The Lion Guard: The Purest Wolf and the Fiercest Lion

Frozen Heart And A Dark Future

She got it... She finally got it! Now, she could undo Hex's spell and everything would be okay. She stopped at a nearby tree to catch her breath for a moment. Taking this time to recover, Langara looked down at her heart to inspect it and softly gasped as she saw that it was almost completely encased in ice. "No... I have to thaw it!" She whispered-yelled to herself. And so she tried using her powers to thaw the ice out, and was surprised when the ice thawed out so easily. Langara sighed in relief at this and decided to place her heart back in her chest. The cub then took two steps forward before she felt an indescribable pain in her chest that stopped her in her tracks. She felt a feeling she never thought she was able to feel before.

... She felt cold.

She panicked for a moment as she realized that her heart was icing over once again, but any thought to stop this from happening disappeared from her mind. It was too late. Her face went from a fearful expression to one of emotionless indifference. The cub then began walking off with no destination in mind. As she walked, she failed to notice that one of the spots on her back were disappearing, leaving a small spot that was only pure white fur. Soon... there would be no warmth left within the once kind-hearted cub. 

~ Elsewhere ~

Dali wandered around the area in front of the den that Mikey had made for all of them: Dali, Leeka, and himself. The fox kit's ears sagged behind her head as she thought about Langara, wondering what she was doing right now. Leeka and Mikey watched her practically torture herself as they knew what she was thinking and tried to find some way of cheering her up. "She feels so horrible, Mikey. Do you have any idea why Langara suddenly acted in such a manner?" Leeka asked him, looking at her daughter with a sad expression. "Not really. All I heard was that Dali's little darlin' had an encounter with Hex, and she just started acting heartless." Mikey told her, using one of his three tails to wrap around Leeka for comfort. 

"...I think we need to try and do something," Leeka said after a bit of thought. "But what?" Mikey wondered, agreeing that they need to do something. Mikey thought for a moment before an idea came to mind that made him smile. "... Dali! Kit, could ya come over for a second?" He called to the young fox. "... Yes...?" Dali asked dejectedly, walking over to him and her mother. "What do ya think of this? I'mma go get Winter and she and I are gonna look for Langara. We'll bring her back to ya. What do ya say, kit? Would ya like that?" Mikey asked her, looking down at her with a smile that gave her hope. But, the smile shortly fell. "...I don't think she WANTS to be found. You can try, but... I don't think she wants to come back."

With that, Dali walked off, back toward the Tree of Life without another word. Leeka looked hurt by her daughter's shattered hope but didn't go after her. Mikey rubbed his side to hers in a comforting way and looked into her eyes. "Don't you worry 'bout it. I'll bring her back to her cheerful self again. I promise." He vowed to Leeka. With that, he vanished in a puff of orange smoke at the same time that Dali nestled under the roots of the Tree of Life, trying to think of anything other than this mess. Not five minutes later when her thoughts were interrupted by Kion himself. "Hey, Dali. You okay?" He asked her kindly. He knew that she wasn't but asked anyway to maybe get her to talk to someone about what she was feeling. "... I lost her... she's not the monster... I am..." Dali said, putting her head between her paws. Kion sat right next to her and looked at her with sympathy. "You can't blame yourself for this. Sure you made a mistake, but we've all made mistakes when it comes to the people we love. I know I have." The Lion Prince assured her. 

"... Sure. You're not the one who didn't defend your girlfriend even when she needed you. I'm sorry, Kion, but I don't need to hear this right now."  Dali said with a scoff. With that, she just turned and ran off. Kion sighed to himself as he looked down at his paws. He examined his claws for a moment but wasn't focused on them. "... What am I doing?" He said to no one in particular.