Fuli blinked open her eyes. She looked around, scared. This place was unfamiliar to her, she was in a den with grassy flooring underneath her. The roof was high, about ten pawsteps high. I'm not dead? She saw a cheetah, just like her, walking around the den. Then, an important thought hit her. Kion! Is he okay?

"Erm, excuse me," she asked the cheetah. "Have you seen a young lion with golden fur and a bright red, still-growing mane?"

"Ah, yes I have! It tried to kill you! We saw it standing next to your body when we carried you out of the ravine," the cheetah replied. 

Why did he use the term 'it' when referring to Kion?

"What you do mean? He didn't try to kill me. I saved him," Fuli told the cheetah. 

The cheetah's face turned to shock. His eyes widened. "What?! How could you save a lion! Their species are enemies to ours! Lions are nothing but cruel, vicious, savages!" 

Fuli's eyes widened at the cheetah's statement. "What do you mean by that?" She asked curiously.

"Lions have killed many of our kind. They forced our clan, Swift's Clan, to leave our home and travel here." 

Wait, there are other cheetahs?

"There are other cheetahs?" Fuli asked. 

"Oh yes there are. About forty of them," the cheetah replied. "Also, my name is Ghafla."

"Also," Ghafla continued. "There's two cheetahs who told me they want to see you." Fuli was confused. Someone wanted to see her? Who was it? Then, two familiar cheetahs walked into the room. Fuli couldn't believe her eyes.

"Mom?! Dad?!" Fuli exclaimed. She then ran over to them and hugged them. "What are you doing here?"

"That's what we were going to ask you!" Her mother, Endesha, exclaimed. Her father, Mwepesi, stepped forward. "Thank goodness you survived that attack from that lion!" He spat the last part out in disgust.

"He didn't attack me," Fuli told them. "I saved him." 

"She told me that earlier, Swift Mwepesi," Ghafla whispered into her father's ear. Her father looked confused.

"Did you bump your head or something? Why in the name of the Bright Stars Above the Savanna would you save a lion?"

"He's my friend," Fuli explained. Her parents eyes widened. Her mother, father, and Ghafla exchanged nervous glances. 

"Well," her father began. "We'll shape you up into a real cheetah yet." 

Um, excuse me? 

Fuli heard her father mutter something under his breath, but she couldn't tell what it was.

"Uhum, okay?" Fuli said awkwardly. Then her father and mother walked into another huge cave with a tall roof. "It's time you learn our way. The way of the cheetah!" "Yeah!" Her mother agreed.

All alone
Without your own kind
I'll bet you don't know our way
Let us show you and you will find
The way cheetahs are meant to be, the way they are designed

(Jifunze njia ya Duma)
Learn the cheetah way
(Jifunze njia ya Duma)
That what we've gotta say!

I know you've loved being alone once
It's engrained in your blood
Embrace those ways again
You know that it's fun

Having friends can drag you down
If the lion is truly the one you saved
It's his fault you almost drowned
For his life, you're the one who paid

Get yourself a territory
Defend it!
That's what I say
That's what your supposed to do
It's just the cheetah way

(Jifunze njia ya Duma)
Learn the cheetah way
(Jifunze njia ya Duma)
That's what we'll teach you today!

Have you ever felt like you were missing something?
Now you know what that 'something' is
But here there's just one thing
That you need to give

"Fuli, do you swear your loyalty to Swift's Clan?" Her father asked her. Fuli was shocked. She had only just arrived here! Yet, they are her family, she should be loyal to them.

"I do."
[The entire Swift's Clan singing]
(Jifunze njia ya Duma)
We've taught you the cheetah way
(Jifunze njia ya Duma)
You've learned this today

(Jifunze njia ya Duma)
Now you'll serve Swift's Clan
(Jifunze njia ya Duma)
With everything you have!

"Welcome to Swift's Clan, Fuli!" Her father cheered. 

Fuli was worried. Her parents didn't expect her to stay in Swift's Clan for her whole life, did he? They're probably just very happy to see me, she thought to herself. The clan began to disperse and go back to doing whatever they were doing before Fuli arrived. Fuli turned back to face her father.

"Now what?" Fuli asked.

"Now you serve your clan," her father told her. "Do you know how to fight?" He asked.

"Pfft! Of course! I know how to fight! I used to fight hyenas, jackals, vultures, and crocodiles almost every day!" Her father looked shocked. "All on your own?" He asked in disbelief.

"Of course not, my friends helped me. Including the lion I saved." Her father's lips seemed to curl downward in disgust the moment she mentioned Kion. She shrugged it off.

"Well, at least you know how to fight. We get attacks very often from the lion pride that lives nearby us, the Sun Pride, ever since they moved in by us. They appeared to be traveling, I wonder if they were kicked out from wherever they came from, I wouldn't be surprised if they were."

"Okay Dad, I'll be ready if there's an attack," Fuli told him.

"Good," he replied. "And also, since you know how to fight already, and one of the older cubs is coming of age to learn how to fight, do you think you could teach him?" 

Fuli's ears perked up at that. "Sure!" She replied enthusiastically. 

"Alright," her father replied. "Let's take you to meet him." 

They then walked into a smaller cave in the large cave they were in. The then approached a part of the cave with grassy flooring, comfortable to sleep on. Fuli then saw a young cheetah, about her age when she first joined the Lion Guard, with light golden colored fur with spots, orange-brown eyes, and a tuft of fur on his head.

"Fuli, meet Gozi." Fuli was shocked at the name. 

Like Kiongozi, she thought to herself. 

"Gozi," her father began. Gozi immediately looked up and got to his paws. 

"Yes, Swift Mwepesi!" Gozi exclaimed, dipping his head in respect. His voice sounded almost fearful.

"Fuli" -he motioned to Fuli standing next to him- "will be your new Battle Trainer and Hunting Teacher." 

Gozi's eyes sparkled with delight, though he didn't voice it. Instead he dipped his head to her father. "Yes Swift Mwepesi, thank you."

"Also," her father continued. "Start immediately." 

"Yes Swift Mwepesi!" Gozi replied then dipped his head to her father again. 

What is going on with Gozi? She wondered. 

Her and Gozi then walked out of the cave and into the fields and grasslands that surrounded it.

"Gozi, what was that about?" Fuli asked. "Why were you so nervous around my father?" Gozi seemed to freeze the moment she said that.

"He's your father?!" He exclaimed then dipped his head. 

"Gozi? What's going on? Why are you bowing to my father and me?"

"Because he's the leader of Swift's Clan! And you're his daughter, so you're his successor," Gozi told her.

"Wait, what?! I can't stay here in Swift's Clan! I have to find my friend Kion!" Fuli blurted out. 

Gozi looked shocked. "But you swore your loyalty, that means you have to stay," Gozi said solemnly.

 Fuli was bewildered. "Gozi, I want you to sit down, and tell me everything," she said. Gozi looked nervous.

"I-I might get punished if we get caught," Gozi told her nervously. Fuli was shocked.

"Then we won't get caught," Fuli said determinedly. 

"O-okay," came Gozi's reply. They then laid down in the tall grass and Gozi started to speak.

"Before your father, Mwepesi, arrived in Swift's Clan, this clan wasn't named 'Swift's Clan.' It was named 'Cheetah's Clan,' for all opinions and voices were heard and everyone in the clan was equal. No cheetah was above another. Then, one day, you're father and mother arrived in the clan with a few other cheetahs with them. They proposed to the cheetahs in Cheetah's Clan that decisions would be made quicker and easier if a single cheetah decided it, instead of the arguing that would happen amongst making a group decision." Gozi paused. Fuli urged him to continue with a gentle nudge.

"The cheetahs in Cheetah's Clan were hesitant at first, they thought it was better to be equal, even though they would fight sometimes. In the end, with all the group making a decision, they turned Mwepesi's proposal down. But Mwepesi, your mother Endesha, and all of their followers, which were all very well trained at fighting and very skilled at it, instead of accepting that Cheetah's Clan refused to live under one single leader making all the decisions for them, they attacked Cheetah's Clan. They were better trained then Cheetah's Clan, so in the end they won. Mwepesi, his name meaning 'Swift,' changed the clan's name to 'Swift's Clan,' emphasizing that the clan belonged to him now." Gozi paused again. He looked almost afraid to continue. Nevertheless, he did.

"He then ordered his followers to keep a very strong grip on the clan. There are laws about who can hunt, and when. There are laws about when you can play freely in the fields, if you ever get to play at all. There are even laws about what trespassers on our territory live or die. Even the ones who didn't mean to trespass!" 

Fuli was shocked and horrified.

"And..." Gozi began once more. "If you ever break one rule, or you follow all the rules but don't meet all of Mwepesi's expectations, then you get punished. Or... sometimes he just does it for fun." Gozi then rolled over. Fuli was horrified. There were scars all over his underbelly, and one big scar on his stomach area. She didn't know how she didn't notice the other scars and cuts all over his body until now. Fuli then looked into his eyes, then she saw that he had one blind eye and one torn ear.

"And his mate, your mother, supports him every time he does that to someone," Gozi told her and shuddered. He looked like he was about to cry. Fuli pulled him into a hug.

"It's okay Gozi. Everything's okay," she said, trying to comfort him. 

"But it isn't okay!" Gozi wailed quietly. "It'll happen again, and many more times!" He sobbed into her fur. "It's sometimes so bad that... that one can die from it. Including my mom and dad." 

Fuli was once again horrified, could an animal ever stoop that low? Fuli was furious at her father and  mother.

"Don't worry Gozi, I'll protect you. And that is a promise."