"Tell me again why we're doing this stupid patrol?!" Zuri complained, despite having been walking with Kiara, Tiifu and Zazu for just a few minutes.

"Because, Zuri, Kion and the Guard had to go on a mission for my dad, so we're filling in for them on the morning patrol," Kiara responded, rolling her eyes.

"Aw, come on, Zuri!" Tiifu said chirpily. "When was the last time we did anything this exciting?"

"Yesterday."

"All we did was lie around and sharpen our claws."

"Exactly! I'd rather do that again than this!"

The two began to bicker, causing Kiara to huff in irritation. She walked a little faster to catch up to Zazu.

"Did dad tell you how long they would be on this mission?" she asked the Hornbill.

"I'm afraid not, princess Kiara," he replied, "truth be told, I doubt he knew. He seemed a little bit concerned by the news when I told him."

'That sounds odd,' she thought, before asking him, "why is that?"

"Once again, I can't say that I know."

'Hmm.'


Whilst this was happening, Kion had just led the Lion Guard to the gorge. None of them had ever been to this particular part of the Pride Lands, so before they advanced into it, they took a moment to observe the surroundings- the gorge itself was vast and wide, very empty except for the noticeable rockfall. He looked at the other side of the gorge and noticed that he could make out where the Outlands were, which was not far away, as any signs of plant life seemed to stop after a certain point.

"It seems to be clear," he told the group, before turning his attention to the site of the rockfall. "Ono, fly on ahead and see how bad the rockfall is. See if anyone is trapped within and how many there are trapped on the other side."

"Right away, Kion!" he replied, before flying off.

While waiting for Ono to return, Fuli noticed that Kion seemed a bit distracted. She frowned at this, as his face showed a mixture of concern and mild confusion. She decided to check on him, so she sat next to him.

"Hey," she told him, getting him to turn his head and meet her gaze, "you alright? You seem distracted."

"I'm a little concerned," he told her, before looking into the gorge, "when dad told us about what happened, it sounded like he thought something would happen, like what happened to grandfather. Is that silly?"

"Of course not, Kion. You're just showing concern, because you don't want anyone to get hurt. That's why you're the leader- you care about people."

"Thanks, Fuli." He smiled at her, and she couldn't help but smile back. "You always seem to know what to say to make me feel better."

She giggled. "I know."

It was just a few seconds later that Ono returned. "Alright, I checked out the rockfall. No one is caught underneath the rocks, and there are seven wildebeest caught on the other side, including a child. However," Kion tensed up at that word, "I took a look at the top of the wall and noticed that Simba was right- another rockfall could occur if there are any tremors or stampedes."

'Damn. I can't use the roar then.' "Okay. Thanks, Ono," Kion replied, taking a moment to think before he continued. "First thing's first, we need to get down there and try to clear the rocks that have fallen. Ono, while we do that, see if there is a way around in case we can't clear them."

"You got it, Kion!"

So, Kion led the others into the gorge while Ono looked for any other routes the wildebeest could take. When they got there, they saw that the rocks had caused a huge pile to form, and moving any from the bottom would cause the whole thing to topple, either on them or the wildebeest. On the other side, they could hear that the wildebeest were panicked by what had happened.

"It looks to be pretty tight, Kion," Besthe told him, "it would be hard to move any of the bottom rocks, and I can't reach the higher ones."

"That's true." He turned to Fuli. "Fuli. Do you think you can climb over without causing the rocks to fall? We need to calm the wildebeest down and get them to move back."

"I'm on it!" She quickly, but carefully, climbed over to the other side, where the wildebeest were running in circles of each other. "Hey." They didn't listen. "Hey!" Nothing again. "HEY!" That time, they stopped. "I know that this scared you, but we're here to help. We need you to get clear so we can move the rocks and form a path, so you can get through." They did as she said and put more than enough distance between them and the rockfall. "Thank you! We'll be done soon enough, and you'll be able to head back."

She quickly climbed back over and got to the ground, giving a little curtsy to show it was done.

"Nice work, Fuli!" Bunga commended the cheetah, before clambering up the fallen rocks.

"Yeah, Fuli, you did a great job there. Thanks," Kion told her.

"No problem," she replied, before feeling her cheeks flush a bit. She went wide eyed, then quickly turned around. 'Stop it, stop it, stop it!' she thought to herself. 'Why does he have to be such a charmer?'

"Fuli? You alright?" Beshte asked, before she quickly turned around and nodded.

"Alright, Bunga!" Kion called out, whilst he, Fuli and Beshte backed up. "You can start to knock the rocks down, but do it carefully!"

"Relax, Kion! I got this." The honey badger cracked his knuckles, before pushing the rocks off the pile. One by one, they fell, making the pile shorter. As it reached about half its original height, Bunga took a moment to look at his friends. "It should be small enough for you guys to start moving some now- don't make me do this myself!"

They all rolled their eyes at him, but they got to work. While Kion and Fuli helped to shorten the pile, Beshte began to move them to either side, clearing a path. It didn't take long for the pile to be cleared.

"Alright! That should do it!" Kion said proudly.

"Poa!" Beshte cheered, his ears wiggling happily.

Kion then walked up to the leader of the wildebeest. "Okay, you should be able to get through now."

"Oh, thank you, Kion!" the leader, an elderly female, told him. "You've been such a big help."

"No problem, but we'd like to help more and make sure you get back okay, in case any more rocks fall."

"It's not the rocks you should be worried about!" they heard the voice that they loathed call down to them. Looking up at the top of the gorge, they saw Janja and his hyena cronies. "But thanks, Kion. Now our lunch is just waiting for us!"