The Lion Guard
"Foal Hostages"
Written by: Toni the Mink
Commissioned by: Bat138
All characters and related indica (c) Disney Enterprises

A/N: This is a fanfic that was commissioned by a friend. I started it around May, but was swamped with so much life activity (mainly getting married, lol!) I haven't found much time to finish the second half... so I'm showing off what I have so far, in hopes of motivation by reviewers to continue the rest...

I do apologize for the lame title... I couldn't think of anything decent, and since I was overdue in posting my progress, I needed to come up with something on the spot... Feel free to make a better suggestion XD

Interested in commissioning a story from me? Check out my prices on my front page, and shoot me a PM! My archive may be 90% Sonic, but with a little research, I'm willing to write anything you ask!

...

It was a bright, sunny day in the animal kingdom, and hot as usual. The Lion Guard escaped from the heat at their usual spot, Hakuna Matata Falls, where they hid in the shade away from the scorching sun. All but Bunga, of course, who preferred the wet treatment.

"Zuka zama!" the honey badger boomed as he nailed a cannon ball into the nearby body of water, creating a huge splash that headed for his friends. Fuli shrieked and raced away while Ono took to higher ground. Kion and Beshte, however, stayed put and allowed the splash to hit them, welcoming the cool water in the heat.

"C'mon, friends!" Bunga chimed as he mastered the backstroke, "The water's great! Can't hog it all to myself now, can I?"

Kion gave a quick shake of his body to rid himself of any excess water and made his way over. Fuli inched back over carefully. "I don't get you, Kion," she said, "Cats usually hate water… myself included. How do you willingly get yourself all wet?"

"My dad long ago got me used to water," Kion grinned, "Used to swim all the time with Timon and Pumbaa, and so he got me accustomed to it as well. Nothing wrong with a little wet fur."

"If you say so," Fuli muttered, trotting over to the other edge of the water, "I prefer the dry look."

"Hey Kion!" Bunga boasted, "Let's see if you can master a dive like your old man!"

"He taught me a few things or two," Kion crouched down, wiggling his tush a bit, "Ready? Here I-"

"KION!"

"GAH!" the lion cub jumped to the air in shock, after hearing his name screeched by a baboon and flailed into the water. In the process, he created a bigger splash than intended… which of course landed on Fuli. The young cheetah cringed as she was drenched head to toe, and shuddered violently.

"Rafiki?" Kion surfaced and paddled his way to the edge of the pool, "What is it? Why so worried?"

"No time for play time!" Rafiki said, "Your father just got word from the underground that the hyenas are in the pride land, ambushing a pack of zebras. You must go out there and protect them! Post haste!"

Kion climbed out of the water, shaking his body dry once more. "We're on it!" he announced, "Lion Guard, move out!"

Far out in the pride lands, the guard came across a grassy knoll, where a pack of zebras raced around in circles, shrieking, and clearly in a panicked frenzy. They looked around, but couldn't spot any hyenas nearby.

"There're the zebras," murmured Fuli, "But where are the hyenas? They don't usually take off until we tell them to."

"We'll look for them, later," Kion ordered, "Right now, let's calm down the herd."

The guard raced in, though had to back away slightly to avoid getting trampled. Ono flew overhead. "Um… Excuse me…" he called down, "Please calm down! There aren't any hyenas in the vicinity. You can all relax."

Bunga climbed up on Beshte's head, waving his arms wildly. "Helloooo!" he boomed, "Stop running! You're freaking out over nothing here!"

"Can any of you tell us what happened?" Beshte called out, "We can't help you if you don't calm down." He stepped forward, hoping to block the path of some zebras, only to be used as a springboard for them.

Kion sighed. "This is getting us nowhere…"

"Allow me…" Fuli stepped up, took in a deep breath, and screamed, "KNOCK IT OFF!"

Practically in a second, the zebras stopped in their tracks. Fuli gave a smug smile. "Thank you."

The zebras began to collect themselves as Kion trotted over to the leader of the zebra pack, Thurston. "What happened?" he asked him, "We were told there were hyenas bothering you, but there aren't any here."

Thurston blinked. "Did something happen?"

Kion rolled his eyes. Leader of the pack, everybody… "Well, you were all running and panicking for some reason."

"Oh yeah," said Thurston, "They panicked and ran because I told them to."

"And why did you tell them to?"

Thurston lifted his head proudly. "Because I run the zebra pack," he announced, "Everything I tell them to do, they do because I'm in charge."

Kion ran a paw down his face. "Ugh… WHY where you panicking and running to begin with?"

"Oh! Good question!" Thurston thought back a moment, "Because… Because… Hm, now why were we again?"

"Thurston, if I may…" a female zebra gently nudged past him and stepped up to Kion, "Lion Guard, thank goodness you're here! There we were, grazing on this knoll, happily minding our own business… when suddenly we were attacked! Not by one, or by two, but by MANY! Too many to count! They chased us around, threatened to chow down on our hides, and worse yet, rounded up several of our little ones and made off with them!"

The group gasped. "They took your foals?"

The zebra sadly nodded. "I wanted to go after them, but then Thurston ordered us to panic and run, so I did was he told us to…"

"Did anyone see where the hyenas went off to?" Kion questioned.

The zebrass looked around at each other cluelessly, and shrugged one after another. Fuli gave an exasperated sigh and lowered her head. "So we've got nothing to go on then, do we?"

"Sorry…" spoke another zebra, stepping up, "We all sort of zoned out once we began panicking… We just ran like crazy, not really paying attention to what we were running into and where. I think I may have even ran over a hyena's leg in the midst of my hysteria."

"You did?" Kion cried, and the guard gathered together.

Ono squinted at the zebra's leg. Sure enough, there was a small, red stain just above his front hoof. "Kion, look!" he pointed out, "There's a small speck of blood on that zebra! He managed to injure one of the hyenas!"

"Good eye, Ono!" said Kion, "If there is an injured hyena, then he couldn't have gotten too far. Scout around and see if you can find a trail."

"Affirmative!" Ono took to the skies, floating around and using his keen eyesight to spot anything out of the ordinary. Sure enough, it didn't take long for the egret to spot a small trail of blood leading away from the knoll, otherwise hard to pick up for the normal, naked eye. "Kion! Guys!" Ono soared back, "I may have found where the hyena went off to! Follow me!"

The guard raced after Ono as he flew ahead, leading them away from the knoll. They trudged several yards until the trail ended near a pile of bushes. Ono carefully landed nearby as his teammates caught up, and motioned them to stay quiet as he pointed to the nearby bushes.

Kion nodded and quietly stepped towards the bush, keeping an ear out for any unusual noise.

"Owww…! Careful, Asante, that hurts!"

"Shh! Quiet, Chaku, they'll hear you…"

Well, that noise was certainly unusual. Kion stepped back, smirking at Bunga and giving a nod. Bunga grinned mischievously, snuck up to the bush, and suddenly pulled them open. "MSHANGAO!"

"Aiiiyeee!" the two hyenas screeched, grabbing each other for support.

The Lion Guard surrounded the two hyenas. "If you know what's good for you," Fuli snarled, "You'll tell us where your hyena crowd took those young foals."

"We ain't sayin' nuttin!" the male hyena, Chaku, snarled back.

"Oh won't you?" Beshte stepped forward, threateningly, "I'd hate for you to hurt the other leg…"

The female, Asante, jumped in front of her friend, growling in defense.

"You hyenas don't stand a chance," said Fuli, "There's five of us, and only two of you… well, one if you don't count the one with the broken leg."

Though she knew she was right, Asante still stood her ground.

"I'm sure you don't want anything else to happen to your friend," Kion warned, "So you're better off just coming with us, nice and easy…"

Asante glanced back at her injured friend. Sighing, she lowered her head and nodded.

The Guard brought the two hyenas back to Pride Rock and to the former lair that had once belonged to Scar, but nowadays the Lion Guard used more or less as an "interrogation room."

The hyenas were backed against the wall as the guard circled around them. Asante stepped closer to her injured friend to protect him. "Look, you said you'd help Chaku if you brought us in," she said, "His leg could get infected if we don't start treating it!"

Kion nodded. "We'll get him the treatment he needs, but first you tell us what we need to know."

"Don't tell 'em anything, Asante!" shouted Chaku, "I'll chew my leg off before I let either of us ruin Janja's plan!"

"And what plan is that?" Kion growled, closing in on the two.

Asante rolled her eyes at Chaku, who placed a paw over his mouth. "Whoops…"

"So… You wanna start talking or start chewing?" Fuli stepped forward, threatening to land a paw on Chaku's injured leg. The hyena quickly pulled away, and winced in pain.

Asante lowered her head. "Please don't hurt him," she said, "I'll tell you everything, as long as you get him medical attention."

Kion nodded. "I promise. You can trust me."

"I know," Asante gave a small smile, "Janja gathered a large group of hyenas to startle the zebras so that they could take the foals away."

"Why the foals though?" asked Beshte, "And why didn't they just go after the zebras like usual?"

"Shut it, Asante!" growled Chaku.

Ignoring him, the female hyena continued, "Janja's usual method of sneaking into the Pride Lands to grab an animal or two usually doesn't work, so he's trying something new. He took the pack of foals to hold them hostage."

"Hostage?"

Asante nodded. "Rather than sneaking in and being chased away as always, Janja's looking to negotiate with you and King Simba. He wants pieces of the Prideland for him and the rest of the hyenas to enter and hunt."

Kion narrowed his eyes. "Taking hostages isn't exactly the way to negotiate peacefully…"

"You think you'd be willing to sit down to a nice cup of tea and talk things over?" Chaku snapped, "Of course he had to take hostages! It's the only way he'd get your attention! If any of us even LOOKED towards the Pride Lands, you little Freedom Fighters would chase us away like we're a disease!"

"Your so-called 'hunting' is a disease itself!" sneered Fuli, "You don't just hunt to eat, you do it for sport! You kill as many animals as you can, leaving nothing but bones for your fellow carnivores. We remember Scar's reign all too well…"

"That's enough, Fuli!" Kion ordered, then turned back to the hyenas, "One more thing… Where is Janja holding the foals?"

"Deep in a cave, in the midst of the Elephant Graveyard," Asante responded, "Now will you please take care of Chaku's leg?"

"Beshte, Bunga," Kion spoke, "Take Chaku to Rafiki's lair, and stay with him until I come get you. Make sure he doesn't try anything."

Beshte walked along Chaku, helping him to walk out of the lair, with Bunga close behind.

"Thank you…" spoke Asante.

"You're welcome," said Kion, "But now you're coming with us to the lion's den. We're keeping an eye on you until Rafiki bandages your friend's wounds. Once he's back on his feet, we'll let you go."

"I should also tell you that the longer we stay here, the more Janja's going to notice we're missing," said Asante.

Fuli raised an eyebrow. "Two hyenas out of a crowd that big?" she said skeptically, "How is that possible?"

"Chaku and I are pretty popular, actually," Asante responded, though not so proudly of the fact, "We're the children of two of Scar's original top hyenas. Shenzi was my mom, and Chaku is Bonzai's son. When the others start to notice we're not there, Janja's going to know something wrong happened and will move the foals to another location."

Kion nodded, understanding. "Gotcha. Thanks for the info. Let's take you to the den then."

Kion, Fuli, and Ono brought Asante to Pride Rock and to the lions' den, where many of the lions and lionesses circled the hyena and kept a close eye on her. Asante knew better than to try and attack, and cooperated. But needless to say, Simba wasn't completely on board with bringing a hyena into the lions' den.

"Kion, this is madness!" Simba scolded his young son, "Hyenas are not welcomed in the Pride Lands… and you bring one of them to our den?"

"Safety measures, Dad," Kion responded, "We promised we'd help the injured hyena, but we shouldn't send them back separately. As far as we know, Janja doesn't know they're with us. We have to play our cards carefully if we're to get those foals back."

"Speaking of the kidnapped foals," Nala trekked over and joined her husband and son, "Beshte mentioned something about a 'negotiation'… What's that about?"

"Janja is holding the zebra foals hostage," Kion explained, "He wants to negotiate about allowing him and his hyena gangs to enter parts of the Prideland in order to hunt, though knowing him he'll do much worse than that…"

Simba shook his head. "I will not give in to such cruel methods…"

"But what about the foals?" asked Nala, "Kion, do you know where Janja's holding them?"

The cub nodded. "In a cave, somewhere deep in the Elephant Graveyard."

Simba was taken back at this.

Nala hardened her look. "Kion, listen… the Elephant Graveyard lies beyond our borders. Once there, you'll have no authority over any other animal in the kingdom, and it's basically a free for all… It's very dangerous…"

"I know, Mom," said Kion, "We'll be careful, I promise."

Simba lowered his head. "Kion… I-"

"Hey Kion!"

The lion king was cut off by Bunga's excited shout, as the rest of the Lion Guard came trotting up Pride Rock towards the den. "Rafiki's finished with Chaku," said the honey-badger, "What say we grab the other hyena and we make a little visit to the elephant graveyard?"

Kion smirked and nodded. "Good idea. Lion Guard-!"

"Kion!"

The cub froze in his tracks as his father called sharply to him, as if he was in trouble. Cringing, he looked back to Simba, expecting him to be upset, but was confused when Simba was showing an expression of worry. "Dad..?"

"Kion… You musn't go."

Kion raised an eyebrow. "I shouldn't? With all due respect, Dad, you do know about the young foals Janja's holding hostage, right?"

Simba narrowed his eyes. "Yes, I do… And I also know, like your mother said, that the Elephant Graveyard is most dangerous. I know you're the leader of the guard, son, but you're also still just a cub."

"Daaaad," Kion moaned, "Come on, I'm not that young."

"I know you can handle tasks around the kingdom," Simba continued, "But the Elephant Graveyard is out of your league. I'll send stronger lions in your place."

"Dad, come on!" Kion protested, stepping forward, "You're embarrassing me in front of my team! Why don't you trust me all the sudden?"

"This isn't about trust, Kion!" Simba suddenly shouted, a roar almost slipping out, "This is about your safety! You may be the lion guard, but you're still my son, and you're the only son I have! I don't want to lose you!"

Kion was quiet at that. Was the Elephant Graveyard really that dangerous..?

"Simba…" Nala cut in gently, "I understand your worry. I'm worried too… But Kion isn't a naïve cub who just wants to show how brave he is. He's got a duty, and you know that he'll fulfill that duty no matter the cost. You know as well as I do, and he does, what we put on the line to ensure the safety and well-being of our subjects."

Simba glanced away. "I know…" he muttered, "It's just… the last time you and I were at the Elephant Graveyard…"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Bunga held his hands up, "YOU two went to the Elephant Graveyard one time?"

The king nodded. "Yes, Bunga… Nala and I were young cubs looking for adventure, and we were almost killed… had my father not shown up to save us. Needless to say it wasn't our proudest moment."

"You can't let one bad memory hinder decisions though, Dad," said Kion.

"It's not that we misbehaved or that your grandfather was disappointed with me that day," said Simba, "It's the fact that I almost got your mother and myself killed… The fear we both experienced, knowing how close we were to death… Kion, I don't want you to go through those fears either. Worse yet… I'm afraid I may lose you."

Kion lowered his head. "I understand, Dad," he spoke, "Really I do… But if I don't do my duty and face whatever danger is ahead, then what's the point of my ancestors giving me The Roar?"

Nala smiled. "He's got you there, Simba," she said, "Remember… Bravery isn't about not being scared. It's being scared, but going through anyway. And I know you're the one of the bravest lions I've ever known."

Simba closed his eyes, mulling it over. He finally gave a long sigh. "Very well," he sighed, "But promise me you'll be careful!"

Kion grinned. "Don't worry, Dad," he assured, "I've the guard to back me up!"

"Just always remember to keep your guard up at all times," said Simba, "Don't get cocky… And above all else, come back safe!"

"I will!" Kion called, as he and his team ran off together, "'Till the Pride Lands' end…!"

"Lion Guard defend!" the rest cheered.

...

With the exception of Chaku and Asante, all the characters were ones who appeared in the actual "Lion Guard" cartoon. Asante, however, was a hyena in the Lion King novels, who was basically a kind hyena, not like the others... the idea of her being Shenzi's daughter was from a deviantArt pic I came across once which stated such headcanon, and I went with it XD

Chaku is a hyena that I made up, as well as the fact that he is Banzai's son.

More to come! Stay tuned!