(A/N: Hey, everyone. Now, before I start this chapter, I feel like there is something that I need to clarify first- I came up with the idea for this story a long while back, some time after I published the Absence one-shot, of which this is a sequel. I'm hoping that this story will be part of a bigger project for me, and I want it to follow the same (or, at least, a similar) timeline as the series, so now that I know what is going on in season three, I am imagining this will take place in the gap between season two and season three. Hopefully, that makes things clear for everyone.

Also, I am going to be working on both this story and my current Loud House story, Lincoln Gets Limber, so I won't provide new chapters as often as before- I'll be alternating between the two, uploading one chapter for either story every three days until further notice.

Thank you for reading this, and enjoy!)

"Are you certain, my Queen?"

"I am. It's for the best."

"I understand, your majesty. If there is nothing else I need to know, then I shall take off at once."

"Thank you. May the kings watch over you."

The sun rose over the Pride Lands as it did every day, illuminating the vibrant savannah landscape with golden light. All across the land, the animals of all different shape, size, type and variety began to wake up, being met with the lukewarm air that surrounded them. Animals young and old rose from their slumber, some willingly and some reluctantly, all preparing to start their day in their own way.

Among those animals was one Fuli the cheetah, known throughout the Pride Lands as the fastest animal there was, and one member of the Lion Guard. The cheetah began to stir from her sleep as the sunlight hit her face, causing her eyes to flutter open. Steadily getting to her feet, she stretched her hind legs and let out a loud yawn, then began smacking her lips. Her mind, however, needed an extra moment to come round, trying to piece together the dream she was struggling to remember. 'What was that?' She pondered. 'It felt familiar, but… at the same time, not so. Weird…'

Her rumbling stomach brought her away from those thoughts. "Guess I better go hunting before patrol," she said to herself, knowing that if she met up with the Guard whilst hungry, she would be less able to perform her duties to the Pride Lands. As she began to leave, however, she turned her head to one side and saw something that made her stop moving.

Near where she had been sleeping, a herd of gazelles were still waking up. In particular, the king cheetah saw what appeared to be a mother and child, still laid down together with the former awake while the latter was fast asleep, the biggest smile on their face as they cuddled up to their mother. Seeing this innocent sight initially made Fuli smile, thinking about how cute it was, but she then began to frown. 'I can hardly remember the last time I woke up like that,' she thought with a sigh, then shook her head. 'Not important right now. Food first, then patrol. Sad thoughts can come later.'

With that, she took off again. She searched for a little while, before finding a rabbit sat to munch on some grass. Lowering her body to the ground, she stalked her prey, fixing her sights on the Lagomorph. She took slow, precise steps towards it, ensuring that she made as little noise as physically possible. The rabbit looked up from its food and twitched its nose, thinking that something was amiss. A few seconds later, it turned its head and saw Fuli attempt to pounce at it, so it took off running. Fuli, never one to want to be the fastest by name alone, gave chase. The two animals always remained close in distance, with the rabbit constantly looking for a way to try and escape while the cheetah was looking to simply close the distance between them, and eventually make that one pounce that would end this game of cat and… well, rabbit. The longer they ran, the longer Fuli got her wish as she soon closed the gap, her paws now just inches away from the rabbit. She saw her opportunity, and made the pounce, taking down the rabbit and making its death as merciful as possible.

Proud of achieving her hunt, she picked up the now dead rabbit and carried it away before beginning to eat her morning meal. As she ate, however, she realised that her chase had led her towards the Watering Hole, where she could see a few animals were by the water- some getting a drink, some splashing about, some just relaxing on the bank. What caught her eye, however, was that she could see Mtoto, a young elephant who was a friend of Beshte's in a way, spraying water out of his trunk at his mother. Rather than be irritated, she smirked, taking in some more water through her trunk and spraying it at Mtoto, who laughed at the interaction. Once again, Fuli couldn't help but smile at how cute it was, before frowning as she remembered that it was a long time since she had done anything like that, though she shook that away while she resumed eating. 'Why am I thinking about this stuff? I don't normally think about this stuff.' She then began to frown again. 'Although… I do wish I could've had more moments like that…' She shook her head again, steeling her expression. 'No, Fuli. You are better than this. Now, come on. The Guard will be meeting at the lair soon.'

Some time later, none other than Kion- son of the king himself, and leader of the current Lion Guard- was making his way towards the Lair of the Lion Guard. The golden furred lion cub was smiling, feeling a good energy within him. 'Things are going to be good today,' he thought to himself as the entrance to the lair came in sight. Making his way through the vines, he could see his friends waiting patiently- Ono cleaning his feathers, Beshte sat by the water talking with Bunga, and Fuli laid down, seemingly in thought. "Hey, everyone," he spoke, getting their attention. "Hope I haven't kept you waiting too long."

"Nah, we're all good," Bunga replies, waving it off. "So, ready to kick more hyena butt?"

He leapt up, throwing a few 'fighting moves' that made Fuli roll her eyes, while Beshte simply chuckled. "Come on, Lil B," he told the honey badger, "we don't patrol so we can fight them, we fight them when we have to, so we can protect the Pride Lands."

"He's right, Bunga," Kion agreed. "If there's no one starting a fight, then we don't start a fight with them."

Bunga rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know, but fighting's the best part! It's fun!"

Kion couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head at his friend's 'eccentricity'. "Whatever you say, Bunga." He then turned to look at Fuli, who appeared to still be thinking over something, which caught his attention. "Fuli? You okay?"

"Hmm?" She turned her head and saw everyone was now looking at her, so she got to her feet. "Yeah, I'm good. So, we going?"

"Yeah, we better get started on patrol."

Kion nodded to Beshte's reminder. "You're right. Okay, let's get going." So, he turned to face the entrance. "Til the Pride Lands end!"

"LION GUARD DEFENDS!"

So, the five of them left the lair and began their patrol of the Pride Lands, following same path as usual. As they walked around and checked up on the different herds, keeping an eye out in search of any sign of danger, Kion would occasionally glance over at Fuli, trying to see if she was thinking about what she was thinking about before. While the cheetah was not usually the most talkative- in all fairness, when compared to Bunga, nobody was- he did notice that she seemed a bit quieter than usual, and her eyes had… something in them. It wasn't sadness, he had seen that look in her eyes before, and it wasn't that, but he couldn't quite place it. He knew, however, that she probably wouldn't want to talk about it while the others were around, so he let her be for the time being.

The morning soon faded away into the afternoon, and though things hadn't been particularly hectic, the Guard decided to take a break by the Watering Hole, and cool down from the heat. Whilst Beshte and Bunga took the opportunity to soak in the water, and Ono found some shade to rest himself under, Kion and Fuli simply sat near the water's edge after having taken a drink.

"Feels like the dry season's starting to reach it's end," Kion remarked.

"Yeah, I think you're right," Fuli replied. "It's still really hot, but it's getting more tolerable."

"I know what you mean. It's getting to the point where it no longer burns my paws to sit outside the cave at Pride Rock." He gave a small chuckle, but when he turned to Fuli, he noticed that she was neither laughing, nor looking at him. What he did see, however, was that she had that same look in her eyes that she had worn while patrolling. "Hey… Fuli?" She turned to him, allowing her to see his concern. "Are you okay? You've been quiet today."

She gave a small smile. "Kion, that's sweet, but I'm fine." He raised an eyebrow to suggest he didn't believe her. "Seriously, I'm fine. Just… thinking."

"About what?" Her smile was replaced with a frown, her gaze drifting to the grass by her paws. "Sorry, I… guess I shouldn't have asked that."

"No, it's okay. I don't mind, I just… I don't fully know what it is myself."

Kion tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"Well… I had a weird dream last night, and I can't remember what it was, but… I dunno, I've kinda felt weird since. Kind of like-"

"LION GUARD!" They heard someone call, prompting them to turn in the direction it came from. As Bunga and Beshte made their way out of the water and Ono flew over to the others, a purple and white feathered eagle flew over to them, landing just in front of Kion.

"Anga? What's going on?" He asked.

"It's the vultures," she explained. "I saw them attacking someone, though I don't know who. I didn't recognise them."

"Well, what did they look like?" Ono asked.

"It was hard to tell, the vultures had them surrounded. All I could tell was that it was a bird of some kind, because they were fighting in the air."

"Well, whoever it is, we'd better go help them," Kion told the Guard, who nodded before he returned his attention to Anga. "Can you lead us to them?"

"Follow me!"

So, she took off with the Guard in tow. They ran across the Pride Lands as fast as they could to ensure that Anga didn't get too far ahead, before eventually, their destination was in sight. Up ahead, they could see that Mzingo's flock were attacking another bird. "Hey, Ono! Do you recognise who they're attacking?"

The egret focused his sights on the bird. "No… I don't think they're from the Pride Lands. I don't think there are any white necked ravens that live here."

Fuli's eyes shot open. "What did you say?"

"I said, there aren't any white necked ravens in the Pride Lands. Why?"

Fuli's eyes narrowed. "I think I know who it is, and Mzingo's gonna regret it! HUWEZI!"

She took off as fast she could, leaving her friends behind. "Fuli, hang on!" Kion attempted to call, but she either didn't hear him or chose to ignore him.

"What was that about?" Anga asked.

"I don't know, but we better help her! Ono, you and Anga fly ahead and try to take on the vultures."

"You've got it, Kion!" Ono replied, while Anga simply nodded as the two avians picked up speed.

"Bunga, Beshte, let's go. We might not be able to help on the ground, but we should see what we can do!"

"Right!"

So, while everyone rushed over to take on the vultures, the raven being attacked was doing his best to avoid the attacks. "What is wrong with you?" His gruff voice cawed. "Leave me alone, I have to find the king!"

"Well, that's exactly why we have to stop you!" One of Mzingo's cronies argued. "There's someone else you need to see first!"

"Not on your life! Now, get lost before-" He was cut off when he felt another vulture strike him from behind, causing him to cry out in pain as he began to plummet to the ground. He tried to flap his wings to steady his descent, but his left wing was searing with pain, to the point where he couldn't move it. "No! Come on, stupid wing, work!"

As he headed towards the ground, Fuli saw it and gasped. "Hang on!" She shouted, putting in one last burst of speed before leaping up and catching him with her teeth right before he would have hit the ground. "I've got you!"

Despite her words being mumbled, the raven could recognise her voice. "Is… is that you, Fuli?" He asked.

"You betcha!"

As she slowed down, Mzingo looked down and saw the cheetah had saved the raven, causing him to become angry. "Drat! It's the cheetah!" He called out.

"Yeah, but if it's just her, then we can take her out!" One of his allies reasoned.

"Don't count on it!" They heard Ono shout, right before he dove at the vultures, knocking one to a side. Before the others could comprehend, they heard a shout of "Anga Lenga!", right before Anga crashed through and sent the rest flying back. After Mzingo recovered, he caught sight of Kion and the other Guard members fast approaching.

"It seems that she is not alone," he pointed out. "I make a motion that we retreat to the Outlands immediately! All in favour, say aye!"

The rest of the vultures all responded with "aye", before Mzingo called out, "motion carried. Retreat immediately!"

From the ground, Kion, Beshte and Bunga watched as the vultures retreated back to the Outlands. "That's right, and stay out!" Bunga yelled triumphantly, waving a fist in the air.

"Calm down, Lil B," Beshte laughed. "They're gone."

"Okay, guys, let's go see if everything's okay," Kion instructed, his friends nodding as they followed him over to Fuli, who was now stood still with Anga and Ono both either side of her and the white necked raven stood in front of them. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better," he admitted, flexing his wing to show the cut the vulture had left in it, "though I'll be okay." He looked at Fuli and smiled. "Thank you, Fuli."

"What are you doing here, Mjumbe?" She asked.

"Mjumbe?" Ono asked her, looking confused. "You know him?"

"Wait," Kion spoke, looking at the cheetah. "So, he's the messenger?"

She nodded. "Yep." She could see that the others were confused, causing her to frown. "I forgot, I hadn't told you guys."

"As interesting as this sounds, I need to take off," Anga explained.

"Of course. Thanks for your help, Anga," Kion commended. "We appreciate it." She nodded, then took off to the sky once again. Once she had flown away, Kion turned his attention to the raven. "I guess we should introduce ourselves. I'm Kion."

"Ah, I see," he replied. "I thought so. You match the description that the queen gave us when she returned after her visit."

"Any idea what they're talking about?" Bunga asked Beshte.

"No idea, Lil B, but we should be polite," he answered, then gave Mjumbe a smile. "I'm Beshte, and this is Bunga."

"Hey."

"And I'm Ono," the egret greeted last.

"It's nice to meet you all," Mjumbe greeted back. "I'm guessing, then, that you are the Lion Guard I have heard about." They all nodded in response. "It's an honour. My name is Mjumbe, and I am the royal messenger to Queen Kasi."

Ono was the one to speak up on behalf of him, Beshte and Bunga. "And… Queen Kasi is…"

Fuli smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her leg with her paw. "She's… my mother."