Guardians

'Kion resorts to drastic measures to ensure Ono's safety'

A bird's defense against oncoming danger that couldn't be flown away from was the lifting of one or both wings and shielding oneself.  It was what Ono did rarely, never feeling in such danger to do so. But just a few seconds before, he had pulled a wing up to shield himself from an oncoming stone, thrown by a pair of playing serval cubs. Ono knew they didn't mean for the rock to hurl towards him but the fact that it did was not something to be proved wrong.

He had prepared to defend himself one second and the next, he heard the low growl of a clearly angry feline. Half-fearing it was the serval cubs, he attempted to peek an eye open, only to have his view shrouded by the source of the sound. His adoptive brother, Kion had growled, something he never did and had used one unsheathed paw to gently shove Ono underneath him, the egret's frills brushing against the lion cub's underbelly fur.

Stunned silent by the sudden aggressive nature of the normally composed leader of the Lion Guard, Ono lost his ability to think clearly. He knowingly lowered his wing to his side, yet unknowingly holding his beak open, his aqua eyes blinking repeatedly in his trying to understand the current situation.

He could barely think clearly and so simply focused on the body language of his adoptive brother. His fur was on end, his claws unsheathed and dug into the ground, and his tail was lashing wildly behind him. A sickening growl echoed out of Kion's throat, startling Ono into ducking his head and taking the smallest of steps back.

Fear overtaking a part of his mind, Ono attempted to speak, the fact that he stuttered only added to his growing fear. "K-Kion, what's wr-wrong?" His voice was soft and he half hoped Kion wouldn't hear him but he did. Of course he did.

"Be quiet Ono" Kion had answered, his voice an almost snarl, though Ono noted that the clear anger in his voice wasn't directed at him. Or rather, not at what he had said.

The emphasis on the word quiet made the egret shut his beak and for him to duck his head down further, his eyes falling to the ground as he struggled to concentrate on why Kion flat out refused to answer his question. Kion never did that either.

"Mr Kion, we're so, so sorry!" The sound of one of the serval cubs snapped Ono out of his thoughts, his aqua blue eyes lifting up to glance at the two beginning to bound over to them, or rather, Kion.

The moment they started approaching them, Ono felt Kion tense, a growl shakingly escaping his throat as he crouched lower to ground. But Ono noticed how he inched his back legs closer to the bird below him, as if protecting him from the outside world. And the more Ono thought about that, the more sense it made to him.

And yet before any thought could process, his mind was cut short when the moment the two cubs were in reach of them, Kion lashed a paw out, swiping the female cub against the head, claws unsheathed and everything. The claws raked against her head, causing her to cry out and fall ruggedly to the floor. Her brother cried out and raced towards her but they were both enveloped by a powerful magical forcefield.

Ono was helpless to stop it as he stared at the scene, stepping back unconsciously to the protective presence of his adoptive brother. The small step back caused Kion to paush in his assault but only for a split second before he continued on.

Eyes narrowed in determined rage, the lion cub magically hurled the two cubs into the ground. They cried out in pain before it was silenced by the immediate continuation of their suffering. They were thrown to the ground so many times that they slowly died, but not without a waterfall of blood showering their attacker.

Only when the cubs cries ceased and their guts and brains spewed out into the ground did Kion stop. He panted raggedly before freezing completely, horror and fear of himself overtaking him.

This lack of movement gave Ono the time to process just how much had just happened in only a few seconds. Stunned silence led to confusion of the situation and the strong scent of blood on the air nearly drove him to listening to his bird instincts and flying away. But he had betrayed his own kind many times before. He lived with lions and magical creatures for the gods' sakes.

But the fact he felt no fear towards his best friend confused him to no end. But so did the reason Kion had acted so aggressively towards the two. Ono had no idea he was even here before the two serval cubs had accidentally hurled that rock towards him. Where had he come from? And why had he-

The egret paused his thoughts, gathering them together before taking the smallest steps forward, his frills brushing against Kion's belly fur.  Gulping, he searched for his voice, trying his hardest to keep it steady as he spoke.

"K-Kion? Are you al-alright?" Of course he wasn't. But he just needed to ask.

His voice seemed to snap Kion out of his trance for he almost instantly gasped and jumped backwards. Blood dripped from his fur, the irony scent clinging to him and one blink of the keenest of sight and the cub's aura read guilt. So much guilt.

Worry etched itself into Ono's face as he tried to step back towards his best friend, who had hopped away from him. The movement caused Kion to screw his eyes shut and almost instantly collapse to a heap on the floor. He buried his face in his blood soaked paws, tears flowing down his face in guilty, self-hating sobs.

The sight broke Ono's heart. Kion was in the wrong but he was so guilty. He regretted it so much but it was already done and honestly, Ono would prefer Kion to be there than those two cubs. Dead or alive.

Knowing his words would only make things worse, the egret stepped lightly to Kion's side to where the quiet sobs could be heard. There goes the rest of Ono's heart. Unfurling one wing, he gently touched Kion's paw to which the lion cub flinched. To his flinch, Ono did the same but he allowed himself to go to the floor as well, bringing his wing back to his side and nuzzling his head against Kion's.

Kion attempted to pull away but the gentle touch of his friend comforted him, causing him to inch closer to the bird. The fact that Ono was now getting drenched in the blood on Kion's fur didn't matter to him. All he cared about at the moment was Kion.

After what felt like an eternity, Kion slowly peeked his eyes open to the blurry form of his best friend. Turning on his aura vision, his guilt grew as he saw the worried aura encasing the egret.