NOODLE BALLS!!!!!!!!!

Now that I got your attention, vote Ralph Wiggum, his cat's breath smells like cat food. Plus he needs someone to fix his bent wookie. Yes I am in a very weird mood thanks for asking.

The day was now coming to a close and most of the pride was lying down in the coolness of the cave, away from the hot sun. It was another day of no rain, yet Simba could still sense that a change was coming soon.

Kijani had spent the day wandering around his old home, looking for familiar faces and finding his old hiding grounds that he and Hondo liked to play in. Hondo had also spent his day finding his old pack, his father had long since retired from leadership duties and it was his brother who was the leader of the pack. His pack had actually grown since he had left too, before he had left, his family was sixteen strong, now it had grown to twenty-two individuals. Hondo felt proud that his family was still very healthy, but he was still closer to Kijani and would rather spend his time with his best friend.

The cubs had not returned yet from their day of play so Kijani just relaxed with Hondo as he conversed with his sister Safiya who had now grown into quite a lovely young lioness. She still looked the same as she had been when she was a cub, but now she was bigger and stronger, and as Kijani had seen, was a very skillful hunter.

They were just finishing their talk about a pride Kijani had run into once when the cubs suddenly ran in, all four running full force into Kijani who nearly had the wind knocked out of him.

"We have a question for youuuuuu," sang Asha as she rolled off his back.

"Well it's going to have to wait a minute, I'm still telling Safiya about a pack I knew," said Kijani.

All four cubs lowered their heads, they had been running for quite sometime and now they had to wait to ask.

"All that running for nothing, and in the hot sun too," said Zuri with a growl.

"Yeah now the fur between my leg and side is all wet and smelly," said Kali as she lifted her leg up and accidentally took a whiff. She made a grossed out face as her fur stood on end.

"Oh Kijani tell the story, I can wait to hear the rest later, they go to bed before us any way and I haven't heard a story from you either," said Safiya.

Kijani looked at Safiya and then at the cubs, all of them were making puppy dog eyes even his sister. Kijani rolled his eyes; it seemed he had become more mature than his sister.

"Alright what's the question?" asked Kijani.

"We have a cheetah friend and he always likes to play tag and race with us but because he is so fast we can never win with him around and so while we were taking a break we had an argument about how no one can out run a cheetah, is this true or is he pulling our leg?" asked Jelani.

Kijani sat for a moment, going through the library in his head, trying to remember if he had a story about cheetahs. Luckily he did remember one, and it was actually one of Hondo's favorites.

"Well there is a story about a cheetah racing a greyhound," said Kijani.

"A greyhound? What's that?" asked Asha.

"Well it's kind of like what Hondo is, only less furry, has floppy ears and is just as skinny as the cheetah but no spots," said Kijani.

"Did he race a cheetah and win?" asked Jelani.

"Well you're going to have to listen to the story now aren't ya," said Kijani with his paws on his chin and a big grin on his face.

The cubs all stared at him but knew better than asking any more questions. They then lay down next to Safiya and listened as the tale began.

Everyone regarded the Pharaoh as one of the most daring out of any Pharaoh that ever ruled. He was a gambling man, always trying to get more for his kingdom than any one would ever dare try. Luckily for him, he rarely lost and when he did he would usually try to gamble for it again until he did win. Many of his servants feared that one day he would gamble his whole kingdom away and leave with nothing but the Pharaoh believed that that was impossible.

Because he was such a gambler, he even had a racetrack built outside the palace. Whenever he wanted a cheep thrill or wanted to bet on something, he would just call his servants to send out his best greyhound to run with another greyhound. Victory was always his.

The greyhounds name was Jima and had been given to the Pharaoh as a gift from the land of Ethiopia when he was just a tiny puppy. It was more of a peace offering really, after a terrible gamble where the Pharaoh accused the King of Ethiopia that his servant was cheating. He had gouged out the servants eyes because of his insolence and banned the king from ever returning. But the king still wanted to make amends, so as a peace offering he sent the Pharaoh the greyhound puppy from one of his best running greyhounds, one that had never failed him.

At first the Pharaoh was reluctant and believed that the king had tricked him into thinking he was a great runner and quickly gave Jima a test. He made him run after a rabbit on the racetrack and timed him to see how fast he was. Of course when Jima saw the rabbit he thought it was something to play with and ran as fast as he could after it as it raced around the track. By the time it was over, Pharaoh was so surprised by how well Jima did that he made him his official racing greyhound when he became a year old.

Peace of course was made with Ethiopia as well and both kingdoms were once again playing random bets over strange problems and ideas.

For many years Jima was the Pharaohs prized pet and always treated him like royalty, even above the queen's cats who were just as important. Jima really did not care if he was prized or not though, he just liked to run and would often try different places to run around the kingdom. Sometimes he did it by himself, other times he would race with the other greyhounds and even the cats. Even though he still was the fastest out of all of them, he would still let them win every now and again for a change of pace.

Through the years Jima lost only seven races, but those races were usually played again since the Pharaoh hated to loose and always demanded a rematch. Jima hated those because usually one of the servants would find a way to slow down his competitor just so he would win.

But sometimes, Jima just liked the simple life of lying out on the veranda with his friends, one was an older greyhound named Sudi, before Jima came along he was the Pharaohs favorite and for a while both hated each other with a passion, they would not go near each other because Sudi believed that fighting was not the answer. They would only argue from far away which was really quite silly to listen to. But after a while Sudi learned that change can happen and that he was still loved by his master who still gave Sudi and Jima equal portions of food.

There was also Emu and Panya two of the queens royal cats who enjoyed watching the greyhounds run around in the hot dust. They would never try it themselves because they always wanted to keep their coats glossy in case the queen walked by to pick them up and stroke them lovingly while they purred in her arms.

Now it was one afternoon in Jima's fifth year that something new came to the kingdom. All four were lying down quietly on the veranda when they heard an angry growl. All four looked up causing Emu to get up and investigate.

"What is it Emu?" asked Jima, ears facing forward.

"It's a tribe I have never seen before, and they have a strange cat in a cage, and it's just as skinny as you are," said Emu.

This caused both Jima and Sudi to jump up and investigate the skinny cat, they followed the humans from a safe distance, they knew it would be for the Pharaoh but what they would use it for, they did not know.

They hid behind a statue of Ra when the Pharaoh appeared behind some curtains and walked forward; he looked very curious yet held his spear in his hands to be safe.

"Why have you come here?" asked the Pharaoh nervously. Jima and Sudi could sense that this was an old foe of his.

"The king in the far southern regions has died and his son has taken his place, and so as an offering of peace we give to you this cheetah and this snake," said one of the men.

The Pharaoh looked down at the cheetah who let out a loud hiss and brought out his claws. The Pharaoh smiled. "Ah a cat to run my racetrack for me, though I don't think my greyhounds would be safe around him."

"Actually sire, we use our cheetahs to chase antelope and other game for long distances to see how fast they can catch them," said another man.

"Ah now that sounds like a very fun game, let me see the snake," said the Pharaoh.

Carefully the men opened up the basket to reveal a very angry snake coiled up in the basket, it was poisonous but with great care Pharaoh could carry it around like a worm.

"Very nice, I accept your gifts, and tell your king that I am honored to have your friendship back, just as long as we never start another war," said Pharaoh.

The men all nodded while Pharaoh called his servants to take the cheetah and the snake into a special chamber. Jima and Sudi both looked at each other before both deciding to get a better look at the new pet. First they had to tell Emu and Panya about it. Since all cats must know what is going on.

They soon came to the pets chambers where, they usually slept at night. There were horses in there too and a family of spider monkeys that the Pharaoh had personally caught himself on a trip to the south. Carefully Jima made his way to the cage where the cheetah was pacing around in looking very angry indeed.

"Hello there," said Jima with a friendly voice.

The cheetah growled and jumped forward only to be blocked by the cage.

"If this cage was not here, I would eat you," said the cheetah.

"Oh come now, I bet you could not even catch me, I could run faster than anyone here. But you would still miss these three too," said Jima with a smirk. Even though he was a humble greyhound, he still liked to test his enemies every now and again, especially ones who seemed to think better of themselves.

The cheetah stared at Jima for a moment before letting out a big and menacing laugh. "You think you are faster than me, ha I have raced dogs like you before and every single one of them were so far behind that I took a nap in the shade before they reached me, for I, Shombay, am a cheetah the fastest animal around," said the cheetah.

Jima was about to say something when Panya gave one of her annoying laughs that even made the queen cringe. For she had a very high voice and when it was combined with glee, well lets just say that even glass in the room cringed with annoyance.

"Ha you say you are the fastest animal around yet your name means differently, 'walks like a lion' ha. I will only believe that you are fast if you run like one first," said Panya, she was always a great insulter.

"Hmmm, you have spirit for one as small as you, isn't it true that your name means 'mouse? Mice are cowards and hide at every chance they get, I bet if I escaped right now, you would run and hide as fast as you could," said Shombay.

"And I bet that nose of yours would lead you to a real mouse," said Panya.

Shombay only smirked; he liked arguing with those smaller than him and especially ones who believed they could outrun him.

"Still I would like to see him run," said Sudi.

"Yeah, a race sounds like a fun thing to do with him," said Jima.

"Hmm that does sound fun, though we do need to have prizes for the end," said Shombay as he brought out his claws and showed how sharp they were.

"Hmmm prizes, what would be good prizes?" asked Jima as he looked over at Sudi.

"How about if we win, you will never boast again saying that you are the fastest and if you do so then may your children be cursed for being too slow," said Sudi.

"Hmm sounds fair, and if I win, I believe I should have my share of Panya there," said Shombay.

Panya gasped. "You mean eat me?"

"Ha Ha no, you look too tough and gamey, I mean I get to rule over you, you shall do my bidding and as for Jima I say he should be humiliated in front of the Pharaoh," said Shombay.

"Then that means if I win, you also have to humiliate yourself in front of the Pharaoh," said Jima.

"Very well then, when do you want to start this race?" asked Shombay.

"Tomorrow morning just as the sun rises, the spider monkeys are very good at handling locks so they can let you out," said Jima.

Shombay smiled, this was truly going to be a fascinating day indeed. Jima and his friends all turned away from Shombay, each looking at each other with worried eyes. They all knew that things could change tomorrow.

They met out on the veranda, just as the sun was coming up. Shombay slinked his way over to the group with tremendous satisfaction in his face. But he wasn't the only one there; the snake had also joined them making both Emu and Panya nervous. Snakes were the cat's natural enemies and both knew they could do two things to them, either squeeze or bite and both had seen it happen.

"Why did you bring the snake with you?" asked Panya, her high voice sounding slightly higher from nervousness.

"Well I need someone to route for me, having no one on my side is really boring," said Shombay.

All four looked down at the snake who only hissed at them to show that he meant business and all four knew they needed to have another rule to this game.

"Alright, if he is here then a new rule has formed, he may not bite anyone, if he does I will call the Pharaohs hawk after him and believe me, Jafari does not give anyone a quick and painless death," said Jima.

Shombay stared at the snake who only nodded as he flicked out his tongue.

"Very well, he will keep his mouth closed," he said.

"Good now here is how the race will go, we will start here, run all the way to the third pyramid over there, go around it and then return at this spot here, whoever gets here first is the winner," said Jima.

"Very good," said Shombay. He was in no mood now to talk; he just wanted to get the race over with so he could feel victory.

So Jima set himself into position while a few feet away, Shombay did so as well while Sudi started the game.

"Now when I say ready you both run, no one go until I say so otherwise we will say you cheated and will not consider you a winner," said Sudi he had a habit of talking a little too long and it made Shombay growl at him. Sudi knew he had to get on with it. "And……..ready!"

In the blink of an eye, both dog and cat ran as fast as they could through the cool morning sand toward the third pyramid about a mile away. Both were going at a steady pace and both were neck and neck. Jima was used to this for he did it every morning with Sudi; usually he would do about three laps before quitting while Sudi, in his old age, would only do a lap and a half before finally quitting from exhaustion. Shombay was enjoying his run, he had been wild caught and for several weeks now, he had spent his days in the cage pacing back and forth in anger, and now that he was out he could finally live again.

The dog and cat finally reached the third pyramid and both slid into the sand as they rounded the turn. Jima was used to this and regained his footing easily while Shombay took some time trying to negotiate with his paws until he finally found a good footing and caught up with Jima just as he left the pyramid.

Both began to run as fast as they could now, now that half the race was over and either one could be the victor. Jima's tongue was now hanging out while Shombay was breathing heavily; he had no idea if it was from excitement or exhaustion.

Shombay soon found out though when his legs buckled causing him to fall forward a little, he tried to regain his footing but his back leg fell back into the sand. He tried to lift it but only slowly since his foot was now sore and worn out.

He did finally regain it after a moment though and tried to run again but this time it came out as only a jog and he quickly realized why. It was something his mother had taught him as a cub that he often ignored. "Cheetahs are built for speed but only at short distances, you must wait for a good opportunity to catch your prey."

Shombay growled under his breath, knowing that he was now a foolish cheetah into thinking that he could beat a skinny greyhound. Maybe at a short distance on the racetrack but not out here. He could now hear Jima reach the finish line as his friends yowled with delight and now knew that he had to walk up and congratulate him because even a looser must show respect for a winner no matter how much they hate each other.

Shombay reached the four friends, his head held low while his face showed that he had been a foolish cheetah to be so proud of his species.

"Nice run," said Shombay.

"Yeah it was a good one," said Jima.

"I forgot that cheetahs don't run very long distances," said Shombay sheepishly.

"I knew that, I just wanted to see it for myself," said Sudi who had actually raced several cheetahs in his youth on the racetrack which was a much shorter distance than the one he had just taken, Sudi had lost a few times against the cheetahs but he didn't mind. Of course during the last race the cheetah did cheat by attacking him.

Shombay only glared at Sudi, older dogs were so ornery. But of course he knew some cheetahs like that too.

"How about this, not today seeing as how I can smell the Pharaoh coming to get you back in your cage, but how about some day we race together on the track and I will let you win," said Jima.

Shombay perked up his ears and smiled. "I would like that, are we still going to try to humiliate each other though?" he asked.

"Nah, that race I took with you was fun, we can be fun enemies," said Jima.

Shombay smiled before wincing from a sudden jab on his hindquarters. One of the servants had shot him with a dart to make him calmer so they could put him back into his cage without any trouble. Jima backed off while Shombay growled at the humans and tried to swipe at them with his claws. Of course after a few moments, they felt way too heavy and decided it was best to lie down.

After a few moments, Jima and his friends watched as Shombay was taken back to the stables. They all hoped that Shombay would be a great adversary in the years to come. For now though all Jima wanted to do was relax on the veranda and enjoy the day with his best friends.

Kijani finished the story and looked down at the four cubs, whose eyes were now slowly drooping but still happy to hear the story all the same.

"So as you can see, you can race a cheetah, but only if you want to do a long distance race with him," said Kijani.

"So if I asked him to race from Pride Rock to the water hole, you think he would slow down before we got there?" asked Jelani with a yawn.

"Perhaps but you have to find out for yourself," said Kijani.

All the cubs nodded, none of them felt like asking questions now. They had a long hot day and were very willing to fall asleep next to their parents. Kijani could tell this and began to scoot them over toward the pride who was conversing with each other. They had not listened to a story yet mainly because they didn't have a question that they wanted to ask yet.

The cubs went straight over to their mothers and cuddled closely for warmth. Kijani watched with a smile before moving over to a nearby wall where Hondo was sleeping. He knew that tomorrow would be another day for stories and he could not wait to tell them more.

A/N: Yeah probably a sappy ending but I had no idea how to end that, oh well. Hope you all enjoyed that one. It didn't end up the way I planned but it was still fun to write any way. Also I might not update again until the end of February/early March. I am moving with my mom to a townhouse on the 25th and I have two papers to write this month for my Civil War class so you are going to have to wait for the next one for a bit. But if you are wondering what the next story will be about, just check my profile and I have it written down for you guys to check. Oh and name meanings

Shombay: Walks like a lion

Jima is just listed as an Ethopian name so I guess it has no meaning

Sudi: Lucky

Emu: Cat

Panya: Mouse

Yeah I was being silly there so I couldn't resist.

So yeah have a nice month and if anyone goes greyhound racing, route for Santa's Little Helper, yes he is slow but he's so cute.