Hello everyone, welcome!

Edit: I edited all throughout the chapter, most noticably Leopara's conversations with Jaga and a bit with Claudus. Also, woops! I messed up my timeline a little, all of episode one is on the same day!

Mornings were Leopara's favorite time, when the early sun shed gentle light through the high windows of the library to softly illuminate the texts. And in the library she liked to be, if not to read and study, then to enjoy the quiet in relative peace.

But not this morning.

Today was Prince Lion-O's bonding ceremony with the Sword of Omens, a test to see if it would accept him as its next bearer. As Jaga's apprentice, the sorceress who would someday advise Lion-O, as much as she could, she was to be present. It was a decision agreed upon by Jaga and even the King himself.

She and Jaga walked through the shelves in quiet, undisturbed by the clerics and scholars getting an early start to their days. How she would have enjoyed finding all the scrolls of arcanum she could get her paws on and spend the entire day nestled in their presence instead… this entire day had her fur standing on end painfully, an electric, unsettled jitter.

"-ara?"

The sound of Jaga's calm voice broke Leopara's reverie. With a shake of her head, she turned her gaze away from the shelves of tomes and scrolls. "I'm sorry, Jaga. I got distracted."

He stared at her for another moment, his gaze calm. Blinking, he turned his attention back towards the path they walked to their antechamber. "It is alright, child." he said sagely. "You have had a lot on your mind, recently."

Leopara reached up, brushing her fingertips against the fur of her cheek. "Yeah… I suppose so. I woke up with this… feeling."

Turning to nod to her, Jaga opened the door to the turret and led her inside.

Sheer curtains of a light, faded blue gently waved in the breeze dancing in through the window. There were a couple of sitting chairs- what else would chairs be for, if not sitting?- and a small round table on a regal, circular rug, fluer patterns decorating it. A couple of shelves carved to fit snugly into the curve of the round walls decorated the side opposite the chairs, and in between was simply empty space. It was a place they came often to study the principles of magic in quiet, undisturbed contemplation and without danger of distractions interrupting, and restricting any harm wild currents of magic could cause.

With a swish of his cloak, Jaga smoothly sat down in one of the chairs. Without needing to be told, Leopara sat down as well, carefully sweeping her skirt forward. "Tell me, Leopara, about this feeling?"

It was difficult to explain. She fiddled with the satiny silk fabric of her dress while struggling for a tangible explanation.

"I… I just woke up with this feeling, like everything is about to…" she raised her hands, arching her fingers until they strained, and struggled against an invisible object. "... end? Or just… change?" she added, confused.

With a calm blink, Jaga reached out and grabbed her hand. Leopara relaxed as his calm and collected composure washed over her. It was like… cool water on a hot summer day. It reminded her of her childhood, the time before she was Jaga's apprentice she remembered seldom of.

Like the water saved her from the heat, Jaga's calmness saved her from the dark claw of worry and anxiety wriggling within her.

"It is alright, child. You possess the unique and keen ability to sense and feel others emotions as though they were your own. It is natural that anxieties like this would affect you so."

Leopara nodded. "Thank you, Jaga. It's like… a static in the air. I can just feel it all around.

As he usually did with this explanation, Jaga nodded.

"While many fear change, it can be a good thing and is often necessary. You needn't worry, child."

She nodded again, although the claw of doubt manifested itself once again with cold certainty.

"This change won't."

It was only because this was Jaga, who raised her and encouraged her to speak her thoughts to him all her life, and listened to her, really listened, she said this.

And for a moment, she saw worry cross his expression.

"Hm…" he stroked his long white beard. "I am afraid, my apprentice, there is very little either you or I can do, save for watch. Perhaps an opportunity will present itself to affect this change?" he proposed.

You know something you're not telling me, don't you, Jaga? Leopara smiled for his sake. "You're right. Thank you, Jaga."

"Of course, child." He smiled back at her. With a glance towards the window, his expression deep in thought, Jaga abruptly announced, "Ah, I am afraid I have a few matters to attend that slipped my mind. Please, enjoy the rest of your morning." He stood, and so did Leopara, her brows furrowing.

So there is… that confirmed it for her. Jaga may be old, even ancient, but he was not forgetful; his mind was as clear and sharp as a still pond filled with glacial waters. Her words had unsettled Jaga. He knew something about this feeling she did not, but did not wish for her to know.

Jaga paused in the doorway, his cloak billowing around him. "Ah, do not be late." he said in jest. More seriously, "I look forward to formally introducing you to the prince."

"I won't," she promised Jaga.

With only a parting smile, he left.

She stood there, simply watching and feeling… hurt. Did he not trust her with what he knew?

Finally, with a sigh, she made her way out into the library.

"Please, enjoy the rest of your morning."

It was only because Jaga asked, that she surrounded herself in the comfort of her scrolls, peering over them but somehow not retaining a word or rune that she read.

The bells rung twice, loud and clear throughout all of Thundera so even an errant prince could hear them. King Claudus stood, his tense muscles coiled as if to pace, but he restrained himself, instead broiling in frustration and disappointment.

Leopara was not the target of his emotions, but she wanted to wilt from the intensity in which he projected himself. Around someone as imposing and strong-willed as the King, she found it difficult to let their emotions part around her, rather than sweeping her away in a powerful current.

Right now, it was taking all her concentration.

In a void of black, she pushed against rushing water, trying to push against it and part it.

She kept her gaze, like the others, fixed on the far end of the marble hall, eyes on one of the many intertwined columns on the other side of the darkened Thundercats insignia emblazoned on the floor.

Was the intensity of the King all her anxieties had been about?

Never before had she realised the depths of how unobtrusive the clerics' emotions were. If only she could close herself off from their emotions, like closing the gate to a dam.

Wait, that wasn't a bad idea. Could she…?

Leopara strained against the water with a final, hard push, making it surge backwards, and gestured with her arms, pulling up from the void, a dark wall. With a sigh of relief in her sanctuary, she leaned back against the wall and slid down.

Leopara glanced down at Jaga, who sat calmly and patiently with his staff in hand. Prince Tygra, across from Jaga to the right of King Claudus, looked bored to death, but relaxed and maybe even a little smug.

She had heard many stories about the princes, mostly from Jaga, but even the clerics gossiped, and she heard what the commoners said when she wandered around Thundera to enjoy the sun and breeze.

Many felt that he felt he should be king, being the oldest even if not by blood. That he had his head on his shoulders, while Lion-O's was dreaming in the clouds.

She wasn't sure what she believed or if it mattered.

With a deep huff, something in the King snapped a little. "He knows how important today is! Where is that boy, Jaga?"

Water seeped under the dam and she sighed.

"Be easy on him, Claudus." Jaga said, entirely unfazed. Leopara wished she shared in his ease of confidence and composure. "Remember when you were his age, your father wasn't always pleased with you either."

"I never neglected my duties as prince like he does!" Claudus turned towards Tygra. His favorite son, and the kingdom's as well. "Why can't he be more like you, Tygra?"

Still resting his jaw on his hand, elbow propped on the arm of his seat, he answered, "You're asking for the impossible, Father." with a small chuckle. It must have pleased him then, that Lion-O was so late to his own ceremony. Certainly, this would look bad on him.

Claudus growled a little, frustrated still.

"I am sure he does not mean to be so late." Leopara said quietly, trying to ease the tension in the room. "Perhaps he simply lost track of time and will be here soon?"

The King looked at her with scrutiny, but not harshly so. "Hmph. You are Jaga's apprentice, to advise my son?"

Leopara nodded. It felt like there was a lump in her throat. "Yes, King Claudus."

"You know magic?"

"...yes, your majesty." Claudus nodded, but not in a way that suggested to her their conversation was over. The water seeping under the dam stopped. She dared dismiss part of the wall, watching as a stream trickled around her with a bit of awe and relief. She felt… curiosity from him now, his anger at Lion-O set to the side.

"A good king can put aside his emotions to do what is best for his people," Jaga's words echoed in her mind.

Relieved, she continued, "I was brought to Jaga as a small child to be trained. Right now, I am best at healing and empathetic magics, but I am… proficient with protective ones as well."

Claudus nodded again, thoughtful. "And you are Lion-O's age?" Another nod. "I will have to visit the cleric's hall while you and Jaga are training."

With an apprehensive glance towards Jaga, who nodded, she looked to the King and did the same. "Of course," said Jaga, unbothered, "it would be our pleasure." She smiled wanly, feeling a knot of anxiousness twist inside of her.

"Sit," Claudus gestured to the seat to Jaga's left, the other side of her.

Leopara sat silently, not wanting to disobey what might have been an order, and waited. And waited.

The bells rang again, a clear three times.

Even Claudus took to sitting, his anger silently growing steely.

By the time the doors flung open, nearly half another hour had passed. Tygra yawned into his offhand as his brother's footfalls echoed across the stone floor. Lion-O raced to the stairs leading up the dais quickly. The three stood, and she did the same.

A little breathless, opening his arms out wide, the prince exclaimed, "Sorry! Sorry sorry sorry!"

His father did not look impressed. She didn't know how Lion-O didn't shrink away from his overbearing glare… such an imposing cat, the king was. Displeasure radiated from him like an aura cloaking him. Without saying anything to Lion-O, he looked to Jaga and nodded.

"Let us begin this sacred rite of passage."

Jaga nodded his head in acknowledgement, and Leopara watched closely as he stepped forward and raised his staff. "Guardians of the crown, bring forth the Sword of Omens." At his call, the waiting nine clerics entered the throne room. They walked slowly, careful with the blade shrouded under a cloth. As they reached the stairs, they stopped, all except the cleric carrying the blade. Leopara recognised Cheetara. Behind her, she could recognise the silhouettes of Sunda and Sundara.

Cheetara bowed before Claudus, holding up the blade.

Jaga approached her and pulled the cloth from the sword while speaking, revealing its long, silvery blade and the Eye of Thundera, a powerful red stone radiating magics, set into a curved blue guard. Its energies thrummed, beckoning for Lion-O to grasp it.

"While you will one day wear the crown, only the eye of Thundera, the source of our power, knows if there is indeed a king inside of you. Take the sword and become one with it." Jaga gestured.

Lion-O, with a determined expression, clasped his hand around the hilt and hoisted the blade.

"You hold in your hands what built the Thundercats' empire," Claudus narrated to Lion-O as the prince climbed down the stairs from the dais, "-but only he who is deemed worthy can wield its awesome power." Lion-O gazed at the blade with awe.

Is that right? I thought it was warded by magics…? Leopara refrained from raising her hand to cup her chin, but only because the ceremony at hand was so important.

Lion-O swung his blade experimentally, getting accustomed to the weight and balance of the blade. His technique seemed… unbalanced. Crude, if Leopara was honest, although she was not trained in swordsmanship so she would not look much better… but he was trained.

Oh… oh no, the duties Lion-O neglected… did they include swordplay?

… that was fine, right? There was always room for improvement and maybe after she and he were introduced properly like Jaga wanted, she could urge him to attend lessons and make sure he did.

Leopara took a small, sharp breath, and then exhaled softly. It would be alright.

Claudus's booming voice brought her back to the throne room. "Let me show you what it is capable of in the proper hands." He stalked down the stairs towards Lion-O with Tygra following him.

What would be the best way to entice Lion-O to actually partake in swordplay? No, the real question was what kept him from attending? She would have to be blind and deaf to not notice his father's disappointment in him and his brother's smugness.

"Uh oh, catch!" Tygra exclaimed, tossing a sword at Lion-O. Lion-O caught it, fumbling with its hilt.

No sooner than he had caught it, Claudus whirled around and bore down on him, swinging the Sword of Omens in a powerful arc with lightning crackling and dancing around it. Lion-O struggled to block, immediately overwhelmed. But that wasn't enough for Claudus. He began to speak. "The book told that it was the Thundercats, our ancestors, who defeated Mumm-Ra. It was the Thundercats who brought law and order to a world of warring animals, and it is now the Thundercats who are strong enough to maintain this fragile peace!" With a final powerful blow, Claudus knocked the sword from Lion-O's hands and sent him crashing into the marble. Claudus turned the blade and stabbed it into the center of the emblazoned Thundercats insignia, lightning still crackling around it.

The expression on Lion-O's face was one of awe, even Leopara could feel it. As the crackling around the blade died down, he climbed to his feet and approached the blade, wrapped his hand around its hilt, and pulled it from the stone. With a serious expression of determination, he began to swing the sword again. His footwork was simply… graceful, this time. She couldn't help smiling as she watched his smooth swings, and as thin lines of lightning began to dance around the blade again.

She felt proud, actually.

"That's it! Concentrate!" Claudus shouted in encouragement.

Lion-O continued, eventually reaching the center of the insignia where he lowered the sword's tip to the center. Leopara wasn't sure what exactly happened next. It was like… the aura of the room shifted. Intuitively, Lion-O lifted the blade parallel to him, so that the stone was level with his eyes. His eyes began to glow and then…

Leopara felt the heaviest, the- the… evilest, most malicious presence she had ever-

She felt sick, immediately. Like eyes were upon them and…

… she staggered a little, swaying. The room went out of focus, spinning around her. She reached out, trying to grab Jaga to steady herself, but he moved out of her reach and she grabbed nothing but empty air and stumbled.

"Lion-O, why did you stop?"

Before she could fall to her knees in recoil of that overwhelming presence, she felt strong arms catch her. "Whoa there," Tygra said quietly. "You don't look so good."

"I… I don't feel good…" her vision swam. She saw multiples of Jaga, too far to have heard her, approaching Lion-O.

"Tell us."

Tygra hoisted her up and turned her, walking her towards her seat. "Here, sit."

She did, without very much grace, and raised a hand to her face. "Thanks… I mean, thank you."

"Leopara, are you alright?" came Cheetara's voice. She nodded a little. It was hard to tell what Cheetara was thinking, wearing her shroud.

The feeling of absolute dread, like she was going to vomit under the sheer magnitude of it, was fading. Still, she felt shaky and uneasy. What was that? That couldn't have been the Sword of Omens… could it?

Cheetara and Tygra exchanged glances and took a step away, speaking in hushed tones.

"Ha. Meow!"

A clang. "The sword is ready, Lion-O, but you are not."

Claudus's heavy footfalls sounded throughout the throne room as he walked away, shoulders low in disappointment.

"What? I didn't see anything." Lion-O said defensively. Confusion roiled in her. But… didn't he? Or did something see him? She raised her other hand to her pounding head, rubbing her temple.

"And I did not say anything." Jaga said wittily. She glanced towards them, to see Jaga pause as he caught sight of her, sitting with Tygra and Cheetara hovering nearby, speaking with worry while glancing at her. Then, he resumed his pace.

"Leopara, is everything well?" he asked.

"I… I think so." she shook her head.

Jaga studied her for a moment. "Come, let us return to the Hall." Weakly, she nodded and stood. Jaga rested his hand on her far shoulder, and, together, they walked out of the throne room.

Lion-O continued to stand there at the window, looking dejected, while his brother left and the clerics followed them.

Leopara pulled the cloak draped over her close, taking comfort from it.

Jaga was quiet as he began to pour tea for both of them. As he offered her a cup, with the exact amount of cream and sugar she liked.

"Thank you…" she murmured, sipping from it.

Jaga smiled kindly at her. "You said you felt some sort of presence, one that wasn't in the room?"

In a quiet voice, she said, "It was vile, it felt… evil." She felt calmer now, but she couldn't forget that feeling. Pure malice, pure evil intent. Ancient and old.

"When Lion-O looked through the Eye of Thundera?"

She nodded. Jaga watched her thoughtfully, so she hesitantly added, "It was like… he looked into the stone, and something… it looked back at him."

"I see." He set a hand on her shoulder. "It frightened the young prince as well. The Eye can often show visions most unpleasant. Do not let it plague your mind."

"Yes, Jaga."

"Good." He affectionately mussed her hair. "If you feel well, the day is still young. I wish for you to spend it how you like."

Leopara raised a brow at him. "I thought you wanted to introduce me and the prince formally?"

Jaga nodded solemnly, stroking his beard. It was always striking to her just how wizened he looked without his cloak. "Yes, but such introductions can wait. Your well-being concerns me."

Warmth filled her.

"I'll be alright, Jaga." she reassured him. "I would like to return with you to the palace."

"If that is what you truly wish," he began, stroking his beard, "Then I will not stop you."

Leopara chuckled and stood, carefully sliding his cloak off her shoulders and holding it out to him. "Perhaps after tea?" she suggested.

With his own chuckle, he whirled it around himself, draping it on his shoulders once again. "Yes, after tea."

Special thanks to everyone who's reviewed, but especially Frankannestein, WAR-Operative, and The Night Whisperer! You girls are a huge part of why I've come back to the fandom, so thank you so much!