(A/N: Have been working on this story a lot recently, but not posting. Less than 30 minutes left where I am now. Still haven't picked a winner - you can still influence my decision! Enjoy!)

"Down in front, misses," snapped Timon rather rudely. Fortunately for him, the ostrich didn't hear.

"Hey Pumbaa, give me that stick."

"But Timon – you said; do not prod ostriches with stick."

"Pah! Would I say a thing like that? Although I guess it would be a good idea if I didn't prod the ostrich with a stick."

"Wow! I like your thinking Timon!"

"But how do I get to see the action?"

"Why don't you stand on my head?"

"Nah, that would never work. Hey, I've got an idea. Why don't I stand on your head?"

"Geez! You're full of great ideas Timon."

Nala couldn't help but overhear their conversation. "Um…Pumbaa…you do realize that those were actually your i…"

"Shh," whispered Simba, grabbing his mate's arm and pulling her back around. "Just let them go with it."

Timon jumped up on Pumbaa's head. "Alright, so, let's see what we have here," he said, scanning the track for activity. "Hmm…absolutely nothing going on. Just like the last five minutes."

"Bahati and Lenny are running out of the final turn, Timon," said Pumbaa. "Rakusa, Juni and the rest are waiting in ambush. Nobody knows who will get the prey."

"Right you are, Pumbaa," replied Timon. "Ooh…and they're closing in," he added, watching the brothers.

"Who's that running behind them?"

"It looks like that foreigner."

"Foreigner?"

"Yeah…you know, the one who lives far away."

"Oh. You mean Tumaini."

"Yeah, that girl. I guess she chose to run too."

Sarafina got knocked from the right side.

"Ow!" she yelped. "Hey, hey, you can't move backwards. You can get disqualified for that."

"Sorry," whispered Winda back. She pointed in the direction of Wamariri. "She's doing it too."

Sarafina looked over at Wamariri. Indeed, the lioness was slowly inching her way back down the front stretch. Not enough so that one of the officials could see, but enough that she could get a better head start on the prey when it came to her.

Sarafina shook her head and smiled back at Winda.

"You don't want to compare yourself to Wamariri."

"My sister said she always did it too," Winda added. "And I competed in this last year, and I did it."

"Well if I did it, I'd get caught," replied Sarafina. "So you're going to have to find a way around me if you want to go back any further than me."

"That's okay," replied Winda, "I'll stay here."

Sarafina smiled, but then looked on by Winda. Beside her, Anzi and Nakshi were creeping down, just the same.

"They're here…" commented Simba eerily.

Nala shuddered. "Okay, I'm not going to lie, that was kind of creepy."

The fact was though, they were here. Bahati and Lenny were now close enough to the prey to startle them into a run.

Juni was the first in ambush. As much as she didn't like going after the antelope, she knew she had to do it. She took a shot…but missed. Juni stopped running and perked her ears up.

Perhaps I could still get the zebra.

Unfortunately, the zebra was already alongside her. In fact, it had had to take a jump to the right to stop itself from running into her. In all of the confusion, Lenny saw an opportunity and went for it. The zebra was his.

Lenny's brother, Bahati, meanwhile, was following the buffalo as it ran across to the outside of the track to avoid all of the commotion. Bahati jumped up and clung onto the buffalo around its neck, trying to bring it down. The buffalo stumbled and fell down on the side of the track, making a couple of the spectators take a jump back.

Further on down the straight, the antelope had also been brought down.

"Tumaini is either very, very lucky, or very, very talented," commented Simba.

The rest of the pride turned their heads and watched with Simba as the new zebra, buffalo, and then antelope all nervously made their way out onto the track, while Tumaini lied in wait for all three of them.

"Lenny? What are you doing over there? Get over here – now!" shouted Bahati.

"Why?" asked Lenny back.

Bahati sighed but then checked back down the track. The prey wasn't on its way yet. He had time.

Bahati made his way across the track towards his brother and then they carried on the conversation in a set of whispers.

"What makes you think your chance of catching prey is any better here than what it is on the outside of the track?"

"The prey all think we're all on the outside. They won't expect me to be on the inside here."

"It's daytime now Lenny! They'll see you!"

"Well it's worth a shot. What's the worst that can happen?"

"The worst that can happen is they'll run towards the outside of the track and hurt the other competitors – or even the spectators!"

"The track is banked on the very edge though, so the spectators are fine."

"And the other competitors? We don't want to hurt anyone here, Lenny."

Lenny smiled. "They are just as entitled to move across to this side of the track too. If there were nobody on the outside, it wouldn't be dangerous. They have time to work it out."

Indeed, they did. Or at least, some of them.

First it was Wamariri.

Oh great, thought Sarafina, no way of talking her out of endangering us.

But then Sarafina got Lenny's argument too, and she moved across to the inside. So did Anzi and so did Nakshi.

When the prey was on its way, they would have only one safe route: the middle of the track. The problem? Five lions would be coming from their left, and four would be coming from their right.

Before that though, the prey had another concern.

Tumaini crouched down, trying to make herself as invisible as possible in the dirt and mud.

The first in line was a zebra.

For an experienced and well-trained huntress like Tumaini, that would make an easy ten points.

The zebra began to move on by her. Tumaini charged. The zebra fell. Although the zebra's stumble made it an extra easy ten points for the lioness, it caused a huge problem. If she had been given the opportunity to have chased the zebra, the antelope and buffalo would have slowed down, believing that Tumaini wasn't interested in them. Instead, no chase had occurred, and the zebra and buffalo were close enough to Tumaini to feel threatened by her presence.

They both ran on by her.

Tumaini stayed put. Knowing that soon more prey would be on its way out of the infield.

Lenny and Bahati were the first two lions lying in wait on the inside of the track. On the outside, it was Juni.

First up: an antelope.

"Go for it, Lenny," commented Bahati. "I'll get the buffalo."

Lenny ran, and was met with no competition. On the outside of the track, Juni had dismissed the idea of going for the antelope. She would simply be giving up too much energy by chasing it.

But as Lenny ran, the antelope ran faster.

A chase began.

Guvu was the next lion lined up on the outside while Wamariri lied in wait on the inside.

Guvu stayed put. Wamariri didn't.

The lioness tried to attack the antelope from the front. She grabbed his front legs and tried to pull him down to the ground. Lenny saw the back of the antelope fly up into the air in front of him. He couldn't go through it. He could go under it. He had to go over it.

Lenny went for the jump over the antelope's back. The antelope caught him in mid-air and pulled him hard down onto the ground. Unfortunately for Lenny, the ground was beginning to harden up now that the day sun was making its way up higher, and thus the impact gave him a splitting headache. Fortunately, that was the worst it gave him.

The antelope tried to get back up, but Wamariri had it before it could run off.

Ten points to Wamariri.

Meanwhile, things were going…well…zebraific for Tumaini. She had caught the newly released zebra after only a small chase, and now another one was on the way.

"Ow…ow…ooh…ow…!" whined Lenny, as he rolled around the floor holding his head.

Sarafina looked around at the other competitors. None of them were in a hurry to help Lenny out. Honestly, neither was she. But a lion rolling around in the middle of the track during the Siku Choka wasn't exactly working to her advantage either.

She sighed, and then reluctantly made her way over to the lion.

"Hey…um…L-Larry is it?"

"Lenny…ow…ooh…"

"Yes, sorry. My mistake. Lenny. Um…are you okay?"

Lenny shook his head 'no.'

"Oh…well, I'm sorry to hear that," replied Sarafina, as gently as ever. "You know though, you'd be much better off if you got out of the center of the track."

"But then my head would hurt…" retorted Lenny.

Sarafina frowned. "More than it does now?" she asked.

"Rolling on the ground," began Lenny, as he rolled over to demonstrate, "makes the pain go away."

"Oh," replied Sarafina. Then she closed in on him. "Do you know what doesn't make the pain go away?" she asked.

"An angry lioness?"

"Close. A charging buffalo."

"That doesn't sound good," replied Lenny. He thought about it for a second, and then realized what Sarafina was getting at. "Wait, is there one?"

"There's about to be."

"I guess I should get to the outside of the track, then."

Sarafina smiled. "Sounds like a good idea."

Sarafina whirled around and took her place on the outside of the track. When she got there, she turned back around and crouched down low, just in case the buffalo came her way. She glanced over to see if Lenny was moving.

Indeed, he was. Rolling like a pencil, side-over-side, to the outside of the track.

Juni and Bahati began chasing the buffalo.

"Uh oh," commented Simba. "Guvu's waiting in ambush."

Juni spotted this too. Guvu was on the outside of the track, and Juni was on the outside of Bahati. Juni wanted this buffalo, but she couldn't let Guvu get it. Thus, she ran out from behind the buffalo and up along its right side. She was essentially blocking Guvu from getting to the buffalo. Guvu knew what she was doing, and thus he didn't even give chase. He wouldn't be getting any points from this one. Virtually unchallenged, Bahati took the buffalo down.

King Machi and the rest of the Savannahland were beginning to get nervous. Anzi only had 138 points currently, and she was the last in ambush. She could not run though. It would cost her too much time and energy. However, the young lioness was running out of options.

At the same time, some of the Kimaland pride were beginning to filter their way out of the stands.

"Hey…hey! Where are you guys going?"

"Home, Jesse."

"You can't go home now! There's not even two hours left." She laughed. "Come on guys, you can't be serious?"

"Serious, Jesse?" asked one of the other lionesses. "We've got a whole monarchy to restructure. That's serious. This is just a game."

Jesse sighed. "Come on, guys. Nakshi needs our support. More so now than ever. You know how much this means to her."

Another lioness grimaced. "Yeah, we sure do Jesse. More than it does her family."

"Come on now – don't say that! You know she's not like that. She never forced Maneno into this."

The other lioness took a step towards Jesse, before stating flatly: "I wasn't even talking about Maneno." She then turned away, leaving Jesse on the hill on her own.

Still, Jesse couldn't leave, and neither could the rest of them. Nakshi needed them. She would need them to cry on when the event ended. Jesse knew she wouldn't be able to handle her friend's emotions all on her own. She needed help too.

"Fay…?"

"Jesse," snapped the lioness in question back, having been expecting such a call, "come on. It's for the best. Nakshi's not going to want us all staring at her after the event. She'd feel too guilty."

"But what if she wins?"

Fay shook her head. "Jesse…she's not going to win. See for yourself. She's the next to last lion in ambush. She only has 178 points. She's fallen behind. It's over. Now come on home."

Fay whirled back around and went to catch up with the rest of the Kimaland pride. Before doing so however, she checked back over her shoulder to see if Jesse was following.

She wasn't. Instead, Jesse had turned back around, and was sitting down, ready to watch the final hours of the Siku Choka on her own.

Tumaini let the antelope make its way on by. A zebra was behind it. It was worth the wait.

However, as Tumaini began to make her move, the zebra was saved by a distress call given by the buffalo that was just making his way out onto the track. The zebra took no chances. He was sent off into a run. Tumaini didn't even bother to give chase. She would have whatever entered the track next.

"How many points does your mom have again, Nala?"

"226."

"And Guvu?"

"268."

"So that's…four pieces of prey and two laps."

"Or…five pieces of prey."

"It's very frustrating how there are only two pieces of prey, yet ten lions lined up in ambush for them. They must all know that their chances of being the one to get ten points are minimal."

Nala was able to force a smile. "That's what makes it great though. Strategy. Luck. Not all Siku Chokas are carried out on tracks this big. I like how big this track is though – it makes you have to think before you go and run a lap."

"Hmm…" was Simba's reply. He then moved in closer to Nala and asked: "So…what are your mother's chances of winning, really? Right now?"

Nala bit her lip and then looked at her mate. She then looked back down at the track. Then back at her mate. She then released her lip and opened her mouth, but took a moment, before replying very cautiously: "I think it depends on whether she gets one of these…or not."

After what seemed like an eternity of the prey reluctantly making their way towards the lions, the lions sneakily creeping their way inches back down the track, and the audience holding their breath in order to give all of the competitors clear heads, the prey had now finally arrived.

Guvu let the antelope pass. Speed was not his strong point.

Instead, he was gunning for the zebra. As the stripy herbivore began to crawl its way on by him, Guvu lunged out. At the same time, Juni did too. If Juni's goal had been to capture the zebra, then she had gone prematurely. She had just lost out on a major ten points. But, just as before, the zebra had never been Juni's goal. She just wanted to make sure that Guvu didn't get it.

The audience's attention was now torn between Tumaini, who had decided to go for the buffalo that had been making his way calmly on down the front stretch, and two chases that had just formed. The first was with Sarafina and Wamariri on the antelope. The second was Bahati and Winda after the zebra.

"Be careful Mom," whispered Nala.

"My bets on Winda for the antelope," said Timon, throwing a beetle down on its back between himself and Pumbaa. "Speed's her strong point. What about you big fella?"

"Eh…I guess I have to pick Bahati," replied Pumbaa, putting a worm down next to the beetle, "but I don't know…"

Suddenly, a loud cheer echoed off the hills as Tumaini was able to kill the buffalo and bring it down to the ground. But the other two battles were still on…

Anzi needed points. Thus, even though Sarafina and Wamariri were hot on the heels of the antelope, she needed to join in the chase.

All that time that Sarafina had seemingly wasted watching Siku Chokas from the hilltop were now beginning to pay off. She knew what Wamariri wanted her to do. Wamariri wanted Sarafina to attack. When that happened, Sarafina knew, the antelope would slow down enough that Wamariri would be able to take it for her own. Thus, Sarafina intended on waiting for Wamariri to attack, and then she would be able to use her own strategy against her.

Wamariri snarled. She knew what Sarafina was up to.

Suddenly, Anzi came running on by both of them and got up onto the buffalo's back. Sarafina, not wanting to hurt the inexperienced competitor, hang back. Wamariri did not. Instead, she ran up beside the antelope, which was now being dragged slowly to the ground, and aimed for its neck. Anzi saw what Wamariri was aiming for, and then she did the unthinkable. She let the antelope go.

The creature took off as if nothing had happened, and Anzi sprinted off after it. Knowing speed was her strength, Anzi could now get far in front of Wamariri and take the antelope down without her interference. Wamariri stood shocked and spellbound at the spot where she had almost made the kill. Sarafina had been able to regain her composure, and she was off, hot on Anzi's heels.

While Anzi had been the one to gatecrash Sarafina and Wamariri's party, it was Nakshi's turn to do that to Bahati and Winda. Earlier, before when Bahati had gone on to run a lap, leaving Nakshi left to lie in ambush, the pair had always been close in points. Now, however, Bahati had a 41 point advantage over Nakshi. But it came at a disadvantage: energy. The lion simply could not keep up with Nakshi and Winda as they ran on in pursuit of the zebra.

Indeed, Winda was able to get to the zebra first, but Nakshi would have never became champion if she hadn't known the tricks of the trade herself. The one-time Siku Choka champion ran up beside Winda and charged down at the zebra's neck. Winda was caught off-guard and fell off of the herbivore's back, leaving Nakshi to clamp her jaw down and take an easy ten points.

Timon and Pumbaa looked down in between them.

"Well…eh…who gets the grub?" asked Pumbaa. Timon could have asked just the same question.

In order to prevent any arguments or perilous contests from occurring, Simba reached down and picked the worm and beetle up himself, then he shoved them in his mouth and chewed them down.

"Oh right," said Timon, "I forgot we had a Nakshi fan."

"Ew…" commented Nala, disgusted as Simba continued to chew with his mouth open.

Simba swallowed. "Ah!" he exclaimed. "Delish!"

"I really wish you'd put those days behind you," commented Nala, leaning away from Simba with a grimace on her face, as her mate smiled back at her, with bug parts sticking to his shiny white teeth.

Anzi was still right on the hind legs of the antelope as they made their way through the turn. The earlier attack on the antelope had wounded it, and it was now running slower than ever. Sarafina's strategy couldn't work now. If Anzi caught that antelope, it was hers.

Thus, Nala's mother used every ounce of energy she could muster, just so she could get these ten points.

She failed.

Anzi got the antelope.

However, Sarafina knew she couldn't give up yet. There was still over an hour left, and still plenty of points left to be picked up. What she needed to do right now…was run.

Tumaini's heart was beating faster than it ever was before.

No pressure, girl, no pressure…

Not too long ago, Tumaini had taken a quick glance at the scoreboard. Guvu: 268. Herself: 256. She had just proven to herself that she could bring down a buffalo. If she could do that just one more time…and then get the zebra that came after it, there would be a new leader in the Siku Choka.

It took an eternity for the buffalo to make its way on by her. Tumaini didn't mind though. He could take as long as he wanted. This creature was hers.

The buffalo took an extra step forwards, and began to forget about the lioness.

Big mistake.

Tumaini was now off, charging after the buffalo. The buffalo began to run, as tight towards the inside of the track as he could get. Tumaini took her time in setting herself up for the pounce. She couldn't rush this. The buffalo began to move back towards the flatter ground in the center of the circuit, and it was now easier than ever before for Tumaini to get up on his back. And so she did. That, however, was the easy part. The buffalo began to kick up its rear legs, trying to buck Tumaini off. For Tumaini, it had now turned from a race into a rodeo. Fortunately, she was allowed to use both of her paws to hold on, and her jaw as well.

She stuck them all into the back of the buffalo's neck, and at times attempted to suffocate him. Anything she could do to help kill the buffalo, and not herself.

It wasn't working.

Tumaini groaned and released her jaw from the back of the creature's neck. The buffalo bucked again and Tumaini's head was slammed into the back of his. The impact was so significant, that Tumaini was completely dazed. Instinctively, she tried to hold on tight to the back of the buffalo, but it was no use. One more buck, and Tumaini was thrown off of the creature and down onto the ground.

The crowd was all up on their feet; all trying to get a good look at Tumaini. The same question was on all of their minds.

"Is she alive?" asked Timon aloud.

The rest pretended to ignore him, which was enough of an answer for Timon. It told him that they were as clueless as he was.

Nala finally took a deep breath and stopped staring down at the lioness.

"Hopefully," she replied, "and probably, actually. But her chances of winning are nil."

"Well…maybe this is a bad time, but, isn't that a good thing?" asked Timon. The rest all stared to turn at him. "I mean, Nala. We all want your mom to win and…well…Tumaini was a threat. But she's probably alive and…well…she's not a threat anymore! How could it get better than that?"

Simba could see what Timon was getting at. His long-time meerkat thing could always find a way of lightening up the situation, especially when things were looking grim. And, right now, he was actually making a good point. In fact, it was a very, very good point.

Simba smiled. "I know a lot of ways that make it much better than that."

The zebra and the antelope on track began to casually make their way on by the now non-threatening lioness that was Tumaini. No other predators were around them. Not at least, until the next turn, and it would take a couple of minutes until they made their way that far.

However, for these two particular pieces of prey, there was a different threat. A bunch of lions were running hard, making their way out of the turn that led them onto the front stretch. And there, with a healthy lead over the rest of the other lions, was Sarafina.

"There's one small problem," said Simba.

Nala's ears dropped. "What's that?" she asked her mate.

"A new buffalo is about to be released – right in front of Sarafina."

Nala looked over towards the turn far across to their right. The buffalo that had thrown Tumaini off was about to make his way by Guvu…the buffalo master. The time was now right for Guvu to dart across the track. The two-time Siku Choka champion did so…but missed.

Nala smiled.

Simba did too. "Never mind," he said.

Sarafina was now running out of time. After Guvu's failed chase, he had now taken place behind Juni in ambush. The zebra was on his way, and Juni was as frozen as a statue. She needed these points if she still wanted a shot at winning.

The time was right, and Juni struck. The pounce, the chase, and the bite for the kill – all timed perfectly. Ten points went to Juni.

As a result, a new zebra was released onto the front stretch, but Sarafina had already passed the point at which the new prey was released. Wamariri, however, had not. Ten points went to her as the newly released zebra came crashing down to the ground.

So Sarafina's only choice now was the antelope.

That's right, thought Sarafina, the speedy guy. Oh great, I'm done.

As luck would have it though, once Sarafina got close enough to the antelope, and the prey started to run, it was easy to see that the antelope had a problem.

"He's wounded!" exclaimed Nala from the stands. The rest of the Pridelanders all got up to their feet and cheered as Sarafina brought the creature to the ground. But it was what happened further on down the straight that brought the rest of the audience members to their feet.

Rakusa had gone for the buffalo – the one that Tumaini had fought. Nakshi had been waiting in ambush, and when the time was right, she had charged and tried to take the ten points for herself. However, while struggling with the other two lions now fighting on his back, the buffalo had not realized that there had been another lion, lying in wait on the inside of the next turn. With the two lions on his back, the buffalo tripped over the lying lion of Bahati, and threw the other two felines down onto the ground.

Rakusa stretched his legs out in order to brace for the impact, but it wasn't a smart idea. The king of the Majibuluu pride slammed down onto the ground, right arm first. The shock was enough to fracture his bone. The lion gritted his teeth to stop himself from screaming in pain.

Meanwhile, Nakshi had landed softly, but kind of wish she hadn't.

Oh great…what have I done this time?

The lioness got up and whirled around, knowing that both Rakusa and Bahati could both now be severely injured because of her. She began to take a step forwards, but a voice from the infield reminded her that that probably wasn't a good idea.

"Ah…" commented a leopard, one of the infield track workers, "…if you go backwards, you'll be disqualified."

Nakshi bit her lip. "Well can you check on them for me then, please?" asked Nakshi.

"Sure thing," replied the leopard. And with that, he began to make his way towards Bahati.

"Nakshi," came a voice from the ground.

Nakshi recognized the voice. "Bahati?"

"Nakshi…" croaked the lion, "…run…run!"

Nakshi was full of mixed emotions. Bahati was okay…but he wasn't well…and he was telling her to run…but she wanted to stay…and why should she…?

But before she could answer that, she heard footsteps approaching. Juni was making the most of the opportunity. There was now a heavily wounded buffalo making its way through the turn, and Juni wanted it.

Nakshi's eyes grew wide.

Run, she thought to herself.

Nakshi whirled around and began charging the buffalo, but she couldn't accelerate quickly enough. She had been still for too long. Juni got the buffalo.

"Hmm…things are looking good for Sarafina after all," Timon said to Pumbaa.

"Why's that?"

"Sarafina's the first in ambush."

"Uh…what about those guys?" asked Pumbaa.

Timon looked over towards his left. He quickly learnt that Sarafina wasn't the first in ambush after all.

Wamariri's last set of ten points had came when she had brought the newly released zebra down to the ground. Now, a new zebra, antelope and buffalo were all lined up, ready to enter the track. However, they were all refusing to move a muscle until Wamariri moved up and away from her last kill.

While the prey remained off the track, nobody could score points unless they went around and completed a lap, and even then that would only log them a single digit point.

However, Wamariri was not leading. Thus, she needed this prey to come out in order to win. For her, however, there was just one small problem.

Anzi and Winda.

Both of the lionesses were lined up about twenty yards behind Wamariri. If Wamariri got up and gave the prey room to get out, Winda and Anzi would be off. Wamariri had never finished worse than fourth in any of her four previous Siku Chokas. The fact of the matter was, she was good at this game. Two things in particular made her good. One, obviously, was her unorthodox and unapproved methods that she used in order to gain points, but the other one was an exceptional ability to learn the strengths and weaknesses of her other competitors. It wasn't just Wamariri, however. Any competitor that had ever made a name for himself in the Siku Choka needed to understand what did and what did not set him apart from his competition. Thus, through this study that Wamariri had been conducting throughout the past twenty-two, now almost twenty-three, hours, she had learnt, like most of the audience members had, that Anzi and Winda were very fast. If she backed away from the track entrance, the prey would not be hers.

So, in conclusion, what Wamariri was waiting for was for Anzi and Winda to move on. Once they were far away enough that Wamariri could get a decent head start, then she would be satisfied enough to move away.

However, Winda had no intention of moving.

Anzi, however, was a different story.

"Winda…um…we should probably move."

Winda heard her, but kept her muscles still, and her focus fixed on Wamariri. Wamariri was trading glances back and forth. One moment she'd have her eyes set on the prey, the next moment she would check back on Winda and Anzi, but she never kept any of them out of her peripheral vision.

On the hill, any Pridelander that wasn't a lion were quite confused. In other words, Timon and Pumbaa.

"Eh…what's going on?" asked Pumbaa.

"Anzi's low in points so she wants them all to move," replied Nala, "but Wamariri and Winda are doing well, so they can afford to stand in deadlock like that for a while. Eventually though, they will both need points." Nala sighed. "But for all we know, this could last up until the last ten minutes. It's all down to who will break first."

Suddenly, a few cheers began to echo off of the hills, far across the other side of the track and into the turn on the right.

Some lions were beginning to run.

"Why's your mom not running?" asked Timon to Nala.

"Because of what you said, Timon," replied Nala. "She's first in ambush, and she doesn't need that much more points anyways. Eventually a break will have to happen, and when it does, Mom's in good position."

"Oh," replied Timon.

"Um…Nal…" began Simba, suddenly realizing something.

"Yes Simba?"

"Do you know who this could be really, really good for?"

Nala frowned. "No. Who?"

"Tumaini."

"Really? Why's that?"

"Well…think…in her condition, she can't get any points. But she has a lot. If this deadlock continues, and if she recovers in time for the end, she won't any further behind Guvu than when she was knocked out."

Nala nodded in agreement. "You're right," she said.

"And, if she woke up, your mother wouldn't be the first in ambush anymore."

"Well…I guess we'd better hope she has a nice, long nap."

(A/N: At the beginning of the chapter, you may have wondered who caught the antelope. When I was editing, I realized that the line read "the antelope escaped Juni's claws, but was soon brought down by Juni." Since I don't have a memory capable enough of remembering who I was talking about, that is why it was omitted. However, the points to whoever did catch the antelope were added in the tally on my PowerPoint presentation back when I wrote that part. So all's well. Hope you're getting as excited for the ending as what I am! - Machungwa63)