SITS Ch 20: Red Mosquito, Part 2
Chapter 20 of Signal in the Sky Red Mosquito By Purrsia Kat & Spaced Angel “Tygra,” Cheetara called from where she stood panicked beside Velouria’s crib. “Do something!” The weary tiger shot up from his cot where he had tried to get some rest, the two of them having agreed to hold vigil in shifts through the night. He peered over the railing of the crib at his tiny daughter to find her in the throes of a very frightening looking febrile seizure. The logical, educated part of him knew this sort of thing was common in children with a fever as high as their little girl’s, and although it looked scary it was often harmless. He grabbed his love’s hand and gave it a tight squeeze. “We have to let it pass,” Tygra assured her softly. “And it will.” As if on cue, the baby’s tiny body abandoned its stiff posture and went limp again, though the child was now too weak and sick to cry out. Cheetara reached into the crib to return the cold compress to the baby’s forehead that had fallen off in the midst of the seizure. Tygra’s heart ached to look and see tears flowing down Cheetara’s cheeks. She’d had a brave face on all night, but now it seems the seizure pushed her to the precipice of her fears. “She’s not getting better, she’s getting worse,” Cheetara asserted and Tygra feared she was on the verge of hysterics. “There’s got to be something more we can do!” Tygra shook his head with much regret. “She’s just so small, Cheetara. Her immune system can’t tackle this like ours can and we also have to be very careful about what medication we give her. We have to wait it out and try to make her comfortable in the meantime.” He tried to push aside from his mind the damage a high fever could do to a child if one survives it. Though at this point, he’d be grateful just to have the baby live. He could tell Cheetara wanted badly to gather the child in her arms but resisted her maternal instinct, for the baby was already so hot, it didn’t need their body heat compounding the problem. He was considering putting the child in a cool bath again, however. It seemed to help somewhat earlier in the night. Cheetara fell weary into his arms, her shoulders rising and falling in time with her sobs. He squeezed her tightly, trying to be strong and reassuring enough for them both. * * * * * * * * * * Meanwhile, Felina looked up as Panthro came into the infirmary. “You paged me. What’s going on?” Panthro asked. She indicated Lion-O, who was lying drenched in his own sweat and shivering. “He’s soaked his sheets and now he’s got chills. I’ve got to get him on some dry bedding. But that means moving him and taking off his bonds.” Panthro assessed the situation thoughtfully, a finger tapping at his chin. “You think he’s still dangerous?” Felina shrugged. “He’s been rambling all night, so he’s still delirious. All we need to do is move him over to that bed,” she explained, pointing across the room. “But I wanted you here just in case. I hardly think I’m a match for Lion-O if he gets it in his head I’m a giant cockroach or something.” That seemed good enough for the panther. “Let’s do it.” She released his bonds, and the two Thundercats gently helped a dazed Lion-O into a sitting position. However, moving him roused him too well, and without warning, he pushed Panthro violently away from him just as he was helped off the bed and on his feet. “Get back, foul creature!” he thundered at Panthro, whose momentum was only blunted by a very unforgiving wall. Felina gasped, and then shrunk back as Lion-O fixed his glare on her next. “Wait!” she pleaded while scrambling around the other side of the bed Lion-O had formerly occupied. Her eyes darted over to Panthro, who to her dismay was lying slumped against the wall. She was alone in this infirmary with her very much out-of-his-mind husband. And she didn’t care for the crazy look in his eyes. “Calm down,” she continued trying to keep her voice soothing and even. “We’re just trying to help you.” “Lies!” he roared, while lifting the bed up and flinging it out of his way. Now there was nothing between herself and Lion-O. She stared at him slack-jawed for moment. “You’re a spy,” he accused her, as he rushed toward her. She tried, but she couldn’t jump out of the way, and the next thing she knew, he had her pinned up against the wall. She was lifted to eye level with him, his strong hands pressed firmly against her collar bone – his thumbs, mere inches from her throat, which she was all too aware he could decide to use to crush the breath right out of her. She searched his glassy eyes desperately, hoping at any moment he’d come to his senses and see her – the real her. But all she saw was delusional rage and fear. “Lion-O, please,” she begged. Felina kicked her dangling legs and grabbed at his arms to no avail. She considered clawing him, but she didn’t want to hurt him nor risk making him any angrier. “You’re hurting me.” “How do you know my name?” he growled with suspicion. “Admit it. Admit you’re a Mutant spy and you were going to try to put poison in my veins.” He pressed on her harder, his thumbs inching menacingly closer to her delicate throat. It was no use. The more she struggled the harder he gripped her. All she could do was continue to plead for her life and hope someone heard the ruckus and was coming to help. * * * * * * * * * * "It's our fault." WilyKat sat with his head in his hands and his little face screwed up in distress. "Velouria got ill because of us." WilyKit sat beside her brother feeling just as miserable. They were keeping a low profile on the lower floor of the Lair. Kit sighed heavily and blinked back tears. “And I thought the Mutants would be our biggest problem. We didn’t think—“ “That’s right, you didn’t,” came Snarf’s admonishment as he came walking past, burdened with a load of supplies. “I hope you finally learned to do as your told.” Kit gaped after the retreating Snarf. Ordinarily, she’d have something tart to say in return, but this time she had to begrudgingly admit no matter what their intentions had been the fact was Velouria was sick and she wouldn’t be if they’d stayed put as told. What was worse for her was she knew she’d done the convincing – she’d made the case for going. It wasn’t their fault, it was hers, she decided. Kit’s lip quivered and she looked away from her brother. She hated to let anyone see her cry, even her own twin. She got up abruptly, muttering some excuse to Kat and stalked down the hall in the opposite direction as Snarf. She had no particular destination in mind, but at least now she could let the tears flow. She stopped by a window, sulking at the moon that hung low and full in the sky. I wish it was me, she thought bitterly. I’d give anything if it were me that was so sick. It’s not fair! Wild, desperate thoughts flew through Kit’s mind including the idea of going into the Book and seeing if the Guardian could do something. Anything. Drying her eyes, she turned back and headed toward the Sword chamber with renewed purpose. * * * * * * * * * * Felina prepared herself as it became clear nothing she said was working – and if anything, it was only pushing Lion-O to do her in. But just when she thought he’d made the decision to rid himself of her, something caught his attention to the left of them – though she saw nothing – and he promptly released his hold on her. It was such a fast and unexpected release that Felina didn’t have time to do anything but fall into a heap on the floor. She looked up, watching Lion-O swat at the air while shouting for demons and spirits to leave him be. Collecting her own senses, she hastily crawled over to Panthro who was coming to. “Are you alright?” she whispered. Panthro shook his head. “Yeah. But I see we’re going to have to do this the hard way.” Felina glanced back at Lion-O, the feverish Thundercat still shouting at the thin air to leave him alone. As dangerous as he was in that state, Felina still didn’t want to see him get hurt. She dutifully followed at a cautious distance behind Panthro, as he approached Lion-O unnoticed. Worry marred her face for she wondered what Panthro intended on doing. “Hate to have to do this to you buddy.” Just as Lion-O began to turn at the sound of Panthro’s voice, Panthro raised his arm up and hit the Thundercat Lord hard on the back of the head with a chopping motion, causing Felina to gasp and whimper. That had to hurt. Lion-O dropped to his knees in a daze, and Panthro quickly collected him, placing him on the bed where they’d tried to take him in the first place. Panthro quickly restrained Lion-O to the bed and stepped back satisfied. “You alright?” Panthro asked Felina. She nodded, though she was still shaken from the ordeal. “He’ll be fine,” he assured her. “But next time, just leave him lying in the sweat.” With that, Panthro left while rubbing the back of his own head. Felina sat quietly, watching Lion-O with a weary eye as he went back to softly babbling in a semi-conscious state. This couldn’t be over soon enough for her. Even though she knew his mind was bent by fever that was a side of Lion-O she never wanted to see again. * * * * * * * * * * Morning was coming and Felina was exhausted. Physically, she was tired, but her mental anguish was the greater. She could only imagine how Tygra and Cheetara felt. To be so helpless in the face of illness was enough to drive anyone to distraction. Her prayers were with them; there was little else she could do. The fact that Lion-O's fever had finally broken in the early hours offered a small glimmer of hope. Felina was glad when he gave up his insane ramblings and fell into a peaceful sleep once his body cooled enough to let his mind rest. So he had been ever since and every time she looked in on him, she could not help grinning when she heard the soft purrs of his snores. He would be recovered by morning and she had already resolved to embarrass him by telling him of his impromptu striptease. Despite the solemn atmosphere, a small smile lifted the corners of her mouth when she thought of how mortified he would be. She could only hope that they would soon all be able to share in Lion-O's discomfort. But if anything happened to Velouria... She pushed that thought firmly aside. Velouria was a strong, healthy baby. Of course she would be all right, she told herself. She hadn’t heard any word on the baby and could only hope no news was good news. For now, bed looked inviting, and since Lion-O had made a shambles of the other one, Felina crawled up beside him and nestled next to him, his massive chest serving well enough as a pillow. He did not stir and it was just as well. She slipped into a peaceful sleep herself in moments. * * * * * * * * * * “There you are,” Kat said with surprise, upon entering the Sword chamber and saw his sister sitting there, cross-legged on the floor. She was staring fixedly at the stand that held the Sword, Book and Key. She blinked and looked up at him in surprise. “I’ve been looking all over for you,” he continued. Kit noticed he looked upbeat, which was promising. For her part, she had been sitting there – she didn’t know how long – trying to will the courage to go into the Book. But she’d heard how the Guardian was, how unpredictable such things were – not to mention her time travel trip into the Book hadn’t been fun…the falling part at the beginning well, suffice it to say she wasn’t a fan. Most of all, she must be getting mature for she actually stopped and considered the wisdom of trying to fix one mistake by possibly making another very huge one. In the end, she remained there just to have some solitude knowing this would be the last place anyone would expect to find her in the Lair. “Any news?” she asked, wincing a little for fear of his answer. "See for yourself," he said, offering his hand to help her up. She got to her feet, only to stop when she heard voices approaching down the corridor. Trepidation wrapped cold fingers around her stomach when Tygra entered the open door and she saw his expression. "How is she?" Kit asked, fearing his answer. He sighed and a wan smile came to his lips. "She's over the worst," he said. "I think she's going to be all right." WilyKat leapt straight up, shrieking with delight, and ran from the room. "Thank Jaga," Kit said, letting out a pent-up sigh. "May I get you anything? You look exhausted." She still felt more than a little guilty for the fact that they had to go through such an ordeal in the first place. "No, I'm fine." "I'm sure Cheetara would like something. I'll take her up a drink." "She'd appreciate that. Thanks, WilyKit." Several minutes later, she was making her way upstairs, carrying a mug of coffee. Coming to Velouria's room, she knocked on the door and Cheetara called from within. WilyKit entered and found her sitting by Velouria's crib, looking tired but relieved. On the other side, WilyKat was on tiptoes, craning over the side of the crib to stare down at the sleeping child with a look of sheer happiness on his face. "She's all right," he said to his twin, as if he hadn’t believed it truly until he saw it. "It’s wonderful,” Kit replied, though she had a million apologies on the tip of her tongue. "Isn't she beautiful?" he cooed. WilyKit smiled and handed Cheetara the mug. She took it gratefully and carefully sipped the hot coffee. "How are you feeling?" Kit asked. Cheetara nodded. "Better now." "And Velouria?" "Sleeping like a..." "Baby?" Kit suggested. "Something like that. How is Lion-O?" "When I passed the infirmary, I heard him snoring like a blocked drain. He's all right." The thundering sound of feet hammering along the corridor heralded Snarf's arrival and a moment later he burst into the room, jumping up and down and whooping with joy. "Shush, Snarf," said Cheetara. "You'll wake Velouria up." "Nah, she's still asleep," said WilyKat. "Look at her, dead to the world." He realised that his choice of words might have been better and bit his lip. "I mean she's sleeping soundly." WilyKit gazed down at the child. Despite all the commotion around her, she slept on, unconcerned by her noisy visitors and at peace. Moved, Kit leant down and kissed her cheek. "Sleep well, little one," she whispered. "And very sweet dreams." * * * * * * * * * * Lion-O stirring beneath her and the sunlight shining in the room worked in concert to rouse Felina from her rest. She sat up and looked hopefully at Lion-O, whose eyelids were flickering open. Their eyes met and she was glad to note his seemed far more lucid than before. “Felina?” he questioned groggily. “What happened?” She smiled at the recognition. It was over. “You were very sick after we got back from the island.” He looked around the room taking in the disarray it was in before he realized he was still tethered to the bed. Lion-O looked at Felina in alarm. “Oh, let me help you with that.” She worked to quickly free his limbs from their confines. “Did I do all that?” he wondered, regarding the mess in the room. She nodded. “You were a little…delirious.” Felina decided to leave out the small detail that he threatened to choke her to death in the process. Clearly he hadn’t been himself. “You remember any of it?” “A little…” he trailed off, pausing to strain his memory to recall. “Oddly, I remember Jaga telling me I was sick and I needed to lie down.” Felina realized that perhaps Jaga was the ‘demon’ that had distracted Lion-O long enough for her to get away. It touched her that he would reach from beyond the grave to help her. “Yes, you were very sick,” she simply confirmed. “It’s over now, though.” Looking upon him, she resisted the urge to throw her arms around his neck and squeeze him tight. “I didn’t hurt anyone, did I?” She didn’t want to completely lie to him, and what he had done to her left no visible marks. There was no point in making him feel too guilty about things that he couldn’t control. “Well, you might owe Panthro an apology or two. Oh and maybe the people of Third Earth for giving them a free show,” she added, remembering to tease him about his impromptu stripping in the courtyard. “What?” he asked, trying to sound indignant at first but even he couldn’t hide a bit of mirth at the notion. He looked down and peeked under the sheet that covered him, confirming that he wore not a thread of clothing even now. Felina shrugged. “You were in the courtyard without a stitch on - very undignified for a man of your station. Said you were hot…” Though blushing a bit, he couldn’t resist a jest at his own expense. “Any Warrior Maidens around to agree?” Felina rolled her eyes at his attempt to play on the word ‘hot’. “Afraid not. A few Berbils and Wolos might need therapy, though,” she said with a wink to let him know she was only kidding. They shared a warm laugh. “I guess that island won’t be our new vacation spot.” It was time to change the subject. Felina shook her head. “Definitely not. Now I know why the Thunderians probably wanted to leave so badly.” Lion-O nodded, his visage turning serious. “We’ll find them,” he assured her. “I’ll see to it.” * * * * * * * * * * Watched from the window, with a red mosquito I was not allowed to leave the room I saw the sun go down, and now it's coming up Somewhere in the time between I was bitten, must have been the devil he was just paying me... A little visit, reminding me of his presence Letting me know, he's a-waiting... Two steps ahead of him, punctures in your neck Hovering just above your bed Hovering just above your bed I was bitten, must have been the devil He was just paying me... A little visit, reminding me of his presence And letting me know, he's a'waiting, he's a'waiting... Up there... yeah If I had known then what I know now... --Red Mosquito, Pearl Jam