(A/N: I have mentioned before that I go through periods of time where I can't think of anything but the Siku Choka, and then I go through periods of time where I'm just not motivated to work on it. Unfortunately, this has been one of those times...and it still is. However, you guys have been patient enough that I have been able to work a pretty descent chapter together...so I hope you enjoy it. Hopefully I'll regain my mojo and get back to updating this regularly again soon, but there are no promises I'm afraid. Enjoy!)

Nala and Shemshi got off to a better start than the rest of the pack, and they led them as they charged after the three pieces of prey through the turn. The zebra was out in front but, thanks to its lighter weight giving it an advantage in speed, the antelope soon ran ahead. Winda, Shairi and Lenny had all gone after the antelope while Nala and Shemshi remained set on the zebra.

This whole plan had been Winda's idea, and she was determined to make the most of it. She knew she would have to time her attack to perfection if she wanted to score ten points for the antelope and be back on her feet in time for the zebra or buffalo. As they exited the turn and the track straightened out, Winda made her move. She pounced up onto the antelope's back and then bit down hard on its neck. It was not for certain that she had done enough to kill the antelope, but Winda was willing to risk it. She let go and prepared herself to land on the ground which, giving the fact that she was still travelling along at a running pace, was easier said than done. Winda almost tripped over herself as she landed back on the Earth, so much in fact that it caught Nala off-guard, right as she had been about to make a move on the zebra. Shemshi saw his opportunity and took the zebra down instead, leaving just the buffalo left.

Winda checked over her shoulder to see where the buffalo was. She smiled as she saw the antelope that she had attacked fall down onto the ground, dead. However, getting the ten points for the buffalo wasn't going to be as easy: Simba was up on it.

Winda could tell that Simba had his claws pierced into the buffalo like daggers, but only on his right side. She could also tell that Simba was biting down on the buffalo's neck as hard as he possibly could, whilst ensuring that he did not let go.

He's using Shairi's tactics, Shairi must have taught them to him, Winda realized. She smirked. Good thing I'm her sister…she's taught me a lesson or two too, Simba…

Winda allowed Simba and the buffalo to run on by, but she reached her paw out and brushed the buffalo's rear leg with it as he ran on by. The result was that the buffalo began to run faster, realizing that he now had a new threat from behind. Simba was caught off-guard…from what Shairi had told him, with everything that he'd been doing, the buffalo should have not been running fast now at all. Simba was beginning to slide back on the buffalo's back. It seemed that those ten points were becoming more and more elusive by the second. Then, just when he was about ready to let go and brace for a rocky impact on the ground, Winda jumped up and joined him on the buffalo's back. She was able to use all of her energy to pull herself as far up as she possibly could, and, consequently, was able to get a bite that was so efficient, it virtually killed the buffalo instantly. Winda had got her twenty points, while Shemshi had gotten ten. Three new pieces of prey had been released.

Juveda was the first competitor lined up in ambush. Personally, she didn't care much for hunting antelope. They used up too much energy. So, she let the antelope by. Up next was the zebra which, usually, she would have gone after in a heartbeat. However, this zebra looked exceptionally fit, and so Juveda wasn't too thrilled about the idea of hunting him either. Well, buffalo it would have to be. However, as the game wore on and the competitors began to grow more weary and tired, they were more prone to making bad judgment calls. Juveda had already made one here.

She lunged out from her ambushing post but mistimed her attack on the buffalo. She quickly gave in on the chase, not wanting to use up too much track and lose her optimal ambushing post. However, the damage was already done. She had chased after the last piece of prey.

When the buffalo had begun running, it had let out a warning shriek. The zebra and the antelope, both being in front of the buffalo, now feared also that there was a threat from behind. All three pieces of prey broke out into a run. This was not good for Bilauri, Elvis or Juveda. Basically, it meant that these three pieces of prey, who were continuing to run as they were each in a state of panic, were now off to run around the track and down the backstretch…where the rest of the competitors were.

Each of the competitors on the backstretch stopped. They looked over at the three pieces of prey and were soon able to work out what all the commotion was about. Now, they each had a choice to make…and fortunately they had a lot of time to make it. Should they wait on the backstretch and get some of the points for this incoming prey, or should they use this free time to pace on around to the frontstretch and get set up in an ambushing post?

Shairi, Winda, Shemshi, Nala and Lenny liked the sound of the former idea, while Guvu, Eboni and Simba decided that it would be best to run on around the track and line up in ambush.

The good thing about having time to wait for the prey, however, was that you had time to change your mind. Once it became evident who was running and who was staying, Nala began to feel less confident in her decision. She would have four other challengers for just three pieces of prey at this point…it wasn't worth it. Nala took off into a run too, and hoped that she would still have time to get to the frontstretch before new pieces of prey were released.

"…but if no one's around to hear it," Timon argued back to Rafiki, "how could it possibly make a sound?"

"Well, dat's not de objective of de question," Rafiki answered. "It doesn't matter if nobody's around to hear de tree fall. De tree still makes a sound…whet'er it is heard but anyone or not."

"But how can you prove it?" Pumbaa asked.

"Ah dat's a good question," Rafiki replied. "And dat's what makes the original question so interesting, no?"

"No," Timon replied.

"Help! Save us!" exclaimed a lioness, running over towards them.

The group turned around to have a look at who it was. Their jaws dropped when they realized. They would've recognized this lioness any day, even if Sarafina hadn't been running on her hind heels.

Sarafina and Tumaini were both gasping for breath as they made their way up towards the group.

"We've been signing paw prints for about the last ten minutes straight," Sarafina explained. "I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but boy those fans can be demanding."

The group was still in awe. They had never seen Tumaini this close before. They had only ever watched her from afar and admired her accomplishments. Sarafina, having known Tumaini for a little while though, could not understand why her pridemates seemed to be at a loss for words.

"You guys okay?" she asked.

Pumbaa was the first one to respond, but not directly to Sarafina. Instead, he just closed his jaw and cleared his throat. "Tumaini," he addressed, "I know this is terrible timing but….can I have your autograph?"

Guvu, Eboni and Simba made their way out of the final turn and up towards the prey-release point. None of them could get much closer to the track entry than what Juveda was though, so they each had to line up in ambush a bit behind her. Simba, consequently, found himself lined back up next to Bilauri.

"Good morning Bilauri," Simba said, knowing that it must have passed midnight by now. In fact, it probably had passed at least an hour or two ago.

"Good morning Simba," Bilauri replied, letting a yawn escape. "How goes it?"

"Eh, we'll find out soon," said Simba, looking back over towards the backstretch, where the prey would soon be running into the clutches of the competitors that had stayed: Shairi, Winda, Lenny and Shemshi.

Simba took a deep breath. He had been thinking a lot about Shairi and the fact that she and him were both suffering in points. Well, if there was anyone to ask, who better than Bilauri, the Siku Choka boffin herself?

"Bilauri, just out of curiosity…is Shairi actually any good?" Simba asked.

"She's got a second and a third," Bilauri replied, "I'd say that's not too bad."

"But she's never won," Simba retorted. "What's stopping her? Wamariri said she would never win, Juveda said that the only thing that ever made her any good was her teammates, and Uku said she would never win either. I mean, if she's been so successful, surely she would be in the top 30 if she was actually a good huntress on her own?"

"She's not the best hunter, Simba," agreed Bilauri, "but that's not wins you Siku Chokas. If the Siku Choka crown was awarded to the best hunter on the planet then, I'm sorry, but give it to Guvu. However, that's not the way the game works. Guvu has weaknesses, and it's that competitor that can learn what those weaknesses are, expose them and work out how to get a step up above them that wins Siku Chokas. Shairi can do that. Now I confess, I too think she is a bit too generous at times. I mean, take what just happened with herself, Winda, and starting that chase around the track. There was nothing in that for her at all. If there's anything you could do for her, it would be to get her mind off of her sister. Personally I think that's one of the key things holding her back from winning. Watch this chase here, I guarantee you Winda will get points and Shairi won't, even though she oh-so-easily could."

Simba did as Bilauri told him and looked back over at the backstretch, but his view was briefly obscured as his mate ran on by him and lined up next to Elvis.

"We're going to have our work cut out for us here, aren't we?" Nala said as she arrived at Elvis' side. She was looking at Eboni, Guvu, Juveda, Simba and Bilauri lined up in ambush in front of them.

"Ah'm afraid so Ma'am," Elvis replied. "Ah couldn't help but notice you didn't get any points in the last chase there, Ma'am. Mind if Ah point out a couple of things yeh did wrong?" he asked.

Nala smiled back at him. "I'd be delighted," she replied. "I have a feeling we need to start helping each other. You know, critiquing each other…providing each other with tips."

"Well, personally Ah think you're stronger than you're think you are," Elvis suggested. "You seem to enjoy chasing after the zebra a lot, but Ah don't think you should have any trouble with buffalo. They have less lions going after them…perhaps you should give them a try."

Nala heaved a sigh. "Yeah, no, you're right," she confessed. "I thought about going for the buffalo in the last chase but…I just thought, with all those lions running around us, it was probably safer if I went for the zebra."

"Sometimes safety has to take a back seat," Elvis reasoned.

"I know…" Nala admitted again, but then she looked up into the stands.

…but not when I have a daughter.

The three pieces of prey ran on by the four lions that had been waiting for them in ambush on the backstretch. Shairi, Winda, Lenny and Shemshi moved out. Shairi had timed her attack better than the others and so she found herself right on the antelope's hind legs.

"Shairi, I'm faster than you – I'll take the antelope, you go for the zebra!" Winda called, running up from behind her.

Shairi checked over her shoulder to see how close the zebra was to them.

Not too far…however, there was one teeny problem…

Lenny was already on its back.

While Shairi had been wasting time, looking over shoulder, Winda had ran on by her and was now up on the antelope's back. Meanwhile, Shemshi had the buffalo in his claws.

Winda, Shemshi and Lenny had all gotten ten points, while Shairi had got nothing.

"And all because she listened to her sister," Bilauri commented, standing next to Simba on the frontstretch. "Trust me Simba, get her away from Winda. That's your best shot."

Simba nodded in agreement, but he couldn't spend too much time talking with her. Three new pieces of prey had just been released. The duo crouched down.

"Good luck Bilauri," said Simba.

"Good luck," Bilauri replied.

"There you go, she's tiring out," said Tumaini, watching as Juveda ran out from ambush, only to watch the zebra run away from her.

"Think Simba's going to get it?" Sarafina pondered.

"No, Eboni should," Tumaini replied. Indeed, seconds later, the coffee-colored lioness ran out from her ambushing post and took the zebra down.

"That puts her back in the lead," Sarafina noted. "I think Guvu had been in front of her."

"And Shemshi," Tumaini noted. "He's really been coming alive recently."

"So the buffalo's coming next, who do you think is going to go for it?"

"Well Guvu will and Simba might but…"

"Excuse me," Timon interjected, "must you commentate to everything? We kind of want to watch the event ourselves – see how unpredictable it can become. Having you two just predict everything that's about to happen just makes it more boring."

"Well they're only predictions, Timon," Sarafina reasoned, "we could always be wro—"

"Oh look! We are!" Tumaini exclaimed.

Sarafina and Timon checked back out towards the track. Guvu, who had been the first lion left in ambush, had determined that it would not be worth it to chase the buffalo with so many other competitors around. Consequently, Simba had ran out after it…but he wasn't alone…

Why's Nala competing against me when she had such a good ambushing post? Simba wondered. She should've stayed where she was – there was a lonely antelope on its way.

Simba was spending too much time thinking, however, and now his mate was already up on the buffalo's back. Knowing that he and Shairi were far behind on points, Simba pounced up onto the buffalo's back too, and reached for the back of its neck. Both lions had a mouth-full of buffalo flesh as the creature stumbled his way farther on down the straight, until he finally collapsed down into his final resting place.

Simba and Nala exchanged glances. Nala smiled.

"Great job teammate," she said. "I don't care which one of us got the points…one of us did. Score ten for the Pridelands!"

"But why did you even go for the buffalo though?" Simba asked aloud. "You had a beautiful ambushing post, surely there would've been easier pieces of prey."

"That's true," Nala admitted, "but Elvis suggested…I mean—I realized that perhaps…"

"Elvis suggested that you'd start hunting buffalo." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes, I—I mean…no…I mean…I had came up with the idea before, but then when Elvis suggested it and…Simba…I know what you're thinking and it's not true!"

"How do you know that?" Simba snapped back. "Nala, Elvis just wants you to hunt buffalo because he wants to see you get hurt."

"Excuse me," a track worker interrupted them off from the side. Simba and Nala both looked over at him. "The ten points for the buffalo went to Simba," he informed them.

"Alright, thank you," Nala said back. The track worker turned around and walked off.

Nala glared back at her mate. "Simba, I've been watching this game my entire life. I've got a family to raise and a kingdom to help run…I'm only ever going to get to do this once. And I want to do it good. And that means that I've got to hunt buffalo. It also means that I am going to take advice from Elvis and I'm going to keep working with him, because we've both helped each other out a lot this game and I think he can help me win. Don't worry, I'll be on the lookout for anything suspicious and I stand by my promise that I'll help you in the final hour. But for now, let's please just drop it…let it go…okay sweetie?" she sung, trying to muster a smile at the end.

Simba sighed. How could he resist his mate when she looked at him like that?

He fixed his eyes on his mates' one final time. "Be careful," he said.

Nala let the sides of her mouth twitch. She nodded in agreement.

The antelope had just walked on by Guvu. Guvu, however, had no intentions of going after it, so Bilauri began to size it up instead. A zebra and the new buffalo were now on their ways towards Guvu, but so were Shairi, Shemshi, Winda and Lenny, who were all making their ways out of the final of the two long, left turns.

Thanks to it still being night, however, it was still rather hard for the competitors to tell where the puddles were and where they weren't.

As Shemshi ran, he placed one of his legs down in a deep, soggy puddle exiting the turn. As he began to lift his leg back up to take the next stride, it got pulled down by the mud and trapped inside the puddle, throwing Shemshi off balance and causing him to slam down onto the floor, bending his paw back.

From the spectator's standpoint, it looked like nothing. That was…until Shemshi let out a deafening roar, which signaled to everyone else that he was in pain.

Back at the ambushing posts, Bilauri face palmed herself.

"Why can't our team stay out of accidents?" she asked aloud.

However, Bilauri didn't have any time left to wait for an answer. The antelope had just passed on by her and it was now time for her to give chase.

Meanwhile, Guvu was crouching down as low as possible, trying to make the zebra and the buffalo oblivious of the fact that he was there, waiting in ambush for them.

The crowd, meanwhile, had grown tired of seeing Guvu dominate throughout the years, and so they were hollering as loud as possible, trying to cause the two pieces of prey to cower back.

It was working. Guvu groaned as he realized what this meant. He would have to go after the zebra.

Shairi was making her way down towards the prey-release point now, and she knew Guvu too well. Guvu only liked hunting buffalo. And so, with Guvu having as great of a points lead as he did, it would be in Shairi's best interest to take the buffalo down, forcing Guvu to go for the zebra.

Bilauri was up on the antelope's back farther on down the straight and took it down to the ground right at the time that Shairi pounced onto the buffalo's back. Guvu gave chase on the zebra…but he had mistimed it! Guvu quickly gave up the chase and allowed the zebra to be taken down in Elvis' claws.

Bilauri, Shairi and Elvis were now all ten points richer, while Lenny and Winda were now running out from the final turn, homing in on the three newly released pieces of prey.

"You're kidding me, right?" Simba asked, watching his mate run her tongue over the end of her paw.

Nala stopped washing herself and looked over towards her mate. "You've got a problem with this?" she asked.

"You're just going to get dirty again. I don't think the fans care too much about which competitor looks the cleanest."

"I'm a female, Simba. We have hygienic standards."

"Apparently so."

Nala chuckled. "Seriously though, there is a practical reason to why I'm doing this. All this dried-up mud is weighing me down. Might as well get rid of it. It'll be easier for me to run."

"Well, in that case, do you need help with the hard-to-reach parts?"

Nala shot a disapproving look at him.

"I figured," Simba replied. "Still, if you change your mind, let me know."

"Perhaps you should think about getting that mud out of your own mane. I'm sure it would help."

"It would," Simba confessed, "but it looks like Winda and Lenny are about to score some points here. I would rather watch that, for now."

Nala shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourself," she said, lifting her rear leg up and bending over to wash it.

"Then again," Simba decided, turning back to face his mate, "this is a rather interesting spectacle too. I think I'll watch you."

Nala sighed and shook her head. "Males," she muttered.

The three pieces of prey had broken out into a run. The antelope and the buffalo were now too far in front for Winda or Lenny to even consider going after them. So, instead, they both homed in on the zebra. This left Shairi and Guvu free to target the buffalo and the antelope.

The prey ran on by Guvu first. The two-time champion timed his attack perfectly, and he was now right on the buffalo's hind legs. Therefore, when the prey ran on by Shairi, she had no choice but to go for the antelope.

Shairi and Guvu would both turn out to be successful in their respective hunts. The more intriguing thing, as far as the spectators were concerned, was who would get the zebra? Winda or Lenny.

Most bets would have gone towards Winda and, indeed, she was the first up on the zebra's back. However, Lenny felt that he had been pushed around long enough, and so he wasn't just about to give up. He jumped up onto the zebra's back too and clamped his jaw down on the back of its neck. Winda, mistakenly believing that this would've been an easy ten points for her, hadn't done as good of a job on her attack, and now she was regretting it.

Lenny brought the zebra down to the ground, and Winda ran back towards the outside of the track where she would be lined up in ambush next to Juveda. Having missed out on those ten points, Winda was very upset and angry, and she needed to vent.

"Some cooperation," Winda said sarcastically, "you'd think sisters and teammates would be there to help you after you'd had an injury such as I'd had…but no, they just go running on as if it wasn't any of their business. Shairi knows that if she'd get injured – I'd be there to help her catch up! Why didn't she try and halt the antelope and buffalo for us? We could've taken ten points away from Lenny and Guvu easily."

Juveda swished her tail around, annoyed. "My, you are one whiny bitch, you know that?" she replied. "I haven't had one single teammate all day…but you don't see me crying about it, do you? You should be grateful that that sorry sister of yours would even consider helping you out, you sore, spoiled brat," she spat.

Now, normally, one would have worked out that Juveda was not one worth arguing. However, Winda was rather sensitive, yet she was always one who tried her hardest to cover it up. So, she argued back.

"Excuse me," Winda replied, "but I am not spoiled and I am not a brat! I do a lot to help out my home pride you know. I'm one of their best hunters after all! So you just shut your filthy trap, because you're wrong! If you don't have a teammate out here, that's only because you're too unkind and unhelpful and you just don't want to be around anyone, so bugger off!"

Shairi could hear her sister's voice raising from on down the straight, so she turned towards her to see what was going on. She worked it out almost immediately, and quickly face palmed herself.

"No, no, Winda, don't pick an argument with Juveda," she said to herself, "she's not worth it…just leave her be."

Her sister, however, couldn't even hear her, and so the shouting match between her and Juveda continued.

Shairi sighed.

"Don't worry about her," came a familiar voice from behind her.

Shairi whirled around. "Oh, hello Simba," she said. "I didn't even realize you were there."

"That's alright," Simba replied. "Seriously though, just leave your sister be. The more you try helping her out, the more we fall behind on points. And we can't afford to do that, Shairi. I don't know about you but I don't plan on ever doing this again. If we want to win today, we're going to just have to let your sister go. She's still young, she'll be able to do this again. Today's just not her day, I'm afraid."

"Well ideally I'd like for her and I to both do well," Shairi confessed, "b—but you're right…to an extent. I mean…thanks for the input. It is something that I've considered, but…"

"But nothing, Shairi. Seriously, forget about her. You want me to tell you what you're doing wrong; this is it. You're paying too much attention to her game, and not enough to yours. You want to win, don't you?"

"Yes, of course I do, but—I mean, no…no…you're right," Shairi finished. She took another sigh. "I guess I just need to man up and tell her that she's on her own, now. Sometimes I just don't feel that I have the heart to do that. She takes these little things so seriously."

"Well then sucks to be her," Simba stated. "You've done more than anyone could ever ask of their older sibling, Shairi. You've gave her hints, you've helped her catch up. Now, you've just got to move on and worry about your own game."

Shairi's eyes were still affixed on her sister, who was still arguing with Juveda. However, she could hear Simba, and she was listening, and she knew he was right. Shairi turned back around to face him.

"Alright teammate," she said, "what do you think we should do now then?" she asked.

"Well it looks like everyone's just waiting in ambush," Simba replied. "So I guess we just rest for a bit, and then give chase when the time arrives."

"Sounds good to me," replied Shairi, lifting her paw up and starting to wash it.

Simba rolled his eyes. "Females," he muttered. He looked on farther down the straight to study the order that they were all lined up in ambush: Lenny, Winda, Juveda, Eboni, Guvu, Bilauri, Elvis, Shairi, himself and Nala.

Simba looked back over at Shairi, with the intention of asking her if she thought Shemshi's injury was going to do him in for the game. However, Shairi seemed more preoccupied right now with cleaning the mud off of her rear legs.

Simba was waiting for her to finish, so then he could ask her. It never even occurred to him that his eyes had been affixed on her the whole time. Shairi finally caught onto the fact.

"Excuse me," she snapped at him, "there are plenty of others around here to look at who aren't taking baths."

"Oh, right, um, sorry…"

Shairi groaned. "Males," she muttered.

Simba turned back to face Nala…who was still cleaning herself.

Simba groaned. "Females," he muttered.

Nala smiled and shook her head, amused at all the commotion her mate was causing.

"Simba," she muttered.