Agh... this darn scar. Why can't I just get a break for once? Kion asked himself as he pawed at his scar. Zira and Jua threw insults and taunts at him, all the while threatening him if he ever tried to fight back.

"JUST STOP ALREADY, WILL YOU?!" Kion screamed at the tip of his lungs. "JUST STOP IT! LET ME GO HOME!"

"But that would be SO boring," Jua said dramatically. "Besides, hearing your pathetic squealing for comfort is quite amusing."

I was squealing? Kion subconsciously looked down at his paws, his pelt sparking with embarrassment.

"I want my mom..." Kion muttered, missing the feeling when he was curled up in his mother's paws without a single worry in the lands.

"Aww, did you hear that?" Jua mocked. "The little cub misses his mommy. If only he knew..."

"Knew what?" Kion demanded.

"Oh it's nothing." Jua's words came out in a snarl.

"But-"

"QUESTION ME AGAIN, AND I'LL CLAW YOU THIS WHOLE NIGHT!" Jua yelled. Kion cowered below her intimidating figure. He tucked his tail between his legs which were trembling with fear.

"Wait Jua, we agreed that next time, it'd be my turn to torture Kion," Zira reminded her. Jua nodded. "Oh yeah, we did agree that. Don't let me get in your way." Jua stepped aside from the trembling Kion, exposing him to Zira and all of her torture.

"Ah yes, this will be fun." Zira circled around Kion, unsheathing her claws. She got close to him. He could feel her hot breath on his cheeks. "You're lucky I'll be nice to you today." The very sound of her voice made Kion shiver. "I'll save the stricter punishment for later."

Kion let out a sigh of relief. His trembling returned when he felt claws slide against his side, drawing blood. He grunted and whimpered in pain. This will all be over when I wake up... This will all be over when I wake up. He tried to reassure himself with those thoughts, but it was useless.

**

Kion's eyes snapped open. Finally! Thank the Great Kings and Queens that's over... He got to his paws, surprisingly not struggling as much as he had before. Gotta keep going to find my friends, he thought determinedly.

[FLASHBACK]

The Lion Guard were still on their way to the Tree of Life. Fuli walked alongside Kion and the rest of the Guard. The next Moja Kwa Moja Stone they had to find was a mountain with two peaks. They had already found two Moja Kwa Moja stones, one on the Back Lands waterfall and one on an iroko tree. Luckily, Anga had spotted the mountain with two peaks and they were currently walking there.

A bolt of pain shot through Kion. He raised his paw and rubbed his eye. Agh... Kion continued to paw at his scar.

"Kion, are you okay?" Fuli asked him. He replied harshly.

"I'm fine Fuli!" He snapped in irritation. Fuli flinched. As far as she could remember at the moment, Kion never snapped at anyone like that, especially at his friends. Kion, obviously realizing what he just said, shook his head and apologized.

"Sorry, Fuli. I didn't mean to-" Fuli cut him off. "It's alright Kion," she replied. Kion gave her a grateful glance and slowly walked towards the head of the group.

"Uh, guys," Kion heard Anga say. "We have a problem."

"What is it Anga?" Fuli asked her.

"Well," Anga replied. "You see the mountain with two peaks that we need to climb, it's covered in loose rocks. There aren't any strong grip holds. And it's not like I can just carry all of you up a mountain." Anga added the last part with sarcasm. Ugh! Great, how are we gonna get to the next Moja Kwa Moja stone?! Kion thought annoyed.

"Well, let's go." Kion told the Guard. "We'll figure out what we do when we get there."

**

When they got there they saw Anga was right. The mountain side was covered in loose rocks without a strong grip hold. "Why not just try to climb it?" Kion said. "No! Wait Kion don't-" Kion ignored them. He jumped up onto the loose rocks and he climbed a good thirty paw-jumps up until he stumbled on a loose rock and fell to the ground with a yelp and a thud. Pain seared all throughout him almost to the point of where he would pass out.

"Kion! Are you alright?!" Fuli asked him. His front paw was was swollen and his leg was scabbed and bruised from the fall. Kion's eyes glittered with pain. "I'm-" He winced. "Fine." He tried to get up, but pain seared through him once more - his leg wouldn't allow him and he fell back down. "Oh no!" Makini exclaimed. "Kion let me help you." She walked over to him and tried to examine his leg, but he pulled it away and growled. "I don't need help! I'm fine!"

Fuli tried to intervene. "Kion," she said calmly. "Makini is just trying to help you." He felt another searing pain - his scar.

"Oh," Kion shook his head, trying to clear his mind. "Sorry Makini." "It's alright Kion, but I really think you should let me help you." Kion reluctantly held out his front leg for Makini to examine.

Makini ran her fingers down his front leg. She came upon a tender spot and pain seared through Kion once more. He yelped and pulled away. "Sorry." Makini apologized. She then continued examining his leg. When she was done, she came over to Fuli. Kion could hear them speak in low whispers but he couldn't tell what they were saying. Then, Fuli walked over to Kion.

"Kion, you've broken your leg, Makini says you should stay off of it for a while," she told him.

"Broken my leg?!" Kion exclaimed. She can't be serious! "There's no way I'm staying off of it for that long! I'll probably have my mane by the time it heals!"

Fuli rolled her eyes. "You're over exaggerating," she responded. Kion managed a subtle eye roll. He didn't know if Fuli saw it or not, but he hoped she didn't. "But you won't be if you try to walk on it too early," Fuli warned him. Kion rolled his eyes again. "Fine," he responded. "Doesn't mean I have to like it though," he said annoyed.

"Wouldn't expect you to," Fuli said. She then looked back at the Guard. "Anga, Ono, Bunga, we'll try to figure out a way to get up the mountain and to the next Moja Kwa Moja stone." She ordered them. "Beshte and Makini, you two take Kion to that den over there" -she motioned towards an abandoned den about twenty pawsteps away from them- "and make sure he doesn't try to walk on his broken leg. I'll load him on you, Beshte." Fuli grabbed Kion by his scruff and, though struggling, lifted him onto Beshte. Kion grunted in protest but Fuli ignored him. Beshte, now carrying Kion, made his way to the abandoned den with Makini.

When they got into the den, Makini started working with a few twigs, vines, leaves, and mud. What's she doing? Kion wondered. When she was done, she carried the mysterious thing she built over to Kion.

"What's that?" He asked curiously. "It's a splint," Makini explained. "It's to hold your leg still so it can heal right." She then started to apply the splint to his leg. He grunted in pain while she did it. Then, she was finally done. "Done," Makini told him. Thank the Great Kings and Queens. That felt like FOREVER!

"Do you need any water?" Makini asked, cupping water from a stream two pawsteps away from them.

"Yeah." For the first time that day, Kion noticed how thirsty he was.

"Here, drink." She cupped more water from the stream and put her hands near Kion's mouth. He eagerly lapped up the water, the cool liquid soothing his fairly dry throat.

Then Beshte started walking out of the den with Makini walking beside him. Fuli looked puzzled for some reason, then he glanced down at the splint his leg. Oh, she might be wondering what the splint is.

"That's a makeshift splint I made for Kion," Makini told her. Guess I was right. The Guard and Makini then walked up the path of the mountain.

When they got to the top, Kion saw the next Moja Kwa Moja stone. It had a painting of the mountain with two peaks on it. Makini walked over to it and touched the tip of her bakora staff to the stone. The painting of the mountain disappeared and was replaced with a painting of the Tree of Life. "There's the Tree of Life!" Said Makini while looking at the painting.

"Where to next Ono?" Fuli asked the egret. "Nowasa..." Kion heard the egret mutter. He was likely thinking. Finally, he replied. "Next we go to another mountain, this time with snow all over it." "Okay, thanks Ono." Fuli replied. "Let's go!" She said.

"We will find the Tree of Life," he heard Fuli mutter. Well duh! Of course we will! Why would she doubt that?

Kion then felt more pain in his leg. He was determined not to show weakness, so he didn't. Stupid leg. Stupid mountain with loose rocks. He paused in his thoughts for a moment. Stupid me for climbing up the mountain even after they warned me!

He moaned in pain. Fuli turned back to face him. "You okay?" She asked. Kion nodded, trying to be convincing.

The Lion Guard eventually found a small cave. They settled inside it by Fuli's orders and started to get some rest. Fuli walked over to Kion. "Remember to try not to move your leg and don't walk on it," she reminded him. "Yeah, yeah. I know," Kion said.

"Be sure to listen, because if you try to walk on it you could get really hurt," Fuli told him.

"I know, I know," Kion said. "You don't need to fuss over me."

Fuli chuckled then walked to her sleeping spot in the den. She soon fell asleep.

However, Kion stayed awake. A recognizable feeling brewed in his lower gut. Gotta take a leak... He tried to push himself up to go outside, struggling for a long while, but eventually he succeeded. He had a large limp in his walk, but at the moment he couldn't care less.

He finally made his way outside and did his business. He let out a sigh of relief. He then felt a pain in his scar. Agh... He began to wobble a bit. Then suddenly, he saw a figure in the shadows. It knocked into him with a sheer amount of force, sending him sliding down a slope on the mountain.

"Help!" He called out. "Someone help!" He continued sliding down the mountain, not able to get a grip on anything due to his broken leg. "SOMEONE HELP!" He continued shouting fearfully. He peered ahead and saw a cliff.. and he couldn't see the ground below it. No! Kion's heart was pounding out of his chest. What's gonna happen to me?!

Suddenly he heard a voice call out: "Huwezi!"

He saw Fuli dash in his direction with the rest of the Guard with her. She started giving out orders and commands quickly. Fuli then dashed ahead to where he was. She got close enough to grab his scruff. She dug her claws into the ground, slowing his fall. "Guys," she mumbled through a mouthful of fur. "Can't... hold on... much longer."

The Guard rushed to their aid. Beshte grabbed Fuli's tail and hauled both her and Kion back up a part of the slope. Once they were on flat ground, Fuli began to scold Kion.

"Kion! Why did you do that?!" Fuli shouted. Kion could feel the anger in her voice. "I told you not to go out with a broken leg! And you didn't listen to me!" Kion's ears flattened at the sharp edge of her voice.

"You could have been hurt! You shouldn't have done that!" She scolded. "You could have died!"

"Fuli, I-"

She cut him off. "Do you even know how much you scared me when I heard your screaming?!" This made Kion recoil as if she had just clawed him. "Do you even know how much you scared me when I saw you weren't here?!" Fuli demanded.

She was met with silence. "I.. I'm sorry," Kion finally stumbled out after a few moments.

"You should be!" Fuli shouted angrily. She turned around, tail lashing. "Let's go."

The Guard nodded and some gazed sympathetically at Kion. They then turned around and began to follow Fuli. However, one struggled to do so. Kion limped so heavily that anybody could barely consider it walking.

He grunted in pain, trying not to let the tears fall from his eyes in his pain. "You guys go ahead to the den. I'll catch up," he heard Fuli say. He noticed Fuli turn around and walk towards him, her face expression softening.

"Are you okay?" She asked him softly, her gaze not matching the angry one she held before. Kion was about to reply, but suddenly his leg buckled and he collapsed to the ground. "Ah!"

Fuli sighed and walked over to Beshte who wasn't that far ahead now. "Beshte, carry Kion to the den," she told him. "He shouldn't walk with a broken leg."

Beshte nodded and walked back over to Kion. "Get on me," Beshte said encouragingly. "I'll carry you."

Kion sighed and did as he was told, getting on Beshte with Fuli's help. When they got home, Beshte carried Kion to a sleeping spot in the den. Fuli and Makini worked together to lift Kion off of Beshte. Beshte and Makini went to other sleeping spots in the den. However, Fuli stayed with Kion.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" She asked him, obviously seeing the fear in his eyes from his near death ordeal.

Kion slowly nodded. "And thanks for saving me."

"No problem. And I'm sorry I yelled. I..." Fuli trailed off. "I was just so scared, Kion. Please don't go outside without telling us for the time that you're leg is still injured." Fuli paused and she looked at him curiously. "How did you even end up sliding down the slope anyway?"

"Well... I was outside, and something knocked into me. I didn't know what it was though," Kion told her, purposely leaving out the needing to leak.

"Interesting... What do you think it was?" She asked.

"I don't know," Kion replied. "Let's go back to sleep."

"Okay." The two felines curled up next to each other, pressing their pelts together for warmth. Their sleep was peaceful, undisturbed by a single thing.

[END OF FLASHBACK]

I want to go back to them. I want to go back to my friends.

"Kion, I can help you, you know," he heard Jua whisper in his ear.

"No," he growled. "Get out of my head!"

"Never," Jua's voice snarled back.

"You can't help me!" He protested. 

"Ah yes I can," Jua told him. "You want to go back to Fuli, no?"

As much as Kion didn't want to reveal any weakness, he couldn't bring himself to say no. "Yes, I do."

"Well I can help you."

"How's that?" Kion asked curiously.

"Well, I have the power to give you the strength to run across the grasslands and dessert in less than a day. You can see Fuli and your little 'friends' again. Everything would be the way it was."

"That'd be- Hang on, what's the catch?" Kion asked suspiciously.

"The catch is you must always remain loyal to me," Jua explained, snickering.

"How's that?" Kion asked.

"Do what I say, when I say, and how I say," Jua told him.

"And if I don't?" Kion asked.

"If you don't..." Jua snickered evilly. "Something very... tragic might happen to your little cheetah friend."

Kion gasped. He played the pros and cons in his head. If I say yes, I can see Fuli and my friends again. All I have to do is stay loyal to Jua... I really want to see Fuli again... But if I mess up... Fuli will be gone... This means I can't mess up... Eventually, he decided that the pros outweighed the cons, as long as he did everything right.

"Okay, Jua. I'll do it."

"Good," she said. Kion shivered at the menacing tone of her voice. "Very, very good. Now hold still, this might be a shock."

Kion held at still as he could, bracing himself for pain. She placed her paw on his heart.

"Ah, nguvu yangu 

Muangalie chini simba huyu mchanga 

Mpe nguvu anayohitaji ili kuifanya kwa marafiki zake 

Mpe hii Kishindo 

Kama anavyotaka 

Sasa atanitii 

Au atakabiliwa na matokeo."

When she was done chanting, a burst of light shot into Kion's chest. "AH!" He screamed in pain and shock. Then another burst of light shot into him. "AHH!" He screeched in pain. It felt like a mshtuko wa moyo. Think of happy times, think of happy times... Kion repeatedly told himself. The pain lingered for a minute or two before finally disappearing, much to Kion's relief.

"There we go," Jua cackled. "Now run, run like the wind and faster."

Kion ran, he ran as fast as his paws could take him. He felt everlasting strength that never diminished.

I can't believe it! I'm gonna see my friends again! I'm gonna see Fuli again! I can't wait!

The day went on, day turned to night, Kion kept running, not feeling any tiredness. He felt instinct pulling him one way, and he followed it.

Soon, some animals came into view. He squinted and he saw... Fuli! And the Guard! His paws took him faster than he ever could have imagined. They all had their heads bowed and were still, as if they were taken over by the darkness of the night.

"Fuli! Fuli! Fuli!" He called out excitedly. Fuli perked up. As soon as he saw him, she ran to him. The two felines embraced, weeping. The Guard joined them a moment after. Kion's legs suddenly felt wobbly and tired, as Jua's strength power was wearing off, but Kion couldn't care less. Fuli and the Guard were here and that was what mattered.

"Kion.... how are you alive?! I'm so glad you're here," Fuli said through her tears.

"And I'm glad to be here." He noticed she looked dejected. "Are you okay, Fuli? You look sad."

"I am sad. Gozi.. is dead."