Fuli's confident facade broke after Kion was out of sight.

"Hey, what's wrong Fuli?" Bunga asked.

"I-I've never been leader before. I mean...I don't wanna disappoint Kion if I screw up." Fuli replied, nervously.

"You won't screw up." Beshte reassured her.

"Yeah! But on the off chance you do screw up, I'm sure he'll forgive you." Ono added, which got her a glare from each team member. "What?"

"The point is, Fuli, everything will be fine." Bunga said.

"It doesn't look like there's much trouble going on anyways." Beshte said. "So we can probably just play the rest of the day."

"Thanks guys." Fuli smiled gently. "Why don't we race?"

"Where's the starting line?" Bunga asked.

"Hmmm...that rock." Fuli said.

The four of them hurried over to the rock and got ready.

"Ono, you have to start on the ground." Bunga said.

Ono rolled her eyes and got off of Beshte's back, next to Bunga. Then she began to stretch her wings.

"We'll race to the hunting grounds." Fuli said, as she crouched down. "Ready….set….go!"

The animals bolted off, Fuli naturally taking the lead.

….

Vitani had her eyes on her prey: A zebra grazing, unaware of his impending future.

Her back arched slightly, her claws out and ready. In Vitani's throat a roar brewed, ready to be released and signal to the zebra he would be hers.

That's when she heard the laughing.

Vitani's ears perked up as she looked for the source of the noise.

"I'm almost as fast as you!" Ono yelled down.

"Only almost!" Fuli laughed.

At the sight of the running cheetah, the zebra whinnied and ran off.

In anger, Vitani released the roar, causing Fuli and Ono to stop. Vitani realized she startled them and gave a soft look, "Sorry about that."

"Hey, what's going on?" Bunga asked, trailed by Beshte.

"My prey got scared away." Vitani sighed in annoyance.

"Sorry." Fuli apologized.

"It's fine." Vitani sighed out. "I saw some antelope herds near by anyway. Now as savory as zebra, but it's better than the literal rats we had to eat in the Outlands."

Fuli giggled. "I agree zebra is more savory, but I prefer the sweetness the antelope have."

"Um….can we not talk about hunting?" Beshte asked.

"Don't worry, I'm a completely hippo free diet." Fuli laughed.

"Yeah, the meat's too salty." Vitani teased. "Hey, where's Kion?"

"Simba took him home." Bunga said. "He told us to keep patrolling."

"I'm the temporary leader." Fuli took pride in this fact.

"Let me guess….hyenas." Vitani said.

"They're getting pretty mean….well, meaner than usual." Fuli said.

"When did they start trying to kill him?" Vitani asked,

Bunga shrugged, "I guess since Kiara chose him as heir."

"That makes sense, then." Vitani said.

"Yeah….wait..what?" Beshte was confused.

"They want to kill him to take over the throne." Vitani explained. "But Simba won't let that happen. You said he took him back to Pride Rock, right?"

"Yeah." Ono confirmed.

Vitani smirked and rolled her eyes playfully. "Yeah, he can be a stick in the mud king….but I'm grateful he let us join his pride."

"He's a really nice king." Beshte said. "I don't get how the Outsiders could hate him so much!"

"Zira.." Vitani snarled under her breath. "She convinced us,...practically brainwashed us, to think Simba was bad. She told us Scar was the rightful king and Simba murdered him. I don't miss the Outlands at all, the Pride Lands are amazing. And we've got an amazing lion guard group to keep us safe."

"Did the Outsiders have a lion guard?" Beshte asked, more curious about Vitani's past.

"No." Vitani shook her head. "But it kind of felt like one. Zira made us train day and night to take down Simba….it got worse after Kovu met Kiara…."

"Why did you-" Beshte started, but stopped at the sound of screaming. He cocked his head around.

"Sounds like someone's in danger! Come on team!" Fuli said using her authoritative voice.

The team followed, stopping by a huge mud puddle with a giraffe struggling. Her legs were sinking deeper in the mud, and the further she sunk the more she whined.

"Help! Help!" She cried.

"Don't worry, The Lion Guard is here!" Fuli proclaimed, puffing her chest out to be more heroic.

"The Lion Guard, thank goodness." The giraffe breathed out.

"What's your name,kid?" Bunga asked.

"Matope."

"Well don't worry, Matope, we'll get you out!" Bunga said.

"And if not, think on the bright side….you'll always have a mud puddle to play in!" Beshte pointed out.

"Can you move your legs up at all?" Fuli asked,

Matope managed to lift one of her legs up only slightly.

"Good, good...keep going, come on." Fuli said.

"I can't!" Matope cried. "It's stuck!"

Ono eyed the mud and pecked it with her beak, surprised at the consistency. "I think I found the problem guys: This mud is almost dry."

"Huh...well it is scorching out." Bunga said, shading his eyes from the hot African sun.

"I got it! If we can wet the mud, she might be able to get free!" Ono said, flapping her wings in excitement.

"Great idea!" Fuli complimented. "But how do we get water over here?"

She looked around, "There's no water holes near by."

"We could carry it over." Beshte suggested.

"In what? Our mouths?" Bunga asked.

"Hmmm…" Ono scanned the area, thinking. She caught sight of a group of the elephants on the horizon: prancing around, playing with one another, and raising their… "Trunks!"

All the animals gave Ono a look of confusion.

"The elephants." Ono said, pointing her wing.

"Ono, you're a genius!" Fuli said. "Beshte can you stay here and keep watch on Matope?"

"Of course." Beshte replied.

Ono,Fuli, and Bunga headed over to the elephants.

"Mama look!" A baby elephant said, holding a stick up, a small caterpillar on the end.

"That's great,Mdudu." His mother smiled gently.

"Mama, look! It's the lion guard!" He said.

His mother looked over and greeted them. "Hello little ones. Hello Bunga."

"You know them?" Fuli asked.

"Yeah. Malaika's really nice." Bunga said. "She helped me when I cut my paw on a rock."

"I love helping others." Malaika said sweetly.

"Can you help us with something then?" Ono asked.

"What is it?"

Fuli explained the situation to Malaika, who nodded as she listened.

"My son and I would love to help. There's a small water hole nearby." Malaika lead them all to a water hall with a bunch of elephants.

"May I have your attention?" She asked. The elephants looked to her like a leader. "The Lion Guard needs our help transporting water to help some one. Will you please assist?"

The elephants nodded and gathered water in their trunks. Fuli lead them to the giraffe.

"And momma said 'Beshte you have grape juice all over your snout!' So I-" Beshte giggled this story to the giraffe.

"Thanks for staying with her, Besthe." Fuli thanked.

"No problem." He said, a wide smile on his face. "We were having a lot of fun, weren't we, Matope?"

She giggled. "Yeah, a lot of fun."

"Alright elephants we need to get this dirt nice and wet!" Ono proclaimed, flying into the air.

At this cue, the elephants spat the water into the dirt and waited a moment. The dirt had become moist enough for Matope to escape!

"Thank you so much,Lion Guard!" She said joyfully.

"No problem." Fuli said with a smile. "It's our job."

The four of them headed to Pride Rock, eager to tell Kion their story.