"Beshte! Bunga! Ono! Fuli! Where are you guys!?" Kion shouted at the top of his lungs inside the rocky and ominously quiet Outlands. He slowly paced through the unknown territory, swinging his head left to right warily. He scoffed, "Stupid Janja! Why did he and his clan have to scatter like that?"

The Lion Guard were chasing Janja and his clan due to them, once again, trespassing on Prideland territory. Although, stealing prey normally, they just kind of stood around almost as if they wanted to get caught. Even stranger, when the guard showed up, they instantly fled. Yeah, hyenas aren't normally the bravest animals, but the clan usually at least tries to fight. Why would they just run away like that? Did they want to get us lost in here? The more the young leader thought about it, the more the twisted feeling of dread he felt. He shook his head to get away from the dubious thoughts.

Kion jumped over a few boulders shouting, "C'mon guys! We have to regroup or-"

A few pebbles loosened from a rock wall, causing Kion to squeak in surprise and instantly get into a defensive crouch. Once he saw the pebbles, he just groaned inwardly, but still stayed on guard. He finished, "Or we might end up getting amb-AH!"

Right as soon as he took one step forward, a chunk of the boulder he was on gave way and set him tumbling down a curved, steep slope. He desperately tried to grab onto a ledge or something, but his legs were flailing around too much as his body rolled and bashed into the ground. His tumbling act ended when the hill turned more into a sheer drop. He screamed, "No! No! N-"

His screaming got caught off when he dropped on his side onto a flat rock. The only sound the came out was a yelp as he got the wind knocked out of him. It didn't take long for an excruciating, throbbing pain to course through his body. He took slow, shallow breaths as he slowly lost consciousness from the pain. The only thing he saw was a blurry figure with seemingly concerned eyes. Wait...con...cerned….

Slowly, the young leader blinked his eyes open, slightly wincing at the light. A voice echoed in his head, "Hey! You alright?"

Kion didn't respond, only lazily blinked his eyes and groaned. That's funny. That voice sounded weirdly...close, he thought, trying to close his eyes and let unconsciousness wave over him again. At least that would've happened, if something didn't splash water on him. The young cub coughed and sputtered, finally fully awake. He turned to glare at the figure, but instead was stunned to see another lion cub like him. Well, not exactly like him.

This lion cub had auburn fur, creamy brown paws, muzzle, and underbelly; he also had a tuft of dark brown fur in his head and elbows. The cub's dark green eyes held a bit of relief when Kion fully awoken. The cub sighed, "You're awake! Finally!"

The Outlander jokingly added, "It was getting kind of boring just staring at you."

Kion felt a flush of embarrassment and a bit of panic when the dark cub said he was staring at him. Why did did he just watch me? Is he planning something? Kion immediately pushed those thoughts away. The cub looked about the same age as him and it didn't seem like he would be up to anything. Seem.

The young leader's thoughts got interrupted when he heard a thump in front of him. He looked down and saw a hare carcass and a chunk of bark with some murky water in it. Cautiously, he leaned forward and sniffed the skinny carcass. He didn't see it, but he sensed an eye roll from the cub. The darker cub scoffed, "Tch! Why in all of Africa would I poison you after I just saved you?"

Kion was about to apologize until he heard the other snarkily put in, "Heh! Who would've thought Pridelanders would be so edgy?"

The Pridelander snarled, "Why shouldn't I be edgy!? I don't know who you are! Plus, for all I know, you could be working for Janja!"

The cub just stared blankly at him and asked, "Uh...who's Janja?"

"You don't know Janja or any other hyenas?" Kion asked whilst eating the hare, hating at how stringy it is and wondering how the cub kept looking so well nourished in this wasteland. The cub just shrugged. "The only animals I've seen-besides prey-have been me and my pride."

The Pridelander just nodded, quickly finishing his small meal in a few gulps. Feeling immediately parched, he bent his head down into the bark, took one lap of the water, and gagged. The latter just chuckled at his reaction. Kion glared at him, thinking that he expected that from him. The darker cub excused, "Yeah, sorry about that. It's not our fault that we don't have many clean watering holes like your beloved Pridelands."

Kion didn't say anything while he slowly lapped up the water, but he did throw contemptuous glares at the Outlander. Of course, he hated that he spoke so scornfully of the Pridelands, although, what he said next was worse. "That dumb king and his demands! Maybe if he tried being reasonable and stop pretending that everything in nature revolves around him, then maybe that 'circle of life' of his won't be so damn chaotic and he'd actually get stuff done!"

Okay! That's it! Kion immediately, shakily stood up and stomped away from the now confused cub. Instantly, the cub began shouting for him to come back and, regrettably, thought that he should turn back due to every muscle shrieking in pain. The young leader shook his head and hissed, "I don't know why even thought that! He has no right to talk about my father that way, even if he doesn't know that he's my father."

Hearing fast pawsteps behind him, Kion tried to quicken his pace as much as his exhausted and battered body can. The Outlander ran up to Kion until he was matching his pace and panted, "Look, I...didn't think...you w-would...get offended."

The brighter cub mocked, "Oh, yeah, a Pridelander getting upset over someone badmouthing where they live and their king? So weird, right?"

"Okay, alright, I deserved that," the darker cub admitted. He suddenly looked concerned when Kion's pace started faltering and his form started shaking. The cub pressed his larger body up against Kion, noticing the other's disdain. The cub cautioned, "You may want to slow down. You're still hurt pretty badly, you'll tire yourself out."

"I-I don't…need…your," Kion stopped trudging, trying to catch his breath and ignore the agonizing pain. As he started slumping more on the Outlander, in an amazing feat of strength, the other cub shuffled Kion onto his back. The darker cub chuckled but not mockingly, "Ha! Yeah, you do."

The young leader would've gawked at the cub's strength, but he was too fatigued to even speak. However, he did send the darker cub a questionable stare when he noticed the cub start walking in a random direction. The cub caught on and explained, "Oh! I'm just taking you to my pride," he felt Kion shiver and quickly reassured, "Don't worry; I'll put you in a place they won't find you. I'll make sure you're safe."

Kion just hummed, feeling to tired to argue that he's not a newborn and doesn't need be talked to as such. As his eyelids started drooping, the cub started, "By the way, my name's Kovu. What's-"

Kion didn't hear the rest as he fell into a languid sleep.

Is it weird that I had more fun writing this than We Aren't So Different? I mean, I had fun writing it, but at the same time I didn't want to screw up Scar's character in that, so it was also difficult. It's so easy to mess him up. Just like how I hope I didn't screw up Kovu's. Also, this is a definite continue. I already started writing the next chapter! And, here, I just wanted this to be a one-shot. Not sure how it's gonna end though, so, be prepared. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this! Any criticism is welcomed by the way. Please leave a review if you want more!

Disclaimer: If I owned Lion King, I would've put Lion Guard on Disney XD and not Disney Junior!