"Hey Ed," Shenzi said, as she followed him back to where He and Banzai had been attacked, "would you say I'm fat?"

Ed's reply, a laugh as always, was definitely affirmative, and also sounded sarcastic.

"Yeah, I guess it was kind of a stupid question," Shenzi said, "but I mean, seriously, d'you think I need to lose weight?"

This time, Ed's reply seemed more thoughtful, but he managed to convey that 'he' wasn't struggling with this fairly mild speed.

This made Shenzi realise just how out of shape she was. Once, the speed she was doing now would have been cubs play, now it was the fastest she could keep up. That would change though, she decided, as soon as they got Banzai and got home, she'd start to lose some of this weight.

Shenzi and Ed were getting close to the site where he and Banzai had been attacked, when a voice behing them said, "oh-ho-ho, what do we have here?"

Shenzi spun, or at least turned round, to find herself facing a pair of lions. They weren't particularly big or powerful as lions went, but even the smallest lion would be a match for any three hyenas in their prime, but there was only her and Ed now, and she was nowhere near being in top condition. "Looks like a couple o' hyenas to me," said the other, though she had difficult telling between the two.

"Looks like it," the first lion said, "and you know what we do with hyenas around here don't you?"

"Do tell," Shenzi said.

"Gladly," the first lion said, "we have a little...fun, with them, teach them not to overstep the boundaries."

"Yeah," said the second lion, "just like we did with those two this morning, remember that?"

"Yup," the first lion said, then frowned at Ed, "don't I...oh you got away did you." His sadistic smile returned, and he said, "an' I see you've brought us another little friend to play with too."

"So you're the ones who attacked my mate," Shenzi asked, glancing beside her,Ed was struck dumb with terror, unable to move.

"That's right," the first lion said, "and now we have to decide what to do with you."