In the depths of Pride Rock, the other members of the Lion Guard waited for their leader. Beshte the hippopotamus, strongest of the Guard, rested his body within a reasonably deep pool of water within the lair. He bobbed his exhausted head in and out of the water. Not far from the hippo, a small, yet remarkably bright Egret, nestled on a pile of twigs and leaves. He sat on a small perch overlooking Beshte's pool. All seemed calm and peaceful. Well, until...
"ZUKA ZAMA!" As if from nowhere, a thick-skinned, greyish-blue furred ball leapt from the vines protruding from the lair's rocky ceiling. Diving into the water's surface below, the ball unravelled itself, revealing a small, but rather brave (bordering on stupid) honey badger. His body crashed through the water's surface with a shallow, yet rippled splash.
"HAPANA!" Ono cried. The honey badger's splashing into the water with thick, rapidly shock-absorbing skin awoke the Egret. The bird flapped sporadically into the sky as if a bolt of lightning had zapped the end of his pristine white-yellow tail feathers. This sharp, socked screech in turn awoke Beshte, forcing the Hippo to surface from the water.
"What's wrong Ono?" Beshte asked.
"Oh, it's nothing Beshte." The egret replied, now slowly recovering from his shocked state. He perched onto the hippo's wet, slippery back.
"Bunga just made me jump, that's all." Ono turned towards Bunga as the honey badger paddled through the slow, pulsing waves, all moving from his hippo friend's emergence.
"You seem to be... energetic still, Bunga?" Ono asked.
"Well duh." The honey badger splashed as he waved his clawed hand towards his friends. "I don't need THAT much sleep." His shoulders arose in the water's shallow waves, shrugging off the aggravated looks from his egret friend. Ono's look calmed softly as a breeze blew through the vine-covered lair entrance, bringing in a mixture of two very similar scents brushing together.
"Doesn't matter." Ono sighed. His beak picked up the scents as they blew past. "Wait a tick, Fuli and Kion are coming!"
"Wait! How do you-?" Bunga was interrupted as the lion and cheetah duo entered the lair. Their bodies softly treaded onwards despite the tiredness that engulfed their eyes. Kion entered first, his tail waving from side to side: a meter in front of Fuli. The cheetah trotted into the lair before leaping up a short rocky ledge overlooking the pool. Her emerald green eyes flicked between Kion and the rest of the guard.
"Hey guys!" A slight shudder blasted through the lair as the fiercest lion cub gave a tremendous yawn.
"Hey Kion!" The three members replied, treading toward their leader. Fuli watched from above, resting her slim, spherical head on her front legs. A cheeky, mindless grin illuminated her cheeks.
"Did anyone sleep well?"
"Well..." Ono exclaimed, spreading his wings out to align them once more. "We did until Bunga woke us up."
His sharp, detailed eyes shot towards Bunga, piercing the honey badger's thick skin with a furious gaze.
"Hey, I can't help it." Bunga replied, who at this point decided to feast on a small line of insects scurrying across the floor.
"Doesn't matter." Kion leapt up to the rock where Fuli laid, forcing her to move to the right. The cheetah did not mind, casually shifting her slender body over. "Gather round everyone."
The trio moved around their leaders, their minds wondering what was going on. "I know you're all tired, but today we are doing our patrol a bit... differently." Kion continued to trot side to side, turning to his friends. "We're only patrolling from here to Mbali Fields, then my dad will take over for us."
Beshte, Bunga and Ono squawked in amazement at the news "The king! Patrolling?" The Guard's surprise, mixed with the fresh sense of relief, brought a pair of stress relieved, energized smiles to adorn Kion and Fuli's faces.
The sun's light poked through the cave's entrance, blinding all five members of the Guard. Fuli, now arisen to all four paws, jumped down from her ledge, followed closely by Kion. As soon as they landed, both turned to the rest of the Guard once more.
"Everyone ready?" Kion smiled.
"Yep!" Both Beshte and Fuli replied simultaneously. Beshte's ears flapped wildly in the air as Fuli's constant smile seemed to send unusual, heated shivers through Kion's fur.
"Zuka zama!" Bunga backflipped, landing perfectly back on his hind legs, a bristle of fur barely out of place.
"Affirmative!" Ono was the last to reply, squawking out as he kicked off the hippo's back..
"Ok then." Kion began his sprint out of the cave, a habit that had been built since the Guard's conception. "Till the Pridelands end..."
"Lion Guard defend!" The rest of the Guard followed their leader out of the lair. Fuli slowly backed up Kion whilst Bunga and Beshte tried their best to keep up with the two felines. Ono gracefully flew above, easily keeping up with the slowed-down cheetah and lion respectively.
All five members continued this sprint until they reached the base of Pride Rock, resulting in them trotting (or gliding) their way across the savanna, not knowing of the world-changing events happening nearby...
...
Further away, near the borders of the Pridelands, Kopa continued to sneak through the many bushes and patches of tall grass dotting the zebra's grazing grounds, leaving nothing but the slightest, breeze-like shudder as he crept forward. His claws retracted into their fluffy, furry pads.
As he swept through the grasslands undetected, he watched the herds of zebras. Within this herd, a single mare away from the rest of the herd accompanied by a single foul. As they both stood grazing, the foul raised his head, brushing against his mother's, a large, loving smile booming across their faces.
A deep, cold gnawing feeling rumbled in his stomach. His heart chilled as memories of the past week flashed before his eyes. All the lands he had explored, all the times he was chased off, hungry and alone once more.
"BOO!" As if from nowhere, Kwaheri leapt from a nearby acacia tree, landing on his sneaky lion friend with a soft, leaf rustling pop and swish. The Royal Mlinzi shrieked out, leaping into the air as his fur stood on end. His shriek barely brushed on the winds, alerting only a single zebra for a few seconds before it returned to grazing.
"Great Lions above us!" The lion managed to regain his stealthy posture, lowering his heartbeat as his claws retracted back into his paws.
"Don't do that, Kwaheri!" Kopa sneered. The monkey jumped on the bushy floor beside his friend, scurrying the ground with his hands.
"Hungry?" Kwaheri asked.
The lion turned his eyesight back to the zebra herd, his stomach rumbling as he watched them move, heading towards the shallow ravine before Rocky Ridge. A hunger-rumbled, shallow sigh of defeat whistled through his whiskers.
"I guess."
"Why don't you have some grubs?" The monkey, burrowing his hand in the undergrowth and raised out a fistful of grubs. They all varied in size, texture and colour. Two large, squishy ones rested at the bottom, with a few smaller, crunchier ones on top.
The Royal Mlinzi's face and stomach slumped.
"Eww. No thanks." His tongue flapped out as he moved his head away from his friend's bug crawling mouth.
"Alright, more for me then!" Kwaheri gulped them down, the chewing and crunching rattling through the lion's spine like the footprints of a large elderly elephant. The lion, knowing his potential prey was now long gone, emerged from the bushes, his tail tucked between his legs.
As he did, a quiet, distant noise brushed against his ears through the wind. He couldn't at first tell what it was. The shallow sound of galloping seemed to cancel the noise. Staring into the distance, a small, blistering trail of dust rushed towards him.
"Ahaaa-haaa-haaaaa!" The distinctive demonic laugh rippled through the air, rattling every strand of fur on Kopa's back. His pupils dilated, darkening as a hidden, hate-driven streak burst in his heart.
"Hyenas!" Kopa shouted. His mind blanked. Nothing else mattered anymore. Kicking off, the lion long sprinted, leaving a trail of dust behind him. His monkey friend, still consuming the bugs he had collected, shook his head, coughing and sneezing as the dust storm covered him.
"Hey! Wait up!" The monkey dropped the last few grubs, sprinting after his feline friend as fast as his small, flexy legs could carry him.
It was by a stroke of luck that this random encounter would soon bring them closer to completing their mission. The times ahead would challenge them all. The circle of events was now rolling once more, the first time in many, darkened months.
It was time.. for the Pridelands to welcome its first rogue lion in over five years...
