Nyembamba River-Night

Vitani was angry with Kion for calling out the way she had taken charge of a Lion Guard. To be fair, there was no Lion Guard in the Pridelands at the time Simba had asked her to form hers. Kion was at the Tree of Life, seeking treatment for the venom in his scar. It was not clear when, or even if, he would return. Was she supposed to stand her guard down from active duty even though Kion had just returned to the Pridelands? Vitani could not see a single thing she had wrong, and it had been over a year ago. Why was Kion bringing it up now? Just because she was an Outsider? Or was it because he suspected that her brother had killed his father? Vitani seriously doubted that was the case. Simba was one of the few lions in the Pridelands who treated the former Outsiders as full members of the pride. They owed him. The thought that his own son-in-law would kill him was incredible. Kovu was not ungrateful for all that Simba had done, nor for that matter was Vitani. Nor did Kovu want powers. Both he and Kiara felt unready for their roles as future monarchs. They had said so to Vitani many times. Only now that she actually was queen did Kiara seem to have the confidence that the job required. With her father dead, Kiara had been forced into a leadership position, and she seemed to acquire self-confidence. She really had no option left but to become confident. Kovu, as king consort, still seemed to lack confidence, though it would be hard for anyone to project confidence in themselves when half the pride believed you had murdered the former king.

"Well, it's official," Shabaha said, "The Pridelands are doomed."

"Shabaha…" Vitani growled in irritation to the Pridelands' bravest.

"I'm just saying what we're all thinking, 'Tani."

"We just need to find Kion's Guard get them to report back, and things will get back to normal," Vitani said.

"Unless Kovu really is guilty…"

Vitani turned to face Shabaha and growled menacingly, "My brother did not kill the King!" She then abruptly turned forward and continued marching.

The other lioness, all former Outsiders, like Vitani and Shabaha, were loyal to Kovu, but even they dread to think he killed his father-in-law after the peaceful reunification.

"Right," said Kazi, the fastest. "So this whole mess will be behind us. We can morn Simba and Kiara and Kovu will be accepted as queen and king." She was speaking her hope, though it was obvious that some worry was in her voice.

"No!" Tamaza said without warning.

The others then saw it too. The bodies of Kion's Lion Guard lying motionless in the clearing several feet away from the river. Simba's body lay next to them.

"The Swamplands did this!" Imara shouted.

Kazi got ready to race toward the direction into which Tamaza was looking when a loud voice said,

"No, you, or Kovu, or Kiara did this!" a large albino crocodile shouted as he emerged from behind a tree, on the Swamplands side of the river.

"I have been tending to their unconscious bodies for the last several hours. They're alive, no thanks to you. The egret is almost dead. I had to take him somewhere safe."

Tamaza noted that Ono's body was not among those lying prone on the ground.

It dawned on Vitani that the crocodile must have enlisted the aid of his venomous reptilian kin to subdue Kion's Guard and that as the smartest and former keenest of sight, he had special plans for Ono.

"What have you done with him?"

"You'll have to cross the river to find out!" The crocodile chuckled.

Vitani's Guard raced to the water's edge. At that very instant, Vitani felt a sharp sting in her neck and she staggered as her head swam.

The rest of the guard was already at the bank.

"You got the button spiders to poison them, didn't you? Well, you can't me from that side of the river" Dhaifu shouted.

Vitani was still dazed, but she made out the words "Spiders" and "Poison" and an uncontrollable rage filled her. She also heard his sickening gloat that she couldn't get to him.

Let's see him escape the Roar of the Elders.

Vitani was too dizzy and angry to think clearly, but her plan was simple enough. She dug her claw her claws into the ground and drew in a deep breath. The Lion Guard and Dhaifu knew what was coming next. The crocodile dived for the safety of the riverbed and Imara shouted, "Vitani, wait!" to no avail.

Vitani loosed the angriest roar the Pridelands had heard since Scar had betrayed his own Lion Guard, aimed at the spot where Dhaifu had been, but hitting her own guard who were directly in front of her and sending them flying, the sound pressure of the roar crushing their skeletons.

Vitani's senses did not return until her roar was finished and her friends lay on the opposite bank, blood dripping from their mouths, noses, and eyes.

Her friends…she had done this.

The sound of her roar attracted the attention of someone she did not expect to see.

"Vitani, what have you done?" Kopa demanded as he approached from further upriver on the Pridelands side.

"I knew you and Kovu would resort to poison, but I never thought your own Guard would stand up to you."

Vitani couldn't take in what she had done, and ran, leaving the bodies of Lion Guard in the Swamplands.

Kopa could not see the rare red button spider on her neck, so as far as he knew, her actions had been voluntary. He had also missed her dialogue with his father earlier. What Kopa did know was that he had spent the last few hours bringing medicinal fruits to his brother's Lion Guard, squeezing the juices free to fall into their mouths with his claws. He knew that Vitani and Kovu were behind what had happened. Soon Kion's Guard would awake and then he would lead them back to Pride Rock. Then Vitani and her brother would answer for what they had done. Not even Kiara could defend them now.

Pride Rock—The Next Day

Kiara and Kion stood together on the promontory of Pride Rock looking out in the direction of the Nyembamba River, eager for sight of either Kion or Vitani's Lion Guard. Kiara had given Zazu clear orders to look out for signs of either Lion Guard and to report back to her before conducting the reconnaissance for the morning report.

"Your Majesty!" Zazu's voice called out to her from above. She and her brother looked at the hornbill as he circled above them before landing in front of them and bowing.

"Prince Kopa is leading Kion's Guard back to Pride Rock. There is no sign of Vitani's."

Kion let out a relieved breath while Kiara softly said, "Thank the Great Kings." She then looked at Zazu and said, "Zazu, continue surveying for the morning report."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," he said before departing.

Kiara looked back to where Kovu was standing with Rani.

"It's almost over," she said to assure her mate. The fact that they she had to do so shamed Kovu. She was the one who just lost her father. He should be the one comforting her. However ashamed of himself Kovu may have been, he was proud of his mate, however. She was taking charge of a true crisis despite going through a tremendous personal loss. He knew that the most important member of their team was ready for their new job at least.

Time passed as the four lions waited until the Kopa and Kion's Guard were in visual difference. When they were in speaking distance, Kion could see that Ono was not with them.

"Where is Ono?" Kion demanded his brother.

"Kion, your Guard was poisoned by button spiders! My father and I spent most of yesterday evening nursing them back to health. Ono was the worst off. He's still with my father."

A chill went down Kion's spine, and his scar began to ache.

"You left my friend with him!?"

"Kion relax!" Bunga said. "For a crocodile, Dhaifu's pretty cool. He and Kopa made sure we okay before sending us back."

"And my father's wound?" Kion demanded.

"When I first saw it, I thought it was made by crocodile teeth, but I must have be mistaken," Anga said. "When I looked again, there was too much damage to tell what caused it."

"So, we still don't know?" Kion shouted in desperation, his scar's pain becoming sharper.

"No one saw what happened back then except Kovu and my father," Kopa said, "But I saw what happened last night. Vitani and Kovu sent the button spiders and when her own Guard found out and turned against her, she used the Roar on them and killed them! They may have been Outlanders, but they were loyal to Simba. I'm guessing she disfigured the wound."

"Kion…" Fulli said softly, "We saw their bodies."

Kovu and Kiara gasped in horror.

Kion's scar now hurt more fiercely than it ever had since Ushari gave it to him. He let loose a roar of his own aimed at nothing. It was fully capable of leveling Pride Rock. Inside the den, Mohatu and Uru began crying between Nala's paws.

He stared at Kovu, "Your sister did this, with the Roar I gave her!?"

Kovu could not believe what he was hearing.

"Not Vitani…" He did not want to believe this…could not believe this.

Kion growled at Kovu and started backing him closer to the edge of Pride Rock.

"The only reason your sister would have for doing this is to protect you! Admit it, Kovu! You killed my father!"

Kion was about to unleash the Roar on Kovu when Kiara headbutted Kion's side and pushed him in the direction of the den.

"Kovu…did NOT…kill our father!" she said with more determination than she had ever used before.

"Kiara…" Kion said softly, lying on his side.

"We don't know Kopa or Dhaifu, but Mother and I do know Kovu."

"Kiara, this isn't just about you and Mom!" Kion said raising up. "This is about getting justice for Dad. Can you separate that from your feelings for Kovu?"

Kiara looked at Kion for a long moment, never questioning her own belief in Kovu's innocence, but realizing that she needed to make clear that she was up to her father's job.

"You are right, Kion, this is about getting justice for our father, and I have every intention of making those responsible answer for it. But I know that the responsible party was not Kovu, because there was no blood on his mouth or paws when our father was killed! I did see that."

Kion stared at Kiara. It was absolute conviction not desperation on her face.

Everyone had been so caught up in what Dhaifu had said that Kiara had forgotten what she had actually seen.

Kovu had been to shocked by everything Dhaifu had done to pay any attention to his appearance at the time.

"And we know what we saw!" Bunga shouted from below, causing all the lions to look down. "Only the roar could have destroyed Vitani's Guard like that."

"And I know what you are going to say next," Kiara said, "That she did that to help Kovu, not Dhaifu. I have no answer for that. But I have another question." Kiara walked to the promontory's end again to address the entire kingdom. "Anga, you said that the marks on my father's throat looked like they were made by a crocodile's teeth when you first looked at them, and afterward you couldn't tell?"

"That's right," Anga said.

"And you were unconscious most of the time?"

"We all were," Fulli said.

"How do you know the wound wasn't disfigured then?"

"But why would Vitani use her roar to help Dhaifu?" Beshte asked.

"That," Kiara said with doubt creeping into her voice, "I don't know." She had to admit that there was no easy answer here.

"There are only two animals in the Pridelands who can answer what has happened, the two members of each guard who are not here, Vitani and Ono."

For a minute Kion forgot all about his suspicions of Kovu and Vitani. His dread-filled gazed met Rani's. They could each tell the other was worried about their little avian friend.

"I'm going to find Ono,"Kion said.

"I'm coming too," Rani said. "I've done enough sitting on the side."

"No, all five of us are going," Kiara said to her brother and his mate.

"Five?" Kion asked

"You, me, Kovu, Rani, and Kopa. It's time to end this once and for all."

Ndefu River, Western Border of the Pridelands

Dhaifu had spent all night trekking from one side of the Pridelands to the other. Now he was at the furthest edge of Simba's kingdom from his native swamplands, the last place anyone would find him, or think to find the egret's body.

This time everyone would believe a crocodile was responsible for the death—but which crocodile? Kopa had told Dhaifu much about the general layout of the animals' territories in the Pridelands, but even without his feline son's insider knowledge he knew this area well.

The truth was that Dhaifu had not one, but two sons in the Pridelands now: one whom he had raised, Kopa, and one whom he had actually fathered. Years ago, during the early reign of his friend Taka, the crocodiles of Pua's float in the Pridelands had been forced to host Dhaifu as an envoy for his brother who then ruled the Swamplands. Both, his brother, King Ujanja, and his friend Scar, had believed Dhaifu to be serving their own interests. Ujanja had believed that Dhaifu was resolidifying the links between the crocodile floats of Africa when their neighbors were under the rule of lion king whose grip on power was seen to be overly dependent on Hyeena muscle. Meanwhile, the former Prince Taka more accurately guessed that Dhaifu was ultimately serving himself, but thought it was still better to keep the semi-independent Pua under the eye of someone with whom he had a small shred of trust. In truth, Dhaifu had come to gain insider knowledge of Taka's kingdom and for another, more personal reason. Dhaifu wanted some part of himself to endure after death, but no female in the Swamplands would have an albino for a mate. As the diplomatic envoy of a neighboring kingdom ruled by crocodiles to a semi-autonomous crocodile float in the Pridelands, Pua's sister was hardly in position to refuse, especially when King Scar had insisted that the envoy be extended every courtesy. Thus, Makuu was fertilized, lain, and hatched. Fortunately, the little one had not inherited his father's albinism. Scar, of course found out and held this over Dhaifu's head, which was how he extorted Dhaifu into killing Zira's first mate but considering that duties back in the Swamplands had kept Dhaifu from raising Makuu, he got the last word by interrupting Zira's revenge on Simba's cub and taking the lion cub to raise as his own. It was probably for the best. On the few times they had met, Makuu had shown no interest in Dhaifu. Kopa on the other hand, who had none of his crocodile parent's blood, had all of his survival skills. Something of Dhaifu would endure after his death, and it would not be his ungrateful crococdile son soon to be labeled as a traitor in league with Kovu and Vitani—the very lions whose natural father had been killed by Makuu's own. Dhaifu spat Ono's body on to the ground by the riverside and began his trek back. If anyone asked him where he was going, he would tell them he was looking for Ono. Vitani had birdnapped him.