“The Return Of The Guard (or in some planned variants, The Guard Returns) is the first chapter/episode of The Lion Guard: The Next Generation. It is incomplete as of August 2023.
Prologue[]
A chilling breeze swept across the moonlit grass, moving the tiny blades in a shifting motion. Many animals started to wake themselves up as they heard a loud roar. Simba! Is he in danger? shot to Ajabu’s mind as the roar faded. Ajabu opened his eyes to see the rising sun, and looking at the grass, that slowly lit up. Ajabu smelled it as he slowly stumbled up. The small tree he sat under with a mossy rock shook, since the roar was so loud. Ajabu ran quickly to Pride Rock, passing the elephants swallowing away grass. Storks flew in the same direction, one landing on the grass just a few inches away as Ajabu stopped to pant. “It must be important news if you’re in such a hurry!” the stork informed, before bursting into the air.
Ajabu kept on running, stumbling over many rocks. It didn’t bother him too much though. The okapi wondered what was so important. Before he knew it, he came to Pride Rock. Splashing through puddles as the sun fully rose upon the grassland was the quickest way to the formation. King Simba was standing proud upon the rock, good news in his eyes. The brown rock had a small rumble, likely from the roar. Animals were already gathered around, as the call meant something to them. Simba breathed in the air, and breathed out. “Good morning, good citizens. I, King Simba, am proud to announce that Kiara and Kovu have a new cub. Three, actually.” he said, in his best speaker voice. The animals cheered and laughed, but Ajabu looked around, confused. Leaves scattered across the rock and around Simba, as Rafiki carried out the three cubs. The animals bowed as Rafiki gently raised the cubs into the air.
One was a dark, dirt brown, speckles of light brown every now and then dappled down the back. She was playful, as she kept giggling and hitting the air. The next one was a dark yellow with a small tuft of black on his forehead, his golden fur shining in the bright light. The cub was nervous, peaking down and whimpering, as if he was about to fall. The next was just a plain yellow with a small brown down her head, and she seemed to just be happy. Ajabu was going to see how life would be with these groups of cubs, and if he could keep them safe.
Story[]
A leaf gently shifted into the den entrance, sweeping past the dark, greenish inside and quickly the cave. It drifted against the bumpy rocks which Kion and Rani were laying on. The leaf finally came to a stop right on Aagney’s nose. “ACH-ACHOOO!” he sneezed, shaking his brownish coat and red tuft of hair. Kion mumbled, his dark red mane flopping around as he woke up. Aagney opened his eyes to his grumpy dad. “Hi, Dad!” he nervously chuckled. “You’re not pretending to be sick, are you?” Kion playfully responded, nuzzling the sleepy cub. “Come on, bug, we got work to do!” Aagney stumbled up and quietly followed his dad into the center cave. “What’s the hurry?” he asked to the king. “You’ll see.” Kion said, leaping up a rock. Aagney tried to do the same, but slipped onto the brown dirt. “You’ll get it soon.” he said, slowly walking down to pick Aagney up and take him outside through the entrance.