The Lion Guard: A Dark Secret

Chapter 18

Fuli opened her eyes. A bright, newborn sun shone in her face. She looked around. Gozi! He was nowhere in sight. She then saw him talking to a badger nearby. Bunga! She rushed over to them.

"You're funny," she head Gozi say.

"Hoo-hoo-ha! I sure am!" Bunga exclaimed and did a somersault.

"Bunga!" She exclaimed. Bunga quickly turned around. "Fuli?!" He yelled, surprised. "I thought you were dead!" Bunga ran over to her and hugged her tight. Fuli almost choked. "Can't... breath." She gasped for air.

"Where's the rest of the Guard?!" Fuli asked him, yelling. Bunga pointed. "Over there." Sure enough, the rest of the Lion Guard was on the other side of the clearing. They looked up, the shock on their faces as soon as they saw her. They ran over to her.

"Fuli! Oh my Great Kings and Queens it's you!" "Fuli?! Is this real?!" "Fuli! You're back!" "Fuli!" Came their shouts. They all hugged her a hundred times tighter than Bunga had. Fuli gasped for air. They then broke the hug.

"Fuli?! How are you alive?!" Beshte asked. "Kion told us you were dead!" Fuli knew Beshte was bewildered. "And have you seen Kion?" He added. Fuli fell silent.

"Kion is dead."

The Guard had shocked and devastated looks on their faces. "Swift's Clan killed him."

"Swift's Clan?" Bunga asked. "I'll explain..." Fuli began to explain.

"You see, after I saved Kion from the flood and you all thought I was dead, I wasn't. The cheetahs from a clan of cheetahs called Swift's Clan found me and saved me. And my father was the leader, with my mother at his side."

"Your family?" Makini asked. "But you told us that they were dead."

"That's what I had thought, but they're not. At first I thought they were nice, kind-hearted cheetahs. But I was soon proven wrong when I met Gozi." She motioned with her paw to the younger cheetah standing next to her. There was a dead silence after she introduced Gozi. Fuli knew that they were thinking of Kion, his full name was Kiongozi, but everyone used to just refer to him as Kion. It was Bunga who started the nickname. He had said 'Kiongozi? That's too long. Let's just call him Kion!' And everyone else agreed.

"Gozi told me the story about my father and mother. Before my father, Mwepesi, arrived in Swift's Clan, the clan wasn't named 'Swift's Clan.' It was named 'Cheetah's Clan,' because all opinions and voices were heard and everyone in the clan was equal. No cheetah was above another. Then, one day, my father and mother arrived in the clan with a few other cheetahs with them. They told the cheetahs in Cheetah's Clan that decisions would be made quicker and easier if a single cheetah decided it, instead of the arguing that would happen amongst making a group decision." Fuli paused to make sure the Guard were listening. Sure enough, they were staring at her, silently urging her to continue.

"The cheetahs in Cheetah's Clan were hesitant at first because they thought it was better to be equal, even though they would fight sometimes. In the end, with all the group making the decision, they turned Mwepesi's proposal down. But Mwepesi, my mother Endesha, and all of their followers, which were all very well trained at fighting and very skilled at it, instead of accepting that Cheetah's Clan refused to live under one single leader making all the decisions for them, they attacked Cheetah's Clan. They were much better trained in fighting then the cheetahs in Cheetah's Clan, so in the end they won. Mwepesi, his name meaning 'Swift,' changed the clan's name to 'Swift's Clan,' making sure to emphasize that the clan belonged to him now. He then ordered his followers to keep a very strong grip on the clan. There are laws about who can hunt, and when. There are laws about when someone can play freely in the fields, if they ever get to play at all. There are even laws about what trespassers on the territory live or die. And even the ones who didn't mean to trespass." The Guard's eyes widened.