The Lion Guard: Without Him ✔️

thirteen

Azaad and Hatari rolled and rolled, claws and teeth glimmering in the feint light the torches provided, blood following their trail of battle around the room as Fuli and Kiara focused on their task: bringing back the lost prince, the one reforming before their very eyes.

"You'll never win," Hatari growled between snarls. "Our army is too strong."

"Army?" Azaad questioned, pawing the leopard hard in the face, sending him staggering backwards against the wall. "How does a simple leopard like you find an army?"

Hatari grinned. "I didn't. I have an ally. Together, we will rule the Pride Lands!"

Azaad scoffed and made a gesture of looking around at the empty space. "If you and your friend are so close, where are they then?"

"He'll be here." Hatari said, although Azaad was happy to note that there was a tone of discouragement in his voice as the leopard looked around warily. "He will. He's got a plan."

"Hm," Azaad hummed. "It doesn't look like it. If he was, he would have come out by now to stop them," he looked over at the concentrating females. "From completing the ritual."

By now, the prince's entire body had formed on the podium, shining and glimmering as brightly as the sun did in the middle of the desert lands.

Hatari glanced at the figure of Prince Kion nervously, cursing under his breath. He looked around for a way to work around this as Azaad inched closer to him, ready to take him down for once and for all.

"Kion." Fuli's voice cut through the air, calling everyone's attention - well, most of them.

She gingerly approached the podium that the prince was standing on, his eyes slowly blinking open to reveal their natural maroon color. "Fuli? Is that you?" His voice was low and gravelly and hoarse from disuse, but it was his.

"Is it... is it you?" Fuli asked unsurely.

Kion nodded, looking down at himself in surprise. "What happened?"

Kiara appeared at Fuli's side, looking up at her little brother as he attempted to remember what happened before the vague whiteness that clouded his mind.

"Nothing that I cannot fix."

Everyone's attention snapped to Uchafu standing in front of the large double doors at the entrance held open by two elephants. The two cheetahs and lioness bared their teeth and claws while the resurrected prince was just confused. He strolled inside, oozing arrogance with a Zira-like smirk on his face.

He laughed evilly. "As you can see, Hatari was right: I do have an army. And I will use it to take over the Pride Lands and put my mother and father back on their rightful thrones after I bring them back to life."

Fuli's eyes widened. "You can't do that!"

"Oh, can't I? Who says so, little Cheetah?"

She growled, showing her fangs as she got into a position to attack. "Me."

With that, they attacked.

***

The fight went on for what felt like forever. Enemies were felled with the roar of the ancestors and the sheer hatred running through Fuli's veins for interrupting something that should have been so grand. Blood and fluff balls of fur covered the ground, keeping anyone from seeing the floor. Fuli and Azaad had wordlessly started working in sync as they fought their way towards their targets: Uchafu and Hatari. With a mere glance and a nod, Azaad knew that Fuli had no intention of letting anyone else put an end to the son of Scar and Zira other than her, and he knew not to stop her. With a smile of encouragement, Azaad tackled Hatari away from the large lion, the two rolling to the side to continue their fight from earlier. Meanwhile, Uchafu grinned maliciously and turned to face the cheetah. "This is a dangerous game to play, little cheetah. Why don't you run off back to the Pride Lands and leave that little prince behind; it wouldn't be the first time, would it?"