The Lion Guard: Destinies Combined

Chapter 2

     "My stars, no!" Kion raced in. "Rani-" he gasped, grasping one of her paws in his. Spasms were going through her belly. "Kion-they're coming-" she gasped as another spasm knocked into her. Kion's pelt prickled with fear. "Makini! What can I do?" he asked as soon as she appeared. "Nothing. Comfort her, if she wants. Leave it to me. Fuli! I need water! Stat!" Makini called back. Kion turned back to Rani. She was panting, and the spasms were starting to come faster.
     "Stay-" she said to him. "I want you to stay." she breathed in and out, trying to catch her breath. Kion glanced to her large belly again. She kept contracting at least once a minute, and still getting more and more often. She let out a yowl as three came back to back. Kion shut his eyes as Makini stepped forward. He flattened his ears, and stiffened as Rani loosened. He opened his eyes a bit. She was breathing better, but it was still labored. There was a small mewling shape on the moss next to Rani. "Another one's coming, Kion lick this one." she lifted the cub to him. Kion cleaned him, and made sure he was breathing perfectly fine. This one is going to be the future king. His mind flashed. He already looked strong. Fuli rushed back with a bowl-like shape, water sloshing inside.
     Rani had another contraction pull her, and Kion set the cub next to him. "Here's your first girl." Makini placed the cub in front of Kion again. She seemed active and strong. He cleaned her the same way. Another cub slipped out of Rani. Kion felt a rush of emptiness, just like when he gave the roar to Vitani. It quickly came back though. Does he have the roar...? Kion couldn't help shivering. Kion hesitated for a moment, then licked this cub clean as well. Rani let out another growl as another contraction shoved into her. "Almost done, Rani. You're doing great, we have three cubs so far." Kion whispered to her. "One more." Makini said calmly. 
     Rani let out a gasp and she clutched onto Kion's paw. He twitched, alarmed. Her claws slid into his pads and he winced quietly. The tension suddenly loosened, and a cub was placed in front of him. He immediately cleansed her, but paused. "Makini-?" he asked, licking the cub a little more. She stepped forward. "Oh. That's...odd. To say the least." she blinked. "What?" Rani croaked, trying to reposition. She gazed to the youngest and blinked. "Albino?" She gasped. Kion shook his head. "I guess, I've never seen this..." he urged her next to her siblings, suckling milk from Rani. Honestly, he hadn't even noticed they moved to her. Makini lifted the water bowl and let Rani drink from it. "Thank you Makini. Can you go tell Fuli thank you?" Kion turned his head as Rani spoke. Oh. He hadn't realized that she had walked out. He then realized that he was an idiot. Of course she walked out. Rani didn't need to be crowded.
     "We should name this one Taai." he glanced to the first born. Rani let out a purr. "This one should be Flair." She nudged the second born female. "Hofu?" He looked to the third one. She narrowed her eyes. "No, what? That's horrible! I like Koda." She smiled. "Koda it is." Kion shrugged. Rani brushed her tail on the white one. "And this one...Baridi." Kion nodded. "One of them might have the roar." He said with a smile, but he couldn't keep back the worry in his eyes. "Aww Kion. It'll be okay. Nothing's going to happen." She said with another purr. Makini stepped back in. "New life means new day." She said with a smile. Kion made a face. She was starting to sound like Rafiki. "Anyways. We should announce their birth a week from now at dawn. Their eyes should be open by then." She dipped her head. "Which one is going to be the next leader of the Tree of Life?"
     Kion and Rani both glanced to Taai. "Him." Rani said. "Taai, our future King." Kion kneaded his paws against the ground in nervousness. Would he be a good father? Would he be even half the father Simba was to him? Would he still be a good king? And...most importantly, will he still be able to lead the Night Pride? Questions whirled in his head, and his pelt pricked. He looked to the cubs instead of his own brain. Taai was yellow, but darker than his own pelt. He had a small black tuft of fur on his head, and his tail tip was black. He looked strong and already held a form of leadership. Flair was a dark tan, with a dark tuft of fur, not quite black, fading into the dark tan fur on her chest. She had the same color fur as he chest speckled all over, with some slightly lighter dots mixed in too. Her toes were tan, and her tail tip was dark brown with the extremely dark tan that was on her chest on the tips of her tail. Koda was darker than Rani, with no fluff on his head. His toes were about the same shade as Rani's coat.
     Baridi was white, nothing else too it. Her eyes were still closed, so he couldn't see her eye color. He gazed to her and held his gaze. She was odd, but beautiful. Baridi let out a yawn and curled up, pressing herself on Rani's belly fur. "You did it Rani. And your safe." Kion purred. Rani nodded and her eyes drifted closed. Kion flicked his ear, inwardly panicking. "Shwari, Kion. She needs rest." Makini took his shoulder and steered him towards the exit. He dipped his head. "Take care of her. I'm going to tell the Pride the news." he padded out, clearly forcing himself to.
     "Kion? Is she okay?" Baliyo looked over his shoulder. "She's fine, four beautiful cubs." he glared at his paws as he stepped farther away from the tree. "Anything happen while I was-" he looked up from his paws to a huge crowd and he stopped. "Youuuu could say that..." Bunga stepped forwards. "How did the word spread so quickly...?" Kion said, dumbfounded. Bunga shrugged. "It all started with the penguins, who told the monkeys and the polar bears, who told the mountain goats and the tigers, who told the-" Fuli interrupted. "He gets it." she rolled her eyes. "Lots of animals told other animals and now every animal is here." Kion made a face. "Well I should probably deal with this before it gets out of hand..." he muttered. Kion leaped onto a tall rock and started to announce the news.
     "Everyone. Rani and I are glad you have shown your respect, but the ceremony shall not be until they have opened their eyes." he paused. "Queen Rani is perfectly fine. She's tired, but she's healthy, as well as the cubs. Take a rest for today, and try not to get into trouble." he leaped down from the rock as the animals started to disperse. He saw a flash of yellow and black in the crowd, but then disappeared. He narrowed his eyes, trying to look for the animal that had made that flash. Aha. He saw a couple of leopards running towards the mountain pass. "Fuli, Anga, go find those two leopards that were there. They were headed towards the mountain pass." Anga swooped down from the sky. "I saw. Lets go Fuli! This way!" they raced off. Kion watched them. "Everyone else, we'll follow close behind in case a fight breaks out. Try to stay hidden from scent and sight. And sound, too." He paused. Wait, I thought we chased out Makucha's friends...and that wasn't Makucha and Chuluun... a horrible realization dawned upon him. "Wait, what? Those aren't normal leopards..." Baliyo tilted his head in confusion. Surak stepped forward. "I think those two are the son and daughter of Makucha and Chuluun." he said, lashing his tail. "They're two different breeds though..." Bunga nodded vigorously. "Yeah, that violates every law ever." Kion shook his head slightly. "They're both leopards...just built for different things..." he said, still confused. "We need to keep going, we'll find out what's going on. If the Tree is in danger...if everyone else is in danger...We need to stop them."
     This isn't good. Makucha and Chuluun? It has to be some sort of plot, they've always hated each other...maybe it's a leopard thing. If this is what I think...the cubs, Rani, and everyone living here at the Tree are in danger. I could use my Roar...but what if I can't anymore? What if one of the cubs have it and I don't anymore...? Is this...Is this going to be the end of the Tree of Life?