The sun rose slowly over the Pridelands, the blue color nearly covering the stars in the sky. The Zebra, Buffalo, Cantaloupe, and all the residence within the land slowly woke from their slumber, they stretched their bodies and readied themselves for the suns rays to warm their skin and fur. Some slept in just in time for rude awakenings. The cold blooded animals kept themselves frozen until the rays envelope them in a warm welcome. And the fliers, ever eager, spread their wings and took off to the skies greeting the lands a wonderful tune. It was a peaceful morning as always. Suddenly, a mighty roar faintly echoed across the Pridelands which either kept the animals on alert, or spooked them into a little frenzy. Many distances away, a large cloud, which resembled roaring lions, formed above a young cub with a small brown mane trained back on his head. The young cubs roar sent a booming wave close to the waterhole, where multiple hyenas got blown away by the strength. The leader of the invading hyena clan groaned as he struggled to stand, "that Kion," he grumbled. He turned and glared at the advancing cub and his friends behind him, "Janja," said Kion, leader of the lion guard, "I'll give you one last chance."

"Don't think this'll be the last Kion. For the Pridelands and for the lion guard," growled Janja and led his clan away.

Kion looked up and signaled for the Egret, Ono, to keep track of the hyenas. Ono agreed and flew off in the direction the towards the Outlands.

"Good job team!" said the honey badger named Bunga. He yawned and continued, "well, I think I'm ready to get some shut eye, I can't believe we stayed up the whole night just to watch a bunch of hyenas,"

"Same here little B," said a hippo named Beshte.

The rest of the guard agreed and seperated. Kion smiled and headed towards Pride Rock with his body at ease and his mind wearied.

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssss

Making his way towards the den, he bumped into his sister Kiara, the future Queen of the Pridelands. Seeing the concern on her face, Kion shook himself from his sleepy state and asked, "Kiara, something wrong? Weren't you suppose to go practice tracking with mom today?"

"Father doesn't want the two of us running around the lands. Zazu said something weird is going on and father and mother went to check on it," said Kiara as she washed her face, "it's a good thing you came back when you did."

"I sure hope mom and dad are okay," worried the young male as he padded to the side of the cave, curled up, and slowly fell into a deep slumber.

The den is empty and quiet, with only the light of the entrance to keep him company. A small breeze brushed his fur, and the light outside grew ever brighter. The sound of the gentle wind carried a familiar yet haunting sound, "Kion, Kion," a voice said, repeating his name. The young cub began breathing heavily, clutching his teeth and growling. The light grew brighter and brighter, forcing Kion to open his eyes and shielding them with his paws, "w-what? What is it? What do you want?"

The voice repeated his name again, louder and louder as the wind grew stronger and stronger, "stop!" Kion shouted in fear as the light began slowly enveloping him. Immediately, his eyes flew open and he stood panting heavily. He swiftly glanced around the den nearly filled with lionesses staring at him. It was all a dream? Kion thought. He smiled at the other lionesses and ran out of the den towards the point of the rock. His heart pumped ordinarily as he scanned the Pridelands. Kion stared up at the late afternoon sky and sighed feeling relieved, but not shaking out the thought of his dream, Grandfather, were you reaching me?

Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

"Fuli! Beshte! Ono!"

"We're on it Kion!"

A few days have passed since the dream. During the late morning, a rumble in the lands, caused by a herd of spooked zebras, caused trouble for neighboring animals that the zebras were grazing in.

Fuli the Cheetah darted around a small herd of zebra, leading them to Beshte and Ono who tried calming the other half of the herd. Kion and his friend Bunga, tried to set a young zebra free from a net. They gnawed at the ropes until it divided. Soon the young zebra was free and ran along to join its herd. The rest of the lion guard came back and formed a circle around the weird contraption, "what is this thing? I've never seen it before in my life," said Fuli, swiping at it with her paw.

"It tasted nasty too, yuck!" said Bunga, "I wonder what tree this grows out of."

"It doesn't grow out of anything."

The guard turned to the sound of the voice. A bigger lion, the king of the Pridelands, Simba, and a group of lionesses padded towards them and stopped at the net, "lion guard, good work," said Simba, smiling and nodding to Kion and the others, "we'll take it from here. Kion, you and the others should go home immediately."

"Dad, what's going on? the herds of the Pridelands have been like this for days and many of the other animals have either been injured or died mysteriously."

"Now is not the time Kion," Simba gestured some of the lionesses to check the parameters. He himself scanned the area, then turned to the guard, "lion guard, head home and be extra vigilant to your surroundings."

"But dad-"

"NOW son," Simba growled, waiting for them to move.

Kion sighed in defeat and signaled for his friends to part. The cub glanced up at his father before heading towards Pride Rock with a lioness to escort him. He stopped and looked back at Simbas group with a worried look upon his face. A chilling feeling ran up his spine, something is definitely wrong, and the guard is going to find out what it is.