Meet the Lion Guard

{March 1st, open to the members of the future Lion Guard!}

"Okay Beshte. Keep it cooooool." His ears twitched as he marched through the grass towards pride rock. He breathed in, sighing softly. He had to talk to Simba. His siblings were terrified. He couldn't handle that. Plus all of his prideland friends were leaving. What was he supposed to do? His blue orbs closed before he pushed his way forward. He could do this. He could do this. His family and prideland friends were counting on him.

Okay that wasn't REALLY true but still he felt obligated to do so as the pridelands' friendly guy.

"Ah...um...uhhhhh..." He looked up at priderock. "Hell-hello? Somebody? I-I'd like to talk to Simba please!"

From up above, a small egret was trying to navigate the darkness. He was on a mission with a strong desire to help the Pridelands thrive in the war. After all, it was his home too. He had to try and protect it somehow, didn't he? That was what Ono thought. The egret flapped his wings a few times and carried himself further through the air in an attempt to find some landmark. Keen-sighted though he was, not even Ono could fly on forever in the darkness without direct. However, he did spot something before too much longer. Down below him, he could see a young hippo who appeared to be looking for something. Or... Maybe he was looking for someone. Ono couldn't say for certain, but as he flew downward he heard what Beshte said. He was looking for Simba! What a coincidence!

"You're looking for Simba, too?" Ono asked as he flew closer to the hippo. He flew just above Beshte before landing on the ground near him. Honestly, he wouldn't have been that surprised if he startled Besthe with his entrance. It wasn't every day that he flew over a hippo like he had. Still, he was convinced that maybe the pair of them could help one another out.

"I thought I was the only one who wanted to find him. This darkness isn't doing the Pridelands any good, and it's making it difficult for all of us. But... I guess you figured that, huh," he said. He wondered if maybe he should introduce himself before getting too carried away with talking. After all, he didn't think he had seen Beshte around before. If they were both going to try and find Simba, then they might as well learn who they both were. Maybe then they could help one another. The egret fledgling took a moment to preen his feathers a bit before considering whether or not to speak.

In the end, Ono decided to wait. Besthe might have something he wanted to say before introductions were done. If that was the case, then Ono didn't want to step on his toes. ...Figuratively speaking, anyway.

“Oh, hello!” Beshte’s ears perked as he spotted the bird. He watched it as it flew to the ground and dipped his head in a nod.

“That’s why I’m out here, yeah,” he said, “I mean…I know I’m not the oldest hippo. Or the biggest. But I thought maybe if I said somethin’ to him…y’know…he might listen! It’s worth a shot.” He looked the egret over. He didn’t think he’d ever seen him before. And Beshte tried to make it his business to know or at least introduce himself to everyone. His tail swished behind him as he smiled towards the little bird.

“I’m Beshte,” he said, “What’s your name, dude?”

"Well, you're certainly bigger than I am. And hippos are plenty strong, so... You'll probably be able to do a lot to help," Ono reasoned. The most he could do was be an eye in the sky of sorts, and even he didn't know how useful that would be when it was so dark outside. Besides, he was a fledgling egret. He wasn't that strong physically. Even so, Ono wanted to believe that he could do something to help the heroes defend his homeland. If he and Beshte both believed it, then it had to be possible. ...Right?

Speaking of, the hippo introduced himself. His name was Beshte, as it turned out. Ono nodded a bit as he let the name sink in and a small smile formed on the bird's beak. He had a feeling he was going to like spending time with this hippo if he ever got the opportunity to do so. Considering the both of them probably would be hanging around the Pridelands for a while, that was a distinct possibility. So, that just meant he had to introduce himself.

"I'm Ono. Good to meet you, Beshte," Ono said. "And I know I'm not exactly the biggest bird in the Pridelands. Heck, I'm just an egret. I'm probably biting off way more than I can chew here. But I mean... I don't like to brag, but I've got pretty good eyesight. I dunno... I like to think maybe I could help out by keeping an eye on things from above. ...But with how dark it is, that might not work." He gave a shrug as he finished speaking. Ono liked to try and remain logical about everything, and he knew that if it was as dark as it was at present then his eyesight didn't count for a lot. But maybe, just maybe, he could find a use for it. He hoped he could, anyway. This was his homeland, after all.

"...Actually," Ono said, "we're both looking for Simba. And we both want to help these guys out, right? So... Why don't we stick together for a bit? I mean, it's not like anybody else is here to help us find Simba or anything."

"Well, I very much doubt you're going to find it by wandering around like you were. Do you even know if you're heading in the right direction?"

Fuli's green eyes glowed softly in the dark, as she walked up to the two animals. An egret and a hippo. African animals. Animals she had seen before. Well, that was boring. She had expected to see what she heard about - a variety of animals from outside of her homelands. That was what she was looking forward to seeing. But... at least she would have some familiarity mixed in among all the others. Not seeing other cheetahs, egrets, or hippos, and seeing all strange creatures might be overwhelming... even Fuli could admit that.

"So you two are going to go help them out?" Fuli said, raising one eyebrow curiously as her face turned upward into a grin from the previously straight line that it had been. "I'm heading there too, and I was heading there as fast as I can... 'till I saw you two. Most animals I've seen are heading out of here, not in. It's only been me and you two I've seen heading towards the famed pride rock." She said, tilting her head in the direction she had come from.

"Name's Fuli, by the way. Since we're now all heading to sign up for this war, as - Ono, was it? - said, we should head together. Though I'd rather speak to someone rather than the 'king'." The last part, Fuli said it rather dryly, the grin that had been set on her face disappeared as she looked upward towards the top of Priderock.

"Hey, big, small, we can all do our part!" The jovial male gave a chuckle, giving a nod towards Ono. "And I don't like to brag either but I'm pretty strong. Together maybe we can make Simba listen. Little or young as we are." He held out his foot to give Ono a "fist-bump" of sorts but Fuli's words cut on the air. Beshte's mouth slipped into a slightly stretched smile. The girl was feisty, that much was sure. But hopefully, he mused to himself, she wasn't there to yell at Simba, but there to talk like he and Ono were.

"Join the...oh..." Beshte swallowed softly. "Gee, I wasn't exactly here to join up in the war. Been on the sidelines long enough...I just figured Simba would want to hear how the rest of his subjects are doing, y'know...so maybe he can help protect us?" Fuli seemed to know what she was talking about. Beshte was confident but it seemed not as confident as the female before him.

"Nice to meetcha, Fuli," he said, "I'm Beshte and this is Ono, yeah. I guess we can stick together. That'll be just fine!" He stepped back into his friendly shoes again. "Ah...maybe? I'm pretty sure priderock is this way...isn't it?"

"You guys are looking for my dad?" Kion asked, poking his head over the edge of Priderock to look at the small gathering of animals below him The sound of people talking had drawn the young prince out of curiosity. Despite the large amount of new faces which had been around Priderock, he didn't recognise the speakers and therefore was curious to know who was calling for his father.

With a few well-placed jumps, Kion descended the rocky slope to land just in front of the cheetah, hippo calf and bird. They looked really young...almost the same age as he and the other cubs of the pride. He understood why they might join the army, in fact he too was itching to see what fighting in this war was really like, but he was very surprised that their parents weren't as scared of that as his own family was. He barely got to see any of the Pridelands except when escorted by an adult or with his cousins after they had told someone where they'd be...it was surprising to see that not everyone was as scared as all the adults he knew were.

"My dad's not here." Kion told them "He's out patrolling the border at the moment...I'm Kion. I'm the prince."

The little egret gave a slight start when he heard Fuli addressing him and Beshte, and he turned his attention to her as she spoke. When she asked if they intended to help out, Ono gave an eager nod. That was exactly what he intended on doing. He knew he was just a bird, and his small size made him easy pickings when it came to potential fighting, but that didn't mean he couldn't help out. He wanted to do what he could.

"That's right," Ono said. He had seen a lot of animals leaving, too, and he honestly couldn't blame them. The darkness was making things next to impossible for some animals. But the plan, of course, was to do what he could. He nodded again as Beshte spoke.

"I mean... I'm kind of in the same boat. Obviously I wouldn't be doing any real fighting, especially since I'm a bird, but I wanted to offer a wing and do what I can. You know, be an eye in the sky and help out that way. Not that there's much to see in the dark, but still. And sure, you can stick with us, Fuli. That way we can all help each other and..." Ono stopped himself when yet another new voice inserted itself into the conversation. The egret looked, and sure enough he found himself looking at a young lion cub. One that introduced himself as Simba's son... The prince. Prince Kion, it seemed. For just a moment, Ono's beak hung open in surprise. He hadn't anticipated finding Simba's son so easily... Much less finding a son of Simba in the first place. He hadn't even known that Simba had a son.

"Prince Kion? Oh, well, it's nice to meet you! I'm Ono, this is Beshte, and this is Fuli. We all wanted to see your dad, but... If he's out then that's okay. Right, guys?"

"Ah..." Full nodded when Beshte clarified, before shrugging her shoulders, giving a reassuring grin at the hippo. "And that's exactly why I'm joining. I want to finally get a say in things. I finally want to talk about the future of the Pridelands. But hey, if we get there through different methods to the same goal, that's great." Full then turned to address Ono, cocking an eyebrow at him, but her grin remained, friendly but challenging at th same time. "That's true- we can all do our part around here. It's not just the lion's homeland they're defending after all!"

Speak of the devil. Full flicked her ears, green eyes bouncing from Ono to Kion in an instant at the sight of a new arrival, and she found that the grin which had stretched wide on her face now gone in a single instant. "So... you're the Prince." The friendliness had all but disappeared from Fuli's voice, matching the stony gaze th cheetahs was now giving Kion. But the challenge in her voice was still as present as ever. "Didn't know we even had one."

It was true, after all. And it seemed Ono was a little surprised by this news as well. She had known that when her mother had gone into hiding to raise her siblings and her that news was going to be minimal, but she would have at least expected some kind of celebration for something like this. After all... Kion seemed to be at least their age. Shouldn't his birth have been praised by the kingdom, like her mother had said the current King's had been?

"Well, I want to talk to him as soon as possible." Full said, whipping her tail behind her, rather impatiently. "Do you know when he's going to be finished?" 

"Prince? There's a prince?"

Beshte was just as shocked as the other two. How was there a prince? Beshte was under the impression that the lost princess Kiara was the only royal child. He thought she'd died at the hands of the evil lioness Zira and after that Nala had gone nuts. Beshte's ears flicked back as he stared towards the cub. He for sure looked like a royal cub. He had that tuft of red mane and golden fur like King Simba. Until he gave him a reason not to, Beshte would trust the cub's word.

"Like he said," Beshte said, "We just wanna talk to your pop. But I guess we can talk to you too. How you doin' up there?" He turned his head as Fuli started to act impatiently. "Easy, Fuli," he said, shaking his head, "We don't wanna upset the prince."