Roar of Manipulation

Chapter 4 Back Home

It was the morning after Kion and Janja's fight. Kion had gotten up and began to make his way back to the cave. He was still thinking the same thoughts he had last night about it not mattering if he went back home to the Pride Lands or not since he had no purpose waiting there for him, but he still felt it was better than nothing. Jasiri followed Kion back to the cave, still hiding among in the tall grass, bushes, and trees. When both animals got back, Jasiri ran off towards the river to make it look like she had gone to get a drink before Kion had shown up.

Though he tried to claim he wasn't hungry, Kion took a few bites from the buffalo after his friends urged him to do so. Janja had also made his way back to the cave soon after Kion arrived. Unlike Kion, Janja's anger from last night still seemed fresh on his mind. While Kion just glared at him, Janja growled and almost began to advance on him until he noticed the rest of the Lion Guard giving him a warning glare. They all soon began to make their way towards the Pride Lands again, leaving behind what was left of the buffalo carcass for the scavengers.

Kion took the lead ahead of everyone and Janja walked at least twenty feet away from Kion. Cheezi and Chungu walked alongside Janja to keep him company even though Janja in truth wanted everyone to leave him alone as well. They all journeyed on for a month before they came to the edges of the Outlands. Fuli told Ono to fly ahead of them and let the royal family know that they'd be arriving soon; Jasiri asked Anga to do the same with the rest of her clan. Ono and Anga asked if they should tell them about Kion and Rani's relationship falling apart and about the fight between Kion and Janja and that the two unsurprisingly hadn't even attempted to make up since than.

Fuli advised that it'd be best if they told them when they were all there in person. Ono and Anga agreed and flew ahead with their message. They came back about ten minutes later, Ono saying he had come across Kiara and Kovu laying together in the savannah and had told them to gather everyone and meet them at the border where the volcano was, Anga replying she had told the rest of Jasiri's clan the same. Now knowing where to meet, everyone made their way through the Outlands to the volcano border. When they got there, Simba, Nala, Kiara, Kovu, Vitani and her Lion Guard, Tiifu, Zuri, the rest of the pride, Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu, and the rest of Jasiri's clan were all waiting there.

They all looked excited to see Kion and his friends return for what they thought was a visit. Bunga was the first one to run towards the group as soon as he spotted his uncles.

"Uncle Timon! Uncle Pumbaa!" Bunga shouted, arm extended for a hug.

"Our boy!" the two shouted, running up to the honey badger.

The three animals embraced and hugged each other. Binga came running up, squeezing her way into the hug.

"And your girl!" Binga said.

Timon and Pumbaa wondered what exactly Binga meant by calling herself their girl, but they'd wonder about that later and just focused on the hug. Everyone walked past the four hugging animals and up towards the others. Simba, Nala, Kiara, Kovu, Vitani and her Lion Guard, Rafiki and Zazu were greeting Kion's friends, welcoming them back, Jasiri met up with the rest of her clan members, and Makini was introducing her parents to everyone. Kion stayed back while the meetings were happening. Kiara noticed this and pushed through the crowd with Kovu following behind her.

As soon as they got close, Kiara pulled Kion into a hug, not noticing the sad look on his face.

"Kion, it's so great to see you back after so many months." Kiara greeted.

Kion just stood there, not responding back or returning the hug. Kovu noticed and wondered what was wrong.

"Hay Kion, are you okay?" Kovu asked.