King Kion and Queen Rani's life at the Tree.

Chapter 6: Traitors

Mabaya wakes up before sunrise to prepare for the attack, Shido has already arrived."Change of plan," Shido tells Mabaya and his pride."What do you mean a 'change of plan'?" Mabaya asks."I've brought a little friend," Shido says as a nine-foot Monitor lizard walks under Shido's legs like a lion cub with his dad."Oh god, what is that?" Asks one of Mabaya's lions."Ssssssss, I am here to help," says the lizard."I overheard the honey badger talking about a fight they got into with a monitor lizard in the pride lands, so I think this guy can help us.""Ssssssthhh, I can only bite a couple of them." the lizard replies with spit coming down his lip."Shido, how is he going to help us?""I am going to have him bite the hippo and the other two male lions, that way there isn't much of a fight. We leave the eagle, honey badger, and egret alone. They're too small to be a threat.""Alright, I also have some friends," Mabaya says as three leopards come out from behind him."Oh, things just got way easier," Shido says to the group."Alright, let's get a move on! We want to get there when the Lion Guard starts to wake up, and the Night pride is getting back from patrol." The lions, leopards, and lizard start their walk to the Tree of Life. This marked the beginning of a long, arduous war.Back at the Tree, Kion gets up with a jolt. The Great Lions of the Past are practically giving him a stabbing pain as a warning.Kion grunts as he jumps down from the rock while Rani perks her head up as her pillow just left."You okay, Kion?""Yeah, I can't tell if I am having a cramp or what.""Here come back up here."Kion hops back on to the rock, and Rani pushes him on to his back to relax him a little bit.Kion and Rani are just waking up; the Night Pride is walking through the last part of their patrol. Surak stops in his tracks, "You guys smell that?"Baliyo looks around. "Leopard."Before they can make a move, Surak and Baliyo get tackled by two leopards. Nirmala runs up, trying to help them but gets pushed down by a lion. The monitor lizard bites Surak on the leg before jumping over to Baliyo and biting him too. The leopards and lion runoff as Nirmala sprints over to them."You guys, okay?" Nirmala asks."Yeah, y-yeah, I'm fine. I just need to walk it off-" Surak says before hitting the ground, the venom from the monitor lizard goes into effect.Baliyo hits the ground and immediately goes unconscious."Ah! Go get help, Nirmala!""I can't leave you two here by yourself. What if they come back?""They won't!"Nirmala looks around for help without leaving the area, while back near the Tree, The Lion Guard should be getting up and preparing for their patrol.Kion and Rani exit their layer as the Lion Guard waits for Kion."Come on, Kion, let's go!" Bunga says excitedly.Kion yawns. "I'm coming."Fuli looks around. "Wait, where is the Night Pride?""Huh, they should be back by now," Rani replies."Maybe they're just delayed," Besthe offers.The monitor lizard bites Beshte from behind, and he tumbles to the ground wailing in pain."Hey!" Bunga tackles the lizard."Besthe, you alright?" Kion runs up to Beshte to examine his injury.Before Besthe can reply, Onga is hit out of the sky by a leopard. Kion and Rani get tackled behind by the other two leopards.Fuli runs over to them, but two lions throw her to the ground."Zuka Zama, get out of here, you goofy leopards!" Bunga gets picked up by Mabaya and thrown to the ground with such force that he won't get up again."Hapana! I need to go get the Night Pride!" Ono flies off as Kion and Mabaya start to talk."Mabaya, what are you doing?" Kion asks."Look, let's just make this really easy, okay?"Shido comes from behind Mabaya and stands right next to him."Look, Kion, we're here for one thing and one thing only. You can either hand it over voluntarily, or we're going to have to get a little rough," Mabaya tells Kion as he is lying on the ground in pain."Ah, hand what over?"Mabaya walks up to Kion. "Your roar.""What? No!""Have it your way."Mabaya signals to Shido, standing next to Fuli, and he grabs the helpless cheetah by the tail, dragging her in front of Kion and Rani.Back where the Night Pride is, Ono lands next to Nirmala."Ono! Go get the Guard! Leopards and a lizard attacked us.""Kion, Rani, and the Guard are pinned at the Tree of Life! Beshte got bit, Anga can't fly; it's crazy over there!"Surak tilts his head up. "They got Besthe?""Yes! Nirmala, you have to come with me. You're the last one standing!""Alright. Surak, Baliyo; don't go anywhere.""Like we could if we wanted to!" Baliyo replies, waking up with a start.Nirmala and Ono rush towards the Tree, passing the mountain pass and running into Simba and Nala."Your majesty!""Oh, well, hello, Ono! It's nice seeing you-""Kion and Rani are being attacked at the Tree; we need your help!" Ono exacerbates, cutting Simba off."Kion?""Come on!"Ono, Nirmala, Simba, and Nala start running towards the Tree. Back at the Tree, Shido whispers something into Mabaya's ear. Then, Mabaya orders, "Alright, do it."Shido pushes the cheetah away and grabs ahold of Rani's neck. With the lion and leopard on her back, she's pulled in front of Kion."Alright, Kion, I'll give you one chance," Mabaya tells Kion as he wraps his paws around Rani's throat.Shido looks into Kion's eyes and sees tears welling up and rolling down his cheeks. At that moment, Shido realizes what he's doing. Shido's, about to turn on Mabaya but gets hit in the face by one of Mabaya's lions.Shido falls to the ground. He gets back up, only to be pinned by the lion against a rock. Rani looks over at Kion, trying to predict what he's going to do.Kion's body filled with anger; he can't hold it back any longer. The pitch dark clouds gather, patiently waiting for Kion to release their fury. Thunder booms in the distance as Mabaya is startled. He never realized the real power of the Roar.Kion grunts as he tenses up, the claws on his back starting to cut into him. He looks Mabaya dead in the eyes as he waits for him to do something. Mabaya holds his claws on Rani's throat.Kion becomes enraged, and as he roars, he sends the felines on his back, flying backward. The roar is so mighty the earth begins to crack at his paws. Kion can't control the roar at this point. Mabaya flies off Rani's back. She gets up and helps Kion back on his legs.Suddenly, Rani gets thrown to the ground as a lion tears into Kion's chest. He gets the lion off, but Mabaya is quick to jump on Kion and claw him.Just as all seems lost, Simba emerges from a nearby edge and pushes Mabaya off Kion. Simba and Mabaya start to tussle ferociously, as a leopard leaps onto Simba's back. Simba grabs ahold of the leopard by the throat and throws him at Mabaya, killing the animal before continuing to fight each other.Rani, helping Nirmala with the other lions and leopards, realizes Kion is still down. Beshte is recovering and tries his best to get up and join the fight with the venom still in his nerves. Kion gets up, and he looks around as everyone is fighting, even his mom and dad. Kion roars, hitting Mabaya off Simba, and then turns to Rani and Nirmala. They are still dealing with the other felines. Kion stands on his ground and roars. Besthe and Nala throw the last two cats into Kion's roar, and the power of the roar sends them over the mountain pass and out of the realm.Surak and Baylio came running up the hill after recovering from the bite of the monitor lizard. Everyone looked around to see if they forgot anyone, but then Kion fainted and hit the ground.Nala and Rani run over to Kion to know if he is alright, seeing that he is bleeding from his chest and lower neck. Simba gets underneath Kion, smearing his blood on his back and carrying him down into the lair with Nala and Rani following."What just happened?" Surak asks, looking at all the sore animals trying to get up.Kion isn't the only one who got severely wounded: Fuli is bleeding from her forehead and had claw marks on her back legs; Anga's left wing was missing most of its feathers; Besthe back right leg was bleeding lightly from the monitor lizard bite; and of course Kion -- Kion was bleeding from several places on his chest and neck. Kion was barely able to stay alive when Rani called Nirmala down."Yes, Rani?""Use the tree to help Kion treat some of the wounds he has."Kion stayed laying down on the rock still unconscious with a small pool of blood, his mom and dad stood next to him to make sure he was okay and that he won't let go of the life he had left.Nirmala hops on the rock next to him and places her left paw on a root from the Tree and her right paw on Kion's chest. The Tree lights up as Kion's torn muscles and skin mend back together. Kion wakes up, but he's very weak from blood loss."Kion needs to rest. We need to give him time to regenerate the blood he lost," Nirmala tells Simba and Nala.The group walks out of the lair to let Kion get some rest.Bunga gets up with a sore chest. "Well, at least we won.""Yeah, because Kion did all the work, and doing so, he almost died. We're just lucky Simba and Nala came to help," Fuli tells Bunga."We were just coming for a visit, we weren't expecting this," Simba replies."So, what are we going to do today?" Baliyo asks Rani."Well, the Lion Guard can't go on patrol. We have to wait and see how Kion recovers."Shido tries to get up, hemorrhaging blood from his head."You!" Rani runs over to Shido and pins him."What were you doing with that lion, and why were you helping him?" She demanded."I was trying to talk myself out but came up with a good plot, I realized what I was doing, I tried to stop him, but I got tackled."Rani lets him up as blood drips down his face."Look, I know I have been a nuisance lately, but that was too much. Is Kion alright?""Yeah, he's fine."Rani turns around to the group. "Alright, let's get some rest guys."Everyone splits, Simba and Nala find a place to sleep after their long journey from the Pridelands. Rani heads down into the lair to see Kion wiping the blood off the rock with a leafy branch."You alright, Kion?"Kion drops the branch from his mouth."Yeah, I need a bath, though. I'm covered in blood.""Alright. Here, I'll help you."Rani lets Kion lean on her as they walk out of the lair to the nearest body of water, a small pond. Kion grunts as he enters it, but he only gets out when all of the blood rinses off."Alright, I'm good.""You sure?" Rani asks."Yeah, my body is sore, but I'm fine."They both walk back to the lair and hop on the rock. Meanwhile, outside of the realm, Mabaya gets up from the snow. "Well, that didn't work." Mabaya gets up, feeling sore.He begins to walk back to his den with the intent of sleeping and lays down next to a not-so-active steam vent that started to glow. The vent ruptured as Scar appeared in the flames."Ah, Scar. It's been a while, friend.""It has, Mabaya," Scar says, as his voice echoed."How is Zira, if I may ask?""She's good. I am glad she was able to join me in the depths of hell.""Hmh, I bet. So, what can I do for you old friend?""Better start calling me your new friend because I've been watching what you're doing and have some plans for you and I.""Ah, team up, like old times.""Oh, yes.""Where do we start, Scar?""We'll start with my resurrection.""Oh god, that's a big task.""Nothing we can't handle. This is just the start.""Alright, where do I go?""Go to the Pridelands. You will first need to go into Rafiki's baobab tree and steal his additional staff. Then, head down to the old hyena's den and find one of my teeth, bring it back so we can start the process of my return.""Alright, Scar."Mabaya leaves as he starts the process of returning to the Pride Lands. This war has only begun and is going to get worse.