Chapter 5: Uchoyo & Uvivu

Kion slowly awoke on the edge of the forest they'd stopped the previous night. Three more days passed since they fought Ora and met Jonah, and the whale's words stuck with Kion, though he didn't mind. He'd thought much about Jonah's wisdom and what lay ahead of them.

However, as Kion looked upon his friend's who'd stuck by him all this time, he smiled warmly and gazed out at the rising sun as it transcended the horizon. He couldn't run away from the future, from where he needed to go, he and the others would press on. Kion would see his family again.

Bunga's deep yawn snapped Kion out of the trance.

"Morning everyone."

"Morning Kion, need any Tuliza?" Makini asked while opening her gourd.

"No, I'm actually feeling ok for now."

"Alright, maybe that's for the best, our supply is running a little low." Makini said, minding what tuliza they had left.

"We've passed plenty this far, there has to be more in these woods." Fuli said while yawning and stretching.

Anga shook herself and then flew up, using her keen-sight to search the forest for miles in each direction.

"I'm not seeing any Tuliza."

"What!? Are you sure, these woods are supposed to be abundant in Tuliza!" Makini almost yelped.

"It's alright Makini, I'm fine, let's just keep moving." Kion said, stretching a little and then getting up.

"Are you sure, Fuli and I could sweep the forest in no time." Azaad boasted, earning a smirk from Fuli.

"I'll take the north end."

"It might be easier just to ask the locals." Beshte countered. Fuli rolled her eyes with a disappointed expression.

"I guess."

"Maybe next time." Azaad chuckled, guiding her on as Kion led the way.

Anga kept her eyes peeled for any native animals until she saw them.

"I found some." She said, pointing to a small pond where a family of turtles ate some crawfish.

"Hello there." Kion said in his friendliest tone, hoping not to frighten the turtles. Unfortunately, the sight of a lion, two cheetahs, and a marshal eagle made them all duck into their shells by instinct.

"Easy there, we're not going to bite! Besides, even if we did, these shells would probably hurt to bite." Bunga said tapping on the nearest one.

"Bunga." Fuli muttered.

"What?"

"It's alright, we're not here to hunt. I'm Prince Kion of the Lion Guard."

"Hhhello." The turtle stuttered while nervously coming out of his shell.

"Turtles, I've never seen them up close before. Hey there little fellas." Beshte said, lowering his head.

"Welcome to the Uchoyo forest."

"Uhhhg." One of the turtles groaned while trying to adjust her neck in visible pain.

"Ohh, are you ok?" Makini asked as she came over and took a look.

"It just hurts after I ran into a rock yesterday."

"Hmm, some herbs might help with the pain. Tuliza will do the trick."

"Eeep!" All three turtles yelped upon hearing that word.

"Are you guys ok?" Kion asked, a bit confused.

"We don't have much tuliza left, but we could forage for some. Do you guys know where it's growing this time of year?" Makini asked, making the turtles yelp again.

Now all of the Lion Guard glanced at each other even more confused.

"What's wrong? She just said tuliza." Bunga said.

"We have to go!" All three turtles scrambled into the pond and then disappeared beneath the water.

"...Ok, that was strange." Anga said.

"Maybe turtles don't like tuliza?" Azaad said, not quite sure what to make of it.

"I'm not so sure, they sounded terrified of something." Ono said, stroking his beak with interest.

"Maybe someone else will know."

The group continued on without finding any tuliza, but did come across a few weasels scratching themselves against a bush.

"Darn ticks, they get worse every year!" One groaned.

"Ticks! I've got you!" Bunga dashed forward and began plucking the parasitic insects off him within a matter of moments and ate them.

"Ahhh, that's so much better, thank you, stranger."

"No problem? Anyone else got ticks?"

"Me!"

"Me too!" One by one Bunga freed the weasels of their parasites, earning smiles from the others.

"Bunga can have his moments." Fuli said with an almost proud smile.

"Wait, he can do that? I wish I'd known that earlier." Azaad groaned, biting a part of his backside where a tick was still bothering him.

"Whew, I haven't felt this good in weeks. Thank you very much."

"No problem, the name's Bunga. These are my friends, you can call us the Lion Guard."

"Welcome to Uchoyo forest, Lion Guard. What brings you to our home?"

"Well we're on a long journey, and it takes us through this forest." Kion said, trying to keep his cool when the burning sensation started to return. Makini noticed this and quickly stepped forward.

"Is there anything we can help you with?"

"Well, we were wondering if you knew where the tuliza is-" Makini started.

"Tuliza!" All of the weasels screamed with terrified faces before sprinting off.

"...Ok, that can't be a coincidence." Fuli said with growing suspicion.

"Hmmm, maybe they don't know what tuliza is, maybe they think it's some kind of poison?" Ono considered.

"I don't think so, it's always grown here in abundance and animals have used it for pain relief before."

"Well it's certainly frightening them, maybe if you showed them it's not bad." Beshte suggested.

"Maybe, I wouldn't mind a little." Kion groaned while rubbing his eye.

Unknown to the Lion guard, someone was watching them from the brush with growing interest, and followed the group from a safe distance.

Anga eventually spotted a few more locals, a family of tree monkeys resting in a tree while the mother looked over one of the children's arms as he cried.

"It's alright."

"It still hurts!"

"Excuse us!" Makini shouted. The tree monkeys looked down to see Makini holding up her gourd.

"Is something wrong?"

"Yes, our boy hurt his arm today."

"Well, I'm a healer in training, and there's a herb that could help with that. Here my friend Kion will show you, his eye is hurting." Makini beckoned Kion forward while taking out a tuliza flower and feeding it to him.

Kion exhaled in relief, feeling the burning pain fade away.

"See, it-"

"Tuliza!" The monkeys shrieked and raced away to another tree as fast as they could.

"...Ok, something's going on here." Kion growled.

The figure watching them nearly gasped when he saw Makini taketuliza out of her gourd. He watched them with increasing intensity until the mandril set her staff down while they discussed what it could be.

"So they know what Tuliza is, and what it does, then why are they afraid?" Beshte asked.

"Who knows, maybe we should just move on." Anga suggested, but Kion shook his head.

"No, Makini said there used to be a lot of tuliza here, now it's gone and suddenly everyone in the forest is too afraid to even talk about it. Something or someone has them terrified, and I won't just sit back and let it go on."

"Oh yeah! Lion Guard to the rescue, whatever it is!" Bunga declared.

Despite their desire to press on, the others couldn't help but agree with Kion. As guardians of life, it was their duty to help those in need and clearly the animals there needed help.

"Where should we start then?" Ono asked.

"Well, maybe we could-" Makini started before realizing her gourd was gone.

"Eeek! Our tuliza!" The mandril cried in terror.

Anga flew up and furiously looked around, but saw nothing.

"So, someone's taking it all then." Kion growled before turning to his cheetah companions.

"Fuli, Azaad, I think it's time for you two to take a look around the forest." They smiled confidently.

"Our pleasure."

Elsewhere, a porcupine dashed through the forest with Makini's gourd in his mouth, desperate to reach his destination. Finally, he arrived at a tree with several other porcupines lurking about.

"Mama, I found you some more Tuliza." He said, nervously placing the gourd down as a dark figure slowly descended from a branch and took it.

She inhaled the tuliza's scent while licking her fangs.

"Hmmm, this pleases your sweet mama, my dear child." The figure growled, not aggressively, but still in a manner that frightened the porcupines.

"You look troubled my dear, there isn't something you've done that would upset mama, is there?"

"Well, it's just, there are outsiders here. I took the tuliza from them, and they're looking for more."

"...They want some of mama's tuliza? We can't have that."

"Mama, wait! They have a lion leading them, plus a hippo, two cheetahs, a marshal eagle and more!"

"Hmmmm, is there any tuliza left in the forest?"

"No, mama! More won't grow back for a while!"

"Good, let's go home to Uvivu."

"Yes, mama!"

Elsewhere, Kion sat at the edge of a pond impatiently as he waited for the turtles from earlier to resurface. The young Lion's face grew more and more irritated when he noticed the three reptiles staring back at him from underwater.

Finally, they came up and Kion sprung to his feet.

"Wait, I just want to-" As quick as a flash, the turles took a single breath each and went back underwater. Kion's eyes narrowed in pure annoyance.

"How long can turtles hold their breath?"

"45 minutes." Ono muttered while sitting on Kion's back.

"You can make them come out, a ssssslight roar, and you can make them do whatever you want?"

Kion rubbed his eye and shook away Ushari's hissing voice.

"Calm down, calm down." Kion told himself while taking a deep breath, trying to draw upon what Jonah taught him.

"We're back." Bunga sighed as he returned with Beshte.

"They all ran, again." The hippo muttered.

"Same with me." Anga groaned while landing beside Makini.

Fuli and Azaad eventually revealed themselves with extremely frustrated expressions.

"Any luck?" Kion asked, already knowing the answer.

"I don't want to talk about it." Fuli growled.

Kion took a deep breath and contemplated their situation.

"Psst." The Lion Guard instantly turned their heads to the sound of the whisper which came from a bush.

Kion peered his head inside and saw one of the weasels from earlier.

"You!"

"Please, I don't want to be spotted. You're looking for tuliza, right?"

"Yes!" Makini covered her mouth in time to keep herself from shouting.

"Why is everyone here so afraid of tuliza?" Kion said, barely restraining himself from growling. The weasel frantically looked around and then leaned closer.

"Mama Binturong."

"Who?"

"Mama Binturong! She's a horrible thug who hordes all of the forest's tuliza and sends her band of porcupines to attack anyone who tries to take any for themselves!"

"That explains it! Alright, where is she!?" Fuli snarled.

"I didn't see any binturong." Anga said.

"Neither did we." Azaad added, earning a nod from Fuli.

"If she's not in the forest, then she and her band are in the Uvivu rock forest. That's where she hoards her tuliza."

Kion nodded with a look of pure determination.

"Then that's where we're going! Mama Binturong won't terrorize you anymore!" Kion roared and led the others off towards the rock forest.

"Wait, you don't understand!"

Kion's annoyed expression returned stronger than ever when he saw the rock forest's entrance. Countless razor-sharp rock pillars filled their eyes with no visible path through.

"...Of course."

Makini slowly approached the rocks and reached forward only to yelp in pain upon touching one.

"Ahhh, too sharp."

"Anga, you think you can get over it?"

"Let me try." The eagle flew up and over the rocky forest, only to return a minute later.

"It's too thick, even for me."

"My skin's thick enough, but I couldn't fit through there." Beshte said trying to force his way through to no avail.

"So someone with thick skin, and a small body." Kion finally smiled again as he and the others all turned to Bunga, who'd begun scratching his back on one of the razor-sharp rocks.

"Ahh, that feels good." He said before noticing everyone looking at him.

"Ohhh, I get it, no problem! The Lion Guard's second in command can handle this! Zuka Zama!" Bunga cried and then disappeared through the sea of rock pillars.

"He's second in command?" Fuli muttered, unsure if she was amused or disturbed.

Bunga navigated his way through Uvivu's narrow pathways, the sharp rocks not even bothering him. Eventually Bunga reached the top of a pillar that gave him a bird's eye view of the

"Alrighty, if I were a tuliza hoarder where would I hide?" Bunga narrowed his eyes and peered out further. Unfortunately he couldn't find his target and had to move from one pillar to another, before finally seeing it. A massive pile of tuliza gathered along the canyon floor.

"There you are!" Bunga navigated his way down and looked upon the tuliza with eagerness.

"Hmm, now what's the best way to get it all in one trip? Or maybe I should bring it up to where Anga can take some-"

"Well, well, well, what have we here, an intruder." Bunga jumped into a fighting stance when he heard a sinister and unsettlingly calm voice.

"Who's there?"

Slowly, a binturong emerged on top of the tuliza pile and laid upon it like a throne. She looked down on Bunga with an all too comfortable and satisfied expression.

"You, you're Mama Binturong then!?"

She nodded, slightly amused.

"And you must be one of those outsiders. I didn't think anyone could make it through Uvivu except myself and my boys."

"Yeah, well I, Bunga, can, and as the Lion Guard's second in command, I order you to return this tuliza at once!"

"Hmm, I'm afraid not." Mama Binturong licked up a few flowers into her mouth and swallowed, allowing Bunga to see the almost narcotic effect on her.

"Tuliza is a wonderful little plant. When mama eats it, she feels so good, and can ignore the troubles of the world. Mama has all the tuliza she could ever want, but even that isn't enough. She'll enjoy all the tuliza she could ever want, isn't that right boys?"

Bunga heard approaching footsteps and turned around to see eight or so porcupines moving in to surround him.

"You've been a bit entertaining, Bunga, and now you'll provide mama with one last bit of fun while you can." Mama Binturong relaxed herself and focused in as the porcupines closed in with their quills.

"No one messes with mama!" All eight pressed themselves together, and impaled Bunga, or so they thought.

Mama Binturong's eyes widened slightly as she saw a carefree look on Bunga's face.

"Hmp, is that it? My turn!" One by one, the porcupines were hurled backward by the honey badger's feral counter-attack.

"Where are you going!?" Bunga growled as he snatched one of the porcupines by his back legs as he tried to flee, and then smashed him into another.

"Is that all you've got!?"

Despite seeing her eight porcupines beaten, Mama Binturong hadn't moved from her spot.

"No."

Bunga heard more footsteps and looked back in surprise to see ten more porcupines emerge.

"Bring it on, I'm not afraid of you!" Just like before, Bunga beat each of the porcupines to a pulp, but started to pant as fatigue set it.

"Hmmm, you boys are disappointing mama, but no worries. There's always more."

Bunga caught his breath when he saw twelve-more porcupines come out.

"Alright, so there are a lot of you." Bunga considered using his stench, but looked back at the tuliza and realized that doing so might make the flowers go bad.

"Ahh no, Kion and the others will have to eat that." Bunga snarled at the porcupines again and struggled to keep up his onslaught. Yet for each one he mauled, another two emerged.

"Come on!" Bunga groaned, wishing he wasn't fighting them alone. However, as he thought that, Bunga realized that Mama Binturong hadn't joined the battle yet. Instead, she continued resting atop her tuliza, occasionally eating some.

"Some mama you are, let's see how much your boys care about you!" Bunga leaped up, and with his remaining energy, brought his foot out towards her in a flying kick.

Mama Binturong's eyes widened in shock, not expecting the move, and as such couldn't react in time. Bunga's kick knocked her clean off the tuliza and sent Mama tumbling down and into the canyon crevice.

"Ahhhh!"

"Mama!" The mob of porcupines yelped in terror and then raced off after her.

Bunga almost collapsed against the pile of tuliza, but smiled in victory.

"Zuka zama."

Kion and the others almost couldn't believe it when they saw the massive pile of tuliza placed before them.

"And that's why I'm second in command." Bunga boldly proclaimed.

"Hapana!" Ono squawked upon feeling it.

"Way to go Bunga!"

Kion almost trembled looking at it all.

"All of it issssss yourssss now. Enough to lassssst a lifetime, do you even need the Tree of Life now?" Kion hesitated but then saw many animals slowly emerging from the forest with longing expressions.

"Come on out! There's enough for everyone!" Beshte cried.

"Tuliza! They got it back!" The animals raced forward in glee and began taking what they could.

Kion lowered his head with a slight look of shame.

"What's wrong?" Anga asked as she noticed the expression.

"Nothing."

"Well we have more than enough for the rest of the trip! You guys ready?" Makini asked while stuffing her gourd full.

"Yes, let's go!"

Back in the canyon, Mama Binturong slowly climbed back up to see her stache of tuliza all gone.

"Ahhh! They took it! They took all of mama's tuliza!"

The porcupines all trembled and backed up, terrified of what would happen next.

"Is that really the limit of your ambition?" A powerful voice growled.

"Huh, who said that?" Mama growled. She looked around but wilted with a pale expression when she saw the source of the voice.

"I did, and I can offer you more than just tuliza."