Previously on the Lion Guard Meets Selena Burns...
It all ended when their parents pulled them apart after the cubs began knocking into other animals but themselves. Simba had grabbed Sauda by the scruff and Nala had grabbed Kiara and Kion. Tifu and Zuri's mother's also grabbed their cubs before they all settled down and went to sleep. Simba and Nala curled up against one another and Kiara was spooned into her mother's side. Kion lay near his parents as well, albeit not even a couple feet away from them. Sauda had decided to lay down next to Kion and his parents for the night. As the moonlight seeped in through the hole in the rocky ceiling, Sauda's eyes grew heavy and slowly drooped closed as she fell asleep to the sounds of Kion's slow and deep breaths beside her.
︎short time skip brought to you by Bunga's stench ︎
Sauda panted heavily as she ran through the pridelands as it burned all around her. Her eyes tearing around the landscape looking for an escape from the flames licking at her heels dangerously as she continued to run for her life. She'd woken up in the middle of the night in the den only to find that she was completely on her own and pride rock engulfed in flames. Sauda had injured herself while escaping the enclosed space of the den to outside where she stood on the overhand that jutted out proudly, hence the name "pride rock", only to witness the sight of the entire pride lands swallowed in orange flames.
As she ran, Sauda saw absolutely no signs of life.
Everything and everyone was just gone, turned to ash by the roaring fires.
She was absolutely and utterly alone.
Sauda climbed atop a large rock that stood on the top of a hill that overlooked the once green, beautiful African Savannah that was now nothing more than an ash heap devoid of any life. Sauda's breathing had slowed, finally having caught a rest after running practically five miles with not stopping. Then, out of the corner of her eye Sauda saw a shape stalking towards her through the flames.
"Hello?" she called out. "Is anyone out there? I'm injured and I can't find anyone from my pride!"
The lioness cub received no answer from the dark shape as it grew closer. The young lioness squinted her eyes to see through the smoke and when she noticed the animal had a was lion shaped and had a mane Sauda's eyes furrowed. Simba wasn't that slender bodied of a lion, so who in the hell was it?
"Hello!" Sauda called out again. "I need some help, sir! My leg hurts really bad!"
The shadow of the lion came closer and when the male finally came into the light of the fire Sauda's eyes widened, she gasped and she stepped slightly back from him. As soon as she saw those green eyes she knew who she'd called over to help her, she didn't need to see the thing silvery scar traveling over the adult's left eyes.
It was Scar.
Sauda gasped awake from her nightmare, and stumbled to her feet eyes searching the interior of the den for the other. When the young lioness saw that everyone was alright and still slept peacefully throughout the den, her breathing calmed down considerably. Glancing to the floor beside her, Kion still slept peacefully as did his mother and sister. However when she looked at Nala she noticed that Simba was no longer present within the confines of the den, which meant he must've been outside.
Sparing one last glance at Kion, Sauda turned tail and quietly crept out the entrance of the cave and ventured outside into the moonlit night sky. Just as she'd suspected, Simba was sitting at the end of the long cliff, staring up at the stars peacefully. When her paw nudged a pebble on the ground underneath her, Simba's ears twitched and the adult was alerted to the cub's presence outside the den. The king turned his head and looked Sauda up and down and when he saw the startled look on the cub's face turn into a sheepish grin he chuckled and motioned with his head for her to come sit with him.
Sauda who still held a guilty look upon her face, immediately padded across the rock to sit by the King's side. When Simba returned his stare to the sky, Sauda's gaze followed and she was amazed to see so many stars out on one night.
At the small sound of the lioness cub's amazement, Simba leaned down and asked her a question.
"Couldn't sleep, huh?" he smiled.
Sauda didn't respond verbally to the king's question but did look at him and nod yes in response. Simba laughed lightly before continuing, "Yeah, me too."
Finally the female cub spoke, "I had a nightmare. That's why I can't sleep."
The lioness cub then looked up at the king with a vulnerable hope in her eyes that made the adult lion sigh sadly. He looked down at the newest addition to his pride and told her something she'd never forget as long as she lived.
"Y'know something Sauda?" Simba asked. "No matter how much something scares us, we can't let our fear of that something prevent us from doing what's important and finding happiness in our lives..."
The former human smiled gratefully at her friend's father. "Don't worry, little one," Simba consoled the cub. "Everyone feels fear, even I feel fear from time to time. It's normal."
"Can I ask you a question, your majesty?" Sauda finally spoke up after a moment of silence.
Simba smiled down at her and nodded reassuringly. "Go ahead," he nodded.
Looking Simba directly in the eye, Sauda asked him. "What makes you afraid?"
Simba looked at the cub sadly before he turned his head heavenwards and looked back up into the stars above. "Being unable to protect the one I love..."
"Oh," Sauda said simply.
Before the silence could settle again, Simba asked her the same. "And you, Sauda?" he asked. "What makes you afraid?"
Sauda gulped in the cool night air and shuddered as she exhaled nervously. "Not knowing what's gonna happen to me next..."
Simba then realized that this little rogue cub that he'd taken in was a lot like him in some ways. They both feared the most unpredictable aspect of life, time and what the future would bring..."
Looking back up at the sky, Simba cleared his throat before speaking aloud. "Sauda," he started. "I'm going to tell you a story now that my father told me, and that his father told him, and so on..."
"As long as you look to the stars, the Great Kings of the Past will always be there to guide you when you need them most," Simba told her. "My father, is up there now along with his father and his father before him..."
"Just remember, as long as the brightest star in the sky shines brightly, the great Mohatu will be their to guide you along with all of the other past kings of the pride lands," the lion concluded.
"Who's Mohatu?" Sauda asked, hoping to get more information on the lion who'd spoken to he through the water.
"Legends say he became the first great lion king of the Pride Lands when he saved his people by finding a new water source to sustain them," Simba answered. "They say that deeds during his time as king were so great, that when he passed on he turned into the brightest star the world had ever seen and soared into the sky where he still stays and watches over us today..."
Sauda contemplated what Simba had just told her about the mysterious lion in the water. So Mohatu had been the first ever king of the pride lands? That made sense.
"Now," Simba stated. "I think it's time that we got back to sleep, don't you?"
Sauda smiled and nodded in agreement as she yawned suddenly and followed the king as retreated back into the den. As she reached her spot where she'd previously been sleeping, the lioness cub eyed the large feline male who'd already fallen asleep next to his mate. Deciding to make a rather rash decision, Sauda waited until Simba's breaths evened out before she crawled along the floor and lay down next to the king and buried her face into the fur of auburn mane and fell back into slumber.
Not one nightmare plagued her the rest of that night.
Episode I- Never Judge A Hyena By Its Spots
It had been around three days or so since Kion and the guard had defeated Janja's hyenas. Sauda and Kion had not talked about the yelling match they'd had a few days prior and to be completely honest it was bothering both of them. Sauda had just been trying to console Kion after Simba got angry at him, but apparently that wasn't a good idea because soon after attempting the weary prince, she was basically told to leave and then hit in the face by the male lion cub. After running away from the scene, Sauda eventually came upon her unexpected crocodile acquaintance, Makuu, who of all animals was the one to calm her down and help her talk through what had happened. That only led to more questions swirling in the former human's noggin as she then soon found out she was a key figure in some ancient pridelands prophecy.
"Why was, I, of all people chosen to be some heaven oriented lion champion?" Sauda grumbled irately to herself in her thoughts.
The female lion cub was walking along the natural pathways in the African Savannah as the summer sun shone down upon the land from high in its sky perch. Not paying attention to what direction she was walking in, Sauda started to hear the faint voices of a group of animals that she had purposefully been avoiding for the past three days. It was Kion and his other friends down the pathway ahead of her. Looking to the sky for the shadow belonging to the one member of the guard that had aerial capabilities, Sauda squinted her eyes. With no sign of Ono patrolling the skies, Sauda turned her attention to the group ahead of her.
Locking her gaze upon the figures of four adolescent animals, Sauda cursed under her breath as she realized that the main individual she was trying to avoid was not amongst the group. If the lion prince was not with his friends ahead, then that meant that he was definitely somewhere nearby in the area. Putting her senses on alert, Sauda began the crawl through the tall grasses away from the problem, keeping aware of her surroundings and where everyone was. However whilst doing so, Sauda was so focused on avoiding Kion's friends that she failed to keep a lookout for Kion himself.
"Ngh!" Sauda grunted out when she crawled right into another furry body.
"Watch where you're going, Bernie Fife!" She said angrily. Standing up from the fall, Sauda shook the dizziness from her head. Opening her eyes, the lioness then looked up to see the very cub she had been trying to steer clear of. Standing before her in all of his golden furred, red maned glory was Kion.
"I-uh..."Sauda stuttered out.
Realizing that it was indeed Sauda standing in front of him, Kion immediately smiled and began to step forwards to greet his lioness friend before she took off sprinting into the Savannah grass. "Sauda wait!" Not missing a beat, the lion prince then began running after his distraught friend. Kion yelling caught the attention of his friends nearby who sent Ono after them with them following close behind.
Not even five minutes later, Sauda came to a stop on one of the rolling Savannah hills to catch her breath. The lioness cub knew that she was going to have to face Kion sooner or later but she chose later rather than sooner. Kion who had been close behind her finally caught up to her on the peak of the hill and sat down beside her as they both calmed their breathing. Sauda, who sighed and looked at Kion with an almost guilty gaze turned to face her friend. Kion sat up straight and looked her in the eye before opening his mouth to speak.
If Kion was going to address what had happened between them, it was going to have to wait. Just as Kion had opened his mouth to talk, the sound of screeching birds taking off into the sky in panic reached their ears from the bottom of the hill. Both of them locked their eyes on the source of the sound only to see a stampeding herd of antelope coming straight at them. Ono and the others who had just caught up to them came to a stop on the top of the hill.
Not wasting a second, Kion ordered Ono into the air to see what was going on. Ono took flight and informed the others that Janja and his hyenas were on the move withing the stampeding herd. Nodding only once, Kion gave out orders to the rest of the guard members to calm the herd and take maneuvers to capture Janja and his cronies.
"C'mon, boys! It's lunchtime, and I'm starving!" Janja yelled to his clan as they ran.
"I'm always starving!" Chungu called back in response.
Cheezi who was running next to Chungu laughed in response.
"Hyenas!" Kion yelled out, causing all three of the hyenas to come to a halt in front of them.
Janja and his cronies let out frightened yelps of surprise.
"Hey!" Chungu cried out in protest.
"I thought I told you to stay out of the Pride Lands," the leader of the lion guard exclaimed with narrowed brows.
"Did ya now?" Janja asked sarcastically. "My stomach keeps forgettin'!"
"His stomach forgets..." Chungu giggles hysterically. "That's a good one!"
"Although you may have a point of not having enough food, you were still exiled by King Simba so leave..."Sauda trailed off with a low, threatening growl. "...now!"
Janja growled stubbornly in retalitation, "You again! You know, for someone who is not part of the guard, you sure love to stick around with them!" Janja then smirked in triumph at the dejected look that made itself home on her face after he said that, "Face it cub, you don't belong with them!"
Glancing at Sauda's face, Kion growled before stating loudly, "You heard her, GO!"
The ground shook after that as the second born royal had gotten ticked off enough that his yelling had turned into the usage of the roar.
"Oh, no..." Janja's eyes widened in fear. He and the other hyenas then took off running back in the direction of the outlands.
"That cub's got no sense of humour!" Cheezi laughed as they retreated.
"Lion Guard, calm the herd!" Kion ordered the other guard members. Turning his gaze back to the retreating hyenas he continued lowly, "I'll take care of these guys..."
"You got it," Fuli nodded. She and the other guard members then ran off in different directions to calm the stampeding herd.
Sauda, who had been debating on helping this time, finally mustered up enough grit to talk to the lion prince. "Kion, I'm coming with you," her voice held no room for debate from the male cub. "You might need my help against those three."
Kion simply nodded an affirmative to her sudden demand, "Alright then, let's get those hyenas!"
"We're leaving? What about lunch?" Chungu asked his leader as they ran.
"All of a sudden I'm not so hungry..." Janja answered.
"But Janja! You said you were starving!" Cheezi whined.
"Just run, fur brain!" Janja yelled as they continued to run.
As the hyenas crossed the river, Kion came to a stop in the middle of the fallen log they had used to get across. Taking a deep breath Kion roared after them, "That's right! Back to the Outlands! Now!"
Kion hadn't noticed the weakness of the log and after he'd used the roar, the wood began to groan and crack. Sauda who was just about to arrive on the scene noticed this and called out to him as the log began to break in half, "Kion look out!"
"Sauda?" Kion questions as he begins to turn around.
Instead of answering him, Sauda just continues barreling down the path and runs straight into Kion's side, knocking him onto the other side of the stream and into safety.
Sauda was not so lucky and fell in the water after saving her friend. Sputtering and coughing out the water from the fast-flowing stream, the former human paddled her way to the water's surface as she was quickly carried downstream by the water current. Kion immediately gets up, calls out Sauda's name and jumps in after his friend who'd just risked her life to save him. Both of them then grabbed onto the log that was floating beside them and struggles to maintain their grip.
Back with the others the herd had been calmed down and the guard was reassuring them that everything was alright. "That's right. Easy there. You're all okay now." Beshte consoled them.
"Yeah!" Bunga cried out in agreement. "Kion and Sauda chased those hyenas back into the Outlands!"
Fuli then paused in slight worry before speaking, "And they should be back by now. Ono, check on them!"
"Affirmative!" Ono nodded sharply and took off quickly into the air. Soaring through the sky, the young egret looks down at the stream and sees Kion and Sauda in the river, still struggling to keep hold of the log. "Hapana!" exclaimed. Flying back to the others, Ono yells out worriedly, "Everyone, everyone! Kion and Sauda are in trouble! Come on!"
All of the other guard members gasp at the news and take off in the direction of the river.
"Kion! Hang on, Sauda, we're coming!" Bunga yelled.
"Little B, don't!" Beshte cried out worriedly as he watched his honey badger friend attempt to jump in and swim after them. Catching him mid-jump, the young hippo puts his friend down. "The current's too strong!" he exclaimed.
"Ono! Keep pace with them!" Fuli called out.
"Right!"
"Kion, I'm slipping!" Sauda cried out as she lost grip of the log.
"Use your claws to hold on!" Kion yelled back. Both of them dug their claws into the wood of the log and help on for dear life.
"Hang in there..." Ono encouraged as he flew alongside them. "Oh, no! Guys, look out! Rocks! Straight ahead!"
Sure enough, Ono was right and as soon as she laid her eyes upon them the drenched lioness cub shrieked in fear.
Luckily Kion maneuvered them away from the jagged rocks in the nick of time. They pulled themselves out of the river after coming to a stop at a river eddy where the current was calmer.
"Whoa!" Kion coughed and panted out. (PANTING) (COUGHING) (PANTING) (SIGHS)
"Kion! Sauda!" Fuli called from above. "Are you both alright?"
"A little wet," Kion coughs. "But I'm okay."
"Same here..." Sauda coughed out before smiling weakly at Kion, "All though I recommend we never do that again."
"But Kion, look!" Ono pointed out after landing on a rock beside them. "You're over here. In the Outlands."
"I can see that, Ono," the cub acknowledged his friend's point before he looked up and saw a solution. Motioning with his paw he continued, "And it looks like Sauda and I can take that trail upriver."
Ono who still looked unsure sighed reluctantly after Kion stated, "Don't worry, Ono. We'll be fine."
"It's not like we have much of a choice," Sauda pointed out. "Kion and I definitely can't cross the river here. The water's way too rough."
Looking back up at the rest of the guard, Kion called out, "Lion Guard! Meet us at Flat Ridge Rock! We can cross the river there!"
Up above them Beshte voiced his confusion, "Huh?"
"Flat Ridge Rock?" Fuli asked.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah! I know exactly where that is! Follow me!" Bunga claimed excitedly.
"Thanks, Bunga!," Kion called with a smile. He then turned back to his bird friend. "Ono!"
"Yes, Kion?" the egret asked.
"Better go with them. Make sure Bunga does know where Flat Ridge Rock is..."
Ono nodded once and took off, "Affirmative! Guys, wait up!"
Kion motioned with his head for Sauda to follow him through the canyon, "Come on, we have a long way to go if we wanna catch up with them.."
Sauda didn't respond to him with anything but a silent nod, nervous because she was alone with Kion again.
"C'mon! C'mon!" Bunga exclaimed. "We don't want Kion and Sauda waitin' up at Flat Ridge Rock, wondering where we are."
"What's wrong, Little B?" Beshte asked when the honey badger stopped in his stride.
"Uh, nothing." Bunga claimed.
"Bunga?" Fuli asked seriously, "Are you sure you know how to get to Flat Ridge Rock?"
"Pfft! Of course, I know. It's this way! Huh?" Bunga laughed as he then tripped over something long and coiled. "Ow. Wait, no, no, no, no. It's this way!"
"Going somewhere, Bunga?" a red scaled king cobra asked sarcastically.
"Nope! Gotta be this way. Well, it's one of these ways," Bunga claimed in denial.
"Too bad Kion's not here to lead us," Beshte sighed. "He or Sauda would know where to go.."
Fuli scoffed at that before stating snobbishly, "Sauda's not part of the guard, remember?!"
Ono sighs and then asks the person who was supposed to know the way, "Do you even know where we are?"
"Sure!" Bunga claimed with dwindling confidence. "Uh...We're lost!"
All of the others just sighed in frustration.