they would eventually turn left and head back towards the east. Simba watched them slowly grow smaller and smaller as they continued in the distance towards the eastern horizon, and he just smiled; though he was still feeling a bit sad in seeing them leave.
 

He then turned back to Kovu, who was feeling almost the same emotions as Simba at the sight of their departure.

“It is a shame that they have left.” Kovu responded when noticed Simba facing him. “They were so much fun to play with on my first day with your pride. And although a bit unorthodox, they were really friendly. I think that I am going to miss them as well.”

“I know what you mean.” Simba replied. “And you’re right: They are a bit unusual, but you really learn to love them after a while.” This brought him up to one of the most important parts of the lesson for Kovu’s kingdom ship. “And when you have friends like that, you must treasure them forever, because everything you see and every friend that you make exist together in a delicate balance; and as king you need to understand that balance and respect all creatures; even the ones that you eat. This balance that I am talking about is called the great ‘Circle of Life’.”

“So once I understand the quality of life,” Kovu replied, following well what Simba was teaching him, “I will become a better king.”

“Exactly.” Simba responded, proud of Kovu’s attention to detail. “You’re learning fast. Now let’s walk out into the lands and we will continue with the lesson.”

“Sure thing, Simba.”

And with that, Simba and Kovu walked down the rock and headed to the west of the savannah to explore the land and continue with the education into kingdom ship.

14

Over in the north of the savannah, about more than a mile away from Pride Rock, Vitani and Kiara sat in the bare patch around the long grass and near the savannah tree with the small boulder; which was the chosen area for them to practice hunting and fighting.

Vitani was busy teaching Kiara how to sneak up and pounce on the prey.

“Now, Kiara,” She was saying, “Kovu told me that he told you a few tricks about sneaking up on the prey. What exactly did he say to you?”

“Well,” Kiara began, “He told me that I must feel the earth underneath my paws so that the ground does not shift and make noise when I move. He also mentioned that I breathe too hard. What does he mean by that?”

“Well, he means that when you get closer to the prey, you get more and more excited and you breathe and lot faster so that it becomes audible for the prey. So once you control your breathing, you will be able to sneak up on the prey more quietly. And also when you are sneaking through the grass, you must watch your every step to ensure that you do not snap twigs or move rocks; because even the slightest noise from such will be heard by the prey and they will immediately sense what is going on.”

Kiara nodded and put on a serious thinking face to remember everything that was being taught to her.

“Now,” Vitani continued, “I will lie in this patch and wait for you. You head into the long grass on this side and attempt to pounce me;” She gestured with her head to the grass on the left side of the savannah tree, “and then we shall see how you do.”

Kiara nodded again and immediately went into the long grass, walking just a little further away from the bare patch so that she could have space to move before making the pounce; which, in this instance, would give her the chance to practice sneaking up quietly on her teacher. Meanwhile, Vitani lay down on the bare patch with her back turned to where Kiara was about to pounce; with her front legs crossed, her head high, and the tip of her tail occasionally batting the ground.

A few seconds later, Kiara found herself starting 40 yards away from Vitani’s spot on the patch, and slowly she started crawling through the long grass, ensuring to lower her breathing and watch where she was stepping as she had been told to. She also managed to stay fairly low to remain camouflaged enough so that no one could see her.

She moved closer and closer to her target; seemingly unnoticeable by her teacher, who had not moved from her position at all. When Kiara was about ten yards from Vitani, who had her back turned, she began to arch her body in the pounce position with her hips raised and her front legs stretched out. She managed to do this slowly and easily to remain quiet; then five seconds later she pushed off hard with her hind legs and leapt towards her target. Her only mistake was making a ‘hup’ sound as she pushed off the ground; and Vitani’s reaction time to the sound was impeccable as she ducked just before Kiara would have pounced her in the head. As Kiara went over Vitani’s head, she landed on her front legs and rolled once before coming to rest on her back. Vitani rose up again and walked over to Kiara, who was still on the ground and panting lightly from the jump. That wasn’t too bad at all. Vitani thought. She is learning fast; and if she just remained quiet at that last moment, she would have been perfect.   

“That wasn’t too bad.” Vitani remarked as Kiara got back up on her feet again to face her trainer. At the same time Vitani was rather impressed at Kiara’s ability. “You were very close. Your breathing is much better and you are certainly quieter, but there is just one more thing you need to fix: When you jump, don’t make that ‘hup’ noise or the prey will know that you are there. If you can avoid that, you will pounce to perfection.”

“Okay, not a problem.” Kiara responded.

“And remember this, because it is important: The reaction time of the prey, along with most other animals, is pretty fast; and so they will be able to get away the moment that they hear a threatening sound; and you will not be able to catch them before they flee. So remaining quiet throughout the entire routine is important if you want to guarantee your catch.”

“Remain quiet at all times, got it.” Kiara confirmed, nodding at the same time.

“Now, go in the grass again and give the pounce another try.”

“Right.”

So Kiara went back into the grass and started in the same position again: 40 yards from the patch; while Vitani took her same lay position again on the patch.

Kiara performed the same technique as before; crawling slowly through the grass, relaxing to control her breathing, and watching her every step; while at the same time feeling the earth underneath her paws. She kept her eyes locked hard on her target lying on the bare patch; her trainer, Vitani; as she crept closer.

Once she got ten yards from her trainer again, Kiara arched her hips and stretched out her front paws; but this time she also took a deep breath and shut her mouth, so that she would be sure not make any noise when pouncing; and then after a few seconds, she pushed off the ground with her hind legs, without ‘hupping’ this time, and leapt towards her target. This time she tackled Vitani right in the back with almost breaking force, and the impact rolled Vitani onto her back while Kiara stood over her with her front paws on Vitani’s chest, feeling slightly triumphant at her own success. Vitani looked at her and smiled proudly, and Kiara smiled back as she got off of her. Vitani also got up, feeling a slight cork of pain in the back from the impact, and sat down to talk to her student.

“That was perfect.” Vitani stated proudly. “You were so much quieter and I didn’t hear you at all; plus the force from that leap was incredible; because I am feeling it in my back right now.”

“Oh, I didn’t hurt you, did I?” Kiara asked, slightly concerned.

“It’s nothing, really; we can resist it. Besides, you shouldn’t worry about it because that is the point. If you can inflict pain into your prey when you pounce them, they will become weakened and then it becomes easier to catch and kill them.”

“I see.” Kiara replied. “Was I really that good?”

Vitani raised her eyebrows at her, still smiling. “After being that quiet and with so much force behind the pounce, you have just about made it to professional standards. That was great.” Kiara felt a bit flattered at her fast learning experience, and she just smiled and turned away for a minute.

Vitani then decided to move along.

“Okay, on with the lesson:” She continued. “First of all, there are two ways to attack the prey. You can stalk and then pounce it, or you can chase after it and jump to stop it in its tracks; so you will either take it by surprise by getting it quickly, or you will have to chase after it and hope to catch it before it outruns you and you start to fatigue. Just remember to rely on your own instincts to ensure that you catch it. So secondly, you will have to know how to get it down. It may be as simple as going straight for the fatal parts, but often they will get away from you if you go for them directly in the situation that they will have enough endurance and strength to escape. So a useful strategy is to first attack the weak parts of