Love At First Sight

The Cave

"Thanks." said Kion. The leader of the flock smiled warmly at Kion. The birds started cheering once more. "

"Thank you so much for your energy and your enthusiasm.  I'd love to stay for a night but, I must be getting back to my family. Back in the Pride Lands, everyone thinks that I'm dead. I bet my dad is searching for me right now with a huge search party."

"We understand very well. Family is the most important thing in the world. Please go and reunite yourself with your family." said the leader of the flock. Kion looked at all of the faces of the young ones. They looked unhappy and sad. He knew that they never thought they'd get to see a member of the Lion Guard, especially the leader. He sighed and started talking.

"You know what? A day away won't be too bad. I'll kindly take your offer. I'll stay for the night. Then, I'll leave. First thing in the morning. " 

The little ones cheered in glee and the older birds just smiled super big. 

"We are happy that you decided to stay with us." said the leader. "Nilly, please show Kion where he shall stay. The rest of you, please do not harass Kion. He must be very tired from his long journey." said the leader. The little birds nodded. "Thanks for your kind invite." said Kion. "My pleasure." said the leader

Soon, the flock started dispersing. Until, it was only Kion, Nilly, Bertrude, and the leader. Bertrude looked at Kion, then at Nilly. Then back at Kion, then back at Nilly. 

"What's the Lion Guard like?" asked Bertrude. Kion smiled. "The Lion Guard is an esteemed guard that protects the entire Pride Lands.  We have the Keenest, Strongest, Bravest, Fastest, and the Fiercest."

"Wow Nilly. Isn't that cool. He's part of the Lion Guard!" exclaimed Bertrude happily. 

"Nilly, please go and tell Aunty to tell the big surprise. I'm going to take our guest and show him where he shall be sleeping tonight." said Nilly. Bertrude nodded. Kion and Nilly started talking.  She opened her wings and was about to take flight, when she looked back at Kion.

"Can I ask you a question?" asked Nilly. 

"Bertrude." said Nilly. 

"No, it's okay." said Kion. Nilly gave a look at Bertrude.

"What's the question?" asked Kion.

"Once you go back to the Pride Lands, can you come back here and bring the entire Lion Guard here?" asked Bertrude. Kion smiled at Bertrude. 

 "I'll make a deal with you. If I bring the entire Lion Guard here, we get to stay for a night." said Kion. She smiled. "Yes!" said Bertrude."I'd have to ask the leader, but I know it's going to be a yes." she said. "Bye Kion. Bye Nilly." said Bertrude as she flew back into the big cave. 

"Sweet kid. I like her." said Kion. 

"Did you mean it?" asked Nilly.

"I did. I really like this place. I could easily see myself here a lot." said Kion. "I bet you made her day." said Nilly. "Like I said, she's a sweet kid."

"Alright, let me show you where you're going to stay." said Nilly as she led Kion in the big cave. While walking in, Kion gasped. The inside was so big. He didn't realize that the cave was attached to a mountain.

"Hevi Kabisa!" Kion was in utter shock! "This place is awesome! It's so big. There are so many caves in the cave."

"Welcome to my home Kion." He saw some birds flying in a cave and some birds flying out of caves, and in other caves. "How do you guys not get lost?" asked Kion in amazement. "We birds have keen memories. We know where everything is in this big home of ours. We live here, because of the hyenas. They drove us out of our original home. If you think this is big. You should've seen our old home. It was twice as big and spacious." said Nilly. 

"I'm sorry Nilly. That must be pretty hard. being forced to move from one home to the next not willingly."

"Yeah, it was. But we're thankful that we found this huge cave. It can fit our entire flock." Nilly and Kion kept walking in the cave. Seams of light poured out in the cracks of the cave.

"Because you're not like us, we're not putting you deeper in the cave. There's no sunlight. So, you're going to be sleeping by a large crack in the outside of the cave."

"That's a smart idea. So, you can see in the dark clearly?" asked Kion. "Yes. We birds have the gift of fast flight and keen eyesight, in the daytime or at night." said Nilly. Soon, they came to a den. It was around the same space as a normal den would be.

"This is really nice Nilly." said Koin as he walked into the den. He looked over his right shoulder, and there was a crack in the stone. Sunlight beams poured out on the floor of the den.

"So, this cave is on the side of the mountain? The den I mean?"

"Yeah. Any caves or dens in this cave, has sunlight. But the deeper you go, the harder it will be to see. Not us though. It's always sunny in our minds."

"How do you sleep then?" asked Kion. 

"It really depends, if everyone is asleep and I can't fall asleep. I won't fall asleep. If I'm tired, I close my eyes for a couple of minutes and I fall asleep. It's a quick falling asleep process." said Nilly. Kion walked in the middle of the den and sat down. 

"This will do perfectly. Thanks again Nilly." said Kion. 

"It's my pleasure Kion. Now remember, when you walk in the cave, go turn right and walk that direction until you get here."

"That's super easy to remember." said Kion.

"Now because you know how to find you way back here, do you want to rest? I know that you're super tired and all."

"yeah, I think a rest would do me good." said Kion. He laid down. "Wake me up in thirty minutes please." said Kion. "Sure thing Kion." said Nilly. Kion soon fell asleep. She walked out of his den and flew to Bertrude's tiny cave.

"Knock Knock." said Nilly. Bertrude looked up and smiled at her. "Hi Nilly." said Bertrude smiling. "Isn't cool that a member of the Lion Guard is here?" asked Bertrude. "It's super cool." said Nilly. "He seems very nice." 

"He is nice." replied Nilly. She smiled at Bertrude. "So, what was Auntie's big news?" asked Nilly.

"She said that tomorrow, we can explore farther away from the tree. I know you already can go whenever, but for me. Yes!" said Bertrude excitedly. "That's awesome!"

"Yeah, each little kid has to have an adult bird or supervisor with them." said Nilly.

"You wanna go explore together tomorrow?" asked Bertrude. "Of course. Now, I'll be in my cave taking a nap." said Nilly. "I'm super tired. I need some rest." said Nilly. 

"Bye Nilly. See you when you get up." said Bertrude. Nilly flew out of Bertrude's cave, and flew to hers. She quickly got settled in and fell asleep.