Lion Guard: Neema the Leopard

Chapter 22: (05-12-20)

Jahari lays down by neema fighting back the tears in her eyes. "We thought you were lost."

Neema smiles a little bit, but still weak from the injuries she decides it is best she does not move yet. "I was chased out of the fields by male leopards." She says. "so many different ways i lost track of which way i had gone."

"There are a few solo hunters out in the fields." Jaffire mumbles sitting beside her with his tail around his paws. "They don't always listen to reason and they don't follow our pack."

Zazu looks about questioningly. "So you are neema's mother and father."

The two nod.

"I don't understand." Muamba says sitting a little ways away. "You didn't look for her?"

Jaffire's ears crease back. "We did look!?" He growls. "We looked all over the fields but there was no sign of her. We thought the two legged beasts had gotten her."

Jahari looks away sadly. "It was too much to bare."

Jaffire nods. "We took down many camps of humans and their kin. We ruined them but nothing seemed to help."

Simba pads over and sits nearby. "She was here in the pridelands. I can't imagine what you must have gone through thinking you had lost your cub."

"I must say it's a huge relief to know she was merely displaced." Jaffire says.

Kion and the lion guard return with jashiri and janja. There is a slight pause while kion tries to survey the situation of the leopards on pride rock. "Is everything ok here?" He questions looking at his dad.

Simba nods. "Yes kion, everything appears to be fine now."

The group pads over and takes a seat near simba. "Good. I'm glad this ended without too many injuries."

"Are your herds ok?" Jaffire asks solemnly.

"Everyone is a little spooked and some animals got trampled or stuck in mud pits, but for the most part nothing was too bad." Kion replies. "The pridelands will be back to normal once everything settles."

Jaffire smiles a little and then he frowns and looks at his paws. "I am truly sorry. We invaded your lands and upset your herds."

"I thought you leopards had plenty of hunting ground." Simba says in a questioning way. "What changed?"

Jaffire growls with his ears back. "Humans, two legged devils that walk up right and carry weapons that sting like 1,000 bees from far away." He says. "They started coming in bigger numbers. Building houses and raising little animals. They have destroyed most of what used to be plentiful hunting grounds."

"We are lucky to have enough to eat but food is harder to find by the day and we fear it will soon be gone." Jahari says with her ears back.

"This was an attempt to gain new land further away from the humans. The pridelands have always been a place of envy for most predators." Jaffire says looking at simba. "No matter what happens this place always thrives."

Simba nods and stands up on his four paws. "If you don't mind i would like to give you a personal tour of our lands and to tell you a story that was passed down to me from my father and his before."

Jaffire nods and gives neema and jahari a quick apologetic glance then he follows simba as they walk off pride rock.

Zazu doesn't trust this leopard so he follows.

Janja and jasiri pad forward up to neema. "You ok?" He asks her.

Neema nods. "All my injuries caught up to me all at once but yes i am fine.

"Between fighting a bunch of lioness and a pack of leopards you have done too much." Janja mumbles glancing at jasiri. "And you ain't much better off. Don't think i didn't notice the limp."

Jasiri chuckles. "I sprained my leg chasing zebra, but I'm not hurt." She smirks and then she huffs and sits down. "That's more exercise then i planned for today."

Janja sits next her and mumbles under his breath about her being stubborn.

Kion raises an eyebrow in their direction. "Is it just me or do they seem really close?"

Fuli nods. "We're older now kion, things have changed." She smiles knowingly at jasiri who nods slightly in return.

"What?" Kion asks. He feels as if he has missed something.

Fuli just laughs slightly.

Ono lands near kion on a rock. "I think she means..." before he can finish his sentence, kiara and kovu return to pride rock. Kion runs up to his sister.

"Kiara!? Are you alright?" Kion asks.

She nods. "We kept the flank at the base of pride rock at bay but they still managed to get up here."

Kovu sighs with his ears back. "If they hadn't fled there would be a high chance of us having lost the fight. We have many injuried."

Besty and bunga had been talking to each other and hadn't really been paying attention but soon they realized the princess is nearby and they bow to her before continuing their own conversation.

Neema is feeling a little better now so she sits up. "Kiara." She says lightly. "Is everyone ok?"

"Mostly." Kiara admits. "It could have been worse. We were much wery from the outlands battle but our numbers grew as well after that fight."

"We need to treat the injuried and over see the herds." Kovu reminds. "We should go."

Kiara nods and her and kovu leave.

Kion turns back to ono. "I'm sorry i didn't mean to interrupt you ono. Talking to my sister is important right now. What were we talking about?"

"Fuli means janja and jasiri are close as in like together right?"

Fuli nods. "It's obvious."

Jasiri chuckles. "Cats out of the bag."

"Literally." Janja says kind of nervously. "There is more though."

She puts one paw forward and faces kion with her nose up but a smile on her face. "Janja and I have been together for a bit and we merged packs." She announces."

Kion smiles. "That's great."

"We have more room now we shouldn't need to come asking to hunt here anymore." Janja says. "And with more room neema and muamba don't really need to leave either. We will keep a truce between our lands but it's time we went back to relying on our own kind."

"I understand." Kion nods. "Rest assured that if you ever need the lion guard we will be there."

"We have to change our catchphrase if we did that." Ono jokes.

Everyone laughs.