(A/N: Thanks for all the reviews last chapter, guys. Here's a bit of a long chapter as a reward. I would say "enjoy!" but I don't know if that's the right word to use considering how this chapter ends...)
Shemshi limped his way around the outside of the track. He was in too much pain to even attempt to place his injured paw on the ground, and so it was at a sluggish pace that his three good legs were carrying him down the frontstretch.
Shemshi had gotten a lot of sleep at the beginning of the event and, consequently, he had been very active since and was now sitting on 259 points: third place; ten points behind Guvu.
Unfortunately for Shemshi, this injury couldn't have come at a worse time for him. It had happened in the second of the two long left turns, whereas his pride was sitting on the backstretch. Thus, he would virtually have to limp around an entire lap before he could sleep in front of his home pride. But even then, sleeping wasn't exactly the most desirable of activities right now, considering Shemshi's strategy. He still had a fair amount of energy in him, and there were still a few hours of darkness left until the sun would poke above the horizon and the rest of the competitors would fall asleep. Shemshi was rattling his brains, trying to figure out a quick-fix strategy that wouldn't put him too far behind in points.
"Hey, Shemshi!" called a voice down from the stands.
The injured lion looked up into the crowds and caught sight of a lioness that was staring down at him.
"I'm from the Ngorongoro Pride, I'm one of Bilauri's friends. You can fall asleep here if you want, we'll wake you. You are Bilauri's teammate, after all."
The sides of Shemshi's mouth twitched. This was the perfect opportunity for him! Now that he didn't have to limp all the way around the track before he got to his pride, he could fall asleep quicker and recover quicker, and hopefully still be able to score some decent points before daytime.
"Well thanks a lot, Miss," Shemshi replied, lying down on the ground. "Sure you don't mind?" he asked.
"Of course not," the lioness replied back. "It should work to Bilauri's advantage too. When do you want us to wake you?"
At the thought of sleep, Shemshi let out a long yawn before replying. "I don't know. One, maybe two, hours. Whenever the leader…probably Guvu…has 300 points. I really don't know, though…actually…you know what, just ask your friend Bilauri," he finally decided. He let out another yawn. "She seems to take the role of head strategist pretty well."
The crowd got up on their feet. They could tell that another run around the track was about to begin. The prey walked on by Lenny and Winda and they gave chase.
"Lenny, stay!" exclaimed a voice from the side.
Lenny didn't recognize whose voice it was at first, but he decided to slow down to play it safe. He looked over and discovered that, not too surprisingly, it had been Elvis telling him what to do.
"Nala, you might want to stay here too," Elvis called over to the Prideland Queen.
Despite the thundering of the hooves and the hollering of the crowds, Nala was able to hear Elvis's deep, dreamlike voice. So, she obeyed, and the three teammates stood and watched as the rest of the competitors took off into a run.
"You see now, they're all going to give us, eh, new pieces of prey to chase," Elvis explained, signaling over towards the rest of the competitors.
Nala and Lenny understood. Evidently, Elvis believed that this was a good time to group their team together and play some team games such as tic-tac-toe. Well, who were they to argue? It was too late to decide against it now, anyhow. The rest of the competitors had already run far away.
When the prey ran as a pack, the chases would usually last a little while longer. This was for two reasons. First of all, the competitors were more cautious about making moves on any piece of prey while other lions and prey animals were around. With so much thunderous traffic around, a bad move could potentially have much more disastrous consequences. Secondly, when there were lots of prey and predators in one space, the traffic made it harder for the competitors to time their timing, running, and attack to perfection, and so usually the prey would have an extra leg up on them.
For these reasons, all three pieces of prey were still alive by the time the group of seven lions had chased them to the backstretch.
The antelope was leading, and Shairi was right on its hind heels with her sister, Winda, behind her.
"Shairi, I think I've got some extra energy in me!" Winda exclaimed. "I'll charge and get the antelope. You go for the zebra!"
Shairi groaned.
Sorry sis, she thought to herself, that didn't quite work last time…
Instead, this time Shairi put on her own extra burst of speed. Within seconds, she was up onto the antelope's back and had brought it down dead for a set of her very own ten points.
Since she was in front of the zebra, Winda decided to slow down her pace and let the zebra pass. As the herbivore did so, Winda made her move…right at the same instant that Bilauri decided to attack from behind. The two teammates knocked heads in mid-air as they leapt up onto the zebra. Consequently, they both lost their balance and rolled back down onto the ground. Simba saw his opportunity and jumped onto the zebra's back, taking the striped animal down for ten points.
Meanwhile, the buffalo was just about to lose his chase. Juveda had fallen off the pace but Eboni and Guvu were right on his hind legs. It was the two time champ, however, that was able to keep up his pace the best, and Guvu was soon able to boost his points tally up to 280.
Meanwhile, Winda and Bilauri had both gotten up from their head-slamming incident and they were making their ways over towards where Shairi had the antelope in her claws, and Simba had the zebra in his.
"Okay Winda…seriously…what are you trying to prove?" asked Bilauri, still rubbing the sore spot on her head. "You just cost us both a shot a ten points…you realize that, right? I thought we were teammates."
"I'm sorry Bilauri," Winda said apologetically, "but I wasn't aware that you were after the zebra. I was in front of it the whole time. It probably would've been safer if I had gone for the antelope….Shairi."
Shairi sighed and stood up from her kill. "Winda…I love you, I really do. You know that…but…I—I can't just lie down and give you all my points."
"What do you mean?" Winda retorted. "Shairi, we're sisters. We're meant to be helping each other."
"Yes, Winda, you are my sister, but that doesn't mean we should be helping each other," Shairi replied. "It's our teammates that we're meant to be helping. Although, I confess, I would…no offense Simba…I would rather see you, Winda, win, than I would like to see Simba win…I've got to help Simba, because that is who is most beneficial to me in playing my game and helping me win."
Winda raised an eyebrow. "So egocentric," Winda replied. "Shairi…come on now, you've always been about having fun in this game…not about winning. Where's the fun in breaking up family ties?"
"Oh, for heaven's sake Winda," Bilauri interjected. "Are you even listening to a word your sister is saying? She's right, you know. We love you, you're a great sport, and we would like to see you win, but it's a damned old pain having to work with you!" Bilauri exclaimed. "I'm sorry Winda, but I think I've got to cut up the ties too. You're just playing it way too risky today and it's not helping me at all watching you and Shemshi get injured again and again and again." At this, Bilauri looked over at Simba. "Simba, I—I've made a decision…and I hope you're okay with it…but I would like to be on your and Shairi's team. I know you both took a blow earlier when you lost Tonka…I feel pretty confident in my tactical abilities in this game, and I believe I could be beneficial to your team."
"Well…" Shairi pondered.
"No," Simba replied simply.
The rest of the group turned to look at him. Simba was still lying down on top of his kill. He had been silent and unmoving the whole time, yet his answer had been flat and firm. The lion king finally stood up.
"Shairi's right, Bilauri," Simba stated. "She's been right the whole time. We work well together. She's taught me a lot about this game, and I've taught her a lot about herself. The tips you've given me have been helpful but, honestly, I don't think I need them anymore. I feel guilty that I don't really have much to provide you with in return…other than the fact that I believe you should reconsider breaking ties with Winda. You three seem to make a good team…you just need to settle down for a minute and sort out your differences, that's all. As for Shairi and I, we're fine, and we're going to be a team of two until the end. Sorry…but that's just the way it's got to be, if either of us are going to win today."
Bilauri and, to an extent, Winda, both held an enormous amount of respect towards Simba, and so neither were keen on the idea of arguing with him. Both of them were smart enough to recognize the fact that they were both tired, they were both a bit mad, and they were both a bit sore after the incident that they had just had, and so perhaps they were, given the current circumstances, a bit prone to making bad decisions.
Still, Winda had her lips tightly pursed.
"Fine then," she stated. "If that's the way it's going to be, then I guess it's adios amigos." She turned to face Bilauri. "Come on teammate," she snapped at Bilauri, "even if you don't want to call me that. Let's get a move on."
Winda began to move off. Bilauri followed grudgingly, but without much hesitation. When they were out of earshot, Shairi turned to face the Prideland King.
"This is what I have to…"
"…live with? Yeah…I figured."
Shairi smiled. "Thanks for helping out with that. I feel bad…but…I mean…well…you said it yourself, I don't know if I'm going to do this ever again. And Winda's right too, this game's meant to be about fun…not about winning. But…being out of the top 30, coming so close to winning without ever having won, and the possibility that this may be my final ever Siku Choka…yeah, I'm sorry…but I'm here to win. You really believe we can do it, Simba?"
"I don't ever recall saying anything about you winning," Simba answered back with a grin, "I was just thinking about me."
Shairi shook her head. "Yeah…" she replied, "…we'll see about that…"
After his buffalo kill, Guvu had walked across to the outside of the track and had gone for a nap in front of the crowd. Since he still had a pretty large fan base, he felt confident that there would be someone in the stands helpful enough to give him a call when the time was right for him to wake up.
Meanwhile, Nala's team had control over the prey-release point, and they were ready to play tic-tac-toe.
"I'm feeling good on energy," Nala stated, "I'll go for the antelope if you two don't want to."
"Well Ah'm wondering if we should let Lenny go for it," Elvis suggested. "Ah mean, he's a fast runner too and I think you should be going for the buffalo, Ma'—Nala."
The antelope passed on by them.
"Well, you up for it, Lenny?" Nala asked.
"Not really," Lenny confessed.
"Now come on, Lenny, Ah think we should be giving Misses Nala a break…"
"No, Elvis, seriously…I'm fine. I can go for the antelope."
"But Ah think you should be practicing on the buffalos, Ma'am."
"Eh, I think that it's too late now," Nala replied, crouching down. "Two more seconds and this antelope will be out of my range. A Little Less Conversation, A Little More Action…that's what we need right now."
Nala didn't give Elvis a chance to answer back. As soon as she finished up talking, she took off and was in hot pursuit of the antelope. A fairly disgruntled Elvis knew what this meant: he was going to have to go for the buffalo. It was well-known that Lenny didn't hunt buffalo, and so it was no surprise when he took off in pursuit of the zebra, leaving Elvis on his own at the prey-release point. Seconds later and the buffalo went by, and Elvis started off in hot pursuit.
Nala and Lenny were both successful in their hunts. The Pridelanders cheered from the frontstretch as they watched their Queen bring the antelope down dead right in front of their pride. Cheers could also be heard around the track when Lenny brought the zebra down. More and more spectators were now cheering for Lenny. They were slowly beginning to realize that he could, after all, turn in to be a threat for this thing.
However, Elvis's hunt was much less successful, much to the dismay of about half of the lionesses in the stands. The young lion was able to get himself up onto the buffalo's back, but he was never able to find the perfect balance and, consequently, had to accept defeat in a dusty crash onto the ground a couple of hundred yards later.
Elvis stood back up and shook the mud out of his mane, watching the buffalo run off into the distance. Nala walked up next to him and watched too.
"You going to go after it again?" she asked.
Elvis shook his head 'no.'
"Too large, I'm afraid, Ma'am. Not worth the effort. We still have control of the track for the next antelope and zebra though."
"That's not good enough," Nala replied sincerely. "Elvis, Guvu is the next lion around the track. He's dominating this game…we can't let the buffalo go around and become his."
"Well Ah suppose you should go after it, then."
"And why not you?" asked Nala, with a frown. "I got the antelope, I've got much more points than you. You're telling me to get better at hunting buffalo when you can't even bring that one down yourself?"
Elvis cocked an eyebrow. This was a different Nala than the one he had been getting used to this game. Still, she had a fair argument.
"Well al'ight Ma'am, I'll tell you what Ah think should happen then. I'll help out with you and Lenny, ambushing the rest of the antelope and zebra until the other competitors come around. Then, eh, once we lose control of the track…I'll go after the buffalo. That sounds like a good compromise, Ah would say."
Nala smiled faintly. "Yes," she admitted, "yes it does."
For several more minutes, Nala's team continued to play tic-tac-toe, using their positions on the course to their strategic advantage. However, Elvis continued to play the wrong cards while Lenny and Nala continued to play the right ones. Both the Pridelands Queen and the weak Majani lion found themselves with twenty extra points each whereas the Dixieland hunk had failed to improve on his points tally at all.
To make matters worse for Elvis, Eboni and Juveda had just made their way out of the final turn and were now in control of the track. Or so they would have been, if Eboni hadn't just wandered over towards the sidelines to communicate with her pride mates.
The Eastlands lionesses got onto their feet as their friend approached the outside of the track, panting.
"Guys, I'm exhausted," she stated. "I've got to rest."
"You can't rest Eboni, you have much more energy than what the other competitors out there do. Look at that lioness you were just running with, Juveda. Man, she was breaking sweat just trying to keep up with you…and you were only running at a trot, really."
"But that's the best I can do," Eboni retorted. She lied down. "I'm sorry guys, I've got to rest."
"Look…Eboni…" interjected another one of her pride mates. "The buffalo on the track is on its way towards Guvu. He may look like he's napping, but he'll still get it. When he does, a new buffalo will be released, and, honestly, you're the only one here who's good enough to take it."
Eboni shrugged. "Okay," she said, closing her eyes. "Wake me up when he's got it then. That sounds like a fair compromise, no?"
Her pride mates smiled and shook their heads.
"We'll be waking you up before you even know it."
"Juveda's in control," Nala noted. She turned to face Elvis. "Alright, Elvis, we made a compromise. Go get that buffalo. Or…at least, make sure Guvu doesn't get it."
Elvis nodded. "Don't worry, Ma'am," he replied. "He won't."
"Simba, let's wait here," Shairi stated, holding her paw out in front of the lion king. The pair had just stopped short of the prey-release point. Juveda was stalking the antelope and the zebra farther on down the frontstretch. "Let's let Juveda get these two. Then, after that, we ambush only zebra…just like earlier, okay?"
"You haven't given me reason to doubt you so far."
Shairi smiled. That was a good enough response for her. "Come on," she stated. "Let's wait over by the outside of the track."
Simba followed the golden colored lioness, and they both parked themselves opposite the prey-release point. Once they were there, Simba scanned the track with his eyes to get a better idea of what was going on.
"Elvis is going after the buffalo," he observed. "Reckon he'll get it?"
"Probably," Shairi confessed. "He's one of the smarter competitors. My sister worked quite close with him during the last Siku Choka…she taught him my three buffalo tricks, so I know he knows that much."
"You need to come up with a new trick then," Simba suggested. "So…why were you not in Siku Choka 26?"
"One word. Three letters. First and last letters are 'M,' and there's an 'o' somewhere in the middle."
"Ah."
"Yah. Fortunately I was able to persuade her otherwise for this year." Shairi sighed. "Family, huh? They certainly put pressure on you here. Have you noticed, at all, if you've been playing any different on the frontstretch, when you're on show in front of your home pride?"
"Eh, to an extent," Simba confessed. He frowned. "How did you know my pride was on the frontstretch?"
"Well that's where you keep going to sleep," Shairi reasoned. "Also, it's where you were watching from last time the Siku Choka came here, so I figured it was a safe guess."
"But…I thought you said you didn't remember Siku Choka 25?" Simba stated.
At first, Shairi didn't know how to respond. Simba was right; she had said that. However, she also vaguely remembered seeing Simba and Nala's faces up in the stands on the frontstretch two years ago. She tried her best to rattle her brains and see if she could remember anything else related to that moment…but it was to no avail.
She shook her head and smiled. "I guess I remember some things," she replied.
"Hmm," Simba said back. However, his attention was now homed in on something else: "Looks like Juveda's about to get the zebra," he stated. He crouched down. "Let's get ready, Shairi," he stated.
The Lionrock lioness crouched down too. "I'm ready for it," she replied.
"He's just lying there," said Kulia, beaming. She was sitting next to her twin sister, Elsa, and their much-younger sister, Faye.
"What's so great about him?" asked Faye in her high-pitched voice. "He looks old."
"That, Faye, is no ordinary old lion. Guvu is the strongest, greatest and most fearsome lion of all time!" exclaimed Elsa.
"Shh, quiet Elsa. I see Elvis and the buffalo coming," said Kulia.
"Shouldn't we wake Guvu?" asked Faye. "I mean, he's sitting right in front of us."
"He's already awake," Elsa reassured her younger sister. "See…look…you can see his eyelids flickering."
Kulia sighed. "Oh, his eyes are so warm," she noted. "I really wish he could have them open more often."
"He will in a minute, Kulia. You just watch. He'll get this buffalo down, here."
Suddenly, a round of applause picked up on the other side of the track. Juveda had just brought the zebra down, while the antelope had gone and ran off down the straight. Juveda may still not have been popular, but every successful hunt was worthy of an applause, no matter who you were. Also, for Shairi and Simba fans, this was something worth applauding too as it now meant that, with the newly-released zebra, they could put their plan into action.
"Ladies first," Simba reasoned.
Shairi smiled and ran out from her ambushing post. The Siku Choka veteran had no difficulty in bringing down the zebra, and now a new one was released for Simba.
Though less experienced than what Shairi was, Simba was able to bring his zebra down just as efficiently, and he lined right back up next to Shairi in ambush.
Meanwhile, farther on up the frontstretch, Bilauri and her team were trying their best to figure out their new strategy…and so sort out their differences.
"Look, Shairi and Simba aren't going to have control of the track forever," Bilauri reasoned. "Let's just wait until they've done their next chase or two. Then, once they've worked their way far away from the prey-release point, we'll go over and take over control of the track. Sound good, everyone?"
"Yes, Professor Backstab," Winda replied.
"Sounds good," replied Shemshi, sticking his thumb up and yawning. "Can I go back to sleep now, though? I've still got an injury."
"Shemshi…." Bilauri moaned.
"Come on, Bilauri, let's be honest. I've got much more points than both of you. Once you two catch up, then come and wake me. Shairi and Simba have been working quite well in a team of two, there's no reason you and Winda can't too."
"He's got a point, Bilauri," said Winda, backing up her friend.
"Oh goodness," Bilauri cried. "It's so hard for me to help out you two lovers when you just keep meshing together and shooting down everything that I say!"
"Lovers?" asked Shemshi, exchanging glances between Bilauri and Winda.
"Um…Bilauri…that's just a rumor Shairi started up. Shemshi and I aren't dating," Winda explained, a bit embarrassed for each of them.
"Oh…well…um, sorry. But why would Shairi…?"
"You know what, Bilauri, just go ahead and ask her. It will be easier that way," Winda replied. "Look, let's do as Shemshi says, Bilauri. Let's let Simba and Shairi have one more zebra each, then we move up and take over from the prey-release point. Lenny and Nala are lined up for the antelope and Elvis or Guvu should get the buffalo soon, so we're bound to have plenty of prey to choose from."
Bilauri sighed. "Alright…alright," she said, finally giving in. "Shemshi, enjoy your z's. Winda, come with me. We've got a job to do."
"Go get the antelope, Lenny," said Nala.
"Really? I mean…didn't we just discuss this? Antelope really aren't my thing, Nala. They run too fast and they don't taste good."
Nala rolled her eyes at the last part. "Lenny, you can do this," she stated. "Trust me, you have speed."
"If you think I can do it, then why did you argue against me doing it the first time? I mean, Elvis said let me hunt the antelope, then you said I didn't have to if I didn't want to. Now you're going back on that though, aren't you? I mean, now, you're the one telling me to hunt the antelope instead of…"
"Lenny."
"…yes Nala?"
"You can do it. I have faith in you. The only reason I volunteered for the last antelope was because I didn't want to go for the buffalo."
"Oh…" Lenny replied, albeit a bit confused. "…ah well…I mean…I guess…but you don't have a problem with hunting buffalo, do you? Why did you make Elvis go for it?"
Nala bit her lip before replying. "That's a long story," she finally said. She then pointed over towards the antelope. "Now," she added, changing the subject, "…go fetch."
Three chases were going on.
Shairi was going after the zebra, which was easier done than said. The zebra didn't stand a chance and now Simba was the next competitor lined up in ambush for the next zebra. Once he took that down, Bilauri and Winda would take over control of the track at the prey-release point.
Lenny was going for the antelope. This chase was a little harder than Shairi's one. This antelope was middle-aged but very light, enabling it to run very fast. On a different day, Lenny would have never even considered going after this antelope. But, thanks to Nala egging him on, Lenny was running with a newfound sense of confidence, and he was able to get the antelope down.
The final chase was Elvis and the buffalo. However, Elvis was still not keen on the idea of even attempting a move on this beast. It was excessively large and it would take more than one lion to bring it down. Also, if Elvis made a move now and failed, the buffalo would almost certainly run into the clutches of Guvu in ambush. For now, his best choice was to just follow the buffalo around until they got back up to the frontstretch.
Meanwhile, the newly released zebra had made its way up to Simba and it was time for him to give chase. Unfortunately for Simba, Shairi was now lined up after Juveda in ambush, and so Simba may soon find himself with competition if he didn't get this zebra down soon.
Bad luck struck Simba at just the wrong time though, as he had mistimed this attack terribly and it looked like Juveda would soon have this zebra in its claws. However, as everyone had already figured out, Juveda was suffering from a lack of energy, and so she mistimed her attack too. But, Juveda was able to find an extra spurt of speed in her. Consequently, she soon was able to find herself on the zebra's hind heels. She pounced…but fell short. Her claws were gripped onto the zebra's sides and her teeth were embedded in its back. As she continued to try and pull herself up and slow the zebra down, Simba closed in. However, he was unable to find an angle to pounce from that would not risk putting Juveda in danger of being hit by the zebra's hooves. As a result, Simba was never actually able to make a move, as Juveda was soon able to find some extra strength to pull herself up farther onto the zebra's back and then deliver the fatal bite on the neck. Simba stopped running and walked up next to her.
"Nice job," he said, congratulating her.
Juveda just frowned. "Why didn't you pounce?" she asked. "I'm assuming it's because you thought it would look bad on you if you put me in danger. Perhaps you think I'll think better of you now that you helped save my skin. Fat bloody chance. I still don't think any better of you than the rest."
Simba shrugged. "Honestly," he replied, beginning to walk away from her, "I didn't expect you too."
Juveda just stared and glared at him as he walked off. "Simba," she called, just before Simba returned to his ambushing post. Simba turned around and looked over towards her. He knew she was about to say something to him. Could it possibly be that she was about to thank him?
"Remember when Tumaini was leading?" she asked.
"Yeah…" replied Simba, not really sure what Juveda was getting at.
"Know who's leading now?"
"Guvu's still leading," Kulia reminded her friends, as they watched Elvis stalk the buffalo down the backstretch.
Elsa gasped. "Look!" she exclaimed, "you can see his eyelid's opened…"
Indeed, Kulia and Faye soon found out, it did seem that Guvu did have an eye open, and he was trying his hardest to lure Elvis into a false sense of security as he and the buffalo passed on by them.
"Three…" Guvu mumbled, under his breath, "…two…one…"
Right as the buffalo passed on by, Guvu sprung up onto his feet and gave chase. The crowd roared to life: they were about to watch the two strongest players in the game duke it out over one excessively large buffalo.
Guvu, thanks to his powernap, had more energy than Elvis right now and, consequently, was the first competitor up onto the buffalo's back.
It's not over yet, thought Elvis.
He gave a snarl, causing the buffalo to run faster. This made it more difficult for the buffalo to maintain its balance, and, consequently, it was loosening Guvu's grasp on the buffalo's flesh.
Elvis jumped up onto the buffalo's back and joined Guvu in the attack. It was now time for phase two of Shairi's strategy.
He jammed one set of his claws into the buffalo's side, causing it to slow down as it fell into a state of pain. Thanks to the decrease in speed, Guvu was able to regain his balance and he took another bite farther up the buffalo's neck, sinking his teeth in ever deeper.
Elvis snarled. Phase two had not worked to his advantage. Never mind…it was time for phase three…
Elvis could not afford for Guvu to get this buffalo, so he turned to drastic measures. He jammed his other set of frontal claws into the other side of the buffalo. As anticipated, the buffalo began to buck. The crowd gasped.
Guvu's eyes grew wide as he realized that they were in for a rocky ride. He had only been able to get half of what he knew he needed to do done, as far as killing this buffalo was concerned. Well, that worked for Elvis. The Dixieland lion was finally able to pull himself all the way up onto the buffalo's back and sink his jaw into the beast's neck. Guvu knew he was out ten points, but he didn't care. Right now, he just wanted to make sure that ten points would be the only thing that he would lose.
Elvis opened his eyes, and that's when Guvu knew that something was wrong. Elvis's blue eyes were not warm and friendly like he had grown to know them. Instead, his eyes had turned a more electric shade of blue: something colder and more sinister. His smile was something that he had not grown used too either. His white, pearly, triangular canines were shining in the moonlight as he gave Guvu one final smile…
Guvu never saw the paw that pushed him. All he knew was that, one second, he had been riding on the back of the buffalo with an extra set of ten points just inches away from his teeth. Now, he had lost all grip and traction, and he was sailing back over the buffalo's bucking rear hooves.
Two Siku Choka wins, four Siku Choka top fives, 1,238 points, hundreds of friends and thousands of fans…all of that meant nothing now. The buffalo's hooves kicked up and slammed upwards through Guvu's mane and into the soft part of his neck.
The lion was knocked out cold; his world was black. And, as he came crashing back down to the ground, Guvu was no more.
The Eastlands lionesses got up onto their feet.
"I think he's injured," one of them said. "Elvis got the buffalo, at the least."
"So should we wake Eboni?"
"I…I guess not…" her friend replied. "Guvu's not going to be pulling out any more points on her now. I think he's injured bad…"
"I—I'm worried he's a little bit more than injured…" one of the other lionesses stammered.
Back out on the track, and a couple of the competitors had completely lost focus.
One lioness had spent about the last two minutes not moving a muscle. Her jaw was hanging and her brain was buzzing. Was she having a nightmare? Was that really what she had just witnessed? Nala's heart sank. She'd heard enough. She'd seen enough. If this wasn't proof, she didn't know what was. The third greatest Siku Choka competitor of all time….gone. Untimely. Just like that. She couldn't quite believe it. She didn't want to believe it. She closed her eyes. She couldn't bring herself to believe it.
Yet…she knew she had to. And…she did.
Nala couldn't breathe. What had she gotten herself into? She opened her eyes and looked back out across the track. Her skepticism had been growing all along, and now, it was undeniable:
"Simba was right."