"Lion Guard!" Kion's cry wet unanswered. The half-grown lion frowned and paused with a forepaw raised, ears pricked to catch any sound of his team. Where were they? He wished he hadn't detoured to let his father know what was happening and had stayed with them now.
"Come on guys, what happened?" Kion tracked through the empty canyon uneasily, worry for the others making him startled at every little crunch or rattle. The Lion Guard had been on the trail Janja and his clan, and Kion was really getting worried this whole thing had been a setup. But how could Janja have gotten the better of the Guard?
He grew more worried when dusk fell, unable to appreciate even the beauty of the burning sunset. There was no sound or scent of the others, or Janja, and Kion knew that he had to face facts. The hyenas had somehow captured his friends.
"Don't get too comfortable Janja, I'm coming for them!" Vowed the determined young lion, shaking back the red strands of mane that had begun to grow in around his neck and face.
Investigating a dead-end tunnel in the canyon wall, he was surprised when he emerged to scent another lion. He was close enough to the Outlands that it made him tense up, but although he had never caught this lion's scent before, it didn't raise any alarm. There was something almost familiar to it. When he heard the barest trace of soft pawstep he whirled to face it, telling himself to stay calm as he sniffed the air - the other lion was somewhere in the shadows to his right, though it was too dark to make out any details. "I know you're there." Kion stated, feeling the security of the ancestors behind him. He was never alone, even cut off from his team.
"Your senses are sharp, Kion. As befits the leader of the Lion Guard." Kion almost jumped at the voice. The other lion was a male - and older than Kion was from the sounds of it. He was sure he'd never heard this voice before but there was something reassuring in its depths.
"This isn't the time for compliments." Kion replied sharply. "Who are you?"
"You're right - there isn't time. I'll explain, but we need to get to your friends, they're in trouble. This way - follow me!"
Kion saw a golden-brown tail tuft flash in the faint starlight, and he had a split second to decide weather to trust the other lion. He took a deep breath and followed.

When they reached the trapped Guard, a fierce battle was taking place, more hyenas than Kion could remember seeing massed against the Guard. Letting out a roar of anger he leaped into the fray, the other male was right at his side, and though Kion's attention was primarily on reaching his teammates, he was aware of how easily he and the other lion fell into step together - bating hyenas into each other's blows, covering each others backs, even though it was so dark he could barely see. "We need to get to them! I can't use the roar, my friends might be in the way!"
"I'm with you Kion!" And they fought through, together.
Ono had been brought to the ground and lay in a crumpled mass of feathers, Fuli standing over him, snarling, badly wounded by a deep bite wound to her shoulder. Beshte was stuck under a writhing mass of hyenas - and most worrying, Bunga wasn't anywhere to be seen. "Lion Guard, I'm here!" Kion roared, and bowled a hyena head over tail with a mighty blow from his forepaw. Another raced to attack his side but the mystery lion covered him, taking care of first one then the next attacker, so Kion could reach his team.
"Retreat!" Came Janja's pained cry at last, and as they ran and Kion frantically nosed at Fuli, the voice of the mystery lion rang out. "Help the others Kion! I'll chase them away. We'll meet again..."
Fuli got to her paws groggily, Ono opening his eyes and hopping onto her shoulder, perching with one foot held up. "Kion, thank goodness you found us." He sighed and Fuli swung her head anxiously around in the darkness. "Bunga... he... Beshte, did you get to him?"
"I got to him." The hippo's voice was oddly strangled. "But I was too late."
Kion let out a hoarse cry of disbelief. Beshte moved aside, showing what he'd been standing over - he'd been trying to keep the hyena pack off of Bunga, who's neck had been badly bitten, his head lolling at a dejected angle. There was no doubt - he was dead.
"This is war." Kion felt a bleak rage seize him. "They've done terrible things before, but killing one of the Lion Guard is the last thing they'll ever do." He turned to face his team, planting his forepaws firmly. "We're driving the hyenas out."

A/N - So I had this idea for the Lion Guard, this is the start of the lead-in to the Lion King 2 timeline and what the Guard will be doing during the movie's events. Chronologically I see Kion as being 2 years old here. The reality is going to be a whole lot grimmer than the series as the war sets in, as you can tell here form Bunga's death (He's my least favourite member of the Guard so he was first to go) so expect more of the same harshness as Kion struggles to adjust to adulthood.