(A/N: Enjoy this long, long, longlonglonglonglong chapter! Surely by the end of it, each of you will be able to find something here to review)
"What are you guys doing?" asked Simba, as he and Nala returned to their pride. Nala looked just as perplexed as Simba was.
"Flossing!" replied Zazu. "It's Grand Gopher's Glorious Tooth Floss…endorsed by Rakusa and the Majibuluu pride, so I guess that means Juni too."
"But Zazu…you don't have any teeth," commented Nala.
Zazu stopped moving the thin, hard weed around his beak and then he looked at Nala. "Oh yeah…I guess I forgot…"
"But we do!" exclaimed Timon, still flossing. "Teeth, teeth, so you can eat! If you floss, you'll get a tasty treat!" he sang.
"What did you trade the floss for?" asked Simba, not really sure if he wanted to know the answer or not.
"You know that small thicket on the west side of the Pridelands?" began Pumbaa.
"Yeah…" replied Simba, dreading what Pumbaa would say next.
"We gave them access to that thicket."
Simba let out a huge sigh of relief. "Good, so it's still ours?"
"You can trust us, your majesty," replied Zazu.
"I'm beginning to doubt that."
"I must say, sir, that you are back much earlier than anticipated."
"Yeah…Nala didn't want to hang around too long."
"Hey, hey…don't place all the blame on me. You didn't want to either."
"You're the one who never really liked Ema."
"Nor did you."
"Only because you told me not to."
"But you're…" but then Nala was cut off, as a cheer erupted from the stands and the group all turned around to see what had happened.
"That lion's got a buffalo down," said Timon. "Is it Guvu?" he asked.
"Yup," replied Nala, not too delighted about the fact.
Simba sighed. "You know how you said Guvu was going for three in a row?"
"Yeah," replied Nala. "And I was excited about it."
"You were."
Nala nodded. "That was before I knew about Mom."
The Pridelanders couldn't help but look at where Guvu had brought the buffalo down. 196. That was how many points Guvu now had. Bahati was second…twenty points behind, and the rest even further back. None of the Pridelanders could see a way in which Guvu was going to lose, so they all just stood there in silence. Despite their 'personal favorites,' what they were all really there for was to see Sarafina win…and it had all been looking so promising. Nobody, however, had expected that Guvu would have gotten up from his sleep this quickly. The group just looked on in silence, but, rather slowly and quietly at first, around them a chant was forming.
"What are they saying?" asked Timon.
"It sounds like…Phooey," replied Pumbaa.
"I thought it sounded like 'too many,' you know, Guvu having 'too many' points," said Zazu.
Simba and Nala smiled. Too many? Toomany? Tumaini? The one lioness still asleep? She didn't have a pride here to wake her, and to give her a helping hand, the entire audience was chanting her name, trying to wake the lioness up. The other Pridelanders soon worked it out too, and now everyone was chanting her name.
Lying on the dirt, the lioness perked her ears up and opened her eyes. Someone was calling her name. She looked around. Everyone was calling her name. She couldn't help but smile a little bit. She got up onto her feet to a loud round of applause. Every competitor was now up and awake. All of them would stay that way until the competition came to a close, or until they came to a close. Tumaini began to move off. The whole sun could be seen now, and in a few hours Rafiki would leave. When there was no shadow from the stick, he would give the signal to Bwana Zungumza, who would roar loudly three times. When his third roar ended, the scores would be final, and the winner of the Twenty-fifth running of the Siku Choka would be crowned.
If you were an antelope concerned by the fact that there were four lions running after you, then you'd better hope that you were in a bad dream. That was not the case for this one particular antelope that had ended up on the track at the Siku Choka. Lenny, Sarafina, Anzi, and Wamariri were all right on his hind legs. Anzi was closest…but she wasn't ready to make her move just yet. Sarafina was wearing out, and thus she was hanging back a bit too. In fact, it was Lenny who was able to get up onto the antelope first, as he jumped up onto its left side. Wamariri quickly followed, jumping up onto the antelope's right side.
"You again?" said Lenny. "You really don't like me, do you? I could have had this antelope to myself."
Wamariri rolled her eyes. Less chitter-chatter and more biting and killing was what she needed to do. Before she could reach the antelope's neck, however, she found herself destabilized, and, losing her balance, she fell off the side of the antelope.
"Anzi?" addressed Lenny, surprised to see that the friend he had made earlier had now taken the place of the enemy he had made earlier.
Anzi smiled. "It's a shoving match," she said, proud with how she had just been able to handle Wamariri. To emphasize that point though, she then lifted her paw up over the antelope and gave Lenny a shove.
Lenny almost fell off, but he didn't. He then looked back up at Anzi. "Oh, I get it!" he exclaimed, and then he prepared to give Anzi a shove back, but the lioness blocked him with her paw. Their game though was quickly interrupted, as Sarafina took advantage of the fact that two lions on top of one antelope equaled a very slow moving and easy-to-bring-down, antelope, and thus she jumped onto the back of the antelope, in between the other two lions, and killed the creature herself. The three lions all fell to the ground with the antelope.
Sarafina shook her head and looked over at Anzi, smiling. "Nice job with Wamariri, but shoving Lenny was unnecessary, you should have just killed him."
Lenny couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Kill me?"
"No, no, no, the antelope," replied Sarafina hurriedly, as she realized her mistake. She laughed. "Sorry, I guess I should…be more clear next time." She yawned as she stood back up. "Thanks for the points though."
Anzi watched Sarafina as she walked on. "I think she's tired."
"Aren't we all?" replied Lenny.
Guvu ambushed an antelope. Tumaini brought a zebra down and Rakusa got the buffalo. Three new pieces of prey were let out onto the track, and Guvu was the first in ambush.
"Would this be a good time to go to sleep?" asked Simba.
"No. Why?" responded Nala.
"Guvu's going to win it."
Nala shook her head. "Shut up," she said. Both of the lions smiled, knowing that Nala was just trying to deny the fact that things were looking really good for Guvu right now.
An antelope was the first piece of prey to make its way up to Guvu. Knowing that better opportunities still awaited him, Guvu decided not to waste his energy by chasing after this antelope, and he let it go on by. A buffalo was the next piece of prey to make its way up to Guvu. Buffalo were Guvu's specialty. Within seconds Guvu had accumulated ten more points. He hurried back to the outside of the track though, to see if he could get the zebra that was now coming. The zebra had sensed Guvu's presence though, and he began to run off before the lion could even think about going after him. However, Guvu was still the first lion in ambush, and right now he had a new buffalo coming his way.
"And the next lion in ambush is Rakusa," said Sarafina out loud.
Tumaini turned and looked at her. Sarafina looked back. "Are you talking to me?" Tumaini asked.
"Yeah," replied Sarafina cheerfully. "Who else?"
"I—I don't mean to be rude…but why?"
"Cos I like you, Tumaini…even if you did take ten points from me earlier by waiting in ambush by pretending to be injured, even after I helped you forget about your injured leg."
"Sarafina…look…girl…I like you too, but right now, we're in something called The Siku Choka, and I'm not really supposed to be your friend right now. I'm trying to win this thing."
Sarafina laughed. "Good luck with that."
Tumaini glared at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Guvu's going to win it," Sarafina replied.
Tumaini shook her head. "Beliefs like that are self-fulfilling. Give up if you want, Sarafina. It will just make it easier for me."
"Oh, Tumaini – I am not giving up."
"What are you doing then?"
"I'm asking you for a request."
"And that is?"
"Do you want to team up?"
Tumaini frowned. "How do you mean?"
"Right now, Tumaini, it looks as if Guvu's got this. If the rest of us all just work individually and compete with each other for the same three pieces of prey, Guvu's going to have an easy victory. But, if we begin to work together, perhaps we can have enough of a presence on the track that we can stop Guvu from scoring points."
Tumaini was considering every one of Sarafina's words. "I'm listening," she replied. "Why do you want to work with me, though?"
"Well we can add others in as we go along, but I figure that you're a good one to start with…I trust you."
"That's not very smart."
"Oh well, I'm sure it's worth a shot. You in?" Sarafina asked, holding out her paw for Tumaini to shake.
"Sure…" replied Tumaini, holding out her paw and shaking Sarafina's. Tumaini was a lot more reluctant to look into Sarafina's eyes than what Sarafina was hers. They both dropped their paws. "So…where do we begin?"
Rakusa got the antelope down. Zazu cheered. "That gives him one hundred and fifty-two points now."
"How much does Guvu have?" asked Simba.
"Two hundred and seventeen."
A new antelope was released out onto the track, and Winda led Nakshi as the two lionesses came out of the final turn and went after it.
"Winda is slightly ahead of Nakshi in points, I do believe," said Zazu.
"I can't believe she's doing that well," replied Nala. "Shairi must have been a better teacher than I thought."
"Why's Nakshi slowing down?" asked Simba. The rest of the Pridelanders looked down on the track at the lioness, all wondering the same thing. Their question was answered, however, as a cheer suddenly erupted from the crowd.
Timon groaned. "Guvu got another buffalo."
"So Nakshi's waiting for the new one!" exclaimed Simba.
"I believe you're right," replied Nala.
Sure enough, no sooner after the new buffalo stepped out on the track, he found his life cut short by the jaws of Nakshi. Ten points went to her.
Further on down the straight, Rakusa began to chase after the zebra on track. Wamariri joined in the chase, but Rakusa had already made his way up onto the zebra's back. This slowed the zebra down, and Wamariri was able to run alongside. Instead of shoving Rakusa off the zebra though, she shoved the zebra sideways, making him lose his footing and trip. Rakusa was on for an uncomfortable ride as the zebra stumbled and fell down to the ground, but the worst part for Rakusa was that the zebra was still alive. That was soon changed however, as Wamariri moved her jaw towards its neck and killed it. Ten points went to Wamariri. Further back on the front stretch, Winda got an antelope down, and ten points went to her.
"I think it would be best if we moved," said Sarafina.
"Funnily enough, I agree with you," replied Tumaini. "There's still three lions waiting in ambush before us, and right now we have three more lions making their way around the track, and so at this rate we're never going to get any prey."
"I believe you're right," replied Sarafina.
Tumaini gave her a serious look. "Are you sure this will work?" she asked, still rather doubtful about Sarafina's plans.
"I'm pretty certain. If we both promise to stick to the plan, I think we might have a chance."
From just a few yards away from the pair, Juni's ears perked up. If we both promise to stick to the plan, I think we might have a chance…what plan? She looked over at the other two competitors and smiled. She may have been getting old alright, but faces were something she definitely could always remember. Maybe her old 'biggest fan' would let her in on this plan?
"Do you think it would help if we invited someone else?" asked Tumaini.
"I'll help," replied Juni, in a voice loud enough for them both to hear.
Tumaini and Sarafina turned around to see who it was that had just responded to them.
"Who's that?" asked Tumaini.
Sarafina smiled. "Juni. I've always been her biggest fan."
"Then why didn't you invite her in the first place?"
"I guess I was…nervous?"
Tumaini smiled. "Come on, let her in on the plan. It'll work out best for all three of us."
"I really want to know what they're discussing," said Nala.
"I'm sure we'll find out later. Hey, look! Rakusa's walking over to them too. He's Juni's king. Maybe they're all teaming up for some reason."
Nala's eyes widened. "Teaming up – Simba, you're right! That's it! I bet they're going to do the ol' tic-tac-toe strategy."
Simba couldn't help but look at Nala, perplexed. Neither could any of the other Pridelanders around her. Nala had expected such a reaction.
"I'm assuming you guys want me to explain the tic-tac-toe strategy?"
"Please."
"Well basically, all four of them will run around the track until they are back on the front stretch, and then they will all be the first to line up in ambush. When one of them runs after a piece of prey, the other three will still be waiting in ambush. The lion that ran will move back out to the outside of the track and hope he's still one of the first lions in ambush, or he'll run around the track and join the group of lions again. Of course, each time they bring something down, a new one is released, and so they pretty much get control of all of the points for as long as each of the team members sits on the front stretch. If they really want to work as a team, they will make sure that nobody else gets in their way and they will not go running off away from the group unless they've gone to complete another lap. It seems a lot like what everyone else has been doing anyways, but the difference is that they are much more aware of the location of the other competitors and their teammates. The more they can get in their team, the better it will work for them."
Simba shook his head. "I'm not following you."
Nala sighed. "Well I tried my best. Hopefully it will make sense when they begin doing it."
"Hopefully."
"Why did Nakshi just let all three pieces of prey walk on by her?" asked Pumbaa, who had been watching the action on the track for most of the time that Simba and Nala had been talking.
"Because…" replied Nala, but then she was cut off as Nakshi took off, and the crowd began to cheer.
"Oh – wow!" exclaimed Simba, but even as loud as he shouted Nala had trouble hearing him. Everyone was cheering. Screw teamwork. When Nakshi had begun running, all three pieces of prey had begun to run. They ran by Guvu, who, for the first time in a long time, gave chase. They ran by Winda, who joined in too. They ran by Tumaini, Sarafina, Rakusa, Juni, Wamariri, Anzi, Lenny, and Bahati. Every single competitor left in the Siku Choka was in chase of these three pieces of prey, which were all fast. It was this fact alone that led for this being able to happen: none of these pieces of prey seemed catchable. A roar echoed around the four hills that surrounded the Siku Choka, and the ground began to rumble. It was by no means a dead heat between each of the competitors, but there was no clear cut winner either. Nakshi had been running out in front, but Winda had gotten out in front of her when she had joined in the chase. However, Winda was after the antelope, while Nakshi was after the buffalo. Lenny was after the buffalo too, and he began to edge out Nakshi as the pack had now made its way out onto the backstretch.
"Lenny! No!" came a voice from beside the lion. Lenny turned his head sideways to see his brother, Bahati, shaking his head.
"Right!" shouted Lenny back as he remembered. "No buffalos, got it!" and then he returned his attention to what was in front of him…and he went after the zebra.
Nakshi was beginning to tire out, and she began to slow up. Bahati, Guvu, and Anzi were able to get by her and they were now closest to the buffalo's hind legs.
"Guvu hasn't ran all day!" shouted Nala so that Simba could hear her. "He's got a lot of speed in him still!"
Simba nodded as a response.
Before Guvu, or any of the others, could get the buffalo though, Winda brought down the antelope.
This led to a parting of the pack as everyone had to either dodge left or right to avoid tripping over the fallen Winda and antelope. Unfortunately for Guvu, he was not able to avoid them, and he tripped over and fell onto the ground.
Unlike the rest of the crowd who let out an 'ooh!" the Pridelanders couldn't help but cheer even harder than what they had been before. Guvu would not be getting any more points this run!
"You alright?" asked Winda, getting up and checking on Guvu.
The male lion nodded and sat up. "Yeah," he replied, winded nonetheless.
Further on down the straight, the chase still continued.
Anzi had now run on by the buffalo, and she and Lenny were right on the zebra's back legs. Rakusa, like Nakshi, had begun to drop back, and now it was Bahati and Wamariri who had the strongest scent of buffalo filling their nostrils.
Timon laughed. "Look at that! An antelope all alone on the front stretch! I haven't seen that in a while."
Anzi got onto the zebra's back and began to bring it down to the ground. Lenny backed off and looked behind him to see if he could still get the buffalo. He knew that his brother had said 'no,' but what else could he go for right now?
The buffalo ran on by Lenny, and he was surprised to see that his brother was on the creature's back…as was Wamariri.
Go on brother, get it! thought Lenny. That lioness won't shove you off. I know. Anzi told me that Sarafina told her that two of the most important rules to shoving other competitors off were that you do not do it when a pack of lions behind you, and you do not do it to a lion on a buffalo, and you, my brother, have a pack of lions behind you and you're on a buffalo, and so Wamariri will not shove you…
Lenny gasped. "She just shoved my brother off!" Finally, after three-quarters of the Siku Choka had already been completed, something in Lenny's head finally clicked. It wasn't just that this lioness wasn't nice…she was evil! As Nakshi and Rakusa tripped over the fallen Bahati and rolled over until they came to a rest in the dirt, Wamariri was still continuing on the buffalo as if nothing had happened, and nobody could do anything about it.
Nobody…except for Lenny. He hadn't stopped running either. He was still on the buffalo's hind legs. He was angry. This lioness didn't deserve this buffalo…this buffalo belonged to his brother, but Bahati wouldn't be getting it now. He was still on the mud several hundred yards away. And so the closest substitute that Lenny could find for his brother, was himself. Lenny put on an extra sprint and got within pouncing distance for taking down the buffalo. Wamariri was still riding the creature, and slowing it down. Lenny jumped up on its back, but before he went for the bite, he shoved Wamariri off the edge of the buffalo.
It didn't work.
Wamariri snarled as she regained her footing and gave a much harder shove back at Lenny. The male lion fell off of the buffalo's back, but he was able to stay onto its side. He tried to pull himself back up, which would have been painful for the buffalo…if he hadn't already had to deal with the fact that another lion, Wamariri, was currently biting down on his neck. Lenny knew he wouldn't win another shoving match, and so, he pulled his back around onto the top of the buffalo and made it a kicking match. It only took one hard shot with his rear legs this time to successfully destabilize Wamariri and make her fall off of the buffalo.
Wamariri rolled over several times in the mud before coming to rest. Livid, she lifted her head up, only to see that Lenny had gotten the buffalo down onto the ground another fifty yards or so away. To add insult to injury, three new pieces of prey had just been released on the front stretch and as Juni, Sarafina, Tumaini, and Anzi ran on by her, Wamariri knew that none of them would be hers.
"Hey, you're okay, aren't you?" asked Rakusa, shaking Bahati by the shoulder.
Bahati nodded his head, but groaned as he did so. Movement was painful for him right now.
"Wamariri shoved you off the buffalo," said Nakshi, as she stood next to Rakusa. "Don't worry though, she didn't get it."
"It was that other lion you were talking to. He got it."
Bahati forgot about the pain for a moment. "Lenny?" he asked.
"Yeah, I think that was his name," said Nakshi. "I spoke to him earlier. He was the one who told me that Maneno…had…eh…gone."
Bahati opened an eye. "Oh, sorry Nakshi, didn't realize it was you."
Nakshi smiled. "I've got 176."
Bahati smiled too. "So have I."
Nakshi held out a paw. "Come on, you helped me up earlier."
Bahati reached out for it and let Nakshi pull him up.
"So we're all good?" asked Rakusa.
"Guess so," replied Nakshi. "And just in time. If we all run now we can beat Guvu and Winda. We can work as a team."
Rakusa checked back over his shoulder. Winda and Guvu were still behind them, from when Winda had caught the antelope and Guvu had tripped over her. "Sorry guys," replied Rakusa, "I've already got a team," and with that he ran off.
Bahati turned back to face Nakshi. "I'll work with you."
Nakshi smiled again. "I'm glad. Ready to get going? We can still beat Guvu."
"Yeah. Come on. Let's go!" and with that he and Nakshi took off.
"Sarafina!" addressed Tumaini as they ran side-by-side. "Should we go after the new prey, or should we wait in ambush?"
"Can we wait in ambush?" asked Juni, who was also running with them. "Rakusa's not with us."
Tumaini groaned. "I told you four was too much," she whispered to Sarafina.
"No, no, it's fine," whispered Sarafina back. "Yeah, we'll stop on the front stretch," she said back to Juni.
Just as she said that, Anzi ran by on the outside of the three lionesses, and began to charge down the new prey on the front stretch.
"She can't run too fast," said Sarafina. "The buffalo is the first piece of prey, and she won't go after that. She'll just start another charge around the track."
Tumaini smiled. "She's less of a threat to us, then."
"Why are you waiting for me?" asked Wamariri, as she continued to walk on through the corner, but found Lenny waiting for her. "Don't you get it? I don't like you. I don't want to talk to you."
"Well I want to talk to you," replied Lenny.
"I don't care!" shouted Wamariri back. "I'm not talking to you. The sky is blue, the grass is green, what other things do you want to learn today, you idiot?"
"No, I wanted to talk about my brother."
"Well la di da…it ain't happening," replied Wamariri, as she began to walk around the side of Lenny.
Lenny blocked her. "Fine…then just apologize."
"No! What am I even apologizing for?"
"Pushing my brother off of that buffalo!"
"Eh…excuse me…I think you just pushed me off of that buffalo."
"Only cos you did it to my brother."
"Well then there's your payback. Now excuse me," she said, as she tried to move around Lenny again.
Lenny blocked her again. "Apologize!"
Wamariri snarled. "I don't have to apologize," she whispered, "I'm not going to," she continued, "and you can't make me," she finished off, and with that she finally jumped back around to the other side of Lenny, and was able to continue on her way.
"Why is Guvu staying on the backstretch?" asked Simba, as Guvu stopped running and sat down on the outside of the track.
"Because he's too smart for his own good," replied Nala.
Simba chuckled. "How so?"
"Watch," replied Nala.
Anzi didn't want to go after the buffalo, but somehow she needed to get by the buffalo and up to the back of the zebra. To do that, she needed to get by the buffalo without startling him. She slowed down and began walking on the outside of the track.
In the audience, everyone was being quiet to help Anzi out. The lioness tried to be as light on her feet as possible. If she could just get by the buffalo, then she could begin charging after the zebra. Naturally, every piece of prey on the track was on edge anyways. It was impossible to not realize that a hundred thousand animals were surrounding you on the hills.
The nervous buffalo glanced left. All of the track workers were standing far back, so as to not startle the prey themselves: that would just be unfair to the competitors. He then glanced back right…and caught sight of Anzi.
They both froze and stopped walking. The buffalo was waiting for Anzi to make her move. Anzi was waiting for the buffalo to not make a move.
He wasn't.
Slowly, Anzi put a leg forwards and began to move on by the buffalo. The buffalo followed her with his unblinking eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, Anzi had finally made two paces away from the buffalo, and she began to move on again casually. So did the buffalo.
A huge sigh of relief came out from the Savannahland pride.
"If she can do that with the zebra, she can bring him down before he runs," said King Machi to the rest of the pride.
"Anzi's really fast though," replied one of the lioness's best friends, "that's her biggest advantage. I'm sure that even if she did startle the zebra, she could bring it down."
When Lenny had waited in the turn for Wamariri, Bahati and Nakshi had been able to catch up with him and tell him their plans. They were going to work as a team, but instead of the tic-tac-toe strategy, they were going to use the box and bundle strategy.
Basically, all three of them would go after the same piece of prey and jump on it together so that it would easily come down. If the prey was too fast, one of them would run out in front of it and "box" it in between the three of them. Since the "boxer" was obviously not going to be the one getting the points, they would take turns in being the boxer for their team.
Tumaini, Sarafina, and Juni finally made their way into their ambushing posts on the front stretch. Sarafina looked back over her shoulder.
Nala lifted her leg up and held out two claws, dragging them downwards in the air and then horizontally, as if drawing a tic-tac-toe grid.
Sarafina smiled and held her paw up, delivering the same gesture back to Nala.
"Siku Choka code?" asked Simba.
"Yeah, kinda," replied Nala.
"I still don't get Guvu's strategy."
Nala sighed. "All the lions are coming from behind on these pieces of prey. If they can't catch them, Guvu's in the first ambushing position…on the backstretch."
"Oohhh…" replied Simba. "Why didn't you just tell me that to begin with?"
"Because I was certain that somewhere under that thick mane that there was a big brain that could work it out for himself."
"You thought wrong."
"Apparently so."
"Can I ask you another question?"
"Sure."
"Why are all the birds flying off?"
Nala looked up. A whole flock of birds had just taken off from the infield and were flapping over the Pridelanders.
"That's a good question," replied Nala. She checked down next to her and found a stick. She picked it up and held it up in the air. A hornbill flew down next to her. "What's going on?" asked Nala.
"All the lions in the other prides are just waking up, and so we are all going to the other prides to give them a report on what has taken place so far."
"Oh," replied Nala, "well…um…just out of curiosity, would you mind?"
"No problem ma'am." The hornbill cleared his throat. "Guvu is currently leading the twenty-fifth running of the Siku Choka, which will end in just a few more hours. Sixteen lions started but only eleven are left alive. Zoea, Maneno, Shairi, Ema, and even the famed Uku are all now deceased. Uku was leading at the beginning, then Nakshi led, then Wamariri, and now Guvu's been leading since yesterday. Winda is in second trying to make up for her sister's death. Sarafina is the nyimbas, running in third. Bahati and Nakshi, the winner of the twenty-second Siku Choka, are tied for fourth, and then Wamariri is sixth. It is then Rakusa, then Tumaini, and over a hundred points down are Juni, Lenny, and Anzi."
"Okay, thanks," replied Nala, smiling as the hornbill finished and then flew off.
"Juni's over a hundred points down?" asked Simba.
Nala groaned as a response.
Wamariri came running down the front stretch and was able to bring the buffalo down to the ground. Anzi quietly approached the zebra from behind and got ten points by bringing the striped animal down.
"Our only hope is the antelope!" shouted Nakshi to Bahati as they ran. "I think he's too fast!"
"No he's not!" exclaimed Bahati back. "Lenny, go get your ten points!"
Lenny put on an extra sprint and was able to catch up with the antelope rather quickly. His mane was thin and so he was light, but, though weak for a male lion, he had slightly stronger muscles than the average lioness, and thus a lot of power without a lot of weight meant he was the fastest competitor on the track. There was no need for the box and bundle strategy when he could get the antelope himself. Lenny scored ten points.
"Dinnertime," said Tumaini to the others, smiling as she left her ambushing point. She swiftly made her way across the track and she was on the buffalo before he knew she was there. The buffalo put up a fight though, and by the time Tumaini had got the buffalo down to the ground, she had made her way on by Winda, who would now be able to ambush any prey before Tumaini could. If Tumaini was going to be a part of this team plan, she needed to run back around another lap. She did so.
Now the zebra made its way up to Sarafina and the team.
"My turn," said Sarafina, as she left her ambushing post. Zebra was, without a doubt, the easiest prey to take down, and thus Sarafina scored a quick and easy ten points, and then moved her way back over to the outside of the track, with Winda further on down the front stretch from her.
"Ah, I see," said Simba, "if they all work as a team, Winda won't be able to ambush anything."
"Exactly," replied Nala.
"And imagine if that was Guvu."
"It is Guvu," said Nala, smiling. "Mom, Juni, Tumaini and Rakusa have control of the entire track. Nobody else can score points right now."
Simba looked back over at the far end of the track. "I guess Guvu's caught onto it," he said. "He's leaving his ambushing spot."
Bahati and Nakshi caught up with Lenny. Lenny got up and they all looked backwards. Their faces fell. There were at least six lions waiting in ambush before any more of the prey could reach them.
"Well…that didn't work too well," admitted Bahati.
Nakshi looked at him. "What do we do now?"
Juni ambushed the antelope and moved back in line. Rakusa ambushed the zebra and moved back in line. Sarafina decided to let the buffalo pass, as did Winda. The buffalo became Wamariri's.
"Sarafina," addressed Juni.
"Yes?"
"That antelope looks fast. You might not want to go after him…you'll just end up running around another lap like Tumaini is now."
"But the zebra's Guvu's," replied Sarafina. Just as she finished saying that, Guvu finished his charge down the front stretch, and he managed to get onto the back of the zebra and pick up ten points as he brought it down, dead. "They'll start releasing new prey soon. This strategy won't work forever, you know that Juni. Each time we ambush a piece of prey we end up having to chase it a bit, and that just moves us farther away from the track entrance. Look at Guvu now, he's going to line up in ambush in front of us."
"We'd better go around and complete another lap then," replied Juni.
"But Guvu can only go after one piece of prey and then we'll most likely be back in control again," replied Sarafina.
"True."
"Let's stay here for now. It's working well so far."
Sarafina obeyed Juni and decided not to go after the antelope. Once the antelope had walked on by the team however, its life was cut short by the jaws of Winda.
A cheer from the hill on the far right side of the Pridelanders emerged.
"What's all that about?" wondered Simba allowed.
"Probably the Lionrock pride happy that Winda just scored points," replied Timon. "It was a rarity at the beginning of this event."
"But it's not a rarity anymore," replied Nala with a frown on her face. "Rafiki," she addressed, looking around for the mandrill. "Where did he go?"
"Who knows?" asked Simba.
"I'm right here," came a reply from above Simba's head, as Rafiki moved his head down into Simba's eyesight.
"You were on my back the whole time?" asked Simba.
"I didn't see him," replied Nala.
"What is it dat you want?" asked Rafiki, now jumping down off of Simba's back.
"Any reason why the Lionrock pride would be so excited?" asked Nala. "You're following Winda, aren't you?"
Rafiki cackled. "Of course I am! I picked de best!"
"She's leading?" asked Simba.
"Not yet," replied Rafiki, "but she just broke de two hundred point barrier. Guvu is de only other lion who's done dat."
"Oohhh…" replied Simba and Nala.
"She's closing in on Guvu then," commented Pumbaa.
Simba groaned as he looked back down at the track. "Maybe not," he replied, as Guvu ambushed the newly released buffalo and brought it down for ten points. "The success rate of these competitors is incredible."
"Well ultimately it becomes a lot easier than hunting. Because we bank the circuit on both sides the prey feel as if they're locked in, and there's the fact that all of our scents and sounds means that it's a lot harder for the prey to work out where the competitors are. And there's the fact that these are sixteen of the best hunters on the planet," explained Nala.
Simba looked back over at the left side of the track, where Lenny, Bahati, Nakshi and Tumaini were now all making their way through the final turn. "What are those guys playing at? I know Tumaini is running back around to join the team, but I don't get the strategy of the other three."
Nala shrugged. "You're not the only one," she replied.
Sarafina ambushed the zebra and lined back up behind Rakusa.
"Juni, if you go after that antelope, we're all going to have to complete another lap," said Rakusa to the lioness.
"I know," replied Juni, "but there's a pack of three lions just coming out of the final turn. They can line up in ambush before us now. I think we should all run."
Rakusa turned to face Sarafina. "Are you okay with that?" he asked her.
"Sure," replied Sarafina. "It makes sense to me. I don't think Tumaini will be too happy though."
"Bahati!" called Nakshi, as they ran with each other out of the final turn. "Do you know what I mean when I say tic-tac-toe?"
With all the unpredictability of the Siku Choka, it shouldn't have been much of a surprise to anyone when Juni missed the antelope. Another chase began.
Juni, Rakusa, and Sarafina all began to run together. Guvu decided to wait in ambush for the rest of the prey. Winda joined in the chase. The young lioness's speed and energy couldn't be matched by the other three, and thus Winda brought the antelope down.
"Keep running!" shouted Sarafina to the others.
"Remember, don't go for the prey!" commanded Nakshi to the two brothers next to her. "Just pull over to the side and wait in ambush. It will be worth it in the long run."
Tumaini came running out of the final turn. Now she needed to make a decision. She had three choices.
The first would be unpopular with the rest of the competition: line up in ambush in front of Lenny, Bahati, and Nakshi, who had all already taken their places, which would mean that, once again, she would scare the prey from walking out onto the track. The downside would be that, in the long run, the rest of the competitors may become hostile towards her.
The second was probably the one that would create the least resistance towards her, but it was the one that Tumaini disliked the most, and that was to line up in ambush behind Lenny, Bahati, and Nakshi. Once they had all gone running after their first piece of prey, Tumaini would be the first in ambush again.
The third would be unpopular with the rest of her team, and that was to just screw the teamwork and go ahead and run after the prey that was on the front stretch.
Tumaini groaned. Plan two was the best.
"Why aren't you going after the antelope, Nakshi?" asked Bahati.
"I won't be able to bring him down in time, it will just screw our whole strategy."
"But we just let all three pieces of prey walk right on by!"
"That's cos we weren't here in time. Look, when they get caught we'll have control over the whole track. But…" but then Nakshi was cut off as Tumaini ran up and took her place next to Lenny.
Tumaini smiled and looked over at Nakshi. "No, you can keep talking, I really want to know your strategy," she said, smirking.
"She's just one lioness, Nakshi," said Bahati, "as soon as she runs for something, we'll have control."
Nakshi didn't reply. Tumaini wasn't going to run for anything, and Nakshi knew it. She was just going to wait in her spot until the rest of her team came running back around, and then Tumaini's team would have control over the track, and not Nakshi's.
"Lenny," addressed Tumaini, "you kept trying to talk to me earlier. Well I'm not busy now, is there something you'd like to talk about?"
"Heh, Lenny's not going to fall for tha…"
"How long did it take you to get here from the Mimpaka pride?" asked Lenny.
"I left six days ago. Well…seven now. A couple of prides let me spend the night in their lands. All I had to do was tell them that I was in the Siku Choka and they couldn't get enough of me."
"Lenny, we really need to be focusing on…" Nakshi began, but then was cut off as Lenny asked another question.
"So how much of your pride came with you?"
"Two of my childhood friends, my aunt, and three members of my pride who are all distant cousins, but one of them is a big Siku Choka fan and two of them tagged along with her. My parents couldn't come because they're King and Queen."
"Lenny," addressed Bahati, tapping his brother on the back.
"So do you have any intentions on becoming a queen in the future?"
Tumaini laughed. "No. Actually, I wouldn't mind doing this Siku Choka thing again one day. I wouldn't mind getting married, but I think I'll wait for one of my sisters to do that first, and then I won't have to be queen."
"LENNY!" shouted both Nakshi and Bahati.
"Yeah?" asked Lenny, turning back around.
"Come on brother, we've got to focus. Tumaini's your competitor right now."
"So are you."
"But we're working with you," said Bahati, signaling to himself and Nakshi.
Lenny gasped as a sudden idea came to him. "Tumaini, do you want to work with us?"
Tumaini's ears fell. She had to answer. She had another decision to make. If she said 'no,' then Lenny would retain his focus on the event. If she said 'yes,' then she would essentially be sucking Sarafina, Juni, and Rakusa into a seven-lion team. But Nakshi and Bahati were just as big as threats to Tumaini as what Guvu was. If she let their team get too big, she'd lose control. And what if she said 'no,' anyways? Her team still had an advantage.
"No," Tumaini replied.
Guvu ambushed a buffalo. A new one was released.
"If Nakshi was smart," said Simba, "she wouldn't go after this buffalo…just yet."
Nala frowned. "Explain," she said.
"Well their strategy isn't going to work anyways, but now they have all three pieces of prey in front of them. If Nakshi runs up on the buffalo and causes it to charge, another chase around the track will begin, and then all the other competitors will end up running out of the final turn and they can line up in front of your mom and the others."
Nala's eyes grew wide. "Good grief, you're right."
"Yay! Do I get a golden star?"
"No, you get a be quiet stamp, cos I actually want my mom to win and if Nakshi does what you said, that is seriously going to compromise…oh…darn…"
Nakshi, Bahati, and Lenny had all taken off into a run. The crowd all got up onto their feet as the chase began. Before it could though, Guvu took the zebra out of the chase by ambushing it.
Wamariri was in position to do the same thing with the antelope. The lioness ran across the track as the antelope ran on down the straight. The antelope saw her though, and he ran towards the inside of the track as he tried to get away from Wamariri. The inside of the track, however, was where Guvu was lying down on the ground after having just brought the zebra down. The antelope never saw him. As the antelope lifted his front legs up in another stride, he gave Guvu a hard whack into the side of the head. The two-time champion simply slumped onto his side, while the antelope stumbled and was brought down by Wamariri.
When the incident occurred, Kanafa had been making his way on by the spot where Guvu had taken the zebra down. Nakshi, Bahati, and Lenny all went running on by in pursuit of the buffalo, and then the track was clear. Kanafa ran out to Guvu.
"Guvu, can you hear me Guvu?" asked Kanafa.
No reply came.
Kanafa looked down at his chest. It was rising up and down. The good news for Guvu was that he was alive. The bad news for Guvu was that he was knocked out, and until he woke back up, the competition could close in on him.
"Nala," called Simba, "have you ever heard of the word 'schadenfreude?'"
(A/N: Do you ever clap when a waitress falls and drops a tray of glasses? And ain't it fun to watch figure-skaters falling on their asses? Don't you feel all warm and cozy watching people out in the rain? That's schadenfreude - people taking pleasure in your pain. (Thanks Avenue Q) So Guvu's in trouble! Quick, what are the points?)
Guvu: 268
Winda: 215
Sarafina: 205
Wamariri: 204
Bahati and Nakshi: 177
Rakusa: 163
Tumaini: 153
Juni: 124
Lenny: 105
Anzi: 97
(A/N: Alright, I've given you more than enough content. I would luvluvluvluvluvluv reviews! Thanks!)