The field, in all honestly, had made a terrible strategic call. Every single competitor had either just ran a lap or fallen asleep on the frontstretch…bar one.
So, when a new antelope, zebra and buffalo were released, Guvu saw an easy thirty points for the taking. The antelope almost escaped but Guvu presided, the zebra never stood a chance, while the buffalo put up a brave fight and carried Guvu far away from the prey-release point. So when all was said and done, Guvu was far away from the desired ambushing posts…but he was thirty points richer. It had been worth it.
Peponi, Eboni, Bilauri, Nala and Tonka were all making their way up towards the prey-release point. Since the buffalo had been the last piece of prey that Guvu had brought down, it was a buffalo that the pack of lions found themselves up against first.
Tonka and Bilauri gave in, figuring that the fight would not be worth it. That left Peponi, Nala and Eboni in chase for the buffalo.
Buffalo were not Peponi's forte, but hunting in the wet was. Consequently, she was the first on the buffalo's back. Nala was second up, but she was faced with an unexpected problem. Since it had been raining, the buffalo's back was slipperier than usual. Nala lost her grip and slid off the back of the herbivore. The buffalo's hoof just caught Nala's shoulder, and the lioness wasn't helped when Eboni slipped in the mud and ran into the back of her.
Nala was knocked down onto the ground, but she was perfectly conscious and healthy. However, her injured shoulder wasn't going to do her much good anytime soon.
Peponi, now unchallenged, succeeded in bringing the buffalo down.
Nala and Eboni made their way back to the outside of the track, lining back up in ambush.
"Pride nearby?" asked Eboni.
"Not too far," Nala replied. "I'm considering taking a quick nap in front of them. Hopefully that should help nurse this wound."
Eboni nodded in agreement. "I had a twisted paw earlier. Slept for twenty minutes and it was fine. Wonders, what sleep can do."
Nala had heard all she needed to hear. Sleep was the best option for now. However, she had to wait for her pillow to come and help her out.
Peponi, meanwhile, had gotten up from her buffalo kill and was now after the zebra and antelope. A bunch of the competitors were falling asleep again and so there was nobody around to challenge her. Thus, the zebra was an easy picking…but the antelope ran away. The antelope passed the point at which Peponi's pride was watching on the hills, and Peponi gave up the chase. Sleep sounded like a great idea right now, and in front of her pride was the best place to do it. The antelope would be able to enjoy life for a few more minutes.
Tonka had brought down the new zebra when it had been released and now he was off to sleep in front of his home pride too.
Meanwhile, Bilauri was in front of her home pride, but sleep was the last thing on her mind.
"Are you sure?" she asked one of her fellow pride-mates, who had been watching the event from the stands.
"Yes Bilauri, three teams of two. Elvis and Nala, Shemshi and Winda, Simba and Shairi."
"Winda and Shemshi have a history of working together."
"Yes, they're very good at it."
"They're going to need a third member if they want to play tic-tac-toe or box-and-bundle. I've got to try and become part of it."
"That's why I told you. Here they come now, try and see if you can stop them."
Indeed, Winda, Simba, Shemshi and Shairi were all now making their way out of the final turn. The two sisters were leading the chase, and so Shemshi and Simba both knew that they were out of luck as far as the zebra was concerned. So, Shemshi gave in and made his way over to line up in ambush…right next to Bilauri.
"Excuse me, Shemshi," Bilauri addressed, cautiously making her way up to him. "Hey, eh, I heard that you and Winda were thinking of forming a team and…well…I know that Siku Choka teams usually work best in groups of three so, eh, just…putting it out there that I'd be willing to be part of your team, if that is okay with you and Winda."
Shemshi smiled as a response. "It's fine with me," he replied, "I'll have to ask Winda how she feels though."
Bilauri could have breathed a sigh of relief. She was in with a shot! "Thanks so much," she replied, delighted.
Shemshi and Bilauri both turned around in time to watch Winda snag another set of ten points away from her sister as she brought the zebra down to the ground. Meanwhile, Simba ran on by them both and gave chase to the buffalo.
Nala was watching from the sidelines, shaking her head.
"Please don't do this, Simba," she groaned.
Simba was right on the buffalo's hind legs. He snarled. The buffalo got scared, and began to run faster. Consequently, his rear leg slipped on the mud and he stumbled. Simba sensed an opportunity and he pounced up onto the buffalo's back. The buffalo arched his back and began to run faster, trying everything that he could think of to make Simba's job harder. Simba reached out his right rear leg and ejected his claws, then jammed them into the side of the buffalo like daggers. The buffalo was in pain. It lost the arch in its back and began to slow down. Simba took advantage and pulled himself farther up onto the buffalo's back. He opened his jaw and clamped it down shut on the buffalo's neck. It was a perfect shot, and Simba's teeth were only sinking in deeper as the buffalo continued to put up a fight. Eventually, however, the buffalo succumbed to the struggle, and it collapsed down onto the ground, giving Simba ten points.
Nala was dumbfounded, and evidently so. Simba couldn't help but laugh at her expression as he made his way over to where his injured mate was lying out in front of their home pride.
"How did you do that?" she asked. "That was amazing."
"Sorry," replied Simba, lying down next to his mate, "but that information is classified."
"I hate to tell you this, Simba, but I got injured again."
"I see that," Simba stated. Nala's bleeding shoulder wasn't exactly an easy sight to avoid.
"Mind if I use you as a pillow again?"
"Think it will be a strategic advantage?" Simba asked back. "I mean, Eboni, Shemshi and Guvu are probably going to try and stay awake."
"They will," Nala admitted, "but they won't get that many points. The prey's spread out, they're worn out, and it's still raining. We won't be losing out too much."
Simba yawned. "Sounds good," he said, lying his head down. "Night Nala."
"Night Simba," came the reply, as Nala rested her head down on top of his.
His teeth were sunken far down into the buffalo's neck, but yet the buffalo continued to buck. She, meanwhile, was watching from the sidelines, completely bewildered. Why was he not letting go? She tried to shout, but no words came out. She crossed her toes, knowing, deep-down, that only a miracle could save the one she loved so, now.
Finally, the buffalo threw her mate over the top of his head and slammed him down onto the ground. She tried to close her eyes, but she couldn't. She could only watch on in terror as the herbivore smashed his hooves into her one love's skull, and her mate's limp, blood-battered body got tossed and turned around in the air.
Nala screamed, waking herself and Simba both up.
"Nala, hun, you okay?" Simba asked.
Nala was breathing heavily, but she nodded. Then, she turned her head and looked at her mate. His eyes, his face, his mane, his features…hers.
Nala reached out her paws and pulled Simba forwards towards her, kissing him on the lips.
"Simba," she whined, "I just had a bad dream that something terrible happened to you…"
"Hey, it's alright," her husband replied, wrapping his arm around her back and rubbing her soothingly, "I'm okay. We're both here."
"What if it's an omen? What if it's a sign of bad things to come?"
"Hey," Simba replied soothingly, trying to calm his mate down. "It's alright. I had a bad dream that Zazu was dancing without any feathers on. You think that's going to happen too?"
Nala blinked. "Simba, why were you dreaming of a dancing, naked Zazu?"
"I don't know, but that's not the point Nala. Point is that I'm sure it's going to be fine. I know what I'm doing, I've got a good tutor, and I'm going to be sensible about it. We're going to be okay, trust me."
Nala sighed and looked down at the ground. "No one's died yet, Simba," she added, "eventually there's going to be a first."
"Too late, I'm afraid," replied Eboni, standing next to them.
Simba and Nala both gasped. They turned around and looked at Eboni's grave face.
"Peponi's gone."
Nobody knew how Peponi had died. Story was that Juveda had been the only other competitor awake at the time, but nobody was in a hurry to ask her how. Mind you, Lenny tried…
"Hi, don't think I've met you before, my name's Lenny, yours is Juveda, isn't it? Say, you're the lioness who was awake when Peponi was killed. You don't know what happened, do you? I mean, it would be nice to know considering I don't want to be killed. I like to know what kind of mistakes the other lions are making. Shame about Peponi's death really. Never really knew her that well though. We never got to talk like this. This is an interesting conversation we're having, isn't it?"
Juveda just groaned and walked away, trying to get as far away from Lenny as possible.
The rains had stopped now and virtually all of the competitors were back up. The crowds were returning as well.
It was deep into the night now, and, now that the conditions were better, time for some points to be scored.
Up on the hilltop, Sarafina and Tumaini were still sharing their antelope carcass with each other. Tumaini took another chunk out of the carcass.
"You know," Sarafina said, "I think the track worker said it was Juveda who killed this antelope."
Tumaini finished chewing on the chunk that she had just ripped off. She swallowed it. "So?"
"I dunno, just putting it out there." Sarafina looked back out across the track. She looked over towards where her daughter was, and then over towards where Juveda was. "I hope she didn't kill her," she added, "I don't want my daughter to be out there with a murderer."
Tumaini looked disgusted. "You think Juveda killed Peponi?"
"Well, she doesn't seem like the nicest lion in the world."
"Juveda's no murderer, Sarafina," Tumaini replied, chewing on another piece of the carcass. "She is just very aloof and misunderstood, that's all. Not the most social of creatures. I know because I rested at her pride on my way down here. Took me six days to get here, you know. Her pride, well, let's just put it this way. They all slept in the same den…yet she slept about two miles away in a cave all to herself. Never really got to talk to her much." Tumaini finished chewing, and she swallowed down her second piece of carcass. "Juveda's not a very nice lion," she told Sarafina, with a hint of seriousness in her voice, "but she's no murderer, Sarafina."
The field had been getting busy, but none more so than Eboni who was now up to 169 points.
Nala finished up her chase on the antelope and lined back up in ambush next to her mate.
"So, Shairi's your teammate now, huh?"
"Elvis is yours. You can't complain."
"No I can't, but you seem to be forgetting one thing."
"What's that?"
"Teams in the Siku Choka usually consist of three lions, not two."
"Aw, someone's going to have to get in between you and Elvis then."
"Course I could always make it a male. Then I get to choose."
"Who you going to make it then? Guvu, Lenny, Tonka?"
"Not Guvu, that's for sure. Just checked a minute ago, he has 146 points now. He's catching Eboni up."
"So Shairi and I have got to try and get Tonka first."
"Well you could always pick a female. You've got Eboni, but she's too good, and Juveda, but she's…well…yes, I guess you're going to have to try and beat us to Tonka."
"Well why don't we just work together?" Simba interjected. "I mean, what is with all this nonsense about working with lions that we don't even know?"
Nala smiled as a response. "Because if we don't know them, we don't know what they know. They can teach us things, such as I believe Shairi taught you how to kill a buffalo."
"She did, but now I could always share it with you."
"I think you've got more to learn from her," Nala replied. "I think I've still got more to learn from Elvis. Tell you what, let's team up in the final hour. We'll make it a Pridelands 1-2. If that happens, I could care less who wins it."
"Sounds great," Simba replied, holding his paw out. "Shake on it?"
Nala chuckled. "Simba," she said, "you shook on that when you married me."
Eboni was leading and Guvu was second, but the battle for third was tightening up with Juveda on 127 points and Shemshi on 124.
A buffalo ran on by Shemshi and he gave chase. In doing so, he crossed the starting line and his total went up to 125. Elvis joined in on the chase but Shemshi was already hogging the buffalo's back. He pounced up on top of it. Elvis attacked from the side, throwing the buffalo off balance and causing Shemshi to lose his footing. Consequently, Shemshi fell off the buffalo and landed on top of Elvis, causing them to both collapse onto the ground.
The buffalo had been badly wounded by the two, and it was now bucking as it ran its way from side to side over the course, trying his best to scare all the lions away.
Simba and Nala were the next two lions in ambush. They were both cowered back, trying to ensure that the buffalo's attention didn't get drawn towards them.
"Nala, we've got to kill that buffalo."
Nala knew he was right, but she couldn't help but remain silent. The buffalo hadn't ran on by them yet, and any noise would draw the buffalo's attention towards them. She was praying to the gods that it wouldn't come running their way. This was how lions lost their lives in the Siku Choka…
Finally, the buffalo picked up the pace and ran past them.
"Move on out!" exclaimed Nala.
Simba and Nala both began running. Elvis came running up alongside them too, joining in the chase.
"I wounded this thing, folks, it's my solemn duty to stop it."
"Box and bundle," Nala said back to them. Nala stopped running and looked over at the rest of the lions lined up in ambush. "Come on!" she shouted. "We need as many lions to bundle as we can!"
Nala began moving again, and caught Elvis and Simba back up. Lenny, Shairi and Tonka were now with them too.
'Box and Bundle' was a commonly used strategy during the Siku Choka upon which one competitor would run out in front of the prey and then slow right down. The prey would then slow down too, for fear that making any move to pass the lion would result in their instant death. However, while that slow lion was boxing the prey behind them, the rest of the team would run up from behind and attack the prey off-guard, allowing them to score an easy set of ten points.
"I'll box!" exclaimed Lenny, knowing that he wasn't really that handy when it came to doing the actual killing of buffalos.
Lenny ran out in front of the bucking buffalo and checked over his shoulder. He could tell that the buffalo was close behind him, but not so close as to pose a threat to Lenny's life. Lenny slowed down, and the other five lions moved in.
Simba and Tonka grabbed the rear flanks while Nala jumped up on the buffalo's rump and dragged it down. Shairi and Elvis both jumped up on the buffalo's back, both attempting to kill it at the same time. Consequently, their heads slammed into each other, causing Shairi to fall to the ground while Elvis dug his teeth into the back of the buffalo's neck and killed it.
Sure, Elvis had got the ten points, but the important thing was that the wild beast was dead.
"Sorry about that incident, Shairi," Elvis called.
"That's alright," replied Shairi, rubbing a sore spot on her head, "we both just went for it at the same time. It's dead now, that's what matters."
"It is?" asked Lenny, enthusiastically. "Hey, well done guys! I was scared there for a minute, that's for sure. Didn't know where it was going to go."
"You did great too, Lenny," said Tonka, getting back up on his feet, "a fine team player, to box like that."
Simba and Nala quickly exchanged glances. They read each other's minds. They were now competitors…
"Tonka, want to be on mine and Shairi's team?" Simba asked hastily, before Nala could.
Tonka…and Shairi…were both caught a bit off-guard by Simba's proposition, but he smiled nonetheless.
"I'd be a fool to pass on such a proposition," the lion replied. "Sure, why not?"
Simba turned back to face his mate, with a smug look on his face. Nala ignored it.
"Lenny, you'd like to be on mine and Elvis's?" she asked.
"Would I?" Lenny responded, merrily. "Ha! I never thought anyone would ever ask! Of course I will! Ha ha! I'm on a team!" he cheered, beginning a run around the circuit.
"So, eh, we're going to team up with him?" Elvis asked, not having discussed the situation with Nala before.
"Why not?" Nala replied. "He's proven that he's a great team worker and, though I hate to say it," she added, lowering her voice, "he's not very good at scoring points." She raised her voice back up and continued. "So, he'll never really be a threat to us for the win."
"Uh-huh-huh, I see where you're coming from now Ma'am. Well, I'm up for giving everyone a fair shot. We'll see how we stack up against the other teams."
"Indeed we will," replied Nala, smiling across towards where Simba, Shairi, and Tonka stood. "You guys better beware," she added, "there's a storm a-coming."
Bilauri had begun a chase and now she was on the hind heels of the antelope andthe zebra. The antelope slipped on the mud, which was still quite wet, and gave Bilauri everything she needed in order to score another set of ten points. The zebra, meanwhile, continued to run, and was soon brought down by Shemshi for a set of ten. Shemshi lined back up in ambush alongside Juveda.
"Handy that all those lions ran after that buffalo," Shemshi said aloud, "moves us all up to first in ambush."
"You think I don't bloody well see that?" Juveda snapped back. "Why do you have to tell me where all the lions went? I've got two good eyes, they can see where those lions are. I don't need to you to be distracting me, alright? Be gone with you!"
Shemshi looked away from her. "Geez," he muttered to himself, "alright, you old croon."
"What did you call me?"
"Eh…"
"You old croon, eh? Yeah, since this ugly looking lioness has her heart in a game so much that she doesn't like being distracted, that gives me the right to insult her because she doesn't have any feelings. Is that you're way of thinking, hey?"
"No, not at all, Ma'am."
Juveda frowned. She could tell that Shemshi had just turned on the defensive. "Good," she replied, "it better not be."
Shemshi continued to shake his head. "Nope," he confirmed, "n—nope, not at all."
Juveda was glaring deep into Shemshi's eyes. Shemshi could only stare right back.
Gods, her face is scary.
Juveda's eyes were still narrowed, but she returned them to where her focus had been originally: on the new prey that were now making their way down the course.
As the lame buffalo was being killed, Guvu had lined up in waiting at the prey-release point. So, when the new buffalo had been released, it had quickly became his. Now, three new pieces of prey had just been released, and so Guvu lied in wait.
He let the antelope go by, the zebra go by, and then the buffalo. Then, he gave chase.
Guvu soon had the buffalo down on the ground, and he would be able to line back up in ambush. However, the zebra and the antelope were still in a panic, and so they continued to run. Ten lions were lined up in ambush, waiting for them.
Winda, Bilauri and Eboni were the first to give chase, with Juveda and Shemshi not too far behind them. Winda closed in on the zebra's hind heels, but then stumbled as she lost her footing in a puddle. Eboni pulled out to lead the chase. They had wasted too much time and track though, and the other five competitors joined in.
Eboni was leading with Nala second in line as they ran on through the turn. As the track straightened back out, a couple of the mid-pack lions put on a burst of speed and the two pieces of prey fell into their clutches.
The antelope had gone to Bilauri while the zebra had gone to Juveda. The other eight lions continued to run.
The only two lions that had not been a part of the pack were Guvu, who had been waiting on ambush for the new buffalo, and Lenny, who had been so excited about being on a team that he had ran a full lap around the course which, ironically enough, was not going to help his team out a whole lot.
Guvu got the new buffalo down and the crowd cheered as they knew what it now meant.
Guvu: 177; Eboni: 169.
"What's the record?" Tumaini asked Sarafina, watching the pack run on down the backstretch.
"407. Kahawia. Siku Choka 2. There were only 6 lions in it and it was a really tiny circuit so it was easy for them all to score points."
Tumaini scoffed. "Six lions? Who the heck would want to watch that?"
"Well they were six legends. I mean, if I said Uku, Guvu, Juni, you, Eboni and Winda were all going to do a Siku Choka together. I mean, I'd still come watch."
"You poor soul."
"I know."
"Thank goodness there are some average Joe's out there," said Tumaini, "it makes it a bit more interesting. I mean, if they were all running in that pack, those three new pieces of prey would get to do a whole lap before anyone killed them."
"But there's Lenny," Sarafina reasoned.
Tumaini nodded in agreement. "But there's Lenny."
The prey had all walked far away from the prey-release point. Therefore, it would be undesirable to chase after the prey right now because, by the time you caught them, you would not be in the optimal position for ambushing.
Of course, as Sarafina and Tumaini had figured, Lenny didn't know that.
He ran on by the release-point and charged the zebra down. The antelope ran away while the buffalo was ambushed by Guvu. A new buffalo and zebra were released for the other ten lions.
As they came running through the final turn, Tonka slipped in a blind puddle and fell over in the mud.
Shairi groaned. "Simba, if you want to start this team now, we're going to have to wait for Tonka at the prey-release-point. We need to play tic-tac-toe."
"Sounds good," the lion king replied.
Elvis ran up alongside Nala.
"So what should we do about Lenny?" he asked. "You think we should go after him?"
"I'm still thinking," Nala replied. "If we can get the prey to spread out around the track, then we might as well catch up with him. We can play box-and-bundle, if that's the case."
And Shemshi ran up alongside Winda.
"Bilauri wants to be on our team, Winda," he said. "She seems to have the smarts for this game, she could be very useful to us."
"Alright," Winda replied, "let's wait for her at the prey-release point then."
The only three lions that weren't in a team were Guvu and Eboni, who were both dominating, and Juveda, who nobody wanted to be in a team with either…but for different reasons.
Nala and Elvis ran on by the prey-release point and went to catch up with Lenny, while the rest of the lions tried to line up as early in ambush as they could.
Simba looked back up the track, waiting for Tonka to come running around the corner.
"Come on Tonka, buddy, you're taking too long."
"So why'd you invite him?" Shairi asked.
Simba didn't really know how to respond to this. He'd just thought that it'd been the right thing to do.
"Well…don't Siku Choka teams usually work best in groups of three?"
"They do, but it was never really a team I had in mind. I just thought it would be nice if I helped you and you helped me."
Simba couldn't help but laugh. "How could I help you?" he asked. "I mean, you've been in four Siku Chokas, this is my first."
Shairi smiled back. "You travelled through a burning desert, through your destroyed home and defeated your deceiving uncle in order to take your rightful place as king, upon which you raised a healthy, happy family and ruled over lands lush enough to host two separate Siku Chokas. I admire you, Simba. You're much more than you think you are."
Finally, Tonka ran up and joined the group. "So what's the plan, guys?" he asked. "Looks like Elvis's team is about to get the buffalo."
Simba and Shairi looked over to see Elvis and Nala running on the hind heels of the buffalo. Lenny had used up so much track in chasing the zebra earlier, that he was still far ahead of them. However, Shairi could tell what they were doing.
"If they bring the buffalo down together, they take ten points away from Guvu," she said, looking at the two-time champion who was still lined up in ambush. "Guvu won't go after the zebra. He doesn't like wasting his energy on those things. It'll be Lenny's for the taking."
"So how does that affect us?"
"We don't go for the buffalo when it is released," Shairi replied. "Let's play tic-tac-toe, but zebra only. Antelope and buffalo use up too much track."
Simba and Tonka nodded in agreement.
Tic-tac-toe was the most popular of Siku Choka strategies. It was just like ambushing, except, instead of one lion doing it, it was now three. When it was every competitor for himself, every now and then he would get the fortune of being the first lion in ambush. When he chased, he would use up track during the chase and may end up being fourth, fifth or even tenth in ambush. But, in a team of three, you could wait in ambush, chase, and, if you lined back up in fourth or fifth, you would do so with the knowledge that half the lions in front of you were your teammates. If you lined up in tenth, you could run a lap around the track and your teammates would stay in their spots, holding an ambushing post just for you for when you returned. Basically, tic-tac-toe gave each team a sense of track ownership: being the first three lions in ambush meant that every other competitor that wasn't in your team, such as Guvu or Eboni, would now be finding it more difficult to score points.
Meanwhile, Elvis and Nala, as Shairi had guessed, were both trying to get the buffalo down. They both jumped up on its back at the same time and both dug their teeth into its neck. The buffalo came down to the ground, and Elvis and Nala remained lying on top of it with their teeth sunken in until it stopped breathing. Now sure that it was dead, they ran over to the side of the track to see Lenny, knowing they could now discuss their plans.
"Who got the points?" Lenny asked.
Nala and Elvis both turned around. A group of track workers had huddled around the buffalo, checking to see which of the two competitors had delivered the fatal bite. After some quick deliberation, a leopard stood up from the kill and pointed over towards Nala.
"Yes!" exclaimed Nala, fist-pumping the air.
"Well congratulations there, Ma'am," said Elvis, not at all disappointed that he had missed out on ten points. At least it had been one for the team.
"Thank you very much," Nala joked back in a deep voice. "So, where do you two want to begin?"
"I thought you were the strategist," Lenny replied.
"I could be, but you two have experience. Surely you both know a bit more than me."
"Well ah know Guvu enough to know that he's not going to go after the buffalo," Elvis reasoned. "So if we chase around the track, we've got an antelope and a zebra for the taking. Guvu's the only one after us and he let them both by."
Nala agreed with every word that Elvis was saying, but then she realized another variable that could help their plan.
"Let's walk," she suggested. "Let's just follow them, the whole lap around. We're all a bit tired now because we've been running a lot. If we just stalk the antelope and zebra, then they're bound to be ours. The rest of the field can only go after buffalo until we kill these two other pieces."
"Then we don't have to run as far once we do kill them to get to the prey-release point," added Elvis.
"Exactly."
"But won't we be wasting a lot of time?" Lenny questioned.
Nala shrugged as a response. "If we have control over the zebra and the antelope, the rest of the field can only kill buffalo. They're not going to be getting a whole lot of points by doing that."
"So you're saying that conserving energy while killing time is better than wasting energy while saving time?" Elvis asked.
"The tortoise beat the hare," Nala replied. "If we killed these two pieces of prey here and ran around a whole lap, we'd save time, yes, but we'd lose it later by having to sleep longer. Also, the rest of the field would be killing zebra and antelope while we were running. Trust me, it's best to just stalk them for now."
"Ah trust you," said Elvis.
"Me too!" Lenny chimed in.
Nala smiled.
"Come on then," she said, "let's walk."
"Uh oh."
"What Bilauri?"
"They're not going to kill the antelope or zebra."
The group of three was distracted as the crowd cheered. Eboni had just beat Juveda in a chase for the buffalo.
"What makes you think that?" asked Winda.
"If they kill it now, they'll have to run all the way around the track while we get to go on a killing spree. But, by letting the antelope and zebra live, they get to conserve their energy while we can only hunt buffalo," Bilauri reasoned, signaling over towards the new buffalo being released.
Shemshi smiled and looked at Winda.
"See, I told you she had the smarts for this game."
"So…what's your solution?" Winda asked. "We just hunt buffalo?"
"No," Bilauri replied. "One of us needs to run a lap around the track and try to kill the antelope and zebra. Our team will stay here and wait for you. But, by going out and killing those two pieces of prey, we would ruin the other team's strategy."
"Huh…you are smart," admitted Winda.
"So how do we pick which one runs the lap?" Shemshi asked.
"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"
"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"
"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"
"Ah, you win Winda."
Winda smiled. "Great," she replied. She looked on down the track. "20 points, here I come."
Nala, Elvis and Lenny had now entered the first turn. Nala and Elvis had been lost in conversation while Lenny had just been listening in. They had a safe distance between themselves and the two pieces of prey. They didn't to startle them and send them off into an early run.
Lenny thought he could hear cheering. He looked over his shoulder and his eyes grew.
"Hey, uh, guys…does this change anything?"
Nala and Elvis looked over their shoulders too. Winda was running as fast as the wind could carry her, and she was now closing in on the group of three.
"Yup," Nala replied. "Yup, that…that changes a lot."
Nala didn't need to say anything else. The team of three turned back around and began running after the zebra and the antelope.
"Zebra first," Nala called to her team, "what say you box for the zebra Lenny, and I'll box for the antelope?"
"Sounds good," replied the lion.
Winda had now joined the group. She was running right on their hind heels as they made their way through the turn. Lenny ran out in front of the zebra. As soon as he realized that he was a full body-length in front of it, he began to slow up. The zebra began to slow up too, and the three lions from behind it closed in.
It was only a zebra. Shoving would be allowed.
Nala was first up and so Elvis, believing it would be in the spirit of the team, backed off. Winda took the opportunity to run on by him and jump onto the back of the zebra herself. In doing so, she was able to cause Nala to lose her balance and fall off. Winda bit down onto the back of the zebra's neck and the zebra began its permanent descent to the ground. Winda took the ten points.
Lenny and Elvis stopped running to take a look at all the commotion.
"Come on Lenny, Elvis, you guys have got to keep running!" Nala exclaimed. She and Winda quickly got themselves back onto their feet and joined in the chase.
Eboni was bringing her buffalo chase to a conclusion on the frontstretch, but she hadn't put herself in the most comfortable of positions on the buffalo's back. The buffalo didn't find it that comfortable either, and so he began to buck.
Eboni realized that her life was worth more than this set of ten points, and so, when the buffalo was coming down from one buck and setting up for another, Eboni let go and splashed into the wet mud below.
The buffalo ran away but didn't live for too much longer before Guvu added another ten to his tally.
"Story of the day," said Sarafina from the grandstands, "Eboni pulls out an early lead, Guvu takes it from her."
Tumaini glared at her.
"What?" asked Sarafina.
"Story of the day," Tumaini corrected, "Tumaini takes an early lead, then gets injured. Then Eboni and Guvu take it from her."
Sarafina smiled. "Of course," she replied.
A new zebra and buffalo had been released, now that Winda and Guvu had made their kills.
Bilauri and Shemshi let it go on by them, remaining true to their promise that they would wait for Winda.
So, it was time for the Shairi-Simba-Tonka team to move into action.
"Tonka, you want this one?" Shairi asked.
"Sure," Tonka replied, "but why me?"
"Simba and I are watching our relatives hunt on the backstretch."
Nala, being a faster runner than Lenny and Elvis, had ran on by her teammates and was now making her way by the antelope. It was time for her to box.
She moved across in front of the antelope and began to slow down. The antelope slowed down too and Lenny jumped up onto its back.
Elvis backed off again, but Winda didn't. Winda ran on by Lenny and the antelope and attacked the prey from underneath its neck.
The antelope yelped and soon collapsed to the floor, with it and Lenny crashing down on top of the lioness.
Winda was ten points richer again, but had it been worth it?
Nala, Lenny and Elvis moved over to have a look at her.
"Winda," Lenny called, "you okay?"
"Oh gods," croaked Winda, lifting her head up from out of the mud. It sounded like she was trying to hold back tears. "Please get this antelope off of me," she called.
Evidently, she was in pain, so Elvis, Lenny and Nala didn't hesitate to help move the antelope.
"Is there anything else you…?" Lenny began, but Elvis interrupted.
"Lenny, my friend. It's nice of you to mean well but ah believe this girl's going to be okay. We need to get ourselves back over to the frontstretch."
Nala groaned. "I hate to say this Lenny, but Elvis is right. You going to be okay, Winda?"
Winda whimpered but she nodded her head. "Thanks," she replied.
A cheer interrupted their conversation as Tonka brought the zebra down on the frontstretch.
"Let's get going," said Nala.
Shairi breathed a sigh of relief. It was clear to her, now, that her sister was okay. "I swear," she said, "my heart skips a beat every time I watch Winda hunt." She looked up at Simba. "Is it the same way with you and Nala?" she asked.
Simba shrugged. "I have confidence in her," he replied. "She's a great huntress. If I were you, I'd be a little more confident about Winda too. I mean, look how good she's got."
"Oh, I know," Shairi replied. "But…well…she may be one tough cookie on a hunt, but as soon as something goes wrong and she gets injured, well, she can lose herself a little bit. That's why I feel it's my duty, as her older sister, to kind of…stop that happening."
"Eh, Nala can hold her composure pretty well. Not a big deal for me, really."
Shairi smiled and shook her head. "I don't know how you do it, Simba," she said. "You know, hardly any of us are married out here. Eboni, you, Nala, Tonka…yeah, I think that's it. And maybe Elvis, I'm not sure on him. I think he's married but I can't remember her name."
"Oh," Simba replied, "I'm sure Marie's the Name."
Juveda had brought the buffalo down, and so three new pieces of prey were released. The antelope was first, followed by the zebra and then the buffalo.
"Do we stick to the plan?" asked Shemshi, watching as Winda sluggishly got herself back up onto her feet. "She might be a while."
Bilauri sighed. "I guess we have to," she replied. "As long as we stay here, our team will still be first in ambush. It would help if Winda picked it up a bit though."
"Hey, she's probably hurt. I'm sure it's not easy to run after an antelope has fallen on you."
"Perhaps she should have thought about that before she decided to attack under the antelope's neck," Bilauri sneered.
Shemshi cocked his head. "Are you sure you're not related to Juveda?"
"I hope I don't sound like that," Bilauri replied. "Sorry if I'm coming across as a bit harsh. I just thought it was a foolish move."
"Eh, that's alright," said Shemshi, watching the three new pieces of prey walk on by them. "I'm probably being a bit defensive of her. She's a close friend of mine, is all."
The three pieces of prey had now left the vicinity of Bilauri and Shemshi's team and were now making their way on by Shairi and Simba.
"Zebra's yours," Shairi said to him. "Try and finish the chase before you get to Tonka."
"Well you want to chase the antelope too?" Simba asked back. "I mean, there's two pieces of prey here that aren't buffalo. One more me and one for you."
"I—" Shairi began, but then she stopped.
"So you want to just have both of us run, and one of us get the buffalo and then have the other charge down the zebra?"
"It's the advantage of having two pieces of prey right there. One for me and one for you."
Simba blinked. Shairi's expression was blank. It was like she had gone off to a different world.
"Shairi?" he called. "Earth to Shairi."
Shairi shook herself out of it. "No, its fine," she replied. "Just go for the zebra. I'll get the next zebra down when it gets released."
Simba shrugged. "If you insist," he said. "See you in a minute."
And with that, Simba took off in a run for the zebra.
Shairi, meanwhile, was having difficulty thinking clearly.
What on Earth had just happened?