Kion: Fall from Grace (A Dark Kion Story)

Chapter 28: A Cub?

(Shoutout to Python for proofreading this chapter, thank you!)

Rafiki meticulously mashed fruits together in an old tortoise shell, determined to make the right colored paint so he could finish his drawing. After a few minutes of mixing and mashing, he finally had the color he was looking for, gold. It was a color he had almost forgotten how to make considering he hadn't made it in awhile.

He painted the body of the animal he was drawing, finishing it off with a red mane.

Kion, former prince and savior of the Pride Lands, now their biggest fear.

He sighed as he reminisced on the cubs past in the Pride Lands, to know he hid so much pain and suffering behind his radiant smile, it was deeply saddening.

He looked to the right of the portrait of Kion to see the drawing of a lioness he had made. Vitani, daughter of Zira.

It was clear Kion had developed feelings for the tawny lioness, but it wasn't clear why he had, or why the great lions of the past wanted them to be together. Though he thought it was a terrible idea at the time, he knew the great lions had their

The mandrill felt a cool breeze blow through his tree, giving him a quick shiver. He looked outside at the dark, cloudy sky as more and more storm clouds continued to roll in. He had an eerie feeling that a dark time was going to shourd the Pride Lands in misery a feeling that made him very uneasy.

He turned his attention to his drawing of Kion and Vitani and continued to study it. He didn't know why he was told to paint the drawing, just that the great lions told him too.

"Alright," he yelled as he threw his hands in the air in defeat. "I don't understand the point of this."

He felt the breeze spin around him and dart over the paint that he had just made. He watched as it circled around Kion, then around Vitani, and finally the space in between the two. He noticed that the breeze had taken some paint from the two still wet paintings and mixed them together to make a brownish gold.

He studied the paint for a moment, still not completely sure what he was being told, but then it hit him. A smile quickly grew on his face as he realized the meaning of the mixed paint. He laughed as he quickly grabbed his bakora staff and a few herbs and exited his tree in search for a certain lioness, one who the lions of the past had blessed with a gift.

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Vitani wandered through the Backlands alone, the cool breeze gently brushing against her light brown fur. She rubbed her head again as she tried to keep herself awake. She hasn't had a good nights rest in what felt like weeks, her body and mind just felt tired.

Tonight was the final push for the Pride Lands, if they succeeded, then Pride Land would be under their control and all of the hard work would pay off. 

Maybe after that she and Kion could...maybe.

She wondered if Kion would be allowed to stay with them, or if Zira would try to kill him. She dreaded the thought of having to turn on him, she truly never felt the way she did towards him.

Maybe she should say something?

She paused as she heard a weird humming coming from nearby, which was strange because the Backlands should be empty.

She was surprised when out of nowhere, a mandrill's head appeared with a smile on his face.

"Asante sana squash banana!" The mandrill laughed as he continued to mix whatever he had in the tortoise shell.

It took her a second, but she realized that this was the Pride Lands royal majuzi, and Kion's old friend.

"It's Rafiki, right?" She asked.