Chapter 4

Hello everyone, I'm finally back to give you chapter four. I would have gotten this chapter to you all sooner, but the heatwave from a few weeks ago kinda threw me off my game for a little while, but I'm back into my writing groove now. I also should let you all know, while writing this chapter, it became way longer than I thought it was gonna be, reaching over 15500 words I believe, so I head to split another chapter into two and that doesn't include the ending, so this story has become double what I originally saw it being, so it will now be a six chapter story for sure. Anyway, that's all I wanted to say, so enjoy the chapter everyone.


Kion was in the Pride Lands with his family, all spending time together. His dad was walking around, proudly watching over everyone while his mother and Vitani dragged in a kill from a hunt and they bumped their paws together after dropping it at a job well done. Kiara and Kovu were just lazily laying there in the sun, their necks interlocked and Kiara rolled over, exposing her underbelly to the heat of the sun. With Gozi and Umoja, Gozi was practicing his Roar of the Elders, using it to make the clouds all sorts of different shapes and scenes with Umoja shouting suggestions. On Umoja's suggestion, Gozi made some clouds look like Janja accidently getting sat on by a hippo, representing Beshte probably, and then Bunga coming in and doing what he does best and using his backside on Janja, which had Umoja crying with laughter while pounding the ground and soon unable to breathe.

Madoa and Nne were sitting in front of each other, rubbing their noses together while staring lovingly into each other's eyes until Cheezi and Chungu suddenly popped up, asking what they were doing only for Nne to tell them to buzz off and leave them alone, causing Madoa to glare at him. As for him, Jasiri, and Asante, Jasiri and Asante were singing while he watched and listened to them, tapping his front paws as they did. Kion was enjoying this time with his family and nothing could drag him away from it. That was until something cold and wet landed on his nose. Kion thought it was a rain drop until he looked down his nose and saw it was a snowflake and it instantly melted.

As soon as it did, more snow started falling around him and his family, but they didn't seem to notice it unlike him. Kion found it bizarre that none of his family members were reacting to the snow fall, but what he found more bizarre was that it was snowing in the Pride Lands. It snowing in the Pride Lands weather it was the dry season or not was impossible and it only happened in the mountains or at the Tree of Life. Kion turned around to look at the mountains and was shocked at what he saw. Behind him was a whole field of beautiful pure white snow, but Kion thought how that was possible as it had only just started snowing.

Kion got up and walked into the field of snow to investigate, making his way towards the mountains. Kion walked for a long while, but the mountains never seemed to get any closer, literally. Kion knew where he and his family had been in the Pride Lands and with how long he'd been walking, he should have been more than halfway there by now, but the mountains still seemed far off in the distance. Kion continued for a little while longer, but still the mountains seemed as far away as they'd been when he started. Kion decided to give up and turn around, but as he did, he was met with a spooky site.

When he turned around, he was met with not the vast Pride Lands savannah or just a field of snow, but the snowy forest that led to the pass that led to the Tree of Life. Kion thought how could he be all the way at the entrance to the Tree of Life when he was just in the Pride Lands. Without much thought, Kion walked into the forest until he came upon the frozen lake that he and his friends had nearly fallen into on their way to the tree. Kion didn't dare cross the lake and made his way around it and as he was almost around, he heard the cawing of some bird. Startled, Kion jumped and looked in the direction, but didn't see anything. Kion cursed himself for being so jumpy and turned around, but once he did, he jumped back with a shout.

Just a few feet in front of him, he saw Rani lying there. He slowly made his way towards her body and rolled it over to be met with her torn-out throat. Kion gasped and jumped back again. He stared at her body, unsure of what to do until he saw a trail of blood drops leading away from Rani's body and decided to follow them to see where they lead him. Kion followed the trail until it brought him to a ridge, which he climbed over.

When he got to the top, he gasped at what he saw. Not too far from the foot of the ridge, Kion saw Jasiri laying on her side similar to how Rani was when he found her. Kion quickly ran down the ridge and over to Jasiri and when he got to her, he stood there shaking. He looked around and didn't see any signs like she might have been in a fight and there was no blood around, but he was still worried. Kion reach out with a shaky paw and nudged Jasiri, asking her if she was okay and telling her to wake up and please not be joking with him.

No matter what Kion did or said, Jasiri wasn't moving or making any noise, causing Kion to fear the worst. His paws shaking even more, Kion grabbed onto Jasiri's shoulder almost too scared to turn her over. He didn't do so for over a minute, until he gathered up enough courage to do so and when he did, his fears were confirmed. Kion saw Jasiri's neck and saw that her throat had been ripped out like Rani's. Kion stepped back in disbelief, hyperventilating as he did, to the point where he felt like he couldn't breathe and felt nauseous like he was about to throw up, which he soon did.

In denial, he mouthed to himself that this wasn't happening, that it couldn't be real. He closed his eyes and shook his head in hopes of coming to his senses, but when he opened them back open, Jasiri was still laying there with her throat ripped open. Kion shouted out in agonizing grief as he grabbed onto Jasiri's face with his paws and pressed his head against her and sobbed, begging to her, to someone, to something, to anything not let this happen to him. It was then that Kion saw something just beyond his vision. He looked up and wished he hadn't.

In the seemingly endless field of cold as death snow, he saw more bodies that weren't there before and they weren't just any bodies, they were the bodies of his family and friends and everyone he's ever known. Kion wanted to scream as he saw this, but was unable to. He got up and walked through them, looking at every one of them, confirming them; his parents, his sister, Kovu, Gozi, Umoja, Bunga, Makini, Cheezi, Chungu, Baliyo, Kweli, and even the bodies of his grandparents, and ancestor Askari, everybody. However, Kion realized that there was one body missing, Asante's. Kion began to frantically look around to find Asante or God forbid, her dead body.

He looked everywhere, if there was even an anywhere in this flat world where all there was, was a snow covered ground and dead bodies. Kion even looked under some bodies, but couldn't find her. Kion's directionless search ended with him back at Jasiri's body, which Kion fell to his knees in front of, asking it where their daughter was. Kion picked Jasiri's body up and hugged it tightly against him. It was then that Kion heard a deep and demonic laughter.

He opened his eyes and looked up to see on the ridge, a large black shapeless mass of what seemed to be made of swirling shadows. Kion found himself wondering what this was, but didn't have time to think about it as he saw what this, whatever it was, was holding. In some black shadowy tendril in front of it, it held his daughter, Asante. Before Kion could even shout out her name, the black mass spoke in a deep and demonic voice.

"I've long awaited this and you, Kion, leader of the Lion Guard." it said.

Kion didn't know what this thing was or how it knew him, but what he did know was that this thing was responsible for killing everyone he knew. The thing seemed to rear up and a roar came from it and Kion knew what that meant, it's next victim was Asante. Kion knew he should get and run to Asante's rescue, but he couldn't, he was too frozen in place with grief and Fear.

"No!"

"Hahahahahahahaha!"

The black mass than struck down at Asante and Kion's whole world went black in an instant.

"Nooooooo!"

"Ahhhhhhh!"


"No, no, no!" Kion shouted as he jolted up awake.

Kion sat there, breathing heavily for a short while before frantically looking next to him to see Jasiri and Asante laying there asleep and safe. Kion closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief that it was just a nightmare. He leaned his head down and nuzzled both of them. Kion looked to see that it was starting to get light outside, but the sun hadn't begun rising yet. Kion got up and began to make his way towards the river that was in front of the den they were staying in, the same den where Kion and Janja fought about two years ago after leaving the Tree of Life.

Kion, his family, and his friends had all been traveling for little more than a month since they left the Pride Lands. As they traveled, they enjoyed some of the sites and the familiar animals they had encountered, all of which Asante and the other children had enjoyed seeing. They were all now about a day's journey from the Tree of Life and should arrive by nighttime. Before everyone got up and they resumed their journey however, Kion wanted cool down in the river. He exited the den, walking around the ones who were still sleeping outside due to the den not being big enough to shelter all of them.

When Kion got to the river, he dunked his head in and shook it when he pulled it out. Kion than sat down without a thought on his mind. Soon he sensed someone walking towards him. Kion looked and saw it was Baliyo, who had been sleeping on a large, flat rock, facing the direction of the Tree of Life, obviously eager to return back home.

"Hay." Kion greeted.

"Hay." Baliyo replied back.

"Did you just get up?" Kion asked.

"No, I've been up for a while. You know, having spent most of my life awake during nighttime instead of daytime. Night Pride tradition and all." Baliyo said.

Kion nodded, recounting that while on their journey as they traveled during the day, Beshte had to carry Baliyo on his back as he slept more than once.

"So, I heard you scream a bit ago before you came out of the den there. You alright?" Baliyo asked.

"Uh huh. Just had a nightmare, a bad one." Kion said.

"About what?" Baliyo asked.

"Take forever to explain." Kion replied.

Baliyo glanced at everyone, still asleep.

"Might be a couple more hours before anyone else wakes up. We got time." Baliyo said.

"Really rather not talk about it." Kion breathed, still in shock from it.

"Okay." Baliyo replied respectfully.

"I'm going to go back and lay down with Jasiri and Asante until they get up." Kion said.

"See you when you get back up." Baliyo said.

Kion simply nodded as he walked back towards the den and laid back down with his mate and daughter. As he did, Kion soon dosed off into a dreamless sleep only to be woken up over two hours later by Jasiri, who was slowly licking him from his cheek to along his muzzle. Kion smiled, pushing Jasiri away, who giggled in response. Kion than got up and licked Jasiri's face. They looked out and saw that Asante and the children were playing at the edge of the river while Baliyo watched them.

Kion and Jasiri walked over to help watch over the children as they played. As the children played, Busara soon came up with the idea for Kion to use his roar's levitating ability to drop them in the water. The other children, except for Mbio, all agreed it sounded like a fun idea and begged Kion to do so, which he eventually agreed to. Asante, Gozi, Umoja, and Busara all stood together for Kion to use his roar's levitating ability to hold them all about a dozen feet up in the air over the river and then dropped them, the children screaming with joy as they fell. As the children than resurfaced, Kion used the roar to create a small tidal wave that sent the children all the way to the other side of the river.

The children swam back to the other side, Kion levitating them up again once they got into the shallows and dropping them back in the deeper area. Kion eventually, suddenly used his levitating ability on Mbio and dropped him in the river. The young cheetah desperately resurfaced and swam out of the river as Kion and everyone laughed. Mbio gave a frustrated grunt and told Asante that her dad was a jerk. Asante replied, telling Mbio to lighten up and admit that her dad levitating him with the roar was fun, which Mbio said it was until he was dropped in the water.

The children continued to play in the river with Kion, Jasiri, and Baliyo watching over them for about another half hour before everyone else began waking up. Fuli saw her son and when she asked why he was wet and when he told her, Fuli laughed in a motherly teasing way at the story, which caused Mbio to grumble and say he thought she'd be on his side. Everyone who was able to, ate from the carcass on an animal they had been dragging along with them since the other day. When they were finished, everyone left what was left of it for the scavengers and pressed on to finish their journey to the Tree of Life. Since they were so close, everyone quickened up their pace than they had the entire journey, so that they could arrive at the Tree of Life by tonight.

Everyone stopped at one point to take five before starting on the last leg of their journey. After many hours, everyone was finally coming to the snowy area that told they were close to the pass as the sun was setting and the last bright colors of day were fading into the cool colors of the night. The children soon began to excitedly talk about finally being able to see the Tree of Life and to see more amazing new animals than they already have during the long journey here. They soon came to the frozen lake, walking around so as not to repeat the same problem Kion and his friends faced the first time they came. As they got to the other side, Kion noticed Baliyo staring at the edge of the lake on the spot where he supposed he and his family hand found Rani.

Kion placed a paw on Baliyo shoulder, causing the brown lion to look at him.

"Come on Baliyo." Kion urged.

Baliyo nodded and continued walking with everyone else, soon coming to the pass that led to the Tree of Life. As they made their way through the pass, Kion was about to tell Ono to fly ahead to let Surak and Nirmala know they were arriving until Bunga suddenly gasped.

"Bunga, what is it?" Kion asked, startled.

"Look" Bunga said, pointing.

Everyone looked where Bunga was pointing to see a beehive with a bunch of bees buzzing around it and some honey was dripping out of the bottom.

"A beehive. Oh boy, after walking for an entire day and finding not much to eat only to come across a two in one meal." Bunga said before beginning to run towards the beehive with his arms eagerly outstretched towards it. "Ooohhh, come to Bunga!"

Fuli and Anga gasped as Bunga began rushing towards the beehive, before the two rushed at him themselves.

"NO, NOT AGAIN!" the two yelled as they tackled Bunga.

"Ooohhh, hay!" Bunga grunted as Fuli and Anga tackled him.

Fuli and Anga tried to restrain Bunga to keep him from getting to the beehive and wrecking everything for everyone like last time, getting into a tussle as they did and kicking him dust, which formed a cloud around them. As this was going on, Jasiri couldn't help but laugh out in amusement at it while the other adults stared on in bewilderment. As for the children, they gathered around the dust cloud and shouted.

"Fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, fight!"

Anga suddenly poked her head out of the dust cloud and looked towards Busara and her vine lasso, which she still had.

"Can we borrow this for a second!?" Anga said, grabbing the vine lasso out of Busara's hands and diving back into the dust cloud.

"Ahh! No, stop! Hay that tickles! Ahh!" Bunga shouted from inside the dust cloud as Anga and Fuli did whatever it was they were doing with Busara's vine lasso.

When the dust cloud finally subsided, everyone saw Fuli and Anga standing there with Bunga tied up with Busara's vine lasso from his ankles up to his neck. Fuli dragged Bunga back over to everyone and threw him into Binga's arms.

"Here hold this, make sure it doesn't wreck anything." Fuli said.

Binga looked down at Bunga in her arms and smiled down at him

"Hello handsome." Binga giggled, tipping her leaf hat, which Busara made for her during the journey, off to Bunga.

After the little delay, Kion told Ono to fly ahead to look for Surak and Nirmala and let them know they were on their way. Ono nodded and flew ahead while everyone else continued making their way towards the Tree of Life. As they walked, Ono came back almost as soon as he had left.

"Did you find Surak and Nirmala, Ono?" Kion asked.

"Yes and no. Ullu noticed us coming and informed them, they're just around the corner." Ono informed.

"They are?" Kion replied

"Affirmative." Ono replied.

"Come on everyone, let's not keep them waiting." Kion said.

Everyone rounded the corner, being met with two brown lions and a white horned owl above them eagerly awaiting them.

"Baliyo, you're finally back." Nirmala called out.

"Aunt Nirmala! Uncle Surak!" Baliyo shouted.

Baliyo broke from everyone and ran up to his remaining family, happy to be reunited with them after about two and a half months and embraced them.

"It's good to finally have you back home after so long Baliyo." Surak said.

"And we see you brought Kion back with you and others from the Pride Lands." Nirmala observed.

"Yes, Kion agreed to come almost immediately, I didn't really have to try to convince him or anyone else to do so for us." Baliyo explained.

"Really? That's wonderful to hear." Surak replied, happy to hear that Kion coming here wasn't affected by Rani's actions.

Baliyo nodded in response before looking back at everyone and waving them over. Kion led everyone over to the Night Pride, who looked happy to see them, especially Kion.

"Kion." both Surak and Nirmala began, looking somewhat nervous at seeing him again after so long.

"Hay Surak and Nirmala." Kion greeted, genuinely happy to see them again after so long.

"Kion, it, it's good to see you again." Nirmala said before glancing at his eye, seeing the extra mark that Janja left on it from his and Kion's fight. "How's your eye, Baliyo told us you got an extra scar on it."

"Oh, it's fine, nothing really." Kion waved off. "I uh… well, you should've seen Janja, I left him in a worse state than he left me."

"Kion, it's a good to see you again as well and thank you and for coming here for the funeral." Surak said, going straight to the matter at paw. "We really appreciate you and everyone else doing so, despite having your reasons not to after… what happened with Rani."

"It's like I told Baliyo, I wouldn't have refused even if I wanted to. I wanted to come to show you that you still have my support." Kion said.

"And we deeply appreciate that." Surak replied.

"I also wanted to make up for the way we left. I didn't want things to turn violent the way they did." Kion apologized.

"That was wasn't your fault." Nirmala replied.

Kion didn't respond to that, not knowing exactly how to. Surak, Nirmala, and Ullu did a small, quick catch up with everyone else who had come, happy to see how many had come for the funeral. When they talked with Jasiri, they all agreed that they'd have to have a more formal meeting at some point during their stay, having never gotten the chance to do so unlike with Baliyo. Surak and Nirmala were happy to finally meet their extended family in Gozi and Umoja, as well as Busara and Mbio, having been told about them when Baliyo came back from delivering Asante to Kion and Jasiri. Speaking of whom, Surak and Nirmala searched for Asante among everyone, asking where she was. Jasiri smiled as Surak and Nirmala asked than and began to step aside.

"Voila." Jasiri said as she stepped aside, revealing Asante standing between Cheezi and Chungu behind her.

Surak and Nirmala looked down, seeing the young, now seven-month-old stripped hyena they had taken care of for the first month of her life. Just like it had been with Baliyo, Asante looked excited to see the rest of the lions who cared for her before Kion. Surak and Nirmala stepped closer to get a better look at her.

"So, you're Asante?" Surak questioned.

"Yeah." Asante replied.

"All grown up, is she?" Baliyo said.

"Nearly." Jasiri said.

"Asante, do you remember us?" Nirmala asked, despite knowing it was highly unlikely she remembered her or Surak since she was so young last they saw her.

"No, but I know very much about you." Asante said. "You're Nirmala, the lioness who wears a flower behind her ear and helped my dad with his scar when he first came here." Asante said.

"Oh, your dad helped himself with his scar, I just gave him a little nudge to do so." Nirmala said.

Asante laughed a little before turning to Surak.

"And you, your Surak, Baliyo's uncle and the lion with the funny mane." Asante said.

Surak exclaimed and looked around at everyone, most of them trying to hold back their laughter. Surak glanced up at his mane before giving a small, nervous smile and laugh as he looked back down at Asante.

"Uh, yes, yes I am." Surak said, not sure what else to say.

Jasiri glanced over at Kion.

"Did you tell Asante that you thought Baliyo's uncle's mane was funny?" Jasiri asked in a whisper.

"No, I was thinking you might of." Kion whispered back.

Asante was continuing to look up at Surak, Nirmala, and Ullu, saying how great it was to see them and now to have met all the lions who helped raise her before her parents now that she was old enough to remember.

"Well, Asante, we're happy to hear you've enjoyed meeting Baliyo and us." Nirmala said, admiring Asante's joy at meeting those who raised her before Kion and Jasiri.

"Yes, it's been so exciting to meet Baliyo, especially since I was only just able to remember him. Now I'm meeting the rest of you and I have so many things to tell you and can't wait to hear things you have to tell me." Asante said excitedly.

"Well, Asante, you'll have plenty of time to get to know us during your stay at the Tree of Life." Nirmala said.

"The Tree of Life; I can't wait to see it either, my dad and Baliyo said that it's the largest tree he's ever seen." Asante said.

"Then why wait any longer, come and see it." Surak encouraged, turning around to lead everyone out of the pass.

Everyone followed him until they came to the same ledge where Kion and his Lion Guard first saw the tree years ago. Asante, Gozi, Umoja, Busara, and Mbio all looked out in awe at the mountainous tree before them.

"Wow, that's the Tree of Life?" Gozi said.

"It looks much bigger than it is in the painting." Umoja said.

"Duh, what were you expecting it to be, about as big as your paw?" Busara replied.

"It's almost as big as a mountain." Mbio said.

"It looks as tall as three elephants standing on top of each other on their back legs, plus a giraffe, and maybe even a zebra." Asante said.

"It's so big, it's almost impossible." Gozi said.

"Told you kids it was larger than life." Baliyo said, allowing himself to sound a little proud about it.

"Woah, I want to climb it!" Umoja stated. "What do you say Gozi?"

"What? No way!" Gozi said, feeling woozy at just the mention of climbing something so tall.

"Oh, come on Gozi, my back leg is finally back to normal and I want to do something extreme with it." Umoja said.

"You'd never make it to the top." Gozi said.

"Wanna bet?" Umoja asked.

"No, you are not climbing the Tree of Life!" Kiara said.

"Yeah, besides, climbing the Tree of Life is not really allowed and Gozi is right, you'd never make it anywhere near the top." Baliyo said.

"Unless you had wings." Ono said to himself, flapping his wings.

As Ono said that, Nirmala also spoke to Umoja about climbing the Tree of Life.

"Surak would know personally. When he was about your age, he tried to climb the Tree of Life and had not even gotten a quarter of the way there by the time he got exhausted from it and fell, bouncing off the roots and onto the ground. He broke his shoulder, cheek bone, two or three ribs, a leg, and almost broke another one." Nirmala explained before looking at Surak with a somewhat teasing smile. "Remember Surak?"

Surak looked somewhat embarrassed at the mention of that story from his cubhood.

"I'm just glad I healed well with no lasting damage." Surak replied, feeling a small tingle in the areas he had broken back then.

After taking a moment to chuckle softly, Nirmala looked back at Umoja, who had a scared look at the mention of the story.

"Uh, on second thought, I think I'll just climb a normal tree… or a rock." Umoja said, not wanting to get his leg injured again after it had just recently fully healed.

"Yeah, me to." Mbio said, originally having thought about challenging Umoja to a race to the top of the Tree of Life.

Everyone, except Jasiri, did their best to resist the urge to laugh until Zuri suddenly yawned.

"Oh, I feel so tired from walking all day." Zuri said, sounding tired.

"Yeah, I can do with some sleep to." Tiifu agreed, beginning to rub her eyes.

Jasiri suddenly yawned as well and nodded, agreeing with both lionesses. Everyone else also agreed, feeling pretty tired themselves from walking since early this morning and just from the long journey in general. The Night Pride led everyone down towards the Tree of Life, where they could sleep for the night. Surak and Nirmala left them there before beginning to head off to patrol the lands around the tree for the night, Baliyo tried to go with them, but they encouraged him to sleep with the others for the night since he'd been up since early this morning and that they were all planning to hold the funeral tomorrow. Baliyo accepted their offer and reasonings to do so and went to sleep with the others.

Everyone looked for a spot in front of the tree to sleep for the night and Kion watched them as they did so. After he saw Jasiri and Asante lay down, Kion glanced up at the tree, seeing the leaves in its canopy sway and whistle in the night's soft, gentle wind. When Kion took his gaze away from there, his eyes fell on the entrance of the den that led under the Tree of Life, down into its roots. Feeling compelled to it, Kion entered the den's entrance, walking all the way down into the chamber where he first met Queen Janna. Kion just stood there, looking all around the chamber at the many roots in the earth that were exposed and the hundreds of green, luminescent mushrooms.

"Hay Kion." a voice called out, startling him.

Kion turned around to see Jasiri and Asante walking towards him; he figured they must have seen him entering the tree and followed him in.

"Oh, hey you two." Kion said.

"What are you doing in here Kion?" Jasiri asked.

"Oh, nothing really. I just felt like coming in here for some reason." Kion said.

Kion looked down at Asante, who was staring all around the chamber in awe of it. She walked up to a patch of mushrooms and touched one of them.

"Oh, these are so pretty." Asante said, having never seen a luminous fungus before.

"Yes, I know." Kion said, walking up to his daughter.

Asante continued looking around the chamber until her eyes fell onto the center of the back wall where there was a flat stone, which seemed something like a throne to her. Asante walked over to it, placing her front paws on the edge so she could easily stand on her hind legs and look at it.

"Is this where Baliyo's grandmother, Queen Janna sat?" Asante asked.

"Yes, yes it was." Kion said, walking up behind her.

"Oh." Asante said, looking at it with wonder.

Asante had been told what little bit she knew about Queen Janna by her father. She'd been told that she was the lioness who was Queen of the Tree of Life before Rani, her and Baliyo grandmother, that she was very kind and loved by everyone, that she was the greatest healer from here to all the way back in the Pride Lands and she had healed Ono's eyes, and that she died shortly before her father's own healing under Nirmala and ended.

"I wish I met her." Asante said.

"Yeah, me to, I bet she would have really liked you though." Kion said.

Kion really did wish Asante had the chance to meet Queen Janna, but at the time Kion met her, she had been pretty old, having lived a few years longer than most lions usually do. She had been at the point she was going blind and her legs were so weak that she pretty much couldn't walk anymore, so it was no surprise to anyone she had died when she did. Even if she had, had the strength to go on, Kion doubted she'd have lasted till Asante's birth anyway and Kion thought it was better that she had died when she did anyway. Ever since he'd discovered what Rani's true feelings for him were, Kion had always viewed her dying when she did as a mercy, as he'd feared what the shock of the revelations of Rani's true intentions might have done to her; better in spirit than in life Kion had thought. Kion shook his head to push those thoughts away, not wanting to think about thoughts like that before going to bed or before the funeral.

"Come now you two, let's go and get some sleep for tomorrow." Kion said.

"Okay dad." Asante said.

As Asante turned around, she yawned, which caused a chain reaction in Kion yawning and then Jasiri.

"Oh, now look what you did!" Jasiri mock scolded. "Get your tail to your sleeping spot right now!"

"Yes mama." Asante quickly said before she quickly made her way out of the Tree of Life, hunched submissively low with her tail between her legs and laughing as she did.

Kion and Jasiri both shared a laugh and nuzzled each other before making their own way out of the Tree of Life, seeing that everyone else had more or less settled in for the night. They went over and laid down with Asante, who immediately crawled into Kion's forearms once he laid down.

"So, Asante, what do you think of Surak and Nirmala and the Tree of Life so far?" Kion decided to ask.

"I like them and I can't wait to get to know more about them and the Tree of Life is so tall." Asante said. "I think I may still like Pride Rock back home a little better since you can actually climb to the very top of it and see everything around for miles, but the Tree of Life is just as magnificent."

"I agree, I think I might always prefer everything back home for uhhh… more than one reason, but the Tree of Life and the lands around it still have its own charms." Kion said.

"I can't wait to see them." Asante said.

"Well, if we wake up early enough, I'll take you and your mother back to the pass." Kion said. "It looks just as magnificent to gaze at the Tree of Life at the sun rises as it is to watch the sunrise over the Pride Lands from the top of Pride Rock back home."

"Really?" Asante asked, sounding amazed.

"Well, like your father said, wake up early enough and find out." Jasiri said and then laughed.

Jasiri than leaned in and rubbed noses with Asante and then bumped her under her chin with her nose.

"Good night, sweet pie." Jasiri said.

"Good night, mama." Asante said before looking up at Kion. "Good night, dad."

Kion used a claw to lightly scratch Asante's chest.

"Good night, baby." Kion said.

Asante closed her eyes and began to fall asleep. Kion and Jasiri scooted closer to each other until their sides were touching and rubbed their foreheads together.

"Good night Jasiri." Kion said.

"Good night…" Jasiri began, smirking as she did so. "Honeyfur."

Kion than chuckled softly as to not disturb anyone. Kion in response, playfully slapped Jasiri's face away, causing her to laugh even more.

"Hay, tomorrow maybe we can give Asante the chance to meet some animals; let her have some fun before the funeral?" Jasiri suggested.

"Sure." Kion agreed.

Kion and Jasiri did one more head rub, wishing each other good night before falling asleep along with everyone else.

"Hay! Isn't somebody gonna untie me?" Bunga asked, still tied up with Busara's vine lasso.


So, everyone slept peacefully all throughout the night. After patrolling for a couple hours, Surak and Nirmala came and joined everybody, not wanting to be tired during the funeral tomorrow. It was now very early morning, the black sky slowly beginning to turn from dark blue to a lighter color. Asante was just starting to wake up, yawning a stretching out her legs. After she did, she noticed she had been drooling in her sleep and a stream of it was dangling from her lips and so she shook her head to flick it away.

She also noticed that she seemed to have rolled out of her father's forelegs. She looked towards her parents to see Jasiri resting her chin on her paws and her back legs outstretched forwards while her father had one foreleg wrapped around her and his snout buried into Jasiri's mane. Asante laid her head back down in her paws in an attempt to go back to sleep, but her eyes shot back open when she remembered her father promising to take her back to the pass to watch the sunrise over the horizon. Asante ran over to him and began to shake his free foreleg.

"Dad, dad, dad, get up dad, I'm awake, let's go watch the sunrise over the tree. Dad." Asante said, trying to wake Kion up.

Kion however didn't wake up and so Asante climbed onto Kion's foreleg, keeping one of her back legs on it and placing the other on his shoulder while she pushed against his cheek and muzzle.

"Dad, come on and wake up so we can watch the sun rise. Wake up, wake up, wake up." Asante said, eventually pulling Kion's ear with her teeth. "Come on, come on, come on dad."

Kion grunted a little but still didn't wake up. Asante than slipped off Kion's foreleg and grunted in frustration at her dad not waking up. Asante decided to try her mother, knowing her to be a lighter sleeper than Kion.

"Mom, mamma, wake up and help me wake up dad so we can watch the sunrise." Asante urged, trying to shake Jasiri awake.

In response to Asante trying to wake her up, Jasiri rolled over on her side, facing away from Asante and still asleep. Asante just looked on in disbelief, usually never having trouble waking up her parents or at least her mom before. Asante gave a frustrated sigh at the thought of not seeing the sun rise over the Tree of Life with her parents. She knew they'd stay for at least a few days and so she'd have plenty of times to see the sunrise, but she wanted to see it today and with her parents since they promised her. Suddenly, the fur on the back of Asante's neck stood up as she sensed someone behind her and turned to see it was Baliyo.

"Oh, good morning Baliyo." Asante greeted the Night Prider.

"Good morning, Stripes." Baliyo replied, using the name he and everyone else had called Asante before Kion and Jasiri officially named her "What are you doing up so early?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Asante tossed back, turning to fully face Baliyo. "Dad promised me that if I woke up early enough, he'd take me back to the pass to watch the sun as it rose over the Tree of Life, but I can't wake him up or even mom."

Baliyo glanced down at Kion and Jasiri. As they still slept Jasiri scooted into Kion's chest and Kion rested his head over the back of Jasiri's head, causing the sleeping lion and hyena to smile in response.

"Hmmm." Baliyo mused at it seeming like Kion and Jasiri wouldn't be getting up for a little while longer.

"Oh, the sun is going to be rising any minute. If they don't wake up now, we'll miss it." Asante said, looking at the sky as it was gradually getting lighter and lighter.

Baliyo looked back down at Asante.

"Well, Asante, I can take you back to the pass to watch the sunrise." Baliyo offered. "You sound like you really want to see it."

"Oh, I do, I do, but my dad promised he'd do it with me and mom." Asante said, looking back at her parents.

"Well, don't worry, you'll have plenty of chances to do so with them during your stay here. Besides, I'll watch it with you if you'd like." Baliyo further offered.

Asante looked back up at Baliyo for a moment before nodding.

"Terrific, now come, let's get there quickly before we're too late." Baliyo said, quickly beginning to make his way to the pass.

Asante took after Baliyo, sprinting past him towards the pass. Baliyo stood there in mid step as he watched Asante run off towards the pass for a moment before running off after her. As they made their way towards the pass, Baliyo wasn't able to keep up with Asante, causing him to wonder to himself how something with such shorter legs could be so fast. Baliyo arrived at the pass almost two full minutes after Asante did, panting from the run.

"Huf, huf, huf. Finally. Caught. Up with. You." Baliyo panted, before laying himself down next to Asante.

"Just wanted to make sure I got here in time." Asante said.

Asante and Baliyo sat there waiting for the sun to rise. After a couple minutes of waiting, the sun finally began to rise from behind the Tree of Life, which casted a blinding golden light over the land.

"Woah." Asante said in amazement as she looked at the light and watched the tree's shadow nearly reach to where she and Baliyo stood.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Baliyo asked, unable to take his eyes away from the beauty either.

"Yeah, it's not a Pride Lands sunrise from the top of Pride Rock, but it's just as beautiful." Asante said.

"I'll have to watch a sunrise from the top of Pride Rock when I visit again and judge for myself than." Baliyo said.

Asante and Baliyo stood there for a long while, watching the whole sunrise playout. As they did, Surak and Nirmala soon came up to them, not expecting to find them here, having come to do a quick patrol of the lands.

"Baliyo! Asante!" Surak called out to the two.

Baliyo and Asante looked to see Surak and Nirmala walking towards them and stood up to greet them.

"Uncle Surak, Aunt Nirmala, good morning." Baliyo greeted.

"Good morning." Asante also greeted.

"Good morning, you two." Surak and Nirmala both said with a quick nod of their heads.

"What are you two doing up here?" Nirmala asked.

"Oh, Asante just wanted to watch the sun rise from behind the tree. Kion and Jasiri wouldn't wake up, so I brought her to do so." Baliyo explained.

"And it's really beautiful." Asante replied.

"Well, we're glad to hear so Asante and we're glad to hear your liking the Tree of Life so far for the little time you've spent here already." Surak said.

"Thanks, I really am; the Tree of Life is bigger than I thought it would be. I didn't think a tree that big was even possible." Asante said.

"Well, legend has it that the Tree of Life is a gift from the Circle of Life itself and that's why it's so big." Nirmala explained.

"Wow, really?" Asante asked.

"Uh huh. Legend also says it's the first tree ever to exist. It's existed since the dawn of life and will continue to exist as long as life itself exists. Every single branch represents a family bloodline and every leaf on that branch represents the living members of said line." Nirmala further explained.

"Really? If so, am I on there?" Asante asked.

"Of course." Surak said.

"My mom and dad to?" Asante asked.

"Yep. I bet their family branches and leaves are right next to yours." Baliyo said.

"Awesome. What else does legend say about the Tree of Life.

"Well, legend says that since the Tree of Life is a gift from the Circle of Life, some even suggesting it is the Circle of Life manifesting itself in living form of a tree, if a leaf were pulled from its branch, the one that leaf represents will die or if part of a branch or a full branch is broken off, then all those with a representing leaf on it will die." Surak said.

Asante felt a cold chill run down her spine as Surak said that.

"Oh, I guess that's why no one is allowed to climb into the branches of it or birds to perch in them." Asante said.

"Yes, and it's said if the tree were ever to be destroyed, all life would cease to exist as fast as a snap of your fingers. So, that's why we as the Night Pride protect it just as much as we protect the animals that live here or come for healing." Baliyo explained.

Nirmala noticed the parts of the legend of the Tree of Life that Surak and Baliyo were telling Asante was frightening the young stripped hyena and so stepped forward.

"Alright, alright boys, that's enough about the legends of the Tree of Life." Nirmala said. "Well Asante, I guess you would agree when we say that the Tree of Life is a very special place."

"Oh yes, it is. I really enjoyed the journey here with all the sites and all the animals I saw." Asante said. "I never expected that there was so many things to see outside the Outlands, Pride Lands, and Back Lands."

"Well, the world is a lot bigger than what's just in your homeland Asante." Surak said, smiling down at her.

"If so, then I hope I get to see more one day; see new sites, explore places that have never been explored before, see what's beyond the Great Watering Hole, and meet new animals that I've never seen before, maybe even ones no one has ever seen before." Asante said, excitedly.

"Well, maybe you can start with the lands of the Tree of Life." Baliyo suggested.

"Yes, there are many unique animals to meet here." Nirmala said.

"My dad and his friends told me about all the animals here, tigers, polar bears, penguins, foxes." Asante said, listing off a few.

"And many, many more." Nirmala added.

"Yeah, but are there any new kinds of animals that have arrived since my dad left? If so than what are they called? What do they look like?" Asante asked eagerly.

"Why ask us, go on out there and find out, it's much more fun to find out and discover new things yourself." Surak encouraged.

"Okay!" Asante said excitedly.

Asante made it down from the ridge, but stopped when she suddenly thought of something.

"But wait, what about the funeral for Rani? Aren't we supposed to have it today?" Asante asked.

"Yes, but it's okay Asante. We don't plan to have it until this afternoon, you can explore the Tree of Life and meet some animals for a few hours first." Nirmala said.

"Okay, thank you." Asante said.

Asante was starting to take off running again, but suddenly thought of something else.

"But wait, Gozi, Umoja, Busara, and Mbio; they might want to come see the animals with me." Asante said.

"Alright, I'll take you back to go get them. I was going to let your parents know you'd be exploring the Tree of Life anyway." Baliyo said.

Baliyo told Surak and Nirmala that he'd catch up with them soon before taking Asante back to her parents, who were just finally starting to wake up along with everyone else. They noticed Kion looking up at the sky and seeming to curse himself for sleeping past the sunrise since he promised Asante, they'd watch it and began looking around for her. Asante and Baliyo shared a quick glance at each other before Asante ran towards Kion.

"Papa!" Asante shouted.

"Huh?" Kion exclaimed.

Kion turned around to be met by Asante launching herself into his chest. Having not been prepared for something like this, Asante jumping into his chest sent him flat on his back despite her small smile. Asante surprising Kion and jumping at him sent Jasiri flat on her back to, flat on her back laughing and kicking her legs in the air. Asante walked up Kion's chest and placed her paws up on the upper part of his muzzle, pushing his lips up a little bit, revealing his teeth, to look down at him.

"Ah, Asante, I wasn't expecting that." Kion said, still getting over the shock.

"I think we can all see that." Jasiri said, still giggling as she rolled over, clutching her aching stomach.

Kion looked around to see most of the others trying not to laugh. By now Kion's heart had stopped beating so fast and so pushed himself up with his forepaws, which caused Asante to slide back down his chest. Kion brought one paw over, catching Asante and cradling her in it and smiling down at her.

"Where were you; you weren't here when your mother and I woke up?" Kion asked.

"I tried to wake both of you up for the sunrise, but neither of you would wake up." Asante said.

"Oh, I'm sorry Asante." Kion apologized to his daughter. "I promised you that we would."

"It's okay, Baliyo took me to see it and it was amazing." Asante said.

"Well, that's good to hear." Kion said, setting Asante back on the ground.

"Surak and Nirmala than met with us and we talked about the Tree of Life a little bit and now, I'm gonna explore around it with Gozi, Umoja, Busara, and Mbio." Asante said.

"But what about the funeral?" Jasiri said, having finally gotten over her laughing fit and walking over to her mate and daughter.

"Don't worry, we aren't going to have it till sometime in the afternoon." Baliyo assured.

"Yeah, so mom, dad, can me and my friends go explore the Tree of Life and see the animals and any new animals that have arrived since you left, please?" Asante asked.

"Well, if Baliyo says there's time for you to do so, I don't see why not." Kion says.

"Just promise to be back in time or listen for your father's roar." Jasiri said.

"I will mom, promise." Asante promised.

"Good." Jasiri said and then leaned in to nuzzle her. "Now, go gather your friends and have fun."

"Yes, mama." Asante said.

Asante ran over to Gozi and Umoja so that they could gather Busara and Mbio. Kion and Jasiri both smiled as they saw their daughter run off with her friends to explore the areas surrounding the Tree of Life. They then turned to Baliyo, their expression becoming more somber.

"Baliyo, do you need us to do anything to prepare for the funeral?" Jasiri asked.

Baliyo shook his head.

"No, there's nothing that you or anyone else needs to do. I'm going to catch back up with my uncle and aunt to patrol and to let other animals know I'm back and to come to the funeral this afternoon." Baliyo explained.

"Other animals are coming to the funeral?" Kion questioned, hoping that didn't sound rude.

"Yes. You know she obviously fell out of the good graces of about everyone and that never recovered, but most are still willing to come to the funeral along with any newcomers that arrived at the Tree of Life after you left." Baliyo explained.

"Okay." Kion replied, nodding along with Jasiri.

"So, you and Jasiri just enjoy your time together with your friends and family and just be here in the afternoon." Baliyo said.

Baliyo then walked past Kion and Jasiri, both of them watching him as he did.

"Uh, Baliyo, Surak and Nirmala are somewhere that way." Kion said, pointing towards the pass.

"I know." Baliyo said with a sigh.

Kion and Jasiri looked further in the direction Baliyo was walking and saw he was walking where Queen Janna had been buried after she died and where no doubt Rani was buried. Realizing that, they looked at each other and then at Baliyo.

"I hope us being here for the funeral will help Baliyo, Surak, and Nirmala heal afterwards." Kion said.

"Time heals all wounds eventually, Kion." Jasiri said.

Kion and Jasiri than nuzzled each other deeply. As they did, they suddenly heard a growl and they both looked down from where it came from, Jasiri's stomach. The two stood there in awkward silence for a moment before Kion suddenly started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Jasiri asked.

"You, your what's funny." Kion said.

"Usually yes, but how right now?" Jasiri asked.

"Your stomach growled." Kion said. "When it's the two of us are together, it's usually my stomach that growls and you laugh at me for it. Well, guess what, now it's my turn to laugh at you."

"Oh yeah, well laugh it up guard boy, because it's breakfast time and I'm gonna eat you. I spent all those months plumping you up for a reason." Jasiri said.

Jasiri than tried to bite at Kion, but Kion still laughing, kept jumping out of the way as Jasiri basically chased him.

"And after I eat you, I'm gonna bury your bones to grow more of you so that I can eat you again." Jasiri said as she made a nip for Kion's toes. "And then I'm gonna bury those bones to do so again and again and again and again."

"Hahaha. You know, there is a saying that a hyena's belly is never full." Kion laughed, nearly getting his tail caught by Jasiri.

"Well, let's see how full my belly feels after I eat you." Jasiri said.

Jasiri kept making bites for Kion until she finally got him on his rump.

"Aha! You're butt's mine!" Jasiri said through her full mouth.

"Literally." Kion laughed.

Jasiri let go of Kion's rump and walked over to rub her head against the mane on his chest.

"My delicious little lion." Jasiri joked. "But seriously, what are we going to do for food here?"

"Well, unless you got nothing against bugs, there's plenty of fish in the streams or the icy lakes in the snowy areas." Kion explained.

"Fish it then." Jasiri said.

"Alright, c'mon." Kion said, beginning to walk to find a river.

"But you know, despite being a carnivore, I don't mind having a piece or two of fruit." Jasiri said, following Kion.

As Jasiri and Kion went to find a river to catch fish, everyone else went off to do one thing or another.

"Uh, HELLO, is somebody going to untie me?" Bunga asked, crawling around like a caterpillar due to still being tied up.

Fuli and Anga watched Bunga crawl around from where they stood.

"Should we untie him?" Fuli asked the eagle.

"Hmmm. I don't know. I kinda like Bunga better this way." Anga said.

The two watched as Bunga began squirming in the tied-up vine even more.

"Oh, someone please let me go. I gotta go to the bathroooooom!" Bunga begged.


And that is it for this chapter everyone, Kion wakes up from a Witcher 3: Wild Hunt prologue style nightmare, which was originally going to be in chapter two, but I decided to put it here as the beginning of chapter four, Fuli and Anga keep Bunga from being, well Bunga and causing another rockslide for everyone to deal with, Asante finally meets the rest of the lions who raised her for the first couple months of her life, and now she and her friends are off to meet some new animals in the next chapter. I hope to see you all there, but until than, please leave a review for this chapter, read and review my other stories if you haven't done so already, good day or night, whatever it is for you, stay healthy, and God bless.