Kion's Tale Ch. 13

"So, you're clear on the plan, right?"

Rogo may not have liked doing it, heaven knows he did not fully like this colorful bird, but being faced with a problem as big as going to the Backlands with an Army of Outlanders blocking their safest way out, he had to go on with his sisters idea.

"I got it, I got it." Tuca gave the Monkey a wave of the wing as he grinned. "I swoop in and scare those Outlanders away."

"And you'll be there when we get the Lion Guard come evening like Makini asked," Rogo raised his eyebrows at him, hoping that Tuca got the message. "Right?"

At first, Tuca seemed as if he were going to say yes. The smile on his beak made clear that he did indeed have a positive answer. His eyes, however, told another story.

"Maybe."

Rogo's eyes widened in confusion. "What do you mean Maybe?"

Tuca groomed his feathers as he turned his head back to the older Mandrill. "The thing is, I'm planning on taking a visit to the Seaside for the afternoon. So MAYBE I'll be back by Evening when your Lion Guard friends get here."

It was here that Rogo became rather annoyed and shook his head in an irritated sort of Manner. "No no no, you WILL be back by the afternoon! Got it?"

"Of course, Bighead." Tuca smiled, rolling his eyes. "I'll be back by the afternoon." He then hopped off of the branch he was on and flapped his wings, giving one last word to the eldest Mandrill brother as he took off.

"Maybe."

Rogo could well hear the laughing of the Scarlet Macaw as he flew out of sight, and he was not finding it very funny. He began to try and keep up with the bird. "Tuca! No! You- gosh dangit you stinkin' flyin' rainbow!"

He tried to see the rainbow colored bird in the skies above him, still shouting out to him. But what the Monkey did not know was that it was a bird that had heard him.

But it was not Tuca.

"You down there!"

Rogo and his siblings looked up to see a small Grey bird soaring above them. He had Brown eyes and an Orange beak, like a Tickbird. However, his head seemed different than that of a Tickbird, more round shaped and less pointy. From the look on the bird's face, he was not too happy to see them. "Stay where you are, I'll come to you!" He called as he swooped out of the sky and landed on a branch above them. "Who are you?"

"I'm Makini. The youngest waved to the bird. "And these are my brothers."

Despite Makini's kind demeanor, Gunge did not seem to be in a friendly banter kind of mood. "Where d you come from, Makini?"

"Oh, we're from the Pridelands." Makini explained. "We're friends of the Lion guard."

"The Lion Guard?" The Cuckoo flew closer to her, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes staring at her. "So they did bring reinforcements... We'll have to see what the king has to say about this Invasion."

"Invasion?" Ugo raised his eyebrows. "What're you talking about? We're not here to invade the Pridelands! We're here to warn the Lion Guard."

Gunge let out a chuckle as he piped closer to the Monkeys. "Warn them? Warn them? Just what are planning on warning them of, Makini, if that's even your real name?"

"About the Outlanders."

The small Cuckoo's expression turned from taunting to puzzled at the word 'Outlanders.' "What's this about Outlanders?"

"We just saw them earlier this morning." Rogo pointed in the direction that he and his siblings had just come from, hoping that Gunge would believe them. "We heard them talkin', they're going to attack the Lion Guard when they take the route to the Pridelands when they come back from whatever they're doing here."

Gunge shook his head at this. "And you expect me to believe you? Ha! You think I'm stupid don't you? I can see right past your facade here, banana peeler. You're here to try and break us, you want to break our lifestyle into a thousand tiny pieces and cast us to the wind. Well, tough baobabs there, my dear, you aren't going o break us."

"B-but we're not trying t-"

"Save it, monkey! You and your brothers are coming with me." He then flew up and was about to lead them to his leader when...

"We can show you."

The bird stopped midair. He did not seem to trust Makini very well at this point, but he also realized that he was jumping to conclusions. If these Monkeys were from the Pridelands like the Lion Guard, there was no guarantee that they were indeed there to do good. But if there were indeed Outanders on the borders, they must've been telling the truth. But he had to be sure. He landed before the three below him.

"Lead the way."

-

Theluji padded up the mountainside and made her way into the yawning mouth of the great cave that led to her king. The burning lava brightened up the darkness, keeping the shadows at the far corners of the cavern. And there, in the center of the cave, was the great Scar Snout. If regular Komodos were big, Scar Snout was enormous. His thick, baggy skin encasing his ancient bulk. And of course, the great Scar that ran across his Snout.

'Your Majesty." The snow Leopard mix bowed before the king of the Backlands. "Katali and Norok's party have apprehended the Lion Guard and are now on their way here with them."

"Good." The Lizard nodded. "What about Gunge? Has he returned from his patrol?"

"No sir." Theluji shook her head. "There is no sign of him."

"Hmmm...." The low hissing of the troubled king echoed ominously. "There must've been more Pridelanders here after all. Gather all the Leopads, Komodos and Hyenas. We're going to have a hearing on to why these Pridelanders have come."

"All over it, Sire." With all that said, Theluj made her way out of Komodo Rock, leaving the ancient King to make his way out.

--

Silence. Absolute silence. That is what rang as the party lead their prisoners through the woods on their way to the great rock. Kion tried to listen for any murmurs from the Striped hyena and the Leopard leading this small party. He did not know who they were, nor their intentions. All he did know was that they were not happy seeing newcomers. The Hyena known as Nabii gave a glance to their surroundings, seeing more reinforcements approaching, each one glowering at the Lion Guard.

Soon, they arrived at their destination.

With more and more strange Hyenas, Leopard, and Dragons appeared, the Lion Guard prepared themselves for a fight was necessary. The leading Leopard was the first to speak.

"Lion Guard, why have you come here?"

Kion stepped forward confidently. "We're here because we have friends here that we haven't seen them in a while. we're worried about them."

Katali's eyes narrowed at the Lion Cub. "Friends? You have no friends here, Cub. I suggest you and your friends turn around and head back to your Pridelands."

Kion began to growl in his voice. "We aren't going anywhere without our friends, and no, not even you, are gonna get in our way."

"I will be the judge of that."

Kion nearly jumped at the sound of the chilling, elderly voice. And what he saw coming from the mountain made him even more frightened. This Lizard seemed to be of the same species as the one that had captured him and his Guard, but this one seemed much older, and much bigger. And running across the top of his Snout was a Scar that looked like it had been about 50 years old. The Lizard narrowed his eyes at the young animals, clearly not happy to see them.

"I take it back..." Ono said under his breath.

"THAT'S the biggest Lizard I've ever seen."