Love At First Sight

The Search

Simba and Nala looked at each other with nervous glances. "We must tell them." said Nala. "Even if it hurts. The animals should know what has happened to Kion." Simba nodded and Nala and Simba walked at the edge of Pride Rock. They overlooked the Pride Lands. Animals all over the Pride Lands was summoned to the important announcement from the King and Queen of the Pride Lands. There were hundreds of conversations going on at the same time. Some were asking each other if they the King or Queen was ill, or if they are done leading the Pride Lands, and their daughter Kiara and her mate Kovu, would be the new King and Queen of the Pride Lands. When the animals saw the King and Queen, they all stopped talking to one another, and listened attentively on what they had to say, and why they had summoned them unexpectantly. 

"Animals of the Pride Lands." said Simba. "The reason why I have called you here abruptly was of important matter. Many of you know my son, Kion. Some may know him, because he's the leader of the Lion Guard."

The animals nodded and there were whispers like, "He's such a great kid! He saved my life twice!" and "What's wrong with Kion?" said another. 

"Kion was... killed yesterday evening." said Simba. All at once, there was a jumble of noises heard from all of the animals there. 

"Please, be quiet." said Simba. The animals didn't hear Simba's request and was still talking. Simba sighed and roared as loud as possible. Everyone stopped talking at once. Simba sighed and looked at Nala. She nodded her head. Simba continued talking.

"You may be asking how he died, he died by the Hyenas. He saved his friend from the hyenas but lost his life in the process." said Simba. He started forming tears in his eyes, but he kept talking. "Kovu, and I placed Kion in a cave to shelter him from the rain. We were going to get him when the rain stopped. Which sadly, didn't end until a couple of hours ago. When Kovu and I got to the cave where we placed Kion, Kion wasn't there. We have reasons, that the hyenas are behind this. We don't know what's happened to his body, but we know they wouldn't eat him. If they wanted to eat Kion, they would've done it there and now, but they must've dragged his body to their lair. But we're not accusing of them from stealing his body. But either way, they are being charged with first degree murder, and so if any of you sees Janja, Cheezi, or Chunga, I give you full permission to attack and kill them. They may not enter the Pride Lands, because of the murder of Prince Kion, my son."

Everyone was speechless. They didn't have any words. Some animals were crying, and some were comforting each other.

"I sent Kovu and two lions to check the borders of the Outlands. I sent two lions to check the mountains, I sent three to take all of the rivers and every water way in the Pride Lands, I sent the Lion Guard to help out with the search, well as Timon, Pumbaa, and Rafiki. I sent my daughter, Kiara, and three lionesses to help out the search for Kion's body. We're not letting the hyenas get away from their evil actions. If you want to help, please remain here. And for the rest of you, thank you for your understanding and cooperation." said Simba. He quickly left Pride Rock, and he felt tears rush down his face. Nala nuzzled Simba, and they wept together.

After about 10 minutes, Nala and Simba walked at the edge of the Rock and looked at the crowd. Simba and Nala gasped at the sight. At least over forty animals stayed to help with the search. They both thought that there was going to be a small proportion. Simba heard a lot of conversations going on all at once. Once they walked towards the rock, all of the animals stopped talking and listened attentively. "Thank you for wanting to help my finding of my son. I'm not going to make a long speech, so I'm going to announce where you can be of help now.  All the giraffes, please go on top of the tallest hill, and look out for any hyenas. If you see them, please report to me or any royal guard immediately." The giraffes nodded their heads and started walking towards the tallest hill. "Every animal that is a natural swimmer, please overlook the rivers and waterway of the Pride Lands. You'll eventually meet up with the three animals." the hippos, the alligators, and the rest of the water animals nodded their head with approval and started walking towards any water way. "The rest of you, look in every corner and crevice, until we either find my son's body, or someone finds the hyenas. Understood?" asked Simba. The animals nodded in agreement and started on their quest. Simba watched as the animals left Pride Rock.  Nala walked up to Simba and nuzzled him. Simba licked Nala, and they ran towards Kion's cave.

Simba and Nala quickly arrived at Kion's cave, only to find Rafiki in the cave. "Simba." said Rafiki. "I am so sorry for your loss, my dear friend." said Rafiki as he hugged Simba's neck. "Thanks buddy." said Simba. 

"I will try to help you find your son." said Rafiki. "Who do you think could've done this?" asked Simba puzzlingly. "Hmmm. I don't know. The hyenas would've devoured him right there and now if he was found. Rafiki don't know but will find out. For you and your family, so that you may find peace." said Rafiki. Rafiki quickly left Simba and Nala alone. "Nala, check the outside of the cave to see if there's any clues, and I'll check inside the cave." said Simba. "On it." said Nala. Simba walked in the cave and got emotional. He looked at the spot where he and Kovu laid Kion. All that was there was fruit juice mess and the smell of old blood. Simba walked towards where the mess was when he noticed something off. The passion fruit juice was still there.  Simba was confused. "Nala, can you come here?" asked Simba. Nala quickly went to his side. "What is it Simba?" asked Nala confused. "Look at this." said Simba pointing to the passion fruit. "Passion fruit?" asked Nala confused on where he was going. "Yes, they're still here. Chunga and Janja loves passion fruit. I remember when Kion would always come back, saying that Janja kept stealing passion fruit, just because he liked them." said Simba. "You're right. Kion would always be confused why they would go after passion fruit. And we had to explain to him that it was just because Janja just liked them, and he wanted them. It is his favorite fruit." said Nala. She smiled at the thought of Kion, but then lost it when she thought of the past few days. "Right, and that would mean it couldn't have been them. Janja and Cheezi would've eaten the passion fruit too!" exclaimed Simba. "Oh, I hope that is the case." said Nala. "But that still doesn't make sense. Kion is dead, he didn't walk away." said Nala confused. "That's ridiculous my queen, but I have another conclusion." said Simba happily. "Why are you smiling?" asked Nala confused on her mate's expression. "Look closely at the passion fruit. What do you see?" asked Simba grinning. "Um." said Nala. Then she gasped. "Paw prints." said Nala shocked. Simba nodded. "Do you notice how there's two by two paw prints in a row?" asked Simba. Nala nodded. "Nala, I have a reason to believe that no one stole our son's body and that he isn't dead. That he is alive. I think Kiara was right about him still being alive. There would've been more paw prints if someone else was in the cave, but it was only of one lion's paw print. Our son's." said Simba. "You're right. He could've walked out of his cave. He could be anywhere." said Nala. "Simba nodded. "But Simba?" asked Nala. "Yeah?" asked Simba. "Rafiki was here before us. How come he didn't notice the passion fruit paw prints?" asked Nala. "Rafiki must've been so depressed of his death, that he couldn't bear go where his body was supposedly stolen." said Simba. "You're right again." said Nala. "How did you figure this out?" asked Nala. "Because I held onto hope. Hope that there was a possibility of him being alive." said Simba. Nala looked down shamefully. "And here I was, thinking he was dead. I didn't have hope at all if he was still alive." said Nala. "That's very understandable. If someone dies that you really care for, you don't want to believe that there was still a chance that animal is still alive." said Simba. "I hope Kion is alive." said Nala nuzzling Kion. "Me too, Nala. Me too."