Chapter 4: Lured

"IT'S A TRAP! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! CALL THE CAVALRY! SOMEBODY HELP!"

Zazu's frantic squawks echoed throughout Pride Rock, attracting the attention of Kiara, Kovu and the other Lionesses who immediately rushed towards the hysterical hornbill to see what was going on.

"Zazu, what happened?!" Kiara gasped when she saw the bleeding gash that sliced across the hornbill's breast, drenching his once brilliant-white feathers with his own blood.

"THEY'VE GOT THEM! WE WERE SURROUNDED! IT WAS AN AMBUSH! SOMEONE GET THE CAVALRY!" Zazu continued his wailing and was seemingly oblivious of his own injury.

Kion and Fuli entered the Lair just in time to see all the Lions gathering around the injured Zazu, who kept on squawking in his hysterical state.

"Hey, what's going on?" Kion inquired as he approached them.

Hearing Kion's voice, Zazu stopped his cries and immediately hopped towards the Lion, leaving a trail of his own blood along the way. "Oh, Master Kion, I'm so sorry! They tried to fight them off… but there was just too many of them and… and…"

"Zazu, what are you talking about?" Kion sternly asked, who was just as baffled as the other Lions.

Zazu paused to take a deep breath and managed to continue in a much calmer tone. "It's your parents, Kion. I accompanied them on their visit to the Elephant Territories as was my rightful duty, but it turned out that Ma Tembo isn't dying! She and the other Elephants are being held hostage by hyenas and vultures!"

A deafening silence erupted throughout the Lair as the Lions began staring at each other in disbelief upon hearing this piece of information.

"What about our parents? Are they okay?!" Kiara anxiously asked with tearing eyes, breaking the surrounding silence.

"I'm so sorry, your Highness. The King and Queen, they fought hard, they truly did… but it was just the three of us against twenty hyenas and fifteen vultures! And... and, well…"

"Zazu… I need to know from you, are my parents still alive?" Kion slowly asked, holding his breath to prepare for the worst possible news he might ever hear in his life.

Zazu gulped nervously and was noticeably at a loss of words. "I'm… I'm so sorry, Master Kion, I'm not too sure. I was chased by Mzingo the Vulture during the entire ambush, but last I saw the King and Queen… they were lying on the ground after Mzingo's cronies dropped some stones on them in an aerial attack. I err… I'm not sure, sire, if your parents were unconscious or…"

He couldn't bring himself to continue his sentence, knowing it will only add more disparity to the situation. All around the den, the Lions' were in a state of shock after hearing the tragic news. The Lionesses were murmuring amongst themselves on what was going to happen next while Kiara tearfully buried her muzzle against Kovu's shoulder, who was also struggling to hold back his tears. Kion let out a sigh, trying to accept the news. As devastated as he was, he knew that the injured Zazu was his priority at the moment. He turned to call out one of the lionesses. "Nuru. Please go out there and get Rafiki, tell him that Zazu here is injured and needs his assistance." The lioness nodded and promptly left the den without saying a word. Kion looked down when he felt Zazu tugging on one of his paw. "Excuse me, Master Kion, I appreciate your concern for my well-being, but… I really have to ask you, what are we going to do now?" The room fell silent once again as all eyes were now focused on Kion.

"We're going to the Elephant Territories and we're going to bring back the King and Queen. I don't care what Zazu said, I still have faith that my parents are still alive and we're going to bring them back here no matter what. If the Hyenas and Vultures are still out there, so be it. They want a fight, we'll give them a war," he said solemnly, surprising everyone in the den with his rather bold statement.

He turned to face the fastest member of the Guard. "Fuli, I need you to get the rest of the Guard here now. Tell them we're leaving for the Elephant Territories in ten minutes." Fuli didn't like the idea of resorting to violence as a solution, but she knew it wasn't her place to question Kion's decision. She gave him a nod and hurried outside to get the others.

Kiara was also doubtful about Kion's idea of going to war, so she approached her brother once Fuli left. "Kion, before you even leave this den, I need to know from you; what exactly do you plan on doing to bring back our parents?"

"Simple. The Guard and I will go to the Elephant Territories, fight off the hyenas and vultures and bring Mum and Dad home. You, Kovu and the Lionesses stay here and make sure nothing happens in the Pridelands," Kion replied frankly and started to head outside.

Kiara proceeded to block her brother's path, not at all satisfied with his response. "Kion! Didn't you hear what Zazu said? Twenty hyenas and fifteen vultures, and there's only five of you in the Guard. You're literally committing suicide!"

"We've handled hyenas and vultures before, Kiara. It won't make a difference," Kion calmly said while trying to get past his sister.

"Yes, it will, you're heavily outnumbered!" Kiara lashed out angrily at Kion while holding her ground to block his path. "Kion, you're not being yourself today. You're not thinking straight at all. If you still insist on going to the Elephant Territories, then I'm going with you."

"No, you can't!" Kion angrily retorted back at his sister.

"And why not?"

"Because… I can't risk losing you, Kiara." He paused to gaze at his sister's eyes. "Look… I know I'm contradicting myself by saying this, but… if Mum and Dad didn't survive the ambush, then you're the only family I have. You're my only sister, Kiara, and I don't ever wanna lose you."

Kiara remained silent. She was touched by her brother's words, but she still didn't want him to go and battle with the hyenas and vultures with only the other members of the Lion Guard as his backup. "Kion… if you carry on with your plan, you're going to get yourself and the rest of the Guard killed. You're my younger brother, Kion and I love you… I can't risk losing you as well. Please, just… just let me go along with you."

"Your sister's right, Kion," Kovu agreed with his mate, finally deciding to have his say on the matter. "You and the Guard are heavily outnumbered, you'll need all the help you can get. And if my beautiful wife is going with you, then I'm going as well. And I'm sure the Lionesses won't mind tagging along as well."

Kion looked past his shoulder to see the Lionesses were all nodding and agreeing with Kovu, though Kion was still noticeably in a state of doubt. "But who's going to look after the Pridelands while we're gone? If anything happens, who's gonna defend the animals here?"

"I will."

Kion turned to see Vitani approaching him from amongst the other Lionesses. "You do what you have to do, Kion. I just need three others to be with me, the rest of the Lionesses can go with you."

Kion looked doubtfully at her but finally gave in. "Alright, fine. Nuru, Asha and Bahati will stay here with Vitani. The rest of the Lionesses will follow us to the Elephant Territories," he announced, much to Kiara's relief. "We leave now while there's still daylight."

Kion turned around and was about to join the rest when Vitani pulled him back by clinging onto his tail. "Hey, listen… before you go, please… just promise me that you'll be safe," she pleaded to him in a low voice, gazing intently at his eyes.

Kion was pleasantly surprised by this, considering her words of concern were contradicting here rather sardonic nature. "Hey, don't worry. I'll be fine," he softly replied to her with a smile before giving her an assuring nuzzle, to which she happily returned by affectionately nestling against his side.

They eventually parted, and Kion turned to join the group… only to see Fuli standing behind him along with the rest of the Guard who were all waiting at the entrance. Kion felt slightly guilty when he saw the unmistakeable gleam of jealousy in the Cheetah's eyes, it was clear she saw him nuzzling with Vitani.

"Come on, let's go," Kion briefly said as he brushed past Fuli without making eye contact with her, determined not to let their personal issue get in the way of their mission.

Fuli stared briefly at Vitani before turning to follow after her leader, struggling to conceal her hurt feelings from the others. Kovu and Kiara felt sorry for both Kion and Fuli, but they know that now wasn't exactly the right time to interfere in their conflicts. And so without anything else being said, the Lion Guard, along with Kiara, Kovu and the Lionesses left the den and started journeying towards the Elephant Territories on their quest to bring back the King and Queen of the Pridelands.

To be continued…

A/n: Okay, I'm so sorry for this rather short chapter, but this was all that I could write in what little free time I had for the past three weeks. I'm so sorry to disappoint everyone for cutting this chapter short, I intended to make it longer but it seems I have no choice but to split it into two separate chapters. I promise the next chapter will be longer and better than this one. Please do leave a review of your thoughts on this story so far, I'm more than happy to hear them :)

Have a great day ahead, everyone!