"Okay...tell me again why we're goint this way," asked Casca sourly, picking his way through the rocky terrain. As a felinoid, he had the balance and dexterity to manoeuvre in the treacherous territory, but his
boots were thinner than he'd imagined they'd be and the rolling, jabbing
stones were becoming a pain in the paws.

"We're going this way because the map indicated that there was a bridge for
the Jazzman and I to cross," replied Ian, quickly calling up the floating
window to make sure they were headed in the right direction. He was having
little trouble, his army gear more than enough to protect him from the environment. "We're looking to get to Cat's Lair and it seemed the easiest
way to ford the river."

"Great. Now why am *I* going this way?"

"Because you want to get to Castle Plun-darr...which is also in this direction...more or less."

"If it's more or less...why didn't I take the more and go through the woods?"

"Because misery loves to bitch about it to someone else," grinned Jazzman,
simply stomping over the rocks. He congratulated himself on having the foresight to dress for the occasion. "Besides...if you'd gone another way,
Auroara might have gone with you."

"Good point," mused the jaguar. He was glad to lose the Thunderian. No offense to Auroara's player, but her powers were annoying. He vowed to raise his own power levels to a point where they would be useless against
him...or at least to a point where he could make kitty-pot-pie long before
he ended up carrying another set of matching luggage.

The scenery was nice, but not particularly familiar. Although Ian claimed
they were near enough to Castle Plun-darr, the fortress was not visible. It
was supposedly hidden by the ridge of stone on the South-Eastern horizon,
but the lack of man-made (or at least Mutant-made) landmarks was disconcerting.

"What area of Third Earth are we in again?" asked Casca. He didnt' bother
to look at the map...Ian checked it often enough as it was.

"I'm not entirely sure," admitted the soldier, "but we're supposedly heading for the Bridge of Slime. We're also on an incline so by the time we
arrive you should be able to bypass that ridge and follow its base to Plun-darr. If you're still interested in hanging out with Mutants."

"Oh, I will be," grinned the cat. "I plan to get all my stupid moves in early. I figure my experience will skyrocket if I can survived some of the
dumb-ass things Mutants get themselves into. Besides, getting drunk and trashing small villages will get me known as a villain so that I can have a
better shot at having the Lunataks take me seriously."

"That shouldn't make sense...but it does," laughed GB Jazzman. "At least by
cartoon standards."

"Assuming our hostess chose to design this place by cartoon standards," Ian
reminded them. "We might be in for some nasty surprises..."

"He's right," agreed Jazzman. "We might not even be able to breathe in space!"

"I don't plan on trying one way or the other," Casca informed him, raising
his hands as though fending off the very thought of it.

"Me neither...in deep space, no one can hear you strum."

"No one can hear bad slogan parodies either."

"I know what you did last Labour Day..."

"HA! That one was a title!"

"You're both fucked," Ian informed his travelling companions.

"Maybe, but I have to try harder," replied GB Jazzman, deadpan.

"Hey!" protested Casca.

"Jazzman, don't tease the kitty."

"Don't *you* start," snorted Casca. "I'm a jaguar...if I must remind you...and I can kick your ass. I've got hand to hand combat abilities as
well as weapon skills, you know."

The group argued for a while, accusing each others' mothers of unspeakable
acts and eventually getting around to comparing the exact size of their weapons - or intrument in the Jazzman's case - before Ian brought everything to a screeching halt by exclaiming: "Yes! I told you we were headed in the right direction!"

Ahead of them lay the spindly, slippery bridge that was their only means of
crossing the river. Casca wrinkled his nose with distaste. "I'm glad I'm
not the one crossing that thing. Not even my work-out clothes are that ugly."

Ian shook the anthro's hand and grinned. "Best of luck to ya...next time we
won't be on the same side."

"Same to you," replied Casca. "Jazzman...good luck finding Mad Bassist. You
guys'll rock together."

"Thanks man...take care."

Ian and GB Jazzman veered off toward the spindling arc of stone as Casca
moved toward the South-East along the base of the rocky cliff.

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

Thundermanx picked his way through the woods. He hoped he was headed in the
right direction. He knew that the Cat's Lair was West of the campsite he'd
shared with Altaica, Axecat, snarf, and Don Karnage, but he wasn't positive
of the exact location. The map didn't show the structures of Third Earth.

The Thunderian's excellent hearing picked up a high-pitched whine and an
arrow suddenly buzzed by his ear, ruffling his hair as it passed, and burying itself into a nearby tree with a solid *thunk*. Reacting purely by
instinct, Thundermanx drew his weapon and powered it up with a thought.

"Halt, stranger," called a voice from the trees, "or the next arrow will
pierce your throat!" Thundermanx looked up to see an athletically slim woman crowched in the broad crook of her tree. Whisps of dusty blonde hair
framed her face in deceptively soft corkscrew curls. "Believe me," she continued, "when I say that there are more like me."

Thundermanx raised his hands, not so much in surrender, but to show that
they were empty except for the energy pike which he held upright in a non-offensive position. "I don't mean any harm," he grinned. "I was only
ready to defend myself. I'm looking for the Thundercats."

"And why would I divulge the location of our allies to a potential enemy?"

"Er..." Thundermanx trailed off, looking down at himself. "I'm a Thunderian
too and I understand there are more of them around. I'd like to meet them.
It's...lonely...wandering around Third Earth by yourself." He smiled sincerely and hoped that his excuese would be accepted.

"You *do* look Thunderian...but not at all like one known to me," sniffed
the woman. "And it is not my place to decide whether or not to help you,
man-creature. *Ketani, anakwa!*"

Thundermanx felt his energy pike yanked out of his hand. Protesting, he looked up to see another woman hauling it upward on a rope. Three more women appeared from nowhere and lassoed him neatly before he could say another word. With his arms bound, but his legs free to move, Thundermanx
could still run away and surely break free at a later time, but he chose to
remain. He wasn't sure what the woman had in store for him, but they appeared to be Warrior Maidens, generally known to be good characters on
the series though distrustful of men. Attacking them or running away could
refelect negatively upon himself and make it harder to get into Cat's Lair...and he would not jeopardize his chances of getting to Jetkitten.

Besides...they had his energy pike.

The blonde woman jumped down from her branch and slinked over to face him.
"We will let our leader deal with you, man-creature, but to even see the
route to our village is an honour too great for you." Thundermanx sighed as
she wrapped a blindfold over his eyes, but did not struggle. "There may be
hope for you," he heard his captor say and he thought she might be grinning. "*Ketani, tanna!*"

The sound of marching feet and a jab in the back alerted Thundermanx to the
fact that it was time to march and he obediantly put one foot in front of
the other hoping he wouldn't trip *too* often. *Bast owes me big for this
one* he muttered inwardly as he was led deeper into the wood.

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

Bypassing the desert regions had been the easy part although Auroara had
been concerned about the lack of cover in case of enemy attack. Darrell made a joke about the dry landscape being just like home, though flatter
and with more water. Capresono made a comment about the heat, but wearing
more layers than the other characters - his secret armour included - it was
only natural that he feel the sun's power a little more. He wasn't overly
concerned about it though he did wonder about the availability of water.
His canteen was nearly empty as he drank from it more often...carrying Auroara's bags was thirst-inducing chore.

"Actually," said Darrell after Capresono's latest comment, "I'm surprised
we haven't run into more water. And the heat isn't right either. We're not
actually *in* the desert...this is almost savannah. Almost. But the air is
drier," he breathed deeply, "and thinner."

"What do you mean 'thinner'," asked Auroara suspiciously.

"Part of my martial art skill is knowing how to breathe...you don't get as
much oxygen when you inhale here," said Darrell. "I can actually feel the
difference. Have you ever been up high? Close your eyes and breathe in...it's the same thing."

She'd never really been that high off the ground...not on foot...but Auroara tried it anyway. It proved to be true. She felt as though she should keep breathing in although her lungs were full...and the heat of the
air burned her inside-out.

"So?" panted Capresono when she opened her eyes.

"It's true," she shrugged, not knowing what else to say.

"So we're headed uphill...can we rest?"

"Better take back your own bag, 'roara," said Darrell. "He's not going to
be able to breathe."

"Hmmph," sulked the Thunderian. Then she turned her glittering eyes on Darrell. "Maybe *you* would like to help me...I'm sooooo small and weak compared to you."

"I thought you agreed not to do that until you found Gato..."

Auroara sighed. "It's so *boring* just walking around. And I'm getting tired of it not working...this was supposed to be fool-proof!"

"I never said it didn't work," grinned Darrell lecherously, slapping the
Thunderian on the ass, "I just have other women on my mind."

"Well...okay," said Auroara, somewhat mollified, switching off the charm.
She took her bag from Capresono and swung it up onto her back. "It's not
like I can't carry my own bag. As a Thunderian I'm stronger than any mere
human. Wonder what's causing the weird heat?"

"Could be that fire on the horizon," panted Capresono, though not as heavily as before.

"What fire?" asked Auroara, wrinkling her nose.

"That one on the horizon..."

"I thought that was red foliage."

"I thought so too...it kinda wavers, but I thought that was a heat mirage.
But the closer we get the hotter it is..."

"There's just one problem with your fire theory," said Darrell.

"What's that?"

"It's not giving off any smoke..."

The three pondered this discovery for a moment. "Only one way to find out,"
said Auroara after a moment of silence. "Let's go over there and see for
ourselves!"

Determined to uncover the mystery, the trio threw themselves into a forced
march into the red haze on the horizon.

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

To be continued...