(A/N: Enjoy this long chapter! The one review to the last chapter came after I'd already made the decision to say bye-bye to another competitor this chapter. However, this chapter mainly focueses around the existance of a particular buffalo.)
In an effort to catch up with the rest of the competition, Juni was beginning to try and ambush prey before they ever got to her, thus then she could set herself up for whatever came up next. Figuring that an antelope was not a dangerous creature, she decided to take full advantage of this strategy on one that was making its way towards her. If anything went wrong…it was just an antelope, and thus she would most likely emerge uninjured.
The antelope was walking along rather cautiously, as it continuingly swung its head from its left side where all the track workers were just wandering around, to the right side where all the spectators were all walking up or down the hills…depending on whether they had already seen the deceased Uku or not. He had no idea who it would be who would go after him…or even if anyone would…but then he swung his head back to the left, but it was something in front of him that caught his eye: a lioness. The antelope stopped. Juni realized that it wasn't going any further right now, and so she decided to just keep on walking until she was on the inside of the track. Hopefully the antelope would just assume she was just passing on by, and then he would begin to walk on by the outside of her. Indeed, that is what happened. Once he was alongside, Juni turned around and began to run after him…before he could get away. Unfortunately, since Juni was now on the inside of the antelope, the antelope was running towards the outside of the track…towards the sleeping Ema.
Realizing that he was about to run into another lioness, the antelope made a sharp turn to the left and began to run into the corner. Juni was unable to copy the sharpness of the antelope's turn though, and blindly she ran into Ema and tripped over her, waking the other lioness from her sleep.
Ema shook her head and looked around, to see if an accident had just happened. She could see Juni lying on the ground and an antelope running off, but she found it a bit strange that that was it. Juni got up, and thus Ema followed her lead.
"Was it you who just ran into me?" asked Ema, rather irritated.
"Yeah, sorry about that," Juni replied. "I was trying a new strategy."
"Well I'll be the first one to say that that one didn't work."
"I would agree. Think you can get back to sleep?"
Before Ema could answer, however, the skies above them began to blue up. Both lionesses looked towards the East: the sun was beginning to rise.
Ema yawned. "Nope, guess I should at least begin walking." She turned back towards Juni. "Watch where you're going next time though, okay Juni?"
"Sure Ema," replied the other lioness. Ema began to walk off, but Juni began to run. If Juni did, after seven consecutive years, decide to retire next year, Ema was one character she was definitely not going to miss.
"Everyone doing alright?" asked Kanafa, as he came to check up on the scorekeepers.
"Yes," replied a hippo that had volunteered to help out all of the, formerly sixteen, now just twelve, scorekeepers. "Meerkat, did you get that ten points for Nakshi?" he asked, as the lioness in mention had just brought a buffalo down on the front stretch.
"Yeah…" replied the meerkat, "…one hundred and forty-three, plus ten, and she just completed a lap, plus eleven, is one hundred and sixty-four?"
"No, you just add eleven, not ten and then eleven…" said a lioness from beside him.
"Ah, yes, so one fifty four?"
"That's correct."
"Like I said," said the hippo again, to Kanafa, "we all know what we're doing." He turned his attention back towards two of the sleeping cheetahs. "Hey, someone wake those two up. Lenny and Anzi just got up."
Kanafa looked over at the backstretch where he could indeed see the lion and lioness walking and talking together down the straight. "It's to the end now," he commented. "Good luck guys, we're all counting on you. Points are what these final hours are all about."
"That's so upsetting," said Nala, as Simba and the other Pridelanders around her had just finished explaining what had happened with Uku to Timon and Pumbaa, who had just returned from their latest, and final, trek to fetch rainberries.
"I don't think she would've wanted to have gone any other way," replied Simba. He looked over towards the turn on the far right. "Your mom just got that antelope," he said, trying to cheer Nala up.
"I thought she would," replied Nala, rather emotionlessly.
"Ooh…look at this!" exclaimed Simba, still trying. "Bahati charging the zebra…Ema ambushing, who'll get it?"
"Bahati, I should hope," replied Nala, watching.
"And…you were right!" exclaimed Simba, as Ema got to the zebra first, grabbed it's rear flank and made it stumble, but was quickly denied of ten points as Bahati jumped up onto the creature's back and brought it down to the ground.
Nala finally smiled now. "I really think Bahati's a threat to win," she said.
"Isn't Ema too?"
"Hmm…maybe. I really don't want her too."
"Is she as bad as Wamariri?"
Nala laughed. "No…nobody is as bad as Wamariri. Honestly, I think in real life that Ema would be a nice girl to know. It's just that her competitive side really gets to her when the heat gets up. She's too much of a sore loser."
"Well isn't that a good thing?" asked Simba. "I mean…if you're going to win the Siku Choka…I should imagine you would have to be competitive."
Nala sighed. "True. I'm not saying she's a bad lion though, Simba. I'm just saying that I just don't like her."
Before anything more could be said, Zazu came flying down from above them.
"Been reporting scores, Zazu?" asked Simba.
"Yes sire, just doing my best to help out. Also helps me out, I'm much more on top of everyone's scores. And before you all ask, Guvu leads with 186, and I am delighted to say that Sarafina is closing in with 173."
Nala looked over towards the far right turn, where her mom had taken to walking in order to complete another lap.
"I just hope she doesn't get hurt too bad," said Nala, "I mean, if she was okay I would expect her to be walking faster than that."
"Maybe she's just relaxing," replied Simba. "Getting her breath back," he added reassuringly, placing his paw on hers.
Nala upturned her paw and the two interlocked toes and held onto each other tightly. "Let's hope so," replied Nala.
"Worst case scenario, Madam…she loses," chimed in Zazu. "Juni has 112, Rakusa has 111, and Nakshi has 154, they're all our personal favorites, right? Backup plans?"
Nala glanced at Simba.
"Well Nakshi's a…I guess I'm a…Tumaini?" asked Simba.
"Tumaini is good!" Pumbaa interjected. "I think a win for her would mean more to her than anybody else."
"I disagree," replied Rafiki.
"Who was your favorite again, Rafiki?" asked Simba.
"Uku, which is why I need a new second-best. I go with Winda! A win for her would mean more to her dan anyone else."
Simba took what everyone had just said to heart, and then said: "I think I'll stick with Tumaini."
Nala chuckled. "Simba, I really don't care if you like Nakshi. She's good, she plays well, and her king's death really seems to have gotten to her. If you want to be a Nakshi fan, then b…"
"I'm a Nakshi fan."
"Then you might not want to look to your right," said Timon, joining in the conversation.
The pride looked to the right and gasped. Nakshi had gone for another buffalo, but apparently had made a mistake on the landing. The good news was that she had all of her claws clenched in tightly into the skin of the buffalo…the bad news was that she was hanging on for dear life, as she hung onto the side of the buffalo. Her prey had now taken off into a run, and when she looked left…she saw sky, when she looked right…she saw ground.
This is bad, this is very, very bad thought Nakshi to herself.
Simba and Nala both tightened their grip where they held each other's paws.
Dropping off and just accepting the fact that she was going to hit the ground hard was the best thing that Nakshi could do for herself…but even if someone was next to her to tell her that, it was still not an easy thing to do. For now, Nakshi had no idea what to do except for to hang on tight and pray for a miracle. Further on down the straight, it came.
Ema ran across the track and was able to jump up over Nakshi and onto the back of the buffalo. Her body weight was enough for the buffalo to stumble, but Nakshi's presence meant that she was unable to find a comfortable position on the creature's back, and thus she wasn't able to reach its neck and kill it.
"This is as slow as I can get him to go, jump off now!" shouted Ema, back down at Nakshi.
Nakshi looked up at Ema and then back down at the ground. She could tell that they were moving along much slower than before. Without too much hesitation, Nakshi retracted her claws and slammed down onto the ground. Ema had been using her as a foothold, and thus when Nakshi fell, she did too. The buffalo ran off into the turn.
A lot of cheering could be heard from the front stretch as Nakshi and Ema now both lied on the ground, which had thankfully softened up a bit thanks to the coolness of the night.
"You alright?" asked Ema, as she had gotten up and now made her way over to Nakshi.
"Ema…" said a rather stunned Nakshi, looking up at her from the ground, "…th—thank you…so much…" she stuttered. "I really thought I was on my own."
Ema shook her head. "Don't mention it," she replied, "please."
"Sure thing," replied Nakshi. "I owe you one, though."
Ema shrugged. "It was nothing," she replied. She walked away.
"I guess we cheered a little too much," said Simba. "Wamariri's getting up."
"And Winda," added Nala.
"And Rakusa!" exclaimed Zazu.
"No more sleep now, I take it?" asked Timon, as the sun climbed ever further up into the sky.
Nala shook her head. "No more now," she confirmed.
"Just Tumaini and Guvu left asleep," Simba summed up.
"Tumaini's a bit behind," commented Zazu, "she should really get up."
"She doesn't have her pride here to wake her," Pumbaa added as a response.
"I'm sure it won't be too bad," said Nala, "there'll still be time."
A cheer from the hill on the far left of the track emerged.
"The Savannahland Pride," said Simba. "They must be cheering Anzi on…she and Lenny have just begun running."
"Now those two are far behind in points," said Zazu.
Timon chuckled. "No surprise there."
"Is that Juni behind them?" asked Nala.
"I think so," replied Simba. "She's probably not as energetic as them right now though."
Nala groaned. "I'm afraid you're right."
Rakusa brought a zebra down and ten points to go with it. Wamariri ran on by him and began to chase off after an antelope. Ema was still after the buffalo that she had saved Nakshi from. Nakshi, meanwhile, was waiting in ambush for the antelope that Wamariri was after.
Winda ambushed and brought down a zebra, and as a result Anzi slowed down as she, Lenny and Juni ran out onto the front stretch. Lenny ran on by the track entrance for the prey without realizing that a new zebra was being released, and thus Anzi was able to bring it down as she beat Juni to it. That meant though that another zebra was now released, but Anzi was still checking that the other one was dead and Juni was still not close enough, thus the new zebra was able to break off safely into a run.
Nakshi was able to beat Wamariri to the antelope, and thus added ten points to her score. The newly released antelope walked out onto the track and, thanks to the sun making its way up ever higher helping the antelope's visual ability, he caught sight of Anzi getting back up…and ran off.
Ema was still charging after the buffalo that she had ridden on before. As they made their way out onto the backstretch, Ema was now finally close enough in order to take a shot at it. She jumped up onto the creature's back and grabbed hold of its sides. She now realized why Nakshi had been struggling. This buffalo was rather tubby for its size. It was difficult for Ema to properly secure herself on its back. She slipped backwards and groaned. She wouldn't be getting ten points from this one. She let one of her paws fall out from the creature's sides, but was surprised to find that she wasn't slipping back as much anymore.
She looked downwards…and gulped. She now knew why. The creature was slowing…and in fact it was now stopping. He was about to buck. Ema had already let go of the creature though, it was too late to take advantage of this scenario…she just needed to escape! That was the last thing she would ever tell herself. Now virtually standing on the ground, the next thing she saw was a black hoof aiming for her face…and then, just blackness.
Sarafina gulped. She saw the whole thing. Until now, she couldn't remember what had knocked her out earlier, but now she did. She too, had been hit right in the face by a bucking animal. It had knocked her out so much that she couldn't remember her score, what time of day it was, how she had ended up on the floor, and even a couple of the competitors names had been erased from her mind. Ema would be lucky if her injuries weren't any worse. Sarafina ran up to her.
"Ema, Ema, are you okay?" she asked, trying to wake her up by shaking her. The lioness didn't stir. Sarafina lifted her paw and placed it on her neck. As every second passed without a pulse, Sarafina just got whiter and whiter.
"What's the verdict, Ma'am?" asked a cheetah from the infield.
Sarafina knew she had to respond, but she couldn't help but hesitate before muttering the words: "She's dead."
The sound of someone running suddenly came up from behind Sarafina. The lioness turned around, and saw Wamariri slowing down as she arrived at the scene.
"So is she dead?" Wamariri asked.
Sarafina nodded sadly.
"That's a shame," replied Wamariri, "she was one of the decent ones."
"That's not much of a complement coming from you," replied Sarafina without thinking.
Wamariri glared at her. "Well I'll wish you a good day too," she replied, before walking back on by them.
"Ema," came a new voice from behind Sarafina. She turned back around to see what it was.
"Nakshi?" asked Sarafina. She'd never been able to talk to the winner of the twenty-second running of the Siku Choka, a victory that Sarafina had watched and admired, before, but common sense told Sarafina that that was the last thing on Nakshi's mind right now.
"Is she dead?" asked Nakshi, as she too put her paw on Ema's neck.
"I'm afraid so," replied Sarafina.
Nakshi shook her head. "She saved my life."
Sarafina hesitated before saying what she really wanted to say. She really shouldn't say it. This was not the right place and time. She really shouldn't…ah, to heck with it: "She took a few, too."
Nakshi looked up at her, frowning. Sarafina couldn't tell whether Nakshi's frown was out of confusion or disapproval…but she was pretty sure it was disapproval.
"I mean…I've watched the last several Siku Chokas, including both that Ema was in, and it just seemed to me that she played it really risky sometimes. Not to mention those times when she hypnotized the depressed competitors so that they would fall asleep long enough that they would always get hit by someone getting caught in a hunting accident, which I believe even happened to Anzi today. Fortunately, she's still alive."
Nakshi frowned even more. "Are you a conspiracy theorist?" she asked.
"Not exactly," replied Sarafina, "I guess I really never knew Ema much as a lioness though, just a competitor. If she saved your life then she saved your life, I can't deny that."
Nakshi sighed and got back up to her feet. "Come to think of it, I do agree with you that she played it risky a couple of times. I didn't know about the whole hypnotizing thing though."
The lionesses' conversation was interrupted just then, however, as Rakusa, Lenny, and Anzi were all charging down a zebra into the turn where Sarafina and Nakshi stood. As the pack of lions got ever closer, so did the roaring cheer from the spectators.
Nakshi smiled. "Come on, we're missing out," she said, leading Sarafina over towards the outside of the track.
"Wow, there's action going on everywhere, all of a sudden," said Simba, as Bahati brought an antelope down right in front of them. He looked over at the far side of the track. "Should someone tell Wamariri that neither Nakshi nor Ema were able to bring down that buffalo?" he asked Nala.
Nala looked in Wamariri's direction too. "I'm not in a hurry to do it," was her reply.
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news…" began Zazu, "…but it looks like Bwana Zungumza wants you to see him."
Simba and Nala both snapped their attention to the infield. Neither of them smiled. They knew what this meant.
"Ema," they both said together.
What is it that makes that male lion run so fast?
Rakusa could not work it out. Not only was Lenny outrunning him, but he was also outrunning Anzi! The pack had not even made it out onto the backstretch when Lenny was able to bring the zebra down to the ground, dead.
The Majani pride was going crazy on the backstretch. Almost instantaneously they had seen both of the competitors from their pride score ten points.
"And Bahati's lined up in ambush for another antelope!" exclaimed one of the Majani lionesses to another.
Bahati ran out of his ambush in an attempt to bring the antelope down, but he made too much noise. The antelope began to run. Figuring she would be faster than the male lion, Juni left her ambushing post too, and so did Winda.
Winda's decision to run meant that the race didn't even last up until the first turn. Ten points went to her.
"Is that Sarafina?" asked Timon, peering over the track.
"Where, Timon?" asked Pumbaa back.
"In that pack over there. A whole bunch of lions are running together."
"Eh…yeah…I think so. I think that's her behind Nakshi and Anzi, and Rakusa and Lenny are behind her, but Lenny doesn't have a thick mane but yet he has strong muscles, so he should start catching the rest up."
Timon, Zazu, and Rafiki all stared at Pumbaa, dumbfounded.
"How do you know all this?" asked Timon.
"How can you see all this?" asked Zazu.
"How do you remember all dis?" asked Rafiki.
Pumbaa shrugged. "It was just a guess."
"Sure is one large pack, then," said Zazu, looking back over at the backstretch. "But they're all good lions. It will be intriguing when they come out onto the front stretch. How is Wamariri doing with that buffalo?"
Out of the second turn and onto the front stretch came a buffalo with Wamariri behind it. The buffalo had now been running for a whole lap after first being chased by Nakshi, and then Ema, and now this new lioness, he was beginning to tire out. Thus, Wamariri was easily able to get up behind him, launch herself on top of him, and then attempt to grab onto his sides. Unlike Ema, Wamariri had been able to tell that this buffalo was rather wide, and thus she was prepared for what was in store. That did not, however, mean she wouldn't slip back. She did, and the buffalo let out a cry in pain as Wamariri's claws scraped down the creature's sides. Not wanting to upset the buffalo any further and risk being bucked off, Wamariri realized that this buffalo was just not worth it. She neatly slid off of its back end and let the creature run off into the distance, for someone else to challenge.
Bahati groaned as he watched Winda run across the track from her ambushing point, and take down a zebra. By being further on down the front stretch than what Winda was, Winda was always going to be able to get to the prey before he was. The rules of the game said he couldn't go backwards around the track, so until Winda went by him, there was nothing he could do to stop her from scoring points.
Juni was sitting practically next to Bahati, also waiting in ambush.
"Who is that?" she asked, in response to Bahati's groan.
"Winda. I think she's doing well."
"You mean in points?"
"Yeah."
It was now Juni's turn to groan. "She's got all the prey coming down the front stretch to her. No one's between them and her."
Bahati sighed. "Guess we've just got to hope she misses."
Bahati's hopes were quickly realized. An antelope was the next piece of prey to make its way by Winda, and he proved to be fast enough to run by the lioness before she could even get close to him. Bahati took advantage and brought it on down from his ambushing point. The newly released zebra, meanwhile, had never even made it down to Winda, as Wamariri had been able to hunt it down and kill it before then.
Wamariri soon realized that the next zebra would not be as easy, however, as Anzi, Nakshi, Sarafina, Lenny and Rakusa were all coming running out of the final turn. The new antelope refused to walk out onto the track as the lions ran on by. Rakusa, noticing this, dropped out of the pack and decided to hide on the side of the track, so that the antelope would now feel a false sense of security once the other four had ran on by. It worked, and Rakusa was able to get ten points with the antelope.
Wamariri joined the pack of four and made it five. They were all after a very unfortunate zebra. Meanwhile, the buffalo on track was making its way by Winda.
Winda was very reluctant to go after this buffalo, especially as it was a buffalo that had killed her sister earlier. However, points didn't come to the Siku Choka competitors through nothing. Winda had promised her sister that she would make her death up to her, that she would win the Siku Choka so that everyone knew how great of a sister, competitor and tutor Shairi had been. All she needed to do was remember her sister's advice, and this buffalo should come down without any problems. Winda began to follow the buffalo.
"Excuse me."
"Wha—?" Timon, and the others, were caught off guard as a gopher riding on top of a hippo had just walked over to where the Pridelanders were sitting.
"Oh, no, no, no, this just won't do at all," said the gopher, jumping down off of the hippo and forcing Timon's mouth open with his hands. "Young meerkat, you've got a lot of years left ahead of you," he continued, letting go of Timon's jaw, "but it is my guess that, like all creatures, you love to eat!"
"I sure do!" replied Timon, now excited about what this gopher had to offer.
"Ooh! Ooh! I do too!" chimed in Pumbaa.
"Now I am sure that if you love to eat, you would hate to spend the rest of your life knowing that all you could eat…was soup…" added the gopher dreadfully, holding out a smelly bowl of red-colored bug stew as he did so.
"Eww—!" replied Timon and Pumbaa together, both taking a step back from the gopher.
"But never fear!" exclaimed the gopher, "for I've got a solution! You see meerkat…and you too, chubby fella…if you two continue to consume creatures as you do now without any protection, you will soon find yourselves without any teeth! And…no teeth means…all soup!" he exclaimed, holding out the bowl of soup again.
Timon and Pumbaa screamed.
"But…if you start using Grand Gopher's…Grand Gopher is me, by the way…if you start using Grand Gopher's Glorious Tooth Floss, you will have the protection necessary to keep your teeth for the rest of your lives, and you will never have to drink…THE SOUP!" he bellowed, thrusting the bowl back in Timon and Pumbaa's faces again.
Timon and Pumbaa screamed again, but then Timon quickly recovered and held his paw out in front of him, replying: "We'll take twenty!"
The gopher held his paw out to shake Timon's, but before the gopher and meerkat could grasp each other's paws, Zazu flew down in between them and pushed them away from each other.
"I'm sorry to break up this meeting, kind sir, but I believe that King Simba requested that no sales representatives were to be working at this event."
"This product is endorsed by the Majibuluu pride and Rakusa."
"SOLD!" exclaimed Zazu, shaking the gopher's paw with his wing. "How much do we owe you?"
Anzi and Wamariri had now managed to get a bit of a lead on the rest of the lions in the pack that they were running with. Anzi was the closest to the zebra though, and, knowing that she needed to make her move soon so that the zebra would be hers and not Wamariri's, she jumped up on the creature's back.
Anzi wasn't on as securely as she would have liked, but she knew that the odds were in her favor. She was weighing the zebra down and she could easily reach its neck with her jaw. She went for the bite, but before she could do it she suddenly found herself knocked to the side and off of the zebra. It was an uncomfortable ride as she fell to the ground and rolled through the mud, but not a deadly one. She lifted her head to see if she could find out what had happened. Next to her stood Sarafina.
"What was all that about?" asked Anzi.
"Wamariri pushed you off," replied Sarafina.
"Intentionally?"
"One small, quick shove. She was on the zebra with you. If you'd both been riding it, you could have still had all the points to yourself. When that happens, it becomes a shoving match."
"So that's why everyone hates Wamariri?"
Sarafina laughed. "No…no. You saw the Siku Choka last year, didn't you?"
"Yeah."
"And don't you remember the final hours? Everyone pushes everyone off! If you're on the back of a creature with someone else and you're worried they might beat you to the points, just reach out and shove them off!"
"I don't remember that. I just thought that when the second lion jumped on, it jogged the first one off."
"Well, that happens sometimes too. Come on, get up, let's walk."
Anzi did so.
"It's true though," Sarafina continued, "you can't just shove anyone off at any time. If there's a pack of lions still running behind you or a buffalo or something like that behind you, then you've got to realize that shoving the other lion off may cause someone to get hurt. Also, antelope and zebra become small when you get on the backs of them, so you can shove anyone off, but if it's a buffalo you've got to realize that shoving your opponent off is going to cause them to have a hard fall. Also, try not to shove off anyone if they're too badly injured, it's just not humane."
"And that's why everyone hates Wamariri?" asked Anzi.
Sarafina nodded sadly. "Wamariri breaks all those rules. They're unwritten rules though. The Siku Choka was designed to be dangerous. If you feel like killing everyone else is what you have to do to win, then you can to that…to an extent. You're not allowed to kill them yourself. You know…I can't just say, Anzi, I don't like you, and bite your neck and kill you. That's murder. I can, however, say Anzi, I don't like you, and then shove you off a buffalo or kill a buffalo next to you so that it will fall on you when you're asleep. You can get away with that. It sucks. Nobody does it…except Wamariri."
Anzi grimaced. "What if that's not the case?" she asked. "What if…one of the new ones does it too?"
Sarafina paused and thought about it, before replying: "Well…I won't."
"Oh dear, she's waking up."
"What should we tell her?"
"I don't know! What do you think we should tell her?"
"Don't tell her anything! Stand in front of her so she can't see anything!"
"What's going on?"
"Oh…um…hi Queen Nyimbo."
"Shatik…why are standing right in front of me?"
"You know, that is an excellent question. And I have a great answer. See, you fell asleep, and when you fell asleep, Nakshi was almost killed on a buffalo, then Ema was killed by that buffalo, then Wamariri had to give up on that buffalo, and now…"
"Where's my daughter?"
"See…I was just about to get to that…but you interrupted me…and…"
"Shatik…where – is – my – Winda?"
"Winda's on the buffalo!" exclaimed an excited lioness from elsewhere on the hill.
Nyimbo's eyes grew wide and she shoved Shatik aside. "No Winda!" she shouted.
"You know, you should probably be quiet and let her concentrate," said Shatik rather hurriedly.
"No! I've already lost one of my daughters, I'm not losing the other. Winda! Winda!"
Fortunately for Winda, she was too busy focusing on how the heck she was actually supposed to kill this buffalo to have actually heard her mother calling. This buffalo was fat…there was no simpler way to explain it. Winda had already ruled out the possibility of giving up on this creature though, and since she had gotten this far, she had every intent of continuing on and trying to kill this creature. She looked down at the creature's back and found herself disgusted at what she saw. Scratches ran through the buffalo's skin and patches of dried blood were scattered across his back. Winda now knew that she wasn't the first who had tried to take this buffalo down. Apparently, everyone else had failed, and thus the simple method of reaching for the buffalo's neck in order to kill it seemed to rule itself out of Winda's mind. Instead, the lioness lifted one of her back legs up and ejected her claws, and then she shoved her leg back downwards and dug her claws into the buffalo as her leg slid down the side of his. The buffalo now found it too painful to run on that leg, and he stumbled. Winda hadn't prepared herself properly, and she now found herself hanging over the edge of the buffalo as her front paws were still on its back, but her back legs hovered above the ground, as she found herself pressed to the buffalo's right side. Now, the buffalo had stopped running, and he turned his head to the right, noticing that Winda was dangling off the side of him. Now that she had the chance, Winda swung herself back up onto the buffalo's back, and then she pulled herself forwards and delivered the fatal bite. The buffalo that had killed Ema collapsed to the ground, and was no more.
(A/N: Yay! The buffalo is dead! The buffalo is dead! The wicked buffalo of the Siku Choka is dead! And now children...always remember to floss! Reviews would be appreciated.)