The Lion Guard: Short Stories

I Promise (Part 5)

"Enthusiastic I see, you may not be so after our race," he replied confidently. "Follow me, I know the cave well."

As the guard followed him deeper in the cave, it didn't seem to get any darker, because it wasn't. The cave was littered with gems that illuminated the way, it was like nothing they've ever seen before. It reminded Fuli of a starry night sky almost, she used to look at the stars every night when she was younger, she missed those days.

She and Azaad were talking non stop as they maneuvered through the cave. He was an interesting cheetah, he talked about the Tree of Life and how it saved his life once when he took a wrong turn and ended up running off a cliff.

As Fuli listens and replies to Azaad, she can't help but feel like someone is glaring thorns into her, but every time she turned around, no one was looking at her. It was a very unsettling feeling that she did her best to ignore, but couldn't shake the feeling.

"So, you are the leader of this..." Azaad trailed off.

"Lion Guard, and only temporarily, Kion normally leads us but he hasn't been himself recently," Fuli replied while motioning to Kion on her right.

"Is he sick?" Azaad asked.

"You could say that. He got bitten by a snake when he was defending our home, the Pride Lands. The snake's venom has been affecting his mind and we need the Tree of Life to help him," Fuli replied.

"You and Kion are close, no?"

"Friends from the start, and till the end. I've known him for as long as I can remember."

"How did you two meet?"

Her mind froze for a moment, all the memories of the day Kion and her met her, memories she had pushed done and forgot about, until now. Everyone who knew her knew not to talk about it, even Kion never mentioned it, but she could blame Azaad for asking and she wasn't about to lie to him.

"When I was young, I lived with my parents somewhere near the Pride Lands. Every day we went on run so I could build up my speed. One day while we were on a run we were attacked by lions. My parents...didn't make it, but somehow I slipped away. The lions continued to chase me until they cornered me. I thought it was over until I heard a roar, a roar louder than I've ever heard before. The lions panicked thinking it was an adult lion and they ran, turns out it was just Kion. It took me a while to trust him, and other lions, but he eventually grew on me and well we are best friends now."

"I'm sorry about your parents, Fuli," was all he replied with.

"Thanks, Azaad, though I prefer not to talk about it."

"Understood...and look at that, we are here," he said as the group exited the cave. It was still snowing but nowhere near the blizzard they were in before. "We just go across the frozen lake and through that ravine and you will be at the Tree of Life."

"Hear that Kion? We are finally here, we can get your scar healed and we can...Kion?" She noticed that Kion was nowhere to be seen. The group frantically looked around but couldn't find him. "Do any of you know where he is?"

The guard shook their head no, now they really had a problem.

"Well he has to be somewhere in the cave," Ono deduced.

"He could get lost in those caves, some of them even lead to sharp drops," Azaad informed.

"Then we have to find him, and fast. Till the Pride Lands Ends."

"LION GUARD DEFEND."

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The guard decided to split up and search the caverns. Ono was confident he could remember every turn they made, so he, Bunga, and Beshte all went searching together while Fuli and Azaad went and searched a different area. They decided to send Anga with the cubs straight to the Tree of Life so they wouldn't have to worry about losing them in the caves as well.