When the Blood Runs Dry

Bitter Herb...

Kion's eyes remained clenched as the pain in his side did not cease, it only seemed to be worse than it had been before. He realizes how parched he felt as he rolls his dry tongue along the roof of his mouth and to his undelighted surprise, he discovers a dry rolled up leaf uncomfortably wedged in between two of his upper teeth. As his tongue ran lightly over the uninvited guest to try and remove it, Kion quickly tried spitting out the sour herb that ruthlessly attacked his tongue. Whatever this bitter leaf was, it certainly made his adrenaline rush as Kion quickly forgets about the pain in his face and side. His eyes shoot open and quickly he scans his surroundings for water, which conveniently he had awoken next to a large puddle. Even after gulping large mouthfuls of water, Kion couldn't rid himself of the taste.

"Gross... what is that?" He asks himself out loud, not at all suspecting another creature or rather creatures, to be accompanying him.

An amused voice chuckles behind him, instantly grabbing the young lion's attention. "That young Kion, is Momordica Charantia; a bitter herb that will help with your wounds' healing." An old mandrill by the name of Rafiki steps from the shadows and points his staff towards Kion's flank. His wounds are covered in a blanket of leaves, held there by a sticky vomit green paste which Kion could only guess what was in that nasty smelling goo which seeps noticeably through the spacing in between those leaves.

Looking past Rafiki, Kion notices the mandrill's apprentice Makini as well as all of his own friends; Fuli, Beshte, Bunga and Ono who all joined in laughing with the Royal Mjuzi. As Kion's eyes rest on all of them, he only just realizes where he stands; in the center of the Lion Guard lair. Not much changed about the lair since before he left on patrol which Kion found odd since Rafiki is always adding more paintings and stories to the walls of the large cave from the Lion Guard's adventures. Then again, Kion must have only been out for several hours before the fight with the strange lioness, which brings another question to the young leader...

"So what happened to the lioness that Bunga and Beshte brought to Pride Rock? Was she a part of Zira's pride do you think?" Kion asks the mandrill curiously, knowing that by now everyone at Pride Rock will have known that something happened during his patrol; afterall, word gets around fast.

Suddenly Rafiki's expression darkens as he looks away in thought, his hands carefully stroking the hair underneath his chin with one hand and the other holding his bacora staff tightly as if attempting to strangle a large serpent. After several seconds of this odd behavior, the mandrill stops and quickly turns towards his apprentice.

"Makini, could you grab the rest of the royal family and let them know that the Prince has awoken." Rafiki asks the future Mjuzi with urgency, completely ignoring Kion's question.

"Of course Rafiki... I'll be right back... You'll be so surprised how fast I'll return with them... Don't you worry." The young mandrill bounds off happily out of the liar, skipping and humming a tune as she steps out into the sun.

"Uhh... Rafiki?" Kion calls out to the now pacing mandrill, surprised by the sudden change in his mood.

"I will explain to all of you once your family gets here... But where to start is the question." The mandrill answers back, mostly to himself before returning to his aggressive pacing.

Kion looks toward the rest of his friends, noticing the look of puzzlement as they too watch Rafiki mumbling and grunting to himself; feeling slightly better now that he knows his friends are just as startled by the unusual behavior and it wasn't just Kion. This went on for a several more minutes before finally a voice from the entrance to the lair strikes down the brutal silence.

"Kion! You're ok..." Kion's mother, Nala runs up to nuzzle him. "We've been so worried about you, we thought you'd never wake up, you lost so much blood and when your father brought you up the steps of Pride Rock, I thought you were...." The Queen of the Pridelands practically suffocates the Prince as she pulls him in closer.

"I'm fine mom... I've only been out for a couple hours." Kion tries to reassure his mother as he attempts to pry himself free to get some much needed air. Nala pulls away from him and stares at him in astonishment.

"Hours...?" The voice of Kion's father, Simba, echoes his words with just as much disbelief. Kion's sister, Kiara, also glances at him worriedly.

"Kion, you've been unconscious for almost three days." Nala answers her cub, surprising the young cub himself.

"Three days...?" He answers back, looking to the ground in shock. But the conversation that he had with his adult self... or Tendaji at least, only lasted for a few minutes; how could that much time have passed without him knowing. Kion looks back at his family feeling slightly guilty for the scare. "I'm here now and I'm sorry for worrying you guys."

"You have nothing to apologize for, you didn't do anything wrong." Simba responds as he too steps forward to nuzzle his son, just a little bit more gently than Nala had before him.

"Ya Kion... It wasn't your fault." Kiara chimes in but she also comes closer to Kion's ear and whispers rather suspiciously. "By the way, did Rafiki put that bitter herb in your teeth like I asked him to?" His sister chuckles at the thought, trying to liven up the depressing atmosphere.

Kion instantly pulls away as he replies in disbelief and annoyance as he remembers the sour taste that somehow still lingers on his tongue. "That was your idea!?" Kiara falls to the ground, laughing hysterically as Kion reveals that her little scheme worked beautifully.

One of Kion's friends, Bunga, starts laughing just as viciously as Kiara as he begins to mock Kion's reaction "Ya it was so funny... Kion was all like 'blah, blah...'" Bunga begins to fake spit in excitement, trying to keep a straight face as he does so but ultimately failing. "Then he was like... 'This is so gross..'" the honey badger exaggerates as he deepens his voice to try and match Kion's as best he can; which didn't work out so well as he too joins Kiara on the ground.

Kion's felt hot with embarrassment but a sudden realization hit him... if Bunga knew about the prank, then the rest of the guard.... Kion turns towards his friends as they watch on. "You were all in on it..?" None of the others said anything but their nervous guilty smiles revealed Kion's suspicion. He stares at them sternly... giving them a "That was not funny" glare.

As the laughter finally died down, mostly due to the air running out of Kiara and Bunga's lungs, the lair went silent as everyone got out their friendly greetings. Now it was time to talk about the little situation the Guard had issues with... the lioness that let herself fall to her own death in the Gorge. Kion and the rest of the audience watch Rafiki closely as he clears his throat.

"Kion... earlier you asked if the lioness you encountered was a part of Zira's pride. While I'm glad to say that I don't think so... I fear that this lioness is part of a pride far worse than Zira's." Rafiki admits warningly, his expression serious.

"A pride worse than Zira's?" Fuli repeats back in astonishment, taking a step towards Rafiki. "Is that possible?"

"If the lion isn't part of Zira's pride, who's pride did she belong to?" Beshte the hippo asks nervously.

"I will answer that if my suspicions are correct... but first..." Rafiki comes closer to Kion. "Kion... you were the closest to the lioness, did she say anything to you at all?" The mandrill comes even closer to the cub, even wrapping a paw around his back as he listens carefully for his answer.

"Well she didn't really talk much but when she was beaten, she tried jumping into the Gorge, obviously not intending to be taken here alive for questioning." Kion pauses to replay the disturbing image in his head. "I stopped her for just a minute before she let herself fall... but she said..." The mandrill stops him as he finishes for the cub.

"Glory to Mauti and all who oppose him shall perish..." The mandrill repeats the lioness's words without even needing to hear them for himself. A cold shiver runs down Kion's spine as he turns to the Royal Mjuzi, wide eyed.

"How did you know?" The golden cub asks.

Rafiki walks a few steps towards a large boulder and turns back to him. "The lions of the past warned me of a great evil." Turning back to the boulder, Rafiki pushes it to the side with all his might to reveal a few hidden paintings.

Kion and the rest of the Guard scan this mysterious wall. Fear sets in as Kion's eyes rest on a painting of a group of scarred lions like the one he encountered. "What does all this mean?" Kion's eyes never leaving the portrait as he asks

Rafiki turns to Kion, his locking with his. "They mean to recruit you..."