Right after the Lion Guard found the next moja kwa moja stone at Dragon Island, they continued on their way to the Tree of Life. After many hours of walking in the Kuna Desert, Fuli, the cheetah, noticed a foul smell in the air. "Ugh! Bunga, is that you?! If so, you smell worse than ever!" she disgustedly shrieked. "It's not me!" Bunga retorted. "Whatever that odor is, we need to find out where it's coming from," Kion explained as he rubbed his hurting eye.
Suddenly, a little black and white creature scurried under Fuli's legs, nearly causing her to plummet into the burning sand below. However, right before she was about to fall, Beshte, the hippo, quickly and sharply lunged in and caught her! "You okay, Fuli?" he gently asked. "I'm alright, Beshte. Thanks!" the cheetah replied. All of a sudden, the strange creature dashed behind a nearby rock.
"Beshte, go behind that rock and see what's back there," Kion instructed. Nodding his head, he started to trot toward the rock. Right when he was about to peek his head through, he heard a strange sound. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to bother you," a tiny voice squeaked. Beshte quickly jumped back in fear.
"Who's there?" he asked apprehensively. Then, out from behind the rock, the creature revealed itself. It was a spotted skunk! "Guys, you need to see this!" Beshte called to his friends. The Guard rushed over in a hurry, wanting to know about the creature that Beshte had stumbled across.
Ono the egret, examined the creature closely and came to a conclusion. "She must be a spotted skunk! They live here in the desert. They also have a very strong smell, sort of like Bunga's but worse, which they can spray when they feel threatened. Common knowledge, really," he explained. "I'm Riha. I lost my family when I was just a tiny baby and I haven't seen them again since," she lamented. The Guard instantly felt sorry for her, so they decided to take her under their wing. Right at that moment, a coyote sprung up behind her!
Suddenly, Riha started stomping her feet and growling aggressively. "Is something wrong with her?" asked Anga, the martial eagle. "No, Anga. See, that coyote is provoking her, so Riha is stomping her feet a warning before she sprays," Ono replied. "Meaning we better run or she's gonna blow! Ono, hide with Makini behind that rock!" Kion shouted. With the young egret in her arms, Makini, Rafiki's apprentice, dashed for the nearest rock.
Finally, Riha had had enough of the coyote! She raised her long tail and out came a green-teal cloud that was so pungent, it scared the wild dog off. Meanwhile, behind the rock, Ono was starting to lose his breath. "What are we going to do now, Makini?!" he asked in a raspy voice. Makini held Ono tight in her arms and together they waited for the stink to clear up.
Once the smell was completely out of the air, the pair rushed back to check on the rest of the Lion Guard. "Is everyone okay?" Makini asked. "Anga!" Ono cried. There, in the distance, lay Anga. She could barely see or speak.
Anga had accidentally gotten caught in Riha's stink cloud and the fumes made their way into her lungs, leaving her breathless. Ono quickly went from worried to devastated in that moment. Riha looked over her shoulder & saw Ono tending to and comforting poor Anga. 'I didn't mean too..." she stuttered. But, Ono wasn't having any excuses.
"This is all your fault! If you wouldn't have done that, Anga wouldn't be like this!" he shouted. Ono aggressively bounced up and down while flapping his wings, squawking uncontrollably. Riha couldn't take the emotional abuse anymore and ran off, crying. Beshte glared at his friend with contempt and ran of to find Riha and apologize to her. Behind a nearby sand dune lay the sobbing Riha.
"Riha, I'm sorry Ono treated you like that. He's just very protective of his friends," Beshte apologized. "It's alright, Beshte. My spray is just my defense mechanism if you know what that means. It's a way I protect myself against predators," Riha kindly answered. The two then happily nuzzled each other, comforting Riha.