(A/N: Long chapter - the last two will be shorter than this one. Chapter 24 will be up Friday. Until then, enjoy!)
Anzi and Winda were in pursuit of an antelope. However, neither of them collected the points, as Lenny made a rather unexpected attack from his ambushing post and took the antelope for himself.
Straight afterwards, boos shook the Pridelands as the crowd reacted to Wamariri bringing down a buffalo. Lenny was actually finding it hard to walk across the vibrating ground as he made his way away from his kill and towards the outside of the track.
The lioness there to greet him, was Nakshi.
"Lenny…I—I'm so sorry about your brother."
Lenny stopped walking. This all seemed too familiar…
"I'm sorry to hear about your king," said Anzi.
Nakshi looked at her, confused. Suddenly, she remembered what had happened. One second, he had been running in their pack, then the next, he had disappeared.
"Oh yeah…" she said, then she realized, "…oh…wait…what happened?"
"Wait…he's not…"
"Oh, no, no, nonononono…he's not de…well, you know," replied Nakshi hurriedly, chuckling a bit, "he's um…hurt, and it's my fault," she added.
Lenny smiled and shook his head. "Nakshi, you think everything's your fault."
"Well this time it was."
"Well if he's not dead, you probably did him a favor," replied Lenny. "Think about it, you gave him a ticket out of the Siku Choka without him getting killed."
"If he'd wanted that, he could have just taken a step backwards."
"Don't worry about it Nakshi, really. Come on, we've got a game to win!"
Lenny lined up in ambush behind Nakshi and crouched down. Nakshi bit her lip. She probably shouldn't say it, but then again, it was probably for the best…
"Um…Lenny, you do know you're over a hundred points down, right?"
"Aha," replied Lenny, "but that's why I said we've got a game to win. Not I."
Guvu slowly crept up on the zebra from behind, but it was to no avail. The striped creature worked out he was there. He took off…and lived for about ten more seconds. Winda ambushed him.
Guvu made his way towards the outside of the track. Sure, Winda may have just increased her points lead, but he was the first in ambush.
Anzi crouched down ever lower. Guvu had just let the antelope go on by! This was a grand opportunity for her. If she remained focused and silent, ten more points could easily be hers.
"AAAhhh—ooowwwccchhh!" groaned a lioness next to her. The antelope heard her and stood still. A lion that made a noise was a live lion, and a live lion for an antelope was not a good lion.
Anzi's eyes drifted rightwards. She was livid with whoever had just made that noise, and she wanted her to know it. However, when she found out who it was, her eyes grew wide.
"Ooh—what did I miss?" asked the lioness, as she slowly stood up with her paw held to her head.
The crowd cheered.
"Tumaini! Tumaini! Tumaini!" they began chanting.
Tumaini cringed. "Surely they know that's not helping my headache," she murmured. "Bucking fuffalo."
Anzi frowned. "You alright?" she asked.
"No."
"Speech impairment?"
"No – I can reverse the first consonants if you want me to."
Anzi ran it through her head. "Bucking fuffalo…oh…" She smiled. "Well, your memory seems to be good."
Nala sniffed as she pulled herself out of Simba's mane.
"Tumaini's awake?" she asked him, having just heard the chant.
"Yeah," replied Simba.
"What about…"
But then Nala was cut off as all of the Pridelanders got to their feet. Nala looked back out to the track to see that Sarafina had just caught a zebra right in front of them. What's more, she was the first competitor lined up in ambush.
"Nala, I know there's nothing I can say that can erase the shadow casted by Juni's death…but…" he smiled, "…you're mom's looking pretty good."
Nala looked at Simba and his calming, reassuring figure, reminding her that everything was going to be okay. One look at him, sometimes, and that was all she needed. Although feeble at first, Nala was able to return the smile.
"Thanks Simba," she said.
Simba chuckled, delighted to see his mate better, but he was a bit confused. "For what?" he asked.
"For always being there for me."
"Nala, come on now."
"No, seriously. Given the circumstances, there's nothing that can make me happier right now than…"
"Rakusa's attacking Wamariri!" exclaimed Zazu, jumping up between them.
Simba and Nala instantly forgot about their conversation and then, along with the rest of the Pridelanders, looked over towards the backstretch, where a brawl had just started between the injured lion and the malicious lioness.
Nala sighed peacefully. "…than this," she ended.
Wamariri had been pinned down to the ground by Rakusa, but she had fought back. In doing so, she had found Rakusa's weakness. He wasn't putting one of his legs on the floor, and nor was he attempting to inflict harm with it. That was Wamariri's escape. She kicked him in his broken leg and allowed him to cringe and take a jump backwards. The lioness swung herself back up onto her feet and then struck Rakusa in his face, knocking the lion off his feet and onto the ground. Rakusa reached out at her chest and tried to bring her to the ground. Right now, he was seriously compromised. Wamariri slashed out at him though and stood her ground above the lion, as she began to deal heavy blows around his head and neck. She was showing no mercy.
"Go on Rakusa, get back on your feet," muttered Nakshi, as she took a moment to watch the fight. "Dang it, Rakusa, get back on your feet!"
"I don't think he can, Nakshi. It looks like he's hurt," replied Lenny, trying to calm her down. "I think he's been hurt for a while. I wonder how? It was probably someone not thinking…"
"Oh, please be quiet Lenny!" exclaimed Nakshi, tears filling her eyes. "It was my fault, okay? I hurt Rakusa! I injured Bahati! I killed Maneno, I didn't help Ema…I…I…"
"Have issues," replied Lenny, wearing a frown on his face. "None of that stuff was your fault, Nakshi. It's all stuff that just…I don't know…happens."
"You have no idea what it feels like, Lenny," said Nakshi in a crackly voice. "It's guilt, guilt, and more guilt knowing that I'm being selfish by continuing with my own dream of winning my second ever Siku Choka at the cost of others. And now look at what's happening to Rakusa! I should go over and help…"
"It's not necessary," stated Lenny, "Wamariri's running away."
Nakshi groaned. "What do you think I should do?" she whined.
Lenny shrugged. "If I were you, I'd pursue your dream. If all that stuff is what it costs, then you might as well make it all worth it."
"You took quite the beating there, dude," said an exuberant baboon as he ran out to the beaten body of Rakusa. "You done for the day now? You look it."
Rakusa groaned. He lifted his head up out of the mud.
The baboon jumped back. "Whoa, buddy. You can't feel okay."
Dirt patches and blood had all solidified within Rakusa's mane. Blood was also oozing out of cuts that Wamariri had inflicted on his face.
"Dunno what you were thinking, fighting like that in your condition. She could easily have killed you."
Rakusa snarled.
"Hey, look, you know that as soon as I touch you…you're out of the Siku Choka, right?"
"Don't touch me, then."
The baboon cackled. "You think you can win in your condition?" he asked.
"I'm not here to win anymore," replied the lion. Painfully, he made his way back up onto his feet. "I'm here to finish what I started," he added.
"That's it Nala, make a lot of noise!" encouraged Simba.
Nala was…as was Simba, Timon, Pumbaa, Rafiki, Zazu, and everybody else in the grandstands. Yeah, Guvu was a nice guy. But seeing a close finish would be exciting too.
A buffalo was just making its way on by the two-time Siku Choka champion, and the audience was making as much noise as possible in order to distract him.
It didn't work.
When the moment was right, the lion charged across the dirt track and pounced up onto the buffalo. He was quickly able to fight his way up onto the back of the creature's neck and bite down, taking away the buffalo's life, and with it, ten more points.
"Aw…" commented Simba. "How many points does he have now?" he asked Nala.
"Eh…oh…I don't know," replied the lioness.
"279, sire," replied Zazu.
"And Winda?" asked Simba.
"Winda 287, Guvu 279, Tumaini 256, Wamariri 255, and Sarafina 247 sire. Hope you don't mind me giving you the full rundown."
"No, Zazu, that's excellent," replied a voice that sounded strangely similar to Nala's.
"Mom!"
"Hi sweetie, hi guys!"
"Sarafina, haven't you got a game to win?" asked Simba. "You probably shouldn't be talking to us."
"I know…but…I—I just wanted to say that, I love you guys…all of you, and…really…thanks for coming out to support me, it really means a lot. I'm sorry I never told you sooner. I probably should have."
"It's okay Sarafina. It's been fun watching you. Good luck!"
"Thanks."
"Hey Mom…"
"Yes dear?"
"Before you go, I just want to emphasize something."
"Go ahead."
"Please be careful."
Sarafina smiled. "I'll try," she replied.
"Mom, seriously."
"Trust me, Nala. I'll be fine. I'll come back in one piece. And that's a promise."
Nala met her mother's gaze, and then, once she felt certain her mother was being truthful, she let out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks Mom."
Sarafina nodded as a response.
Simba moved in close to Nala's ear. "Your mother doesn't break promises," he whispered to her.
Nala elbowed her mate. "Shut up," she whispered back.
Meanwhile, from below, Sarafina gave one last smile to both of them, and then turned back around and crouched down. The newly released zebra was on its way.
Further on down the straight, a chase had just ended with the death of an antelope and ten points being awarded to Tumaini. Although her head hurt, her sleep had helped her muscles and energy level. Third place was proof that it was paying off.
Now, it was Sarafina's turn to shine. The zebra had made its way on by her, and thus it was now time for her to make her move. As quietly as possible, she began trotting towards the zebra, trying to get as close as possible without the zebra realizing the inevitable. Once he had, it was too late. Ten points went to Sarafina.
"257," muttered Sarafina to herself. "Winda's 287." Sarafina looked up ahead of her. The line was about twenty yards away from her. "That's 258, so I just need three more pieces of prey…I'm the first in ambush, right?" she asked herself, checking back over her shoulder. "Yup," she replied, but she still wasn't thrilled. The next piece of prey up was a buffalo. Sarafina sighed. "Nobody said it was going to be easy," she said, and with that she made her way towards the outside of the track.
Nine competitors were still on the circuit. Anzi, Guvu, Lenny, Nakshi, Rakusa, Sarafina, Tumaini, Wamariri and Winda. Of those nine, seven were lined up in ambush on the front stretch. Meanwhile, Rakusa was limping his way down the backstretch, and Wamariri was just now making her run out of the final corner. The newly released zebra had just made its way out onto the track. The lioness could easily claim this as hers.
"You know," began Simba really quietly, "I kind of hope Wamariri wins it."
Nala frowned. "Why?" she asked, with a hint of how-can-you-say-something-like-that? anger in her voice.
"Because she'll get mauled."
"Oh," replied Nala. "You know what…that's funny. I kind of hope Wamariri loses."
"Why's that?" asked Simba.
"Because she'll get mauled."
"Best of luck to your mother Nala," said a new voice, as the owner of it gave the lioness a hard pat on the shoulder.
"Rafiki? Where are you going?"
"To de time stick!" replied the mandrill.
"It's that time already?" asked Simba. Everybody else was just as surprised as he was.
"It's getting close. Tell you what…" said Rafiki, picking one of the sticks that was used to flag down the hornbills up, "I will put dis in de ground here," he added, as he pushed it down vertically into the ground, "and when you see no shadow, you will know I'm about to end it."
Simba and Nala still couldn't help but look at the stick through slightly-bulging eyes.
"There really isn't much of a shadow left," said Nala.
Did I pray the other night?
…
I think I did. I must have. If not, then I prayed the next morning. And just before the event. Heck, I should be okay. If not, here we go. Gods, please…whether I bring down this buffalo or not, please help me out. I have a daughter I care for very much and I want to be around to make sure she has a great life with her mate, Simba. Amen.
…
p.s. the buffalo would be nice too.
Alright, time to get down to business.
Here, Buffy, Buffy, Buffy…alright, he's here. Nope. Got to wait a bit longer, Saffy. Now? No. Now? No. Now? What do you think? Now? Yeah…why not? So now? Yes! Go!
…and Sarafina was off.
There had been plenty of buffalos on track during the Siku Choka, but the reason that Sarafina had prayed was because this buffalo was somewhat different from the rest. He…and it was a he, was big, strong, and in the prime years of his life. In other words, if it hadn't been an event in which Sarafina had virtually forced herself into going after this buffalo, she never would have done it.
But here she was. She jumped up onto the buffalo's back and was easily able to find her footing. A buffalo with a big back like this meant there was a lot of room for Sarafina to adjust herself in until she was in a comfortable spot. Unfortunately for her, however, the buffalo's neck was still far away.
Sarafina reached her front paws out and tried to pull herself up ever further on top of the buffalo. However, it was not an easy task to accomplish, and the lioness most certainly did not have the energy that she had had at the start of the event. Then, the worst thing occurred. The buffalo began to buck.
Sarafina didn't need telling twice, or in fact even once. She surrendered and jumped off of the buffalo. It was hopeless.
As she let it go though, she realized a huge potential mistake. She had just let herself off of it right before she had got to Guvu. However, even the two-time champ had his limits. After watching Sarafina, he just let the buffalo pass on by. It looked like the rest of the competitors would do the same.
Boos made their way out of the final turn and down the front stretch as Wamariri passed her way on by the spectators, on her way towards getting the zebra. Thanks to the audience's "cooperation," the zebra had already made a huge head-start on Wamariri, and she was finding it difficult to keep up.
But Wamariri knew that she needed to make her move now. If she didn't, the zebra would be an easy picking for one of the lions lined up in ambush on the front stretch.
The first of which, was Sarafina.
Understandably, Sarafina was still not too thrilled with Wamariri. An antelope was leading the zebra. Sarafina let the antelope pass on by.
Guvu took it down.
Sarafina, meanwhile, had other priorities.
Wamariri had still not closed in enough on the zebra. Sarafina darted across the track and threw herself over the zebra's back. Her body weighed the zebra down, and the pair collapsed onto the ground. Sarafina bit the striped creature down on the neck, and her point tally went up to 268.
"Teamwork's the only way this buffalo will come down, Nakshi," said Lenny.
"Agreed," replied the lioness, ready to run.
"I've got your back, okay? I can't win this thing. It's yours."
"Okay. Thanks."
The pair waited as the buffalo made its way on by them.
"Ready?" whispered Lenny to Nakshi.
"Set," replied Nakshi, in a whisper back.
"Go!"
The two began running. Behind them, Winda began to follow.
Lenny ran up in front of the buffalo.
I love box and bundle thought Nakshi.
Lenny began to slow down. Now it was Nakshi's turn to strike. However, just before she did, she heard Winda's footsteps running up from behind her.
Damn!
Nakshi stayed back. Right now, she didn't know it was Winda, but she hoped that it would be someone inexperienced enough that they would go for the buffalo before her, and then she could join in and get the ten points.
Indeed, Winda was just that inexperienced lioness that Nakshi was looking for. Lenny had slowed the buffalo up enough that, when Winda jumped up on its back, she was right on top of his neck. She opened her jaw and clamped it down, but it wasn't hers yet…
Now Nakshi made her move. Now that the buffalo was even slower, she was able to get even further onto the buffalo's back than what Winda had been. With a more stable platform, Nakshi could get a better and more accurate bite. Nakshi attacked, and Winda gave up. Even to someone as inexperienced as Winda, it was obvious that this buffalo was Nakshi's. A hundred yards later, and the buffalo came crashing down to the ground.
"Oh no," groaned Nala.
"What?" asked Simba.
"Three new pieces of prey have been released, and it's going to take them ages to reach Mom and the rest at this rate. They can't afford to waste this much time!"
"Perhaps someone will make a run for it," replied Simba. "You know, around the track. And then chase them."
Nala shook her head. "It will still take them forever to run a whole lap. The prey will be there by then."
Simba sighed. "Guess we're just going to have to wait then. Zazu?"
"Yes sire."
"Been keeping up with the scores?"
"Y—yes," replied the hornbill. "If I calculated everything correctly, and I believe I did, Guvu is now leading again with 289."
Simba looked back at Nala.
"Is that why you were groaning?" he asked.
"My mom's not called 'Guvu,'" Nala replied.
"Winda is two points behind with 287. Sarafina is a bit further back with 268. Then it's Tumaini with 266, and fifth is Wamariri with 256."
"So Sarafina needs to run," replied Simba.
Nala laughed. "She can't run, Simba. She's the first in ambush!"
"Well does she know?"
"That she's the first in ambush? Um…yeah," replied Nala, "obviously."
"No, not that. That she's one digit point short of Guvu. One lap for her, right now, Nala, could be worth the same as a whole piece of prey."
Nala bit her lip. "Okay, go on, tell her that. Just don't tell her to run. Let her make up her own mind."
"Do you want me to do it Ma'am?" asked Zazu. "I'm off-duty. As long as I stay on the hill, I'm considered a spectator. I can fly down there a lot quicker than Simba can run."
"Sounds good to me," replied Nala.
And with that, Zazu was on his way.
Meanwhile, rather than being the three lions lined up last in ambush, Lenny, Nakshi and Winda had decided to take a run around the track.
The prey was still only slowly making its way up towards the predators in ambush when Zazu gave the report to Sarafina.
The only other movement of the track, was that of the slowly limping lion, Rakusa, as he made his way into the final long turn.
"If my mathematical calculations are correct," stated Pumbaa, with a set of bugs on an abacus created out of the wilderness, "the competition should end right about the time when Rakusa crosses the finishing line."
Those around Pumbaa looked over back towards Rakusa.
"Not too long, then," replied Simba.
For the next few minutes, the most exciting thing that happened was watching Winda pass Nakshi on the backstretch.
"That could make a difference," said Simba.
But now something much more exciting was about to occur. The antelope had made its way up to Sarafina.
Sarafina, however, was not interested in the antelope. In fact, neither was Wamariri and neither was Guvu. All three of them knew that it would simply require too much energy on all of their parts in order to catch it.
The zebra, however, was a different story. At least, for Sarafina it was. Wamariri and Guvu were never really given the opportunity to chase it, as Sarafina's name was written all over it from the time she left her post. Ten more points went to the nyimbas, but now she had to line up in ambush behind Wamariri and Guvu.
But she didn't. Third in ambush was not good enough now. If she was going to win, she had to be first.
This, Sarafina thought, would be an excellent time to put Zazu's plan into action.
And with that, Sarafina took off into a run, determined to log that critical one digit point.
Meanwhile, Anzi, although with only 149 points, was still playing. She had just brought down the antelope that Sarafina, Wamariri and Guvu had let pass on by. However, instead of lining back up in ambush, she also went on for a run. She was ahead of Sarafina, which definitely did not work to Sarafina's advantage. Also, she had made an impact by allowing a new antelope to be released onto the circuit, right as Lenny, Winda and Nakshi were making their way out of the final corner.
However, their plans soon all changed as a new buffalo was also released out onto the circuit, courtesy of Wamariri. The lioness may have got the boos and the ten points that came with it, but the downside was that she now had to line back up behind Guvu. Although, in order to put herself at less of a disadvantage, Wamariri kept herself to the inside of the track.
Winda came running up alongside Lenny.
Lenny began to slow down. He checked back over his shoulder, and found Nakshi.
"Nakshi!"
"Huh? What are you doing Lenny?"
"Let's team up on the buffalo again. Winda's got the antelope."
Nakshi looked back in front of her. Indeed, Winda was running faster than either her or Lenny probably could.
"Want me to box?" asked Lenny.
"If you wouldn't mind," replied the lioness.
Every now and then, something unexpected would occur during the Siku Choka. This time, it occurred right at the worst time for Winda. With her exceptional speed, an antelope should have been an easy ten points.
But she fumbled.
Winda had pounced, missed, tripped, and then been kicked in the head.
Fortunately, the hit had only been small, so Winda wasn't knocked out, even as she rolled over and over on the ground until she came to a halt.
Once that was over with, she got up and could tell that something was wrong. She lifted her paw up and ran it across her muzzle.
Her paw was now covered in red.
Winda gasped, but then tried to reassure herself. "Nothing to worry about," she said aloud, "just a nosebleed."
From about ten yards away, Wamariri, who had just gotten up from a zebra kill, heard her.
"If that's a nosebleed, Mount Kilimanjaro is a termite mound."
Winda shook. She hoped Wamariri wasn't telling the truth. Then again, it was Wamariri, so she probably wasn't.
"How can you tell?" asked Winda, "you're all the way over there."
"Exactly," Wamariri replied, smiling a bit.
"Ooh…" Winda moaned. She began to look around. Perhaps there was someone else that could give her a second opinion. There weren't any competitors around, but there were spectators, standing just a couple of yards back from the outside of the track.
Winda ran over to a group of aardvarks, directly across the track from her.
"How bad am I bleeding?" she asked them.
"Wow! One of the Siku Choka competitors is talking to us!"
"She needs our help!"
"Well answer her question!"
"Eh…she's bleeding?"
"I don't see any blood."
"Nor do I."
"Nope."
"Nope."
"Hey, can I have your autograph?"
Now Winda didn't know who to believe. She ran her other paw across her muzzle. Before, it was sandy colored, and afterwards, it was also sandy colored, with a small dab of red in the middle.
"Thanks," the lioness replied.
She made her way over towards Wamariri. "You know, I am getting quite sick of your tactics," she said, rather cross.
Wamariri rolled her eyes. "A win's a win. You ain't gonna get one if you just sit there and whine to me though."
"Play clean, alright. Everyone else does. You can always win next year instead."
"Not necessarily. You could always end up like your sister next year."
"Please don't bring Shairi into this."
"Why not? It's not like I said anything bad about her."
"I know, but I just don't like to think about it."
"Why not?" asked Wamariri.
"Because she was my sister!" exclaimed Winda, flabbergasted that Wamariri was even questioning her this much. "How do you think you would feel?"
"You've got to forget about that stuff," replied Wamariri. "You can't go into a Siku Choka with attachments. Every other lion is a nobody, a competitor, an enemy. If you don't think like that, you won't win at all. Come to think of it, it's pretty obvious now why your sister never won."
"She would have!" shouted Winda back. "And I'm proof. Every point I've scored today has came from what Shairi taught me."
Wamariri chuckled. "And I thought you were a threat."
"All 288 of them."
"If you played like your sister, you'd be dead," replied Wamariri. "I'm sorry it had to come to this, Winda, but your sister would have never won a Siku Choka. She was…well…pathetic. I'm amazed she got this far."
"Do you get ten points for killing lions in this game?"
Wamariri laughed. "No, you get a death sentence. Glad I got to you though, you ain't got a chance now."
"I'm not talking about me killing you, I'm talking about you killing others."
"If I'd killed someone, Winda…I'd be dead."
"You know what I mean, Wamariri. Okay, so maybe Shairi never won a Siku Choka, and maybe she was never gonna. But did you hear the cheers when she walked out onto the track yesterday? Do you know how loved she was? For three hundred and sixty-four days of the year, she was the most popular lioness that ever roamed, and she enjoyed every second of it. Handing out pawprints, playing with cubs, talking with her friends, trying to outwit me all the time. But you? For three hundred and sixty-four days of the year…I mean, your life must be hell. And you think it gets better here? Being booed all the time? Sure you don't like it, but it's what you deserve. You have an anxiety to prove us all wrong, kill us if you have to, so that you can win the Siku Choka. Then what happens, huh? You…you get pieces of prey to feast on. You won't have fans there to share it with you, your life won't be any better tomorrow than what it was the other day, and I don't know how you can live with yourself like that. Sure, you'll be remembered. But you won't be remembered as a Siku Choka champion, like Uku or Guvu or Juni. No, you're just going to be remembered as a selfish, rotten scumbag."
Wamariri's eyes narrowed and she approached Winda.
"I'd take those words back if I were you," she whispered ferociously.
"I'm not gonna," replied Winda, standing her ground. "It's all true. And you know what? Say whatever the hell you want about my sister. I was very lucky to have experienced my life with her, and you can't take that back."
"I'm still waiting for you to take those words back," said Wamariri. "You're never going to win if we just stay here in deadlock all day."
At this, Winda laughed. "Win?" she asked. "Win?"
Oh great, thought Wamariri, here she goes on how winning's not important, again. What a moron…
"At least I can still win," replied Winda.
Wamariri frowned. What was she getting at?
"But…you," continued Winda, "you're in my face. You're not ten yards away from me anymore."
That was what she was getting at.
Wamariri gasped. She looked towards the side. About ten officials were all standing right next to them, on the inside of the track.
"No…wait…"
"Ma'am, multiple officials just saw you walk backwards on the track. According to the rules, that is a level two violation, and you have been disqualified of all of your points and now must remove yourself from the track," said Kanafa.
"Now come on! I didn't do it to create an advantage…"
"The rule actually exists for the competitors safety, Ma'am. We don't want the competitors and prey going every which way…"
"Safety? This is the Siku Choka! Safety doesn't belong here!"
"Come on Wamariri," said Winda, "we don't want anyone to get hurt now…"
Wamariri had completely forgotten about Winda up until this point. However, now she remembered…remembered that she was the cause of all of this. And there she now was, standing face-to-face with Wamariri, grinning from ear to ear.
"YOU!" exclaimed the former-competitor-now-spectator, and with that she reached out to attack the younger lioness.
Before she could reach her however, a crowd of officials jumped on top of Wamariri and brought her down to the ground.
"Non-competitors are not allowed to attack competitors of the Siku Choka during the event," stated Kanafa. "Creatures that take such an action must be restrained."
Wamariri wasn't listening though. She was too busy fighting off the officials.
"And that," added Kanafa, "is a class three violation."
"What's that mean?" asked Winda.
"Banned from the premises for this event and for all future events."
Another fifteen officials, meaning hyenas, wild dogs, leopards, cheetahs and lions, joined in the task of restraining Wamariri. Once they had her down on the ground, it was time to start trying to drag her out of the track.
"Come on misses," commanded one of the lions, "let's get you out of here," and with that, he grabbed Wamariri under one shoulder, while another lion grabbed her under the other. With the canines in tow, they dragged the lioness out towards the outside of the track and towards the spectators.
Wamariri wasn't going quietly. The whole time she was yelling at the top of her lungs, words at the officials and at Winda that could also be considered class one, two and sometimes even class three violations.
"Make sure she doesn't come back," commanded one of the lions, and with that he and the other lion through Wamariri into the audience, where a bunch of cheering hippos, ostriches, rhinos crocodiles and lions made sure that she never ever came back on track.
"You were right," said Simba cheerfully. "She lost…and got mauled."
"Ah…I think she's getting a little more than mauled over there, honey."
"Ooh…I think you're right. Heh, I sure hope there aren't any kids over there."
"Did Tumaini just bring the antelope down?" asked Pumbaa.
"I don't think anyone's paying attention right now honestly," replied Nala. "She may have."
"I think Nakshi got the buffalo too. And it looks like she's about to get the zebra here."
"That'll still only give her 230 points," said Zazu, joining in Pumbaa's conversation. "Too little, too late, I'm afraid."
"Nala," addressed Simba, "please bow your head."
Nala did so.
"Oh Lords," began Simba, "thank you for such a wondrous occasion. It is such a shame that we saw Zoea, Maneno, Shairi, Ema, Uku, Juni and Wamariri go…but Lords, please bless the first six of which I mentioned and find a place for them in your heaven. Amen."
Nala shook her head and sighed. "Ah, we're both going to hell now."
"I know," replied Simba. "But at least we'll be there together."
(A/N: I hope you're all happy right now. What a great start to the week! First Independence Day...and now this. Next chapter Friday!)