The Lion Guard: Without Him ✔️

eight

"Hello?!" Hatari called out, walking into an empty clearing. "Is anyone here?"

A low growl escaped the shadows, making the leopard shiver in fright, but he stood tall nonetheless.

"Who are you and why have you come looking for me?" The owner of the growl asked and Hatari smirked.

"I have valuable information for you, Uchafu." He said. "In exchange for said information, you will share your power with me once you take over the Pride Lands."

The lion stepped forward into the moonlight, he teeth bared and claws extended. "If your information is as valuable as you think, perhaps you will get away from here with your limbs still intact. If not.. well, you get the gist of it."

"You can kill me," Hatari said simply, "But once Kiara and Fuli return, you might regret that."

"The daft princess and the cheetah? Why do I care where they are running off to?" He snapped. "I just consider them cowards."

Hatari chuckled and shook his head, "They are setting out to a special place... a place with magical properties- enough to revive those who have departed from our world."

Uchafu's eyes snapped up like a flicker of hot flame erpting into a dangerous fire, "What?"

Hatari continued to smirk, "You heard correctly, friend. The two intend to revive Prince Kion in hopes of defeating you with his roar... the roar of the elders. That which helped defeat your father years ago."

Uchafu's face grew dark, "Then we have to stop them. Where is this place?"

"I will take you there, if you agree to my terms."

The lion growled but nodded, "Deal."

Hatari smiled and nodded, standing up. "What are we waiting for?"

***

Fuli and Kiara had been walking for hours. The sun had already risen and was almost right above their heads, beating hard down onto their fur.

"How much further do you think we have to go?" Kiara asked, out of breath. "It sure is hot out here."

"Um... I'm not exactly sure." Fuli looked back, flashing Kiara an innocent smile. "I guess as long as we keep the Snowy Mountains in view, we'll get there eventually."

Kiara chuckled, "True, but Fuli we don't have much time. For all we know, Uchafu could already be attacking-"

"Kiara!" Fuli snapped lightly. "They'll be fine. Besides, if we get this right, there will be no need for any war at all."

"I hope you're right," Kiara muttered under her breath.

They carried on walking towards the mountains that were barely visible over the sand dunes, but Kiara suddenly stopped short.

"Kiara? You okay?" Fuli asked, looking at the lioness over her shoulder curiously. She had her head lifted high into the air, taking in deep puffs of the atmosphere.

She smiled, "You smell that?"

Fuli's brows knitted together and she lifted her head as well, sniffing. "Water?"

"Yeah, come on!" Kiara sped in the opposite direction of the mountains, leaving no room for argument. Fuli huffed, rolled her eyes and was forced to follow. They eventually reached a large river on the edge of the desert. On the other side was a grassy plane and then a pass... leading around a dark forest and straight to the mountains.

"Kiara you're brilliant!" Fuli exclaimed happily, spotting the pass in the distance. "This will cut our journey short by days!"

Kiara smiled and winked at her, "Yeah, that's what I'm good at. Now come on, we need a break."

"Kiara-"

"Ah!" Kiara butt in before Fuli could speak. "If we're going to get my brother back and save the Pride Lands, we're going to need all of the strength we can get. We can't die of thirst or exhaustion all the way out here."

Fuli sighed but nodded, "You're right."

Kiara's smile only widened with amusement, "Of course I am." She then started to make her way down the steep, sandy bank beneath them towards the water's edge.

"Be careful, Kiara!" Fuli warned as Kiara almost slipped on the hot sand.

"I'm fine, Fuli. I'm not totally helpess."

Fuli shook her head, "If you were, I wouldn't have brought you along."

Kiara chuckled snarkily as she reached the edge and began to lap the water up with her tongue. "Who else would have believed your story enough to come wi-"

SPLASH!

"Kiara!" Fuli yelled as the ground beneath the lioness gave way, causing her to tip into the icy water.

The rapids immediatly climbed over her, dragging her down beneath the surface. Fuli watched in shock as Kiara disappeared for a few moments before reappearing further down the river.

"Fuli!"

Fuli blinked and looked around for something to help save Kiara, but the land was barren. "I'm coming!" Fuli called back, taking to running after her instead. "Just hold on!" 

Fuli ran along the bank, easily keeping pace with Kiara.

"Fuli!!"

"I'm trying Kiara!" The cheetah snapped.

She looked around and spotted a long, thick vine curled up... on the other side of the river. "Damnit!" She whisper-yelled under her breath, glancing at Kiara struggling in the water.

Then the sound of light, running footsteps filled Fuli's ears. She looked back at the other side of the bank as a cloud of dust ran across the ground, almost running in sync with the floating lion and sprinting cheetah. She watched as the dust stopped moving where she'd first spotted the vines, the cloud clearing just enough for her to see a...

Another cheetah?

Fuli stopped and stared, mouth agape. She hadn't seen another cheetah since... well, since her parents abandoned her as a cub. She watched as he lifted the dark green vine in his mouth and dragged it over to the river, finally locking eyes with Fuli.

"Here!" He yelled with a thick, foreign accent, throwing one side of the vine towards Fuli. It took her a moment to realise what was happening, but soon she, too, picked up the vine. The male cheetah then started running towards Kiara, still floating down stream, with the vine in his mouth. Fuli followed his lead from her side of the bank.

"Kiara grab on!" Fuli instructed as they finally reached her. Kiara immediatly reached upwards and grabbed the vine hanging over her head, gasping for air. "Now move!" The princess did as told and moved towards the male's side absent-mindedly, having been closer to his side. When she reached the bank, the cheetah let go and helped her up onto the sandy grass. Kiara huffed and puffed for air, dripping wet.

The she looked up and smiled a small smile, "Thank you."

He smirked, "No problem."

***

Hiya readers!

You know... updating this story isn't going as quick as I thought it would! I'm currently writing exams, but as soon as they finish I'll set to work on writing more! I finished this chapter a couple of weeks ago, but I wasn't sure it was worthy of being published. Today, I decided that you've all waited with baited breath for a long ten days, so here we are! I hope you all enjoyed!

-V 💕