Kion was out by the Watering Hole. He lay by the water, his amber eyes staring deeply into the water. His reflection showed the uneasy expression he bore. He couldn't tell what it was, but he had a bad feeling that something was happening, or was going to happen.
"Kion!" He heard a voice shout, which, when he turned around, he saw belonged to his egret friend, Ono. "There's trouble at the border!"
"What is it, Ono?" He asked, a hint of worry in his voice.
"It's Fuli! She's been ambushed by the hyenas!"
"Lead the way!" He followed his friend to the borders, where they saw their most bothersome enemies. Janna stood in the centre, staring with an evil grin, while Cheezi and Chung looked manic. "Janja! Where's Fuli? Tell me now!"
"Why, Kion! She's right here."
He stepped aside, and the sight that lay before him caused a part of Kion to break. His cheetah friend, Fuli, was strewn on the floor, her body beaten and drenched in her blood. Her eyes were open, almost staring in Kion's direction, but there was no life of them- without a doubt, she was dead.
"No! Fuli!" Ono shouted, flying over to her. "Fuli! You have to get up! Fuli!" He nudged her a couple of times, desperate for her to start moving, but she wouldn't; she couldn't. "You'll pay for this, Janja! Let's go, Kion! We need to get the king!" He started to fly off, but Kion wasn't following him. "Kion?"
While the hyenas laughed at what they had done, Kion was stood still, trembling as his tears flooded to the ground and his head hung down. Something inside of him hadn't just broken- it had snapped.
"Kion," a voice spoke in his head, "look at what you've done. And all because you couldn't save her." Kion could tell who this voice belonged to- Scar, his great uncle, the former king in Simba's absence, and the leader of the former Lion Guard. "You should have done something. And you still can. They did this to her. THEY killed her. You want them to have the same fate as her. Use your rage. Kill them, like they killed her! DO IT!"
Kion couldn't fight his rage. He looked up as his body shook vigorously. His expression was almost demonically angry as he stared at Janja, prompting him and his goons to go quiet. The white in his eyes turned a deep, blood red, while his irises went from amber to the darkest shade of black imaginable. His fur was standing on end, and his muscles were tensed. The symbol on his shoulder glowed a deep, dark red as he dug his claws into the ground. His voice was emitting a low, deep, vicious growl as he bore his fangs at the hyenas.
"You did this! You monsters!" he yelled, Scar's voice almost echoing within his own. "You don't deserve to live. You! Will! PAY!"
He unleashed a roar so vigorous, so powerful, so uncontrollable that the hyenas were sent flying into orbit. Not only were they sent away, but the ground in front of him began to break away. Trees were blown out of the ground, rock formations crumbled away, tremors cracked and destroyed the ground. But he couldn't be stopped. This roar, unlike his usual Roar of the Elders, was full of hatred and anger, and it didn't just affect the immediate area in front of him, but sent out a force in every direction that began to destroy the whole world.
"Kion!" Ono cried, trying to resist the force of the roar. "You have to stop! You're going to destroy everything!" But it was too late. Kion had been engulfed by this darker side of him. He couldn't resist the force and was blown away by the roar. "KION!"
Kion had lost all control, and as the world around him broke away, Fuli's limp body was the last thing he saw before the roar itself engulfed him.
/
"NO!" Kion screamed as he woke up. He looked around, his heart racing, his body sweating, his eyes teary and his breathing heavy. Once he realised he was in Pride Rock, he started calmed down, but couldn't fully do so. The vivid nightmare was stuck in his mind.
"Kion!" his mother, Nala, called as she approached him. "What's the matter? You're going to wake everyone up!"
He wanted to tell her about his nightmare; how much it had hurt to see his best friend die; how he lost control; but he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to talk about it.
"I have to go," he told her, "I need to take care of something." With this, he ran out.
"Kion!" she shouted, but to no avail. "Come back!"
He never heard her. He just ran straight to where it had begun- the watering hole. The night sky would have been pitch black, but the stars and the full moon lit up the sky and reflected in the water. He took a drink, then held his head under the water. He pulled it out, gasping. His breathing was still heavy, his body was shaking, and his eyes were teary. He stared into his reflection- could Scar possibly be a part of him? Did he really have the capability to do what he had imagined himself doing just moments ago? Is that how he would react if Fuli truly died?
"Kion?" He froze, the one voice he hoped to hear was speaking to him. "What are you doing here?" Slowly, he turned his head and saw Fuli approaching him. He may not have been as keen of sight as Ono, and it may have been near pitch black out, but her eyes were so bright, he could see them clear as day. "I wasn't expecting to see you out this late. I just needed something to drink." She leant down to have a drink, but when she straightened back up, she saw he was staring at her, not having moved an inch since he saw her. "Kion? Are you okay? You don't look so good."
"F-F-Fuli," he stuttered, his tears rolling like a river.
"Kion, you're scaring me now. You look like you've seen a ghost. Are you okay, or should I-"
He rushed forward, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. His tears streamed down his face and onto her back, matting her fur. She just stood there, shocked beyond belief as he began to sob.
"Thank goodness you're alright," he cried in a whisper, "don't ever leave. I can't ever lose you. I will never lose you. I need you, Fuli. Please. Don't go."
"K-Kion," she gasped, gently rubbing his back as she returned the hug, "I'm not going anywhere. Why would I ever leave? Kion, talk to me. I'm your friend, you can do that."
"I-I thought tha-that Janja had k-killed you. I-I lost control, destroyed e-everything. I thought I had lost you."
"Kion, it was only a dream. I'm not dead, I'm right here. You could never lose me."
"I thought that I was turning into," he gulped to stop from choking on his words, "into Scar. His voice caused me to lose control. My anger isn't consumed me. I don't want that to happen, I-I can't be like him."
She wasn't sure how to react to this- her best friend, a broken-down mess. Part of her wanted to cry too, but she chose against it and stayed strong. She smiled, deciding that he needed a friend now, and that was what she would be.
"Shh," she hushed in a soothing tone, "it's okay, no need to cry anymore. It's over. And you are nothing like Scar, and could never be anything like him. You're kind, and sweet, and caring. You're brave, true and good. I feel safe around you. You could never lose me- you wouldn't let that happen."
He sniffed as he looked back at her, smiling. "Thanks, Fuli." They broke the hug and he cleared up his tears. "I needed that."
"Of course. Just don't get used to hugging me." He chuckled at this. "You okay now?" He nodded. "Okay. Get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Wait. Is there any chance you could, erm…"
"Yes?"
"Could you… stay over at Pride Rock, just for tonight?"
"Gee, I dunno, Kion."
"It'd make me feel better, knowing you're safe." She looked at his hopeful face, and couldn't resist how cute it was, so she sighed and nodded. "Thanks. We should probably get going, since it's late and my mother will probably be waiting for me."
They walked back, side by side, to Pride Rock. When they got there, Nala saw Kion enter, so she was going to run up to him and ask where he had been, but she saw Fuli was with him, so she just smiled and stayed silent. Kion lay down to go to sleep first, and then Fuli did the same, leaving a little space between them. She fell asleep, but woke up again when she felt a head rest on top of hers, and a paw rest on her back. Normally, she felt uncomfortable in such an embrace, but something about this just felt warm and natural and comforting, so she nestled her head under his chin, tickling his fur with her breath as she settled to sleep in Kion's embrace. Nala simply looked on as Kion lay there with the girl he cared about, and went back to sleep, allowing the two to stay like that.
/
The next morning, when Nala awoke, she saw that most of the other lions were already up and had headed outside. Kion, however, was still asleep, and more surprisingly, so was Fuli. She smiled warmly at how natural it looked for the two of them to be together in one embrace.
"Nala?" she heard Simba ask, as he stared at the two cubs. "How come Fuli spent the night? I don't remember Kion ever asking."
"It was kind of a last minute surprise," she explained, not shifting her gaze or altering her expression, "he woke up in the middle of the night screaming and went out. And when he came back, she came with him. They must have spent the whole night like that."
"Should we wake them up?"
"No. They were up late, let them rest. Besides, they're cute together like that, We shouldn't disturb them."
Simba chuckled. "If you say so."
He walked out of the cave, Nala following soon after. Shortly after, Fuli woke up. Kion could feel her moving, so he woke up too. When he saw how he was positioned, he got off of her and smiled at her.
"Good morning," she told him, smiling back while she stretched and got up.
"Good morning," he replied. "Thanks for staying late night. I really needed a friend."
"It's okay, really." She yawned. "We should get going, the others are probably already up."
"You're right." They began to make there way out of Pride Rock. "You know, you can always come back here if you like, spend the night again."
"Kion."
"I'm just giving you the offer."
She didn't know why, but she smiled at the idea of that. "I'll keep that in mind."
