Lion Guard Redux [Private]

[Random Melody]

"Wait.." Lissie came forward, eyes wide with surprise. "Wait, really?"

"Water?" Christine's eyes widened.


##


"Right," Aliyah eyed Jeremy and Evan one last time before following after Micheal, shaking her head ever so slightly in confusion.

"Come on," Evan turned to Jeremy and smiled. The two were pretty close. Not exactly best friends, but they were good friends. Close friends. They could relate to eachother. They pretty much grew up together. "I, uh, know where we can cross. There's a border, that way. It's far, but," He shrugged. "Adventure, right...?"

"Right," Jeremy flicked his tail over Evan's ears. "Lead the way."

"Ah..." Evan's heart dropped. Oh, leading the way. That was stressful. "Right. Okay. Come on." He headed off, and Jeremy glanced after Micheal one last time before following.

"They're gonna die." Connor said blankly, staring after the two through narrowed eyes and a small frown on his face. "At least, Evan will."

"Dude I bet you a rabbit leg that Evan somehow falls out of a freaking tree." Jared deadpanned, keeping his gaze fixed on Evan as the two left.

"Does Evan even know how to climb?"

"It doesn't matter. He'll fall out of a tree without even having to climb up it."

"That doesn't really make much sense. You can't fall out of a tree without climbing it first."

"Maybe you can't. But come on. It's Evan."

"...Yeah, true.."

[Stario&Co.]

"Enough to last the dry season if ration it properly." Imari added.

"That could keep our entire camp hydrated until the first rain," Octavian squeaked and came forward. "What's the cost?"

"Just to continue the peace between us," Imari replied. "There's more than enough to go around."

##

Hunter fell back to walk beside Aliyah and lowered his voice. "We should talk with Snowball."

(This isn't having color. I'm on my phone, and I'm not in the mood XDD)

[Random Melody]

Christine started to say something, but someone from across the clearing caught her eye. "Tash," She mumbled. And in the same instant she had launched herself away from Lissie to reach the tigress, who was glancing around warily, looking exhausted. "Hey," Christine squeaked breathlessly when she reached her.

"Hi, honey," Natasha smiled softly down at the young cub. "Have you seen Vixy anywhere? I, I can't find her.."

"She went with Kion and his friends."

"Kion?" Natasha choked out, her eyes going wide with shock. "H- How--?"

"I'll explain everything," Christine said quickly, circling around her. "On the way. I'm coming with,"

"What about your mother?" Natasha asked hesitantly, heading after the cub and glancing back. She was never a big fan of Lissie but she knew how frightened the leopard would be if her daughter randomly disappeared. "You should at least tell--"

"No time, she'll be fine!" Christine said impatiently. "Can we just go? I need to talk to Vixy!" And with that she took off. Natasha cast one look toward Lissie, then followed.


##


Aliyah blinked, glancing over at Hunter. "Yeah," she murmured, sighing. "Poor kid. He's just been so sick. I don't know what to do. Hopefully, we do find some herbs to help him. If not, I'm afraid he might.." She trailed off, shaking her head, and fell silent as they walked, staring down at her paws. She hated being useless. She liked it better when she could help her friends. They were like her family.


##


"Is it hard?" Evan spoke up as they walked, keeping his gaze fixed intently on his paws with each step he took. He smiled slightly as they reached the border to the Pridelands, feeling oddly safe as his paws hit grass. Safe. He was with Jeremy, he was somewhere that felt really, really safe. He was safe. They were safe. Slowly he began to let himself relax. "Having Micheal mad at you?"

"Not just Micheal." Jeremy mumbled, sighing as he padded after Evan, keeping his gaze ahead. He remembered the cold look in Hunter's eyes, and looked away, shaking his head. "Yeah, it's hard. But I... I deserve it, you know? I'm a sucky friend," He sighed. "So I deserve it." He shook his head and smiled at Evan. "Enough about me. How are you? Connor and Jared seem to be going all out with the torture." He rolled his eyes. "You doing okay?"

Evan frowned faintly as Jeremy spoke about Micheal, silently moving closer and brushing his tail up against Jeremy's side. "I'm sorry," He said softly. "Just give it a while. You never know, he might forgive you." He cleared his throat and whisked his tail away to curl it around one of his back paws. He looked away when Jeremy asked him how he was, nose twitching slightly. "Ah, I'm fine." He mumbled, perking his ears when Connor and Jared were mentioned. "H- Heh, yeah. It's... It's fine. W- Worse than usual, but they're just teasing..." He sighed. "You know how they are."

Jeremy leaned into the touch silently, frowning when Evan whisked his tail away. "Maybe one day," he murmured, trying to be optimistic. He shook his head and perked his ears when Evan said he was fine, and gave a doubtful glance. Seeing he was starting to stutter again, Jeremy moved closer until their shoulders were brushing. He then let his tail flick out to wrap around Evan's. The two weren't like other cubs. While usually male cubs would prefer to refrain from showing any affection toward eachother, as it wasn't "cool" or "manly", Jeremy and Evan didn't care much about that. Born and raised together, they didn't mind showing their affection. After all, you have to tell the people you love that you love them. They need to know, every day. Somehow. Jeremy and Evan knew that, so they didn't hesitate. They were friends, after all. "Yeah. They're jerks." He mumbled. "But you know, they care about you."

"I don't think Connor cares about anyone." Evan remarked, tilting his head and shrugging.

"Mm," Jeremy considered that, narrowing his eyes. "Jared does, though."

"That's slightly more believable." Evan admitted, laughing, and Jeremy joined in. This was one of the rare moments both of them could just relax together. No anxiety, no panic attacks, no being teased and taunted and pushed around. It was... Calm.

[Stario&Co.]

"Casper is more worried than all of us," Hunter sighed, staring down at his paws as. "I mean, it's his brother. I know for me, if anything happened to Alvin... I just know he's suffering a greater deal."

[Random Melody]

"I know," Aliyah sighed softly, shaking her head ever so slightly. "But we're gonna try everything we can. He's... Gonna be fine." She put her mask back on and straightened up. "We're going to help that kid. However long it takes, we're gonna help him. He's gonna be okay."


##


Jeremy's whiskers twitched as he looked ahead, and then a soft smile appeared on his face. "It's... Really nice here. Hey," He stared ahead, ears pricking up faintly. "What's that?" He was staring at Pride Rock, looking intrigued.

"Tree!" Evan said in fascination, staring at one tree in particular. It was huge, lots of branches curling up, higher and higher. Evan's eyes widened as they approached it, claws sinking faintly into the ground and sheathing again. He'd always had this weird fascination with trees. "Look, oh my god."

"Can you climb?" Jeremy asked in amusement, looking back at him.

"No," Evan admitted.

"Well," Jeremy smiled at him. "Never too late to learn." He pulled away from Evan and bounded off toward the tree, tilting his head back and turning his head to glance over his shoulder. "Follow me!"

Evan's eyes widened. He stood, frozen for a moment, then let out a giddy little giggle (yes, giggle), and quickly took off after Jeremy, eyes wide with excitement.

[Stario&Co.]

"Yeah..." Hunter blinked, not entirely sure.
"HELLLP!!"
"What was that?" Michael stopped dead in his tracks. His ears began flicking about like a rabbit.
"It's coming from that river!" Hunter kicked up the dirt with his paws, leaving them in a cloud as he rushed ahead.

[Random Melody]

Aliyah wasted no time in following, ears flat to her head and her eyes fixed ahead, wide with concern and confusion, but also determination. Whoever needed help, was going to get help, one way or another. She'd be sure of that.


##


For someone who didn't know how to climb, Evan was surprisingly good. Once he got the hang of it, there was no stopping him. He was leaping from branch to branch, higher and higher up the tree, all anxiety forgotten. His ears perked as he looked up, before turning his head to smile at Jeremy, who was perched on the branch beside him. Evan then turned to look around. It was amazing how much clearer he could see now. Why hadn't he thought of this before? Why didn't he do this before?

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be right now." Jeremy spoke up suddenly, looking across the Pridelands, ears pricked and eyes wide as he gazed around. It was true. This was... Everything he could dream of. Just him and Evan. Stuck in a tree. Not sure how either of them would get down, but for now, not minding that. Just enjoying what was happening now.

"Me too." Evan whispered breathlessly, closing his eyes for a moment as he sat on the branch, sinking his claws into the ground to steady himself carefully before looking up at Jeremy again. "It's so much clearer. Everything is so much clearer."

"I know." Jeremy agreed, staring down. The ground suddenly seemed so far away. But somehow he didn't panic. Evan followed his gaze and just stared, stared down as he contemplated everything, thinking, assessing... Deciding.

[Stario&Co.]

"Aphy! Hang on, I'm coming!" A golden brown cub watched fearfully as his nearly identical brother slowly step onto the tiny stick bridge above the rushing stream.
A young stone colored lioness cub was clinging tightly to a rock. The merciless water pushed and splashed against her, drowning her senses.
"Oh boy," Michael skidded to a stop next to the stream. "That water is moving too fast!"

[Random Melody]

"Oh, god," Aliyah hissed, stopping next to Micheal. Her gaze rested on the cub, and she stood still for a moment. "They could die.." She trailed off, and narrowed her eyes. Then she glanced up and down the stream, before reaching out and putting one paw into the way. She couldn't feel the ground. Eventually she had to pull back. "Too deep." She eventually muttered, tail lashing. "How are we gonna get to them?"


##


"Come on." Jeremy nudged his head against Evan's shoulder, careful not to knock the cub and make him lose his balance. "Let's go higher." Usually he wouldn't be as confident, but this was different. All his fears seemed to have slipped away. This was fun. This was okay. The cub smiled slightly before turning and starting to make his way up to the next branch, glancing down at Evan, who stood motionless. "Ev? You okay?"

"Huh?" Evan snapped out of his trance instantly, pausing to look up in surprise. "Oh, uh, yeah." He glanced down at the ground, and swallowed before turning back to his friend. "Right." He mumbled. Jeremy continued to climb, and Evan leaped up after him. He paused on one branch, one branch that felt particularly unsteady. For a second his claws sunk in deeper, but as he began to relax, his claws slowly sheathed.

And then, suddenly, he was falling. He felt a tight pressure on his chest, a twisting feeling in his stomach, but his thoughts were just... Blank, as he watched the ground draw closer.

"Ev--" Jeremy perked his ears and turned quickly when he heard something hit the ground far below, heard a shriek of pain from his friend, and he could do nothing but stare, his eyes going wide. "EVAN!"

[Stario&Co.]

"This isn't good," Hunter reached down and slowly stuck his paw into the water. "That water is cold. She's going to freeze to death!"
"Not if I have a say in it," Micheal growled, slowly backing away from the stream. His muscles tensed, his eyes locked on the cub.
"What do you--Micheal!!" Hunter watched in horror and Micheal charged forward and dived down into the raging river, his body disappearing in the water.

##

Just as Evan hit the ground, a large lioness launched herself from out of the tall grass near by. Her eyes were a calm gentle blue