Hey everyone, hope you enjoy this chapter. As some of you know, I had some difficulty when I was writing this chapter on Wattpad. The disappearance of this chapter has been really frustrating and due to this reason, I had to rewrite chapter 16 and lost interest for a bit because as another great writer had previously mentioned (FireKilledMe on Wattpad), it's a pain to recall everything I had written down before. I understand that this has happened to a lot of others so needless to say, I learned my lesson.

—TLK—

The early morning sun beats down on Kion and Vitani's back as they nuzzle their goodbyes. This is the day Kion and Mlezi will leave the Outlands to help the pride Kion promised to liberate. All the lionesses within his pride gather around Kion and his mate; wishing their king luck for his long journey. Nearby, Tumaini bursts into tears, nuzzling her mother goodbye as Mlezi prepares to leave her behind. A few of the lionesses reassure the young cub that her mother will be back, but that didn't stop her woeful cries. Vitani herself grieves for Kion going into unfamiliar territory and he could tell that it frightened her.

"Don't worry Vitani, I'll be back soon." Kion reassures his future queen.

"I don't like it one bit. I want a solid answer Kion; when will you be back?" She responds in concern.

"I don't know. It's about a week's journey one way, and however long it takes before coming back with the rest of our new family." Kion answers honestly.

"That's not what I wanted to hear." Vitani looks into Kion's brown eyes.

Kion responds with as much comfort as he can. "I know it isn't, but there's not much else I can say."

"I don't want this being our last goodbye. I know you'll be careful, but you better come back to me in one piece." Vitani demands as her voice cracks.

Kion nuzzles Vitani as her words rang throughout the pride. "Don't worry... I will..." He pulls away and gives her a confident smile.

She smiles back at him, but it quickly disappears as she looks to the ground in thought.

"What's wrong Tani?" Kion asks in concern.

"I've got some news but I don't know if it's good or bad yet." Vitani looks back at Kion. "I'm not going to tell you right now."

"Okay?" Kion watches her in puzzlement.

"Hey, I've got to give you a reason to come back." Vitani smirks.

"Believe me, I've already got a reason. You're my reason." Kion returns with his own smirk.

"Good answer." Vitani chuckles.

A few of the other lionesses listening to their conversation, chuckle along.

"Young love." One of the lionesses teases.

"We really do have to go, Vitani." Kion watches her sadly.

"I know you do. But I said it once before and I'm going to say it again, be careful out there. A lot of things can happen to you and I don't want..." Kion cuts her off with one word.

"Tani..." Kion gives her a lick on the side of her face.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I'm just worried about losing you." She nuzzles him again.

"Vitani, I will come back." Kion answers her seriously this time.

With one last goodbye nuzzle, the pair split up as Kion and Mlezi head down the canyon, and out of the Outlands. Mlezi led the way as they walk in the direction of her former pride.

"So that's our future queen? Vitani really cares about you, judging by the way she keeps telling you to be careful." Mlezi chuckles as they continue onward.

"I've never seen her go soft like that before, or seen her worry so much. When I first joined Zira's pride, she would never hold back whenever we would spar and would insult me whenever she had the chance. But she was the one who first brought me into the pride and I just really don't know what happened. It seemed that we were all of a sudden... something." Kion chuckles with her.

"Well, no doubt that that means she really does love you. She's willing to let her guard down around you now and that proves she trusts you with her life." Mlezi answers.

"Maybe..." Kion responds.

Kion changes the subject quickly with a question, for he knows that he's starting to sound soft himself.

"So I don't think I've ever asked you where your former pride is?" He addresses.

"Just short of the coast, in the Lowlands." Mlezi responds.

"What? You traveled that far with a cub?" Kion asks in astonishment.

"Yes, barely though. I'm glad that we found ourselves in your territory because I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't taken us in." Mlezi thanks Kion.

"I wouldn't have taken you in if you didn't have Tumaini with you." Kion confesses.

"You still gave Tumaini another shot at life, so I'm willing to look past the fact that you might not have let me stay. Besides, you're helping my pride as well so now I'm indebted to you and I'll repay that debt with my loyalty to you and your own pride." She answers Kion.

"I have to ask, what makes you think your pride will really join us?"

Mlezi gave a sigh and answered him with much hesitation.

"I didn't want to say anything about this out of fear of being cast out again, but I used to be queen of the Lowland Pride." She falls silent, waiting for Kion's reaction.

Kion stops dead in his tracks as he looks at the lioness in astonishment. "Did she really just say she was queen of her pride?" Kion instantly growls at the lioness. "So they wouldn't be following me. They'd be following you!"

Kion sees the panic in Mlezi's eyes as she turns towards him.

"Kion please... It was only for a very short period of time and I failed as queen when Muuaji took over. I don't want to rule anything after all the death and destruction. You have to believe me." The lioness pleaded.

"Why should I? You didn't tell me when I let you into my pride. For all I know, you might try to take over my throne, and that's putting Vitani's throne in danger!" Kion bares his teeth at the lioness.

She backs away cautiously as he takes a step towards her; all civility disappears from Kion. Mlezi cowers to the ground, not making eye contact of any sort as Kion looks down on her. Several moments of silence fell between the two lions.

"So tell me 'Queen Mlezi'... what will your pride do when they find out that I will be King of the Pridelands and you're just a common subject to my reign?" Kion scowls at the lioness.

Kion watches as she shifts nervously before replying to him.

"Once we explain everything to all of them, they'll understand." She pauses for a second as she looks up at Kion. "I'm no Queen and I won't do anything to challenge your place, or Vitani's. None of the other lionesses will either. Please, just let me show you my loyalty to you and your pride once more." The lioness answers.

Kion relaxes a bit but his glare never ceased.

"We'll know soon enough. But let me make one thing clear, when we get to the Lowlands, you're to explain to all your lionesses that I will not tolerate disobedience should they join us in war against Simba and his followers." Kion snarls.

Mlezi lets out a sigh of relief as Kion backs away from the lioness. She hesitantly picks herself up as she tries to recover from shock that had weighed her down from the unexpected aggression.

"Thank you, your majesty."

Kion scoffs as he passes her without another word.

— 3 DAYS LATER —

For the most part, the journey to the Lowlands has been quiet between the two lions. Kion's anger towards the lioness never left but he had calmed down with each passing day. I mean who wouldn't be angry when you find out that the one you let into your pride was a former queen and could potentially be a threat to your own pride.

The cool morning breeze ruffles through Kion's fur, the chill slowly waking him from his slumber. He lets out a yawn and stretches the sleep from his body. Looking around, the acacia tree that he and Mlezi slept under towers over them; giving them shelter from the sun. Kion's paws ache from the journey so far. As he takes a step forward, pain shoots through the flesh between the pads of his paw. He quickly uses his teeth to remove a left over thorn from yesterday's journey through the thorn fields.

The thorn fields definitely were annoying but it didn't annoy him as much as the desert that they will need to cross for who knows how long; once he and Mlezi get across the mud and water filled gully that had stopped them from venturing forward that is. Kion loathes sand as it always finds its way into uncomfortable places so he definitely wasn't too keen on passing through.

The smell of the half eaten gazelle Melezi brought down last night caught his attention. He quickly has his fill as he prepares for today's journey; then tosses the rest of it next to the lioness who still sleeps peacefully. The impact of the carcass next to the lioness's head startles her awake.

"Grab your share and let's go." Kion growls at the lioness in annoyance.

Kion watches as she finishes up and begins to dig a hole. She pushes the remains of the gazelle and covers it, before turning back to Kion, showing she is ready to move. He and Mlezi go back towards the gully they refused to cross that takes them straight into the desert. Kion knows that the edge of the gully has soft soil on either side as he watches a small chunk of the ground slide into the water; being washed away.

"I think we can make it across without falling in." Mlezi says as she eyes another chunk of earth falling in.

"If we get a running start, probably." Kion replies.

With that being said, the two back several feet away to get their momentum. Kion runs at the gully and clears the jump, followed by Mlezi. As Mlezi jumps across, another chunk of earth gives way under her hind legs, plunging half her body into the shallow water. Kion grabs her by the scruff of her neck and pulls her up onto sturdy ground.

"Without falling in huh?" Kion chuckles.

Mlezi gasps in shock as the still cold muddy water seeps into her fur. As she shakes off the water, they continue onward, straight into the desert. As they venture further into the wasteland, the sun beats down on the sand, amplifying the heat. Not a single plant could be seen, not a single puddle of water, and not a single animal but the two who pressed on. Kion feels himself becoming dehydrated, and perhaps losing his mind as he kept seeing a watering hole off in the distance, but never getting close.

"So you've traveled through here with a cub? I know you could get through just fine but how did Tumaini make it this far?" Kion asks the lioness.

"We traveled at night, it was definitely a lot cooler than this." Mlezi states.

"Now you tell me." Kion scoffs. "Probably would have been easier to go across last night."

"After walking through those thorns, I wasn't up to walking across the desert, and I know you weren't either." Mlezi responds respectfully.

Kion doesn't respond as a new figure catches his eye; that of another lioness. At first he thought he was losing it but Mlezi confirms that he's ok when she speaks.

"That lioness, I think I know her." Mlezi says to Kion over her shoulder in disbelief.

Before Kion could respond, Mlezi took off in the direction of the lioness; all he could do was grunt in annoyance before going after her. As they neared the lioness, she stopped and looked at them.

"Faizah..!" Mlezi calls out.

Kion watches as the other lion, a darker gray lioness with Teal eyes and a large black patch around her right eye, stares in disbelief at Mlezi.

"Mlezi..?" She turns to the lioness.

"What are you doing way out here?" Mlezi asks.

"You had the right idea to leave home, even though you abandoned us; it's gotten so much worse since you left. We buried your boy but you still left us when we needed you most! Many others have lost their cubs because of you." The lioness growls at Mlezi.

Mlezi stops dead in her tracks and stares at the lioness in horror.

"No, it can't be." Mlezi cries out as a tear falls down her cheek.

"Some Queen you are." The lioness bares her teeth.

"But I brought help. We can still save the rest of the pride from Muuaji." Mlezi cries out again. "Kion has come to help."

"Kion? Word got to us shortly after you left that the former leader of the Lion Guard had gotten himself exiled by his own family in the Pridelands." The lioness redirects her attention to him. "Can't say I blame you for wanting revenge; after all, it didn't sound like a fair choice for you."

"You don't know the half of it." Kion responds.

"Maybe. What are you doing all the way out here?" Faizah asks.

"Well, like you said, I want revenge on the Pridelands, but my pride is short in numbers. I don't have a chance at taking it back for the well being of my pride. I've come to realize all the hardships that my true family has gone through in the Outlands. So I've come to help you with your problem if in return, you and other members of your pride come to help me with mine." Kion asks.

Mlezi had fallen silent as they spoke; hanging her head down in shame. Faizah raises her eyebrow in question.

"What makes you think any of us want to help you?"

"I've been informed of your situation and I offer you a better place to live; in the Pridelands, at Pride Rock when we take it from Simba. Before you decide, let me ask you something, where will you go should you refuse? Will you wander aimlessly until you meet your end by starvation or thirst, or do you want a place you can call home, where you don't have to worry about anything at all?" Kion asks the lioness.

The lioness smirks as she replies. "You make a good argument, I'll help you but I can't speak for all the lionesses in the Lowlands, and we've got quite a ways back if we return empty pawed."

Kion returns the smirk with his own. "Than it's agreed."

"I suppose that your own pride calls you King, just make sure you lead us better than my sister." Faizah flashes Mlezi a menacing stare.

"Sister?" Kion turns to Mlezi in astonishment. "You two look nothing alike."

"She's adopted." Mlezi chuckles nervously.

—TLK—

Hope you all enjoyed and I've already started on Part 2, no idea how long it will take me to update though.

A few things I want to say...

First, it's my 19th Birthday today so I'm really excited about that because I got a couple kayaks so now I can go fishing on the lake on my days off (I also got some German Chocolate Cake which is my absolute favorite).

Second, I'm adding a few other characters and I need at least 6 new names. I'd really appreciate it if I could get your help, all female except for one male.

Third, I just hit 35K views on FanFiction.Net so I thank you all for your support and am honored that you have all taken the time to read my story.

And finally, to the 90+ people following Kion's Betrayal on FanFiction.Net, I want to apologize for not replying a whole lot, as you know, I'm only allowed 3 responses per chapter and so I try to save them for later. I do read your comments and from here on out, I'll be replying directly from chapters posted. I'll admit, I use Wattpad a lot more so if you have an account, you can follow me there, same name just add a dash to the end of SpiderEye.

{comments}

Queeze: Thanks man and I know. Appreciate it though.

Kerana: you're just gonna have read further to see how everything plays out *laughs like a maniac*. And yes there will be a sequel at some point, though votes for a prequel outnumber the sequel. Votes at 13:4

William: I'll check it out and thanks. Although I have read a past comment where you offered to advertise my story on other stories. With all respect, please don't, people can find Kion's Betrayal on their own and it makes me look like I'm just after people for reads. Thank you for the offer but I have to respectfully decline, no hard feelings...