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"The Lion's Pride"

"Come on, Lion-O! Only a little bit further!"

Tygra was scaling a sheer rock face as he called down to the Thundercats leader, dangling only a few ledges below him. They had been climbing for nearly two hours, the posturing castle of the Lion's Lair could be seen off in the distance, like a great cat seated on the plains. Lion-O was already sweating hard, he hadn't expected that the afternoon's exercise was going to turn into something like this. He panted as he took hold of another rock and clutched down, stabilizing his weight. "Y-you say that, Tygra... but it feels more like climbing a mountain to me!" He called back. "Why are we doing this again?"

"You're strong with the Sword of Omens." Tygra answered as he made another stride, climbing another few feet in one move. "But you're still new to your own strength." He said. "The things your body can do for you now..." He paused and grunted as he moved up again, looking back only to see the lion's arms flex as he strained to move on to the next ledge. "You might find it amazing!"

Lion-O reached for the next handhold, the weight of his claw and sword weighing down his hip caused his balance to swing a little too far and he missed the rock. He gasped and he felt his other hand give way. "AHHH!" He shouted as he found himself falling all of a sudden toward the ground far below. Reaching into the glove, he pulled it onto his hand. The sword had fallen in his sudden struggle and he paid it little mind. Putting the glove on he threw his hand forward, and the claws shot tendrils of rope up where he had aimed; directly below Tygra's hanging position. He swung in and caught himself on the rock again, his feet meeting the holes in the face he'd been using before, but he was nearly twenty feet down from where he'd been. He panted and sighed, closing his eyes in relief.

"Are you alright down there?" Tygra's voice called, his body now no more than a silhouette against the bright sky. "Lion-O!"

Lion-O looked up. "Yes! I'm alright!"

"Good." Tygra called back. "But we're doing this the old fashioned way, no cheating!"

The tiger swept his foot across where the glove's claws had dug in and kicked them free. Lion-O had about one second to grab the rock again as the claws retreated back into the glove. He re-pocketed the glove and glanced down, noticing the familiar shimmer of the sword far below, shining in the sunlight. He sighed and continued his climb.

It took nearly an hour more before Lion-O reached the top of the cliff, as he hoisted his hands onto the ledge, Tygra appeared there with a smile on his face and a hand reaching down. "Took you long enough, how do you feel now?"

"Like I want to kick your ass." Lion-O said as he ignored the hand and pulled himself up onto the ledge. He was covered in sweat, his muscles were trembling and he couldn't feel a thing in his arms or legs. "I would if I weren't so numb."

Tygra laughed. "Well, they say growing up isn't easy." He said. "This is about what they meant." His laugh stopped as noticed the glove attached to Lion-O's hip. "Where's the Sword of Omens?" He asked.

"I dropped it." Lion-O responded shamefully. "When I lost my grip and had to use the shield, it fell to the bottom of the cliff."

"You dropped it?!" Tygra said, suddenly sounding angry. "Lion-O do you realize how important that sword is? Not just to you for your place as the Lord of the Thundercats, but to the defense of this world?" He rushed to the edge of the cliff and looked down.

"I know it's important." Lion-O said as he stood up. "Don't think I'm still a child Tygra, I know..."

Tygra spotted the shine from the sword below and sighed in relief. "You know nothing." He said. "If evil were ever to possess the sword, we would stand no chance. Now we need to climb back down there and retrieve it."

"Right now?" Lion-O asked. "Can't we wait a few more minutes? I am covered in sweat--"

"Now, Lion-O."

Tygra pointed toward the edge of the cliff and the lion gave him a bit of a defiant glare. Sure, Tygra was older than him mentally, but they were closer to the same age physically than they had been on Thundera. Wiping the sweat from his eyebrows, Lion-O walked past Tygra and began the arduous descent back down the cliff they'd just climbed up.

Admittedly, the climb down wasn't as long or drawn out as the climb up, but it didn't make it any less difficult, by the time Lion-O finally reached the ground, he landed on his hands and knees, trembling from all the hard work.

"Say, that wasn't as bad as the climb up, was it?" Tygra asked as he reached the bottom and hopped off the cliff face with as much spryness as a kitten. "Now where is the sword?"

Lion-O got back to his feet and spotted the weapon a few yards away, gleaming from its place, now buried almost to the hilt in a large stone. He approached the weapon and took it into his hand, trying to pull on it he felt some resistance that his aching muscles couldn't overcome. He grunted. "It's... it's stuck!" He exclaimed.

"Stuck? What do you mean, stuck?" Tygra said as he approached.

"I mean I can't pull it out." He said. "It's buried in this stone."

"Huh... so it is." Tygra said, stroking his chin as he examined the weapon. "Well, perhaps we can get Panthro out here in the morning, he can use the Thunder Tank to break it out of the rock."

Lion-O looked up and realized that the sun was already going down; the sky like an orange fire over their heads, and the temperature was slowly dropping around them. "But didn't you say we shouldn't leave it out? What if one of the mutants come across it?"

Tygra smirked. "I didn't think you cared?"

"Who said that?" Lion-O said. "I only said that I had dropped it--" He paused. "Oh."

"You see? An excuse is an excuse no matter how you try to justify it." Tygra commented. "Now, I suppose we can set up camp out here for the night. In the morning one of us can return to Cat's Lair and get the Thunder Tank."

Lion-O smiled. "Agreed."

The pair separated for supplies; Tygra used his whip to gather wood, while Lion-O worked to clear a small area near the sword for a campsite. As the area was cleared, he heard Tygra talking over the communicator:

"Yes, Lion-O and I are going to stay here tonight. If we aren't back by tomorrow mid-morning, we're going to need to have you track us."

"Right-o, Tygra. I hear you." Panthro's voice came in like static over the channel. "We're still going to have to work on our communicators, you sound like you're talking through a garbage scow."

Tygra chuckled. "Right. Alright, Panthro. Good night."

"If we can get ahold of him over the communicator, why worry about camping at all?" Lion-O asked as Tygra approached, laying several pieces of wood down. "Can't we just have him come out and retrieve us?"

"Don't want to risk bringing the Thunder Tank out into the dark, this land is still roughly unknown to us and of all the gadgets Panthro has on that damn thing, he hadn't thought of a headlight." He picked up a pair of stones and clicked them together over the wood, eventually causing it to burst to life with flame. He seated himself on the other side of the fire as Lion-O remained on his side, nearest the sword that rested in the stone only a few feet away. "Good night, Lion-O." He said.

Lion-O stared at him for a moment before leaning back against the tree he'd settled by. "Good night, Tygra." He said before closing his eyes and falling asleep.