Terrified.”

“You know I always thought you’d make a great father…” Panthro smirks crossing his arms.

“And what of Cheetara?”

“Honestly, I never could see it. I don’t blame her for this but she doesn’t want to settle down. Every time you two got together she could come up and say she needed space and break it off.”

Tygra sighs nodding, “..I know.”

“How do you know this time will be different? If she leaves you and the kids, then what?”

“Then I raise them by myself, Panthro.” The tiger states seriously.

“Tygra, you can’t raise two kittens by yourself.”

“I’ll do what I have to.”

“You don’t sound too worried about any of this.”

The tiger smiles looking over at his friend, “I’m not… something changed when Cheetara held one of the cubs. For the first time ever, she relaxed and slowed down. She was hurling insults at me and suddenly it stopped. She was quiet as she cradled the cub close to her. I won’t lie, I fell in love all over again. She looked up at me and we both made the decision then and there that we were going to do this.”

Panthro blinked sitting up. He glanced over and saw Tygra wasn’t joking about any of it. He sighs a soft smile taking over, “I think you two are going to make great parents.”

“Well, maybe. It’s temporary. Jaga is looking for a permanment couple”

“Tygra, Jaga wouldn’t send all of this if you two werent’ going to raise them.”

Tygra sighs smiling as he looks down nervously, “I hope so.. it would be an honor. Panthro, I can’t wait for you to meet them. They look like a mix of a wild cat and a tiger.. a little girl and a little boy..”

“Were they given names?”

“Cheetara and I decided on Wily Kit and Wily Kat. Kit for the girl and Kat for the boy.” He explained his eyes lightening up as he talks about them. “Kit has fire red hair already and her brother.. Kat’s hair is red but not as bright…both have beautiful red eyes..”

He had never heard Tygra talk like this before or for this long. The tiger was usually quiet and reserved only saying what needed to be said. After that, he would let others take over. He just sits back nodding letting the other go on.

He never cared for children but hearing the way Tygra spoke of them even he wanted to meet them and was getting excited for them.

*~*

Cheetara steps back out of the now organized kitchen grinning happily. “Now THAT is a kitchen…” She glances over at the empty boxes she had broken down. She knew they would wind up re-organizing everything but right now it would do.

She turned her head listening, the rustling and working had died down. Curiously she stepped out of the kitchen walking down the hallway. As she gets closer she hears Tygra talking to Panthro.. she stops and listens.

He was gushing over the twins and her.. he sounded so happy and proud.

She leaned against the wall taking a deep breath. She just hoped she would be as good of a mother as he thinks she would.

She shivers remembering the smile he gave her while holding Wily Kit. The butterflies she had gotten afterwards, she had smiled back… the silent answer they gave each other that they wanted to do this together.

She loved him so much and wanted to make it work. She loved the kittens even more. She had never wanted kittens of her own, she didn’t want to be bogged down and forced to stay in one spot and now she couldn’t wait for it.

She clears her throat pushing herself to walk further into the hallway, “Don’t tell me you two are just laying around!”

“Cheetara.. do you need help?” Tygra got to his feet unsure how to take her tone and nervous smile.

“I got the kitchen unpacked! Have you two finished your duties?”

“Well, do two cribs, a changing table, two rocking chairs, and several shelves count?” Panthro asks getting to his feet. He pulls the crib out of the doorway leading her in.

Tygra follows them, “We thought the changing table should be over here.. the two cribs can be side by side, they are on wheels – so they can be moved, the shelves we can stack however we feel like.. and this closet can be for their diapers and things?”

She nods smiling, “I love it.”

“What time is it?”

“It’s almost 7pm. Panthro do you need to get back?” She asks curiously. “Or can we make you dinner at least?”

“I have a shift in the control room at the Lair or I would. I’ll be back in a few days and we can finish, is that alright?” He could already tell that him helping had helped a lot. They both looked a lot less stressed.

They both nodded. Tygra leads them out of the nursery back into the hallway. “Of course, Panthro. We can take it from here.”

As soon as he’s out, Panthro pushes one crib in before the other one joins it. “You two can arrange them later.” He then turns to them, “Look, I can’t imagine the amount of stress you’re under – both of you – but do me a favor, take it one step at a time. Alright? Tygra, it’s like designing a building.. you have to work from the bottom up. You know how to do that, use that same logic here and above all else ask me for anything and I’ll do my best to help out.” He eyes both his friends making sure they understood before smiling. “Proud of you two. Let me know when you get the kids.”

Tygra glances to Cheetara pulling her to his side. She hugs him taking a deep breath before she nods to him and Panthro. “We will.. as soon as we know, we’ll let you know.”

*~*

“No Mother, I didn’t just “jump” into this.. Tygra and I discussed it.” Cheetara explains as she paces the living room. Her steps are quick but feathery as she tries not to wear a hole in the carpet with her speed. “Yes, they are mixed.. I think that’s why we were chosen.”

“Cheetara, you told me not three months ago that you and Tygra weren’t going to be together again. The cubs will need a stable home. Can you provide that to them?” A woman’s voice was heard on the other end. “This isn’t something you can just drop when you’re done.”

She sighs heavily running her hand through her blonde hair as she sits on the couch, “I-I know…I know I’ve caused a lot of …mess with he and I.”

“Yes you have. You are like your father and I, I’m afraid. Settling down is hard for us. That’s why I want to ask again, are you ready for this? Is he ready for this?”

She smiles, “Actually, I’ve never seen him so confident before.. his eyes lit up at seeing the kittens… I-I’ve always loved how he smiles …but this time.. something was different.. it was softer…he looked at me and the world skidded to stop.. it hit me hard and I couldn’t breathe..”

“You trust him and believe in what’s about to happen. Confidence in oneself comes from within and having the trust of your partner and his support only helps it grow.” The voice sounded warmer on the phone as she said this, almost sounding relieved at hearing it all.

“With everything moving so slowly, I was able to look down at the cub in my arms…he looked up at me a-and …I almost cried. He couldn’t pull away and I couldn’t break it either. I’ve never had anything like that happen before.”

“The maternal instinct, Cheetara. Every woman has it, its just a matter of when it makes itself known.”

“And what of Tygra? He had the same experience with the girl.. I saw it. I fell in love with him all over again..he looked different, like a-“

“Father.” The woman finished sighing happily. “Well, I must say, you had me scared when you first called but Cheetara, I’m no longer worried. Do his parents know?”

This time Cheetara sighed, “No. They haven’t spoken in years. I don’t think he wants to get in the middle of all of the politics.”

“Probably for the best, I’m afraid. He’s a better man for pulling out of that insanity when he did.” She hears her daughter start to pace again and sighs trying to change the subject. “Have the kids been given names yet?”

“Wily Kit for the girl. Wily Kat for the boy.”

“And they are a mix you say?”

“Yes, Tygra said he thinks a Wild Cat and a Tiger. Jaga confirmed it…” She smiles leaning back into the couch.

“When do you pick them up?”

“Tomorrow.”

“Cheetara, I’m so proud of you both. Remember that it’s ok to be nervous and you both will mess up a lot but its going to be alright. Any time you need us, just call.”

“Thank you, mother..” She trails off taking a deep breath. “I just wish I was confident like Tygra is.”

“My dear, he’s just as nervous as you are, I assure you. Remember that people show their nervousness in different ways. You show yours more externally… he’s probably a mess inside.”

“This is true.” She smiles nervously. She looks up as she hears the door open. “Oh. Tygra is back.”

“Go on, you two have a good night! And good luck tomorrow.”

“Thank you, we’ll keep you updated!”

*~*

“So?” A male cheetah asked leaning against the door frame. “Is she doing alright?”

“Would you believe our daughter is adopting twins?”

“…what?”

“She and Tygra are adopting children. Lord Jaga asked it of them.” She says proudly as she stands placing the communicator on the table beside the chair.

“Wait. They are back together? Since when? And now they are adopting kids?” The questions came out in quick succession as her husband follows her around. “Is she sure about this!? Is HE sure about this? Can they handle two cubs?!”

His wife turned around smiling up at him, “Our daughter is so excited she could burst. I think the two of them fell back in love when they held the twins. To hear her talking about it, it was like seeing each other for the first time. I’m not worried ___. I’m excited for them.”

“That makes one of us… what if she backs down?”

“She won’t. I heard no nervousness in her voice, she wasn’t second guessing this time.”

“You did say a few years back that she and Tygra would wind up together.. I just never thought it would be so soon.”

“A cheetah needs someone to slow them down. We moved so fast that we forget to enjoy life. She outright told me that Tygra slows the world around her..”

“Then they are meant to be.” He nods a smile crossing his features. “Can they really do it?”

“I think so. I think it’s the right time, they both want to settle down and now they have an excuse to do so.”

*~*

“Who were you on the phone with?” Tygra asked as he walks into the living room setting his things on the floor by the couch.

“My mother.. I was just telling her about the twins.”

“And?” He asks nervously.

“She’s excited for us.”

He sighs relieved smiling, “Do you feel better?”

“Yes actually…” She walks over and kisses him. “This will be our last night to ourselves… what should we do?”

“Lay awake second guessing everything we volunteered for?” He only half jokes not pulling away from her, he kisses her back.

“No before that.” She laughs before pulling her arms down from around his neck. “I have a few ideas, Tygra..”

He cleared his throat blushing as she raises her eyebrows at him. “A-Are you sure.. I mean.. we have a lot t-to plan for and..” He let out a surprised growl as he’s pushed to the couch and held there as she climbs ontop of him.

She leans over him kissing him again. He pulls away panting as he looks up at her, a grin crossing his features, “O-Or we could do this!” One of his hands slides down her back, down her sides sitting on her hips.

Her hand reaches out behind her as they kiss again, this time more passionately as they get more into it, she knocks the lamp off of the table trying to turn it off.. the light flickers before it goes out leaving them in the dark.

*~*

“What time will Tygra and Cheetara be here to pick up the twins?” Jaga asks as he enters the nursery. It was empty except for the twins who were sleeping in their beds. His hand drops to one of their backs.

“Early tomorrow morning.”

“Good..” He smiles relieved. “They will be good parents.”

“Until we can find a permanent couple at least.” The nurse says smiling down at the cubs. “Though with how they cute are it won’t take long.”

“I do want to vet the parents closely.” Jaga sighs turning to her. “With society as is it currently, I don’t want them going to a bad home.” He didn’t want to voice it out loud because it wasn’t fair of him to push them, but he internally hoped that Tygra and Cheetara would decide to adopt the kittens permanently. “Just because they are mixed doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a good home and kind parents.”

Before the nurse can respond, they hear a child’s voice down the hallway then a second voice was heard. “Shh. Don’t be so loud or we’ll be sent back.”

“But Snarf… you said we could see him.” Came the nervous response.

A smile crosses the older cats features as he hears their voices, “You will keep me updated on these two?”

“Of course.” She tilts her head wondering who was speaking. She didn’t know of any other cubs in the Lair or Nobility circles that sounded like that. She walks to the door watching, her eyes widening.

A small lion cub, no more than 4 or 5 years old, with flaming red hair was dancing around Jaga happily. “See?! I told you we’d find him!”

A snarf was shaking his head trying to calm him down but made no move to stop him.

“You certainly did find me.. come, it’s time for bed.”

Was this the heir she had heard about?

She watched him kneel and pick up the cub hugging him close. The cub hugged him happily curling up in his arms resting his head on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Jaga.. I tried to get him down, but he insisted on seeing you, snarf snarf.”

“It’s alright Snarf.”

The cub looked like Claudis… it had to be his son. She had heard rumors of a cub being born before his wife had passed… she smiles watching Jaga carry him down the hallway before going back into the two in her care.

*~*

The lights were still off in the living room as two figures laid on the floor out of breath. They were both wide awake unable to sleep even though their bodies were begging for it.

“What now?”

“We stay awake second guessing everything?” He responded attempting to laugh.

Silently she reached out taking his hand squeezing it nervously. He returned the squeeze. Realization was hitting them both, it was really happening.

She crawls closer curling up against his side resting her head on his chest. She takes a deep breath hearing him do the same. “…I’m not second guessing…”

He looks down surprised to hear that. He sighs smiling, “Then we should get some rest. We have a big day tomorrow.” He pushes her to sit up so they can go into their room.

She turns and hugs him tightly, “No matter what happens from now on… let’s do it together. Can you promise me that?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

She pulls back smiling as she gets to her feet. She tugs him towards their room both of them were starting to get tired now that they’ve relaxed.

*~*

“Tygra. Cheetara. I’m happy to see you both.” Jaga moves from the door of the nursery letting them in. “I’ve heard you have your housing unit ready?”

“Yes, we had some help but got it taken care of.” Tygra met Jaga’s eyes for a few seconds before looking past him hoping to see the twins.

The older cat just laughs, “They will be out very soon. The nurse is getting a few other things ready.” He smiles watching Cheetara move closer to Tygra. “You are both excited?”

She looks up before she sighs nodding, “…nervous and excited, I think is the best way to put that.”

“But a good nervous..” Tygra trails off as the Nurse comes in with the twins in her arms. He and Cheetara go to meet her each taking a twin.

“They’ve just eaten and will be asleep for a few hours.” She informs them smiling gently at the new parents as she hands them off. “They are small but healthy.”

Cheetara holds the kitten in her arms close being careful not to hurt him. Her arms were no longer shaking, she wasn’t nervous this time. Wily Kat was comfortable in his blankets as he curled up on her shoulder. She lifts her head smiling at Tygra as he does the same with the other kitten. Wily Kit was fast asleep and comfortable as well. “I think it’s time we get them home.”

They turn around to look at Jaga. He only nods with approval picking up the basket with the kitten’s things in them. “I’ll walk you out… remember to call if you need anything.”

“I don’t think we’ll need to do that, do you Wily Kit?” The tiger asked the cub in his arms as he walked down the hallway.

“Well if you do, please call.”

“We will.” Cheetara answered for him. “Won’t we, Wily Kat?”

Jaga stopped at the entrance as one of the guards took the basket of items from him. He watched the couple make their way down the stairs to the waiting cab.

*~*

Cheetara pushes the door open with her hip after Tygra unlocks it before walking into their home. She turns and looks at him nervously. “Well…we did it.”

“We did…” Tygra stops short as Wily Kit wakes up opening her eyes. She looks up at him trying to decide if she were going to cry or not. As he smiled down at her, she gives a tiny smile back quieting down. “Welcome home, Wily Kit..”

Cheetara sits Wily Kat up keeping him steady in her arms as he wakes up as well. He smiles up at her relaxing back not making a noise at all. She sighs smiling warmly down at him, “Welcome home, Wily Kat…”

The two adults move so they are shoulder to shoulder and look down at the babies in their arms happily. In their excitement they forgot it was possibly temporary, Cheetara looks to Tygra. “Well, we’re a family now.. all four of us.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He responded smiling over at her.

Notes: a huge rewrite of one of my older fics. There is a lot to it. This runs as true to canon as possible minus the obvious that I expanded on everything.

OC’s: these characters will not live past the planet blowing up.

Politics: The politics of Thundera is going to play a big plot in this story. I will lay it out as things go forward but its basically clan mixing = bad. And obviously Tygra and Cheetara are mixing clans. So plot. XD

*~*

“Tygra, Jaga wishes to see you and Cheetara in his chambers as soon as possible.”

He looks up from what he’s working on confused. He had never been called directly to see Jaga. Quickly, he rolls his drawings up and heads out of the office towards the main hallway.

Usually, Jaga only spoke to the Thunder Cats themselves and he nor Cheetara were official Thunder Cats. He had only just gotten on the council a few years ago. He hadn’t even thought about taking the trials to get that rank.

“Tygra – do you know what this is about?”

He turned to see Cheetara catching up with him, “I have no clue.”

“You don’t think it’s about us, do you?” She asked a bit nervously. She didn’t miss the looks they got as they walked down the hallway that led to the main throne room in the giant building.

“Why would it be? He approved our relationship several months ago, Cheetara. I’m sure it’s not about that.” He wasn’t sure if he’d consider them in an official relationship or not. They would get back together and break up so many times even he wasn’t sure what they were. He only turned and smiled at her, “Don’t be too worried, I’m sure there is a reasonable explanation to it all.”

She nods before they push the door open together.

In the throne room, Jaga was standing there by himself with two baskets on the table. He looks up at them and smiles, “Come in.. I want to introduce you to some cubs.”

“Cubs?” The cheetah asked walking in cautiously. She steps closer and sees what he’s talking about. “What in Thundera..”

“A terrible incident has occurred, and I need your help.” He explained as Tygra joined them. “The children’s father is currently on Exile Island for crimes committed against his fellow Thunderians. Their mother was just killed in an accident on the seaside village up north.”

The tiger leans forward looking into the baskets. There were two kittens wrapped in blankets fast asleep. “What would you like us to do exactly?”

“Take them and care for them until we can find surrogate parents.”

They both looked up shocked. Tygra laughed nervously, “J-Jaga, while I’m honored you would consider us for this task, I don’t think..”

“I’m no mother…” Cheetara exclaimed backing up. “And what will the other cats think? We’re barely accepted in the nobility circles as it is for being together. What will they say when they see we have cubs?”

“I trust you two and I know you can take care of this for me. They need a home for a few days, just until we can find surrogate parents.” The lord explained. “As for the other cats, let me take care of that. I believe I told you both to relay any bad words that were being spread and neither of you have expressed any concerns to me.”

“They are young will they survive without their mother?” The tiger asked seriously trying to change the subject. “I’m guessing they are no more than a few months old?”

“Yes, the medical team is coming up with a way to feed them without the mother present. So far they are taking to the substitute milk very well.” Jaga reaches into one of the baskets and picks one of the cubs up handing it to Tygra.

Awkwardly the Tiger attempted to hold the cub afraid he’d hurt them. It was so tiny and light. The little one started to wake up and cry but he held them close and they quieted down. “…do they have names?”

Cheetara shoots a glare towards him. Why was he moving along with this? If they got anymore information she knew she’d possibly get attached to them. They couldn’t do this. They didn’t even live together anymore. “Tygra – what are you..?”

“Their names were lost with their mother. They have no other family that we can find either. Will you please help me with this?” He pleads.

She looks over at Tygra as he holds the cub. She finds herself blushing – he looked like a father. She never thought they’d reach this crossroads. They couldn’t even agree on the mating ceremony.

“Here, I’ve something to attend to for about an hour. Discuss between the two of you and I will return shortly.”

After he left they both turned back to the cubs. Tygra was still holding the one that had been given to him. He smiled weakly at Cheetara, “Well … we were looking for a reason to get back together.”

She glares at him, “You were.”

“Come now, we were discussing it just last night.” He tried to calm her down. He had already apologize as best he could for what happened, even though he wasn’t quite sure what he had done.

“Tygra, you can barely remember to eat and sleep. Not to mention the council just gave you a large project I have my duties as well training the younglings in my clan. We don’t have time to raise two cubs.”

“I will make some changes to my schedule. I will just have to leave within a reasonable amount of time and take some time off.”

She was mad. Why was he trying to so hard to make this work? Why did he have to keep coming back and trying to fix it? She had broken it off unable to stay. She had felt chained down with no freedom. Not that she had another cat she was going after – she just couldn’t sit still. She couldn’t stay in one spot.

Tygra had no desire to go out and see new places. He was content working on the engineering nobility council. She wasn’t even sure he’d ever make an attempt to move up in ranks. He had no drive.

She didn’t want to give up on what life had to offer to her and settle down. Good or bad this was a cheetah clan trait. Her parents hadn’t stayed together the first so many years they courted. It took so long before they both settled down and had children. All six of them.

She had always been angry at her parents for this. They were always moving. Always doing something new. She had promised herself that she’d never fall into this rut, but now, she was finding herself in the same predicament.

“I said I was sorry for what I had done.”

“Stop apologizing!” She snaps at him. She glances up catching the hurt in his eyes as he looks away.

Both cubs started to cry at her out burst.

Cheetara looks over wide eyed. She hadn’t meant to wake them up. She watches as Tygra pats the back of the little one in his arms. She reaches nervously into the basket and picks up the other one holding it close. Her arms shook as she tried comfort it. “I-I’m sorry little one.. I shouldn’t have shouted…”

“I don’t know what else to do, Cheetara. I don’t know what I’ve done or haven’t done. I just know I must have done something for us to split like this.”

The cheetah looks away guiltily as the cub in her arms quiets down. “You don’t need to apologize.”

“Then tell me what I should do. I only know that I care for you, but I can’t seem to do anything right in this relationship.” He finally said after they stood in silence. “And if helping Jaga with these two younglings will help us figure out what’s wrong, I’d love to try.”

“What if we can’t do this, Tygra? Then what? I don’t want to hurt the cubs.”

“It’s only temporary, Cheetara. At most a week or so. Jaga is looking for surrogate parents.” He explained hoping to help calm her fears. He watched her for a few seconds before he sighs. “Look, if something doesn’t work out, you can leave the cubs with me. I won’t hold you down.”

“But Tygra..”

“And I won’t hold any blame towards you.”

“You can’t handle two cubs on your own.”

“I won’t be on my own, will I? You’re going to help me.” He nods to her. He was giving her that look that she hated. She couldn’t pull away or change her mind when he did this.

She was unable to verbally respond this time and only nodded. She looks down at the cub in her arms, her heart beating so fast she couldn’t hear anything else in the room.

Cheetara looks up at him smiling nervously. Even after she had said all of that she was becoming more and more okay with this idea. Nervous beyond belief but there was a twinge of excitement peeking out from under the fear of what they were about to do.

She didn’t want to lose him and the only way they could figure all of this out was to work it out. They needed something to keep them together so it could all be ironed out. They needed a reason to have to work together and be around each other.

The cub’s eyes opened and it looked up at her. “…this one is a male.”

“I believe the one I’m holding is a female.” Tygra returned her smile, she could tell he was just as nervous. “They must be fraternal twins.”

“What do we want to name them?” She asked unwrapping the blankets around the male in her arms so she could get a better look at him, “They appear to be Wild Cats and Tiger mix.”

She finally realized why Jaga wanted them on this job. Tygra did as well as he looked to her, “They are mixed.”

“Why not Kat?” She offered. “For the boy at least.”

The tiger looked up in thought, “Then Kit for the girl?”

“Kit and Kat? It has a nice ring to it.” She looked down at the two of them and got closer to Tygra. “Are we sure we can do this?”

“We won’t know until we try, Cheetara.” He responded reassuringly. “Jaga trusted us for this job and if he trusts us then surely we can do this.”

She nodded leaning into him slightly resting her head on his shoulder. “…I’m sorry for earlier. I just hate seeing you apologize when you’ve done nothing wrong. I-I promise I’ll do better at letting you know when things are going wrong, ok?”

He looked down at her shocked before letting out a sigh of relief. “Sounds reasonable to me.”

Jaga stood behind them silently watching. A smile crossed his features as he watched them talk and hold the cubs. He had heard of their quarrels and wanted them to try and work things out but he had no way of helping.

He wanted the cubs to have a family who would understand and love them. Being mixed it would take a special family. He had a strong feeling that Tygra and Cheetara would be perfect. If only they could get past their differences.

The surrogate parents were a half lie. He had two other couples he had as back up if something went wrong. But his intuition told him that they wouldn’t be giving the kittens up that easily.

“Have you decided?” He finally asked walking up to them.

“We have. We’ll take them in and look after them until the surrogate parents can be found.” Tygra responded looking to Cheetara who smiled and nodded as well.

“Have you named them?”

RSV Infection

“Lion-O don’t come any closer.” Willa’s voice called from several feet away.

The young Lion looked around his surroundings unable to see where she was coming from. “Willa? Are you in trouble? You said it was an emergency.”

“I was hoping you would send Tygra. He seems to know more about healing techniques than the rest of you.” A coughing spell was heard echoing off the trees followed by a wheezing voice. “The Maidens have been ravaged by some sort of illness. It’s spreading rapidly.”

“A cold? The flu?”

“This is different, Lion-O. It’s killed several of our little ones.”

He takes another step closer wanting to find her and help. “Willa, maybe the Thunder Cats can help.”

“How, Lion-O? If you come close you will catch it as well. It’s very contagious. Please, step back. Stay out of the jungle until we maidens figure this out.” Her coughing turns harsh as she stumbles falling out of one of the trees. She curls up on her side coughing hoarsely her body shuddering, it sounded painful.

“Willa?! By Jaga.. let me he-“

“BACK OFF.” She shouts scooting back. “If you get this then your littles will get it as well.”

“L-Littles?”

“Our little ones are dying Lion-O. They are too young and aren’t able to protect themselves. We don’t need to add your littles to it.”

“…oh. Children.” His eyes widen as he realizes and backs up. The only ‘littles’ they had were the twins. “Kit and Kat you mean?.”

She nods getting to her feet unsteadily. “It starts with coughing. Coughing that leads to wheezing. Its not a dry cough. It will start to wake the person up at night as their lungs fill up with a sticky substance. The cough will steal their energy.. they won’t have enough to stay awake and cough it up. They will drown in the substance and die.”

He steps back some more at hearing that. “I-Is there anything we can do?”

“Medicine. Do you have any medicine from your planet that could help? Does Tygra know of anything?”

“I’ll ask him and see what he says, Willa.” Lion-O attempted to explain nervously. He didn’t want to volunteer Tygra without asking him first, especially since he wasn’t an actual doctor. While everyone trusted Tygra with their lives, he wasn’t an actual medical doctor. If the ailment wasn’t “normal” or something that could be researched, he generally would have no idea what to do. “If nothing else maybe we some general medicine from Thundera that could make the symptoms not as painful to work through.”

Lion-O had seen this firsthand when the kittens caught pneumonia six months back. He had originally thought the tiger knew everything.. but once the twins crossed into the severe side, he was helpless and had to beg for help outside of the lair.

The Warrior Maidens had been the ones to step up and help.

Willa lets out a sigh of relief as she wraps her scarf tighter around her neck over her nose and mouth. “That would be very helpful, Lion-O. Don’t have him come into the jungle. He has two littles. I will leave notes outside of the jungle that he can read. Our normal drop off point.”

Lion-O nods, “I’ll let him know. Go get some rest.”

*~*

“So that’s what she told me.” Lion-O says as he explains it to Panthro. “Once Tygra and Cheetara get back, I’ll explain it to them as well.”

“That explains why you came in soaked and wet out of the shower earlier.” Panthro laughs as he turns around in his chair.

“I know. I just didn’t want to take the chance of it somehow getting on me.”

“Sadly, there isn’t much we can do in ways of “healing” something like this.” The panther sighs crossing his arms as he leans back into the control room chair.

“I know…” The other nods nervously rocking back on his heels. “It’s part of the reason I didn’t promise anything to her.”

“It’s more prevention, isolation, quarantining and attempting to find a medication that may help. Tygra will tell you the same thing.”

“Is there anything we can do? She sounded scared, Panthro… Willa is different than any woman I’ve ever known. She doesn’t show fear very often and she was terrified.”

“Medicine is science not magic, Lion-O but as always we’ll do our best.” The panther shakes his head looking over at the screen as the cameras flick back and forth from various locations in the lair. It stops on the sitting room showing the kittens playing a board game on the floor with Snarf hovering over them.

“What scares me more is that we have two “littles” ourselves. We can’t risk getting them sick.” Lion-O states then sighs nervously. “…even if that means sacrificing some of Willa’s children for our own.”

“It’s not easy being Lord of The Thunder Cats or reigning over any group of people, Lion-O. You’re forced to make hard decisions that will impact some and potentially harm others. Willa is having to make her own hard decisions right now.”

“When is Tygra getting back?”

“He and Cheetara should be returning within the next hour.” Panthro looks up at the young lord worried. He was impressed with how Lion-O was taking all of this, but he could already tell it was taking a toll on him. “Just go relax a bit. I know it’s hard but it’s all you can do.”

“Is there nothing I can do?”

“Why don’t you write up what you know about this illness out on paper and have it ready to present to Tygra when he returns.”

“Oh! That’s a good idea, I’ll go do that.” Lion-o starts to head out.

“Lion-O.”

“Yes?”

“You need to be careful. Your life matters above everyone else in the lair. You’re the Lord of the Thunder Cats. We will sacrifice ourselves for you. You will no longer be the one that goes back and forth to relay information.”

The young lord turns. A brief look of shock crosses his features before he heaves a sigh. “I-I know…trust me. I know and I hate it.”

Panthro watches him leave the control room before turning back around in his chair to finish out his shift.

*~*

“You can extend the drawbridge, Panthro. We’re coming up over the hill now.”

Panthro leans forward pressing a button before pulling a lever. The draw bridge outside starts to extend over the moat. “Before you two cross over, stop on the side. We’ll meet you outside.”

He gets up looking to Lion-O, “I don’t agree with this but we do need your help.”

“I intend to help as much as I can, and I think most of this will come with some proactive precuations.” The lion explains as he hands Panthro the piece of cloth that he had added some ear hooks to.

“A mask?”

“Tygra isn’t the only one who can research things. I went through the books we brought from Thundera.. colds and other airborne diseases are spread through water vapors when we talk and breathe… so maybe keeping something over our nose and mouth will help.”

“And the tank?”

“We don’t know where they’ve been and if they’ve been in the jungle we need to wash it down.” Lion-O sighs a bit embarrassed. “A-A bit heavy handed but I want to start off strong and see if we can prevent it from getting in the lair.”

“No. I’m impressed and proud Lion-O. It is a bit heavy handed but let’s see what happens.” Panthro smiles and claps Lion-O’s shoulder before putting his own on. “Let’s go.”

*~*

“Tygra, Lion-O and Panthro are coming over the bridge to meet us….they are wearing coverings over their faces?” Cheetara turns back to her mate worried.

“What in Thundera is going on?” Tygra calls as he starts to get near the others. He stops in mid step when the other two stop where they were several hundred feet away. He holds his arm out for Cheetara to stop as well.

“Remove your uniforms and step away from the tank.”

“Lion-O, what is going on?” Tygra asked again letting out a scared growl.

“Tygra, they brought out the hose.” She whispers her voice shaking. “What do they want with that?”

His eyes widened realizing what the other two were attempting to pull off. “Q-Quarantine. It’s some sort of Quarantine. From what I don’t know. Best to follow along until we do.”

They both started to remove their uniforms throwing them in a pile away from themselves. The only things they had left were their symbols in their hands.

“Forgive me, I know its sudden. Just trust us.” Panthro called out. “The water is going to be cold, I’m afraid I don’t have any heat hooked up to it.”

Lion-O watched horrified as his two friends were washed down in the cold water. He swallowed nervously hoping he was doing this correctly. He turns his head and sees the kittens had come outside. “Take care of these two.”

Panthro turns his head looking to the side, he stops spraying when he thinks they are done. “Did you two bring anything back from out there?”

“A few samples.”

“Toss them. Then we’ll wash the tank down.”

Cheetara wraps her arms around herself shivering as Tygra goes to throw what was in the tank out. She watches as he drops it off the side into the moat.

They were so preoccupied they didn’t notice the kittens.

*~*

“You two need to go back inside.” Lion-O calls as he jogs over to them. He reaches up removing the mask over his face smiling as best he can.

“B-But we want to see Tygra and Cheetara.” Wily Kat starts tilting his head. “Why did you stop them from coming in.”

Wily Kit watches wide eyed as the other two are washed down and forced to take their clothes off. “L-Lion-O what’s going on?”

“Please, go back inside.” Lion-O begs. “I know it looks scary, but it’ll be alright. Once we know everyone is safe you can see them.”

“S-Safe?”

“But Lion-O, if they aren’t safe then we can help and-“

“Snarf, take the kittens inside and to the sword chamber. If they try and escape, lock the door.” The Lion suddenly instructs as the red and yellow creature approaches him. He tried to keep his voice from shaking as he did. “Please.”

Snarf purred nervously before turning towards the kittens, “Come on, we’ll go settle in there for a little while. I’m sure everything will be just fine.” Though he could tell from the lion’s actions, something was wrong.

“But Snarf..”

“I’ll get some candy fruit for us to snack on.”

Lion-O sighs turning back to the others. He watches as Panthro finishes spraying down the tank before walking towards them. “Is the tank washed down completely?”

“Yes, they are as well.”

“Ok. I guess it’s safe now. Safer than it was, I hope.” Lion-O offers hopefully.

Together he and Panthro remove their face coverings before approaching the other two. Lion-O hands both Tygra and Cheetara towels. “I’m sorry for that.”

“Lion-O, what in Jaga’s name is going on?” Tygra asks as he takes the offered towel. He turns and helps Cheetara wrap hers around her shoulders before using his own to dry himself off. “Now is not the time of the year to be taking a hose bath.”

“There is a disease that’s spreading throughout the tree top kingdom. Willa told me today. I was trying to prevent it from getting close to the lair until we had a plan of attack.”

“Come inside and Lion-O will explain.”

*~*

“Well that certainly explains the cold shower.” Tygra jokes as he sits down in one of the council room chairs. He takes the notes from Lion-O skimming through them quickly as two of the other three join him at the table. “While a bit shrewd, it was the right direction to go.”

“T-Thanks.. I just … I want to keep it out of the lair for as long as possible.”

“There is good reason for that. From what you’ve written down, its mainly affecting children. It can transmit to adults but it’s not as deadly when it does.”

“We sent the kids down to the sword chamber.”

“I-I didn’t know where else to send them that they couldn’t escape easily.” Lion-O quickly tried to explain. “They wanted to come see you both and that wasn’t a great idea at the time.”

“Do they know about all of this?”

Wristbands

“You wanted to talk to us, Panthro?” Tygra asked as he and Cheetara appeared in the doorway to the workshop. Wily Kat was beside them looking in curiously. “We brought Wily Kat like you asked.”

The panther turned around in his chair smiling up at them, “Perfect, come over here. I’ve been working on something for awhile, I didn’t want to tell you incase it didn’t work out. Didn’t want to get your hopes up…but.” He reaches forward pulling out a small box and hands it to Wily Kat.

The kitten takes the box pulling the top off, “….wrist bands? I already have some?”

“Look a little closer. These are different.”

Kat looks up at Tygra handing the box to him. He watches as the tiger pulls out one of them, unclasping it to look on the inside. The kitten stands on his tip toes to try and see once he witnesses his adopted father’s eyes grow wide.

“….is this what I think it is? I didn’t know we had the technology on Thundera, muchless here on Third Earth. I know the concept was there.” The tiger turns the wristlet around peering at the small technology that had been worked into it.

“This is only the prototype mind, but the non human tests have gone pretty well. I’d like to try it on him if that’s alright?”

“Woah, are you two going to enlighten the rest of us? I don’t want the kittens to be Guinea pigs, you know how I feel about that Tygra.” Cheetara exclaims worried as she holds Wily Kat’s hand tightly.

“Aw but what if I want to be tested on?” The kitten whined groaning.

“Easy, Cheetara. This is something for Kat’s seizures if I’m not mistaken.” Tygra started to explain looking to Panthro who nods. He hands her the wristband so she can see. “What does it measure?”

“Right now only heart rate. Wily Kat has stated several times that he can’t hear anyone over the sound of his beating heart before one hits. This will alert us if something is happening, ideally before Kat even knows.”

The kitten’s eyes widened, “C-Can it really do that?”

“It won’t stop the seizure but at the very least we can be prepared for it. The monitor will read and record his heart rate, if it speeds up past a certain point a loud beeping sound will come from the wristband letting us know there could be a seizure coming. It’s not perfect by any means and will probably have some bugs to work around.. but if you’re okay with, I’d like to test it out.”

“We’re not putting Wily Kat through a seizure on purpose just to test it out.” She states, her eyes angry.

“I never said that. My thought was that he wears it around the next few days or until one hits. Obviously don’t make one happen just to test it. I’d rather him not need it.” Panthro offers trying to calm the cheetah down.

“I don’t see why not. What do you think Cheetara?” Tygra turns to look at his mate. “We’re not forcing Wily Kat to do anything he doesn’t want to do.”

She sighs, “…Kat, do you want to try this out?”

The kitten looks up at her nodding happily. “Please!? If it works, it’ll be awesome to have!”

Cheetara takes the box from Tygra and kneels in front of the kitten helping him take off the wrist bands he already had on. “Does it matter which one goes where?”

“No. The future prototypes will but this one doesn’t matter.”

She carefully clasps the new ones on each wrist. “Are they ok? Not too heavy?” She feels around the small wrists making sure nothing sharp was poking out or something rough that could harm him.

“No they feel great.”

“Wily Kat, don’t change your habits. Continue to do your best to take care of yourself and prevent a seizure from happening.”

The kitten nods towards the Panther, “Sure! I was just about to go get a snack. Thanks Panthro, these are really neat.”

Cheetara stands patting his head, “Go on, find Kit. We put a bowl of fruit in the refridgerator this morning.”

The three of them turn watching him run out. Tygra sighs crossing his arms, “Is there a way to collect the data from the wristlet? It would help us figure out exactly what causes the seizures, possibly even the night terrors.”

“I already thought about that. It’s fed into the left computer hub up in the control room for right now.”

“You said it would beep if his heart rate goes up but when he’s out flying around on the space boards a-and if the mutants or Mumm-ra attacks… won’t the wristlet get confused?” Cheetara asks worried.

“That’s why we need to test it out.”

The tiger looks up in thought, “Theroetically the two will probably be different. If we can record both heart rates we could compare them side by side. My guess is the seizure’s heart rate is at least two times faster than what it would be while he’s fighting, but that’s a good point, Cheetara.”

“You said it was the first prototype? What is in the second one?”

“Ideally the wristlets would be able to measure his heart rate and blood sugar levels. I’m not a doctor, so I’m not sure how one would go about doing that.”

“That would have to be a blood test of some sort,” Tygra answers him.

“You can’t prick him however many times in a row just to get a blood sugar reading.”

“Tygra. Cheetara. W-We need you downstairs-” Lion-O appeared in the doorway to the control room out of breath. “P-Panthro is down there with them b-but… Kat.. he just… he’s shaking?”

Cheetara pushes past Lion-O running down the stairs not waiting for the other two. The doctor said he would grow out of them by the time he was 8. He was almost 8 and a half and it sounded like it came back.

She was ready for it. A panic attack was what the doctor called them. It didn’t happen very often only when something stressful happened… so hadn’t seen them all day so she couldn’t judge the stress levels very well.

But it was nothing to worry about. They just hadn’t informed Lion-O of them and with everything happening… so far he had only been having them at night.

“Wily Kit? Wily Kat?” She calls as she rounds the corner to the hanger where the Thunder Tank was, she stumbles to a stop her eyes wide.

Wily Kat was on the ground convulsing. Panthro was forcing him to stay on his side.

Wily Kit got to her feet and ran over hugging her adopted mother crying in her side, “Cheetara, what’s wrong with him? H-He just went quiet… a-and then…then he said he didn’t feel good.. and….now he won’t stop.”

“By Thundera.. it’s a seizure.” Tygra pushed past them and hurried over kneeling beside Panthro trying to figure out how to help.

“Keep his head steady and on something soft.” Panthro explained without lifting his gaze. He had two hands gently keeping the male kitten from flaying too much and injuring himself.

He hears rustling before looking over slightly to see the Tiger had changed positions. He was now sitting properly on the ground holding the small head as still as possible.

“N-Now what..”

“We wait.”

Tygra glanced up at his mate unable to reassure her this time. He was just as terrified as they were. He looks to Kit who is clinging to Cheetara crying, poor thing couldn’t tear her eyes away even though she needed too. “Lion-O, get Kit away from here.” He says unable to hide the shaking in his voice. “She doesn’t need to see this.”

Wily Kit grips Cheetara’s side tighter as she turns to watch the Lion approach her. “B-But Wily Kat.. I can’t just leave him!”

“Shh, its alright, Kitten. If you’ll go with Lion-O, I can help Kat. Ok?” Cheetara knelt down in front of the female kitten holding her face still so she could look into her eyes. “Listen, Kat needs you to be brave, can you do that?”

The female kitten nods before she starts to cry again. The cheetah sighs placing a kiss on her forehead. “Good girl, go on..”

Reluctantly, Wily Kit looked over taking Lion-O’s hand as he walked her away.

Cheetara walks over and bends over between the other two. She took a shakey deep breath, “I-Is it slowing down?”

“He’s not convulsing as badly.” Panthro states not wanting to their hopes up. “B-But this is the second time it’s calmed down.” He sighs glancing to Tygra. “You didn’t tell me the panic attacks had progressed to this?”

“They haven’t. This is the first time this has ever happened.” Tygra looks up to Cheetara for confirmation. She nods not taking her eyes off her child clenched up convulsing.

“T-Tygra, it’s stopping…” She drops to her knees between the two of them, her hands shaking as they hovered above the kitten.

“Don’t touch him. Not yet. Let him come out of it.” The panther instructed her. “Talk to him but don’t touch him yet.”

“You know a lot about this?”

“…one of my sparring masters had these “seizures”. I never knew what the cause of them were but I had to help him through several in the years I worked with him.” Panthro’s eyes darkened as he sighs sadly. “I never thought I’d have to see a kitten go through them, muchless Wily Kat.”

To his surprise the convulsing died down to nothing. He lifted his hands off the kitten’s side hovering over the small body watching worried.

Cheetara forces a smile on her features as she sees his eyes open. She leans over, “Wily Kat? Can you hear me, kitten?” She asks softly, her voice shaking a bit as she tries to act normal. She knew he had to be so scared. She could see it in his eyes.

She reaches forward and gently strokes his face. “It’s ok, you don’t have to move right away. You had a seizure but you’re alright now.”