Path Into the Darkness
By Cheezey

Prologue

In the midst of the dead of night, howling wind and the driving rain slammed
against the walls of New Cat’s Lair. Flashes of lightning illuminated the skies
in an eerie glow and deafening crashes of thunder silenced all else on the
landscape. Inside the warm and dry cat-shaped edifice that stood out in seeming
protest of the weather, WilyKat sat upright in the control room’s primary chair
and stared at the clock for what had to be the millionth time that night. It
read 03:23.

Although the now grown former Thunderkitten was officially off of night watch
duty as of twenty minutes ago and Panthro had shown up to relieve him, he
remained behind. Had he been asked why, he likely would have given the logical
reason, which was that Panthro had gone to the basement to double check the
Lair’s storm protection systems and emergency power generators to ensure they
were functional, and wasn’t wise to leave the control room unmanned, even if the
Thundercats were living in a more peaceful time than they had known for over
five years now. Attacks from their former enemies the Mutants and the Lunatacs
were a thing of the past after the Battle of the Swords, and they lived in an
uneasy alliance and tolerance. Mumm-Ra and his undead bride Torlei were also
long gone and quiet, banished forever at the same battle that ended their strife
with the neighboring planet and it’s moons. Still, it was not wise to leave
one’s guard down, so WilyKat of course volunteered to stay on duty a short while
longer while Panthro did his best to ensure the Lair’s safety against the storm
outside.

At least this was what WilyKat told Panthro and to some extent, himself. The
real reason, however, was that WilyKat would have been unable to sleep anyway
because was too worried about his sister. The Thundercat paced the control room
floor, a gnawing sensation of fear and dread filling him. He glanced into the
monitor, which showed nothing but the raging storm and the vague outline of his
own reflection against the blackness of the image. He noticed that the few
natural lines that had already formed in his face at his current age of around
thirty standard years seemed even deeper and more pronounced in his worried
state, and he wondered idly if Panthro had noticed how tired he looked. The
source of WilyKat’s distress was a vague and unsettling feeling he had about his
twin sister, WilyKit. He had no real reason to be concerned—she had sent in no
calls of distress and she wasn’t even all that late arriving home from Third
Earth yet—but for some reason he couldn’t help but feel that something big and
something drastic that was about to happen to her.

It didn’t help that he knew that the ship his sister was traveling on was the
now twenty-year-old Feliner, and he wasn’t sure how well it would fare
navigating through an electrical storm. Although the ship had been modified a
number of times since it’s creation, it was still quite old and he had no real
confidence in how well it might hold up. Personally he didn’t feel comfortable
flying it in anything but perfect conditions, and making a landing in that storm
would be far from perfect. He supposed that must have been what was bothering
him, and cast another worried glance into the monitor.

He was shaken from his thoughts when the buzzer on the communications panel
sounded loudly, shattering the silence in the room. In an instant, WilyKat was
at the console and pressed the button to receive the transmission. “Cat’s Lair,
WilyKat speaking,” he answered in an official sounding voice.

“Kat! It’s WilyKit,” a familiar voice rang out through the static.

WilyKat noticed immediately that the connection was very poor, and her words
were difficult to make out due to all the electrical interference from the
storm. “Kit!” he answered with some relief, “I was getting worried! Where are
you? The transmission’s not very clear, there’s a hell of a storm going on...”

The speaker hissed back at him with a particularly loud patch of static that
made him momentarily think the connection had been lost. He did his best to try
and tune in the signal, and finally he found a setting that enabled him to hear
her better, at least for the moment. “Kat? I can barely hear you... Listen,
I’m on the fueling outpost satellite on the far orbit of the Third Moon of
Plundarr… I wanted to stop and check in with you while I grabbed something to
eat... I should be landing in a couple of hours...”

There were several more thunderclaps outside and he was forced to alter his
setting when a screeching hiss of feedback came back at him instead of her
voice. He did some more fine tuning and tried to get through to her clearly.
“Listen Kit, be careful,” he warned her, hoping she would be able to hear him.
“This storm is pretty severe. You might want to wait a while before trying to
head here through it. I wouldn’t trust the Feliner against all these surges and
electrical discharges. It’s gauges are old and who knows what might happen if
you hit an electrical field... Maybe you should hang out for an hour or two
before heading back,” WilyKat suggested. He hoped to himself that if he
convinced her to play it safe that the nervous gut feeling he had about her
would ease up and he could finally get some rest.

There was another loud crackle and a near disconnection as he strained to hear 
her answer. He heard her speaking some words he couldn’t quite discern through 
the connection and then heard her say, “Going to stay for a while... They say 
the storm is bad... See you by tomorrow... love you, Kat.” The connection then 
broke entirely, and all WilyKat could hear was the soft hiss of static coming 
from the speaker. 

“I love you too, Sis,” he finished softly, even though he knew she couldn’t hear.
him. WilyKat stared for several long moments at the console as he gathered his
thoughts. WilyKit had called. She was safe. He should feel better. So why
didn’t he? The uneasiness in his stomach didn’t relent as it should have, and
it instead grew worse. He stood there for several minutes, until Panthro
returned to the control room. WilyKat then retired to bed, tossing and turning
uneasily. As it turned out, he didn’t sleep a wink the rest of the night.

WilyKit never came home.

* * * 

“You are such a jerk!” an irate Pumari, eleven year old daughter of Bengali and
Pumyra, howled at her younger playmate, Chet, the seven year old son of Lord
Lion-O and his now mate and wife Cheetara. Pumari swiped the water pistol Chet
had just taken from her back from his hand and shot him with it several times in
rapid succession. The lion-cheetah child simply giggled, ducked, and darted out
of the dining area into the kitchen. Pumari followed in hot pursuit, determined
to avenge her now soaked back. Stupid cub, she thought sulkily. I’ll teach him
to shoot me with a water gun. The girl was quite fast and agile and should have
been able to catch up to a boy several years her junior with little trouble, but
that cub was also the son of the fastest being on Thundera, so Pumari had a slim
chance of actually catching him despite giving him a good chase. The water
fight was brought to a grinding halt, however, when Chet rounded a corner and
barreled right into poor old Snarf, toppling them both over 

Not surprisingly, Snarf was less than pleased. “Snarf, snarf, how many times
have I told you no running inside?”

“Sorry Snarf,” Chet mumbled apologetically. Pumari lowered her head too. Like
Chet, she hated being yelled at by Snarf.

“Rowr, I’m getting too old for this...” Snarf muttered, shaking his head, and
turned to face the children. “You two have to take it easy, you know,” he
explained in a calmer tone. “If you insist on running around and shooting each
other with those silly water guns, take it outside and don’t make a mess out of
the Lair. Am I understood?”

“Yeah Snarf,” Pumari agreed. “But it was his fault. He shot me first.”

A look of indignation crossed Chet’s young features. “Well you chased me!”

“You started it, you dumb cub!”

“I’m not a dumb cub!”

“Stop it, now!” an angry Snarf hollered, his patience wearing thin.

“Easy there, Snarf,” Panthro interjected as he entered the room. With him were
Cheetara, WilyKat, Lynx-O, and Snoelle. They had heard the commotion and were
wondering what it was all about. “Kids will be kids, you know.”

“Yes, don’t I know it,” Snarf snapped back in annoyance.

Lion-O entered the room from one of the other archways. “Oh good, I’m glad to
see you all here. I just wanted to let you know that I received word from
Bengali and Snarfer on Third Earth. They arrived safely for their turn of Third
Earth Duty.” 

“That’s great,” WilyKat replied quietly. Although it was not his intention,
Lion-O’s announcement had just served to remind WilyKat again of the time that
had passed since WilyKit’s disappearance. WilyKat hated to even think of the
possibility, but enough time had passed that he was starting to fear that he
would never see her again. As a result, the male Thunder-twin had never been
lonelier in his life.

Cheetara noticed the shift in his mood and offered him a sympathetic look.
WilyKat smiled back at her when he noticed to let her know he appreciated her
thoughts, but there was no real feeling behind it for it did little to ease his
pain. It seemed to him that all he ever felt anymore was emptiness. Even his
girlfriend, a lion named Leonora that lived nearby in New Thundera City,
couldn’t really help him fill the void although she was probably the closest
emotional companion he’d had as of late. He knew that the other Thundercats
also felt WilyKit’s loss deeply, but he and his twin shared a special bond, a
closeness that most others didn’t understand. He simply didn’t feel that
anything could or would be resolved until his sister either came home or was
found, something that might give him closure.

After WilyKit hadn’t shown up at any of their outposts on either New Thundera or
Third Earth after a reasonable amount of time, the worried Thundercats had split
up and did everything in their power to try and track her down. They had gone
to the satellite outpost on the Third Moon of Plundarr and attempted to find
her, but every lead they found came up cold. All they did manage to find was
the abandoned Feliner and a couple of individuals, Lunatacs from the Third Moon
who didn’t care much for Thundercats anyway—peace may have existed between the
leaders of the respective peoples, but naturally some animosity and distrust
remained in the natives on both sides—who had seen her the night of her
disappearance. At one point, WilyKat grew desperate enough to put a call
through to the Lunatac leaders of the Third Moon and asked them if they could
put some sort of word out on the missing WilyKit. Queen Selene had been willing
to comply with the request, but as it turned out, her people were unable to find
anything out either.

Now twelve long weeks had passed, and nobody had heard nor seen a thing from
WilyKit. Days before, Lion-O had to make the hard decision to announce that if
WilyKit didn’t appear within the next term of Third Earth duty, six weeks time,
he would have no choice but to declare her presumed dead and train someone to
fill her position.

WilyKat had taken the news the hardest of all. He refused to believe that the
twin sister he had known and loved all his life could really be gone forever,
and he simply could not accept that she might be dead. He was not psychic, but
regardless he still knew that if his sister had died, he would know, and he
would feel it. Cheetara had not sensed her death either, but her sixth sense,
as well as the Sight Beyond Sight granted to Lion-O by the Sword of Omens, came
up blank each time the question of WilyKit’s whereabouts was posed. The
ambiguous answers did little to confirm the fact that she was indeed alive, and
wanted to be found.

Then, after three long months of trying so hard and finding nothing, it seemed
quite miraculous when Cat’s Lair received the call that brought them all hope.
The receiver of the news, Pumyra, rounded the corner beaming with a smile she
could not have contained even if she had wanted to. “Snarf Egbert just called,”
she announced as she approached the group gathered in the hall. “WilyKit’s
alive! They found her in the Valley of the Snarfs this afternoon!”

WilyKat steadied himself as he heard the words he had been waiting to hear ever
since the night he last spoke with his missing sister. “She’s... she’s back?”
he asked, stunned and hoping he had not misheard the puma. “She’s all right?”

Pumyra nodded and grinned. “Yes, it’s true! Egbert’s bringing her here now.
She should be home within half an hour!”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Snoelle exclaimed.

“All right!” Panthro cheered. “Now that’s great news!”

Tygra smiled broadly. “Yes, Pumyra, that is indeed wonderful news. We’ve all
missed her so much.”

“Kit’s comin’ home,” Chet clapped excitedly.

“YAY!” Pumari echoed.

Lion-O felt a wave of relief wash over him. “Oh, thank Jaga! We had feared the
worst…”

As the others expressed their joy in hearing the news of WilyKit’s safe return,
Cheetara suddenly felt a the familiar and unsettling tingle of her sixth sense.
She couldn’t place what it was, but it made her nervous nonetheless. Although
she was equally happy as the others with the announcement that WilyKit was safe
and coming home, for some reason the cheetah had an ominous feeling that
whatever was happening with WilyKit was far from over

* * * 

Snarfs Egbert, Oswald, and a female Snarf named Gertrude led the exhausted 
WilyKit into a resting room in the Lair where all of the Thundercats present on
New Thundera were gathered. Immediately WilyKat sat on the edge of the bed next
to his sister and took her hand. He was relieved to see that she looked all
right and that she was free of injuries, but something about the dazed look in
her eyes unsettled him. He was reminded of the feeling he had that night when
she disappeared. “Kit,” he said softly, “I’ve missed you so much. Where have
you been? What happened to you? Where did you go? Why have you been away?”

“Shh, don’t overwhelm her,” Pumyra warned him gently. “We don’t know what she’s
been through. Give her time to talk."

WilyKit met her brother’s gaze with an expression of sadness in her eyes. “It’s
all right, Pumyra,” she said quietly. “The truth is, Kat, I—I don’t know where
I’ve been."

“You don’t know?” WilyKat replied puzzled.

“You mean you don’t remember?” a concerned Lion-O questioned.

WilyKit shook her head. “The last thing I remember is talking to you at the
outpost, Kat, and telling you I’d wait out that storm. I remember a stranger, a
man, a Lunatac I think... approached me after I disconnected with you."

“Did he hurt you?” WilyKat questioned with a frown.

“No,” WilyKit answered, clearly straining to recall the details. “At least I’m
pretty sure he didn’t. He seemed very friendly, very charming actually. I
remember talking with him for a while but I don’t remember what we talked about
at all.” She paused for a moment, deep in thought, before letting out a soft
sigh. “It’s like the details just aren’t there. I don’t even remember his
name, although I’m sure he must have told me.”

“What sort of Lunatac was he?” Cheetara inquired. “Do you remember anything
about him? Any defining traits?”

WilyKit shook her head no. “He had green hair, but aside from that, I don’t
remember anything about him. I’m not even sure I could recognize him if I saw
him again,” she sighed. “But talking with him, whoever he was, is the last
memory I have before today, when Snarf Oswald found me in the fields near the
Valley of the Snarfs. I don’t even know how I got there or where I was before
that.

“What Lunatacs have green hair?” Panthro wondered aloud. “Is that a specific to
any of their races?”

Tygra frowned. “I’ve heard of one type from the Third Moon that it’s common in…
but that doesn’t mean this man wasn’t a hybrid or simply had dyed hair. It
could have been any Lunatac, really.” An old memory surfaced in the tiger’s
mind for a moment, a flash from long ago in his days as a Thundercat trainee,
but he quickly dismissed it as irrelevant to the situation at present

“You don’t remember anything else at all?” Lion-O asked.

WilyKit sat up in the bed, leaning on one of the pillows as she faced her fellow
Thundercats. “All of it is just a blur to me. I can’t remember anything
specific at all,” she told them, her voice growing shaky as she fought back the
urge to cry out of frustration.

Pumyra offered her a reassuring look. “You must be very tired, WilyKit. Why
don’t you get some rest? Maybe things will come back to you once you’ve had a
chance to recharge and reacquaint yourself with the familiar surroundings of the
Lair.”

“That is a good idea,” Snoelle agreed. “You need your rest.”

“You’re probably right,” WilyKit mumbled, and settled back in against the
pillows. 

WilyKat gave his sister another hug. “Whatever happened, Sis, we love you and
we’re glad you’re home. We all missed you, and we’re glad to have you back.” 

“I know, and I’m glad too,” WilyKit replied, returning his hug with equal
feeling. “Believe me, I’m glad to be home.” Where it’s safe, her thoughts
echoed, although she thought it odd, and for some reason, better to leave
unsaid. “I missed all of you, that much I can be sure of.” 

The Thundercats offered her their hugs, greetings, and welcoming wishes one by
one, her brother departing last, before leaving her to rest quietly. 

Lingering in the hallway, Cheetara cast one last glance at WilyKit on the bed as
WilyKat departed the room. The tingle of her sixth sense made itself known to
her again, leaving her with the impression of unease and apprehension. It
offered her no real details, only a feeling, but it was one she had come to
recognize over the years as being one that was never wrong. Somehow Cheetara
then knew for certain that WilyKit’s disappearance had been the least of their
problems, and that the real trouble was just beginning.

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