PROMPT CONTEST CHAPTER 3/8

"During a mission, our hero gets stuck in a thornbush, and the other four have to pull him out. Unfortunately, the thorns are stuck in his tuft, and the only way to get him free is to cut it. Needless to say, our hero is mortified, but ultimately sees reason, and reluctantly lets one of two members cut it off, setting him free. (Depending on which of two characters does it, the method will differ) He struggles with his new look for much of the day, before his sweetheart in this story sees him and comforts him. He then wakes up, tuft intact, proving it to have been a dream." - Anonymous13 B

(Author's Note: I'd just like to remind you that the prompt contest is CLOSED now. The winner of the contest(chosen via randomiser) will be revealed in the next "normal" chapter of Mkuu, which will come out after the prompt chapters have been released, and shall receive a 10-chapter spin-off which may or may not be canonical, depending on the story.)

"MZINGO!" Kion screamed at the conniving vulture as he and the Lion Guard chased after him through the sunny canyon. "PUT... THE BABY... DOWN!"

It had been a relatively quiet, lazy day until a sudden shriek had alerted the Guard to yet another emergency within the Pride Land herds. This time, Mzingo had discovered that a zebra was about to go into labour and had stalked her until the baby was born, at which point the villainous vulture had cruelly snatched her unexpectedly from her mother's hooves and flown away to deliver a hearty breakfast to his flock.

"Kion, are you one hundred per cent sure that that should be our demand?" Ono yelled downwards. "The altitude and speed at which Mzingo is flying would suggest that..."

Kion didn't feel like listening to a lecture right now, particularly in the middle of a situation. "Later, Ono! Just try and slow him down!"

The speedy egret managed to get in front of Mzingo a couple of times, but the vulture refused to let anything get in his way and simply rammed Ono out of the way with his sheer bulk. Disoriented, he fell onto Beshte.

"He's heading towards that cliff!" Kion told the Guard and changed direction towards a pointy platform that jagged out of the canyon above the savannah. "If he flies out of the canyon, we've lost him! Ono, I need you to get up again and hold him back just a little longer!"

Ono dizzily saluted. "Affirma-whoa-oa!" Flying in drunken circles, he somehow made it up into the air again. "Affirmative!"

"What're we gonna do?" Jasiri shouted at Kion. The latter's eyes focused on Mzingo, and Ono circling around him. "I'm gonna catch him from the air." Kion replied. "I just need... to get... a little... closer..."

The two birds had almost exited the maze. The hyena's eyes bulged. "Kion, you can't make that!"

Kion just ran faster and grinned. "Just you watch..." he said and leapt off the very end of the platform over the desert far below, intending to grip onto Mzingo's feet and slowly drag him down to the surface. However, the disc of the sun filled the horizon and glared directly into his eyes, causing the cub to miss the vulture entirely. With the wind rushing through his ears, Kion watched helplessly as a green sea of nasty thornbushes drew closer and closer until finally he landed with a crackling thud.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"

Wracked with unspeakable pain, Kion took deep breaths and slowly calmed himself down. He couldn't move an inch of his body without feeling the thorns piercing even further into him.

As such, his head was placed firmly on the ground, looking into the empty distance and left to ponder what was happening with the others. The Guard were probably somewhere looking for a way to get down and Ono had doubtlessly pursued Mzingo.
Why did I have to do that? Kion thought in an angry voice. Now I'm just gonna slow the rest of the Guard down and Mzingo could get away with it! Ono's not going to handle him on his own. And all that just to show off to 'Siri.

The hyena scamp had joined the Pridelanders a few weeks ago, and after Kion agreed to let her tag along on the Guard's missions, the two of them had naturally grown closer and closer to one another. Kion felt like an adult in her company, able to articulate complicated thoughts that he couldn't really voice amongst the Guard or his family. And Jasiri felt respected, which replaced her walls of bravado with genuine confidence.

Plus, they had a lot of fun. Not only were they twice as smart together, they were also driven to be twice as naughty...

Suddenly, a loud voice interrupted Kion's train of thought and his eyes sprang open. "You gotta be kidding me." Jasiri said, looking down at the tangled cub in bemused disbelief. "Who falls asleep in the middle of a thorn bush?"

Kion blinked and yawned before he could stop himself. "Did you get the baby back? Is Mzingo...?"

"The baby's safe and sound." Ono reported, and landed onto Kion's shoulder. "And Mzingo has fled back to the Outlands. Right now, I think the problem is you. I mean... you're completely tied up here!"

The lion prince shrugged, embarrassed. "Well..."

"I barely managed to crawl through these thickets, I'm afraid the rest of the Guard couldn't get through." Jasiri explained. "So it'll be up to us to get you out of this... um, quandary." She giggled.

Ono flapped into the air and took one good look from above. "It won't be as hard as it looks." He reckoned. "We'll just have to carefully take the branches off of him, then lift him up... oh, wait."

"Well? What is it, Ono?" Kion asked, feeling an odd sense of dread overtake him.

"Um... well, we can get you out of here..." the egret began awkwardly. "... but I don't think your mane will be coming with you."

Kion's eyes pierced into the egret. Ono gulped. "I mean, uh... it's all tangled up in those thorns and we can't... we can't unravel it all. " he finished.

Jasiri nodded. "I think he's right. You'll just have to go bald. Hehehehe!" Kion was not amused.

"I am NOT going bald!" He snarled at the hyena. "Guys, it took me ages to get it to look like this!"
"Yeah, the bird's nest look is pretty hard to get down right." Jasiri poked. "The branches in-between the hairs are a nice touch, though."

Kion tried to swat at her, but felt pain on his head, as the thorns pulled him back by the mane. "Ow! No. No, no, no, this is NOT happening!"

"You're a real 'mane-iac' about your hair, you know that?" Jasiri quipped before bursting into laughter. Ono sighed. "Somehow, I don't think that's going to convince him."

"Bu-b-b-b-but I'll look... I'll look... like a lioness." He hissed, terrified to his core. Kiara was already awfully teasing... this would send her into overdrive. He didn't even want to imagine what Tiifu and Zuri had in store for him.

Jasiri frowned and rubbed her chin with her paw, as if considering something. "Hey..." She then touched her own head. "I have hair. Huh, technically we could say you're my girlfriend..."

The lion cub jolted up into a sitting position so fast that his beloved red locks were all torn from his head. "Girlfriend?! Like a couple? Oh, wait a second..." Kion closed his eyes and gripped onto his skull. "ARRRRRGH! MY HEAAAAAAD! THE PAIIIN! MY MAAAAANE! MY SUDDEN ABILITY TO RHYYYYME! Okay, I'm good now." He looked at Jasiri earnestly. "So, like a couple?"

Jasiri blinked. "Uh... it was just... the first thought that sprang to mind."

Now that some space had been cleared in the bushes, Ono landed, with a nervous smile. "You look a little different."

Kion gingerly touched his head and pulled off a few stray red hairs that were still left. "Heyvi Kabesa! Maybe I'll just tell everyone I changed gender."

"Good plan," Jasiri said. "Except one only has to look down there to know that's not true."

Kion looked confused. "Why would anyone do that?"

"... pe...ripheral vision?"

Ono hid his face under his wing. "Have mercy..." he muttered.

"Janja! Leave those zebras alone!" Kion shouted at his oldest enemy. The hungry hyena flinched at the sound and turned around to face Kion as the zebra herd trotted away.

"PFFFT-HAHAHAHAHHAAAAA!" Janja had a manic breakdown. "AW NO, YOU GOT ME, YOU GOT ME HAHAHAHA!" He collapsed onto the ground, hugging his belly and cackling.

Kion eventually roared at him out of annoyance. "Well, at least I got him, I guess." he sighed.

As the Guard headed back to Pride Rock, they crossed paths with the pride's huntresses, led by the Queen. Happy to take a break for a few minutes and say hello to his son, Nala strolled towards the Guard and caught sight of Kion, who'd been obscured by Beshte's bulk. She froze.

"Hey! Um... what do you think?" Kion asked.

Nala scowled. "Simba, have you been time-travelling again?" She appeared quite stern. "Honestly, the amount of times you did that..."

"Err... I had a haircut, mom."

"Hah!" Nala wiggled her front paw's toe at him disapprovingly as the Guard exchanged meaningful glances. "Kion would never have a haircut. I know it's you! You adorable little monkey, get out of here!" She swatted softly at him. "Shoo, shoo!"

Kion held his paws up defensively. "Okay, okay! I'll just... go, and... do that..." He went back on the trail to Pride Rock, with the Guard slowly following him. Bunga whispered into Kion's ear. "Hey, your mom just blew you a kiss. What does that mean?"

"It means that whoever's responsible for the world we live in has a sick sense of humor." Kion muttered.

The lion prince held his breath as he arrived at the entrance of the Uwanja wa Maisha pride's den. Maybe his dad's presence could soften Kiara's reaction? Well, it was now or never...

"Hey, son!" Simba casually called out in a thin voice. He was stretching out on the royal platform and in a playful mood. "I decided to take a day off from the royal thing. I'm sure it can handle itself."

Kion's mouth dropped. "Why do you sound like Ferris Bueller?"

"Why do you have the head of Patrick Stewart?"

Kion facepalmed as Simba turned to the screen with a grin. "That's right, beautiful readers." He said chirpily. "Breaking the fourth wall like a BOSS."

"Dad, I'm already scared of Kiara, Tiifu and Zuri's reactions. You don't have to embarrass me in front of the entire internet."

Simba chuckled. "Oh, look who's here." he said, pointing behind Kion. "Kiara, Tiifu and Zuri!"

The lion prince whirled around to see three dropped jaws.

"Oh. My. Kings." Tiifu mumbled and unveiled her claws. With a predator's gait, she walked to Kion's left as an equally stunned Zuri walked to her right.

"That is SO hot!" Zuri breathed. "I call dibs!"

Tiifu growled. "The hell you will. MINE!" She screamed and pinned Kion down. Zuri grappled onto her lithe body and tried to pull her off.

And Kiara? Kiara climbed on top of both of them, removing any chance of Kion escaping. "Morning, Kiara." Kion squeaked with the pressure on his chest. "I know this is kind of a silly question, but could you please not seduce me?"

Kiara grinned and slowly drew closer to Kion's face. Suddenly, her fur turned ashen in color and a black tuft grew out of her head. "You sure about that? It's against many laws of nature." Jasiri petted him.

"Oh, well in that case..."

Kion gasped for air as he woke up. With only a glimmer of moonlight shining in from the opening, it took him a few seconds to realise he was in the Lion Guard's den. Slowly, his breathing returned to normal.

"That's the last time I take mushrooms from you, Bunga..." he murmured.

"You sure about that, loverboy?" Bunga asked. Kion's eyes sprang open to see the badger wearing his red tuft right before the two kissed.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHH!"

"Kion, what is it?!"

The lion cub looked around frantically and checked for the mane on his head to make sure this was reality. "Nothing. Just a bad dream. Go back to sleep, Reirei."

Author's Note: I'm back! It's been a month of hell, let me tell you. But a huge weight has finally been lifted from my shoulders and I've slowly been returning to writing. And with some difficulty, I might add. I'm not sure, but I may be experiencing slight burn-out. I really haven't felt like writing recently. It's not that I haven't got the ideas, but just trying to put it on the page seems to suck the life out of me. Maybe I just miss the reviews, lol. They've always been a vital shot of energy, wink wink.

So, let's be optimistic and discuss how we're going to continue from here-on out. There's still five prompt chapters to go, but I've been thinking about maybe writing them in-between the regular chapters? We're all anxious to see Jasiri go toe to toe with Scar, after all. Or should I stick to my guns and get the prompt chapters out of the way first? Because if I don't, the contest will be delayed even further(it should've been finished in December lol). Your choice.

Also, a question: where would be the best place to upload a photo so you all could see it? Because I've created an image of the new lioness, Kati, and I'd really like to share it.

*God of the Challenge - What DID happen to you?

*DragoonSensei - Actually, the cubs of Kion and Jasiri were inspired by this fan art:

h()t()t()p()s : / / img14 . deviantart 7f0f / i / 2016 / 029 / 3 / a / babysitting _ by _ littlepolka - d9pf815 . jpg

*AlphaWolf97100 - Thanks! Had to write through the night to get it done before the end of the year!

*Leonardo Leto - Cubs! Not puppies, cubs! And yes, yes, you'll get more!

*LunarWolf0 - Then don't worry... it's not going to end anytime soon. I have sooooo much in mind...

*kisiri forever - I'm planning on bringing Kion back way before the final chapter.

*zootopiafan - Well, that's high praise.

Ono was not swallowed whole. There's a big pile of feather and bones. As for Nala, she basically didn't say a word to anyone as Simba and the pride were forced out and has passively followed Scar since. I might have to do a flashback to clarify this...

Harry brought the corpse back.

Long answer: Simba's technically still at fault for not revealing the whole love affair to begin with, so Kopa doesn't bother correcting her. Short answer: I forgot that Simba didn't know. We may still see some conflict between Kopa and Kiara.

*Reverend I'm a Jesus Freak - The answer is very simple...

*laytonmrbunch54 - The best one? Aww... thanks.