The Lion Guard: Bongo the Slyest: The Most Slyest Adventures

by Fanficteller

Kion, the prince and the Fiercest of the Pride Lands, leads the new but disordinary Lion Guard formed up from his friends, Bunga the honey badger, Bongo the wild dog, Fuli the cheetah, Ono the egret and Beshte the hippo, to protect the Pride Lands and defend the Circle of Life from the threats of the Outlands and the troubles within the kingdom. (Season 1)

6. Kupatana Celebration

THE LION GUARD: BONGO THE SLYEST
THE KUPATANA CELEBRATION

---

At dawn of the new day, the golden sun rose from the horizon over the treetops of the Mizimu Grove, the grove of baobab trees, which was one of the most important places in the Pride Lands, because all the important events of the kingdom were held there..

At one end of the grove, there stood a large, sloping rock, with the flat rocks lying around of it. The rock served as the stage for the particular performances or royal speeches.

There, Zazu was standing in front of the rock and the group of eighteen children, which consisted of a young elephant, young giraffe, young aardvark, young hippo, young ostrich and young crocodile who stood on the left side of the rock, Tamu, Chika, Wiba and Guvu, young baboon and young hedgehog who stood on the right side of the rock, and finally Beshte, Ono, Fuli, Kion, Bunga and Bongo who stood in front between the other two groups.

The children were singing while being conducted by Zazu, with the Lion Guard serving as the main singers and the other children as the background chorus.

Children (Repeating)

"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala"

Lion Guard.

"It's the Circle of Life"

"And it moves us all"

"Through despair and-"

Fuli
"THROUGH DESPAIR AND-"

Zazu cringed at Fuli's loud singing was hurting his ears.

"STOOOOP! Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!" Zazu ordered, flapping his wings frantically.

The children stopped singing, which was replaced by the chorus of huge groans before the royal Majordomo flew at the Lion Guard.

"What is it again, Zazu?" Fuli sighed heavily, as the Fastest glared at the hornbill that was flapping his wings in front of her face.

"Your singing voice was above all others, again." Zazu answered. "Try again, and this time do it with softer voice and slower along the others. Everything must be perfect for tonight." he urged strictly, before he flew off to resume his position in front of them.

With Zazu's back turned, Fuli turned to Kion and held up her paw in front of her mouth to block Zazu from hearing her.

"Kion? You think Simba will be mad if I eat this fussy dodo?" she whispered to her leader.

The Fiercest chuckled. "Probably. Though I think dad would understand why." he whispered back, recalling his dad's stories of how Zazu used to drive him nuts in his cubhood.

"Not good idea, though." Bongo reminded them. "Remember, Fuli, that Zazu is the member of a member of the king's court and the law states that it is strictly forbidden to eat the members of the king's court."

"And that includes Timon, and Pumbaa, and - in this case - the rest of the Guard." Kion added, nodding his head towards Bunga.

"Did I hear right?" Bunga whispered to his best friend's ear, wearing the enthusiastic smile. "Me, uncle Timon and uncle Pumbaa part of Simba's royal court? Un-Bunga-livable!"

At the same time, Bongo looked sideways to his left and at his little sisters and little brother, who had become so bored of repeating the same lines of the song over and over again - not the mention about feeling their tongues getting into the knot - that Chika and Wiba had engaged each other into the playful wrestle. And Guvu, who had joined in the girls' play fight as the neutral participant, was chewing on Chika's ear while yanking it back.

"Ow! My ear! Let go of my ear, Guvu!" Chika demanded.

"Guys!" Bongo hissed at them through his gritted teeth, loud enough to get their attentions. "Behave or the Big Bad Mr. Banana-beak will get you!"

Hearing their big brother out, Chika, Wiba and Guvu immediately ceased their play fighting and resumed their own positions and acted like nothing ever happened, before the trio gave Bongo the sweet innocent smiles, which made the Slyest to chuckle at them.

However, when his eyes landed on Tamu who was sitting next to his little siblings, she gave him a sweet yet rather flirtuous smile in his direction while blinking her eyes at him. This made Bongo to gulp and, with the nervous chuckle while his cheeks turned red, turned his gaze away.

"Ahem!" Zazu cleared his throat, getting their attention.

"Prince Kion and the Lion Guard? When it's your time to step forward to sing your part, I want you to be spectacular, dignified, and proud like you mean it." Zazu instructed, motioning his wings as he himself stood tall, dignified, beak proudly up and chest pointed forward. "We can ill-afford of you making a fool of yourselves even in the slightest way in front of literally everybody in the Pride Lands, now can we?"

"No, Zazu." everybody replied in unison.

Bongo, however, leaned slightly closer to Kion and cupped his mouth with his paw. "Geez, Kion. I wonder how your mom and dad ever lasted with this perfectionist slave-driver." the pup whispered, to which Kion replied with the shrug.

"Now, let's do this again. And this time I want it to go perfectly smooth or we can all stay here practicing your part all day till tonight. Is that clear?" Zazu asked strictly.

"Yes, Zazu." everybody replied in unison, cringing at the thought of being stuck in here all day.

"Talk about the slave-driver, Bongo." Fuli whispered in the pup's ear with the irritated tone.

"Now, let us begin." Zazu said and the whole thing started going over again.

###

In the other end of the grove was standing King Simba alongside Queen Nala, Princess Kiara, Tiifu and Zuri and their mothers, Moto, Mafu and Konda and their own mothers, Alfa, Shauri, Rafiki, Timon and Pumbaa, and Beshte's dad Basi.

Tiifu and Zuri's mothers bore both a strong resemblance of their daughters, except that Tiifu's mother had the leftward bangs over her forehead and had more speckles going under her eyes and nose, while Zuri's mother had slightly bushy neck fur and the color of her coat resembled closely of Kiara's, only with a little deeper tone. Tiifu's mother's name was Wajua ("They Know" in Swahili) and Zuri's mother's name was Vizuri ("Well done" in Swahili)

Moto's mother had a tan-orange pelt and paler-toned muzzle, eyelids, paws, inner-ears, and underbelly and emerald green eyes like her son's, but she had considerably long upward pointed fur on her cheeks and she bore small yet thick orangish-brown mane that reached from top of her head down her neck and over her shoulders. Her name was Kungua (Kuungua, meaning "Burning" in Swahili)

Mafu's mother, compared to her overweight son, was a very lanky, thin and had a lithe build, and she had the same colored coat as her son, with only exception being the navy blue eyes. Her name was Wemba (Wembamba, meaning "Thinnes" in Swahili)

And finally, Konda's mother had more ash-gray and smooth and well-groomed coat compared to her son and she was notably taller and more heavily-built than the other mothers, along with the bushy sideburns. Her name was Linda ("Protect" in Swahili)

Seeing how Zazu was handling the situation which was trying the kids' patience, Simba and Nala smiled at each other.

"You think the kids are annoyed yet, Simba?" Nala asked from her mate.

"Oh, there's no doubt about that." Simba agreed with the nod.

"Though both Kion and Bongo seem to be lasting longer than the others, your majesties." Shauri said from her place next to her father. "However, I can see that Fuli already looks like "Screw the royal code, I'm gonna eat him"."

Alfa chuckled at his older daughter's words while shaking his head. Even the royal family shared her laughter.

Well, I don't blame her, Shauri." Simba said. "Zazu can annoy anyone out of their wits."

"Well, as the royal Majordomo, Zazu does take these celebrations pretty seriously." Nala reminded them.

Kiara, who was standing next to her mom with her friends and their mothers, lifted her paw over her paw and let out the sigh with relief. "I'm so glad it's Kion doing it this year and not me. I could just barely keep it together last year."

"Yeah, but at least we weren't being tormented by Zazu all day." Tiifu recalled.

"You said it, Tiifu." Zuri giggled, before she and Tiifu exchanged a fist bump with each other. "And unlike Kion and the Lion Guard, we did it much better without constant mistakes and interruptions."

"Zuri." Vizuri lightly chided her. "Stop being so criticizing towards Kion and the Lion Guard. They'll be doing just as fine as you, Tiifu and Kiara."

Zuri lowered her head slightly in submission, with her ears pressed against the back of her skull as she glanced at her mother over her shoulder. "Yes, mother." she said.

Pumbaa let out the sigh as he watched the kids singing. "Ahh. It's going to be a great show tonight."

"You said it, Pumbaa." Timon agreed with the proud smile on his face. "And the best part of it is that our little Bunga's part of it as the lead singer."

Pumbaa shot a glance at his meerkat friend. "Uhh, I though that Kion was the lead singer. After all, he's Simba's son, the prince and the Leader of the Lion Guard."

"Well, yes, Pumbaa, but even that doesn't make Bunga any less of the lead singer than Kion." Timon argued.

As his two childhood friends began to bicker about who's the lead singer, Simba shook his head at them with the smile. Even after all these years since their life in the Hakuna Matata Jungle, those two will never change.

"Speaking of which." Simba said before he turned to both Alfa and Basi. "Your sons are sounding good, my friends."

"Thank you, your majesty." Alfa said with the bow of his head.

"My thanks too, your highness." Basi thanked with the smile. "My son has been practicing well for this celebration."

"So has mine." Alfa agreed. "And I am honored and proud that my son is singing at the Kupatana Celebration with your son and the rest of the Lion Guard."

"Even if it has been traditionally been the lions singing with a member of the royal family." Shauri pointed out.

"Well, since we have an extraordinary Lion Guard this year, I though it'll be fine to let Kion sing with his friends." Simba explained.

Behind them, Moto rolled his eyes with the loud groan.

"I really don't get this holiday." he groaned. "It's supposed to be about peace in the Pride Lands, and yet there's none when we have the next Scar around."

Everybody turned to glare at Moto for what he just said.

"Moto! And watch your mouth when you talk about Kion like that, son!" Kungua scolded with the growl. " Besides, you promised you would behave today, unless you want to be locked back in that cave for a some time again!"

"Ugh! Fine, mother." Moto said, rolling his eyes.

Kiara glared at Moto the most hardest, for the memory how he had selfishly used her temporary role as the queen against Kion and the Lion Guard and how he had then abandoned her to the Broken Rock when they came under attack by Janja's clan was still imprinted in her mind.

"Why is he here again, dad?"

"Because no other lioness was volunteering to cubsitting him." Simba explained. "So, with no other choice, he had to come, under the surveillance of his mother, of course."

Back at the rock, the children and the Lion Guard were at the very end of their song.

Children (Repeating)

"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala"

Lion Guard.

"On the path unwinding"

"In the Circle"

"The Circle of Liiiiiife"

Fuli
"THE CIRCLE OF LIIIIIIFE!"

And after finishing their song, with Kion's lead, each member of the Lion Guard bend over one of their fore legs and lowered their muzzles down to bow to the empty audience.

"Wonderful! Simply wonderful!" Zazu praised as the Lion Guard and the other children collapsed on their stomachs, panting in exhaustion.

"Okay... okay... I think I can't... I can't even move my mouth." Bunga panted as he lied on his back.

"No kidding, Bunga." Bongo panted as he glanced at the honey badger. "My lungs are aching awfully. They're desperately screaming for the respite."

Zazu then stood before them all with the proud smile on his beak. "You all did very well. Even better this time." he told to them.

"So.. are we done yet?" Fuli whined hoarshely.

"For now." Zazu answered.

"Finally!" Guvu whined as he pushed himself up to his feet from the rock, along with Tamu and his sisters. "If I have to say one more time "Ingonyama nengw' enamabala", I'd rather have a hyena to eat me!"

"Good, because the Guard needs to get to our patrol." Kion said as he got to his feet. "Come on, guys, we gotta get going."

The Lion Guard and other children slowly got to their feet and followed the golden prince, jumping down the pedestal and walked off.

"And one more thing! While you're on patrol, work on your harmonies!" Zazu called after the kids as he flew over them. "Beshte, you were a little behind of the others. Ono, a little more voice from your part. Bunga, leave the overdramatic attitude aside, please. Bongo, a little less howling next time. Fuli, try to remember when is the proper time to raise your voice, not before that. And Kion, you were a little flat towards the end there. Remember, all of you, that it must-"

"Must be perfect for the celebration tonight." all six friends finished in unison. "We know, Zazu." they rolled their eyes and headed towards ther respective families.

"So... Zazu finally let you go?" Kiara giggled as her brother and his friends joined them.

"About time too. Fuli was about to eat him." Kion chuckled, causing Fuli to bump her shoulder against his in slight retaliation.

"Now I think we kinda know how you must have felt the last year, Kiara." Bongo howled in laughter. "Thanks kinda warning us about this beforehead."

"You're welcome, Bongo." Kiara said.

Bongo then walked up to his dad and big sis, with Tamu, Chika, Wiba and Guvu following him closely behind.

"How did it go, dad? Shauri? C'mon! Please! Tell me! How did I go?" the Slyest asked from both Alfa and Shauri.

"You did fine, son. You did fine." Alfa said as he nuzzled his son's head with his ownm while Shauri rubbed Bongo's back with her paw. "If only your mother were here to see you, she'd be proud too."

The mention of his late mother made Bongo very emotional, thinking with teary eyes of the proud smile she would be giving to him and her praising him for his performance with the rest of the Lion Guard, although the pup quickly wiped his eyes dry before the tears escaped from them.

"I know, dad. I know she would've been." Bongo said.

"Whataboutwe?! Whataboutwe?! Whataboutwe?! Whataboutwe?! Whataboutwe?! Whataboutwe?!" Chika, Wiba and Guvu repeated excitedly, eager for some praise for their own performance from their father and big sister.

"Alright, alright. Calm down now, little ones." Shauri told them and nuzzled each one of her younger siblings one at the time, calming them down, before pulling back. "Each one of you did fine. Well done from each of you." she told them with the smile.

"YES!" Chika, Wiba and Guvu shouted in unison, before Alfa rubbed his paw on each one's head while giving them his own praise.

As Bongo looked on his little siblings getting praised by his dad and big sister, he failed to see Tamu striding from behind next to him on his left side, and he still failed to notice his presence, until Tamu caught him off guard by leaning her right cheek against his, which snapped Bongo out of his thoughts and turned to his left to see Tamu standing there nuzzling him.

"Tamu?! What are you...?!" the Slyest gasped but was cut off by Tamu putting her paw over his muzzle.

"Shhh." Tamu softly hushed. "You had so beautiful singing voice, Bongo. That's one of the traits I like about you." she added before nuzzling even harder against the dog she had such of huge crush on.

"Ugh!" Bongo gagged in disgust. "Daaaaaaaad! Tamu's being touchy again!" he complained.

However, all he got in response was an amused laughter from his family.

As the royal family was giving their praises to Kion, with Timon and Pumbaa to Bunga, and Basi to Beshte - and they made sure that Ono too got the praises he deserved - Fuli sought for the perfect spot in the sun and upon finding one laid down to rest.

"Who knew Zazu can be such a slave driver," she sighed, before she licked her paw and brushed it on her head.

"Well, the Kupatana Celebration is an important event." Ono reminded from Beshte's back. "Common knowledge really."

"And Zazu takes these celebrations seriously." Nala reminded them, sharing a look with Simba.

"He indeed does. Doesn't he, Vizuri?" Wajua said to her friend.

"Very seriously, Wajua." Vizuri said, nodding her head in agreement.

"I'm sure tonight's gonna be Poa." Beshte grinned as he sat down to his dad's side. "I think that it's great we all get to sing together this year."

"Who knew it would be so much work," Kion sighed as he sat in the grass next to his father.

"Even I didn't see this coming, Kion, and I'm the Pride Lands' Slyest." Bongo said as he too sat down with Tamu, before he nodded his head at Kiara. "If only it weren't for the princess to tip us about that."

"Bah!" Moto scoffed behind them before throwing an insult towards Kion. "With Kion singing this year, this year's celebration is bound to be a total catastrophe."

Once more, this earned the bunch of angry glares to Moto, especially from the members of the royal family, the royal court and the Lion Guard.

"MOTO!" Kungua scolded with the loud growl, making Moto to lower his head down in submission, before the maned lioness turned to Kion and Simba. "Forgive the rudeness of my son, your highness. Especially you, Kion."

"It's okay, Kungua. Moto's just being a complete idiot like he always is." Kion fired back which made Moto glare back at him.

"An idiot, unfortunately." Kungua agreed with the prince while glancing angrily at Moto. "My son would have a lot of potential if he wouldn't waste them on your disdain."

"Hey, can't we at least for once be a little more excited of today instead of being at each other's throats?" the Guard's strongest suggested. "After all, it's not every day you get to be a part of the Kupatana Celebration."

"Well, considering Kupatana only happens once a year." Ono pointed out.

"And we have an honor to open it, guys." Bongo reminded them.

"Indeed." Ono agreed. "After all, it's a tradition for a member of the royal family and whoever he or she chooses with him or her to sing at the opening of the ceremony."

"I just hope we do a good job." Kion said, sounding a little nervous "It's after all our first time singing at a ceremony."

"AND I CAN'T WAIT!" Bunga exclaimed as he cupped Kion's cheeks with his paws. "We're going to be un-Bunga-livable!" he exclaimed as he climbed onto the prince's back and ruffled his mane. "Kupatana is the biggest party in the Pride Lands."

"It's not just a party, Bunga." Kion reminded, laughing at the honey badger on his back.

"Indeed, young prince. Kupatana is the one day where all the animals of the Pride Lands gather side by side to celebrate the Circle of Life in peace." Rafiki elaborated.

"Which means, there's no hunting today in the Pride Lands." Bongo added. "Today's the one day in the year where the predator and prey can stand side by side in peace and harmony."

"Indeed, son. That's the words of wisdom coming from your mouth." Alfa said proudly as he ruffled his son's head.

"Thanks, dad." Bongo said.

Fuli stretched her back while lying in the grass. "You're right, Bongo. It's the most peaceful day of the year."

Just then, the sound of yipping caught everyone's attention.

"YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP!"

"I spoke too soon, didn't I?" Fuli asked with the annoyed frown as she got up from the grass.

"Well, if my calculations were correct, Fuli, I would saaaayyyy..." Bongo said as he leaned his head to left and right alternatively, while trying to catch the another sound he almost expected to be following the yipping.

Then the sound of cackling laughter catching his ears.

"HAA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HAA!"

"Yep. You did, Fuli." Bongo said in confirmation. "That sounded like some awfully familiar hyena friend of ours."

"Oh, c'mon!" Kion groaned, before he glanced at the egret on the hippo's back. "Ono, think you can take a look?"

Ono nodded before flying off the hippo's back and looked towards the Outlands. With his Mark flashing, Ono zoomed his vision closer to scan the Outlands' canyons.

He saw a small male jackal pup that was a creamy brown with three darker spots on either shoulder, with beige underbelly, muzzle and paws and black markings on top of his head, back and the tip of his bushy tail, scruffy cheeks and the fur on top of his head and a dark blue eyes. The pup was running for his life while Janja and his whole clan chased after him.

"Yep! It's Janja and his hyenas, alright." he informed the rest of the Guard. "They're chasing a little jackal pup through the Outlands."

"They're doing WHAT?!" Bongo gasped upon hearing that.

After learning the nature of the commotion in the Outlands, Bongo went still and looked blankly and wide-eyed into nothingness, when that familiar horrible memory from his childhood began to flash before his eyes again.

FLASHBACK

The pearl-white and golden figure of her mother running across the Elephant Graveyard's elephant skulls and carcasses littered ravines, eerily illuminated by the red geysers, while carrying the infant Bongo in her mouth.

The menacing hyena-shaped shadows reflecting from the walls of the ravine while chasing after them.

The haunting laughter that echoed in the ravine.

THEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE!

The world in her eyes were filled with the colors of fiery orange, yellow and red.

Fiery geysers erupted all around them, making him flinch with every eruption, and the fiery light casted the terrifying shadows of the elephants corpses that stared down at him.

The hyenas' glowing eyes staring at them from every dark corner, behind of every rock, inside of every gap and the cave, even inside the elephant skulls.

The geyser then erupted right next to him and his mother, with three hyenas - including the female one with a couple of scars across her left eye, couple other scars across the left side of the mouth and huge chunk of the right ear missing - popping their heads through the fiery steam.

"BOO! THEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE-HEE!"

The teeth of the female hyena as they snapped shut in front of his face.

His mother reaching to the end of the ravine, a dead end, with the shadows of the hyenas on the floor and walls cornered and surrounded them.

His mother climbing up the boulders and ledges to the top of the cliff, where she put him safely down on the ledge.

The shocking turn of events of his mother being suddenly pulled back into the ravine by her foot. His mother's vain attempts to pull herself up onto the ledge, but the full strenght of the hyena clan down below leaves her barely clinging for dear life from the edge.

Him attempting desperately to save his mother by pulling her to safety, but it turned out to be hopeless.

The last look his mother gave him: the eyes full of not just fear but also deepest love for him, and the one last warm and affectional smile she gave him.

Then, his mother disappeared over the edge to her doom.

And lastly, him looking down over the edge to see his mother disappearing forever in middle of the hyenas' shadows that lunged at her from all sides, tearing her apart.

And his screams of horror and grief echoing in his ears.

"NOOOOOOOO! MAMMA! MAMMA!"

FLASHBACK ENDS.

"Bongo? Bongo? BONGO! SON?!" Alfa's voice echoed in his head.

"Little brother? Are you okay?!" Shauri's echo called him.

"Bongo?!" Chika, Wiba and Guvu's echoes called him repeatedly with deep concern for him in their voices.

"Bongo? Bongo, what's got into you? Bongo?!" Tamu's echo called.

"Medium B? Can you hear me? How many claws you see?" Bunga's echo asked, holding up all of his claws in front of the Slyest's eyes.

"Bongo? What is it?" Fuli's echo asked softly and worriedly.

"Medium B? Are you okay?" Beshte's echo asked worriedly as the Strongest gently nudged him with his snout.

"BONGO! WAKEY-WAKEY!" Bunga called, before the honey badger promptly slapped the dog pup across his muzzle with his paw wo make him snap out of it.

Snapping out of it at the stinging sensation in his muzzle after Bunga's slap, Bongo blinked his eyes and looked around him in frantic confusion and shook his head violently to get it clear, before he focused his eyes at everyone standing around him, looking at him with concern.

"Wha...? Wha...? Wha...? What? What? What?" Bongo stuttered, looking around of him frantically. "What's going on? What happened? Where am I?"

"Easy, son. Take it easy." Alfa told him and nuzzled his head over his son's to calm him. "You had one of those traumatic issues of yours again. But don't worry. It's over now."

"You're safe, Bongo. Nothing can harm you now." Shauri assured him as she lightly nudged his head with her muzzle.

"Bongo?" Tamu asked softly, making Bongo to turn to her and saw the female dog looking him in the eyes with the deep concern in her own. "Bongo, are you alright?"

"Yeah. I think so." Bongo said, though in truth he felt a little shaky after experiencing those horrible memories again, but he had no heart to tell it to anyone of them.

Tamu immediately rushed to his side and nuzzled the top of her head against his right cheek, even if it made Bongo a cringe a bit.

"Bongo." Chika, Wiba and Guvu said as the three pups hugged him tightly to comfort their big brother, to which Bongo returned in kind.

Bongo then turned to the members of the Guard. "But what's going on? Guys? What did Ono saw again?"

"Well, Ono did say something about Janja and his hyenas chasing the jackal pup across the Outlands." Bunga informed before frowning angrily. "And even on the day of Kupatana! Have they no shame?!" the honey badger exclaimed.

"THEY WHAT?!" Bongo exclaimed, quickly remembering that, before he rocketed up from his spot and strided next to Kion and his father. "Kion? Did I hear both Ono and Bunga right? Is Janja's clan really chasing the pup in the Outlands?"

"Yes." Kion sighed, looking down. "I wish the Lion Guard defended the Circle of Life out there too, but we don't."

"What are you saying, Kion?" Bongo asked in confusion. "Are you saying that we should just leave that jackal pup on his own... to be torn apart by Janja and his clan?" he questioned with the frown.

"I didn't say anything like that, Bongo. I just... the hyenas and jackals are both the Outlanders. And their conflicts aren't necessarily our business. But..." Kion told him, before he glanced at his father. "Dad? What do you think?"

"Kion, today's Kupatana." Simba reminded his son. "And not just here in the Pride Lands. The spirit of Kupatana extends to all the animals in the Circle of Life."

"Even those in the Outlands?" Kion asked.

"Yes. Even those in the Outlands, both good and bad ones." Simba confirmed.

"So go on, Kion." Nala encouraged him, motioning her head to the Outlands' direction. "Make your family proud of you again."

Kion nodded in understanding and smiled back at his parents before looking at the rest of the Guard. "Lion Guard, let's go!" He told them, jumping to his feet. "We're gonna save that pup!"

"You got it, Kion!" Beshte agreed, running with Ono on his back to his side.

"Count me in!" Bongo said as he too ran to his side.

"Then let's go!" Fuli said, running to her friends' other side.

"Zuka Zama!" Bunga cheered as he joined them, standing in between two felines.

"Till the Pride Lands end... LION GUARD DEFEND!" the six animals shouted as they ran towards the Outlands.

"Stay safe, Bongo!" Tamu called after her crush.

Alfa looked on with pride while watching his son's go with his best friends to save that jackal pup in the Outlands. "That's my boy."

"And our boy as well." Nala agreed with the wild dog leader, as she nuzzled against Simba's mane.

However, no one noticed that Moto had slipped away and hidden in the long grass when everyone had turned their worried eyes to Bongo during of his traumatic flashback scene.

The bully watched with extreme disdain the Lion Guard's go to the Outlands to save yet again another Outlander from Janja's clan, but being the lion seeking out any opportunity, whether pretextual, coincidental or deliberate to discredit Kion and make everyone to see him as the next Scar, Moto decided to follow the Lion Guard into the Outlands in secret and see what opportunities might bring out of this.

And, to make sure that nobody saw him, he sneaked away from everyone under the cover of the grass. And once he was far enough, he went into the full gallop after the Guard.

###

In the Outlands, Janja and his hyenas chased the jackal pup down the bone-littered canyon.

"There he goes! C'mon, fellas!" Janja laughed.

"Ha-haa! We got it cornered, Janja!" Nne reported as he ran by his leader's side. "This canyon leads into the dead end with no way out! We got it cornered!"

"Good! Let's get him!" Janja ordered and picked up the pace.

The jackal pup panted as he made it to the end of the canyon, where he made the sudden turn to the right with such of swift move what the hyenas themselves couldn't match.

"Uh, oh!" Janja gulped upon realizing that he and his clan were running straight towards the wall, before the hyena leader hit the brakes, but his speed was too great that he ended up sliding forward. "Look out!"

"*Whining!*" Cheezi whined as he too tried to slow down, only ending up to sliding forward after Janja.

"Whoa!" Nne cried when his attempt to slow down only caused him to fall onto his side and slide forward after Cheezi.

"Slow down!" Tano cried as he too tried to slow down only to follow Nne's example.

"Aahhh!" Sita howeled as his attempt to slow down sent him rolling onward after Tano.

"Wow, wow, wow!" Saba cried as he fell over and rolled sideways after Sita.

"Hit the brakes!" Chungu cried as he slided after Saba.

"Out of my way!" Atisa warned as he slided after Chungu.

"Yaaagh!" Nane howled as he fell on his back and slided after Atisa.

With the heavy thud and the series of grunts, the whole clan ended up crashing into the wall in a huge pile of into each other tangled and toppled hyenas, while the jackal pup halted and casually sat down to face the hyenas.

Growling irritably, Janja pushed himself out of the pile, knocking his clam mates off him, and turned to the jackal pup.

"Oh, you jackals are so annoying!" Janja snarled as he and his clan approached the pup, cornering him. "We just chased ya out of our den yesterday. And now you're back?!"

"We already let it away with the warning at the border of our turf, Janja. We do that again, it'll only shows up in our den again." Nne told him.

"Well, guess I need to make an example of ya!" Janja said, planning to kill the cub as the warning to other jackals living nearby.

The jackal pup let out a low whine as the hyenas inched closer. Janja then led his clan into attack, making the pup to hunch low with his ears pressed against the back of his head, awaiting for his end to come.

"NOT TODAY, JANJA!" Kion interjected as the golden prince, with his Mark and eyes flashing, jumped over the rocks, surprising the hyena leader to halt, before Kion knocked him off his feet, rolling causing them both to roll back along the ground, before Kion pinned the hyena to the ground with the growl.

"JANJA!" Chungu gasped in wide-eyed shock along with the rest of the clan.

"ATTACK!" Nne ordered.

The hyenas tried to attack Kion in Janja's defense, before the rest of the Lion Guard, with Bongo's lead and each one's Marks flashing with their respective colors, leaped to their leader's defense.

"TWENDE SASA!" Bongo barked with bared teeth and eyes narrowd into the glare.

The Lion Guard made the quick work of the hyenas.

Facing Chungu, Nne and Cheezi at the same time, Bongo halted them by leaping between of them and their respective leaders, before he cuffed with his paw Nne across the face, knocking him down, kicked Cheezi in the face, knocking the whimpering hyena back, and caught Chungu by his tail and tossed him in the air, before the pup donkey-kicked the big hyena against the nearby boulder.

Fuli tackled Tano, making the two to roll over each other along the ground for a moment before the Fastest rolled beneath the hyena and kicked him away from her, sending him flying into Sita and Saba, knocking them all down.

Bunga climbed onto Atisa's back and pulled him by his ears, making the hyena top yelp in pain. "Bad hyena! Bad hyena!" Bunga scolded, while Ono was poking Nane on top of his head while the hyena tried to shoo him away, before Beshte charged at them and sent the hyenas flying in the air with his snout.

With their respective groups preoccupied, Janja looked up at Kion who growled down at him.

"Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Easy on the fur!" Janja cautioned before he tried to push the lion cub off him. "What are you guys doing in the Outlands anyway?"

"Making sure you let that jackal pup go, Janja!" Kion hissed as the rest of the Guard gathered behind him.

"Shame on you, Janja!" Bongo scolded as he stood by Kion's side, glaring hatefully down at the hyena like he was the one who had killed his mother. "Shame on you for hunting down a defenseless pup... even on this particular day!"

"What about this day?" Janja asked.

""What about this day"?" Bunga repeated in disbelief. "Don't you know that today is Kupatana?"

Janja shot at Bunga, and then to Kion and Bongo, a wide-eyed look as if this information had totally surprised him.

"Ku... ku... Kupatana, you say?" Janja questioned, before the hyena leader let out a laughter. Then he held up his paws in surrender. "Alright, alright, alright, Kion and Bongo. You want the jackal?" He arched his eyebrows with the wicked smirk. "He's all yours."

Both Kion's and Bongo's ears fell flat to the sides of their head, not expecting this from someone like Janja.

"Uh... okay." Kion agreed, very confused, as he got off the hyena leader.

Bongo arched his own eyebrows, glaring Janja skeptically as the hyena leader got up from the ground. "You're giving the jackal pup to us that easily? Why?"

"Oh, I think I'll leave it to you to find out, Bongo. After all, you're the Slyest in the Pride Lands." Janja said before turning to his clan. "Come on, fellas. Even for once, the Lion Guard is doing us a favor today."

With another laughter, Janja and his clan fled the scene deeper into the Outlands, leaving the Lion Guard to watch them go with confusion.

"MERRY KUPATANA, LION GUARD!" Janja wished sarcastically.

"AND MARK MY WORDS, YOU'LL BE HAAAAAAPPYYYYYY!" Nne shouted at them with the teasing singsong voice.

With that, the hyenas were soon out of the sight, though their laughter did echo in the canyon for a moment before it faded away.

The Lion Guard stared in the direction the hyenas had went in the moment of silence, trying to figure out what had just happened.

"Ooooooookay. That was different." Ono noted.

"Yeah." Beshte agreed. "Do you guys think Janja celebrates Kupatana too?"

"I seriously doubt it." Fuli rolled her eyes with Bongo nodding in agreement.

"And what did Janja meant about "Leaving something to us to find out"? And find out of what?" the Slyest said with the quirked eyebrow.

However, before they could think it further...

"Thanks, you guys!" the jackal pup exclaimed, jumping up and down around of them, wagging his tail. "You guys were awesome! You were like, "let the jackal go", and they did!"

"Yeah, but why?" Bongo asked with the raised brow. "Did you do something to Janja to give him a reason to chance after you?"

"I was just looking for the scraps! I wasn't even near of Janja's territory! I just happened to stumple upon him and he started to chase me for not reason." the jackal pup explained fast.

"Yeah." Fuli nodded her head skeptically. "Except that this happens to be part of Janja's turf. There's no other hyena clan living this near of the Pride Lands' border."

"Well, I had to get away from them somehow, so I ran this way." the jackal pup explained.

"Well, I'm glad we could help you..." Kion smiled at the pup, until the golden prince realized that they didn't know his name. "uhh..."

"I'm Dogo." the pup introduced. "And you guys must be the Lion Guard!"

The jackal pup, named Dogo, then began to ran around of each of animal, taking note of the Marks they had on each shoulder.

"You're the coolest!" the pup said in awe, smiling at Bunga. "You just looked at the hyenas and they ran away!"

"Yeah, we have that effect on no-goods." the Guard's Bravest agreed.

"Especially to the ones who have a cowardly guts to hunt down the small and helpless ones." Bongo added, touching his chest with his paw. "Trust me, Dogo. I've been there myself before: Hunted down by the hyenas myself when I was just an infant."

"Too bad you didn't have the Lion Guard there to save you like you did with me here." Dogo said, sympathizing with the wild dog pup.

"Well, Dogo, you're safe now." Kion told him. "But I'd stay away from Janja's territory from now on if I were you."

"Though, if you wanna have fun in a hyena den, I'm sure our hyena friend Jasiri wouldn't mind have you as a guest." Beshte added.

"Yeah, if she's any more willing than Janja to take in a jackal as a guest." Fuli said.

"Are you guys going back to the Pride Lands?" Dodo asked them. "I know we'll be safe there."

"Don't you need to get back to your family, Dogo?" Beshte asked.

"Yeah, speaking of which." Bongo said and turned to Dogo. "Where's your mother? Or your pack? Shouldn't they have been there to protect you from the hyenas?"

Dogo's ears fell flat and he lowered his gaze down. "I'm all by myself."

"But why? You're abandoned or what? Or is your mother... uhh...?" Bongo asked, but he really didn't have a heart to bring up the possibility that Dogo's mother might be dead.

And if that was the case, he felt sympathy for the pup for his apparent loss, given that he too had lost his mother when he was so little long time ago.

"I got separated from my family." Dogo explained with sad look on his face. "I've been trying to look for them for days now but I haven't been able to find them. I've nearly given up of it, though."

Most of the Lion Guard, save for Fuli, looked at the pup with sympathy.

Dogo then looked up at them with the sweet smile. "But I know there are a lot of friendly animals in the Pride Lands. Can I please come with you? Pleeeeaaaase." Dogo asked, making a cute face with his blue eyes wide and his tail wagging.

"Aww!" Bunga and Beshte sighed, unable to resist Dogo's cuteness.

"Well, it is Kupatana." Bongo reminded, glancing at Kion.

Kion, taking Bongo's words into accout, took a look of Dogo's cute face and wagging tail, before the Fiercest rolled his eyes in "whatever" manner.

"Alright. You can come, Dogo." the prince decided.

"YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP!" Dogo yipped aloud in excitment. "YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP! YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP!"

"Hmm?" Bongo muttered with the raised eyebrow when Dogo kept yipping, before the dog pup was quick to cut the jackal pup's excitement for short. "Uhh, Dogo? Why did you do that?"

"What I did what?" Dogo asked as he turned to Bonmgo, just before he let out another round of yipping. "YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP!"

"Well, that." Bongo replied.

"I'm just excited. YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP!" Dogo replied, yipping again. "I can go into the Pride Lands, where I can be safe and have a lots of new friends. YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP!"

"You heard him, Middle B. He's just so excited about going in the Pride Lands." Bunga said casually.

"But what in his yipping exactly caught your interest, Bogo?" Fuli asked, knowing that Bongo was up to something.

"Well, I may not be expert of jackals but as a wild dog pup I know that's the pups' calling sound for their mothers." Bongo answered, before turning to Dogo with the raised eyebrow. "You mentioned that you got separated from your mom days ago and you've given up finding her. So why did you call for her if she's not even here to hear you out?"

"YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP! Oh, that?" Dogo said. "I said I've "almost" given up of hope. Sometimes I just can't help myself but keep calling for her just in case she's eventually hear me out. YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP!"

"Uh-huh. I see." Bongo said, nodding, though deep down believing that there was something more in that than Dogo was letting them to know.

Out of instincts, Bongo leaned his head up to the left and right, listening to the sounds of the Outlands while trying to identify from amidst of them the jackal mother's calling sound answering to Dogo's call.

However, he heard none, thus somewhat comfirming Dogo to be truftful... for now at least.

"Well, let's go, Lion Guard." Kion said, motioning his head to the Pride Lands's direction.

"Come on, Dogo. You're with us now." Bunga said, wrapping his arm around of Dogo's neck in brotherly manner.

"YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP!" Dogo kept yipping in excitment as they headed back to the Pride Lands. "YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP!"

However, little did the Lion Guard know that Moto was quietly spying on them from above on the ledge. Having witnessed the Lion Guard saving Dogo from the hyenas, Dogo pleading the Guard to let him come along with them in the Pride Lands, as well as Bongo questioning him about his yipping calling sound to his mother whom Dogo claimed having gone separated with.

Like Bongo, Moto knew that there was more than what Dogo was letting them to know, but unlike the wild dog pup, Moto at least knew one thing about the jackals that what would happen if you bring one into the Pride Lands.

"I beat you first in solving the little riddle Janja gave to you, mutt." Moto said tauntingly. "And as for you, Scar-junior, your decision to bring that jackal pup will bring such of consequences that no one will doubt me afterwards that you are no better than Scar."

With that, Moto left the ledge to go back into the Pride Lands his own route.

Little did everyone know, even Moto even if he suspected it, that the Lion Guard and Dogo had been watched from nearby cliff by two more jackals. One was a female jackal pup and the other was a teen male jackal. Both of them had the tan fur, which was darker shaded with the teen jackal, black markings and beige underbelly, muzzle and paws.

The female jackal pup also had a large tuft of very dark navy fur flowing over her forehead and the teal eyes. And unlike Dogo, her cheeks were smoother and she lacked the spots. The teen jackal had a longer muzzle, scruffy cheeks and the fur on the top of his head just like with Dogo and two beige markings just above his shoulders.

"YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP!" Dogo's yipping kept echoing in the Outlands, which the two jackals heard.

"That was Dogo's signal! Did you heard that Kijana? He did it! Dogo did it!" the teen jackal told to the female pup named Kijana.

"I did, Nakili ("Copy" in Swahili). Mother's plan worked! The Lion Guard rescued Dogo just like she knew they would!" Kijana said to the teen jackal named Nakili.

"C'mon! Let's go to report it to mother!" Nakili said and turned around away from the cliff with Kijana following closely behind.

Nakili and Kijana ran down the narrow pathway that led the two to the small cave, where they were received by a fairly slender adult female jackal with light tan fur, black markings across her back, legs and on the top of her head, beige underbelly, muzzle and paws, green eyes, bushy tail with black tip and her chest was marked with several paler spots.

"Ahh, honies. You're back." the female jackal said sweetly as Nakili and Kijana stopped in front of her. "Well, how did it went?"

"Your plan worked, mother!" Nakili reported. "The Lion Guard rescued Dogo from Janja's clan, just like you said they would."

"And right now they're taking Dogo with them back to the Pride Lands even as we speak." Kijana added, to which Nakili nodded his head.

"Ahh! Excellent!" the female jackal said before she laughed. "I knew Dogo can do it. And thanks to my little sweetie, we're getting into the Pride Lands just in time for Kupatana."

The three jackals then heard a loud snoring behind them and looked over, seeing the male jackal sleeping and snoring loudly on the nearby rock.

This one had dark tan fur which was a darker shaded than the female jackal's, a four pale white spots near his shoulders, black markings on top of his head, back and the tip of his bushy tail, a long and scruffy fur along his back, round cheeks, long muzzle that is thicker towards his nose, and his ears were both clipped, with one of them having a small hole near the top.

"Goigoi! Wake up!" the female snapped and slapped the male jackal, waking him up.

"Huh?! Huh?! Huh?!" the male jackal named Goigoi groaned and stretched. "Aww, Reirei, honey, I was sleeping."

"You're always sleeping." the female jackal, named Reirei, said whilst rolling her eyes as Goigoi, who was her mate. "Listen, Nakili and Kijana just reported that Dogo managed to convince the Lion Guard to invite him into the Pride Lands." she informed. "And you know what happens when you invite one jackal..."

"You invite us all." Goigoi finished. "I'll go round up the boys and girls." Goigoi said and left to gather the others.

"All of those animals gathering in "peace" for Kupatana," Reirei laughed. "They'll never know what hit'em."

"It's still worth taking a little precaution, mother." Kijana said. "Janja gave their Slyest a hint that Dogo's up to something, not the mention about that that wild dog recognized his signal as the call for you."

"He did?" Reirei questioned, before she let out a sigh in bitter dismay. "Ugh! Of course that furbrain Janja had to tip that little mutt about our plan, and now that snooping mongrel will be on guard now."

"Then, should we get rid of him?" Nakili suggested. "You can trust in me and the other teens with that, mother."

"Hmmm. No need for that, honey." Reirei said, turning to him and Kijana with the reassured smile on her muzzle. "If only we keep a cool head despite the seed of suspicion in that Slyest's head, I'm sure the plan will go smoothly till the Kupatana Celebration."

"Then let's do it, mama! YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP!" Kijana said, yipping eagerly.

"Yip-yip-yip-yip-yip, indeed, honey." Reirei said, before she, Nakili and Kijana chuckled wickedly.

###

The Lion Guard led the jackal pup through the Pride Lands, passing through Mizimu Grove.

"You sure about this, Kion?" Fuli asked, walking up to the prince with Bongo before stepping in front of him. "It seemed like Janja couldn't wait to get rid of that jackal."

"It does seem odd." Ono agreed, landing next to the felines and Dogo.

"And normally, Janja never runs off that fast." Fuli noted.

"I have to agree with Fuli on this one Kion." Bongo nodded in agreement. "Dogo may have claimed that he had been separated from his mother for a few days, but his yipping did echo pretty loud throughout the Outlands and even to the Pride lands. it cannot be unheard by his mother and the pack if they indeed are somewhere out there. Whether it is, that what kind of mother would abandon her pup to the mercy of the hyenas, or else something is really up."

"You heard the sly dog, Kion. And also, I'm getting a bad vibes letting that pup in the Pride Lands." Fuli added.

"Well, I think we should at least give Dogo a chance." Kion replied. "It is Kupatana after all."

Bunga and Beshte then walked up to the grove with Dogo walking in between of the two.

"You picked a great day to get chased by hyenas, Dogo" Bunga said to the pup.

"I did?" Dogo asked.

"Oh yeah." Beshte answered, before the Strongest beckoned the pup to look up at the rows of the tall trees lining the grove. "Tonight, these baobab trees will blossom for the very first time."

"And, all of the animals in the Pride Lands come here to watch it." the Guard's Bravest added.

"It's what we call "Kupatana"." the Guard's Strongest informed.

"Yes. I've heard of Kupatana." Dogo said. "But I've never seen it myself."

"Oh, this year is gonna be great." Bunga continued. "We Lion Guard are gonna open the celebration by singing about the Circle of Life."

"That's the tradition, and we're doing our part for the celebration." Kion added.

"THEN I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE IT! YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP!" Dogo said as he jumped up and down, yipping in excitement.

"What?! Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!" the Guard's Fastest halted. "You can't invite him to Kupatana. His an Outlander."

"Outlanders never come to Kupatana." Ono added. "Right, guys?" he glanced at Kion and Bongo.

"Well..." Kion spoke as he considered it. "While it's true we never had a guest from the Outlands in Kupatana before."

"So you are saying, Kion, that you're actually considering inviting him to Kupatana, are you?" Bongo questioned, calmly but seriously.

"Well, after all, Dogo is just one little jackal pup, Bongo" the Guard's leader noted. "I really don't see what harm a one jackal pup can do. And besides, it might be good for them to learn about Kupatana."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Kion." Bongo said, resting his paw in brotherly manner over Kion's shoulder. "You have a good heart, but don't forget this one. My dad uses to say that "no good deed goes unpunished"."

"I can see where you got your wits from, sly dog." Fuli commented.

"I'll take that into account, Bongo." Kion said with the nod, before turning to Dogo. "Well, let's give Dogo a little tour around, and show him were he can make himself feel like home till the celebration."

Dogo yipped again and followed the Guard away from the grove. Unbeknownst to them, Moto was hiding behind one of the grove's baobab trees, spying the Lion Guard and Dogo. The bully lion smirked malevolently, for he had heard what Bongo had said to Kion.

"No good deed goes unpunished, indeed, Scar-junior." he said. "You'll see how right and true Bongo actually was when your "good deed" ends up ruining the whole Kupatana Celebration."

With that, Moto began to follow the Guard and Dogo under the high grass to keep an eye on the situation.

Unbeknownst to any of them, Reirei, Goigoi Nakili and Kijana were hiding in a bush close by and they snickered, evilly before continuing to follow the Guard and Dogo.

Later, the Lion Guard and Dogo had reached to a spot on a small hill, with the tree growing on it and from where opened the wide view of the Pride Lands.

"Here you go, Dogo." Kion said to the pup. "You can make yourselves at home on this hillside. It's one of the spots in the Pride Lands that hasn't been inhabited yet."

"Yeah. It's a quite nice spot. Perfect mix of sun and shade." Kufu noted kindly as he sat next to Kion.

"And it's not that far from the Watering Hole. Just a short trot." Beshte added.

"And a nice view of the Pride Lands." Bongo added. "Look."

Everyone looked at the view of the Watering Hole, where the flock of egrets just took the flight while the herds of elephants, giraffes and gazelles were enjoying with themselves.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Bongo asked.

"Yes. Well, thanks, guys." Dogo said.

"Welcome to the Pride Lands, Dogo!" Kion smiled warmly at the pup, placing his paw over Dogo's shoulder, before the prince turned to face the rest of the Guard. "Now, let's split up and finish our patrol in time for Kupatana. Bongo, Bunga, Beshte, head to the Watering Hole." he told the Slyest, Bravest and Strongest. "Ono, Fuli, you're with me." he glanced at the Keenest of Sight and the Fastest. "We'll meet up back at the Lair once we finish."

"And, while being on patrol, we really should work on that harmony just like Zazu ordered." Bongo reminded.

"Note taken." the Fiercest confirmed. "Alright. Let's go. See you later, Dogo."

With that, the Lion Guard split up up with their respective groups, leaving Dogo on the hillside. The jackal pup let out the sigh and sat down on the hillside.

"Hello, son."

Dogo turned his head to see his mother, Reirei, appearing on top of the boulder along with Goigoi, Nakili and Kijana.

"Mom! Mom!" Dogo exclaimed happily before heading towards his family.

"That's right, sweetie. I'm here." Reirei said as she descended down from the boulder in front of her son, stroking affectionally his head.

"You did it, brother! You did it!" Kijana said as she ran up to her brother and nudged him in the head.

"Well done, little brother." Nakili said with the smile. "We heard your signal and informed immediately to mother that the plan had worked."

"You heard my signal? You were there all of time?" Dogo asked with the smile.

"They were, honey." Reirei confirmed. "And here we are. All of us together in the Pride Lands, just like I promised."

"Yep. This place sure beats the Outlands." Going said, laughing and licking his muzzle.

Reirei frowned at her mate in mild annoyance.

"Well, technically, dad is right, mother." Nakili admitted. "In the Outlands, we never really had much of anything to eat expect the scraps. But here, it's like a awaiting buffet."

"And it would never have turned into this if it weren't for our brother's honed skills of trickery." Kijana added.

"That's right! I really fooled the Lion Guard, didn't I mom?" Dodo asked.

"You sure did, Dogo. You did a great job." Reirei praised affectionally. "But why are you sitting out here?"

"Uh, the Lion Guard said I could stay on this hillside." Dogo answered.

"Dogo?" Kijana said with the raised eyebrow. "You're not seriously going to take up to their rules, are you?"

"Yeah, little brother. Remember the one rule in the Outlands." Nakili reminded. "When you live in there, you can make up your own rules. Even here in the Pride Lands."

Reirei chuckled. "Your brother is right, Dogo. Jackals don't have to follow the rules aside of their own. Jackals also don't sit on hillsides because the Lion Guard says so. They have no idea what us jackals are like, do they?"

Goigoi was starting to get impatient. "So, when does this Kupatana thing start already?" he asked. "I'm hungry."

"Not for a while, dad." Nakili said, rolling his eyes.

"Patience, honey. Patience." Reirei told her mate, before turning to his children. "Alright, sweeties. Kupatana begins tonight. In the meantime, let's make ourselves at home... jackal style."

###

As Bongo, Bunga, and Beshte walked along the watering hole, the wild dog pup was singing to himself while Beshte wished a Happy Kupatana to every animal he saw.

Bongo

"There's more to see than can ever be seen"

"More to do than can ever be done"

"Happy Kupatana, Ma Tembo!" Beshte wished to the leader of the elephants, who was cooling off in the water of the Watering Hole."

"Happy Kupatana, Beshte!" Ma Tembo wished back.

"Happy Kupatana, Mbuni!" Beshte greeted the ostrich leader. "See you at the celebration tonight."

"Yep. Can't wait." Mbuni nodded.

The three members of the Guard then walked past the tree, on which branches rested at least three leopards. All three of them had a golden fur, creamy muzzles, underbellies and paws and the amber spots with black linings.

"Happy Kupatana, Paka, Nyota and Rukia!" Beshte wished to the three felines, stirring them awake.

Paka ("Cat" in Swahili) was a sturdy male leopard with the crimson eyes and two stripe like spots over each eye, with the three-pointed spot upside down in middle of his forehead and two big spots resembling eyes above it, making it to look like the cat's face.

Nyota ("Star" in Swahili) was a slender female leopard with the blue eyes and a four diamond-shaped spots forming the star in middle of her forehead.

And Rukia ("Jump" in Swahili) was the trio's smallest and most thinnest male leopard with the long limbs, with the row of small spots in V formation in his forehead.

"Happy Kupatana, Lion Guard." Paka, the trio's apparent leader, wished before he and his friends went back to sleep.

The three members of the Guard then walked past the tree, with the large female rock python, whose around of one of the tree's branches wrapped stout body was mottled with blotches of chestnut, olive, buff, and brown. The large serpent's head popped up from behind her coils and looked down at the Guard with its yellow eyes.

"Happy Kupatana, Dudu." Beshte wished to the python named Dudu (Mdudu, "Worm" in Swahili)

"Happy Kupatana, Beshte." Dudu wished sweetly back.

The Slyest, Bravest and Strongest then walked past of the aardvark dens, where they spotted Dogo sleeping peacefully in front of one of them.

"Heya, Dogo." Beshte greeted as the Guard passed by.

Until they suddenly realized something.

"DOGO!" all three of them exclaimed in unison and turned to the sleeping jackal pup.

"What is he doing here?" the Strongest wondered.

"Aww... he's so cute!" Bunga couldn't help but smile.

"Cute or not, Bunga, these are Muhangus', his mate Muhanga's and their armory of aardvark's dens. Dogo can't stay here." Bongo noted.

"Bongo's right, Little B." Beshte agreed and nudged the jackal pup awak. "Dogo? Sorry about the wake up, but you got your own spot on the hill, remember?" He reminded.

"Oh, right. Okay." Dogo said with the smile and ran off.

"Poor little fella. must have gone for a walk and gotten lost." Beshte said sympathetically.

"Hmm. Something seemed odd with him." Bongo admitted, having caught something different from Dogo. "But what? The last time I checked, his voice didn't sound that high-pitched, or lacked the spots."

Before the Lion Guard could continue on...

"HUH?!" they gasped in surprise and confusion upon seeing DOGO AGAIN sleeping in front of another aardvark den.

"But I thought he..." Bunga muttered in confusion.

"How did he even got back here so fast without our notice?!" Bongo asked, confused as well.

Beshte nudged Dodo awake again. "Go back to your hill, Dogo. This den belongs to someone else, too." the Strongest told him.

Dogo smiled before he ran off, with the Lion Guard following his going.

"And I don't remember Dogo having brown eyes, either." Bongo said confused while growing suspicious as well.

"Weeeeeiiiiird." Bunga said with sing-song voice.

It didn't take long before the Lion Guard stumbled into the third jackal pup sleeping in front of the third aardvark den.

"Oh, for the crying out loud! Not again!" the Bravest groaned. "DOGO!"

"Dogo" snapped awake and stared at the Lion Guard, revealing having the pitch-black eyes this time, which only increased Bongo's confusion and suspicion at the same time.

"How many times we have to tell you these are aardvarks' dens?! You can't stay here!" Bunga told him, before the jackal pup ran away.

"And let me guess." Bongo said with the annoyed frown. "We're gonna stumble into him sleeping in front of the other aardvark den for the third time."

As if to prove himself correct, the Slyest turned his head to the left and, as he had predicted, saw "Dogo" again sleeping in front of the fourth aardvark's den.

"Oh, by Mufasa's mane! You gotta be kidding me. Hey!" he shook the pup awake with his paw. "These are aardvark dens. You cannot stay here!"

When the pup looked up at him, Bongo noticed yet another switch of the color in his eyes. "Oh, now you got the red eyes, eh?" the wild dog pup sighed with irritation, as this was really getting both put of the paw and beyond of logic explanation. "What in the Pride Lands is going on in here?! Why there are suddenly four "Dogos" with the four different eye colors all of the sudden?"

As if answering to his question, multiple Dogo-alike blue-, brown-, black- and red-eyed jackal pups suddenly popped up from other dens.

"Wow!" Beshte gasped.

"Siamini?!" Bongo gasped.

"You guys seeing a doubles?" Beshte asked his two friends.

"More like triples." Bunga corrected, eyes wide and jaw hanging slack.

"Or fours." Bongo corrected slack-jawed. "Bunga, slap me in the face, please." Bongo requested.

Bunga did as he was told and slapped the wild sog pup across the face.

SLAP!

Bongo yelped, before he shook his head and looked around, still seeing the multiple Dogo-alike jackal pups.

"OK. I'm not seeing things. Good to know." Bongo said, half-relieved yet still confused. "But, where do all of these Dogos come from?!"

And as if to make the matter even worse, a multiple female Kijana-alike jackal pups with either teal-, red-, purple- or emerald-eyes popped out of the dens that hadn't yet been occupied, doubling the jackals numbers.

"And where do this female jackal pups come from?" Bunga added.

From top of the nearby hill, hidden in the long grass, Motto was snickering with himself after having witnessing the Slyest, Bravest and Strongest entering in the trouble with multiple jackal pups, just like he had predicted they would the moment they turned their backs to one pup.

"Seems that the Lion Guard is already getting in the trouble with these little pests." Moto said to himself while enjoying watching the situation.

Then the bully noticed Muhangus and his mate, Muhanga, and their armory of aardvarks juist arriving to their dens, and they didn't look too pleased to see their homes being invaded by the jackal pups.

"And it's only getting worse... for them." Moto snickered.

"Hey! What's going on here?" Muhangus asked.

"What are all these jackals doing in our dens?" Muhanga demanded.

"Easy, there, Muhangus and Muhanga. Easy." Bongo said trying to calm the aardvarks down. "We're kindas already trying to figure out that what's going on in here."

"Yes. The Lion Guard will take care of this." Beshte added.

"Yeah." Bunga nodded, before he turned to both of his friends. "Uhh, how exactly? Bongo?" he whispered.

"Calling the reinforcements at first." Bongo decided.

The Slyest then climbed on top of the tall rock and turned to the direction where Kion, Fuli and Ono had gone, before he took a deep breath.

###

Elsewhere, Kion and Fuli were walking side by side as they patrolled through the Chakula Plains with Ono flying above them, while singing.

Kion

"With the sun rolling high"

Ono

"Through the sapphire sky"

Fuli

"Keeps the great and small on the endless round"

Kion, Fuli & Ono

"It's the Circle of-"

"OOHHHH! OOHHHH! OOHHHH!OOHHHH! OOHHHH! OOHHHH! OOHHHH! OOHHHH! OOHHHH! OOHHHH! OOHHHH! OOHHHH! OOHHHH! OOHHHH! OOHHHH! OOHHHH!"

The lion, cheetah and egret were cut off when they heard the wild dog sounding calling sound from the other side of the plains.

"That sounds like Bongo!" Fuli gasped, turning her head in the direction she heard it.

"Undoubtedly him! Only the wild dog can make such of sound. And it sounds urgent." Ono told them from above.

"Ono! Can you check it out?" Kion asked.

Ono nodded and flew high above the felines to see what was happening.

"Way to ruin the climax of the song." Fuli sighed with the eyeroll. "We sounded perfect this time."

"I know, right?" Kion agreed. "I don't even think Zazu could find anything wrong with that run-through."

With his Mark flashing, Ono scanned the plains and what't beyond of them. And what he saw definitely got him off guard.

"Hapana! What is this?!" the egret gasped. "Uh, Kion? Fuli? I think you two need to see this for yourselves."

"Oh, OK." Kion nodded. "Lead the way, Ono. C'mon, Fuli!"

Fuli nodded to her leader before the two ran back towards the Watering Hole.

###

Back at the aardvarks' dens, Bongo, confident that Kion, Fuli and Ono had heard his call, waited for their arrival by leading Bunga and Beshte into rounding up all the male and female jackal pups.

"Alright! Every jackal pup, male and female alike, gather around the Lion Guard! Now!" the dog pup demanded authoritatively, herding every jackal pup from every aardvark den's entrance to where Beshte was receiving them, before the pup sighed. "(Sigh!) And I thought the hares only can multiply this fast, but even jackals?"

"You heard him! Go on! Shoo! Shoo!" Bunga said as he shoed some jackal pups more out of the other dens' entrance.

"What are you doing in there? Have you messed up my den?" Muhanga scolded as she pushed the male jackal pup out of her den.

"Did you eat all my ants?" Muhangus glared at the female pup.

"Easy there." Beshte said as he stood in front of the pup. "I'm sure they didn't mean any harm."

Kion, Fuli and Ono then arrived to the scene, and gaped at the sight before them with shock: Bongo, Bunga and Beshte shielding the jackal pups from angry Muhangus, Muhanga and the armory of aardvarks.

"Hevi kabisa!" Kion gasped.

"That's a lot of jackals." Fuli noted.

"And not just Dogo-alike males, but females as well." Ono stated as he landed next to the two felines.

"How many of them are there?" Kion wondered.

"Apparently roughly 30 individuals." Ono confirmed.

"30?!" Fuli gasped. "And I thought the hares only can multiply this fast, but even jackals?"

Kion then made his presence known to everyone at the aardvark dens.

"Kion! I knew you'd hear my call!" Bongo said, ever glad to see him.

"What's going on here? Where did all these jackal pups came from?" the golden prince asked.

"Beats me, Kion." Bongo shrugged. "We initially found just Dogo sleeing in from of Muhangu's and Muhanga's den, until we found, what, two, three, four, dozen of them, as well as alike female jackal pups, sleeping in front of the various dens."

"I see." Kion said and stepped in front of the male jackal pups. "Alright. Which one of you is Dogo?"

"You looking for my boy?" Reirei asked, making her presence known as she stepped towards the prince along with Nakili and Kijana.

"Huh? Where did YOU come from?" Bongo asked as he stepped next to Kion.

"Who are you?" Kion questioned.

Reirei chuckled. "My apologizes. Didn't mean to startle you. I'm Reirei, Dogo mom." she introduced. "And this is my eldest son, Nakili, my daughter, Kijana, and my..." the jackal turned to see her mate digging through a den.

"Goigoi! Get out of here!" she barked, kicking her mate, who then got up from the den with the fruit in his mouth. "is Goigoi, Dogo, Kijana, Nakili, and all of these little sweeties's dad."

"Hey! That's our den!" Muhangus yelled as he and his mate glared at the jackal parents.

"And our fruit!" Muhanga added.

Reirei smiled sweetly down at the two aardvarks. "It is such a lovely den." she complimented.

Goigoi ended up swallowing the fruit he dug out from the den. "And the fruit's delicious." he added.

Of course, having the jackals to ruin their dens and eat their food didn't please the aardvarks.

"We didn't say that you could eat it!" Muhangus yelled angrily.

"You took our stuff without asking!" Muhanga scolded. "You're thieves!"

"Thieves? Us?" Reirei chuckled, feigning innocence. "Never."

"Yeah? Well, it's pretty hard to cover the theft when we all saw you digging into the aardvarks' dens and picking the fruit out of there without asking. How you'd like to explain that?" Fuli countered with the glare.

Goigoi let out the whine while dropping his ears down to the sides and looking down guiltly.

"Alright! That's enough!" Kion interjected, looking from the adult jackals to the jackal pups. "Now, I'm not going pup after pup asking which one of you is Dogo. Whoever of you is Dogo, come over here right now!"

"And we're looking for the pup with the blue eyes and three spots on each shoulders!" Bongo added.

"I'm right here." Dogo said as he padded over to the Fiercest and Slyest, who looked down at him with a slightly, at least in Kion's case, narrowed eye.

"Dogo, I thought you said that you got separated from your family for days." Kion reminded.

"I did. But I actually found them... from here." Dogo answered.

"But didn't you said that you had given up on trying to find them." Bongo reminded him as well.

"Again, Bongo, I said that I had "almost" given up finding my family." Dogo reminded the Slyest.

"Then what exactly made you think you could find your family from the Pride Lands?" Bongo questioned.

"Maybe I can answer to that." Reirei said, standing next to her pup, nuzzling Dogo's head affectionally. "And as a caring, protective mother, I can confirm that my son always tells the truth."

"Oh, yeah?" Bongo challenged. "Well, you indeed have a lot ot explain, Mrs. Reirei. If you claim yourself to be a caring and protective mother, then how could you just leave your own son to the mercy of the hyenas? And why you never answered to his calls that and clearly echoed far and wide throughout the Outlands?"

"Well, I knew my son had got lost to the strange territories in the Outlands and I would've gone looking for him myself, but I have a little trust issues with my mate about leaving him to watch over all of my sweeties." Reirei started.

Then they heard a loud snoring and turned all to look at it, seeing that Goigoi had fallen a sleep again. "Goigoi!" Reirei snapped, kicking him away, making the male jackal to jump up groggily.

"See what I mean?" Reirei asked as she turned to Kion and Bongo. "But since I have already grown-up kids to act as my eyes and ears, so I sent Hakili and Kijana to look for Dogo instead. They're the ones who informed to me that Dogo was both found, saved and safely here in the Pride Lands."

"So there were jackals around back there all along?" Bongo deduced. "Then why they didn't respond to Dogo's call if they were nearby all along?"

"But they did by, like I said, informing me first about it." Reirei said, looking directly at Bongo now. "So tell me, Bongo, the Slyest in the Pride Lands, can you really call it a bad parenting if the mother of over several dozen children tries to both look for his lost son any way possible while also trying to keep an eye for the rest?"

Bongo was taken aback by this, and for a moment he struggled to say something either to counter or deny Reirei's words. "Well... I guess... it's not." the pup stuttered, turning to look at Kion, who couldn't help but nod himself too.

"Anyway, I'd like to thank you, Lion Guard, for saving my son from the terrible fate in that scum of the hyena, Janja's teeth." Reirei said both sweetly and gratefully, before sounding like he was going to sob from relief. "I cannot even imagine the amount of pain I'd had to endure as a mother if I'd lost my precious son hadn't you showed up just in time."

Reirei's mention of "pain" over losing her son to the hyenas triggered yet another issue, making him to close his eyes and cringe his teeth as yet another round of those awful memories flashed before his eyes.

FLASHBACK.

His mother, while carrying him as an infant, running to the dead end of the ravine with the following shadows of the hyenas surrounding them from everywhere.

His mother beginning to climb up the boulders and ledges to get to the top of the cliff, where she puts him safely down on the ledge before tryuing to climb up himself.

However, his mother gets pulled back into the ravine by her foot, causing his mother to fight back to pull herself up onto the ledge, but the full strenght of the hyena clan down below makes it futile, and eventually leaving her barely clinging for dear life from the edge.

His cries for his mother ringing in his ears in the midst of the mad hyena laughter.

"Mamma! Mamma!"

Him attempting desperately to save her by pulling her onto the ledge to safety, but it's hopeless.

His mother giving him the last look full of fear for him but also deep love for him, along with the one last warm and affectional smile.

Their last and short-lasting yet very memorable conversation rings in his ears.

"It's alright, sweetie. It's alright. No matter what happens, mommy loves you always so much."

Then his mother disappears from his sight as she falls over the edge to her doom.

And the last sight of her as she disappears in middle of the hyenas' shadows that lunge at her, tearing him apart, taking from him forever.

His screams of horror and grief ring in his ears.

"NOOOOOOOO! MAMMA! MAMMA!"

FLASHBACK ENDS

Back in present, feeling the awful headache from those painful memories that flashes before his eyes, Bongo groans miserably and puts his paw over his temple, while shaking his head violently to shake those memory images out of his mind.

"Bongo?" Kion said with concern after seeing the wild dog pup in emotional pain, realizing that something in Reirei's words stirred Bongo's traumatic issues again.

Though the prince was worried for his best friend's well-being and wanted so badly to help him, he knew that he needed to get the current jackal problem sorted out and out of the way first before he could be any help for Bongo..

"Take it easy, Bongo. I'll take it from here." Kion assured him, before he turned to Bunga and Beshte. "Guys? Take Bongo, please. I need to clear up the situation here."

"Sure, Kion." Beshte said before he and Bunga walked up to Bongo and gently led him slightly away from the scene to calm down from his issue.

"Here you go, Medium B. Nice and easy." Bunga said comfortingly to his friend.

With Bongo under Beshte and Bunga's care, Kion turned to confront the adult jackals again. "Okay, Reirei. But how does all of that explain your and all your whole pack's presence here ub the Pride Land while it was only Dogo whom we allowed to come here?"

"Well, what else I should've done, Kion?" Reirei asked. "When I heard that Dogo had gone into the Pride Lands with you, well, we had to follow him. You can't expect a little pup living in a strange place without his mom and dad. Right, Goigoi?"

She glanced over at her mate, who had curled up in the grass and fallen asleep once again, snoring.

"Wow. That jackal does know how to fall asleep a pretty fast." Fuli noted.

Reirei rolled her eyes before she kicked her mate in the nose, which startled him awake.

"Huh?! Uhh... Whatever you say, dear." he agreed, stuttering.

"And the pups?" Kion asked, nodding the male and female pups who gathered around of their mother.

"Oh, them. Well, we couldn't leave our other kids alone in the Outlands either." Reirei added as the pups circled around her. "What kind of parents would do that?"

All the jackals, Reirei, Dogo, Kijana and the male and female pups then widened their eyes, making cute/pitiful faces, and let out the small whines as they looked at Kion.

"Okay, okay. Yeah. I can see your point there, Reirei." Kion said, nodding in understantment, though the prince tried to resist their multiple cute faces.

"AH! HELP!" the distant voice yelled for help, catching the Lion Guard's attention.

Ono flew up and went to check it out, and, with his Mark flashing, scanned the area till he noticed what was the problem. "It's Mbeya the rhino! He's trapped in a mud pit." he informed the rest of the Guard. "All the way over at Lake Matope."

"That's..." Bongo said after having finally managed to calm down from his panic attack a bit. "That's a little bit away."

"Then we need to get moving." Beshte added.

Kion sighed, but nodded nonetheless before he turned back to Reirei. "OK, Reirei. We'll leave this for now, but from now on you and your family have to stay away from the aardvarks' den. And their food. Got it?" he told the canines.

"Oh, yes." Reirei nodded. "And, I'm terribly sorry for any misunderstandings here." she apologized before turning to her family. "Come on, kids. Let's leave these nice aardvarks to their business. We'll find someplace else to go." she took her kids away from the aardvarks' den.

"Yeah. You do that." Muhangus agreed.

The Lion Guard watched them go for a moment until they were out of the sight.

"We better keep an eye on them, Kion." Bongo suggested. "They never mentioned that they were here just to take Dogo home, and neither did Dogo mention his family being anywhere nearby back in the Outlands."

"You're right, Bongo." Kion said before turning to face his friends. "But we better go to help Mbeya. You think you're fit to ran all the way to Lake Matope?"

"One little panic attack is not going to stop me, Kion. I'm in." Bongo said loyally, with the nod.

"Good. Lion Guard! Follow me!" Kion told the Guard as they headed to Lake Matope.

From his hiding spot, Moto, who was lying in middle of the grass with his head resting to his paw, shook his head at departing Kion and the Lion GHuard.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Poor Scar-junior. So naive to believe the Outlander pests' word that they will behave after one of their "misunderstandings"." the bully sighed, smirking.

Then Moto got up from the grass and began to follow the jackal family to the direction they had gone.

"Better keep an eye on them, just like Bongo has suggested. But only to see what more of chaos under the "misunderstanding" they're going to cause, thus receiving more and more of evidence and the eyewitnesses that Lion is indeed following Scar's footprints by letting the Outlanders to invade their homes and stealing their foods." he said to himself.

It didn't take long for Moto to find them walking along the hillside and entering into the field of the long grass, where the jackal family began plotting again.

"You were right, Reirei. The Pride Lands is filled with great things to take." Goigoi told his mate.

"Just wait for the big old Kupatana Celebration, dear." Reirei told him with the wicked grin. "All of those silly animals gathering in one place, like served on the plate for us. Mmm-mmm!"

"Sounds delicious, mother." Nakili agreed, already drooling like a hyena at the thought of so many animals in one place for them to pick up.

"But it's still some hours away, mom? What shall we do in the meanwhile?" Kijana asked as she and Dogo sat in middle of their parents and big brother.

"Well, now that we have made ourselves at home, sweetie." Reirei said. "Let's help ourselves with more of the Pride Landers' generosity."

"But, Mom. Won't the Lion Guard get mad at us again?" Dogo asked. "And kick us out?"

"Kids, kids, kids, not to worry about that." Reirei shook her head. "Remember, today is the one day these silly Pride Landers will let us get away with anything, even the Lion Guard. Right, Goigoi? Nakili?"

"Yes, mother. They're only going to look through of their toes." Nakili confirmed.

"Yep. Because it's Kupatana." Goigoi laughed.

"We can do whatever we want, sweeties." Reirei said "As long as we do it... jackal style."

As the music began to play, Reirei, Nakili and Goigoi were each leading ten pups along the tree trunks across a ravine, walking along the beat, with Reirei and her pups' shadow following their going along the nearby wall.

Reirei

"Our kind is born a bit smarter"

"Than other creatures you might know"

"And though we seem quite pleasant"

Reirei walks past Goigoi, who has fallen alseep again, snoring, before she kicks him awake.

"Our niceness is just a show!"

The monkeys were passing the fruit from one to another, unaware jackal pups had build a ladder by standing on top of each other, with the pup on the top taking the fruit from surprised monkey, before the pup in the bottom started running, taking the ladder of pups and the monkey's fruit with him.

"We've learned how to beat the system"

"Everyone else does our work for us"

One of the pups stole the nuts from the jerboa, which shocked the little rodent. But before the pup could eat them, Reirei took them from the pup, who looked up guiltly, before the jackal matriarch handed them back to the jerboa, who fled with his food.

"But before we can take advantage"

"First, we have to win their trust"

"So listen up!"

Dogo had meanwhile engaged the mongoose into the eye-contest over the orange fruit, until Reirei stepped in and used his toes to pull his son's mouth into the sweet smile.

"Pretend to be sweet"

"Speak with a smile"

Mongoose smiled at this, which Reirei used to pull the fruit from mongoose towards his son, who fled with it, much to the mongoose's chagrin.

"Then you can take things"

"Jackal style!"

A rhino then accidentally stepped on Kijana's tail, making the female pup to squeal in pain, before she angrily bared her teeth, growling at the rhino, and was about to attack until Nakili caught her by her tail tip to prevent her from doing so, while Reirei stood in front of her daughter, telling her to calm down.

"Even if you're mad"

"Play it cool for a while"

"That's how you fool 'em"

"Jackal style!"

Kijana then turned around, only to run head-first into the snout of the rhino that growled down at the jackal pup in annoyance. Kijana smiled sweetly and apologetically before she ran off.

Meanwhile, Nakili was playing with the row of the turtles' shells like the drums.

Elsewhere, one of the pups was deliberately annoying the aardvark, making him to chase after him to lure him away from the entrance of his den, allowing the other pups to invade the den.

"Don't gather food or build a home"

Other pups were stealing the bones and the scraps in them from the nest of the vulture.

"There's plenty here for us to take"

Several other pups, including Dogo, were hiding in the long grass while waiting for the female hare to leave from her burrow. And once she was gone, Dogo and the other pups invaded the burrows and popped out of every entrance, Dogo and each one of them holding the stick of berries in their mouths.

"Working hard might be good for others"

"But we get by just being fake!"

"By being fake!"

One pup sneakily and swiftly stole the pile of grubs hyrax was gathering from the trunk, leaving the small rodent confused when he noticed his food was gone.

"Pretend to be sweet"

Pups

"Pretend to be sweet"

The pups, both Dogo- and Kijana-alike, were marching in the row along the beat, as each one of them was carrying the grub on top of their heads.

Reirei

"Speak with a smile"

Pups

"Speak with a smile"

The leopards Paka, Nyota and Rukia were gaping in confusion at the empty spot where they had left the leftovers of their yesterday's kill, only to look up and see Nakili, Kijana and several other pups escaping with the meaty leftovers, with Nakili carrying the zebra leg, which still had some meat left.

Reirei

"Then you can take things"

"Jackal style!"

"Even if you're mad"

Pups

"Even if you're mad"

Reirei, Nakili and Goigoi stood back to back, while Dogo, Kijana and the rest of the pups surrounded them.

Reirei

"Play it cool for a while"

Pups

"Play it cool for a while"

The jackals kept stealing from various animals their foods: the hedgehog's grubs, the baboon's berries, the dug's egg, the bat-eared fox's pile of termites, the hare's leaves, the chimpanzee's fruits, even the bee's nest full of honey that the other different honey badger was eating.

Reirei

"That's how you fool 'em"

"Jackal style!"

"Jackal style!"

The jackal pack was them looking down from the hill at the Mizimu Grove.

"And just wait for Kupatana."

"All these animals gathered in peace..."

"We'll stroll in and eat at our pleasure"

"It's gonna be one amazing feast!"

Reirei, Nakili & pups.

"It's gonna be one amazing feast!"

Dogo then widens his eyes and smiles sweetly at the camera.

Reirei

"Pretend to be sweet"

Pups

"Pretend to be sweet"

Another pup was then staring at Makuu, smiling sweetly at the crocodile leader who didn't look too pleased of the jackal pup's presence. Then, when the fish jumped over Makuu's head, he tried to catch it in his mouth, only for another pup to snatch it from the front of his snout.

Reirei

"Speak with a smile"

Pups

"Speak with a smile"

Reirei

"Then you can take things"

Reirei, Nakili & pups.

"Jackal style!"

Several pups were running away from the rhino that was chasing after them, running past Goigoi who had once again fallen asleep. The rhino's stampeding woke him up and he looked around, but when he didn't see the causer of his abrupt wake up, the male jackal shrugged it off and fell back asleep.

Reirei

"Even if you're mad"

Pups

"Even if you're mad"

Reirei

"Play it cool for a while"

Pups

"Play it cool for a while"

More thefts: Flamingo picked up the fish from the water, only to notice the jackal pup hanging by its tail. Elsewhere, a jackal pup ran away while carrying another pup in his back who was holding from the egg, while the angry ostrich mother was chasing after them. And Nakili led the other pups stealing the meaty leftovers from several wild dogs from Bongo's pack.

Reirei

"That's how you fool 'em"

Pups

"Oooohhhhh!"

Reirei stood on top of the rock, along with Goigoi, Nakili, Dogo and Kijana, while the rest 30 pups danced around the rock, while the flock of butterflies flew around of them.

Reirei

"That's how you fool 'em"

Pups

"Oooohhhhh!"

Reirei

"Jackal style!"

"Jackal style!"

"That's how you fool 'em"

Reirei, Nakili & pups.

"Jackal style!"

As the song ended, the jackals stood in front of the massive pile of the looted foods: the fruits, berries, buts, grubs, bones, leaves, eggs, fishes, meat and so on.

However, the jackals also found themselves being surrounded by the large number of angry animals: elephants, rhinos, hippoes, buffaloes, giraffes, oryxes, zebras, ostriches, aardvarks, mongooses, crocodiles, hedgehogs, jerboas, hyraxes, ducks, flamingos, vultures, hares, bat-eared foxes, chimpanzees, baboons, monkeys, honey badgers, leopards, wild dogs and so on.

"Oh, dear!" Reirei gasped as she, Goigoi, Nakili, Dogo, Kijana and the rest of the pups looked up at the angry animals guiltly and pitifully. "Has there been another misunderstanding?"

###

At Lake Matope, it had taken a while, but the Lion Guard had finally managed to fee Mbeya from the mud pit, though the Guard had gotten all muddy themselves.

"Whew! Thank you so much." the rhino sighed as he walked away.

"Hakuna Matata, Mbeya." Kion said.

"It happens to all of us sometimes." Beshte chuckled.

Ono hopped out of the mud because he had slipped off of Beshte's back and fallen into the mud during the rescue. "Maybe, next time, you could get stuck in mud that isn't so sticky." he whimpered, shaking the mud off his wings.

"You're telling me, Ono." Bongo said as he tried to shook the mud off his hind legs.

Ugh!" Fuli gagged in disgust as she looked over her fur soaked with the mud. "It's gonna take, what, forever to get my fur cleaned up."

"It's OK. We still got time to head to the Watering Hole and get cleaned up before the celebration." Kion assured his teammates.

"Good. Even for once I don't mind of getting wet. We need to be perfect or Zazu won't ever stop tormenting us." Fuli noted, shaking some mud off from her lowr half.

Suddenly, the Lion Guard then heard overlapping cries from various animals a ways away from them.

"Or maybe not." Kion sighed.

"Now what it is?" Fuli questioned.

Suddenly, they saw Tamu appearing from behind the top of the hill before she ran downhill towards them, looking alarmed.

"Bongo! Lion Guard! Lion Guard!" the female wild dog called as she stopped in front of them, panting.

"Tamu? What is it?" Bongo asked.

"Jackals!" Tamu told them. "They have been disturbing the other animals all over the Pride Lands and stolen their food. They even stoled some from out pack, Bongo."

"They did WHAT?!" Bongo barked, baring his teeth angrily at the news of the jackals having stolen the food from his family.

"REIREI!" Kion, Bongo and Fuli said in unison with the narrowed glares, knowing that Reirei must be behind of this crime wave.

###

Later, Tamu had taken the Lion Guard to the scene of the commotion, where the crowd of angry animals were still surrounding the thieving jackals.

While Kion, Bongo and Fuli were confronting the jackals, Ono, Bunga and Beshte, with Tamu's help, were returning all the animals back their foods before shooing them away.

"Nothing to see here." Ono told them as he shooed the animals away. "Move along."

"Here you go, mongoosie. Back to their rightful owners." Bunga said as he returned the grubs to the mongoose.

Beshte was rolling the eggs back to the mother ostrich and the mother duck. "Here you go, ladies." the hippo said sweetly.

Tamu then returned the zebra leg to Paka, Nyota and Rukia. "Here. Be free to have it back, guys." she said sweetly.

"Thank you, Tamu." Paka said as he picked the zebra leg from the ground with his mouth and turned to leave with it back to his and his friends territory.

"I cannot believe that someone would be so irresponsible to let these little thieves to roam in the Pride Lands like they own the place." Nyota said, growling at the adult jackals before she followed after Paka.

"Yeah! These pests should be in the Outlands where they belong." Rukia agreed as he followed after his friends.

"REIREI! EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" Kion demanded as he, Bongo and Fuli circled around the jackals.

"I'm sorry, Kion." Reirei apologized, her and her children's heads hung low and ears flat at the side of their heads. "I just don't understand why these animals are so upset."

"Yeah." Goigoi agreed with his expression mirroring his mate. "We didn't take anything from the aardvarks this time."

"We technically kept our promise not to disturb them anymore. We swear." Nakili added, his own expression mirroring his parents.

"What about all these other animals?" Bongo questioned with a raised brow.

"Oh, them? Well..." Goigoi tried to explain, but found no words to excuse his family's actions.

"It was just a misunderstanding." Dogo piped up, his ears flat and eyes wide.

"A misunderstanding?!" Fuli repeated. "Is that what they call stealing other animals' food and invading their homes in the Outlands?"

"Well, yes, it is." Reirei answered, nodding her head. "Things are so different here. How could we possibly know what's acceptable in the Pride Lands?"

"Give me a break!" Fuli rolled her eyes.

"You said it, Fuli." Bongo said before turning back to the jackals. "Listen up, a lot of you. Things are not the same here as they are in the Outlands. Here, animals work to get their own food and live in their own territories. They do not steal from the others or invade their homes. And if you can't live like that with the other animals, then it is time for you to leave back to where you can be however you like, in the Outlands."

"I have to agree with Bongo here, Reirei." Kion said. "Besides, wasn't it Dogo why you and your family came here for in the first place?"

The jackal mother looked towards the prince with wide eyes. "But Kion, you don't know how hard it is to raise the family in the Outlands or start your life all over in a strange place. We just don't know how to fit in, that's all." she sighed. "We do so much want to be accepted as part of your community. Don't you Pride Landers have a word for that?"

Kion exchanged a glance with Bongo and Fuli before answering. "We do. It's Kupatana. We're actually gathering in Mizimu Grove tonight to celebrate Kupatana."

"Kupatana." Reirei sighed, looking up at the sky dreamingly. "Ku-pa-tana, it sounds lovely." she said, turning away from the three Guard members, with the sly smirk.

Reirei then turned back to them, smiling sincerely. "Do you think we jackals can be part of your Kupatana?" she asked, her eyes sparkling pleadingly.

"Not again with that puppy-dog eyes act." Bongo groaned, resisting it.

"But Bongo..." Tamu said as she walked up next to him. "You end up falling to that act all of time, remember?"

"Only with Chika, Wiba and Guvu, Tamu, which also pisses me off." Bongo reminded her with the frown. "I really find it really hard to fall for it when it comes from the jackal after all of this."

Kion too tried to resist the act with the arched eyebrows. "Maybe..." Kion answered. "But only if you can treat everyone in the Pride Lands with respect. You think you and your family can do that?"

"Oh, yes!" Reirei quickly answered. "I think we completely understand now. Right, everybody?"

"Yep." Dogo said with the nod.

"We do." Kijana added.

"WE DO!" all the jackals pups said in unison, nodding their heads.

"With the jackal's word of honor." Nakili said, putting his paw over his chest.

"And what about you, Goigoi?" Reirei asked, only to notice that her mate was asleep and snoring again, prompting her to kick him in the side. "Goigoi!"

"Yeah! Yeah! Huh?" the male jackal snorted as he jumped up from the ground. "Uh, yeah. Whatever you say, dear." he agreed.

"And you better remember that now. This was your second strike." Bongo reminded them while holding two toes up from his paw, before he raised up the third toe. "Third strike, and you're outta here. But if only you can behave, we'll put this whole matter behind us and all shall be forgiven."

"I'm keeping an eye on you from now on." Fuli added with the narrowed eye.

"OK. Now, we should go." Kion looked towards the rest of the Guard. "We need to clean up for the Kupatana Celebration."

"And we also need to warm up for our big song." Bunga added.

"Yeah. You're right. Bunga." Kion chuckled, "But hope we see you there." Kion said the jackals before the Guard walked back towards the Watering Hole.

"Oh, they will see us there." Reirei said with the evil smirk. "Won't they, Goigoi?"

"Whatever you say, dear." Goigoi said, snickering evilly.

"Nakili?" Reirei asked, with her elder son coming to her side on her right. "Prepare the kids. Tonight, we're going to hunt in Kupatana."

"Yes, mother." Nakili said, chuckling evilly.

From his hiding spot on top of the nearby hill, Moto had witnessed the Lion Guard giving the jackals the second chance by letting them to participate to the Kupatana Celebration, as well as the jackals' plotting to betray Kion's trust by going rampage in the celebration.

The bully snickered to himself, because that was the most perfect opportunity to expose Kion's role in invoking the jackals both to the Pride Lands and the Kupatana Celebration behind Simba's back, and then use them hunting the other animals of the Pride Lands as an excuse to label Kion as no different from Scar.

###

As the sun began to set, all of the animals of the Pride Lands made their way to the center of Mizimu Grove.

There were elephants, rhinos with tickbirds, hippoes, buffaloes, giraffes, oryxes, zebras, gazelles, ostriches, aardvarks, mongooses, Makuu's float of crocodiles, hedgehogs, ducks, flamingos, vultures, hares, bat-eared foxes, chimpanzees, baboons, monkeys, jerboas, hyraxes, egrets, honey badgers, cheetahs, warthogs, meerkats and and so on.

In one spot, Makuu and Meno ("Teeth" in swahili), the male crocodile from his float and Makuu's second-in-command, allowed a jerboa to pass by them peacefully.

In another spot, the leopards Paka, Nyota and Rukia picked the high ground position from one of the baobab tree to follow the celebration, which they shared with the rock python Dudu, who wrapped herself around of one of the branches.

In the third spot, Timon and Pumbaa were standing side by side with Ushari the cobra, with the three animals smiling at each other.

In fourth spot stood Bongo's whole pack, Alfa, Shauri along with eleven other wild dogs, seven of whom were grown up adults, three of them adolescents and one infant pup.

And next to them stood Simba's whole pride, consisting of the King Simba and Queen Nala, Kiara, Tiifu and Zuri, their mothers Wajua and Vizuri, Moto, Mafu and Konda and their mothers Kungua, Wemba, Linda and totally seven other lionesses.

The children, including Tamu, Chika, Wiba and Guvu, and the whole Lion Guard, stood on the stone in front of Zazu and underneath the pedestal at the other end of the grove, ready to execute the the opening performance of the celebration.

"This is it, guys." Kion told them as he looked at his friends on his both sides. "You ready?"

His friends nodded to him in confirmation.

"Anyone feeling nervous?" Kion asked again.

Most of the Guard shook their heads in denial, though Fuli did so hesitatingly, which gave her away.

"Fuli?" Kion asked as he turned to her. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

"I am, Kion. Or... I don't know. It's just..." Fuli gulped, nervously, her ears falling against the back of her head, "I didn't know so many animals would show up. And as a cheetah, I always get a little nervous in front of such of huge audience, not to mention that I've never sang in front of the one before."

Kion smiled and patted his paw on her back. "Hey, hey. There's nothing to be nervous about." he assured her. "You have an amazing singing voice and I know you'll do great.

"And if you get nervous, just know that we're all here with you." Beshte assured her.

"Affirmative." Ono noded.

"Yes, Fuli. We got your back." Bongo assured her.

"Yeah. We're the Lion Guard. We stick together." Bunga said, patting Fuli in the shoulder.

Fuli smiled at her friends. "Thanks, thanks. I feel a little better now."

"No problem, Fuli." Kion smiled.

Bunga was looking around, but he didn't see the certain guests amongst the audience. "Hey? Do you think that Dogo and his family are going to show up?" the honey badger asked from his friends.

"I don't see them anywhere." Ono said as he peered into the audience but saw no sight of the jackals.

"I just hope that they won't cause anymore trouble." Kion said hopefully.

"You and me both, Kion." Bongo agreed with him.

"That makes three of us." Fuli added.

"Greetings, animals of the Pride Lands!" Zazu announced with the bow to the awaiting crowd. "Now, as it has been the tradition so many times before, we will begin the Kupatana Celebration with the opening ceremony, by singing the song "the Circle of Life"." the royal Majordomo said as he turned to te children and the Lion Guard.

Rafiki, who was standing atop of the pedestal, then began his own first part of the song, along with the children who served as vocalizers.

Rafiki

"Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba"

Chorus

"Sithi uhm ingonyama (Ingonyama)"

Rafiki

"Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba"

Chorus

"Sithi uhhmm ingonyama"

Rafiki

Ingonyama

Chorus

"Hayibaba"

Rafiki

"Ingonyama"

Chorus

"Siyonqoba"

Rafiki

"Ingonyama"

Chorus

"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala"

"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala"
"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala"
"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala"
"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala"

Chorus

"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala"

Rafiki

"Se to kwa"

Chorus

"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala"

Rafiki

"Asana"

Chorus

"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala"

Rafiki

"Se to kwa"

Chorus

"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala"

Rafiki

"Asana"

When came their part of the song, the Lion Guard took a deep breath and exhaled as they all stood tall, dignified and heads/beaks proudly up and chests slightly out, so that they would look, as Zazu instructed them, as spectacular as possible, before they began to walk forward to the edge of the stone, right in front of Zazu, while facing the grove and the audience, who stood in silence and watched as the Lion Guard began to sing.

Chorus (Repeatedly)

"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala"

Kion

"From the day we arrived on the planet"

Bunga

"And blinking step into the sun"

Bongo & Fuli

"There's more to see than can even be seen"

Beshte & Ono

"More to do than can ever be done"

Bongo

"Some say, eat or be eaten"

Fuli

"Some say, live and let live"

Beshte & Ono

"But, all are agreed as they join the stampede"

Kion & Bunga

"You should never take more than you give"

Beshte

"Some of us fall by the wayside"

Ono

"And some of us soar to the stars"

Kion & Bunga

"And some of us sail through our troubles"

Bongo & Fuli

"And some have to live with the scars"

While conducting the song, Zazu couldn't help but smile, because so far, everything was going exactly as he had hoped.

Kion

"There's far too much to take in here"

Bunga

"More to find than can ever be found"

Bongo & Fuli

"With the sun rolling high"

"Through the sapphire sky"

Beshte & Ono

"keeps the great and small on the endless round"

Simba and Nala, Timon and Pumbaa, Alfa and Shauri, Basi and Ono's flock watched with wide smiles as their respective children stood tall and proud as they sang with confidence, perfect sync and harmony.

Zazu then held up his wings high up, beckoning the children to raise their voice.

Chorus (Repeatedly)

"Ingonyama nengw' enamabala"

Kion, Bunga, Bongo, Fuli, Beshte & Ono

"It's the Circle of Life!"

"And it moves us all!"

"Through despair and hope!"

"Through faith and love!"

All the animals in attendance sighed in awe and smiled. Kiara smiled at her brother and nodded his head while her friends watched in awe.

"They sound amazing. Don't they, dad?" Shauri asked from her father, who nodded in agreement.

"That's our boy, Simba." Nala sighed as she nuzzled against her mate's mane.

"Yes. I'm so proud of him." Simba agreed as he nuzzled his mate.

Timon and Pumbaa were moved into tears while watching Bunga's singing along with the rest of the Lion Guard.

"I gotta tell you, Timon. That song always get me right here." Pumbaa said with the teary eyes.

"Especially when our little Bunga's singing it out there. BWAA!-AH-HAA-HAA-HAA-HAA!" Timon sobbed.

Basi smiled softly and proudly at his own son's performance.

From his mother's side, Moto rolled his eyes in annoyance and didn't find the Lion Guard's performance impressive.

"Ugh! This is terrible!" Moto groaned. "Kion is a horrible singer."

"Moto! Shut your mouth!" Kungua scolded, quietly, glaring at her son. "This is supposed to be a peaceful event and you're not making it better. And besides, I think Kion and the Lion Guard are good at singing."

"Pfft! Whatever." Moto rolled his eyes. "I still think Scar Junior is terrible at what his doing."

Hearing what Moto said, Kiara turned to growl angrily at him, before she turned back to the show with the proud smile.

Kion, Bunga, Bongo, Fuli, Beshte & Ono

"Till we find our place!"

"On the path unwinding!"

"In the Circle!"

"The Circle of Life!"

Fuli

"IN THE CIRCLE OF LIIIIIIIIFE!"

As the final note sounded, the Lion Guard stepped back and, joined by the chorus, bowed their heads with their eyes closed. It was silent only for a second before all of the animals erupted into the cheers in excitement. Kion, Bunga, Bongo, Fuli, Beshte and Ono then opened their eyes and smiled first to the crowd and then to each other.

As the children descended down from the rock, they were all met by their respective families, with Kion and Bongo meeting together their own families.

Simba, Nala, Kiara, and Rafiki immediately joined Kion while Alfa, Shauri, Tamu, Chika, Wiba and Guvu surrounded Bongo, with the king and Alfa looking down at Kion and Bongo with pride.

"That was very lovely." Simba praised his son, smiling. "Good job."

"And you too, Bongo. You did well." Alfa said, nuzzling his son's head.

"Thanks, Dad." both Kion and Bongo replied to their respective fathers as their tail swayed behind them.

"That was amazing, Kion!" Kiara said and nuzzled her forehead against Kion's left cheek. "I'm so proud of you, little brother."

"Thanks, Kiara." Kion thanked with the smile.

And without Bongo's notice, Tamu sneaked behind him to his right and once more caught him off guard by nuzzling her own head against Bongo's right cheek.

"Ugh! Tamu!" Bongo groaned in complain.

"Like I told you earlier, sweet Bongo. You got such of beautiful singing voice." Tamu told him, before she gave him a kiss/lick across his cheek.

"Ewww! Yuck!" Bongo groaned and wiped his cheek with his paw.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-haa!" Chika, Wiba and Guvu laughed at their big brother's awkwardness, rolling over their sides or onto their backs to the ground.

With that, King Simba, Queen Nala, Kion, Kiara and Rafiki made their way to the top of the pedestal, while Bongo, Tamu and Chika, Wiba and Guvu joined up with the rest of the Lion Guard to witness the king's speech.

Simba stood in front of the pedestal, facing the crowd in the grove, "Thank you all for joining us." he addressed. "We're here not just for the blooming of the baobab flowers, but to celebrate our community - our Kupatana - and to honor all of our roles in the Circle of Life."

Then, a breeze with some leaves and flowers floating along with it, indicating the presence of the Great Lion of the Past, Mufasa likely, passed through the royal family.

"It is time." Rafiki spoke, gesturing towards the trees.

Then, with everybody's gazes turning up to the trees, the first baobab flower bloomed, followed by another, and another, and another, and even more and more as each blossom in every tree opened and white petals fell from them, giving the impression of falling glitter. All of the animals gasped at this in silent awe.

"Wow." Kion gasped, sharing the look with Kiara.

"It's... beautiful." Tamu said said in awe and leaned against Bongo, who initially frowned at her for being so clingy and touchy, but the wild dog pup eventually softened to her for the sake of Kupatana.

"It is, Tamu. It indeed is." he said softly, looking up as well, while partially absentmindedly wrapped his paw around of her.

Chika, Wiba and Guvu yipped playfully as they stood on their hind legs while trying to catch the falling petals with their paws and jaws.

"Beautiful, isn't it, Moto?" Kungua said in awe as she looked up.

Moto, however, acted indifferent towards the blooming baobab flowers' blooming and the falling petals, even blowing off some of them that fell too close of his face.

"Yeah, whatever." he groaned.

Moto was also looking around in the crowd and the corners and borders of the Mizimu Grove, wondering that there the heck were those jackal pests who were plotting to attack the crowd at any moment.

That was also making him impatient, because he needed them to expose Kion's role of their presence in here in front of all the animals in the Pride Lands to make them see that he's no different from Scar.

The luck was on his side, though, because unknown unbeknownst to them, hiding behind the bushes were Reirei and her jackal family spying on them.

"This is so unexpected." Reirei sniffed, wiping the tear in her eye. "I didn't think I'd be so moved."

"What, by a bunch of stupid flowers?" Goigoi asked in confusion.

"No, by all the options." Reirei said, smirking evilly. "All of these delicious little animals all in one place. How will we know where to begin?"

"I don't know. But I suggest that let's just dig in." Goigoi said.

Nakili then came towards them to give his report. "All is set, mother. The children are in their positions and ready to act on your signal. No animal gets past us and out of this grove. We got them surrounded." he snickered.

"Good. Then let's get them." Reirei said as they were getting ready to attack.

Unaware of the danger, Simba kept announcing his people. "And now, let the Kupatana Celebration..."

Just then...

"RHAW! RHAW! RHAW! RHAW! RHAW!"

"YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP! YIP-YIP-YIP-YIP!"

"... begin?" Simba finished, his brow arched in confusion as the barking and yipping filled the air.

"ATTACK! ATTACK!" Reirei commanded as she led Nakili, Goigoi, Dogo, Kijana and several other pups charged into the grove.

At the sight of the pack of jackals attacking them, the animals of the Pride Lands began to panic and stampede here and there to avoid the predators and escape the grove, except that even more and more jackal pups appeared from their hidden positions, taking the fleeing animals by surprise and preventing them from leaving the grove.

"OH-NO!" Kion sighed, his ears falling to the sides against his head.

"Dogo!" Bunga groaned in disappointment, not wanting to believe what he was seeing.

"I KNEW IT!" Fuli growled.

"Those lying, backstabbing scavengers!" Bongo growled in anger and disgust, as the one realization dawned to him at last. "So this is what Janja meant?! He surrendered Dogo to us easily because he knew what the jackals are: annoying thieving pests!

"Hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee!" Moto snickered quietly as he watched the chaos spreading across the grove under the Lion Guard's watch, again.

The jackal pups began to chase after the smaller defenseless animals, while some of them used their numbers as their advantage and mobbed up against the bigger animals.

Dogo went after the hedgehog whike Kijana chased the baby ostrich, and Nakili snapped his jaws at the oryx and Goigoi went after the zebra, chuckling madly.

"Kion? What's going on in here?" Simba asked, looking down at his son.

"It's Reirei and her jackal family." Kion answered guiltly.

"What? Reirei?! And her... jackal... family?!" Simba repeated in disbelief. "Kion? What are they doing in here?"

"I'm sorry, dad. This is all my fault." Kion apologized. "But I'll explain later. Now I gotta save the Kupatana Celebration and all the animals. And I know how to do it."

The golden prince then ran to the end of the pedestal. "Pridelanders! Hear me out!"

Some animals, who were not yet bothered by the jackals, turned to Kion to hear what he had to say.

"Don't be afraid! The Lion Guard can hadle the situation, and you can all help the Lion Guard by defending each other!" Kion announced.

"Kion is right!" Simba agreed, standing next to his son. "If we stand together as one, no Outlander can ever defeat us!"

Simba's lionesses roared in agreement. "RRRROOOOAAAARRRR!" For they knew how the things were like during of Scar's reign when the Outlanders acter like they owned their precious kingdom. Now they were going to show them again that who truly rules these lands.

And many biggest and toughest animals, predator and prey alike, let out their own roars/bellows in agreement, ready to join to the cause to defend their home from the Outlander pests.

"FOR THE PRIDE LANDS!" they shouted in unison.

Kion then jumped off the pedestal and went towards the Guard. "OK, everyone. We need to round up these jackals and send them back to the Outlands where they belong." he told the rest of the Guard who nodded in agreement

"About time if you ask from me." Fuli said.

"Bongo?" Kion asked, turning to the wild dog pup. "You got any plan how to round up all of these jackals."

"Well, since there is 30 pups, including Dogo and Kijana, and three adults, we need to split up and give the animals the instructions of how they can help us rounding up them all." Bongo told them before he looked up at Ono. "Ono! Tell us if you can spot where each jackal is."

"Affirmative!" The egret responded with the salute before he took up to the skies. With his Mark flashing, Ono scanned the grove before he spotted the patriarch of the jackal pack. "I see Goigoi. He's chasing the baboon behind the elephants."

Ono scanned the grove again, spotting more jackals. "I see jackal pups harassing the elephants, several more near giraffes, some more near the antelopes and the rest bullying the monkeys. Including Dogo who is chasing the hedgehog family, and Kijana chasing the duck. And Nakili's trying to pull the chimpanzee down from the tree."

"What about Reirei?" Kion asked.

"I don't see her, Kion!" Ono reported. "But she must be around here somewhere."

"Alright! Here's what we do." Kion said, giving each one of them their own assigments. " Fuli, you get Goigoi. Bunga and Beshte, Dogo, Kijana and the pups. Bongo, Nakili. I'll find Reirei and take care of her myself."

"You got it, Kion!" each member of the Lion Guard nodded before they ran off to their assigments.

The baboon shrieked in panic as he ran past the elephants' legs with Goigoi hot in pursuit, before Fuli dashed in front of the male jackal, blocking his path. "HUWEZI!" Goigoi tried to run away to the different direction in his left, only for Fuli and speed up to stand in his path again.

"Going somewhere?" Fuli asked, only for Goigoi to run into another direction to get away from Fuli, until he was blocked by the Fastest once again. "No way to run, Goigoi." the cheetah said with the smirk.

"That's what you think." Goigoi snickered evilly before running away, only to crash head first into a tree by mistake, knocking himself out.

"You were saying?" Fuli said as she stepped onto Goigoi's chest and laughed. "Ah-ha-ha-ha-haa! And I though Cheezi and Chungu were dummyheads."

"YAAAAHHHH!" Ono let out as he divebombed the jackal pup, sending her rolling back into several more like bowling pins.

Then the egret flew around, giving the various animals their own instructions how to repel the jackals. "Elephants, use your trunks! Rhinos and oryxes, horns! Hippos, your snouts, crocs, your teeth, zebras, your legs, baboons, well, fruits!"

Every animal Ono gave instructions did as they were told. The elephants used their trunks to whack the jackal pups away, rhinos and oryxes used their horns to force the pups to back off, hippos sent several more pups into flying with their snouts, Makuu led his crocodiles against the several more jackal pups, snapping their jaws at them, zebras used theor hnd legs top kick the pups away, while the baboons, shrieking angrily at the other pups, began to throw their fruits at them in vast numbers, driving them away.

At least eight jackal pups were nipping at the giraffes' legs, causing the tall animals to panic as they tried to shake the attacking pups away from their legs.

"Enough with the nipping!" Beshte shouted and nudged all the jackal pups away from the giraffes.

Several more jackals chased after some hares, but their way was blocked by Nala, Wajua and Vizuri, causing the jackal pups to halt and whine in surprise. Nala, Wajua and Vizuri bared their teeth and roared at the pups intimidatingly, causing the pups to whimper in fear and run off.

Even more of jackal pups were getting overwhelmed and outmatched by the united Pridelanders.

Alfa led his packmates into charge against the jackal pups who were fleeing away from the bigger and angrier dogs, who struck the jackal pups off their feet with their paws or picked them up from the ground by their scruff, taking them away.

Ostriches were too chasing after several more pups, nipping at the tips of their tails or poking the backs of their heads with their beaks, while the wall of the stampeding and bellowing buffaloes forced numerically advantaged jackal pups into flight for their lives.

"Toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toot-toooot!" Timon blowed into the flower like the trumped as he, riding with Pumbaa, joined the fray, with the warthog knocking with his tusks any jackal pup they came across off their feet and sent them into flying.

The battle was quickly turning into the Pridelanders favor, because large number of jackal pups were getting rounded up and surrounded by the angry animals.

Meanwhile, Kion was frantically looking for the mastermind of this attack. "C'mon! Where are you, Reirei." Kion growled, looking around for her.

"Zuka Zama!" Bunga shouted as he hopped from one giraffe to another and dived towards Dogo, who was still chasing after the hedgehog family, before the honey badger caught the pup by his tail.

"Gotcha Dogo!" the Bravest said angrily. "And you know? I don't think you're cute anymore."

Dogo smiled nervously at the honey badger as huis sister Kijana ran past them after the monkey she was chasing, before Bunga reached out and caught her tail, stopping her.

"Not so fast, Kijana!" Bunga snapped, before the Bravest proceeded to grab from both of the jackal pups ears, making them whine pitifully. "You two have been a very, very, very naughty of late, you know that?"

"Help! Help!" the chimpanzee pleaded as Nakili, who had caught him by the foot to prevent him from climbing up the tree to safety, tried to pull him back down.

"I'm coming!" Bongo called as he ran towards the chimpanzee and Nakili.

"Bongo!" Tamu's voice called as the female wild dog appeared to run by the Slyest's side, before she gave Bongo the wink with her eye.

The two wild dogs exchanged the smiles with each other and nods as they kept running to the chimpanzee's aid.

"TWENDE SASA!" they both let out as they leaped forward and clamped their jaws and bared teeth around of the jackal's tail.

"OWW!" Nakili yelped in pain, letting go of the chimpanzee's leg, allowing the primate to climb up to safety.

Together, Bongo and Tamu pulled the jackal back from the tree by his tail and tossed him in the air, sending him flying against the trunk of the other tree before he fell with the loud thud and grunt to the ground.

Shaking his head, Nakili bared his teeth and growled angrily at the two dogs. "Why don't you two mutts mind of your own business?"

"Because THIS IS my business!" Bongo retorted as he hunched low, ready to fight.

"It's two-on-one, you pest!" Tamu growled, standing by Bongo's side. "What are you gonna do about that?"

This was answered by five growling jackal pups coming out and standing by their big brother's side against the two dogs.

Nakili smirked evilly. "I think its's six-on-two now, mutts." Nakili snickered... rather arrogantly.

However, his snickering was cut short when Dudu the rock pythin extended her tail's tip down and caught Nakili off guard by wrapping it around of the jackal's neck, strangling him a bit, before she proceeded to lift surprised jackal off the ground to the eye-level with her while coiling her body completely around his body.

"It's three-on-six, you filthy jackal!" the python corrected, hissing aggressively.

The leopards Paka, Nyota and Rukia then leaped down from the same tree's branches behind of the five jackal pups, hunched low, teeth bared and claws stretched out.

"It's now six-on-six!" Paka growled.

"Or more likely, six-on-five, since the big jackal is already taken out!" Rukia corrected.

"Then let's get rid of the rest of these pests!" Nyota suggested, to which her friends nodded their heads in agreement.

"RRRROOOOAAAARRRR!" the three leopard roared at the pups, who whimpered as they ran away from the big cats, much to Bongo's and Tamu's delight.

Elsewhere, Reirei was chasing after a little hyrax who ran for his life. "Come now, little one! It'll be over very quickly!" she cackled and picked up the hyrax by the scruff.

"Drop the hyrax!" Kion growled as he tackled the female jackal who dropped the rodent down.

"GRRRR!" Kion growled at the jackal matriarch, more angry than he had ever before been, as his Mark in his shoulder flashed, making his growl sound like the full grown lion's.

"Why, Kion. What's got you so upset?" Reirei asked, chuckled nervously.

Kion stared her down. "You lied to me, Reirei!" he accused sternly, his eyes narrowed and teeth bared.

The rest of the Lion Guard gathered behind of their leader, with Bongo walking up to Kion's side.

"Oh-no! Did we make another mistake?" the female jackal tried to play innocent. "These Pride Land's rules... ehh"

"Save it, Reirei!" Bongo growled. "I can see everything clear now. Dogo never got separated from you few days ago as he claimed, nor he did accidentally stumbled to Janja's territory as he claimed. It was YOU telling him to provoke Janja to chase him because YOU knew we would save him! And YOU didn't come to look after Dogo after we took him in the Pride Lands. YOU used him to get the free access into the Pride Lands so that YOU can deliberately disrupt the peace of Kupatana! All of this was YOUR plan all along! And YOU even knew all along the Pride Lands' rules, but hey, YOU didn't care! And why didn't YOU care? Because you Outlander trash live by your OWN rules only!"

"No! That's not true! It's... uhh..." Reirei said in denial, but couldn't find the right words in time when Kion cut her off.

"I'm sick of you jackals and your lies, Reirei!" the prince growled. "This was your third strike! You're going back to the Outlands where you belong! All of you! Every... last... one of you!"

Reirei backed away from Kion, but still shamelessly tried to save the situation as Goigoi, Nakali and all of her pups gathered around her, putting on the pleading puppy-dog-eyed act one more time. "Just one more chance!" she pleaded. "That's all we..."

"YOU HEARD MY SON, REIREI!" the voice from Simba bellowed, scaring the whole jackal pack, as the king approached them, backed up by Nala, Wajua, Vizuri, Kungua, Wemba, Linda and the other lionesses, staring down at the Outlanders.

"Leave. Now!" Simba demanded sternly.

"Oh, Simba." Reirei gulped nervously before the angry king. "I think there's some sort of misunderstanding." she tried to protest with the nervous smile.

The king was having none of their excuse. "I said LEAVE! RRRRROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!" the king let out a huge roared.

"RRRRROOOOOAAAAARRRRR!" the rest of the pride roared alongside of their king.

"You know what they say, "there's no place like home". LET'S GO KIDS!" Reirei cried as she and her pack bolted out of the grove and ran towards the Outlands.

"Follow them! Make sure that they don't stop till they're back in the Outlands!" Simba commanded some of his lionesses.

Half of the pride nodded to their king and, letting out a loud growls, sprinted after the jackals to make sure they went back to the Outlands.

Kion then walked up to his dad, head hanging down and gaze guiltly in the ground, as his father turned to him.

"Kion? Explain yourself, please." Simba said softly yet sternly.

"Well, apparently, that jackal pup we saved earlier turned out to be a bait. After we took that pup into the Pride Lands, his family followed him here and began deliberately cause the chaos like they owned the place. I'm sorry, dad." Kion said sincerely, ears flat against the sides of his head.

This was the moment when Moto, seizing his opportunity to expose Kion's role in bringing the jackals into the Pride Lands in the first place, stepped in.

"Mmm-mmm! So, all the problems today in the Pride Lands caused by those jackal pests have been solely becaue of KION, THE LEADER OF THE LION GUARD, allowed the pack of filthy jackals to come here in the Pride Lands!" Moto announced aloud.

There was the loud gasps from everywhere and all the eyes turned to Kion, who couldn't bear to look at their accusing gazes.

Moto took a full enjoyment of Kion's misery, before the mean bully continued.

"So, let's not forget, my friends, the fact that this is mot the first time when the lion from amidst us has allowed the Outlander trash to roam in the Pride Lands like they own the place! Yeah! Yeah, you all know exactly what I'm talking about. That this has happened before so long ago. And you all know because of whom!"

All the animals were all on their ears as they looked at both Moto and Kion in turn, while listening the former.

Only Kion's friends and family glared angrily at Moto, knowing full well where he was getting at with all of this.

"Yes! Long ago, Scar, the former leader of the Lion Guard, allowed the armies of filthy hyenas to invade the Pride Lands, letting them to make our beloved kingdom their new home and allowing them to behave like they owned it in the first place." Moto continued. "And today, history has repeated itself! Kion allowed the jackal pests to live in the Pride Lands, allowing them to make it their home and letting them to act as if they owned this place, and he did nothing about it without caring a single bit while the jackals stole your foods and invaded your homes! And now he had even allowed the jackals to invade the Kupatana Celebration, despite KNOWING that the jackals won't live on our rules after two times of warning and would attack us the first chance they get!"

Angered over Moto's self-centered accusations against Kion, Bongo and Fuli hunched low, outstretched their claws and growled at the bully. Tamu and Kiara joined them, while Bunga, Beshte, Ono and even Simba and Nala frowned even more angrily at Moto for Kion like all of this was the most highest crime in the Pride Lands.

"And so, do we all agree about one thing about Kion?" Moto asked from the crowd. "That the current leader of the Lion Guard... our so-called hero and protecter... is no different... FROM SCAR HIMSELF!" Moto said, accusing Kion even harsher manner as he turned to him.

Kion still didn't look up at anyone, too ashamed when realizing that Moto was right. Not even when Bongo, Tamu, Fuli, Kiara, Bunga, Beshte and Ono all stood up for Kion to Moto by gathering protectively around of their leader/friend/brother, while still glaring daggers at Moto.

Moto, of course, didn't care about them. He relished of having finally exposed Kion as no hero but just like Scar who asocialises with the Outlanders.

"Yeah! Did you hear me, Scar-Junior! All of this is your fault! All of it! Completely, your fault! If you hadn't ran into the Outlands to save that jackal pest and brought it here in the Pride Lands, none of this wouldn't have happened in the first place! So admit it, Scar-Junior! Admit it! You're no different from Scar! You're just like...!"

However, Moto was cut off when Simba stepped in in his son's defense. "It might never have happened in the first place if I hadn't told my son to save the jackal cub!" the king said aloud.

The animals gasped again at these news, and even Moto stared at the king with his eyes gone wide and the stunned look on his face, not having expecting this revelation.

"Your majesty? What are you saying?!" Moto asked, demanding an explanation.

"Dad?" Kion said, looking hesitatingly up at his father.

"What happened today wasn't completely Kion's fault but mine as well." Simba said, looking down at his son. "The truth is that I encouraged him to save that jackal pup this morning, with the words that the spirit of Kupatana extends to all the animals in the Circle of Life, even those ones in the Outlands." the king both revealed and reminded his son.

"Yeah, but you didn't tell me to invite them into the Pride Lands." Kion sighed.

Simba smiled assuringly down at the young cub. "Yes, Kion. You made a mistake, but you made it in the spirit of Kupatana. You gave strangers a chance to fit in even if it didn't go as you'd wanted it to go. And tonight, thanks to you, son, we saw Kupatana in action. All of the animals of the Pride Lands standing together as one."

"Thanks, dad." Kion said, feeling a bit better of himself now.

The animals of the grove seemed more than satisfied with their king's words, and expressed with gentle and approving glances at the prince that his mistake in letting the jackals into the Pride Lands was an honest mistake made in the name of the spirit of Kupatana, and not so much done intentionally as Moto had claimed.

Moto looked around of him with the horrified look on his face. "What?! That's it?! All of this is all of the sudden forgotten?! Even forgiven?! But... but... but... but can't you bunch of idiots see what I see in him?! Wasn't all the problems you endured today because of Kion proof enough to prove my point?!"

The animals all around turned to look at Moto with the annoyed looks on their faces, which Moto disregarded as he turned to confront the king himself.

"But your majesty! You can't be serious about leaving Kion unpunished even after he let the jackals trespass into our territory, invade the aardvarks' dens, steal the foods and now this! Can't you see that Kion let all of this just go through of his paw toes like it's nothing serious just like your uncle!" Moto protested.

"And how do you know all of what the jackals did during of their time in here, Moto?" Nala said sternly as she stood by her mate's side, staring down at the bully. "If you knew all of that was happening in the first place, then shouldn't have you go to warn Simba about the intruders?"

Moto was about to say something, until he quickly realized what the queen had asked him... that why he hand't reported any of this to the king as he should have.

The bully became extremely nervous very quickly as both Simba and Nala stared him down, expecting some kind of response from him to the queen's question.

"We didn't look through of our paw toes the crimes of Reirei and his family, Your Majesty. We confronted the jackals about them and even threatened to have them removed from the Pride Lands if they won't live by the rules." Bongo explained. "And while we did give them a chance to participate in the Kupatana Celebration, we did it on the condition that they treat the other animals with respect, along with the warning that they'll be kicked out instantly should they deliberately ignore the warning."

Pondering Bongo's words and comparing them to Moto's, the king came to one simple and sensible conclusion.

"It seems to me, Moto, that it wasn't in fact Kion or the Lion Guard who neglected their duty with the jackals... it was you who deliberately neglected to report to me about the intruders and the commotion they were causing in the Pride Lands." Simba said with the arched brows at Moto.

"And probably to used them as an excuses to deliberately discriminate against my brother with his Kion-is-just-like-Scar thing again!" Kiara accused with the narrowd look.

"Shame on you, Moto!" Nala scolded.

Shocked and horrified that his schemes to make Kion to look just like Scar in the eyes of the Pridelanders ended up backfiring him again, Moto backed away from the members of the royal family, only to bump into his mother, who looked down at his son both in anger and disappointment.

"Kungua," Simba said as he looked at Moto's mom. "Take Moto back to Pride Rock? Then come back to the celebration."

"Yes, Your Highness." Kungua nodded and grabbed from his teen son's scruff. "Come on, Moto. You're going back to Pride Rock and, when I come back, we're having a long talk." she told her son as she dragged him back to Pride Rock.

"What? No! No! Let me go!" Moto struggled against his mom's grasp, before he glanced at Kion angrily. "This isn't over, Scar-junior! The Pride Lands will see your true colors one day! I swear this!"

"Good riddance." Bongo sighed with relief. "Should've known that if the jackals didn't try to ruin the Kupatana Celebration, Moto probably would have tried."

"I guess this year's celebration is already ruined." Kion lamented, his ears sadly pressed against the sides of his head.

"You kidding?" Bunga questioned, making Kion to look the honey badger as he picked up a blossom from the ground and held it up.

"Bunga? What are you doing?" Bongo asked, confused.

"Well, usually we just get to look at these things." Bunga said before he put it in his mouth and chewed it before swallowing it, relishing on the taste. "Hmm! This is the best Kupatana Celebration ever!" the honey badger declared before he picked up another one and ate it.

Ono picked up a blossom in his beak, swallowing it with a chuckle. "I have to admit, that Bunga's right. These baobab blossoms are delicious."

"Ohh! Let me try too!" Beshte said and scooped some petals into his mouth and ate them, enjoying the taste as well.

"Ohh! Ohh! Ohh! Save something for us! Save something for us!" Chika, Wiba and Guvu cried out and the trio of pups instantly began to pick the petals into their mouths and swallowed them, all three of them humming pleasantly at the taste.

All the other animals followed the example of the three members of the Lion Guard and the three wild dog pup and began to pick up the petals from the ground and ate them, all of them having afterwards the same pleasant expressions on their faces.

"You see, Kion?" Simba said. "Everything has its place." the king stated.

"Yeah. It's the Circle of Life." Kion stated.

Bongo looked very happily as the animals celebrating Kupatana, despite the recent chaos caused by the jackals... that once again he had failed to notice Tamu having appeared to stand next to him, this time holding the bunch of petals in her mouth.

She then caught Bongo's attention by nudging him in the cheek with her snout, snapping the Slyest out of his thoughts and making him to turn to Tamu with the surprised look.

"These are for you, Moto. Try them, Please." Tamu pleaded, giving Moto the pleading act with her widened and sparkling eyes.

"Oh, for the crying out..." Bongo groaned, shaking his head with the eye-roll in disbelief, believing that he had had enogh of the jackals' puppy-fog-eyes act for one day and did his very best to resist Tamu's own act by turning away from her.

"*Whimper! Whimper! Whimper!*" Tamu whimpered pleadingly, while leaning her muzzle and the petals a little closer of Bongo's face.

Bongo made several glances at her and her offering over his shoulder but quickly turned back in attempt to resist her eyes-act.

However, despite his best attempt of resistance, Tamu remained persistent with her eyed-act and the offering of petals.

However, after some moment, Bongo rolled his eyes, knowing that there was no other way to get rid of her and her eyes-act than just to give in and accept the petals she's offering to him.

"Oh! Alright. I'll take them." Bongo groaned as he turned to Tamu, making her smile triumphantly.

Moto then reached his muzzle forward to take the petals from Tamu's mouth, careful not to touch her lips with his own.

But when he was just about to get them into his own mouth, their noses ended up rubbing gently against each other, which the two quickly noticed and hastily pulled back, with both of them carrying the half of Tamu's offering in their mouths.

"Uhh... uh... uh..." Bongo stuttered, not knowing what to say while blushing furiously, while Tamu turned her own face slightly away, smiling shyly while blushing furiously too.

Moto then proceeded to eat the petals, which pleasant taste did calm him down a bit. "Mmm. Very tasty." he said, licking his chops, before he turned to Tamu with the grateful smile on his lips. "Thank you, Tamu."

Tamu then ate her own petals and turned back to Bongo with the sweet smile. "You're welcome, Bongo."

The female wild dog then walked up to Bongo and closed her eyes as she nuzzled the top of her head under the Slyest's chin, catching him by surprise once more.

"Happy Kupatana, Bongo." Tamu said in whisper as she kept nuzzling against Bongo's chin and neck.

Bongo was for a moment too stunned by Tamu's act to say anything or do anything, before the Slyest shrugged it off with the eyeroll and rested his head on top of Tamu's head while wrapping his paw around her.

"Happy Kupatana, Tamu." Bongo said with the smiled.

The two pups' initially awkward but eventually warm moment was witnessed from nearby by Alfa and Shauri, who both agreed that it was so sweet and adorable sight.

Glancing momentarily at each other lovingly, the daughter leaned her head to rest against her father's neck, who rested his own head on top of his daughter's head and wrapped his own paw around her, while the two kept staring at Bongo and Tamu together.

THE END