Kion continued limping deeper and deeper into the tunnels, the space seemed to shrink a little as he went on. His fur bristled nervously and he jumped at the slightest of sounds, the darkness seemed to go on forever. It's no use... There's no way out...

He then sat down in front of a small puddle, his throat suddenly felt dry. He stretched his head forward and took one lap at the water, than immediately spat it out. Ugh, it's practically nothing but muddy water! He sighed. This is hopeless, how long will I stay like this...? Suddenly, his eyes felt heavy and his paws began to tremble. Then Kion collapsed onto the ground and all went dark.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾

Kion slowly opened his eyes and gasped. He wasn't in the tunnels anymore, instead, he was in a dark, shadowy forest with lots of tall, dank, gray trees. The forest looked dull, vast, and empty. The air is cold, thick, foggy, and damp and it seemed to have an eerie, echoing silence. Kion looked up and saw a black and starless sky, the trees were so tall, he was unable to see anything above them, it was as if the trees were purposefully allowing no light whatsoever to reach the forest. The mist wreathed the thick, sticky, bare forest floor. There was a sluggish river, its waters dark and lifeless with no stepping stones or fallen trees to be used to cross it, and around the river are a couple sucking mud puddles. Fungus grew on the bases of the trees, glowing a sickly green and no grass grew at all.

Where am I?

Suddenly, flames erupted from behind Kion, nearly burning his tail. Kion yelped and tried to escape, but then the flames blocked his path. He skidded to a halt and watched with terror as the flames formed a circle around him, allowing no way for him to escape. The heat was so intense, Kion was surprised he hadn't burned to a crisp just yet. His hairs stood on its end when he suddenly heard a loud howl, he looked up and noticed a series of flaming flares circling and spiraling all around above his head. Fire dripped from their tails, and Kion quickly hobbled sideways to avoid getting burned by the raining embers. They quickly went out as soon as they hit the ground, leaving only a sizzling, ashy spot on the ground.

"Hevi kabisa...!" Kion whispered under his breath as he watched some of the flames draw closer together and morph into a giant lion. His fear was quickly replaced with anger as he recognized the fiery lion with pure hatred. The lion laughed menacingly as he stared back at Kion, the scar over his left eye glowed brightly.

"Scar..." Kion muttered.

"Thought you could get rid of me forever, didn't you, Kion?" Scar boomed. "I'm afraid you can't get rid of me that easily, I'll always be a part of you. After all, we are the same, blood and destiny!"

"No!" Kion shouted. "We are not the same! I'm not like you, Scar!"

"Is that so?" Scar chuckled. "Tell me something, what kind of leader of the Lion Guard kills his team mate, let alone, his friend, hmm?"

Kion stiffened. "You... You saw all that?"

"Pfft, of course I did! What, did you think that I'd spend the rest of my afterlife in Hell, moping about?" Scar asked sarcastically. "I've been watching you from the moment you and your dumb friends started your pathetic journey, traveling to the Tree of Life to get rid of your scar, yes? Well guess what, your scar is permanent, Kion! You can never get rid of it! It's cursed, just like your Roar, it will NEVER go away! There is only one way to cope with it, and that is to embrace the darkness! You have the Mark of Evil, just like me! Just accept your destiny! Let your scar turn you into the monster you were always destined to be!"

"No! You are wrong, Scar! I'm not a monster!" Kion protested angrily, trying to ignore the twinge of guilt in his belly. "The Tree of Life will help me! I will get cured once I get there!"

Scar shook his head with disapproval. "Denial only weakens you..." he tsked. "Your scar had already caused you to kill your friend, that's a start! Just accept your fate and it'll all be over!

"NO!" Kion screamed. "I. WILL. NEVER. JOIN. YOU."

Scar sighed impatiently. "Alright then, so this is how it's going to be. If I can't convince you, then maybe THEY will. Scar then looked up, still wearing his same evil, smug  grin as the flares in the sky suddenly descended downward and towards Kion. Kion backed away but not far enough to touch the wall of fire behind him. He watched as the firey comets land on the ground, he counted at least nine surrounding him. Then, Kion watched them shift and morph into different figures, revealing Mufasa, Simba, Nala, Kiara, Beshte, Bunga, Makini, Ono, and Anga, all glaring at him with their flaming, pupil-less eyes. Their scleras were a bright, firey hue of their irises and they all only had a blazing white orb as their actual eyes.

"KION!" Mufasa spoke, though his voice wasn't warm and welcoming as it used to.

"G-grandfather Mufasa?" Kion stuttered.

"You have betrayed your role as leader, you have brought shame to yourself and your Guard," Mufasa growled. "You are no better than Scar..."

"But-!" Kion began.

"Kion! I trusted you! I thought you were better than this!" Simba said in a disapproving tone. "I guess I was wrong..."

"Dad, no! I-" Kion said.

"No, Kion. You are a disgrace," Simba hissed. "I no longer see you as my son..."

"Dad..."

"How could you, Kion!" Nala scolded, his mother looked deeply betrayed. 

"Mom, I-"

"I expected better of you, Kion. You were suppose to be the exact opposite of Scar, not follow his pawsteps!"

Grief tugged in Kion's heart as he gazed at his mother. She had always been a lot more faithful in him than his father about his leadership, she always trusted him and believed in him. And to see her now be immensely furious and disappointed in him pierced through him like a sharp claw. 

"You are the worst, Kion!" Kiara snarled, "I thought you knew better! How can you kill your own teammate, let alone your own friend?! Murderer!"

"No..." Kion whimpered.

"Daddy's right, you are a disgrace! You don't deserve a place with Grandfather in the stars!" his older sister hissed, "Not after what you've done!"

"No, please, STOP!" Kion begged, he then noticed an opening in the wall of fire and he desperately headed towards it. He leapt through and started to run, trying to get away from Scar and the other spirits, but they all followed him no matter where he went. Kion skidded to a halt when Bunga's spirit closed him off.

"Some friend you are!" Bunga shouted at him. "My friend wouldn't have followed this dark path!"

"Bunga! No!"

"We all believed in you, Kion," Beshte sighed behind him. He looked less angry than the other spirits, but his disappointed gaze still greatly shattered Kion nonetheless. "We really all thought you were better than this."

"But I guess we were wrong about you," Anga said, her usual flat tone sounding a lot more dead and empty.

"You are nothing but evil and bad luck, Kion," Ono said. "It's always been common knowledge, really."

"You have both his mark and his personality. You are exactly like him," Makini added. 

Kion stared helplessly at the fire spirits, his throat felt tight and he felt as if their angry expressions were burning his insides. He turned around and tried to run again, but he quickly stopped when he suddenly saw Fuli in front of him, he locked gazes with her blazing, empty, emerald eyes. Swallowing a hard lump in his throat, he cautiously and slowly made his way over to her. 

"Fuli..." Kion whispered. "I-"

"I don't care how many times you say that your sorry, because I know you don't mean it," Fuli growled.

"No, that's not true!" Kion protested.

"You're glad that I'm gone, aren't you?" Fuli yelled. "You're glad I'm dead! You're glad that you killed me! Now I won't be a burden and stand in your way again and challenge your leadership anymore!"

"No!"

"Well guess what? You have no idea how lost you are right now. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have made it this far on that damn journey! Heck, you wouldn't even survive a DAY without me! If it weren't for me, you would be DEAD." Fuli chuckled dryly, causing Kion to quiver a little."But look where we are now, the supposedly 'all mighty' and 'fierce' leader of his little Lion Guard, cowering before the vengeful spirit of his once most trusted and loyal member and friend..."

"Fuli, listen," Kion pleaded. "I'm really sorry I killed you, I wish I could turn back time and take it all back!"

"'Oh I'm sorry, Fuli!' 'Please forgive me, Fuli!' 'I didn't mean to kill you, Fuli!'" Fuli whimpered mockingly, badly mimicking Kion's voice, making him shiver even more. "You can say you're sorry as many times as you want, but y'know, actions speak louder than words. What you have done to me is unforgettable and unforgivable. You have any idea where you are right now?"

Kion shook his head, trying not to tremble as he felt the heat from Fuli intensify.

"This is the Savanna of the Shadows," Fuli growled impatiently."This is the place where animals like you and Scar belong. And believe me when I say, if I EVER find you in the tunnels, still alive, I WILL make sure you go here and join him after a long, painful death..."

Kion stared at Fuli, tears of pain flooded his eyes. "Fuli, I-"

Fuli let out a snarl as she slashed Kion's left shoulder, Kion winced as he felt her claws rake against him, every one of her claws felt as if they were burning every part of his skin off. 

"You've brought this all on yourself..." Fuli hissed bitterly, which then turned into a slow, cruel, cold chuckle "Say hello to Hatari for me when you arrive at the Savanna of the Shadows." 

Fuli's form suddenly disintegrated and turned back into a flare and took off, leaving behind a firey trail. The rest of the ten fire spirits gave Kion one last glare before following Fuli, reverting back to a flare and blazing into the hell sky, leaving Kion with Scar again. The lion looked down at his shoulder and saw a long scar across his Mark of the Guard, which was now beginning to sting, but Kion didn't care. Blood oozed out of the scar and dropped onto the floor, creating a sizzling puddle that burned the ground.

"You see, Kion?" Scar said. "Everyone, your friends, your family, they've all given up on you! You're nothing but evil! Accept your destiny, Kion! There is no other choice!"

"No! Never!" Kion snarled.

"Sisi ni sawa, Kion!" Scar laughed. "Sisi ni sawa. We're. The. SAME." 

Scar's form then fell apart into bits of ashes, his menacing, roaring laugh echoed through the Savanna of the Shadows as his remains spiraled upward and joined in with the flaring spirits. Suddenly, Kion felt another stinging sensation on his back, he turned around and realized there was fire on his back, burning away his fur and reaching his skin. When he tried to put it out, another drop of flames plopped onto his muzzle, Kion howled in pain, then more embers began to fall on him, gradually engulfing and burning him whole. The flames around him roared louder and he felt the flare spirits crackling above him, the voices of Scar, his family, and friends taunted him again.

"Sisi ni sawa!" he heard Scar snickered.

"I WILL make sure you go here after a long, painful death!" hissed Fuli.

"You are evil! You are evil!" sang Bunga mockingly.

"Some kind of brother you are!" Kiara snarled.

"You're no son of mine, anymore," Simba tsked.

"You're going to die, Kion," Mufasa growled.

"A long, painful death..." Beshte added.

"Fuli's gonna kill you!" Makini said.

"You're gonna die a long painful death, Kion!" Kiara shouted.

"I'm going find you. And I'm going to kill you!" Fuli snarled. "You're gonna die, Kion!"

It was now becoming too much, Kion finally couldn't handle it anymore and he collapsed, his body grew increasingly numb as the embers continued to roast him alive. The voices went on menacingly, Kion shut his eyes and his mouth pride wide open as he let out a loud, long, frightening, pained shriek as he succumbed to the biggest and most painful burn he's ever experience. His ears rang, then everything went dark...