A/N: Hello! So, I'm here posting a request from one of my friends who wanted me to write for an underrated character. I'm not a huge Lion Guard fan, but for kids show, it passes. Plus, it introduced me to several new characters that I adore. Janja, Azaad, Badili, Rani, and Makucha to name some. Now, I haven't watched the show in a long while, so this is probably cringy as all get out, but eh.

Yes, I will probably write more for the Lion Guard (because Makucha!) So hopefully I'll improve with time.

Toymaker's Apprentice and A Wolf's Call both have chapters being drafted. Hopefully they'll be updated soon.

Kivuli means shadow in Swahili for those that are curious.

I do not own the Lion King/Guard. Kivuli is mine.

A Chance Encounter

Kivuli moved quietly through the high grasses of the plain, intent on the watering hole, though she wasn't particularly thirsty. In truth, she just wanted some time away from her friends, time to cool off and soothe her buzzing nerves.

Ever since Kion had started that stupid Guard it had been like this. Her brother and their friends off having adventures, while she was left to await their return. Long hours spent in boredom, for she had no friends outside of Kion and the Guard (the prince's sisters weren't terribly fun), and was thus left to stew in her own thoughts. Thoughts of envy toward her brother, Bunga, for being chosen over her, despite not being as brave as he. Shame followed those thoughts, because she loved Bunga and he was doing a wonderful job defending their land. Then frustration would poke at her, because she wouldn't have to feel any of the former, if they'd just make some time to hang with her too.

She had hoped that's what they had been doing today when Bunga invited her into a game of hide and seek, her favorite game. However, the joy was short lived. She'd hidden along with all the others as Kion began his count, leaping up into the lower branches of a tree and hiding amongst the leaves there. She hadn't been found, or no one had sought her out in the first place, she wasn't sure which. Even so, after a prolonged amount of time in that tree, she came down from it plenty mad. They had left her, according to the twitter of the birds, to track down a leopard who had invaded the Pride Lands. That fact only riled her further.

Kivuli was orphaned early in her life and discovered by the odd, but caring duo, Timon and Pumbaa. They took pity on her and brought her up in their home at Hakuna Matata Falls. Kivuli had never encountered another leopard before, and she longed to. So, in her opinion, she was rightfully miffed.

She'd been slighted and denied, but lacked an outlet for her frustration, so she found herself at the watering hole. Plopping down on the sandy bank to stare down at the water and mope. She didn't look like most leopards, according to what she'd been told, her fur was not the typical spotted yellow. Instead, it was black, though one could still see a dappling of darker spots when the light struck her pelt just right. She didn't want to live with descriptions her whole life though, she wanted to see—

Movement on the water's surface urged her to look up, her breath leaving her at the sight of the animal before her. He definitely wasn't a cheetah.

Frosty blue eyes widened, she couldn't help but stare (downright ogle him) as he bent his head to sate his thirst. He was bigger than her, older than her too, and stocky. Even from a distance, she could see his muscles rippling beneath his pelt. His pelt was a shining, but pale shade of lemon yellow, and heavily spotted with rosettes. So very different from her shadowed pelt indeed.

Suddenly her stare was caught in a pair of brilliant green eyes.

"See something you like, cub?"

His voice was deep and resonated his strength, sending shivers dancing down her spine. Then mortification doused her as if she had jumped into the cool water before her. He'd caught her staring! He'd caught her staring, and he was making his way around to her.

Kivuli's first instinct was to flee. It was one thing to see one of her own from a distance, she wasn't sure she was ready to go and make conversation. At least he didn't appear upset, rather amused in fact, if his growing smirk was any indication.

She couldn't help but study his face as he came closer to her, stopping a semi-polite distance in front her. The spots on his face lacked the brown coloring that his back's spots had, and the ones on his brow seemed to form an intricate pattern of some sort…

"Well?" He asked, his voice teasing.

"Sorry!" Kivuli snapped her gaze away from his face. "I didn't mean to stare, I just…" She hesitantly met his gaze again. "I've never seen another leopard before."

"Is that so?"

"I was orphaned young," she explained and raised by…lions." Definitely a bad idea to say you were raised by a meerkat and a warthog, besides, she was pretty well jointly raised by the royal family, so it technically wasn't a lie. "As you can imagine, no other cats seem to find their way in."

"Until now," the stranger said proudly. "Name's Makucha."

"I'm Kivuli," she introduced herself. "Please tell me you're going to try and stick around, lions can be so boring."

"I have an…old friend to catch up with," he said with a sly gleam in his eye. "But I'll definitely be back for you."

Kivuli beamed as she watched him go, tingling with anticipation. Finally, someone who was interested in hanging out with her. She hoped he liked hide and seek, and that he was better at seeking than her friends were.

It was only when one of said friends, Ono, soared over her head that she had a realization. Makucha was very likely the invading leopard they were trying to track down. Who was she kidding? He definitely was.

This would have consequences, she was very sure, but she couldn't bring herself to care as she anticipated his return.