"Nants ingonyama bagithi, baba!"
"Argh! What was that for, Rafiki?"
"Dis is your wake up call!"
All throughout the cave, deafened pride members were trying to relax and get that ringing out of their ears. The cave was full now of stretching, yawning, and whining and wheezing as they all tried to make their way through the displeasure of having being woken up so early.
That was all of course, except for . . .
"Today is the Siku Choka!" shouted Nala, standing up alert on all four paws. She then began prancing around while chanting: "Today is the Siku Choka! Today is the Siku Choka! Oh Simba, isn't this great?"
Simba yawned and then laid his head back down. "Sure is," he said smiling, "just, give me a couple more minutes."
"Simba," said Nala, walking up to her mate, still smiling, "I didn't tell Rafiki to wake us up at the crack of dawn, I told him to wake us up when the first wave of lions were arriving."
Simba opened his eyes. "Oh . . ." he said. He got up. "Well, I guess that changed everything," he added, before letting out a stretch and a yawn.
"Come on, Simba – we need to get down to the track!" exclaimed Nala, as happy as a cub about to go on vacation.
"I know, I know," said Simba, beginning to move off, stretching his hind legs as he did so, "just don't keep asking me 'are we there yet?' while we're on our way."
Nala chuckled. "Don't worry Simba, I won't."
Zazu hovered over the first wave, looking for a male lion, of which might have a chance of being the king. He was hovering because it was still early morning, and whereas the temperature was great for any creature to just stay still, it was rather chilly to be flying. Flying was best left for in the heat of the day, when the wind would be a relief from the sun's rays.
Finally, Zazu was able to find a male lion right below him, and so he took off in a dive until he was level with his shoulder.
"Good morning, sire," said Zazu, landing on the ground as the lion stopped moving.
"Good morning," he replied.
"Is this whole wave your pride?" asked Zazu, signaling to the mass of lionesses that were either walking on by them, or had stopped to see what was taking place.
"Why, yes it is," replied the lion. "I'm King Machi from the Savannahland Pride."
"Ah yes," said Zazu, "the Savannahland Pride, I've heard of that before. Now, do you any competitors from the Savannahland Pride?"
"We do," replied Machi, "but she's still at home, sleeping. We left one of her friends with her too, so she'll be there to wake her up when it's time to go."
"Okay, and which competitor is this?" asked Zazu.
"Anzi, it's her first time," replied Machi.
"Ah, well, good luck to her. Anyways, the track is just over there to the left, you can sit on any one of the four hills and we should be bringing soft rainberries to and from the track throughout the day. Until then, treat this land like it was your own, you are entitled to most of the rights and privileges of it as any of our pride members are . . ." Zazu didn't like that line ". . . but apart from that, just remember that King Simba is your king."
"Sounds good," replied Machi. "Alright, you heard him," he said, raising his voice so that every member of his pride could hear him, "let's go sit up on that hill over there," he finished off.
Zazu watched them as they all turned and headed off into the direction of where Machi had just pointed. Then, he turned back and noticed that a second wave was approaching from just over the horizon. He took off and got ready to deal with them too.
Rafiki plopped his stick into the soft muddy spot. He jogged it back and forth, trying to ensure that it was in a solid position for the rest of this day and half of the next.
"That looks good," said Bwana Zungumza.
"Yes, dat should hold it," agreed Rafiki, slowly letting go of it and letting it stand on its own.
"So how does dis work?" he asked.
"Right, well it's quite simple really. You said that around midday, from this spot, there should be no shadows, correct?"
"Dat is true."
"Well we're going to want you to signal to us when there is no shadow from this stick today, and then we'll start the Siku Choka. Around midday tomorrow, there should be no shadow then too. Thus, we end the race when there is no shadow, and then that ensures that the whole competition lasts for exactly a day."
"Ah," said Rafiki, "lucky it shouldn't be cloudy tomorrow den."
"True, but even if it was, we have a system set up for that too."
"You've been doing dis for a while, haven't you?" asked Rafiki.
"Ten years," replied Bwana Zungumza.
The two were standing just beyond two of the hills that surrounded the track. The ground was flat in between them, and thus it would be easy for Bwana Zungumza to see Rafiki's signal to start the event.
"Well," said Zungumza, "as you can see, the shadow is long now so we can leave it for a while. Come on; let's get down to the track."
Kanafa the cheetah led a group of seventeen across the track and into the infield. The group consisted of cheetahs just like him, a few lionesses, a couple of mandrills, two leopards, four of the meerkats from the meerkat colony, and of course, a very curious and excited Nala.
"Alright," said Kanafa, as he stood a couple of paces back from the inside strip of paw prints, "each of you, choose a paw print," he commanded, now sitting down. Nala watched as the creatures each took a seat behind one of the paw prints. She regretted the fact that she had been tired last night, she'd missed a great opportunity to get to meet all of the competitors, but then again, at least she'd volunteered to be one of the ones guarding the entrance to the track before the event: she'd get to meet all of them then.
"Okay," said Kanafa as the last creature settled down into his spot, "here's how it works. Each competitor will come up to you later and place their paw in their paw print in front of you. You will need to remember his or her face, because for the next day you will be tallying all of their points. You won't be able to sleep; we don't have enough of you to be able to take shifts so I hope you all got a good sleep last night. That being said, if your competitor falls out and is unable to continue, then you may do whatever you want: join the crowd, sleep in infield, it's up to you. Now the points work this way. Each time your competitor crosses that line, that means they completed a lap," Kanafa was signaling to a line on the straight part of the track, right in front of them, which had been marked where someone had dragged their finger across the track, "when that happens, you give them a point. I trust you all know how to do tallies by now?" he asked. The sixteen scorekeepers nodded. "Excellent. Now, you're going to have to keep an eye on your competitor the whole lap because if they bring a prey down, you give them ten points. Any questions, ask me or Bwana Zungumza. For example, if two lionesses jump at a piece of prey at the same time and it comes down, and neither of you know who was the one who actually brought it down, come up to me or Bwana Zungumza and we'll tell you what the official declaration is. We'll have volunteers scattered all around the track to tell us what they see, and they're going to be who our decisions go off of. Is that clear, everyone?" he asked. The sixteen creatures nodded; while Nala was just standing back grinning, amazed by all the organization that went into one of these events.
"Alright," said Kanafa, getting up, "I recommend you all get some sleep now. You'll need it. And enjoy! You've got front row seats, and you should all be quite safe here. I know quite a few animals who would give anything to be in your position," he finished off. Nala raised her paw. Kanafa saw her and chuckled. "Oh no, now you Nala," he said, walking over to her, "now I know you'll love this job," he said, leading her back across the track.
"Rakusa!" exclaimed Zazu, flying down to greet him. He was okay flying now, it was finally starting to warm up a bit. "Sire," he said as he landed, "you are the first competitor to have arrived." He bowed to show his appreciation towards this lion who was soon going to be risking life and limb.
"Thank you," replied Rakusa, responding to his bow, "I'm afraid Juni is not here yet though, she wants to just sleep in a little longer."
"Oh, I am sure," replied Zazu. "How many has she been in?"
"She's been in the last six," said Rakusa, "we're all very proud of her. She won her second and third times out."
"So I've heard," replied Zazu. "How many have you been in?"
"This is my second. I did it two years ago and decided that I'll do it again today."
"What about last year?"
"Tough times," replied Rakusa, not really wanting to go into detail.
"Oh," replied Zazu, deciding also that this was a good place to end the conversation, "okay, well, the track is just over there, to your left, between those two hills. You should know where to go from there," he ended.
"Thank you," said Rakusa, "bye . . .?"
"Zazu."
"Zazu. Have fun, you're doing a good job," said Rakusa before walking off with the rest of his pride. Zazu was quite chuffed. It wasn't often that anyone congratulated him on his good works. He spread out his wings and then took off again, with newfound confidence.
"I tell ya Pumbaa, this stinks," said Timon, sitting down on a rock next to the small waterhole, bored out of his skull.
"Too true," replied Pumbaa, also just lying down on the ground. There were no bugs around; just a ton of rainberries soaking in the waterhole.
"What are you guys doing?"
The question slightly startled the two, who snapped their necks to the left to see who had just questioned them. It was Kanafa the cheetah walking up.
"I thought we didn't have to start bringing the rainberries until . . ." Timon began, but he was interrupted.
"No, you don't, but not all the audience members like their rainberries with seeds in them." He smiled, and then turned back around and began to walk off. "I'll come back when it's time for you to start bringing them," he finished off.
Timon and Pumbaa watched him go off. They were also trying to make sense of what he had just said.
Timon grinned.
There was more than just one wave of lions entering the Pridelands now. There were many waves, and they were more than just lions. Ostriches, cheetahs, leopards, and even some rhinos were making their way towards the track for the Siku Choka. The sun was really high now, and so was Zazu. He had to fly high so that he could signal out the lions from the other animals better than what he could from the ground. He couldn't spot any lions though right now, apart from those who were Pridelanders who were out in the distance trying to rally some herds towards the infield. Within all the masses though, Zazu could make out a solitary, dark lioness making her way towards the track. Since there were no other prides approaching, Zazu decided it was best to go down and see what this lioness wanted.
"Good morning, Madam," he said, landing and bowing down right in front of her.
The brown-backed, dark yellow-bellied lioness looked down at him in disgust. "Hello," she said, before walking on, obviously wanting to mind her own business.
Zazu was disgusted with her too. Who was she to think that she could just pass on by him like that? She had no sense of respect! He spread his wings out and fluttered on until he was flying right next to her face. "Excuse me Madam," he asked, trying to contain his anger whilst his wings brushed against her bent and twisted whiskers, "I need to know if you're a competitor? Are you with a pride?" he asked, trying to keep up with her.
"Yes to your first question; no to your second," she answered, "my pride does not appreciate the job I do," she added.
"Ah, well I'm sorry to hear that," replied Zazu, though he realistically didn't feel any sympathy for her. "What is your name?" he asked.
"Wamariri."
Zazu gulped. He'd heard of this lioness. He knew she spelt nothing but trouble. "Well Wamariri, I trust you know where you're going . . ." he said, before he flew back up, without another word.
Wamariri just continued to walk on, as if nothing had ever happened.
Pumbaa grunted as he maneuvered himself behind a tree. He held three soft rainberries in his left paw as he leaned against the bark. He peaked his head around to the right, where the rainberry-filled waterhole was now visible to him. However, Timon: wasn't.
"Hi Pumbaa." He suddenly heard the high-pitched welcoming come from right in front of him. Pumbaa swung his head back around. There he was, with five rainberries ready to launch.
Timon threw them all down on the ground, and then got his arm and slammed it down on the five rainberries, sending their seeds all towards the cowering warthog by the tree. Pumbaa ducked, and they all missed him. He and Timon both watched as the five seeds flew by the tree and off into the distance. Pumbaa turned back, with a smug look on his face.
"AAaarrgghh!!" screamed Timon, as he hurried his way around the outside of Pumbaa in a giant circle. The first seed missed him by a step. The second by a hair. But Pumbaa took his time whilst setting up his third shot, and just as Timon was about to become safe from running back the other side of the tree, Pumbaa fired. Timon was hit square-on on the thighs, was sent sailing up through the air, and then landed down with a magnificent splash in the shallow waterhole.
Timon spat out some water, as Pumbaa approached him, grinning from ear-to-ear.
"Alright, alright, you won," admitted Timon in defeat. "Throw the rainberries in here," he said, and Pumbaa chucked the seedless, yellow fruits into the water.
Timon hurried to get out from the surrounding, slimy, yellow balls.
"Yuck," Timon said, as he got out, "I feel all slimy. This is going to take ages to get rid of!"
"You should have thought about that before you decided to lose," said Pumbaa.
Timon glared at him.
"Sorry," said Pumbaa, looking back down at the ground.
"Hey guys," called Kanafa from several paces away, "you might want to start bringing those now. It's getting busy down there."
Indeed, it was starting to get rather hot. If it wasn't for the sliminess, Timon would have found himself feeling quite refreshed.
"Yes, sire," he replied, saluting. Kanafa turned around and began to walk back to the track.
"Alright Pumbaa, you grab a handful of the seedless ones, I'll grab a handful of the ones with seeds in them."
"But Timon, I don't have hands – I only have these hooves," replied Pumbaa, concerned.
"Pumbaa," said Timon, sighing, "remember how you got the rainberries here in the first place?" he asked.
"Oh yeah," replied Pumbaa, feeling slightly stupid. He walked up to a small shrub next to the waterhole and pulled out one of Rafiki's smaller tortoise shells.
"Now you and I are going to fill this tortoise shell up with these soft rainberries. If I only put the ones with seeds in and you only put seedless ones in, we should end up with an equal amount," explained Timon.
"Oh . . . I see," replied Pumbaa.
"Now come on," said Timon, picking up some rainberries and then placing all but one of them in the tortoise shell.
Pumbaa bent down to grab some seedless ones.
"OW!" he yelled.
Timon fell to ground in a fit of laughter. "Hahaha, ah – Pumbaa! You didn't expect that, did you?" he asked, getting back up.
"Hmph," Pumbaa replied, before picking one up with a seed in it and aiming and shooting at Timon. Timon moved to the side.
"Alright, let's end this here," he said as he watched the rainberry seed fly off. "Come on Pumbaa, we've got a job to do."
It was starting to get really busy around the track now. Antelope, zebra, and even a couple of buffalo had already been brought to the infield. Nala and another lioness, a Siku Choka volunteer who had been appointed by Bwana Zungumza, were watching on with curiosity as they filled the infield with the prey. A couple of competitors had already gone into the infield: none of which Nala knew however.
"Why are they only bringing antelope, zebra, and buffalo?" wondered the other lioness aloud. She had not been to a Siku Choka before.
"Because," replied Nala, "there can only be three preys on the track at the same time, so they try to keep it fair. At the start, there's just one. Then once a certain amount of time has passed without a catch, they let out a second one. When a certain amount of time passes without one of the two prey out being caught and killed, they let out a third, and then it doesn't go any higher or lower than that from then on."
"So when one is caught, they let another out?"
"That's correct."
"How will they know when it's time to let out a second or a third?"
"We have a timekeeper. There's a certain distance that, when the shadow of his stick travels without a catch, that's when they'll know to let an extra out."
"So they've all got it pretty well worked out then?"
"Oh yeah," replied Nala, "isn't it fascinating?" she asked, looking the other lioness in the eye.
The other lioness didn't really feel that that was the best word to describe it, but she just nodded anyways.
"Excuse me?" came a male's voice from behind them.
The two lionesses turned around. Nala gasped.
"Guvu?" she asked.
"Yes Ma'am," the lion replied.
"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Nala. "Guvu, I am a huge fan. It would be a wonder if you could win today. Just think, your third consecutive victory taking place right here in the Pridelands . . . !"
"Nala," said the other lioness calmly.
Nala looked down. Guvu had his paw place in his paw print. Nala looked up. He was smiling.
Nala rolled her eyes. "Go on," she said, signaling him to go on by, "and good luck."
"Thank you," replied Guvu, "always nice to meet a fan."
Nala blushed as she watched the lion walk on by. She almost felt as if he dwarfed her. He wasn't a giant, but he was well built: rigid. His colors were much the same as Simba's, although he was a bit darker, but not by much. Before Nala could spend anymore time admiring him though, a fairly familiar voice came from behind her.
"Nala," it said.
Nala and the other lioness turned around.
"Oh, hi Mom," she said.
"Hi," replied Sarafina, "see you got yourself involved pretty well."
Nala smiled. "Yeah, don't worry though; I'll be with you guys to watch the actual event."
"Mm," replied Sarafina. She sighed. "Nala, do you remember what I said the day we met Juni?"
Nala tried to reflect on it, but she couldn't remember. She shook her head 'no.'
Sarafina sighed again. "I do. I promised myself, that if ever the Siku Choka came to the Pridelands, I would be in it."
"Oh," replied Nala. Her mother looked painfully upset. She was looking down at the ground with her eyes half closed, not smiling. "Well, you know Mom, everyone breaks promises sometimes. Maybe it will come here next year?" she asked.
The lioness next to Nala watched the scene unfold, thoroughly confused. "Isn't there a nyimbas in this field today?" she asked. "You know, a lioness from the Pridelands, where the competition is being held?"
Nala looked at her. "Not that I've heard," she replied.
"Yes there is," said Sarafina, still looking down at the ground, saddened. Although, there was a hint of a lighter tone in her voice . . . "Nala," she addressed.
"Yes Mom?" asked Nala, butterflies starting to build in her stomach. She realized: something was happening . . .
Sarafina smiled. "I don't break promises." She slammed her paw down into her paw print. She met her daughter's gaze. Sarafina was beaming. Nala was shocked. "Let me through Nala."