AN: I feel bad. I had this ready to post like a month ago. And I haven't posted it until now. Ono translates to Obedience according to the page I found online about the Swahili expert who works for the Lion Guard production team. I think the title of the article is "Zuka Zama! A chat with the lion guard's Swahili expert, Sarah Mirza," if you want to look it up.

Ono

Kion walked through the pride lands, tall grass surrounding him in every direction. He had no direction of travel in mind, but some part of him was likely hoping for something new and interesting to see. As he stepped out into a small gap in the grass, he heard a small crunching sound and felt something squish under his right forepaw. Kion looked down and saw the spilled guts of a large bug splattered over the ground and on the bottom of his paw.

"Sorry little guy, I have taken you out of the circle of life prematurely due to my inattention." Kion allowed himself an extremely brief moment of grief – nothing extreme, just a dip of his head before cleaning his paw with a lick and continuing forward.

Kion's head snapped up and his ears swiveled forward towards the sound of frantic flapping. "Are you alright? I almost slammed by beak into you! I could have sworn I saw a tasty looking bug here a second ago, but here you are and no bug!" A slightly nasally, but optimistic sounding voice found its way to Kion's ears.

"Oh. There was a bug here, but I accidentally stepped on it a second ago. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it! There are plenty of bugs in the pride lands to go around! I'm just surprised I didn't see you in the grass before I dived down to get the bug…"

"Oh. That's my fault as well. My coat must have been blending in my with the savanna grass too well for you to have seen me from way up there."

"No worries! You must be a really good hunter then! Blending in is a good skill for lions, isn't it?"

"Hey, I know! Why don't we go hunt for some bugs together? You don't have to eat any, of course, but we can just hang out for a little while. My name's Ono!"

"That's sounds like a great idea! It should be a good way for me to apologize for interrupting your hunt, anyway."

"Like I said before, no apologies needed! This is just a little fun!"

"So, where too?" Kion had no idea where to even start looking for bugs.

"Follow me! I know just the place!" Ono took off again, having landed in front of Kion during some point in their conversation.

Kion runs on the ground under Ono while he flew. "Okay, here we are!" Ono cheerfully lands on a moss-covered fallen log. "The bugs are right under the log! Please lift it for me?" Ono flapped his wings and landed on the ground, a few hops away from the log. "Sure thing!" Kion moved his shoulder under the log and grunted as he lifted it away from the ground and throwing it away. If the hollow log was any bigger than it was, Kion wouldn't have been able to lift it at all.

"Thanks!" With that, Ono started eating his meal.

"I have to go now, Ono. I hope you enjoy your meal!" Kion knew he had to leave before Ono realized he didn't know his name. Kion was getting better at timing when he leaves so the strangers he meets do not realize they never got his name before he leaves.

You know the old saying told to every child by their parents, "Never talk to strangers?" Well Kion did know that, but he also knew that the pride lands, ruled by his father, are a safe place. And, if he did run into any trouble, all he had to do was yelled and any lion nearby would run to his rescue. That doesn't even include any of the kind animals that would also help a total stranger out of the kindness of their hearts.

Ono started speaking, not even noticing that Kion had slipped away into the tall grass moments before. "Well, see you around, then. But I never got your name…?" Ono swallowed another bug and turned around when he didn't hear a reply. "Where did he go? He did say he had to go, maybe he was in a hurry." With that, Ono turned around and resumed his meal.