The Night Pride continued their patrol for a while before they took a break to stop.
"Anyone else hungry?" Kopa asked.
"I was thinking the same thing," Surak replied. "Let's get something to eat."
The Night Pride soon went to one of the spots that was okay to hunt around so then predators could get something to eat.
"I wonder what we'll get to eat this time?" Baliyo said.
"I'm so hungry I could eat a whole zebra." Orum remarked.
"Let's see what's on the market then." Baliyo smirked.
They soon went to hide out before looking around for something to eat.
"I think I smell wild mice." Rani said to her family.
"Hmm... Kinda small." Baliyo said.
"Let's see if there's anything else." Orum said before sniffing the air.
"I think I smell some fresh gazelle." Rani suggested.
"Mm... My favorite." Baliyo smiled.
"Let's hunt down a gazelle." Orum said.
Rani came out further and sniffed a bit. "Should be... This way!" she then said before running ahead.
Orum and Baliyo laughed together as they ran with her to get some gazelle for their meal.
Dakarai stared out into the moonlight before seeing a certain golden-furred lion running with Rani and Baliyo before he smirked at the sight of "Orum". "Oh, I am going to savor every second when the plan begins." he then smirked quietly to himself.
Rani, Orum, and Baliyo began to make their way over to some gazelles to get something to eat for them as well as Surak and Nirmala. After some hunting, Kopa snuck a few pieces before they brought enough for everybody back home at the Night Pride.
"I really don't get how that Bunga kid could eat bugs all the time," Rani said to Orum. "Nothing's richer or sweeter than the taste of a gazelle."
"Different folks have different tastes," Orum shrugged. "But yes, I must agree with you there."
"Well, at least now Binga has someone that has the same taste in food." Baliyo said.
"Yeah, those two have been spending a lot of time together." Rani smirked playfully.
"Probably more fun than we'll know." Orum smirked back.
"Yes, they seem pretty close," Baliyo nodded. "Probably a little more in the future."
Nirmala and Surak soon waited for the younger lions to come back as they saw that it was a quiet night so far. As far as they knew. They soon saw the younger lions coming back with a meal.
"One gazelle, let's enjoy." Baliyo smiled.
"Very nice, guys," Surak smiled back. "Looks amazing."
"We might've snuck a few bites though." Orum smiled bashfully.
"And by 'we', he means mostly him." Rani teased.
"Ooh, very funny." Orum rolled his eyes playfully.
"Anyway, enough talking, let's eat." Baliyo smiled.
Orum and the Night Pride began to eat their meal together.
"This is the best," Orum sighed. "These are really the best times and days of our lives."
"Yep, sure are." Baliyo smiled.
The five lions continued to eat until there was nothing left of the gazelle.
"Revenge is going to be just as delicious as that hunk of meat," Zira smirked in her lair. "I just know it."
Vitani sighed as she came inside and looked mopey. She had been that way for a long time now, but no one really knew or understood why.
The sun began to come up as the lands surrounding the Tree of Life were shined down from the sun.
"Another day, another test/task for Kion," Orum said. "But this day is going to be different."
"Are you gonna tell him?" Rani asked.
"Yes," Orum replied. "I think today might just be the day."
"The sooner the better anyway," Rani said. "I wouldn't feel too scared about it."
"Right, nothing to be scared about." Orum said before he and Nirmala went to meet up with Kion.
'I know just the test/task for Kopa and Kion to do.' Nirmala thought to herself.
Janna seemed a little weaker than usual, though she was still able to keep up.
"It's time to go see Kion." Orum smiled at Janna as he poked his head in to see her briefly.
"Oh, you have fun then, Orum," Janna smiled back. "Be sure to tell me all about it if you'd like."
Orum nodded and soon went back with Nirmala to go and see Kion for the day. Kion was seen waking up and getting ready for the day.
"Oh, good. You're up." Orum smiled as he and Nirmala arrived where the Lion Guard have been sleeping.
"And just in time." Nirmala added.
"How do you get up so early all the time?" Kion complained.
"You get used to it." Orum smirked.
Kion rolled his eyes before yawning and stretching. "Well, good morning anyway." he then said.
"Once you're ready we'll start making our way to The Cave of Memories, from there you'll be learning about forgiveness and understanding." Nirmala told the leader of The Lion Guard.
"Um, okay?" Kion said out of confusion as he was curious what this had to do with his healing.
"It's very vital to know, especially if you're going to be a hero of the jungle." Nirmala advised.
"If you say so." Kion shrugged.
"Also, Orum will accompany you," Nirmala then said. "You two should bond more."
"I guess," Kion replied. "It sounds a little interesting."
"Y-Yeah." Kopa smiled nervously.
"Well, we better get going. The Cave of Memories is a little far from here," Nirmala said. "Once we make it there you two will have to go in alone."
"Right." Kion and Orum nodded.
Nirmala soon began to lead the way before winking at Surak. Surak nodded and winked back. Orum heaved a sharp sigh and began to breathe in and out as calmly as possible.
"You feeling okay?" Kion asked Orum.
"...Just excited to share some memories with you." Orum grinned bashfully.
"And in The Cave of Memories, it's the perfect place to share memories." Nirmala said.
"Great." Kion smiled.
"Yep, great." Orum added with a nervous smile.
"Please, after you." Nirmala said as they came up to a cave.
Kion walked inside ahead of Orum. Orum came beside Nirmala, still feeling nervous.
"It'll be all right," Nirmala told Orum. "You can't hold it off for much longer."
"I know. I know." Orum sighed quietly before joining Kion inside the cave.
"So why's this cave called The Cave of Memories?" Kion asked as they walked further in.
"Well, because it has sort of a connection to The Great Kings of the Past who watch over all of us." Orum told him.
"Really...?" Kion replied. "That's interesting."
"It can be, yes." Orum nodded.
"So you believe in the Great Kings of the Past too... Do you know my Grandfather Mufasa?" Kion asked.
"I might know a little more than you do." Orum replied mysteriously.
"Really?" Kion asked out of surprise.
"You betcha." Orum nodded seriously.
"Why do you say that?" Kion asked.
"Well... I might know more about your family than you realize..." Orum said softly. "I just want you to take this information alright and don't take it the wrong way."
"Okay?" Kion said, looking confused.
"Anyway, this is a special cave it can let you see into past memories." Orum told him.
"Can you show me some?" Kion asked.
"Sure, I'll demonstrate." Orum said before he walked further inside and put his paw in place.
Kion walked over and nothing seemed to happen.
"Put your paw on my other paw." Orum told him.
Kion shrugged before he did that before his eyes grew wide and glowed as he began to see a past memory with Orum with the cave's special power. And what they saw was how Orum and Surak were training for the first time as the past Orum was getting his butt kicked.
"Whoa... Is this...?" Kion asked.
"Yep, this is The Cave of Memories' special power," Orum nodded. "This memory is when me and Surak first started to train together and as you can see the first time I trained with him I got my butt kicked."
Kion snickered a bit.
"It's not funny!" Orum complained.
"Sorry." Kion smirked bashfully.
"C'mon, Orum, you gotta keep up!" Past Surak told the younger lion. "You're doing better, but you're not just all there yet."
"I know, Surak, I know!" Past Orum replied as he charged at the older lion.
Past Surak and Past Orum kept on training and where it seemed like Past Orum wasn't getting anywhere, but as the memory showed days and weeks and months and soon years passed by and it showed Past Orum finally getting better.
"It took me a long time to get better at training in both strength and speed." Orum smiled.
"Surak's like a big brother, huh?" Kion asked Orum.
"More or less, he's a pretty cool guy once you get to know him better." Orum nodded.
"So I've seen," Kion replied. "I wish I had someone like him back home. Especially in lion cubs since the only other cubs feel like Kiara and her friends."
Orum frowned as he began to feel even more nervous about telling Kion who he really was before he calmed himself.
"So the rest of the Night Pride must be like a second family to you." Kion said to Orum.
"Yeah, Nirmala's like a big sister and Baliyo and Rani, they're like my younger brother and sister," Orum smiled. "And Janna, she's like another grandmother to me."
"That sounds very nice," Kion said. "You ever wonder about your natural family?"
"A lot of the time, yes," Orum nodded. "Especially when I see certain things that remind me of them."
"Must be a little sad." Kion said as he seemed to brush his crimson tuft a bit.
"It can be sometimes." Orum said with a shaky sigh as he noticed what Kion did which punctuated that feeling even more until he soon did the one thing that he knew would possibly give away he was part of Kion's family, but it was the one song that always calmed his nerves.
"You okay?" Kion asked.
"Y-Yeah, I-I'll be fine; I just need to sing a song I learned from my father who was taught the song by two friends of his." Orum said.
"Yeah?" Kion asked. "Maybe singing it will help."
"All right, but I gotta warn you, it might be surprising." Orum replied.
Kion just shrugged before he looked surprised as Kopa began to sing the song which sounded very, very familiar.
"Hakuna Matata, What a wonderful phrase, Hakuna Matata, Ain't no passing craze~," Orum soon began. "It means no worries, For the rest of your days, It's our problem-free, Philosophy, Hakuna Matata~"
"Hakuna Matata?" Kion asked. "You know that song?"
"Yes, I actually do." Orum admitted shamelessly.
"But how could you know that song?" Kion asked.
"There's a reason I know that song." Orum frowned.
"You heard about it?" Kion guessed.
"Because Timon and Pumbaa taught it to my father." Orum replied.
"...Your father knew them too?" Kion then asked.
"Yes... Because your father and my father are the same lion." Orum then said as he let it out as best as he could.
"...But that means-" Kion paused thoughtfully.
"Kion, I'm your brother." Orum finally admitted.
Kion soon went wide-eyed as he finally put it together of why Orum looked just like his father only younger. "Hevi Kabesa," he then said before backing away. "But if that's true, then why have you been here all this time?"
"Protection." Orum said softly.
"Huh?" Kion asked.
"I got in a lot of trouble when I was younger," Orum explained. "Before you were born of course. Due to being the prince of Pride Rock, I was wanted by a lot of dark and sinister animals and I was nearly killed due to the darkest and monstrous of them all."
"Zira." Kion guessed.
"Exactly," Orum nodded. "Even though her daughter was my best friend in secret, but I guess Zira found out, and well, you can already guess what happened next. Although how I got to the Tree of Life is because of my two serval friends."
"Those two, Muguuzi and Adi, did say you were pretty close." Kion memorized.
"Yes, they helped me come to the Tree and they suggested I stay with them in the Night Pride and called me Orum to keep me safe from Zira or if she has any spies from The Outlands around," Kopa nodded. "I've been with The Night Pride ever since and I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I really wanted to, but I felt scared."
"Scared that I might be angry with you so much for not returning home that I'd use The Roar against you?" Kion guessed.
"Yeah," Orum frowned. "I understand if you're angry with me."
"...I think I need to think about this a little." Kion said, though a bit lowly.
"...I understand," Orum replied. "Take all the time you need."
"Thank you. I will." Kion nodded before he decided to leave the cave.
Orum sighed to himself as that wasn't as bad as his nightmare, but still he was going to let his brother take as much time as he needed.
Nirmala saw Kion coming out of the cave and smiled before she saw Orum hadn't come out with him and she saw that he wasn't smiling. Orum soon stepped out to see Nirmala.
"Did it go alright?" Nirmala asked him.
"It seemed to go better than my nightmare did, but Kion said he wanted to be alone to think this over." Orum explained softly.
"I see..." Nirmala then nodded. "Well, the grown-up thing would be to wait and let him talk when he's good and ready and don't rush or force him to talk."
"I know," Orum frowned before groaning. "Ugh! I forgot to tell him what my real name is after telling him why I was going by Orum."
"Well, let him come to terms with what you just told him now, don't give him too much information all at once otherwise he'll feel too overwhelmed." Nirmala told him.
"You're right, you're right." Orum sighed.
"Everything will work out, I promise." Nirmala said.
Orum gave a small smile as Nirmala smiled back.
"You should just give it time and he'll talk whenever he's ready, then you can explain a bit more," Nirmala advised. "But you're doing really well so far."
"Thanks, Nirmala," Orum replied. "I don't know what I'd do without you here."
"Go insane?" Nirmala smirked playfully.
"Oh, ha ha ha." Orum smirked back.
Kion was seen still going by himself as he had a lot to think about after Orum had told him the truth about himself except for his real name which he would find out later on. "Hmm... I'm not sure how I feel about this..." he then said. "I just hope Orum didn't do anything cowardly or selfish..." he said to himself as he looked out into the distance. "Also Mom and Dad never said anything."
Fuli glanced over as she saw Kion alone and decided to go see him. "You alright, Kion?" she then asked.
"Huh? Oh, hey," Kion replied to the cheetah. "Yeah, I'm just thinking about some news I was just given."
"Some news?" Fuli asked.
"Yeah, Orum told me that he was my brother," Kion said softly. "And well, I'm not sure how I feel about it."
Fuli looked wide-eyed at first before calming herself down. "Erm... I wouldn't worry about it too much," she then said. "It's a lot to take in, I'm sure."
"Yeah, that's for sure," Kion replied. "It's just... I have a brother?"
"I can only imagine how that must feel," Fuli remarked. "Just don't worry too much otherwise you might make yourself sick."
"I just don't understand why my mom and dad didn't tell me or Kiara about him?" Kion pondered.
"Well, after what happened to their firstborn lion cub would they want to bring up someone in a conversation that you wouldn't be able to meet because they thought he was dead?" Fuli asked.
"They still could've told me," Kion pouted. "It'd be better than lying."
"Your parents lied to you?" Fuli asked out of confusion.
"...Well, no, but they could've at least said I had a brother." Kion defended.
"They wouldn't have been lying," Fuli said to him. "For all they knew, your brother was probably dead and they wouldn't know how to handle talking about that sort of thing, especially to young cubs."
Kion tried to think of a comeback but couldn't think of anything as that did make sense.
"And besides, if you were here all this time after being thought to be supposedly dead would your parents want to bring it up in case Kiara didn't know anything about you?" Fuli asked.
"No, I guess they wouldn't." Kion said.
"You're not mad, are you?" Fuli soon asked.
"Nah, just a little conflicted, honestly, but you do make a good point." Kion had to admit.
Fuli smiled, happy to know that Kion wasn't mad. And where it seemed like nothing would cause any more conflicts, that was until Bunga and the others arrived and where Bunga was the first to speak.
"Hey, Kion so did Orum tell you-" Bunga started before getting his mouth covered by Fuli as she ran over to the honey badger so then it wouldn't cause more conflict.
"Wait, did you guys also know Orum was my brother?" Kion asked after hearing Bunga's question half way.
"Uh..." Bunga muffled.
Fuli looked nervous and bashful.
"...Did you guys know?" Kion asked them.
The rest of the Lion Guard looked nervous about answering him.
"Answer me!" Kion demanded firmly.
"...We did." Fuli sighed as she couldn't hold it in after that.
"We just didn't wanna tell you, especially with how you're still healing." Ono said.
"But we were going to tell you." Anga told Kion.
"And when were you going to tell me?" Kion asked firmly.
"Uh, after Kopa told you." Bunga muffled.
"...Kopa?" Kion asked. "Who's Kopa? That lion's name is Orum."
Fuli then face-pawed at the honey badger.
"What? He oughta know his name too!" Bunga defended.
"His name's not even Orum?!" Kion complained and groaned. "Ugh! This is NOT okay!"
"Well, if you had someone like Zira wanting to kill you, would you want everyone to know that you were alive?" Anga asked.
Kion narrowed his eyes a bit.
"You don't have to be mad." Anga said to him.
"I'm just thinking about this," Kion replied. "It's a lot to take in and I'm feeling a lot of stuff after finding out about 'Orum's' secret."
"And that's understanding if any of us had found out we had a brother or sister we didn't know about we'd feel the same way." Beshte said.
"I guess so." Kion just shrugged at his friends.
"Did I ruin it?" Bunga asked the others.
"Just let us talk to Kion first for something like this again in the future, Bunga." Fuli suggested.
"Well, I didn't know it was such a big secret!" Bunga shrugged.
Kion began to think to himself about how much he's learned about his long-lost brother. The only thing he had to wonder why was his test both forgiveness and understanding. Unknown to him, Dakarai had been watching the whole thing in secret, hidden in the shadows, luckily for him not being sighted.
"I just need a minute to think about this." Kion said to his friends.
"Guess I made it worse?" Bunga asked.
"No, Bunga, it's fine, just give me some time and I'll come back later." Kion reassured.
"Take as much time as you need." Fuli said as she and the others soon left Kion to give some time to think about what he learned.
Kion nodded as he decided to sit and think about what just happened.
"I'm sorry I ruined it, guys." Bunga said to the others.
"Next time, try to be a bit more patient." Anga sharply advised the honey badger.
"I will." Bunga said.
"Good." Ono nodded.
As they walked off, Dakarai stayed in the shadows, but grinned a bit once he saw that Kion was all alone. "This is all too easy, with him all alone he'll be easy to defeat," he then said with a smirk. "Especially with all this information he's taken in, just one lie should push him over the edge."
Kion sat by himself as he tried to think long and hard about what he and Orum had talked about, especially since Orum was his big brother and he and Kiara didn't know about him.
"I'm going to make our partnership worth it, Zira, just you wait," Dakarai grinned. The dark lion soon thought of the perfect lie to tell Kion and where it was one that would make question Orum all together and not trust him at all, but unfortunately for him, Kion wasn't one to fall for a lie or trick. "It's time I put the power of the Roar of the Darkness to the test." he then smirked.
"Remember what you were taught when you were younger." A mysterious voice said to the dark lion.
"I will, Duisternis." Dakarai promised mentally.
Kion soon lay down before shaking chills as he thought he felt something, but ignored it. Dakarai soon unleashed a special move known as The Roar of the Darkness which was a lot more dark and gruesome than The Roar of the Elders, especially from where the dark lion had originally come from. And as he unleashed the Roar of the Darkness it started to make every plant around it to wither including where Kion was laying down. And where he didn't expect this as he got up and looked around before hearing Dakarai's dark chuckling as Akata and Abrafo came by Dakarai's side.
"Did you do what I think you just did?" Akata asked.
"Of course I did, you fool," Dakarai replied. "I was trusted with this special gift."
"Well, I think you caught his attention." Abrafo said, referring to Kion as the younger lion who saw the three of them.
"Hello, Kion." Dakarai smirked.
"What...? What's going on?" Kion asked. "What's happening?"
"You're just in time to meet my friends in the darkness and shadows of the jungle." Dakarai grinned.
"Who are you three?" Kion asked before seeing how dark the three lions' fur was. "Wait... You must be Dakarai, Abrafo, and Akata."
"Bravo, you know about us," Dakarai smirked. "Your brother told you about us, correct?"
"Uh, yeah, he did," Kion replied. "Among other things."
"You mean like how he's your brother and something happened?" Dakarai smirked.
Kion looked wide-eyed.
"Ah, yes, that old story," Dakarai commented. "I see that our reputation proceeds most, doesn't it, Abrafo and Akata?"
"Yes, it does." The two lions nodded.
"Anyway, we're here for three things: getting rid of your brother, getting rid of you, The Lion Guard, and The Night Pride, and killing Queen Janna so I may become ruler of this land." Dakarai smirked.
"And where we're not alone this time," Akata smirked. "Unlike the last time when we were here years ago."
"You can't do that!" Kion cried out.
"We'd like to see you try and stop us," Abrafo chuckled. "You might have a big and powerful roar from Pride Rock, but we've got much better tactics than your little roar and your so-called Lion Guard."
"We were successful before and we'll do even better after the Night Pride and Queen Janna are gone and then there will be no more to this land and it'll be enough for us to take over." Dakarai nodded.
"Yeah, 'cuz Dakarai has the Roar of the Darkness." Akata smirked.
"The Roar of the Darkness? I've never heard of it before." Kion said.
"Of course you haven't, you're just a cub and you haven't been where we've been." Dakarai snarled.
"It sounds dangerous." Kion then said.
"It can be, especially when used by someone like me," Dakarai smirked. "It's like your Roar of the Elders, though it's much better and more powerful; it can summon and send out powers from both evil and the darkness. Much like my former pride."
"And as you can see it can make every living plant wither and die." Abrfo smirked.
"Yeah." Akata added.
Kion looked surprised to think that something as powerful as the Roar of the Darkness could do that.
"And don't think Dakarai wouldn't do that," Akata smirked. "The rogue lions will conquer over your little home."
"N-No!" Kion glared, trying to stay brave. "I won't let you do that!"
"We're gonna start off with The Night Pride too so that Dakarai can finish his unfinished business with them." Abrafo added.
"But first off is your brother so then he won't escape." Dakarai smirked.
"Yeah, this time he'll be killed and he won't survive." Abrafo said.
"You can't do that!" Kion glared.
"Just try to stop us, only lion in your Guard," Dakarai chuckled. "Why would you even make a Lion Guard with only one lion?"
Kion growled firmly at that.
"And besides your Roar of the Elders is like a lion cub's meow compared to the Roar of the Darkness." Dakarai smirked.
"Yeah." Akata added.
"I won't let you get away with this!" Kion glared.
"Should be interesting, especially when you think you can trust Orum after he betrayed your family." Dakarai retorted.
"Yeah." Abrafo smirked.
"And besides, there's only one thing that can defeat the Roar of the Darkness." Akata added.
"Silence!" Dakarai told them. "He doesn't need to know that. He's just a dumb little cub." he then smirked.
"I'm not a dumb little cub!" Kion glared at the darker lions. "You guys are just bullies!"
"Oh, yeah? Well, do bullies kill a lion cub's parents like we did to the king and queen?" Akata smirked.
"I think not." Abrafo added darkly.
"Anyway, we're wasting time." Dakarai said.
"You won't succeed!" Kion glared. "You'll be stopped and if not by me and the Lion Guard, then by the Night Pride!"
"Then they shall all fall!" Dakarai smirked.
"Yeah, because none of them has The Lion's Heart: a powerful force that is only given to the purest of heart." Abrafo revealed with a smirk.
"And there's no way that a lion with that pure of heart could possibly be here, he'd have to go through a whole lot of pain," Akata smirked. "Like being attacked as a lion cub and yet still being kind, but also brave."
"You just described my brother." Kion said.
Abrafo and Dakarai glared at Akata.
"Am I in trouble?" Akata asked them.
"Gee! What do you think?" Abrafo sneered. "Why don't you tell him about why we hate The Night Pride so much while you're at it?"
"Uh, because they'll stand in your way to take over the Tree of Life after killing Queen Janna?" Akata guessed.
"Wow, you are an idiot." Abrafo said.
"How did I even convince myself to trust a simpleton like you?" Dakarai huffed at Akata. "I bet even warthogs are smarter than the likes of you."
"You trust me because of my strength." Akata reminded.
"Ugh, right," Dakarai groaned. "Anyway, time to send a lion flying with the power of the Roar of the Darkness."
Kion tried to fight back with the Roar of the Elders, but it seemed to be like a tug of war until Kion was sent flying and ended up in front of his brother, luckily still breathing.