Kion walked with the rest of the Lion Guard on their way to the Tree of Life. It hadn't been long since Fuli died saving Kion from the flood. Oh Fuli... you saved my life even after I hurt you. And you gave your own life in doing so. Kion thought guiltily. Apparently Bunga saw that he was filled with sorrow and grief, because he came over to try to cheer him up.
"Hey Kion, what did the bear say when he was arguing? This argument is unbearable!" Bunga laughed at his own joke. That's not even funny. Kion thought to himself negatively.
"Seriously?" Anga asked. "Is this too hawkward for you, Anga?" Bunga tried to make another pun.
"I'm an eagle," Anga told him flatly. "Nahhh," Bunga said. "She's just lion."Kion rolled his eyes. That wasn't funny either.
"C'mon Kion, lighten up!" He said. "You can't think about Fuli forever!" Kion and the Guard froze as soon as Bunga said that. "Bunga! Shh!" Makini told him sternly. She then walked over to him. "You know how Kion feels about her death!" Makini whispered in Bunga's ear, loud enough for Kion to hear it, though he didn't think that was what she intended. Makini then whispered something quietly into Bunga's ear, but Kion couldn't hear what she was saying. Then Bunga walked up to Kion.
"Sorry," Bunga muttered while looking down at his paws.
"I-it's okay Bunga," Kion forgave him. He didn't want Bunga, or anyone else in fact, to feel sorry him because of for how badly he was coping with Fuli's death. He barely ate or slept, he didn't feel hungry or tired. When he did sleep, every time he woke up, for a few moments he thinks he'd see Fuli next to him, then he remembers that Fuli is gone forever. Kion would never see her again.
"L-let's keep going," Kion said to the group. Then they continued walking through the recently flooded dessert. The land had not dried yet, and there were puddles here and there. Kion, still thinking about Fuli, wasn't looking where he was going and he fell into a deep puddle, about four pawsteps deep. His fur was now soaked. "Ugh," he muttered. He then got back to his paws and continued on.
"Anga?" He asked. "Do you see the next Moja Kwa Moja stone?"
"Nope," came a simple reply. Kion then got hit with a pain in his scar. He put his paw up to it briefly. Great. Just great. He thought to himself sarcastically. "Then how are we going to get the the Tree of Life?! Ugh!"
He then heard Bunga mutter: "If Fuli was still here she'd be able to calm him down." Kion looked down at his paws, suddenly feeling very guilty.
"Well, let's try going that way!" Makini said with effort, obviously trying to change the subject. She pointed with her bakora staff to a grassland in the distance. Kion shrugged.
"Ugh fine. But only because we have nowhere better to go," Kion replied arrogantly, trying to hide the overwhelming guilt and sadness that washed over him every time Fuli was mentioned. "Let's go." They then started walking towards the grasslands.
XXXX
After a couple of days Kion and the Lion Guard finally arrived at the grasslands. It was much cooler than the dessert. Kion was relieved to have gotten out of the dessert before it dried up again.
"I'm sooooooo borrreeed," said Bunga.
"Ugh! Bunga you've said that a million times!" Kion snapped irritably.
"But I am!" Bunga tried to defend himself. Kion approached Bunga. Bunga backed away. Wait, is he... afraid of me? Kion asked himself, then backed away from Bunga.
"Sorry, Bunga," Kion apologized to him while looking down at his paws.
"Hakuna Matata, Kion," Bunga replied simply. Then the Guard continued on walking through the grasslands aimlessly, hoping they would find the next Moja Kwa Moja stone. Then Kion saw a forest.
"Let's try over there guys," Kion said while motioning with his paw to the forest ahead of them. "Okay," they all replied. Then they all walked to the forest. When they got there Kion thought he'd heard something.
"Guys, did you hear that?" He asked the group. They all shrugged. "Nah." "Um, No." "Nope." "No." "No, I didn't." Came their replies.
Kion then looked around. He saw a lion with orange-brown eyes and golden fur like his own, and a lioness with white fur and amber eyes leap out of the bushes. The white furred lioness grabbed Kion by his scruff.
"Hey! Let me go!" He exclaimed. The Guard tried to help him, but the golden furred lion was strong enough to fight off all the Guard at once. The white furred lion dragged Kion away from his team.
"Let me go you brute!" Kion exclaimed then tried to claw the attacker. The white furred lioness responded with a strong blow to Kion's head, and he blacked out.
XXXX
Kion blinked open his eyes. He was in a cave. Two lions stood at the entrance blocking the way out. One was the same lion as the one that fought off the Guard while the white furred lioness took him away from the Guard, and one was a different lion with darker fur and green eyes. "Um, excuse me?" He asked them. They quickly whipped around the block his way out of the cave.
"Stay where you are!" The green eyed lion growled. The other was hesitant, but he growled too.
"What do you want with me?" Kion asked fearfully.
"You'll have to ask the boss," the green eyed lion responded. "She wants to see you." The golden lion then grabbed Kion by his scruff and hauled him out of the cave.
"Careful, Roho." Kion heard the darker furred lion whisper. "The boss says he's got a power to get away from us if he feels threatened. Don't take your eye off him for one second." They know about the Roar?! What do they want with me?!
They arrived at a hill with a cave underneath it, not far from the cave he was just inside. The golden furred lion dragged him, struggling, into the cave. They then dropped him in front of a while lioness with amber eyes, the same one that separated him from the Guard. The lioness approached him and put her paw on his heart.
"Nipe nguvu yako, nguvu ya Kishindo.
Nipe nguvu ambayo inakuja nayo.
Nitie nguvu na nguvu hii.
Nipe nguvu na nguvu hii.
Nipe nguvu zote ulizonazo.
Ipe roho yangu nguvu ya Kishindo chako."
Kion then felt himself getting dizzy. A bright orange glow came from where the lioness's paw was. She then placed her paw on her own heart.
"Nipe hii sasa.
Nguvu hii Nguvu hii mpya Ipe roho yangu.
Nipe nguvu hii mpya, nguvu mpya.
Ipe moyo wangu.
Nitakumbatia nguvu hii kwa shukrani.
Asante Wafalme Wakuu na Malkia kwa kunipa nguvu hii."
"Yes," she snickered. "The power is mine now. Lions, take him back to the prison. We will still be able to use him as a fighter for the pride." What?! The lion tried to pick him back up, but before he could, Kion tried to Roar. But it wasn't the Roar of the Elders, it came out as a squeak. The lioness laughed. "Pathetic!" Then the lion shoved him back towards the cave he was in before he woke up from being knocked out. When they got back there, the darker furred lion left. Only the golden furred lion was guarding the cave.
"Listen, kid, I need you to come here and listen to everything I say." The golden furred lion told him. "First of all, my name's Roho. And second, I didn't want to help Jua, our boss, take you away from your friends, but I have to." What? Kion was confused. Roho could obviously see this, so he continued on.
"Our pride, the Sun Pride, used to live in the Backlands. I was passing through the Backlands at the time, and that's where I accidentally trespassed on the Sun Pride's territory. They captured me just like they captured you, except they couldn't carry me. Then they made me swear an oath of loyalty to the Sun Pride, and the Sun Pride only. I begged them to let me see the Pride Lands, just once under their supervision, and they reluctantly agreed. I then saw the Pride Lands. It was the most beautiful land I've ever seen in my life. That's where I met the love of my life..." Roho started to trail off but he continued speaking.
"I couldn't join her because Sun Pride wouldn't let me leave, and she couldn't join me because Sun Pride didn't trust her, the pride she came from were sworn enemies of the Sun Pride. Then, not long after, she disappeared. I never saw her again. Then, very soon after that happened, the enemy pride had a big battle with us, both sides lost many lions, but the Sun Pride lost more. The enemy pride drove us far away from them. And that's how we ended up here. Far, far away from that enemy pride." Roho finished. Kion pitied him. He didn't want any of this and yet it was forced upon him.
"Roho, when will I be able to leave?" Kion asked. Roho's face was solemn, he looked like he pitied the younger lion.
"Never," Roho answered him. "Tomorrow the Sun Pride will make you swear an oath of loyalty to the Sun Pride, and the Sun Pride only."
"No!" Kion shouted. "I have to get back to my friends! I need to go to the Tree of Life!" Roho looked confused at this. "Kid, since I told you my story, how about you tell me yours?" Kion was hesitant at first, but he agreed.
"Okay Roho... Oh, where do I begin? Well back in my land, I was the son of the king and queen. Since I was the second born, my destiny was to assemble the Lion Guard." Roho looked confused. "The Lion Guard are the defenders of the Circle of Life." Kion explained, then continued with his story.
"I chose my friends for the Lion Guard, Bunga the honey badger as the Bravest, Fuli the cheetah as the Fastest, Beshte the hippo as the Strongest, and Ono the egret as the Keenest of Sight. At first my dad didn't like that the animals I picked for the Lion Guard weren't all lions, because it was tradition for the Lion Guard to be made up of lions only. But he accepted it once he saw that we were capable of defending the land from animals who disrespect the Circle of Life." Kion paused. Roho looked very curious and urged him to continue with a nudge.
"Then I accidentally used the Roar of the Elders, a power given to the leader of the Lion Guard, to summon an evil lion because a hyena named Janja tricked me into Roaring at the top of the volcano, which brought a very evil lion back. That lion was Scar."
"Who's Scar?" Roho asked. "A very, very evil lion," Kion replied. "And as me and my friends got older, we heard from Janja, who changed sides apparently, how to defeat Scar, by Roaring again at the top of the volcano. Then we fought a big battle against the Outlands-"
"What's the Outlands?" Roho asked. "A place for animals who don't respect the Circle of Life," Kion told him. "As I was saying, we fought a big battle against the Outlands and me and my friends made it to the top of the volcano so I could use my Roar to defeat Scar. Then, Scar's most loyal follower, Ushari the cobra, bit me on the eye. That's how I got this scar." Kion then pointed with his paw to the scar on his eye.
"In the end, I remembered something my grandfather told me. 'Stay true to who you are inside, and remember, don't fight fire with fire.' Then I told Scar that I forgave him, and passed the judgement of his actions to the Lions of the Past. They decided that Scar didn't deserve to be here, and banished him back to the depths of... well, you know." Kion finished awkwardly.
"Then the royal majuzi and the healer of the king and queen, my mom and dad, told us that if the venom from Ushari's bite stays inside me too long, I will turn evil. Just like Scar did. So me and my friends set out for the Tree of Life, the only cure for the venom in my scar." Kion told him.
"So kid, the friends that were on the Lion Guard were the ones I saw when I had to basically cub-nap you?" Roho said awkwardly.
"Yeah," Kion nodded. Roho paused. "Wait," he began. "Didn't you mention a cheetah on the Lion Guard?" The moment he said that, Kion let out a low growl.
"Leave me alone Roho, and don't bother trying to talk to me again," Kion growled. Roho came up closer to him. "Kid? What's wrong?" Kion growled again.
"I. Said. Leave. Me. Alone." Kion growled, louder now. Roho backed away and went back to his post in front of the cave. Kion laid down on the hard, cold ground. He remembered when Fuli sang to him, telling him he would never be alone. Well I feel alone now Fuli. You're not here anymore and the rest of the Guard is gone.
Fuli, if you're up there watching me, then please help me. I don't know what to do. Kion gazed up into the now darkening sky through a small hole in the roof of the cave, the first stars starting to appear. Kion laid down in a corner of the small cave he was confined in.
Goodnight Fuli, sleep well.
XXX
"Ha! Nowhere for you to go!" Gozi exclaimed as he pounced on Fuli. He pinned her in a way that it would be really hard for her to wiggle out. They were doing battle training to teach Gozi fighting moves for the next attack from the nearby lion pride.
"Good job Gozi," Fuli told him at he got off of Fuli. She shook the dust out of her fur and got to her paws. "Now, for the next move, I'm going to try to sneak up on your blind side. You have to keep moving around so you can still see me at all times. Then, duck down to the side and roll under me. Aim your claws at my underbelly. Keep your claws in of course, because this isn't a real battle, it's battle training." Fuli then demonstrated the move, pretending she was fighting another animal.
"Okay! Got it!" Gozi and Fuli then sparred, Gozi doing the move mostly, but tripping over his paws at the last step. "Good try Gozi, but try not to trip. In a real battle the enemy won't just wait around for you to get back up," she reminded him.
"I know," he replied. Gozi then tried to hide a yawn, but Fuli saw it. They had been battle training all day, at Mwepesi's orders. "You look tired. You should go get some rest," Fuli said. The sky was now darkening, and the first stars started to appear.
"Okay, if you say so Fuli." Then Gozi went back to his den, actually the den he had to share with all of the other cubs in Swift's Clan. Fuli didn't like the fact that her father made all the cubs share the same den. It was very crowded in there at nighttime. And there was a considerably large amount of cubs in Swift's Clan. She then went to her den her father set aside for her. He and her mother originally asked for her to sleep with them at night, but after Gozi had told her of her father's treachery, she didn't want to sleep anywhere near her parents. She told them she wanted a den of her own. Her parents agreed and set aside a den for her. Slowly but surely, she felt herself drifting into sleep.
Fuli was scared. She didn't know why she was scared at the moment, but she was still scared. Fear pulsed through her veins as she saw a white furred lioness with amber eyes standing in front of her. The lioness put her paw on Fuli's heart as she began chanting something.
"Nipe nguvu yako, nguvu ya Kishindo.
Nipe nguvu ambayo inakuja nayo.
Nitie nguvu na nguvu hii.
Nipe nguvu na nguvu hii.
Nipe nguvu zote ulizonazo.
Ipe roho yangu nguvu ya Kishindo chako."
Fuli saw a bright orange glow coming from the lioness's paw. The lioness then removed her paw from Fuli's heart and put her paw on her own heart.
"Nipe hii sasa.
Nguvu hii Nguvu hii mpya Ipe roho yangu.
Nipe nguvu hii mpya, nguvu mpya.
Ipe moyo wangu.
Nitakumbatia nguvu hii kwa shukrani.
Asante Wafalme Wakuu na Malkia kwa kunipa nguvu hii."
"Yes," she snickered. "The power is mine now. Lions, take him back to the prison. Wait what? Why did they refer to me as 'him?' "We will still be able to use him as a fighter for the pride." Fuli was afraid. The lion tried to pick her back up, but before he could, Fuli tried to Roar. But it wasn't the Roar of the Elders, it came out as a squeak. Wait what? Why did I think I could use the Roar of the Elders? Fuli asked herself. The lioness laughed. "Pathetic!" Then the lion shoved her towards a cave. Fuli didn't know what was happening. Then she looked down at her paws. She was shocked. They weren't hers, they were Kion's. What?! She looked at the fur on her shoulder. The Mark of the Guard didn't look like hers, it looked like Kion's. She saw her reflection in a puddle for a split second. She saw Kion in her reflection. What?! She barely had time to stop and stare at the reflection, because the lions continued shoving her to the cave.
Fuli woke up to a paw prodding at her side. What was that?! She asked herself. She saw Gozi standing in front of her. "Fuli, wake up," he said. Fuli got to her paws and tried to shake off the nagging feeling that her dream wasn't meaningless. Apparently Gozi saw she was deep in thought.
"Fuli? Are you alright?" He asked. Fuli nodded. "Also, can I ask you something?" "Sure, Gozi," she responded.
"Who's Kion? You were muttering his name in your sleep." He asked. Fuli was shocked. "Erm, I was?" She asked, embarrassed. "Yeah," he responded. Fuli sat down and motioned him to do the same.
"Kion... was a really great friend of mine," Fuli told him. "He was actually my first friend, we were friends ever since we were very little cubs. One day, he told me and the rest of our friends that he was the new leader of the Lion Guard, a team of animals who protected the Pride Lands, the land I came from, and defended the Circle of Life. I was doubtful at first about joining the team, but I did. And I never regretted it." Fuli paused. "Then what happened?" Gozi asked. Fuli then continued.
"Then, Kion accidentally summoned an evil lion from the past named Scar in the flames of a volcano in the Outlands, a wasteland that borders the Pride Lands. He did it by using the Roar of the Elders, a power given to leaders of the Lion Guard by the Lions of the Past for many generations. The war between us and Scar and his army lasted a long time. We all grew wiser, faster, and stronger overtime. Then came the final battle. We won in defeating Scar, because Kion decided to pass judgement on Scar to the Lions of the Past. The Lions of the Past decided that Scar didn't deserve to be here anymore and banished him back to the depths of—" Fuli cut herself off, remembering she was talking to a cub. Gozi giggled at Fuli's mistake. Anyway, she continued again.
"But during the battle a cobra, Ushari, Scar's most loyal follower, bit Kion in the eye. The bite injected a dangerous amount of venom into Kion's body. Rafiki, the royal majuzi and healer to the King and Queen of the Pride Lands, told us that the cure for Kion was only at the Tree of Life, and that if he didn't get there in time he would turn evil like Scar did. But... he didn't tell us everything. Makini the mandrill, me and Kion's other friend, told me on the journey to the Tree of Life something that Rafiki told her before she, me, Kion, and our other friends Beshte the hippo, Bunga the honey badger, Ono the egret, and Anga the eagle left for the Tree of Life." Fuli paused again.
"What did Makini tell you?" Gozi asked.
"She told me... she told me that Kion wouldn't survive if he didn't make it to the Tree of Life in time. That he would die from the cobra venom. I noticed the venom's affects on him not long after we all left for the Tree of Life. He started to not think clearly, snap at others randomly, have random sharp pains in his scar that came from the cobra bite, feel nauseous, feel dizzy, not eat or sleep often... the list goes on. And one day, he fell into a ravine with a flash flood. He was injured at the time so he couldn't even try to run out of the way. I jumped in to save him and I did. I mustered up the strength to throw him to dry ground. The ground under me collapsed and I fell into the flash flood, stronger than any I've ever seen before. I blacked out and the next thing I knew I woke up here, in Swift's Clan." Fuli finished. Gozi was wide eyed.
"You sacrificed your life for him!" Gozi exclaimed in admiration. "Well, I'm here now so I don't think it really counts as 'sacrificing' my life," Fuli said.
"But still!" Gozi protested. "You risked your life for his! That's a really brave thing to do." Fuli looked down at her paws. "You'll think it's cowardly once I tell you this:" Fuli told Gozi.
"Kion is a lion. I know what you're thinking, but not all lions are bad. Just the ones that don't respect the Circle of Life." Gozi nodded in understanding. Fuli was relived that Gozi understood.
"Fuli?" Gozi asked. "Do you... do you know if Kion is still alive?" Gozi broke off, almost afraid of Fuli's answer.
"No, I do not. But I have faith," Fuli told him. Gozi looked puzzled. "I have faith in him. Nobody ever told me that Kion is still alive, but I believe in him. I believe that he will survive. I believe he will find the cure for the venom at the Tree of Life." Fuli explained. "Kion is brave, fast, strong, and keen. He always finds a way."
Gozi nodded again. Fuli thought she could hear a voice in the wind. "I will never swear any loyalty to you and your pride!" It said. Fuli was alarmed. That voice sounded familiar, though Fuli couldn't quite put her paw on it. "Did you hear that?" She asked Gozi.
"Hear what?" He replied. She then heard the voice again. "Never! And you can't make me!" It growled once more.
"What about that? Did you hear that?" Fuli asked Gozi again. Gozi shook his head. That confirmed it: Gozi did not hear that voice. The image of Gozi standing in front of her was then suddenly replaced with an image of blood. The voice she heard screamed in agony. Fuli shook her head. The blood was gone. Gozi was standing in front of her once more.
"Uh, Fuli? You okay?" He asked her. "I'm alright, thank you," she replied. "Let's go hunting," Fuli said. She and Gozi made their way to the grasslands outside of the cave to hunt. Still, Fuli couldn't shake off the feeling that the dream, voice, and blood meant something horrible.