Kion walked with the rest of the Lion Guard on their way to the Tree of Life. It hadn't been long since Fuli died saving Kion from the flood.  Oh Fuli... you saved my life even after I hurt you. And you gave your own life in doing so. Kion thought guiltily. Apparently Bunga saw that he was filled with sorrow and grief, because he came over to try to cheer him up.

"Hey Kion, what did the bear say when he was arguing? This argument is unbearable!" Bunga laughed at his own joke. That's not even funny. Kion thought to himself negatively.

"Seriously?" Anga asked. "Is this too hawkward for you, Anga?" Bunga tried to make another pun.

"I'm an eagle," Anga told him flatly. "Nahhh," Bunga said. "She's just lion."Kion rolled his eyes. That wasn't funny either.

"C'mon Kion, lighten up!" He said. "You can't think about Fuli forever!" Kion and the Guard froze as soon as Bunga said that. "Bunga! Shh!" Makini told him sternly. She then walked over to him. "You know how Kion feels about her death!" Makini whispered in Bunga's ear, loud enough for Kion to hear it, though he didn't think that was what she intended. Makini then whispered something quietly into Bunga's ear, but Kion couldn't hear what she was saying. Then Bunga walked up to Kion.

"Sorry," Bunga muttered while looking down at his paws.

"I-it's okay Bunga," Kion forgave him. He didn't want Bunga, or anyone else in fact, to feel sorry him because of for how badly he was coping with Fuli's death. He barely ate or slept, he didn't feel hungry or tired. When he did sleep, every time he woke up, for a few moments he thinks he'd see Fuli next to him, then he remembers that Fuli is gone forever. Kion would never see her again.

"L-let's keep going," Kion said to the group. Then they continued walking through the recently flooded dessert. The land had not dried yet, and there were puddles here and there. Kion, still thinking about Fuli, wasn't looking where he was going and he fell into a deep puddle, about four pawsteps deep. His fur was now soaked. "Ugh," he muttered. He then got back to his paws and continued on.

"Anga?" He asked. "Do you see the next Moja Kwa Moja stone?"

"Nope," came a simple reply. Kion then got hit with a pain in his scar. He put his paw up to it briefly. Great. Just great. He thought to himself sarcastically. "Then how are we going to get the the Tree of Life?! Ugh!"

He then heard Bunga mutter: "If Fuli was still here she'd be able to calm him down." Kion looked down at his paws, suddenly feeling very guilty.

"Well, let's try going that way!" Makini said with effort, obviously trying to change the subject. She pointed with her bakora staff to a grassland in the distance. Kion shrugged.

"Ugh fine. But only because we have nowhere better to go," Kion replied arrogantly, trying to hide the overwhelming guilt and sadness that washed over him every time Fuli was mentioned. "Let's go." They then started walking towards the grasslands.

XXXX
After a couple of days Kion and the Lion Guard finally arrived at the grasslands. It was much cooler than the dessert. Kion was relieved to have gotten out of the dessert before it dried up again.

"I'm sooooooo borrreeed," said Bunga.

"Ugh! Bunga you've said that a million times!" Kion snapped irritably.

"But I am!" Bunga tried to defend himself. Kion approached Bunga. Bunga backed away. Wait, is he... afraid of me? Kion asked himself, then backed away from Bunga.

"Sorry, Bunga," Kion apologized to him while looking down at his paws.

"Hakuna Matata, Kion," Bunga replied simply. Then the Guard continued on walking through the grasslands aimlessly, hoping they would find the next Moja Kwa Moja stone. Then Kion saw a forest.

"Let's try over there guys," Kion said while motioning with his paw to the forest ahead of them. "Okay," they all replied. Then they all walked to the forest. When they got there Kion thought he'd heard something.

"Guys, did you hear that?" He asked the group. They all shrugged. "Nah." "Um, No." "Nope." "No." "No, I didn't." Came their replies.

Kion then looked around. He saw a lion with orange-brown eyes and golden fur like his own, and a lioness with white fur and amber eyes leap out of the bushes. The white furred lioness grabbed Kion by his scruff.

"Hey! Let me go!" He exclaimed. The Guard tried to help him, but the golden furred lion was strong enough to fight off all the Guard at once. The white furred lion dragged Kion away from his team.

"Let me go you brute!" Kion exclaimed then tried to claw the attacker. The white furred lioness responded with a strong blow to Kion's head, and he blacked out.

XXXX
Kion blinked open his eyes. He was in a cave. Two lions stood at the entrance blocking the way out. One was the same lion as the one that fought off the Guard while the white furred lioness took him away from the Guard, and one was a different lion with darker fur and green eyes. "Um, excuse me?" He asked them. They quickly whipped around the block his way out of the cave.

"Stay where you are!" The green eyed lion growled. The other was hesitant, but he growled too.

"What do you want with me?" Kion asked fearfully.

"You'll have to ask the boss," the green eyed lion responded. "She wants to see you." The golden lion then grabbed Kion by his scruff and hauled him out of the cave.

"Careful, Roho." Kion heard the darker furred lion whisper. "The boss says he's got a power to get away from us if he feels threatened. Don't take your eye off him for one second." They know about the Roar?! What do they want with me?!

They arrived at a hill with a cave underneath it, not far from the cave he was just inside. The golden furred lion dragged him, struggling, into the cave. They then dropped him in front of a while lioness with amber eyes, the same one that separated him from the Guard. The lioness approached him and put her paw on his heart.

"Nipe nguvu yako, nguvu ya Kishindo.
Nipe nguvu ambayo inakuja nayo.
Nitie nguvu na nguvu hii.
Nipe nguvu na nguvu hii.
Nipe nguvu zote ulizonazo.
Ipe roho yangu nguvu ya Kishindo chako."

Kion then felt himself getting dizzy. A bright orange glow came from where the lioness's paw was. She then placed her paw on her own heart.

"Nipe hii sasa.
Nguvu hii Nguvu hii mpya Ipe roho yangu.
Nipe nguvu hii mpya, nguvu mpya.
Ipe moyo wangu.
Nitakumbatia nguvu hii kwa shukrani.
Asante Wafalme Wakuu na Malkia kwa kunipa nguvu hii."

"Yes," she snickered. "The power is mine now. Lions, take him back to the prison. We will still be able to use him as a fighter for the pride." What?! The lion tried to pick him back up, but before he could, Kion tried to Roar. But it wasn't the Roar of the Elders, it came out as a squeak. The lioness laughed. "Pathetic!" Then the lion shoved him back towards the cave he was in before he woke up from being knocked out. When they got back there, the darker furred lion left. Only the golden furred lion was guarding the cave.

"Listen, kid, I need you to come here and listen to everything I say." The golden furred lion told him. "First of all, my name's Roho. And second, I didn't want to help Jua, our boss, take you away from your friends, but I have to." What? Kion was confused. Roho could obviously see this, so he continued on.

"Our pride, the Sun Pride, used to live in the Backlands. I was passing through the Backlands at the time, and that's where I accidentally trespassed on the Sun Pride's territory. They captured me just like they captured you, except they couldn't carry me. Then they made me swear an oath of loyalty to the Sun Pride, and the Sun Pride only. I begged them to let me see the Pride Lands, just once under their supervision, and they reluctantly agreed. I then saw the Pride Lands. It was the most beautiful land I've ever seen in my life. That's where I met the love of my life..." Roho started to trail off but he continued speaking.

"I couldn't join her because Sun Pride wouldn't let me leave, and she couldn't join me because Sun Pride didn't trust her, the pride she came from were sworn enemies of the Sun Pride. Then, not long after, she disappeared. I never saw her again. Then, very soon after that happened, the enemy pride had a big battle with us, both sides lost many lions, but the Sun Pride lost more. The enemy pride drove us far away from them. And that's how we ended up here. Far, far away from that enemy pride." Roho finished. Kion pitied him. He didn't want any of this and yet it was forced upon him.

"Roho, when will I be able to leave?" Kion asked. Roho's face was solemn, he looked like he pitied the younger lion.

"Never," Roho answered him. "Tomorrow the Sun Pride will make you swear an oath of loyalty to the Sun Pride, and the Sun Pride only."

"No!" Kion shouted. "I have to get back to my friends! I need to go to the Tree of Life!" Roho looked confused at this. "Kid, since I told you my story, how about you tell me yours?" Kion was hesitant at first, but he agreed.

"Okay Roho.... Oh, where do I begin? Well back in my land, I was the son of the king and queen. Since I was the second born, my destiny was to assemble the Lion Guard." Roho looked confused. "The Lion Guard are the defenders of the Circle of Life." Kion explained, then continued with his story.

"I chose my friends for the Lion Guard, Bunga the honey badger as the Bravest, Fuli the cheetah as the Fastest, Beshte the hippo as the Strongest, and Ono the egret as the Keenest of Sight. At first my dad didn't like that the animals I picked for the Lion Guard weren't all lions, because it was tradition for the Lion Guard to be made up of lions only. But he accepted it once he saw that we were capable of defending the land from animals who disrespect the Circle of Life." Kion paused. Roho looked very curious and urged him to continue with a nudge.

"Then I accidentally used the Roar of the Elders, a power given to the leader of the Lion Guard, to summon an evil lion because a hyena named Janja tricked me into Roaring at the top of the volcano, which brought a very evil lion back. That lion was Scar."

"Who's Scar?" Roho asked. "A very, very evil lion," Kion replied. "And as me and my friends got older, we heard from Janja, who changed sides apparently, how to defeat Scar, by Roaring again at the top of the volcano. Then we fought a big battle against the Outlands-"

"What's the Outlands?" Roho asked. "A place for animals who don't respect the Circle of Life," Kion told him. "As I was saying, we fought a big battle against the Outlands and me and my friends made it to the top of the volcano so I could use my Roar to defeat Scar. Then, Scar's most loyal follower, Ushari the cobra, bit me on the eye. That's how I got this scar." Kion then pointed with his paw to the scar on his eye.

"In the end, I remembered something my grandfather told me. 'Stay true to who you are inside, and remember, don't fight fire with fire.' Then I told Scar that I forgave him, and passed the judgement of his actions to the Lions of the Past. They decided that Scar didn't deserve to be here, and banished him back to the depths of.... well, you know." Kion finished awkwardly.

"Then the royal majuzi and the healer of the king and queen, my mom and dad, told us that if the venom from Ushari's bite stays inside me too long, I will turn evil. Just like Scar did. So me and my friends set out for the Tree of Life, the only cure for the venom in my scar." Kion told him.

"So kid, the friends that were on the Lion Guard were the ones I saw when I had to basically cub-nap you?" Roho said awkwardly.

"Yeah," Kion nodded. Roho paused. "Wait," he began. "Didn't you mention a cheetah on the Lion Guard?" The moment he said that, Kion let out a low growl.

"Leave me alone Roho, and don't bother trying to talk to me again," Kion growled. Roho came up closer to him. "Kid? What's wrong?" Kion growled again.

"I. Said. Leave. Me. Alone." Kion growled, louder now. Roho backed away and went back to his post in front of the cave. Kion laid down on the hard, cold ground. He remembered when Fuli sang to him, telling him he would never be alone. Well I feel alone now Fuli. You're not here anymore and the rest of the Guard is gone.

Fuli, if you're up there watching me, then please help me. I don't know what to do. Kion gazed up into the now darkening sky through a small hole in the roof of the cave, the first stars starting to appear. Kion laid down in a corner of the small cave he was confined in.

Goodnight Fuli, sleep well.