Lion Guard: Dynamic Duo
Footsteps and silence was all she dared, an unsure feeling crawling beneath her skin. The thought she'd had when she started this journey.. wasn't quite as certain as it once was.
"Hello?" Kiara called quietly. "Hello?"
"Queen Kiara, Welcome! I'm so happy you considered my proposal." The voice of the hyena leader sent more chills up her spine than she initially realized, and a fleeting thought strayed across her mind at the thought of Kion's earlier warning. The hyena emerged from around the split boulder on the small hill above her
"Oh..and you came alone.." he went on slyly, glancing this way and that. "Very smart.. we can discuss our deal leader to leader, just the two of us."
But looking past him, eyes peered out with the slightest eminence of growls.
"More or less.." Janja followed up. And the withdrawal that happened with the young cub by the sinister tone of his voice was all she needed to make a new decision.
But as she opened her mouth another voice beat her to it.
"Janja! Get away from the Queen!" The heated golden thunder charged from the split in the rocks behind her, to leap in the gap between the hyena and his sister.
"Kion, what are you doing here?" Kiara groaned, half complaining even though deep down she was glad to see him.
"Dawh!.. ih-..d-.. forget the deal!.." Janja decided, shaking off the surprise party crasher. "This plan's better."
"Hevi Kabisa!" Kion cried. "I knew it! Move Kiara!" He called over to his sister, as the hyenas emerged from the shadows to prowl their way around them. "It's a trap!"
"Right, but move where?!" Kiara wondered, backing away from the growling hyenas stationed around her. Kion jumped away as Janja lunged for him. Leaping forward again to bat another hyena away the third one came at him from the side, catching a bite of his flesh at the neck to try and hold the cub down.
"Come on, Kiara!" Kion told her, lifting his head only to be pushed down again. "Get out of here while you still can!"
"And leave you here alone? No way!" Kiara declined. She hopped away from Cheezi's snapping jaws and dove around Janja and over the hyena on Kion. Chungu tried his best to stop, but couldn't and rammed into the hyena. And thankfully Kion's paws were enough help to push them off him as they tumbled by; and he could stand up again.
"Thanks." Kion smiled to his sister. "Now let's get out of here." He was suddenly caught off guard when Janja leapt onto him, but one roll and the hyena sent him flying to where he hit something hard and then the ground.
"Kion!" Kiara cried, and was soon pinned down herself.
"DaHAhaha! Gotcha now, lion cub." Cheezi taunted, and she had to recoil from his pungent breath and drooling tongue. Thankfully the hyena's grasp wasn't very heavy on her and she found it easy to throw him off her and stand up; which happened to be right where a few of the other hyenas were, resulting in a pile.
"Alright that's it.. we're leaving!" Kiara decided, turning to run by them. "Kion, come on!" The young acting queen beckoned, nudging her brother awake, who groggily stumbled up after her.
"Dawh! Get up you furbrains! They're gettin' away!" Janja snarled.
"Awh.. I thought you said they were fighting, Janja!" Cheezi protested.
"Yeah, yeah, I know, now let's go get 'em." Janja ordered, turning toward the direction which the two cubs fled in. "Before they make it back home."
And finally on their feet, they followed their leader.
xxxx
"Awh! You were right, Kion! I never should've trusted Janja!" Kiara groaned, apologetically as they ran. "I just wanted so badly to-"
"Help.." Kion finished for her, panting a little. "I..I know.." weaving around a bit by her side, they kept running through the open trail, which suddenly slanted up around the bend through the high rock walls, especially when footsteps and hyena cackles sounded behind them.
"They're coming after us!" Kiara gasped, looking back for only a second. "I'm guessing you have.. some kind.. of a plan?"
"-yeah.. it's.." Kion closed his eyes tightly to try and recall, but the pounding headache clouded and even scattered his thoughts, to the point where he wondered that himself.
"Kion?!" Kiara coaxed further. And Kion suddenly stopped, lowering his head with a groan; making Kiara screech to a stop herself.
"Kion, come on, we need to get out of here! The hyenas will catch up to us soon. Where is the Lion Guard?!" She asked.
"Hahahaa! Looks like we got 'em today, boys!" Janja cackled, as they charged on towards them.
"Kion!" Kiara addressed him more firmly.
"Ahn,.. I'm thinking?!" Her brother groaned.
"Well can't you think and run?.. they're catching up." And the distraught look he lifted to her over his weighted head gave the indicator. And her eyes shrunk with the realization.
"When you hit the wall.." she breathed.
Janja leapt for Kion, but Kiara pushed her brother to crouched down to avoid him with her own paw, and he landed just beyond them instead.
"Come on!" She called, pulling his foreleg with her paw and they resumed running, by taking off past Janja toward the top. The hyena leader caught Kion's back leg, but he instinctively kicked both legs back to knock him away and stood to run once again; all in a smooth motion as he squinted to see what was ahead. His sister's tail and hind end split with the path she was on. And he could swear he were seeing double, if not, triple,.. but the pulsing blur muddied the detail to a point where he couldn't care less.
"Hah! No!" Kiara cried, gazing up as Kion contacted her from the side.
"What.. what happened?" Kion asked, barely having the thought to ask.
"It's a dead end!" His sister replied, a stressed tone boosting their anxiety.
"No!.. We.. -can't give up!.." Kion groaned through the pain. Forcing his head up and squinted in the sunlight as the edge above split before his eyes. "We gotta get up there." He decided finally.
"What?! -How are we gonna do that?!" The lioness cub wondered.
His eyes watered and he groaned while rubbing a paw over his face.
"Ih-.. you're gonna have to climb it." Kion decided.
"Me?! But what about you?" Kiara protested.
And Kion turned toward the hyenas coming toward them.
"No.. way, Kion." His sister declined. "I'm not leaving you here to deal with those guys alone. If one of us faces those guys,.. we both do. And we're not going to because.."
"Why not? I can handle them." Kion answered back before she could finish.
"Because you're hurt.." Kiara finally finished. "No way you can handle them by yourself like this." She turned toward the wall and an idea came to mind.
"Ok,.. I'll climb up,.. then pull you up." She decided, placed both front paws up onto the wall. "Deal?"
"-You.. sure you can do this?" Kion wondered almost half there in the moment.
"Yes.." his sister emphasized. "Now wait for my signal." Then with that she began the clawing trek up the side of the wall. Dust and pebbles tapped off Kion's head and he stepped back from it, a sighing moan emanating from him instead; as his head lowered deeper below his shoulders.
"-ih!.. almost.. there.." finding a small ledge with her back legs, it served as the edge she needed to get her paws over the edge and pull herself up. Breathing a breath of relief, she then turned to peer down on her brother.
"Ok, Kion, jump up and I'll catch you to pull you up." She called.
"But Kiara I-"
"Kion, jump now!" Kiara shouted, and the cub didn't hesitate this time as the hyenas took a snap at him. Kion groaned and looked up as some other paws reached down to grab one of his.
"Come on, Kion. -ih!- You gotta help me out here.." Kiara strained. "I can't do this without you." At this Kion reluctantly began to pull up; and when he got close enough, she leaned down to grab him by the scruff of his neck with her mouth and pull harder.
One last heave and Kion came up, falling forward into his sister as she rolled over her shoulder under him. And in such a way, that when they landed, she lay on her right side facing away from him, and his left foreleg and head lay draped over her shoulder.
"Ugh.. no time to rest now Kion." The older cub told her younger brother, easing out from under him. "We gotta keep going. The hyenas will claw their way up here in no time."
"*gasping breath* Ono will probably find us soon.. can't we wait here for a second?" Kion breathed.
"No!" Kiara declined. "Janja and the hyenas will be getting up here at any moment, we can't afford to wait." She came over to him from the edge and yanked lightly in the scruff of his neck. "I wish I could carry you to safety, but I'm afraid I'm not strong enough. You gotta hang in there just a little bit longer." Turning back to him, she eased her nose under his foreleg at the shoulder, pushing up to get him to stand again.
A clawed paw struck a grip at the edge, and the fire was lit once again.
"Run!" Kiara cried, urging him to go. And as the two cubs ran around a bend in the path, they hugged the wall on the left to avoid the drop on the right. And hyena chatter grew behind them once again."
"Keep on 'em, boys, they're runnin' outta places to go." Janja called.
Kion hit a rock in the path and fell. And judging by how it felt, and the look of it through his split vision, he took that as an opportunity by pushing it over to make roll back down the path toward the hyenas; which only took out a couple of them, leaving Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu chasing them. Barely seconds of a roar axed the headache even deeper into his skull, so he turned to run after his sister.
"Ok.. so the Roar's out of the question then.." Kiara panted aloud, almost to herself. "If you can't think straight there's no way you'll be able to roar straight. Not to mention how hard it would be on your head."
Come on.. think of something else! She thought to herself. Then she noted how odd Kion's step had become, but it was too late to warn him.
"Kion, watch out for the edge!" Kiara still warned, but he'd already lost his footing and tumbled forward off it and down the incline, which used to be a wall due to the sloping lay of the land. And in a fleeting moment, Kiara followed, tumbling only a short ways before gaining a standing to slide down the rest of the way on her paws.
Reaching the bottom, Kiara hit the ground running while Kion stumbled, and Kiara doubled back to pull him up; goading him to keep running as hyenas smashed the spaces where they once stood.
Pretty soon the two cubs found nothing but a dead end with a drop of only a couple yards down and more concave than the previous one. They turned from the edge to find they'd been blocked in by growling hyenas, snickering under their breath.
"Gotcha now.. lion cubs.." Janja snickered as he slowly prowled forward, sweet-tasting pleasure just barely on his lips.
XXXX
"Why would he just take off ahead of us like that?" Beshte wondered as he charged on alongside his friends toward Broken Rock. "That's not like Kion at all!"
"Well Kion does care about Kiara's safety.." Ono reasoned. "I'm sure he's just worried about her to the point of not thinking about what he's doing."
"I guess he was concerned about Kiara not believing him about Janja setting a trap for her out here." The hippo mentioned thoughtfully.
"At least he'll be glad to see us, once we catch up to him.." Ono implied, more optimistic this time. "..To even out the odds."
"Right, and I'm sure he'd be even more glad when we actually find them." Fuli hinted strongly, giving the indirect indicator of annoyance.
"Oh.. right." Ono realized, then dove for a higher altitude.
XXXX
"Come on, think!" Kiara groaned, mostly to herself. "We gotta lose them somehow."
And Kion was just quiet enough to hear the answer to their situation,.. which he almost wasn't even sure was a solution at all.
"Uhh.. Kiara?" Kion spoke up softly, looking back a bit at the grounds decorative spread of cracking.
"Not now, Kion, I'm thinking." Kiara snapped distractedly.
"Um,.. I don't think you'll have to." Kion answered, almost dreadful.
"What? What are you.." she couldn't even finish her statement when the ground jerked under them and they had to claw for a grip as the ledge they stood on, which happened to be hollowed out underneath, cracked off completely.
"Hang on!" Kion called.
"No kidding!" Kiara shot back. The two let out a cry as the stone slab of ground slid underneath them carrying them to the lowest part of the land; yet the ride, they found, wasn't over. The slab struck a dead tree sending them backwards at it and their launch impact tipped the tree, where a waiting river lay amongst all the dryness of the Outlands terrain and they both coughed and spluttered with the invasion of wetness to their lungs. Kiara had kept a hold of the tree's trunk once she'd turned her body to get a grip, and had to grab for Kion to bring him back to hold onto it.
"Phew! That was close." Kiara breathed, laying across the tree's trunk to keep her balance on top of it, while Kion adjusted his grip on the bark with both his front paws.
"If I know Janja, we won't give up." Kion reasoned lightly, his amber eyes dulled by now. "Even if we're out here."
"Well at least he can't get to us." His sister remarked. "I mean it's not like we're worth chasing now, right?"
Kion just sighed.
"Then you definitely don't know Janja." He sighed dryly. "Just you wait.. sooner or later he's gonna-"
"Come on, fellas, after them!"
"What?!" Kiara gasped. "Why are they still chasing us?"
"Because I told you,.." Kion groaned in his exasperation. "Janja doesn't give up."
"Good thing we don't either!" Another voice came from above.
"Ono?!" Kion gasped, having to adjust his grip once again. "Am I glad to see you?!"
"Me too,.." The egret smiled. "And now I can help the Guard find you too." Then he circled back around and away.
xxxx
"Everyone! Everyone!" Ono called to the Guard, as they approached the highest point of the cliffy ridge; leading into the dry valley. "I found Kion and Kiara, they're in the river.. and they're floating down it towards a waterfall! Thankfully.. it's not a big one, but they're being chased by the hyenas!"
"Lead the way, Ono!" Beshte called back.
"This way, I know a way around to the other side.." the egret answered, circling another direction, which his friends followed quickly. "Where we can bring them onto shore safely; and away from the hyenas."
xxxx
Kion's grip loosened and water washed up over his head to make him cough again.
"Hold on tighter, Kion, or you'll fall under again." Kiara criticized.
"..I know-but.. -ih- head.. hurts." Kion groaned, and Kiara shifted over to wrap her own paw around him.
"Better?.." she asked him more gently.
"Yeah.. can-.. hold my grip.. a little better." Kion answered softly. "And.. I guess I should've listened to you about the bees."
"Oh sure! Now he admits it." Ono mumbled to himself as he approached them again and caught this statement.
"Kion? Kiara?" Beshte called.
"You guys ok?" Fuli added.
"Hanging in there at least." Kiara answered. "But,.. we wouldn't mind getting off here now."
"Don't worry.. we'll help you." Beshte returned.
"Beshte.. the branches of the tree are dragging a little across the ground over here." Fuli noted, staring at the top branches as they left scratches on the dry banks. "Do you think you could get a hold of it so we can stop the tree from floating any farther?"
"Sure can." Beshte nodded, as they ran down the river bank faster to keep up with the floating tree. "Just gotta get ahead of it."
"Great!" Fuli grinned, as the hippo plunged faster. "Once he stops the tree we can help hold it for them so they can climb across it to safety. We can even send someone across to help them if they need it."
"Oo! I wanna do it!" Bunga offered quickly. "Sounds fun!"
"Twende Kiboko!" Beshte's big feet caught the end of the branch and the tree jerked slightly with the sudden stop.
"Ok, guys, I got it." The hippo called barely straining at all. "Climb on over, we got you." Kiara, who still lay carefully atop of the tree, slowly prowled forward towards him. But Kion, who was mostly submerged other than his forelegs, gripping the tree, and his head, looked up to his right; which would be behind her, and caught on to their enemy's intentions quickly.
Kiara, sensing something happening, barely turned round when her brother's right foreleg came up over her shoulder with his body, to shield her from the purplish body that hit him instead. And when he dropped back down again, the grip he grabbed for grip failed and his claws slipped, knocking him under.
"Kion!" Kiara screamed, bracing from the bounce of the churning waters.
"I got him! Zuka Zama!" Bunga called diving in after him.
"Come on, your majesty." Ono coaxed from the skies, floating from behind her to in front of her as he continued. "Kion's gonna be right behind you. Let's just get you off this tree and onto solid ground."
"Yeah.. ok." Kiara hesitantly gave in, turning to crawl across her barky log boat.
Bunga and Kion's strained inhale came with a splashing relief as the honey badger turned to paddle towards them with little help from his friend; whom he practically dragged along with him floating on his back. And once they made it to the edge, Fuli helped pull Kion up out of the water as Bunga climbed out himself. And Janja's yell faded down river and away while the Hyenas chatter and scattered after him.
"Janja!" Cheezi called, called after him.
"Wait for us!" Chungu cried, racing down the banks on the opposite of the river.
"*sigh* Phew! Finally." Kiara sighed, sitting there drooping in a puddle of water. "What took you guys so long?"
"Kion ran out ahead of us.." Beshte told her. "By the time we realized he needed us to come, he was already gone.. we couldn't catch up to him."
"Even I couldn't spot him for a little while." Ono revealed in a tone quite surprised. "But it didn't take long to find out where he was going."
"He said something about Broken Rock, when he blazed right by us." Fuli added. "But..- Kion?!" She looked over at him, passed his sister, suddenly when his soaked body hit the sand. Lying on his side so his front paws kind of held him up, his tired face only slightly panted where it hung.
"Kion?" Beshte asked, stepping toward him a couple paces, as the cub lowered his head to the ground with closed eyes. "You ok?"
"Nn.." Kion stirred briefly. "Yeah.. I..I'll be ok, Beshte.." he said, opening his eyes carefully, and slowly walked his paws up to sit. "Once we get out of here and go home to the Pridelands."
"What happened?" Fuli wondered, unconvinced of Kion's answer by his behavior.
"Kion got into it with the hyenas again.." Kiara told them, looking from his brother to the Guard. "Hit his head on the rocks when Janja threw him off of himself."
"Ugh.. did you have to tell them that?" Kion groaned, having laid down again with an outstretched foreleg supporting the length of his chin.
"You know we would've asked until you told us." Fuli reminded him, from where she stood directly over him.
"Yeah.. ok.. I guess you might be right." Kion gave in after hardly a moment past, shifting his paws to stand up. And even stumbling a second to keep his balance.
"Come on.. let's get back to the Pridelands.." he said, becoming offly purposeful, with his overly careful walk. "Before something else happens and we're needed."
"Oh no, Kion." Kiara cut in quickly, stopping him short when she appeared in his path. "As soon as we get to the Pridelands, you're going home to rest."
"No way.." Kion shook his head gingerly. "I-.."
"Do you want me to make it a decree?" The acting queen mentioned correctively, an eyebrow raising with it.
"*sigh* Fine.." Kion surrendered loosely, clearly unhappy about her tone and what she said with it. And he walked on around her with a heavy gait, but a sureness to it that gave effect to a purpose.
"Looks like you need a break, Kion." Beshte observed, coming up alongside him, so his shadow fell upon the cub's golden hide. "Just hop on up.. I promise you feel better."
"You sure?" Kion wondered lightly, stopping to step back to face him about halfway to meet his gaze.
"Yeah, it's ok,.." The hippo confirmed with a shrug. "I don't mind." Looking straight ahead Kion's vision blurred out in two again, yet he tried to shake it off and walk straight again.
"Um.. I don't know.." Kion wavered still.
"Just do it, Kion.." Kiara finally groaned. "I'm sure you'll feel better once you do."
"*sigh* ok.." Kion gave in. And Beshte slowed down so Kion could hop up onto the hippo's back and sit down just above his neck to lay down and cradle his head with his forepaws. One down against his chest, the other above his shoulder, so that the right side of his face fit perfectly snug between them.
"There you go." Beshte sighed to himself, satisfaction being the tone he gave off, as he turned front and walked more easily.
"So.. how are you doing?" Fuli wondered, hinting at the acting queen; who picked up on this with the meeting of their glances.
"I think I'm ok." Kiara admitted. "Can't say the same for Kion though." She sighed. "And now I gotta come up with a way to explain all this to my dad when he gets back."
"Don't worry, Kiara." Beshte told her. "I'm sure you'll figure out how to do it.. I mean, it's not like you meant for Kion to get hurt. And I'm sure he's gonna be ok. We can even ask Rafiki when we get home."
"Thank you.." Kiara sighed again, her head and gaze lowering. "But unfortunately it won't be that simple. Kion may not be severely injured.. but it shouldn't have happened at all. And.. my dad will realize that right away... This is my fault. Plain and simple. Whatever happens while I'm acting queen.. is on me. And as a sister first and queen second at the moment, I should've known better than to question Kion's understanding of why Janja's our enemy to begin with.. He doesn't play fair.. and he only wants to do whatever he wants to do. Regardless of who he hurts." And her eyes turned to her view of Kion, which was merely the length of his back.
"If I know Kion, he was willing to put himself in that situation." Fuli reasoned. "All on his own."
"And didn't I see him shield you from Janja on our river rescue earlier?" Ono pointed out. "It's incredible that he's not more hurt."
"Either way, I am still responsible for him.." Kiara sighed. "He's.. my little brother.. I should make better decisions that don't have bad consequences.. for me or.. anyone around me. I know now that I need to think not only of myself in making decisions like this. Because, I guess, being queen,.. you're responsible for a lot more than just yourself. And your decisions can and do affect others in different ways." She sighed deeply once more, as her head dropped with it.
"'Guess Kion already knew that." She went on flatly.
"Kion's learned a lot of things since becoming leader of the Lion Guard. And.. it hasn't even been that long since that happened." Fuli told her. "And I'm sure he's probably still learning more. You're not the only one who's got room to grow."
"And I'm sure your dad will see it that way too." Beshte assured her.
"Thanks, guys." Kiara mused, a smile caressing her face with a more encouraged tone arising in her. And they walked on as the land began to slope up again.
"How's he doing, Ono?" Beshte spoke up after a short silence fell and got back up, and the egret floated backwards a little bit.
"Sleeping." He observed. "I.. think."
"Well, he hasn't moved since he got settled up there, so.. I'd say that's our best bet." Beshte concluded.
"Which means he won't even be able to object to visiting Rafiki on our way back home." Kiara mentioned. "Ono?"
"On it!" The egret obliged, flapping up on ahead of them to the approaching patch of green.
xxxx
"I can't wait to get home to see how Kion and Kiara are getting on without us." Simba mentioned, as they bid their final goodbyes, and turn toward the direction of Pride Rock.
"I'm sure they did just fine." Nala told him. "Kion's growing up to be a great and capable leader for the Lion Guard..and.. Kiara's learning to be more decisive with her choices within her mature frame of judgement. I'm sure everything's going fine."
xxxx
"I found him!" Ono finally called, when returning to fly over them. "Luckily he seems to be headed for Pride Rock. We can meet him there if we take this path up ahead."
"Lead the way, Ono." Fuli instructed and they began to pick up the pace.
"Slow down, you guys!" Beshte hissed, swiftly slowing to a smooth stop. "If Kion's still asleep, shouldn't we keep it that way? We can't jostle him, we might wake him up."
"Ok, Beshte." Fuli complied. "We'll slow down again. Now come on."
And they slowly all started off again, as the majesty of Pride Rock became visible from the ridge they'd just climbed.
xxxx
"Rafiki!" The old mandrill stopped short halfway up the rocky steps of the sacred rock, with which the monarchs of the Pridelands resided, and found the voice who called his name.
"Ah, queen Kiara, Lion Guard." Rafiki greeted, as they followed him up the steps where he was. "What can I do for you? And- Kion?" His curiosity of the sleeping cub in the hippo's back became his concern as he then drew near.
"We need your help, Rafiki." Kiara admitted. "Kion got hurt trying to save me from the hyenas. He hit his head on the rocks, when Janja threw him off him." As Kiara explained this, Rafiki took a close look at Kion, running his hand down the back of the cub's head, then opened one eye. Kion stirred but only until he released his eye to close it again.
"Hmm.. he should be fine." Rafiki decided, with a definitive nod.
"You're sure?" Beshte asked, still sounding concerned.
"Most definitely, he may feel a bit off in the head for a while, but in a few days.. he should be fine."
"Hoh! That's a relief." The hippo said after they'd all breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
"Now, let us get him inside to rest." The royal Mjuzi suggested, pulling aside the vines of the Lair.
xxxx
"Kion! Kiara! We're home!" Nala's voice reached their ears from the upper cave and the two cubs of the group perked up in different ways. Kion, who had been lying there resting, merely raised his ears at hearing this. While his sister looked up, and then at him as his eyes opened to catch hers.
"What are we gonna do, Kion?" Kiara breathed.
"Kion?" Simba's voice came a little closer.
"Can't you just.. act a little more convincing?" Kiara half begged him, when turning his way again. "Just until I figure something out."
"I can try..-" Kion grunted, slowly walking his front paws up to sit in a sideways manner. "But I think we should just.. let them know what happened."
"Hmph! You're one to talk." Kiara groaned. "You didn't do it."
"No.. but I'm in just as much trouble as you are for letting it happen.." her brother reasoned. "And I think we should-"
"There you two are." They all looked up to the entrance to find both their parents accompanied with Rafiki and Zazu entering with smiles of greeting on their faces.
"Oh,.. uh..hi..uh.. Mom.. Dad." Kiara answered up, nervously forcing a smile as she turned their way. And upon reaching their cub's, Nala stepped up to her daughter, who came to meet her with a welcoming nuzzle. While Simba made an approach to Kion, who hadn't moved from his place at all.
"You really think they won't be mad?" Beshte murmured to the Guard a short distance away from the lion royal family.
"Hope not. Kion's not looking too convincing to me." Ono answered nervously.
"Let's just let them deal with it.." Fuli decided, her gaze remaining on the reunion. "'Shouldn't get involved if we don't have to."
Simba lowered his chin to caress Kion's head and even though this bothered his thumping head, the cub refused to let it show too obviously. But as his father's head slid down his back, it found the bruise beneath the skin and he had to tense to protect it from more pain.
"Kion?.." the lion king addressed him calmly, withdrawing his touch so he could look his son in the eyes. "Are you ok? You seem.. tense."
"Uhh.. not.. really." Kion lied vaguely. And the Guard cringed.
"Bad call, Kion." Beshte breathed.
"You should probably explain yourselves, young ones." Rafiki advised them. "Before someone else tries to give them their own side of the story." And Kion looked to Kiara expectantly waiting to see what she was going to decide. And she when she finally sighed her exasperation away, he dropped his restraint and closed his eyes to lay down again.
"Kion?" Nala pried, walking forward. Coming around her mate to Kion's right side where Simba stood in front of him, she searched her cub down to the shoulder where she found a reaction similar to before. Kion grunted and recoiled slightly from her touch.
"What happened here?" She asked them both correctively, raising her head to look down on both of them. Both cubs looked up at her, but Kion's was more in recovery of his aching wounds, while Kiara's was more guilty of being caught.
"Well.." she began slowly, combing her thoughts to gather the right words. "-Let's just say.. a couple things got a bit out of hand."
"Sounds, to me, like a little more than 'a bit', Kion." Simba remarked looking from her to Kion.
"No, Dad.- It's not like that!" Kion spoked up, looking at him over his left shoulder then shifting himself up in that direction to swivel around and sit facing his father. "Kiara handled herself just fine as queen.. this is my fault."
"Kion, what are you doing?!" Kiara murmured, leaning over to him slightly in front of her, with some restraint in her tone.
"Then how is it that you're limping and she's covering for you?" Simba shot back sternly.
"Um.."
"Kion.. Kiara.." their mother spoke up again, her motherly corrective tone returning. "Just tell us everything that happened. Leave out no details."
"You got us into this." Kiara sarcastically joked in dry tones when looking at him. "You tell them."
"What?! I-"
"Eh-ehm." The clearing of their father's throat got their attention. And they took one more look at one another.
"Ok fine." Kion sighed finally.
"Never mind.." Kiara sighed in defeat, more like a subtle apology as she stepped forward toward their parents. "I got it."
"Kion and I kinda got off on the wrong foot with this whole.. 'acting queen' thing.. and.. it led me to make.. a huge mistake." Kiara admitted, her eyes and ears sinking to the floor. "I tried to make peace with.. hyenas who I should never have trusted. Kion warned me that Janja doesn't play fair,.. but.. I went to meet him anyway.. a..alone."
"It didn't help that I didn't listen to you about moving the elands instead of the bees." Kion put in sheepishly.
"Yes, but Janja and the hyenas are a far bigger thing than that." Kiara reminded him. "And I should've listened to you instead of some vulture that only acted as an innocent messenger for Janja, for a reason I already knew." She sighed, then plucked herself up to continue.
"Anyway, Kion turned out to be right about the whole thing and I ended up walking right into their trap.. until Kion jumped in to rescue me.. also alone." The emphasis in her tone made him perk up from the distraction of his head, and then realized the prying eyes that turned on him.
"Uhh,.."
"Kion." Simba cut him off in a tone of slight disappointment. "Why did you go alone to help your sister? Why didn't you take the Lion Guard with you."
"I..I did." Kion answered. "I.. just.. kinda left them in the dust when I took off to help Kiara. But.. we wouldn't have made it out of there without them."
"And.. because of that.." Kiara sighed into this statement. "Kion got a bump on the head and bruise on the shoulder."
"Ok, ok, so we're both at fault here." Kion sighed. "But we still took care of things while you were gone.. nothing like that happened again after we got back."
"Yeah.. cause you slept for most of the day and the Lion Guard had to patrol without you." Kiara criticized. "But.. some of that was my fault too." She admitted, silently cursing herself at the returning thought.
"A little more detail would be nice." Nala decided, staring down on her two cubs sternly. And they looked to one another and sighed.
xxxx
"And so.. we all came back here." Kion went on, as the story wound down again.
"And Rafiki just happened to be here to take a look at Kion's head,.. and.. he said he would be fine." Kiara finished, and the two cubs waited in the silence that followed.
"So now you understand the responsibility you both have in your roles as leaders." Simba's implied heavily after a short while.
"Yeah.." Kion nodded.
"We do." Kiara sighed, nodding with him. Then with that in mind, Simba sighed grimly.
"Very well then." He said, and this statement made way for a smile. "I'm just glad you're both safe." He said coming down to neck-hug them both together, one cub's head on either side of his.
And at this the Guard realized they'd been holding their breath and sighed it out at their relief.
"That.. went better than expected." Ono commented.
"Better than we thought, maybe." Fuli put in, still smiling.
"So after your little adventure you've been keeping an eye on each other?" Simba grinned at this half joking statement.
"I was.." Kiara answered, smiling herself. "But I can't imagine we can say the same for Kion.. for most of that time." And Kion's eyes turned to his sister's dryly as some laughter in the background rippled through, still keeping his head rested on his foreleg where he'd laid down again.
"And you can rest assured.." Rafiki began, earning this king and queen's attention. "That Kion will recover quickly, and return to leading the Lion Guard in a few days once the headache wears off.. And I have a couple of remedies we can try to help with that as well."
"Excellent. Thank you, Rafiki." Simba nodded, and his royal Mjuzi nodded in response. "Now then.. let us finally put this, and the events of the past couple days, behind us."
"Actually, before we do.." Kiara piped up again. "Can I add how thankful I am that Kion was there with me, during that whole hyena fiasco? I mean.. I think the reason I came out unharmed is because Kion took the hit for me. And.. again during the river rescue." At this Kion smiled, but only because she couldn't see it due to where she stood behind him; which he found he was ok with.
"Janja would've had me for sure on that log." Kiara went on for her parents to proudly hear. "If Kion hadn't pulled himself out of the water to stop him, even though he didn't feel good at the time."
"Then it sounds like the two of you made quite the team then." Simba smiled proudly. "I guess it seems we have something to celebrate after all."
"I'm proud of you, son." He told Kion, when lowering his head to nuzzle his son's gently.
"Thanks, dad." Kion smiled.
"Now get some rest." His father told him. "I'm sure the Guard would like to have you back as soon as possible. And Rafiki will return with something to help with that soon."
Then with that, Kion snuggled his head down between his box-set paws so he could cradle his head as before. Nala came to lay facing him at his head and Simba laid behind him facing Nala. And Kiara also eased herself down near Kion's head by her mother, which served as the Guard's signal to leave them in peace.
"Well I guess now that's been resolved." Bunga stated with a one-handed shrug to his friends.
"And in a few days Kion'll be right back where he belongs.. leading us again." Fuli added.
"They sure did do a good job of smoothing things over in there." Beshte noted, as they descended the stony steps of Pride Rock.
"And at least now they can all be together while Kion heals." Ono reasoned.
The golden light of the fading day shrunk, as the dusky night began to creep up on them. Shadows chased away the light, in the only positive way of this concept's credibility.
"Well,.. I guess we better get going, before it gets too late.. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Fuli decided.
"Bye Fuli! See you tomorrow." Beshte called after her as she sped away across the darkening savannah.
"Goodnight!" Ono called as well. "Bye Beshte, see ya, Bunga."
"Later, guys!" Bunga waved over his shoulder as he ran off into the sunset in another direction.
"Bye!" Beshte replied, and set off on his own path across their great land with the warm thought in mind that all was well in the Pridelands.. once again.
~Dynamic Duo~
Hey guys, got a little one-shot here! And might I add it was loads of fun!
As you can tell this is an AU story based on a thought that came to mind after watching some clips from the episode; Can't Wait To Be Queen. Questions like.. What if Kion and Kiara got into danger together? And how would that look? It was tough to place, setting wise, at first, but then I re-watched some more episodes and these clips from Can't Wait To Be Queen came up and the thought hit me. Raising the questions written above and I just took it from there.. ideas formulated and.. Vuola! This happened!
Hopefully you guys enjoy! And I hope to see you soon for some more Lion Guard fun! Thx!