Kion was doing his little patrol in the Pride Lands with his closest friends. So far today, it looked really peaceful and no hyena or jackal was causing trouble. Many of them passed by many familiar faces like Kibango, the serval they have rescued before the other day, along with the rhinos that Kifaru was in, and Beshte's parents, who happened to be the leader of the herd, resting in a big waterhole under the hot savanna sun to cool them off. Beste's parents even offered Kion and his gang to take a dip in there as well.
"Come on, Kion!" Fuli said. "I'm just as fast in water as I am on land."
"Oh please." Beshte said. "Nothing can running faster underwater faster than us hippos." Fuli had that overconfident look on her face once again like always. "I know that look." the hippo calf said. "That's the bring it on look on your face."
The look on the cheetah didn't go away when she said "That's right. I challenge you to a swimming contest."
"Can you even swim?" said Ono with a skeptical look on his face.
Fuli didn't really look amused and replied "Of course i am. I'm the fastest member of the Lion Guard. No doubts about it. I can take you all on in the water if I want to."
"Here comes her cockiness again." Kion muttered, just chilling on the shore. "Well, she is a good friend to us."
And a little race erupted between Beshte and Fuli. Both of them paddled through the watering hole. Bunga, and Ono were cheering them on as the race looked quite interesting. Kion however decided not to get involved in this, and let his best friends/teammates have their silly fun together. Besides, even he and his friends deserve a well-deserved break from guarding the Pride lands once in a while.
Fuli looked like she was going to meet her match against her big, chubby friend here. She only swam like any other animal in these plains, with the exception of crocodiles and marine animals who can swim fast of course. Beshte was moving quite faster than her across the watering hole, and he crossed over to the finish line where Ono was perching, on a small branch.
"And Beshte's the winner!" the cattle egret cheered.
Fuli could hardly believes that she just lost a contest in swimming. Running was one thing, but swimming was definitely another. Beshte looked victorious under the light of victory.
"Like I said, Fuli. We're the kings of the water."
At first, it looked like the cheetah was about to explode in anger, but then she made a small, cute laugh and said "Okay, okay. I admit it. Who am I kidding? Cheetahs aren't good swimmers anyway." And she got out of the water hole and shook her fur to get the water off of her. "Anyway, you did a good job, Beshte."
"Thanks." the hippo smiled warmly at his close friend.
After their little fun, Kion decided to head back home in Pride rock, and his friends all accompanied him. At first, it looked a little empty inside like no one was even home, but then Kion saw a couple of lionesses just laying around with a carcass next to them. It was Sarafina, Nala's mother, and next to her was Kali, one of the former outsiders enjoying the gigantic carcass, looking quite fierce. Vitani was also in, but she was napping, snoring loudly.
"Ah Kion and friends." said Sarafina. "Welcome back. How was your usual patrol?"
"Hello Gradmother Sarafina." Kion remarked. "It was actually peaceful today. Not even Janja or his hyena clan were disrupting the circle of life."
"Huh. that's weird." said Kali. "Still, it's good either way.: and she took a big bite of what appears to be an eland carcass or an oryx carcass.
"Where's Simba, Nala, Kiara, and Kovu?"
"Well they were helping Kiara know what it's like to negotiate with leaders of other animals in the Pride Lands." Sarafina clarified. "But, they should be back here in about..."
"Hello everyone." It was Nala, and the other three were with her.
"Ah Kion, you're just in time for this." Kovu noticed. A couple of other lionesses came in and brought in a hartebeest bull for him to eat off of.
"Nice! That looks delicious." Kion said. He immediately dug in the carcass and his sister decided to join in. "Oh, this is so good."
"Beshte beat Fuli in a swimming race." Bunga said.
"Did he?" Simba said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "That actually wouldn't surprise me since hippos are excellent swimmers."
"Indeed." Nala agreed. "I guess Fuli has met her match, hehehe. Oh, no offense."
Fuli made a smirk, and she replied "none taken, your majesty. swimming's not really my forte anyway."
"Have you seen Beshte swim like that before?" Bunga said. "I mean, Zuka Zama!"
"Oh you guys." Beshte said. "I'm not really one to brag." And he made a big yawn with his gargantuan mouth. "Well, I would really hate to intrude on your family time together Kion, but I should be really getting back to my mom and dad."
"Why don't you guys stay here if you want to?" Simba offered. "We really don't mind the extra company."
"Really?" Ono asked
The king nodded a yes to the egret
"Thank you so much your majesty!"
"Yeah, why don't you guys go play together?" Kiara said. "Oh, right after we're done with this." then she continued munching on the hartebeest.
"Yeah, I'm hungry." Kion agreed.
After they were both done, Kion was more than happy to play with his friends in Pride Rock, and decided to play a little tag. They had so much fun like good friends should, and all laughed with joy like there was no tomorrow without a care in the world. Little did Kion know was that he wasn't quite paying attention when Fuli was it, and he tripped on something and a loud crack was heard.
Trying to keep himself from getting dizzy from the impact of the fall, Kion perked up and what he saw shocked him to the bone. A small toy that looked like a doll was broken in half, and it looked like a flamingo. "Oh no." he muttered
"What is it, Kion?" asked Bunga
"Oh no no no!" Kion exclaimed, feeling like having a panic attack. "That was Princess Pinky! Kiara's favorite toy when she was a cub, and I broke it!" he didn't really know what to do now
"Kion, calm down." Ono said. "Is it that important to her?"
"I said it was her favorite toy." Kion clarrified
"Well, she's not a cub anymore." Fuli said. "She can't still be attached to that doll."
"Actually, I have seen her cuddle with it a few times in her sleep recently." Kion remarked. He began pacing to and fro in great worriment. "If Kiara sees this, she'll freak out!"
"Nonsense." Beshte said. "She's your big sister, she'll understand it was an accident."
"But I was being careless back there."
"He's right, it was an accident, and they happen." Bunga said. "It's not like she's gonna disown you and gobble you up until nothing remains of you."
"Bunga!" the others shouted down at him.
"Not helping." Fuli stated sternly.
"Sorry, I was just trying to make a point."
What Bunga said only made Kion worried and scared even more. The cub then began thinking of how mad Kiara would be, along with the rest of his family. All of them baring their teeth at him, and looking like they were going to maul him to death like that wild dog encounter a little while back. "Oh no." he said. "If they all see this, I'll be a dead cub walking."
"Don't say that." Ono said. "They're your family, they would never do that."
"Okay okay, it's fine, I just... need to hide this so Kiara won't notice it." Kion speculated. He took the broken doll in his mouth and decided to look for a hiding place. It took a little while, and he was swift for he definitely didn't want anyone to see what he just did. Finally, he found a bush next to his home, and went deep inside of the bushes to hide the remains.
"Kion, this is getting ridiculous. It's just a toy."
"Kiara's favorite toy." Kion corrected her. "If they all see this, I'll get in so much trouble, and since Kiara's gonna be the queen, she'll definitely have it her way about how she will punish me. She might even banish me to the Outlands."
"Calm down." Ono said. "Please, I can't stand hysterics."
The cub took a few deep breaths and said "Okay, okay, you're right. As long as she doesn't find out about this."
"You need to be alone for a while?" asked Beshte
"Yeah, that would be."
And they all went back home to their families after telling the king and queen that they were done.
"hey, your friends left already?" Kovu asked him.
"Uh-huh. they all... had important things to do." the cub lied at the soon-to-be-king.
"Alright. You feeling alright, Kion?"
"of course! Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well... you're kinda twitching all of a sudden."
"Me twitching?" he said, sounding a little hysteric. "I'm not twitching." but despite what he is saying, his eye left eye was kinda twitching a little from the fear and stress about his sister finding out that he just killed her favorite toy, even if it was an accident. "Look, I gotta eat the hartebeest before Vitani takes it from me." and he hurriedly went over to his lunch again.
"Wow, Kion, you're eating kinda fast." Kiara said. "Don't try and choke yourself. It can happen if you hork it down too fast."
"Oh right, sorry." and the cub began to eat it more nonchalantly. After he was finished, and said to his father. "Hey dad, I... need to go help Timon and Pumbaa with something."
"Really? Like what, son?"
"They... need me to catch some grub for them."
"Hmm, well, I suppose that's alright." Simba said. "Just be careful not to get pinched by any centipedes. And be back home before dark, okay?"
"Of course!" Kion remarked. And he hurriedly went out Pride Rock to go look for the meerkat and warthog. Of course, he will also seek Rafiki and maybe even Mufasa for help. Boy was he in a pickle here.
