The Lion Guard: Lost Heart (#1)

Chapter 12

Sira looked from Kion to Rani.  If he really had the best chance at getting Rani back to normal, he had to at least try.  And Fuli was hopefully going to come back with tuliza soon.

"I'll try," he told Kion.

"Okay," Kion said.  "I'll greet the four animals."

Kion ran off.  Sira took a deep breath and walked up to Rani.

"Rani," he said.  "Listen to me.  You're not in control of yourself.  Snap out of it."

"I am in control!"  Rani snapped.

"Listen to yourself!"  Sira snapped.  "Focus.  Focus on my voice.  You can get back in control."

Rani shook her head.

"Thanks, Sira," she said.  "I don't know what came over me."

"You know exactly what it is," Scar's voice said in her head.  "But don't worry.  I'm only going to be here for a bit."

"Get.  Out."  Rani said, wincing and holding her paw above the ground.  "You've already overstayed your welcome."

"There we go," Scar said.

Rani winced as Scar's spirit left her body.

Kion came up to the two foxes and two cougars.

"Hello," he said.  "What brings you to the Tree of Life?"

"Two of the animals here are trying to escape abusive parents," one of the cougars said.  She was female.  "And the rest of us are their mates."

Kion noticed that the male cougar was a little behind the female one.  And the female fox was behind the male one.

"I'll take you to the queen," Kion said.  They started to walk to the Tree of Life.  "What're your names?  I'm Kion."

"I'm Vraie," the female fox said.

"I'm Renard," the male fox said.

"Acier," the male cougar said.

"I'm Taille," the female cougar said.

Kion noticed that all the names sounded similar, but they weren't Pride Landers' names.

"I'm sorry if I'm asking too much," Kion said, "but where are you from?"

"Acier and I are from the Arbre de la Vie," Taille said.

"Vraie and I are from Les Plaines de Neiges," Renard responded.

"Are you from here?"  Taille asked.

"No," Kion said.  "I'm from the Pride Lands.  I think it's just as far away as the Arbre de la Vie, or at least a similar distance."

And all those detours didn't help, Kion added silently.  He remembered Makini's memories, and he was pretty sure they had to backtrack multiple times.

They had arrived at the Tree of Life, Kion making small talk with the other animals to try to make them feel more comfortable here.

"Kion!"  Rani greeted.  "These are the new animals?"

"Yes," Kion said.  "Two of them are running from abusive parents, and the other two are their mates."

"You've heard of the Circle of Life, right?"  Rani asked.  The foxes nodded.

"La Cycle de la Vie?"  Renard asked Taille.

"Right," Taille said.  "We've heard of it."

"You're free to stay as long as you respect it," Rani said.  "Let me show you around."