Conflict Of Pride (Kion X OC)

Chapter 4

After a few minutes of running, the pair arrived at a small hill where other animals were gathered. A female cheetah, a male white bird, a male honey badger, and a familiar male hippo.

"Beshte?" Niani asked and smiled at the friendly hippo.

"Oh, hey Niani." He smiled at her and The little badger looked between them. "You know her, Beshte?"

"Yeah! I saw her at the waterhole, earlier. Before she had to go back to her dad." He explained before looking back at her. "You didn't get in trouble, did you?"

"Not too much." She reassured him with a grin on her face. "My Pride can even stay here."

"Uh 'Pride'?" The cheetah asked with a raised eyebrow and looked at Kion. "Kion, what's going on?"

"Uh, guys? This is Niani. Her and her Pride has had it rough and are staying with us in the Pride Lands for a while. Niani, these are my friends and fellow members of the Lion Guard. This is Fuli, the Fastest, Bunga, the Bravest, Beshte, the Strongest, and Ono, the Keenest of Sight. And you already know I'm the Fiercest."

"That sounds really cool." She complimented. She never met a Lion Guard before, her Pride never had anything like that, not even before the famine took them out. "You guys are basically heroes, right?"

"Yeah! We save the Pride Lands tons of times!" Bunga said, puffing his chest out a bit. "From hyenas and jackals and vultures and all sorts of stuff. Nothing can beat us!"

"And we do it all to defend the Circle of Life." Kion added after a moment. "We're about to go on patrol to see if any animals need any help or if Janja and his crew are up to no good."

"Who's Janja? I remember you mentioned him earlier."

"Janja is a hyena. He's mean and greedy and always tries to upset the balance of the Pride Lands by trying to take more than his fair share."

"He always comes back with his clan, no matter how many times we kick him out of the Pride Lands." Bunga added.

"Yeah, he's really bad news. If you see him, try to get away, okay?" Beshte warned her and she nodded. She didn't expect bad hyenas to be terrorizing the Pride Lands, but then again, she would be naïve to expect this place to be a true paradise.

"I'll be careful." She promised. "What do you guys do for patrol?"

"We all split up and report back if anything is wrong. Ono, can you look over the Pride Lands and make sure everything is fine? Beshte, you and Bunga can check out the watering hole, and Fuli, you can check out the river and the Elephant Graveyard. I'll check out the gorge."

"Can I come?" Niani asked. "I know I'm not a member of the Guard but I wanna come."

Kion gave a concerned frown. "I dunno, Niani. This isn't really a game and I don't want you to get hurt if anything happens out there."

"I'm sure if I stay with you, you'll protect me." She grinned and brushed against his side.

He blushed beneath his fur and stammered as he shyly shifted away. "Y-Yeah, I can protect you."

Fuli scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Boys."

"Anyway, let's get going." He regained his composure and the bird saluted with his wing. "Affirmative!" He said before taking off flying and the cheetah took off running at high speeds.

"Let's go, Little B." Beshte said and Bunga jumped on his back as they both departed. Leaving Niani and Kion alone once again.

"So, to the gorge?" She asked him and he nodded.

"Yeah, but try to stay close to me, okay?"

"Okay!"