A/N: I have to admit, when I set out to write this story, it wasn't that I thought Scar's Samsara needed a sequel exactly. I just thought to myself: Wouldn't it be cool if we could have a giant battle between enlightened animals hurling elemental magics against each other in an epic deathmatch?

Because sometimes, that's all the reason you need. Perhaps it's the only reason anyone ever needs.

Kion looked up at the heavens, where dark clouds were once again gathering. Flashed of light arced through the air as thunder rumbled ominously. Rain began to patter down on his face once more.

Grandfather Mufasa, great Kings of the Past. I don't know if I lost you all when I banished Ahadi or if you're just too weak to interfere, but if any of you still has some power… I could really use the help.

"They're coming," a voice said behind him. It was the same tickbird as before, Kion realized. "The jackals are taking up position behind those rocks."

Kion blinked. All he could see was a cloud of dust drifting slowly up the hill, but from above he supposed the truth was easier to see. The jackals had someone who could use the Roar too, then, it seemed.

"All right Bunga," he said, "let them have it!"

They both aimed at the shapes below and roared, although in Bunga's case it came out as more of an excited shriek. The cloud of dust blew away, revealing a pack of jackals that immediately pressed themselves against the ground and began raising earthen ramparts to try and shield themselves from the hurricane wind.

"So that's his plan," said Kion, realizing. "Ushari's gonna send his troops to create advance bulwarks and inch ever closer while they use their own Roar to attack us. In that case…"

"Prince Kion! Above you!"

Kion looked up for just one second and saw the flash of light, and then he screamed his command at Bunga. "Earthen pillars, now!" They both pulled at the earth and thrust stone and dirt upwards in a desperate bid to shield themselves, and then the lightning lashed out like a snake and blasted the pillars apart in a flash of light and thunder. Kion instantly pulled up more dirt, trying to force it into shape to provide some form of permanent defence, but the soil was far too loose and kept falling apart like endless grains of sand.

There was a shriek that sounded like it belonged to Kiara, but it was hard to tell over the sound of thunder and the screams of panicked animals. "Kion! What's going on?"

"It's the vultures," he said, cursing as yet another earthen pillar was blasted apart. "The jackals were just a distraction while Ushari set up his real attack. We have to-"

Out of nowhere, a log went crashing through one of his pillars, and the next flash of lightning would have seared them alive if not for Bunga raising another pillar just in time.

"What the heck," said Bunga. "They can use the Roar on trees now, too?"

"It's coming from the crocodiles," said Kion, shaking off the scorched earth that was falling from where the lightning had struck and coating them all in a thick layer of soot. "It looks like they're using the water to force the logs under and then hurling them back out at us." Even as he said that, more logs and debris came flying at them, smashing into their pillars and reducing one unfortunate antelope to a fine paste.

"This is insane," said the tickbird, who was still frantically fluttering around Kion. "We can't fight like this! You have to do something, or we're all going to die!"

"You," said Kion. "Tickbird. Who do the birds follow, right now?"

"Huh? That would be… well, everyone looks up to Hadithi the Eagle of course, but-"

"Great," said Kion. "Tell him to get down here, and get him to bring anyone who's brave enough to fight. We have to take out those vultures, now. Go!"

The tickbird flew off, leaving Kion and Bunga to focus on their defences. They tried to raise earthen ramparts to defend against the crocodiles like the jackals had done, but the projectile kept flying over them to strike the pillars that were meant to shield them from the lightning. I should have raised defences right from the start, instead of waiting to see what Ushari would do first. What was I thinking?

He shook his head and focused on raising yet more pillars up. It was easier to convince himself that he knew what he was doing if he was in the process of doing it.

After a few more seconds, a truly majestic eagle touched down in front of Kion. The bird of prey took a moment to spread out his wings before folding them behind his back, and puffed up his impressive white chest. "Prince Kion. Mwenzi told me that you are in need of my aid. What is the situation?"

"Hadithi. Thank you for coming." Kion pointed up at the vultures that were circling overhead, and the thunderclouds that seemed to follow them wherever they went. "See those vultures? They're responsible for the lightning that has been striking down at us. I need you to take your flock and eliminate them."

Hadithi opened his beak, and he must have been letting out air because he visibly deflated. "You want me to take out… the divine, lightning-wielding god-vultures."

"Not by yourself," Kion said hurriedly. "You'll be taking Bunga here with you."

Bunga grinned and waved at Hadithi. "Heya! Ono is a big fan of yours."

"…I see," said Hadithi. He cast a forlorn gaze behind him. "Well. I suppose I'll do that, then."

The eagle gingerly picked Bunga up with his claws, causing the boy to dangle from his loose skin like an overripe peach. The honey badger was still grinning as they took off.

"Hadithi," the birds all cheered as the eagle rose to meet them. "Hadithi the Hero!"

"Don't worry," said the tickbird, seeing Kion's expression. "Hadithi is known throughout the Pridelands for his selflessness. He's every bit as heroic as your friend Bunga the Brave!"

"…right," said Kion. He watched as the cloud of assorted birds all launched themselves at the vultures, who shrieked in alarm. Immediately, the lightning stopped striking the pillars and started arcing through the air around them instead. A tendril of light lashed out through Hadithi's ranks and several hawks plunged from the air, but then Bunga roared in his high-pitched voice and the resulting clap of air saw just as many vultures plummeting towards the ground. Then the two flocks were on top of each other and the whole scene became a chaotic mess of birds clawing and picking at each other as they screamed over the sound of wind and thunder, until finally the two leaders found themselves facing each other.

"Oh no," said the tickbird. "Hadithi seems to be caught in some kind of turbulence! He's going the wrong way!"

"I'll help steer him in the right direction," growled Kion. He roared at the teetering eagle with all his might, and the resulting blast of wind was enough to shove him right into Mzingo with an indignant squawk. Bunga wasted no time to grab onto his enemy despite still being suspended from Hadithi's claws, and Mzingo must have been panicking because the lightning coiled wildly around them until finally there was a flash of light and all three of them went down in a ball of flaming fur and feathers.

"By Mufasa," the tickbird whispered. "Do you… do you think they'll be all right?"

"I'm pretty sure honey badgers are immune to fire," Kion said dubiously, as the trio smashed into the ground like a comet. "And falling." The jackals launched themselves at the fallen trio with savage exultation, feathers flying everywhere as they tore into their prey. "And being eaten."

After a few seconds, a tiny figure emerged from the heap and started laying into the jackals, smashing them aside with blasts of wind and stone as the jackals let out surprised and angry yelps.

The tickbird stared at the sight in shock. "What… what is that honey badger made of?"

"Vines, thorn bushes and regret," said Kion. "But it won't save him forever. Come on, we have to tell the cheetahs to rush in and pull him out of there before Ushari intervenes." He ducked under another flying log and made his way back towards the top of the ridge, only to look around in confusion as all he could see were panicking herd animals. "Wait, where are the cheetahs? And the rhinos? Where is everyone?"

"Kion!" Kiara leaped off her rock and ran towards them with panic in her eyes. "The cheetahs just ran off, and the rhinos are following them! It's those weird skinks – they showed up all of a sudden and started telling the animals that this wasn't their fight and the king wanted them to just run away!"

"Shupavu!" Kion cursed. "So that's what she meant by fighting our armies with hopes and dreams – she's using our own divine hierarchy against us." He stared after the distant shapes that were rapidly disappearing down the hill, where Ushari had very deliberately left a line of retreat open. Fuli would still be able to catch up with them, he thought glumly. He looked to the sky, but the last remnants of Hadithi's flock had fled along with the vultures once their leader fell.

"Kion?" It was Beshti who approached him, a resigned yet stubborn look in his big grey eyes. "It's okay. I'll go save Bunga – you just stay here and protect the others."

"No," Kion said. "That's – Ushari would just send the crocodiles in as well, and then there'd be two members of the Guard who need saving." He cast a desperate gaze around, and found his eyes locking onto a group of great grey shapes near a small outcrop of trees.

"Ma Tembo," he called, running towards the elephant matriarch – the only one who had seemed able to hear Ushari's voice. Elephants might be herbivores, but they were anything but stupid: It was strange to think how that had never occurred to him until now. "Ma Tembo! Bunga is down, and he's surrounded by jackals. I need your elephants go down there to save him."

"Bunga?" The elephant matriarch cast a worried look down the hill to where the jackals were fighting, her trunk swishing back and forth in agitation. "In truth, we were just about to… but, the Lion Guard has done much for the Pridelands, and your grandfather always did have a good bond with old Aminifu. Very well, Prince Kion. The elephants are with you."

"Great," said Kion, too flush with adrenaline to be properly thankful. "I need you to charge down the hill, get Bunga, and run back here. Can you do that?"

One of the female elephants looked up to the sky, seeming none too enthused. "But, the lightning-"

"I will take care of that," said Kion. "Now go, before it's too late!"

He watched as the elephants charged down the hill with a loud trumpet, and focused his thoughts inwards. He had been far too callous in risking Bunga, far too eager to share in the boy's own reckless overconfidence, but there was no more time for doubt: Just as he had anticipated, the crocodiles were advancing up the hill to replace the vultures' role in channelling Ushari's power.

I don't think so, Makuu. He reached out and felt for the connection that he had used to find Shupavu before – that intense power which was as radiant as the sun and just as painful to look at directly – and pulled on it with all his might. He was no match for Ushari in terms of raw strength, but all he had to do was disturb their connection enough for Makuu to make use of it.

The crocodile stopped mid-stride with a rather confused expression, and looked around as if he had missed something. Yet another tactic I should have thought of right from the start, Kion thought glumly. I am so unprepared for this...

"Prince Kion," the tickbird said as she fluttered up to him. "It's the elephants – it looks like they're stuck!"

Kion followed the bird's gaze, and cursed. While he had been focussing on the crocodiles, the jackals had retreated out of the path of the charging elephants and turned the earth between them into a trap: A great sinkhole had appeared beneath the elephants, and the mud was steadily pulling them down, already reaching up to their bellies and creeping ever higher.

"Damn it," he said. "We need to – we have to send someone to…" He cast a frantic look around, but there was naught but panicked herd animals behind him, staring at him with wide, terrified eyes.

It's all slipping away from me… father, what was I thinking? He remembered the indignant tone with which he had complained to Simba, demanding recognition. What made me think that I could just ask everyone to rely on me? I really am a conceited, arrogant little cub…

"It's father!" There was an excited cry from Beshti that instantly shook him out of his reverie, and he hurried over to where the hippo was standing on a rocky outcrop, overlooking the battle below. "Look! Look, Kion, over there, in the water!"

Just as he said, there was a big grey shape drifting silently in the water, moving ever closer to the unsuspecting crocodiles.

"That's great, Beshti," Kion said, marvelling. "That's – that's really great!" If the hippos could execute some sort of rear attack, there might still be a chance for them to win.

"It's father," Beshti said again, practically dancing on the spot. All of his earlier worry had vanished from his eyes, making place for a pure and innocent joy. "It's really him! It's really… him..."

The grey lump drifted ashore and remained there, bobbing softly with the ebbing waves that brushed up against its mass. The leader of the crocodiles took one look at it and chuckled loudly, before beating it aside with a swipe of his tail.

"Beshti," Kion pleaded, "don't."

But Beshti's pupils had already gone blank while his body grew still, and there was a faint sense of fire at the edges of Kion's cognition, like the smell of smoke and burned timber that clogged the nostrils until it was the only thing left in the world that anyone could sense and nothing else mattered anymore…

With a scream that defied all reason, Beshti charged down the hill and over the rocky crags like a rolling boulder, like the unstoppable force of nature that an enraged hippo truly was. There was a cry of alarm from the crocodiles, but it was already too late: Makuu and his crocodiles were bowled aside, tossed into the air like broken timber. Yet almost immediately Shupavu and her skinks emerged from behind a rocky outcrop and sent the water lashing out at him, surrounding Beshti's head and mercilessly pulling him under.

"Ahadi above," the tickbird whispered, appearing once again next to Kion's ear. "Prince Kion, what are you going to do?"

"I don't…" Kion turned to face the panicking herds, who had gone very still, primal instincts bidding them to try and remain unseen in the face of terror. "I have to – I need… all of you. You've got to help me."

Two of the zebras looked at each other, uncomprehending. One of the giraffes stared down at him and spoke uncertainly. "Prince Kion? We're not… we can't fight. We're just grazers."

"Lions eat us, Lions protect us," one of the Wildebeests grunted. "That was agreement. Where are lions? Not here to protect us. Now we must fight? No."

"You're the ones who trampled King Mufasa," said Kiara, stepping forward. "That wasn't part of the agreement. If you can trample the king, then you can trample the enemy down there."

The wildebeest looked away, abashed, but the antelopes maintained the stubborn look in their eyes. "We never trampled any king," one of them muttered. "Only trampled grass. We don't fight for grass."

"No, you don't," said Kion. He took a deep breath and reached out, searching for even the faintest connection to the herd animals on that hill, to the people he was sworn to protect. "You're right. This isn't your responsibility, and it isn't your fault. But my friends are down there, and they're going to die if we don't do something." He pulled on that connection, which was so fragile it felt like it would break within his grasp. "They're there because of me. Beshti's father is dead because of me. They need your help. Please."

Slowly, he felt the connection take hold. The animals exchanged a look and a nod, and that was all. The Pridelanders would follow their Prince.

He stepped towards the edge of the hill and Roared, announcing his presence to the enemy and distracting them from his friends down below. Then he charged. The earth shook with the sound of a thousand hooves as the herds followed behind him, and when Ushari's lieutenants frantically turned to hurl logs and stones at them he roared again to blow away their attacks. Then a crack appeared in the earth beneath him, and another, and Kion realized that those attacks must have been a distraction because the soil fell away beneath him as if it had been resting on air. He tumbled and fell face-first into the dirt, choking and coughing up dust at the bottom of the newly formed trench. As he looked up, he saw gazelles leaping over him to reach the other side of the chasm while several zebras crashed alongside him and writhed in pain as they lay there with shattered legs.

"Kion! Kion, get up, we have to keep moving!"

Kion turned to the source of the sound, and looked on in horror. "Kiara? What – what are you doing here? You were supposed to stay back!"

"We can't stay back," she said. "They won't fight unless we're there with them. Now get up!"

He scrambled to his feet and dragged himself out of the chasm, and blinked at the new sight before him. What remained of their charge had scattered the enemy, forcing them to retreat to the water or throw up earthen bulwarks for fear of being trampled. However, many of the gazelles and wildebeests had simply run right through the enemy lines rather than stay and fight, and now the enemy was regrouping.

Kiara ran up beside him, her eyes stalwart. "Who do we attack first? Crocodiles or jackals?"

Beshti or Bunga, was what she was really asking. But Kion had already failed Beshti once, and could not do so again. "Crocodiles," he breathed. "Let's take out Makuu."

The two of them let out another cry, and the remaining herd rallied to them as they charged towards the crocodiles. The reptiles fled into the water, throwing up waves against them to try and break their charge, but the giraffes strode over the waves as though they weren't even there. Then they came upon the crocodiles and swung their heads like flails, smashing them aside and driving them ever further into the floodplains. At last the water became too deep for Kion's forces to continue, and the two groups faced each other from a distance.

"Not bad, kid," Makuu snorted. "Never thought I'd see the day that crocodiles would be beaten back by a bunch of herbivores. Still, we can go into the water and you can't, and we've still got Ushari while your army is pretty much gone. So I'm gonna go ahead and say that we win this one, kiddo."

There was a ripple in the water that caused Makuu to look around in confusion. Then several tons of angry hippo burst forth and impaled him on foot-long tusks, and Beshti screamed at the top of his lungs while shaking Makuu on his tusks as if he were trying to tear him into pieces. With one last roar he dragged Makuu down into the water along with him, disappearing as if he had never been there at all.

The remaining crocodiles took one more look at the spot where Makuu had vanished, and fled.

"Oh wow," said Kiara. "I don't think I've ever seen a hippo do that before."

"And I never want to see it again," said Kion. "Come on, let's go save Bunga. I don't like that we're not seeing Shupavu anywhere."

No sooner had he said that or the tickbird fluttered back down to his ear. "There you are! Prince Kion, it's the jackals – they've got your friend Bunga trapped behind those walls!"

Kion was just about to ask what he was referring to when he saw the structure that rose up before them. A massive earthen fortress had been erected from the ground as if sculpted from a single piece, spikes of stones jutting in every direction from dark and foreboding ramparts while Jackals howled at them from within. In response, the water rose up around the fortress and washed the last of the panicking herd animals away, until only a handful of giraffes and antelopes remained with Kion. Shupavu appeared at the top of the walls, and with a hiss and a flick of her tongue lightning coiled through the clouds once more.

"Stay behind me," said Kion. "We have to take out that fortress somehow, or this battle is lost." No sooner did he say that, however, or he noticed Ma Tembo and her elephants disappearing ever further down into the mud, trumpeting in fear as the earth threatened to swallow them whole.

"Ma Tembo," Kiara called. "Hold on! We're coming for you!" She turned to Kion, eyes filled with fright and desperation. "We are, aren't we? Kion, we have to."

Lightning flashed down from the sky, and Kion pulled on the connection with all his might, willing the lightning to strike the fortress instead. Caught between two competing forces, it struck the earth between them with a crash of light and thunder. Angry red flowers sparked upwards as the lightning gave birth to flame, and almost immediately the fire roared up with an unnatural vigour. The fire pushed towards them, lunging for the few tufts of grass that remained above water as it surged towards Kion and his group.

"Kion," Kiara said again, brushing up ever closer against him as she and the others sought to flee the encroaching flames. "What do we do?"

"I… I don't know," he said. The mud was closing over the heads of Ma Tembo and her herd, and the last he saw of them was their eyes staring back at him, pleading – cursing him with their last dying breaths. He tried using the Roar to push the mud away from their trunks, which was the only part of them that still stuck out above the merciless liquid, but it immediately flowed back in again to plug their nostrils.

Kion looked on in despair. Where did everything go so terribly wrong? What did I do wrong?

Above him there was another clap of thunder, and Ushari's form appeared in the sky once more, twisting and turning like a snake that was rearing to strike. He did not waste time speaking, did not pause to taunt Kion before he struck, only took the time to make sure that this time he would not miss.

Nothing, he thought. There was nothing I could have done. For that too was a lesson Scar would surely have taught him if only there had been more time. Sometimes, the enemy is simply better than you…

He reached out once more, desperately searching for some connection that could help him. He felt Bunga's presence, fading away ever so slowly behind those foreboding walls, and the panicked herd animals beside him who desperately wished they had just run away like the others. He sensed the elephants, sinking away deep into the earth below. And then… he felt another connection, closer. Warmer. It reminded him of home, and safety, and playing together with Bunga in the morning sun when he was just a cub. It smelled of flowers, and of hope.

"It's mother," Kiara cried out, even as the tickbird fluttered around his head excitedly. "And the lionesses. The queen has returned!"

Kion opened his eyes, and smiled. There, at the top of Flatridge Rock, Queen Nala and her huntresses had returned from the Outlands at last – lined up along the horizon with the golden sun behind their backs. They charged down the hill as one, only a single cheetah and a lone hyena managing to stay ahead of them as they ran. Above them, a white egret fluttered overhead, directing them all with panicked shouts.

"It's Ono," he said, "and Fuli, and Jasiri!" He grinned despite himself. It truly was a beautiful sight.

The snake in the sky hissed as it turned to lash out at them, but this time Kion was ready for it: He roared at the stone fortress, launching Shupavu into the air, and pulled sharply on the connection between her and Ushari – lashing them together. The lightning struck the skink with a deafening clap, and the skink fell out of the sky as a blackened husk. There was a howl from inside the fortress as Ushari's connection instantly shifted again, but now the snake had only one lieutenant left to channel his power. Kion roared at the same time as Jasiri did, and together they tore at the fortress until cracks appeared all along the earthen walls.

"Come on," he cried, shoving the flames away from his group almost as an afterthought. "Let's go save the elephants!"

The lionesses leaped over the walls of the fortress with flawless grace, roaring in unison as they pounced at the frightened jackals lurking within. Kion ran underneath them as they leaped, rushing towards the sinkhole where the tips of the elephants' grey trunks were swiftly disappearing. He roared, and at first he despaired to think it would not be enough, but then he felt a second force adding to his own as Jasiri joined up with him. The two of them tore fresh cracks into the earth and forced the mud to flow away into the river, and at last a herd of great grey shapes emerged from the deadly trap, coughing and spluttering all the while.

"Thank you, Prince Kion," their matriarch said, still coughing up mud. "For a moment, I thought it was all over, but then you and your…" she looked again. "Is that… a hyena?"

Jasiri smirked. "You Pridelanders really have excellent observational skills, anybody ever tell you that?"

Kion smiled despite himself. "I think what Ma Tembo is trying to say is thank you, Jasiri, for coming to our aid even though we're not your responsibility. And thank you, Ma Tembo, for agreeing to fight for me." He turned away, ashamed. "You trusted me, and I nearly let you and your tribe die…"

"That – that is quite all right," said the elephant, looking at her herd as if she were counting them all, though she was probably just shocked at the fact that they were all still alive. "But, if it is all the same to you, Prince Kion, I would much rather prefer not to do that again."

"You got it," said Kion. "Jasiri? Wanna go see how the others are doing?"

"Sure," said Jasiri. "They're pretty useless without us, after all." She bumped shoulders with him, causing him to blush and stumble in surprise. "Good thing I showed up when I did, huh?"

"Ahem," a voice sounded above them. "I like to think some of us might have had something to do with that, Miss I'm-running-off-to-the-Outlands-by-myself. I mean, that was more Fuli than me, but…"

"Ono!" He looked up at the white heron, who seemed no different from when he had left. "It's great to have you back. I uh, may have replaced you with one of your fans while you were gone. And I might have sorta gotten your childhood hero killed by accident. Sorry about that."

Ono blinked. "I… have fans? Wait, Hadithi the Eagle was here? And he's dead?"

"It's been a crazy few hours." He rattled off a hurried explanation as they ran back towards the earthen fortress, which by now had mostly collapsed back into the earth. As Kion leaped on top of the crumbling ramparts, he saw that only the leader of the jackals was left standing, clutching an irresponsive Bunga between her paws as she faced off against a circle of very angry looking lionesses.

"Stay back! Don't come any closer – I've got your friend!" She gave one of the jackals lying behind her a sharp kick with her hind leg. "Get up, Goigoi! The plan's gone south – time to leave and start over somewhere far, far away from here. Come on, Goigoi! This is no time to be sleeping."

"I don't think he's getting up again," Fuli said coolly. She slinked up onto the wall next to Kion with feline grace. "And neither is your pack. Hand over Bunga, and maybe we'll let you be the exception. Maybe."

"Look, this is all a big misunderstanding," said the Jackal. She jumped back as one of the lionesses snapped at her, though that just brought her closer to the teeth of the next one. "It was that snake who tricked me! It was Ushari – he promised me power in exchange for… I mean, he said he'd bring justice to the Pridelands. I just…"

"I've heard enough," said Queen Nala, stepping into the circle. "Reirei, you deliberately attacked the Pridelands for the sake of simple greed. Surrender, and face the king's justice."

Reirei snarled at her, apparently not putting much stock in the concept. "You think you have me? Back off, lioness – I still have the power of a god on my side!" She looked to the sky and began murmuring, still clutching Bunga like a shield. "Are you there, Ushari? It's me, your servant. I was always loyal to you – I'm the only one who hasn't abandoned you!" Above her, straining with the effort to make the match work, the clouds began to blacken and roil once more.

"Enough of this," said Kion. He turned to his companion. "Fuli, think you can get to her in time?"

She raised one eyebrow at him. "What's my name?"

"It's Fuli," he began as she leaped from her perch, dashed past the lionesses and ripped Reirei's throat out, "-the Fast. Holy shit."

She spat the bloody lump out and grinned at him. "Damn straight I am."

Kion did not answer however, for Bunga had collapsed into the dirt, and all of the worry that he had been suppressing rushed to the surface once more.

He ran over to his friend's side, and confirmed his worst fears: Bunga's slouched and loose skin had been burned and blackened by fire, and although his lithe body had weathered the worst of the fall, there were still claws and talons sticking into him that must have pierced all the way through to his vital organs.

The boy grinned weakly at him, unable to move from where he lay. "Hey Kion… why the long face?"

"That doesn't work," Kion said. "I'm not a horse." He shook his head, wanting nothing more than to look away. "I'm sorry Bunga, I shouldn't have sent you out there by yourself. I'm a terrible commander."

One by one, the others were joining them. Fuli, stepping gingerly closer, her cocky grin fading away only to be replaced by a look of shame. Jasiri too wore a serious expression, the kind Kion had only seen on her before when her family was involved. Kiara and the tickbird were there as well, watching silently. Even Ono looked horrified as he landed, for all that he and Bunga had never gotten along.

"It's my fault," whispered Jasiri. "If I hadn't run off like that…"

"Don't worry about it," said Bunga. "Zuka Zama, am I right?" His grin was strained, as though it was taking all of his willpower to keep it up. "I mean, it's not like any of this is gonna last, right Kion? We're enlightened, immortal warriors. We can't ever actually die… right?"

"Yeah," said Kion, forcing a smile. "That's right. Just hold on. As long as we've got a connection, you can always just… hold on." He grabbed Bunga's paw, and squeezed tightly.

For a moment, it was silent, none of the others daring to say anything as Kion sat there with Bunga in the midst of the ruined earthen fort, its broken wreckage slowly falling apart and drifting away on the waters at the foot of Flatridge Rock.

"Hey… hey Kion?" The boy's grin faltered at last. "I'm scared."

Kion closed his eyes, and said nothing.