Paintings and Predictions
The Lion Guard looked down the hill, hearing the cries of a baby gazelle.
"Ono, is he alright?" Kion asked as Ono flew down to assess the situation.
The Keenest of Sight landed in front of the baby gazelle. "He's fine," Ono reported. "But his hoof is stuck under a heavy rock."
The rest of the Guard ran down the hill, closer to the gazelle. "Yeah the little guy is stuck all right," Kufu noted before turning towards the Lion Guard leader. "OK, Kion, what do we do?"
Kion stared at the large boulder where the gazelle's hoof was stuck. "OK, I got it." He said, looking to the Guard's Strongest. "Beshte, think you can move that rock?"
"Yeah, I can try," the hippo answered with a smile.
"Great," Kion returned the smile before turning his attention to Bunga. "Bunga, once Beshte moves the rock, be ready to pull him free."
"You got it, Kion!" Bunga saluted with a grin, running to the trapped animal. "I gotcha, gazelley." The honey badger rubbed his palms together, grabbing hold of the gazelle's trapped leg.
Beshte stood on the other side, lowering his snout against the bottom of the boulder, "Twende kiboko!" he grunted, lifting the boulder an inch or two off the ground. "OK, Lil' B, pull away."
Bunga pulled the baby gazelle's hoof from under the rock and backed away as Beshte dropped it back in place. They took a step back and began to slide down the hill.
"Bunga!" the other five Guard members shouted.
"Hapana!" Ono gasped. "They're sliding towards that cliff!"
The baby gazelle let out terrified cries as it slid down the hillside, while Bunga tried to slow himself down by digging his claws into the dirt, which worked.
"Grab him, Bunga!" Kion ordered as he ran down the hill to help them. "Don't let him fall."
"Zuka Zama!" Bunga exclaimed, sliding down the hill on his stomach, and grabbing the baby gazelle by his tail. Kion grabbed the honey badger by his tail and dug his claws into the dirt to slow themselves down. The baby gazelle stopped close to the cliff's edge, before being pulled back by Bunga.
"You're OK, gazelley," the Guard's Bravest assured. "But, gotta admit, it was kinda fun." He chuckled.
The baby gazelle bleated in rebuff and shook his head as the rest of the Lion Guard joined them. "I better see this little one home." Ono suggested as the sky grew dark. "It looks like it's about to-" Thunder boomed and rain began to pour. "...Rain." the egret sighed.
"Good call, Ono," Fuli groaned.
While Ono led the baby gazelle back to his herd, the rest of the Lion Guard returned to their lair to get out of the rain.
"Ah, it feels good to be out of the rain," Fuli sighed, shaking herself dry.
Beshte ran right past her. "You said it, Fuli." He agreed, jumping into his pool, which ended up splashing the cheetah, soaking her again.
"Next time, you might wanna keep your mouth shut, Fuls, otherwise you'll jinx yourself," Kufu told her as he and Kion walked past her, having already shaken themselves dry.
"Thanks for the tip Kufu," Fuli said in a deadpan tone before shaking herself dry again.
"Whee!" Bunga laughed as he swung from the vines above the rest of his friends. He went to reach for another vine, when the one he was just swinging on wrapped around his heel, causing him to swing back into one of the walls of the lair. A wall where Rafiki just happened to be adding a new painting.
"Yes, at last," sighed the old mandrill, "Finished!" He tapped the painting with his bakora staff, making the newly painted giraffe walk a few steps before stopping.
"I love that trick," Bunga grinned, staring at the painting.
Kufu walked over to Rafiki and looked at the paintings. "I like the new paintings, Rafiki." He said, looking up at the mandrill. "Although the neck is a bit short."
"Hmmm, you are right," Rafiki agreed.
"And he's upside down," Bunga added, making Rafiki and Kufu look up at him. "Just like you two."
"Mmm, yes, I can fix that," Rafiki chuckled, tapping the honey badger's leg with his staff, causing the vine to loosen, which made Bunga fall flat on his face. Both Rafiki and Kufu chuckled at the sight. "And now, I'll fix this," Rafiki added, setting his staff to the side and wiping away the painting to start over. He hummed to himself as he began to paint again, while Kufu padded over to Beshte's pool to take a drink.
While the old Mjuzi was distracted, Bunga took his staff and walked over to another wall of the lair. He tapped a painting of four zebras, the bakora staff making it move as if they were running. The honey badger chuckled as he tapped another painting, depicting a tower of rocks, the staff's powers making it move and showing the top rock wobbling before falling onto the ground and breaking in half.
"Everyone, everyone!" Ono called as he flew into the lair, making the others run to meet him.
"How's the baby gazelle?" Kion asked.
"He's fine," the bird answered. "But now we've got a zebra stampede."
The Guard's Fastest let out a heavy sigh. "One of those days, huh?" she rolled her eyes.
"Guess so, Fuli," the Guard's Slyest agreed.
"Come on, Lion Guard," Kion ordered. "Let's go calm the zebras down before they hurt somebody."
The storm had cleared up as the Lion Guard ran across the grasslands to catch up with Thurston's herd. Ono flew above the rest, making sure no other animals were in the stampede's way. As he focused his vision, he saw four sleeping hyraxes right in the zebras' path.
"Kion, the zebras are headed for a family of hyraxes," the egret alerted the Guard leader.
"Then we'll need to stop them before they get there," Kion noted, glancing back at the rest of the Guard. "Come on."
As Bunga ran beside Beshte, he looked ahead and noticed the zebra stampede looked a lot like the painting he saw in the lair. Not too far ahead of them was a tower of rocks that also resembled a painting in the lair.
"Zebras, rocks, Zuka Zama!" The honey badger gasped.
"What's the kerbubble, Little B?" Beshte asked, glancing down at Bunga.
"Those rocks are gonna fall on the zebras!" Bunga answered.
Beshte raised an eyebrow. "How do you know?"
"I'll explain later," Bunga replied, running ahead. "We gotta move the zebras away from 'em."
Bunga jumped onto Beshte's head, before leaping onto Thurston's back and grabbing his ears. "Say, what's the big idea?" The herd leader scoffed, his eyes moving to look at the honey badger riding on him.
"You got to get away from those rocks," the Guard's Bravest instructed, turning the zebra to the right, which made part of the herd follow.
Ono flew around the large rock tower and noticed the one at the top was teetering on the edge of falling. "Kion! Kufu!" Ono called, getting the two's attention. "The rocks!"
When the prince saw what the Keenest of Sight alerted, his eyes went wide. "Hevi kabisa!" Kion turned his head to look at Kufu, who met his eyes and nodded.
"Fuli!" Kufu called to the other side of the stampeding herd. "Forget about stopping them! Turn them!"
In the panic, a baby zebra was heading right for the rocks, and at the rate she was running, the rock would fall right on her.
"I got her, Kion, you and Fuli need to focus on the herd," Kufu said to Kion as he ran off after the zebra, while Kion and Fuli focused on turning the herd.
The rock became more unstable and fell over the edge, its shadow overcasting the form of the baby zebra, who stopped and stood frozen in fear. Kufu jumped and pushed the baby out of the way a second before the stone crashed into the ground, creating a cloud of dust. The baby zebra let out a whinny and rubbed her cheek against Kufu's cheek and left shoulder.
"Kufu!" Kion called as he and Fuli ran over to them. "You OK?" He asked, breathing heavily from running and seeing if his friend was hurt.
"I'm fine," Kufu assured, as the baby zebra continued to rub against him. "Although it was pretty close." The Guard's Slyest tapped his tail on the ground, the black tuft of fur on the end an inch from the broken rock. He let out a sigh of relief that his tail wasn't crushed, "Way too close."
"That's good to know," Kion said with a smile. "Come on, let's regroup with the others." He voted.
"Right behind you, Kion," Kufu nodded in agreement. The two cubs walked the baby zebra back to the rest of the herd, and she ran back to her mother.
"Thank you, Kufu," the mother zebra said, tipping her head to the lion who saved her baby.
"It was no problem, ma'am," Kufu said as he smiled back and swished his tail back and forth behind him.
"Nice job, everyone," the Guard's leader praised.
"Un-Bunga-lievable!" the honey badger sighed as he jumped off Thurston's back.
"So, Little B," Beshte addressed as he walked up to his smaller friend. "How did you know those rocks were gonna fall?"
"I'll show you." Bunga answered, looking back at the others. "I gotta show Beshte somethin' back at the lair. See you there." He waved as he and the hippo ran back to the lair.
"Uh, OK," Kion raised an eyebrow in confusion, before addressing the herd leader. "So, what caused you guys to stampede?"
"Well, we were at our grazing grounds when all of a sudden there was a big boom," Thurston answered.
"A boom?" Fuli repeated. "What do you mean, a 'boom'?"
"You know, a great big boom," Thurston replied as Fuli looked at Kion and Kufu.
"I think he might mean thunder," Kufu clarified. From his back, Ono nodded in agreement. "That storm this morning was near the zebra grazing grounds."
Thurston quirked his brow. "What's thunder?" He asked, blinking.
"Um, it goes boom?" Ono chuckled with a shrug. He could've gone into detail about what it was but knew the zebras wouldn't understand it at all.
"Yes. That's it exactly, a great big boom," Thurston confirmed. "It was loud and scary." He flattened his ears to the side of his head. "So we did what we always do when something scares us. We panicked and ran." He moved his legs as if he were running in place.
Fuli and Kufu rolled their eyes. "Well, the storm clouds are gone now," Kion told him, smiling. "You have nothing to worry about. So you can all go home."
"Fabulous," Thurston smiled back at the prince, looking around, "Uh, now, which way's home?" He asked, glancing at the Lion Guard out of the corner of his eye.
Kion, Fuli, and Kufu both let out heavy sighs, lowering their muzzles and their ears flattening against the sides of their heads.
Kufu looked to the egret on his shoulder. "Ono, how about we go and make sure these zebras get home safe." He suggested.
"Yeah," Ono agreed, taking off from his shoulder.
"Kufu, I'm sure Ono can handle leading the herd home by himself," Kion noted, stepping up beside his best friend.
"It's alright Kion, I don't mind," Kufu replied. "Because-" the baby zebra he saved from the falling rock rubbed against his side. "I think this little one wants me to come along." The zebra gave a whinny in agreement.
"OK, you got a point there," Kion agreed.
"And look on the bright side, Kion, at least you and Fuli are gonna have some alone time together," Kufu teased, causing both Kion and Fuli to blush furiously.
"Just meet us back at Pride Rock after you get the herd home," Kion said in an embarrassed tone.
"Will do!" Kufu nodded.
"This way, zebras," Ono called, circling over the herd before flying back in the direction of Chakula Plains.
"Follow us," Kufu instructed as he ran after the egret. They led the herd home while Kion and Fuli headed back to Pride Rock.
But, unbeknownst to them, Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu were hiding behind a bush and watching the zebras leave. "Mmm-mmm, look at all those tasty zebras," Janja said sinisterly.
"Yeah, look at 'em," Cheezi said, chuckling.
"I'm looking, I'm looking," Chungu said as he watched the zebras following Kufu and Ono. "Whoa! All those stripes make me dizzy."
"What are we gonna do, Janja?" Cheezi asked.
"We follow them," Janja told his two goons. "Once Ono and Kufu leave, we can spook 'em, and then those stripey treats will be ours for the takin'. Come on!" He said as the three hyenas started following the two Lion Guard members and the zebras.
Meanwhile, Bunga and Beshte arrived back at the lair. Rafiki was still working on his painting and realized he'd run out of one color, so he left to go make more, leaving his staff against the wall. The two Guard members snuck behind the mandrill, Bunga grabbing the bakora staff as he showed Beshte the two paintings he saw earlier before the stampede.
"OK, Big B, look at this," Bunga tapped the first painting. "The zebras are running." He then tapped the second painting. "And now, the rocks are falling."
Beshte gasped as his eyes widened. "That's just like what happened today," he noted, looking to the honey badger beside him. "But what's it mean?"
"Don't you get it?" Bunga questioned. "These paintings show what's going to happen before it actually happens."
"They predict the future? Poa." Beshte gaped. Another painting caught his eye. It depicted a lion cub standing on a tree branch. "Hey, doesn't this one look like..."
"Kion," Bunga cut off, noticing that the lion cub did look exactly like their fierce leader.
Bunga tapped the painting with the staff and held it there, the image of the lion cub glowed and the tree branch broke, causing him to fall.
"Oh, no!" Beshte gasped with wide eyes.
"I don't wanna watch!" Bunga closed his eyes and pulled the staff away, the painting's movement ceasing.
The Guard's Strongest blinked. "Bunga, if these paintings tell the future, that means..." he began to say.
"Kion's going to fall off a really high tree," Bunga added, running his hands down his face.
"He could get hurt," Beshte noted.
"Or worse," Bunga's eyes widened. "We got to warn him." The pair ran out of the lair, with Bunga tossing Rafiki's staff back against the wall, though it ended up knocking over the various gourds full of paint instead. "Hi, Rafiki." The Bravest said as he ran past the mandrill.
"Bye, Rafiki," the Strongest added as they ran out of the lair.
Rafiki raised a brow as the two animals left, then went back to his painting and noticed his staff was on the ground and his paints had been knocked over.
"Here we are," Ono announced, flying above the zebras, "Chakula Plains."
"You're all back home," Kufu added as he came to a halt beside the baby zebra and her mother.
"Thank you for getting us here safely." The zebra mother said, nuzzling her little one. "And thank you again, Kufu, for saving my girl." The female zebra smiled down at the brown-furred lion cub.
"Our pleasure," Ono replied, perching on Kufu's back.
"After all, keeping everyone in the Pride Lands safe is the Lion Guard's duty," Kufu added with a smile.
The two Guard members walked away from the plains and headed back towards Pride Rock. About halfway back, the pair heard the faint sounds of laughter. Kufu's ear twitched as he focused his hearing,
"Ono?" Kufu questioned, glancing up at the egret. "Did you hear that?"
"Yep. I'll check it out." Ono circled back and focused his vision towards the direction of the zebra herd. "Hapana!" The Keenest of Sight gasped.
"What is it, Ono?" Kufu asked, seeing his wide eyes.
"It's Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu," Ono answered, flying down eye-level with Kufu. "They're going after Thurston's herd."
"We've got to get the rest of the Guard," Kufu voted, sprinting towards Pride Rock.
Kion and Fuli stood near the edge of Pride Rock, waiting for Kufu and Ono to return. "So do you think the zebras made it home safe?" Fuli asked.
"Ono and Kufu are keeping an eye on them," Kion told her. "We should know soon."
Fuli nodded in agreement and then the two felines sat there in awkward silence with neither one knowing what to say to each other.
"Kion!" Bunga yelled as he and Beshte ran to the two felines.
"Hey," the prince replied calmly. "What were you showing Beshte?"
"You're not going to believe this," Beshte replied, glancing from Kion and Fuli to Bunga.
"Rafiki's paintings..." Bunga began. "...They predict the future."
Kion stood there and blinked. "You're right. I don't believe it." He agreed. "There's no way Rafiki's paintings can predict the..."
"Kion!" Kufu's voice cut in as he leaped onto Pride Rock. "We...have...a big...problem." He said between breaths, sitting down.
"What is it?" Kion asked, running to the panting lion cub.
"Don't tell me it's the zebras again," Fuli groaned with a roll of her eyes as Kufu nodded in confirmation, getting back on his feet.
"But now they're being chased by hyenas," Ono added, hovering over the rest of the Guard.
"Then there's no time to waste," Kion stated, looking up to the Keenest of Sight. "Ono, lead us to the zebras." He then looked to the Slyest member. "You gonna be OK?"
"Yeah, don't worry, I'm good," Kufu replied as he gave the prince a reassuring smile. "Now let's go, we have some hyenas to stop."
"Right," Kion agreed, returning the smile and standing beside him. "Lead the way, you two." He glanced between Kufu and Ono.
Bunga ran up to Kion and braced his hand on the cub's shoulder. "But Kion, the paintings-"
"No time for paintings, Bunga," Kion cut off, "We need to stop the hyenas." He, Kufu, and Fuli ran down the path leading to Pride Rock and followed Ono back towards Chakula Plains.
"But what if Rafiki's painting comes true while we're fighting the hyenas?" Bunga asked, looking up at Beshte.
"We just need to make sure Kion doesn't climb any trees," Beshte answered as they ran after the rest of the Lion Guard.
The Guard made it to the plains just in time to see the zebras in a full-blown panic. The striped animals were running in various directions, and being chased by Janja, Cheezi, and Chungu.
"Kufu, you and Ono lead the zebras away from the hyenas. Try to calm them down," Kion told his Slyest.
"Got it," the Slyest and Keenest of Sight nodded in affirmation.
"You three," Kion looked to Fuli, Beshte, and Bunga. "Take care of Cheezi and Chungu. Leave Janja to me. Till the Pride Lands end..."
"...Lion Guard defend!" The rest of the Guard finished as they raced down the hill towards the panicking equines.
One zebra broke off from the rest of the herd, and Janja went right after it. Just the same, Kion broke off from the rest of the Lion Guard and followed Janja. He ran around a large boulder and noticed a tree sticking out of the side, an idea crossing the prince's mind as he ran up the narrow path through the boulder.
Out of the corner of his eye, Bunga saw Kion jump onto the tree and ran back to help him, while Fuli and Beshte stopped Cheezi and Chungu from chasing the zebras.
"These zebras never even saw us coming," Cheezi cackled as he and Chungu continued to chase the herd.
"That's 'cause zebras ain't too smart," Chungu laughed.
Both hyenas were suddenly halted when they crashed into the side of the Lion Guard's Strongest.
"They're not the only ones," Fuli scoffed, standing beside Beshte.
Chungu shook off the momentary disorientation. "The Lion Guard?" he blinked.
"We never even saw you coming," Cheezi whined.
Kion jumped to the next branch, just as the zebra ran under him. "Kion, look out!" Bunga called, running to the rescue.
"Bunga?" the prince questioned. "What are you...Whoa!" He was cut off when the honey badger tackled him, knocking both of them out of the tree, and right on top of Janja.
"Where did you even come from?" The hyena leader stammered, looking up at the golden-furred cub on top of him.
"Doesn't matter," Kion jumped off the hyena. "I know where you're going." He let out a low growl.
"Panic and run! Panic and run!" Cheezi and Chungu whimpered, running back to the Outlands.
Janja saw the look in Kion's eyes and knew his clanmates had the right idea and ran after them.
"And don't come back!" Bunga called after them, raising his fist.
"Bunga, why'd you do that?" Kion asked his badger friend.
Bunga shrugged his shoulders. "I don't want them to come back?"
Kion shook his head. "No, why'd you knock me out of that tree?" He clarified. "I was trying to take Janja by surprise."
"Oh," the Guard's Bravest scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, about that..." He was cut off by Fuli's chuckling as she and Beshte rejoined the group.
"Well, that's a new way to run off hyenas, fall on them," Fuli laughed.
"That wasn't exactly the plan," Kion rolled his eyes, watching as Bunga ran over to stand next to Beshte.
"Hey, did you see that?" Bunga whispered to Beshte. "Kion fell from the tree just like the painting predicted. Good thing I saved him."
"Looked to me like you pushed him and Janja saved him," the Guard's Strongest replied. "Besides, what if that wasn't the right tree?"
Bunga ran his hands down his cheeks. "Then he's still in danger." He cringed. "At least the zebras are safe and we can head home. There aren't any trees in the lair."
"Everyone, we have a problem," Ono alerted as he and Kufu ran up to them.
"Ono did a quick count of the herd, and we're three zebras short," Kufu added. "We're missing Thurston, the baby zebra I saved earlier, and her mother."
"The hyenas didn't get them, did they?" Kion asked, worry lacing his voice.
"Thankfully no," Kufu said as he shook his head, and the prince sighed in relief.
"I've spotted the missing zebras," Ono informed. "But they're stranded on the other side of Maji Baridi Falls."
Beshte raised his brow. "How'd they get way over there?"
"I'm guessing they panicked and ran," Fuli said with a grin, followed by an eye roll.
"Well, however they got there, we've got to help them get back," Kion told the rest of his team. "Ono, lead the way."
"Affirmative," the egret saluted, leading the rest of the Guard towards the falls, the two lion cubs running at the front.
"So, how are we gonna protect Kion now?" Bunga asked, looking up at Beshte.
"Don't worry, Little B," assured the Guard's Strongest. "Maybe there aren't any trees between here and Maji Baridi Falls."
That statement proved false as the whole Guard walked through a small grove on their way towards Maji Baridi Falls. Bunga's eyes were wide as he looked all around, "Trees, trees, trees," he cringed, grasping the fur on his cheeks.
"And just now you're noticing?" Fuli raised her brow as she glanced back at the honey badger.
Bunga took a few more steps and let out a gasp, pointing straight ahead at what appeared to be a branch in the middle of the path Kion and Kufu were currently walking.
"Bunga, it's on the ground," Beshte noted. "How could Kion fall from it?"
"He could trip," the honey badger replied, running ahead.
Kufu caught sight of what or who was on the ground and he growled a little seeing who it was before jumping over the sleeping snake in their path Kion shook his head and rolled his eyes as he went to do the same.
A second later, Bunga's voice yelled, "Look out!" and it was followed by an audible scream from Ushari.
"Bunga!" Ushari hissed.
Hearing the cobra's voice, Kufu let out a growl and was about to go after that cobra before Kion stopped him and glanced at Bunga.
"Bunga, leave Ushari alone," Kion scolded. "You know how Kufu gets around him."
"Sorry," Bunga apologized to the cobra as Ushari wrapped his tail around the honey badger. "I thought you were a tree branch."
"I should bite you, Bunga," Ushari hissed as his grip on the honey badger tightened before he started letting him go. "But the lasssst time I did, I couldn't get the tassste out of my mouth for dayssss." He said before he slithered away.
Bunga then licked his arm and smacked his lips. "Your loss, Ushari, I taste great!" He called out to the snake.
"Come on, let's find those zebras," Kion reminded his team and they continued down the path.
"One of these days, Kion, I'm gonna rip that stupid snake into pieces!" Kufu said with a growl.
"Do you think you'll ever get over your hatred towards Ushari?" Kion asked his Slyest.
"I don't think so," Kufu answered as they walked. "The day I'll get over my hatred towards Ushari will be the day Kopa starts acting nice," he added which made both he and Kion share a chuckle.
"Come on Bunga, more trees ahead," Beshte told the honey badger as they followed Kion.
Fuli then stopped right in front of Beshte and Bunga. "All right, what's going on?" She asked, sharply. "You're both acting even weirder than usual and your usual is pretty weird."
Bunga rubbed the back of his head. "OK, so I was looking at Rafiki's paintings." He began to explain. "You know how his staff can make them move..."
"And then we saw Kion fall off the tree branch," Beshte added after Bunga finished his explanation.
Fuli just nodded her head, not sure what to think. "Still sounds hard to believe," she admitted.
"But what if it's true?" The hippo questioned, looking down at the cheetah walking beside him. "How would you feel if Kion got hurt?"
Fuli stopped in her tracks when Beshte said that because she didn't wanna see her best friend get hurt and, even though she didn't wanna admit it out loud, she considered herself to be closer to Kion than the others, and even though she didn't believe that those paintings could predict the future, she didn't wanna see him get hurt.
"OK, let's go warn him," Fuli said
A ways ahead, Kion and Kufu continued down the path, following Ono. The egret perched on top of a tree a few feet ahead of them.
"You can see the zebras from up here," Ono informed the two cubs.
"Great," Kion glanced at Kufu. "Let's take a look."
"Good thing I'm a great climber," Kufu said, running ahead of Kion and jumping onto the tree's trunk.
"Kion, no!" Fuli yelled, just as the prince jumped onto the tree. She ran into him and they both landed on their stomachs, draped over the thick trunk. Shortly after, Bunga and Beshte came running after them, both tripping over the root and crashing onto the trunk. The force sent Kufu into the air and he landed on top of Beshte's back.
"Thanks for the save, Beshte," Kufu said, jumping off him and landing on the ground.
Kion looked to the other three Guard members draped over the tree trunk. "What are you guys doing?"
"Yeah, what the heck was that all about?" Kufu asked, raising his brow.
"Kion, I just spotted a shortcut to the zebras," Ono alerted, flying in front of the lion prince. "This way, through the trees." He pointed his wing in the direction of a forest, which made Fuli, Beshte, and Bunga gasp.
"Hey, I know an even shorter shortcut," Bunga chuckled dryly, climbing off the tree. "Uh, this way," he pushed Kion in another direction away from the forest.
"Uh, Ohhhh-Kay?" Kufu blinked, following the honey badger.
Instead of walking through the forest, the Guard was now swimming through a deep river. "Guys, this is not a shortcut." Ono pointed out, flying over Fuli, Bunga, and Beshte. "What's going on?"
"We're trying to save Kion," Bunga answered as he swam.
"Save him from what?" Ono questioned.
"Remember how Bunga knew to steer the zebras away from the rocks?" Fuli asked, her head barely above the water. Ono gave a nod in confirmation.
"Well, there's a reason he knew," Beshte added.
Bunga then went on to explain again, about the painting in the lair predicting Kion falling from a tree.
Kion and Kufu were the first to make it to shore. "Bunga and his shortcuts," Kufu muttered in annoyance while rolling his eyes and shaking out his fur. "Remind me to get even with him after all of this."
"Noted," Kion nodded before shaking his fur dry.
The two cubs soon found Thurston, the mother zebra, and her baby, all happily grazing on the other side of Maji Baridi Falls.
"Now to find a way to get to them," Kion mused, looking around.
Kufu scanned the riverbank and found a large, long tree branch hanging over the river. "Kion, we can use that branch to get across." He informed, nudging the prince's shoulder and pointing to the tree with his paw.
"Great thinking, Kufu," Kion smiled. "Come on." The two cubs ran towards the tree.
"If you guys are right, then Kion's in danger," Ono gasped, after hearing Bunga's explanation.
"Not anymore, Ono," the honey badger assured. "Now that you know, Kion has the whole Lion Guard looking out for him."
"Not the whole Lion Guard," Fuli rebuked. "Kufu still doesn't know."
"Oh yeah," Bunga agreed. "We have to tell him not to let Kion anywhere near a tree."
"Lion Guard, we found the zebras!" Kion called back to the others, who all turned to see him and Kufu on the tree branch over the river.
"Don't worry, I'll save him," Ono said, flying over to the lion prince. "Kion, No!" he halted, landing right in Kion's path.
"Ono, what are you doing?" Kufu questioned, standing right behind Kion.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you two," the egret apologized, "But Fuli, Bunga, and Beshte..."
The two cubs looked back to see the other three members running right for the tree branch. They all crashed into one another, causing both Kion and Kufu to be launched off the branch and onto a small boulder, with the brown-furred cub landing on the golden cub's back. Fuli landed hard on the ground, followed by Beshte and Bunga.
"What's going on with you guys?" Kufu huffed, sliding off Kion's back, the two cubs now standing on the boulder.
"We were just trying to save Kion," Fuli answered, struggling to pull herself out from under Beshte.
"Save me?" Kion repeated, "From what?"
"The tree branch," Ono squawked.
"The tree branch?" Both cubs echoed in unison, sharing a confused glance.
"Rafiki's painting showed you falling from a big tree branch," Bunga explained for the fourth time that day.
"Seriously?" Kufu blinked with a deadpan expression. "That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Those paintings are very old and there's no way that they can predict the future."
Kion rolled his eyes. "Kufu's right, Bunga, there's no way Rafiki's paintings tell the future." He shook his head. "Now let's focus on getting these zebras back to their herd."
Fuli was still struggling to get out from under Beshte. "Could you get up?" She asked in a strained voice, "Please?"
Beshte smiled and stood up so Fuli could move. The hippo backed up and bumped into a rock, which then started rolling right towards the three grazing zebras.
"Zebras, look out!" Kion warned.
Thurston lifted his head and saw the rock rolling right towards them. "Panic and run!" He told the other two zebras. "Panic and run!" The three equines let out whimpers before running right into the river.
"Hapana!" Ono gasped. "The zebras are heading towards Maji Baridi Falls."
"I have an idea, come on," Kion led the Guard to the edge of the falls. "I've got to roar from that branch over the waterfall."
"But, Kion," Bunga halted, placing his hand on the prince's shoulder, "The painting!"
"I don't care. It's the only way to save the zebras," Kion rebuked, walking to the edge before looking back at the Guard. "After I roar, make sure the zebras are OK."
Kufu nodded. "Got it Kion, just be careful."
"Always," Kion smiled back before jumping onto the tree. He slid down the narrow branch over the waterfall, carefully balancing himself on it. "I hope this works," he muttered to himself.
Kion then unleashed his Roar just as the zebras fell over the waterfall. The Roar's power blasted the water so it formed a bowl shape which caught the zebras and pushed them back up over the falls.
The mother zebra and her daughter landed safely on the ground. Kufu ran to them to make sure they were OK. "Whoa!" Thurston screamed as he landed, draped over Beshte's back, "Oh, comfy."
Kufu rolled his eyes and ran back to the edge of the falls. "Nice job, Kion, you did it!" He yelled down to the Guard's leader. "The zebras are safe!"
Kion jumped back onto the bulky trunk of the tree, but lost his footing and slipped. The rest of the Guard shouted his name in fear he'd fallen.
"I'm OK!" Their leader reassured them, jumping onto the rock base from where the tree was growing.
The other five members sighed in relief.
"I wasn't worried," Bunga brushed off, earning a glare from his four friends.
"These paintings? Tell the future?" Rafiki burst out laughing. "Bunga! Why would you think such a thing?" The Mjuzi and the Lion Guard all stood in front of the wall in the Lion Guard Lair where Bunga saw the zebra and rock paintings.
"'Cause-" the honey badger rubbed the back of his head. "'Cause we saw the zebras run, and the rocks fall, and then we..."
Rafiki laughed again before bonking the honey badger on the head with his bakora staff. "First, do not take Rafiki's staff." He scolded. "Second, these paintings...you did not see what you think you saw. You watched them backward." He informed, tapping the rock painting first. "The rocks fall and the zebras run! And all of this happened in the past!"
"The past?" Bunga and Beshte repeated together.
"Yes, yes," the mandrill confirmed. "These paintings...they show the history of the Pride Lands."
"Told ya," Kufu said to Bunga.
"What about this one?" Bunga asked, pointing to a painting of a lion cub in a tree. "It shows Kion falling."
Rafiki laughed again. "Leap to conclusions and you leap to confusions." He said to the honey badger
"Leap to what? I'm confused." Bunga admitted.
"What he's saying is that it's not Kion," Kufu told him before looking at the painting. "But I can see why you thought that was Kion 'cause this lion cub does look like him."
"Kufu is correct," Rafiki said as he stood in front of the painting Bunga believed to be Kion. "That is not Kion. It's Nala's father, Kion's grandfather when he was a cub." The Mjuzi informed.
"How 'bout that, Ki?" Fuli glanced to her left at Kion. "You look like both your grandfathers," she noted.
"You think?" Kion quirked his brow.
"Kion's grandfather did fall from a big branch," Rafiki informed, making the painting come to life with his staff. "But he was saved-" the painting showed the cub falling, but before he hit the ground, six lions appeared and caught him, "...By the Lion Guard of his day. You see? These paintings do not predict your future, except for this new one." He pointed to a small painting of Bunga.
"Is that me? What am I gonna do? Something fun?" The honey badger asked excitedly. Rafiki tapped the painting and it showed the honey badger wiping up spilled paint. "Cleaning the floor? That doesn't look like fun!" He looked up at Rafiki, who held out two stacks of leaves and a gourd bowl of water. Bunga sat down and started wiping up the paint on the lair's floor. "I think I like the other paintings better." He sighed.
The rest of the Lion Guard laughed.
To be continued…
A/N: And that was Paintings and Predictions. You guys weren't expecting a new Sly Lion chapter this quickly, weren't you? Well, apparently, I found a new way to get chapters uploaded faster, so expect to see more upcoming chapters consistently, and yes we are jumping back and forth between The Sly Lion and Ninjago Yin and Yang. I hope you all enjoy reading this, everyone.
Up Next: The Lion Guard have to lead a migration which is a lot more difficult than they thought.
Here's the Cast List:
Max Charles as Kion; Caleel Harris as Kufu; Joshua Rush as Bunga: Diamond White as Fuli; Atticus Shaffer as Ono; Dusan Brown as Beshte; Khary Payton as Rafiki; Christian Slater as Ushari; Andrew Kishino as Janja; Kevin Schon as Chungu and Thurston; Vargus Mason as Cheezi; Kari Wahlgren as Zebra Mother.