"Kion. Kion, are you still with us?" The Leader of the Lion Guard recognized that voice, but the mist of slumber had not fully cleared from his eyes. When it finally did, the speaker's identity became rather difficult to discern. He certainly looked like a lot like Mufasa at a glance, and his voice was certainly deep and booming enough to send a reverb through the living world.
However, looking past a glance revealed that the bright gold fur and red mane that contained a powerful build were the only things this lion had in common with Scar's predecessor. "Good, you're conscious. Welcome to the realm of the Spirits." This lion said in a fatherly tone of voice, but to Kion it just sounded really wrong coming from him. The vicious, arrogant air this lion projected was almost palpable, and the ice-blue eyes staring into his soul did nothing to help matters. "Who… Who are you? You aren't Haru at all, and you certainly aren't Mufasa."
At this, the lion frowned in disapproval. "My son didn't tell you before he sent you to me? Well, if you can't tell who I am…" The lion closed his eyes, before continuing his words. "… Perhaps this will enlighten you." As soon as he opened his eyes, Kion immediately knew who he was. The blank, bloodshot right eye told him everything he needed to know. "You… You're…" Kion was stunned; he had seen Haru, Mufasa and even Ahadi a few times in his dreams, but never had he seen Iago's father.
"That's right, Kion. I am Caesar, the Blood King. Hold your applause until the end." This preening attitude irked Kion when Damu did it in the waking world, so he surely was annoyed by Blood's showy display. However, if he was anything like Iago, so much as criticizing him could earn a problem he was not in the mood to deal with at the moment. He wanted answers right now.
"Iago was banished from the Pridelands, and if he was able to inject your presence into my dreams-" Blood picked right up on this. "That's right, Kion. You jumped-up border guards have to sleep sometime, after all. You can't defend your precious little circle of life in your sleep." Kion growled at this, a mortal growl that was nonetheless intimidating due to it coming from an adult male. With that growl, Kion noticed that he wasn't reduced to a cub as he normally would be in this realm, and upon noticing this he stood his full height and puffed out his chest. "But, your weakling son is about to find out why I'm the Fiercest in the Pridelands." However, Blood simply narrowed his eyes, his bloodshot eye glowing with power.
"Don't waste your time. It's not like you're going to catch him, and even if you had the speed of that bitch-cheetah you'd still be unable to hold him down once he teleports away from you. You're gonna have to play my little game." Blood said, his voice becoming cockier with each breath. Kion faced up to him, his teeth bared. "How many?" He growled out. Blood raised an eyebrow. "How many what?" This monster legitimately was confused as to what Kion meant, so the living lion elaborated.
"How many have you murdered?! How many lives have you destroyed!?" The ethereal power of the Spirits leaked into his voice, to which Blood laughed. "Do you keep count of the prey you eat? Do you ask those skanks how many innocent lambs they have slaughtered to feed you and the ingrates you call family?" Hearing his family be insulted by this evil lion caused his arms to tense, until Blood continued his words. "You and Chumvi really are alike. I guess everyone who has had that damned Roar would be, eh?"
That one took Kion by surprise. "Chumvi? In possession of the Roar? He was never a member of the royal family." Kion said, though he at times swore Chumvi was Kovu's real father. They looked enough alike, that much was certain. Blood's vicious, skull-like grin was all the confirmation to the contrary Kion needed, but the vicious lion felt it necessary. "Wow, Rafiki and Sarabi have really kept you out of the loop, haven't they?" Kion became incensed at hearing his dead grandmother's integrity get called into question, and leapt right for the offending Spirit, his claws fully bared and gleaming white with power.
At least at first, he thought it was his claws. Pretty soon, the flash of power was revealed to be a portal into a different world, and Kion found himself crashing into said world. He was pretty sure he'd feel that when he woke up, but right now, he could focus on that. Instead, he looked around to figure out where Blood had fled.
"Come out and fight like a lion!" Kion roared out, but he noticed that the Pride was gathered under a great tree. Well, not the Pride as he knew it; rather, this was a different Pride, even though he was definitely in the Pridelands. There seemed to be a general sense of panic as these unfamiliar lionesses looked up into the tree. They didn't seem to care at all about the fact that there was a pungent scent indicating hyenic presence, and when Kion looked into the tree himself, he could see why. And he could now understand why the lionesses of the Pride seemed different.
In that tree, dangling from the highest branch, was a bright yellow cub holding on for dear life. Kion recognized this from one of Rafiki's paintings; it was the day his maternal grandfather had been chased up a tree by hyenas. As Kion processed his temporal location, he wondered why Blood chose to send him here. He didn't have long to ponder this, however.
"You!" An unseen feminine voice cried out from behind the great lion, and only as he felt a paw grip his shoulder did he realize that he was not only tangible in this realm, but that the speaker was none other than Queen Uru. Kion gasped. "I… You…" He stammered out, but Uru was quicker of wit. "These are the Pridelands, rogue. You have some nerve to waltz into my kingdom and threaten the cubs of my pride." Her voice was smooth, and almost seductive sounding if not for how much ferocity her words held. Kion shook his mind loose, and with it his ability to speak.
"Wait, no! I'm not a rogue! I…" Kion's stammering defense was interrupted by someone more calm and collected than he at the moment. "Uru, the hyenas chased Makoto into the tree, not this rogue. In fact, I'm just now seeing him for the first time." The Keenest of Sight in his day vouched for Kion's innocence, and the displaced lion sighed in relief. However, it was at this moment that Kion was able to get a good look at Uru's left shoulder. And the lionhead mark upon it. "Wait, are you-" Kion didn't have time to finish.
"I'll deal with you in a moment, rogue. Step aside." Uru said as she more pushed through Kion than went around him. He could only look on at the other four members of what he knew was the Lion Guard of this day; the subordinate members were all present.
Kujivu the Bravest, Nagumu the Strongest, Joto the Fastest, and Kweli the Keenest of Sight; the one that had vouched for Kion's innocence in his own terse way. However, it took Kion to register the identity of who would have had to be the Fiercest. Only as he heard Uru lead the courage-building chant of the Lion Guard did he finally get it.
"You have your orders, now stick to them. Till the Pridelands end…" She led, and the four males followed. "Lion Guard Defend!" They said as they ran off to where the rest of the Pride had gathered. Kion started after them, until Uru put her clawed paw right on his jugular, stopping him dead in his tracks. He was unsure of what would happen if he died in his dreams, but he didn't want to find out at this moment.
"Who are you? Are you in league with these poachers?!" She forcefully demanded, and with that attitude there was no question as to who the Fiercest of her day had been. Kion backed down a bit, hoping to dissuade her from violence. "I'm new here. I'm kind of trying to figure out what's going on myself." That at least was the truth, and Uru could sense that. "Hmph. Fine. Who are you?" She asked, and Kion almost mindlessly gave her his real name, until he remembered that he was tangible at this point. And could probably affect his surroundings as much as they could affect him.
"Umm. I'm Kamoso." He had considered that name for his own cub, should he want one in the future. But he felt it perfectly described his situation. For Uru's part, she simply raised her eyebrows. "Kamoso, eh? Well, I'll tell you what's to come. You're going to answer a few questions once I get back. Don't go anywhere, unless you can get past my team." She said as she darted off.
During that entire conversation, Kion had missed the fact that Makoto had already been rescued by the Lion Guard. Or, rather, as he was now discovering, the subordinate members of the Guard and who he had remembered was Ahadi had managed to save the hapless cub. Before Kion could form any further questions to ask, the world began to fade into mist.
And as he opened his eyes to the waking world, his questions metastasized into a burning curiosity for answers.