Long golden grasses rustled as Simba and Kovu walked across the savannah that stretched out around them in all directions. The sun was almost at the horizon, and they were on their way back home, the light breeze making the tall grass wave and blowing both lions' manes gently.

They had gone further than they intended to while exploring, and it would still be a long trip back to the rest of the pride. But it wasn't as though either of them had much to fear, especially not while traveling together. Simba continued onwards, his body pushing the long grass out of the way, while Kovu followed behind and to the side, keeping an eye out on their flanks just in case.

A little later the sun began to dip below the horizon, the whole sky glowing orange. "How much further do you think it is?" Kovu asked.

"We won't be getting back before dark," Simba answered, turning his head to glance back at the darker-furred lion. "Why? You're not afraid of the night, are you?"

"Of course not," Kovu replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm just curious."

Simba turned his head forward as he continued onwards. "Before it gets dark, I'm going to go stop by that tree over there," he said, tilting his head to indicate an acacia tree off in the distance ahead of them.

Kovu tilted his head. "Why?"

"Well, we stopped at that watering hole earlier, and..."

A deep chuckle escaped Kovu's throat. "What, and you can't hold it until we get back?" he teased.

Simba glanced back at him. "Of course I could, I'd just rather take care of it now."

On the spur of the moment, Kovu continued to press. "I could hold it, easily," he bragged. "I would have thought the 'king of the lions' would have the willpower for such an easy feat..."

Simba narrowed his eyes, stopping walking and turning to face Kovu. "Is that a challenge?"

Lifting his muzzle, Kovu retorted, "Do you accept it?"

For a moment only silence passed between them, and then Simba turned away. "Fine then," he answered, "No stops or breaks until we get back. But that goes for you, too."

Kovu briefly increased his pace to catch back up with Simba. "Fine with me," he replied confidently, "I'll show you which of us has the stronger will."

"Whatever you say, Kovu," Simba muttered.

At first little changed, the two of them crossing the wide open savannah grasslands together, while the sun moved progressively lower and lower. The orange sky faded to dark blue and then black, with scattered clouds allowing for most of the stars overhead to shine. Simba felt the pressure in his bladder gradually growing, but it was nothing he couldn't handle, and he forged ahead with Kovu in tow towards the mountain where his den was located.

Kovu, too, was in a similar situation, though he tried to hide it. Like Simba, he had also drunk his fill at the watering hole with predictable results, and he ignored the need to pee as he focused instead on moving his paws and keeping an eye out for any nocturnal predators that might be foolish enough to attack a lion. His feline eyes were more than capable of seeing in the dark, but other than occasional birds on some of the acacia trees in their vicinity, all was quiet.

They still weren't anywhere close to home when Simba felt a pang in his abdomen that was beyond a mere need to go, and he winced, grateful that Kovu was behind him and couldn't see his reaction. He stoically continued to walk, his pace slowing just a little bit, but not enough for Kovu to notice... or at least, that's what he had hoped.

"Having trouble there, Simba?" Kovu taunted once he realized Simba was slowing down – not because he had caught up, but because his own reduced pace from the fullness of his own bladder hadn't led to him falling behind. Not that he wanted Simba to know that.

"I'm fine," Simba asserted, "I've been through much worse. I'm not going to let a little pee stop me, and I'm not going to lose to you."

"We'll see about that," Kovu replied, briefly quickening his pace to catch up to Simba's side, despite the discomfort he felt by doing so. "It's still a long way yet. Feel free to admit defeat at any time..."

Simba turned his head and narrowed his eyes at Kovu. "I never admit defeat," he stated proudly, lifting his head and marching forward, with Kovu chasing after him.

More time passed as the mountain in the distance got closer, but their need for relief only got worse. Simba tried hard not to show it, keeping his face straight even as he had to keep pausing to clench his abdominal muscles to keep his bladder contained. Kovu walked alongside him, maintaining his own calm and composed expression – until a sudden sharp feeling in his belly made him wince and he failed to conceal it.

"Ready to give in?" Simba asked him, echoing Kovu's own words with, "Feel free to admit defeat at any time."

"Hah, not a chance," Kovu taunted, turning his grimace into a grin. "Maybe you'd have trouble with this, but I can handle it easily."

Simba rolled his eyes again, moving forward at a yet slower pace. Despite his bravado, Kovu wasn't doing much better, and lagged behind Simba a bit so that the other lion wouldn't notice him occasionally shuddering and pressing his rear legs together to squeeze his sheath between them.

On they went, but their predicament only got worse. First Kovu and then Simba awkwardly walked with their rear legs held together, forcing them to take much smaller steps. Kovu briefly tried keeping his rear legs in place while dragging himself forward with his front paws, but it was so slow and awkward that he immediately fell behind and had to hurry to catch up, his teeth clenched from the movement making it even harder to hold his bladder.

Simba took heavy breaths as each step became harder than the last, the growing pressure in his belly getting more and more difficult to fight against. Coming to a stop, he turned his head to look back at Kovu and saw the other lion with one eye closed mid-flinch, unconvincingly trying to hide it once he noticed Simba was looking at him.

"Perhaps we should call it a tie?" Simba offered. "I think we have both proven our willpower."

Kovu was tempted, but he wouldn't give in that easily. "Don't act like a cub! Hold it until we make it back to the normal spot."

Simba raised an eyebrow. "I don't think either of us is going to make it that far," he pointed out, gesturing with one paw towards Kovu's back legs. "Or much further at all."

Kovu glanced aside, but then doubled down. "In that case, we'll just have to see who can last longer," he insisted, crossing his back legs awkwardly. "We can go once a winner is determined."

"Kovu, that's enough," Simba began, but Kovu interrupted him.

"Or is the king afraid of a challenge?"

Simba's eyes narrowed. "I'm never afraid," he insisted, keeping his gaze fixed on Kovu as he similarly stood with his back legs crossed to squeeze his sheath. "And I will beat you. If you wish to be humiliated so badly, then so be it."

"That's more like it," Kovu replied with a smirk, "But it will be you who loses!"

Simba glared at Kovu's self-satisfied expression, and the two of them remained where they were. Time passed as the evening breeze blew across the savannah, and their desperation only grew. It didn't take long before Kovu sat down to allow him to press his forepaws against his sheath, his stoic expression concealing just how bad it was for him. Simba remained standing, but not for long, before he also had to sit and move one large paw to his sheath, keeping the other forward to hold himself up. He didn't let his gaze drift from Kovu to ensure the other lion didn't try anything funny, and Kovu had to try hard to avoid revealing just how badly he had to go.

"R-Ready to give up yet?" Kovu asked, feeling himself nearing his own limit; no matter how much he clenched his muscles and gripped at his loins, the pressure in his bladder wouldn't go away.

"You first," Simba shot back, his legs pressed around his paw to aid in his own struggle, his breaths coming heavily as he did his best to resist.

"Nuh-uh," Kovu replied, though any follow-up taunt was lost as he gasped and shivered a little, tensing to avoid a leak as his bladder protested again. Yet as he kept one paw over his sheath he felt just a tiny bit of wetness against it, and momentarily panicked. Simba hadn't noticed, had he? But the other lion said nothing else, hunching forward a little more as he squirmed on his haunches, flexing the claws on his stretched-out forelimb and digging them into the ground.

"You're struggling," Simba observed. "Give it up."

"Not as much as you..." Kovu tried to assert, but a sudden pang made his voice break in the middle of his sentence, making it sound far less intimidating. He felt more wetness against his paw and gripped more tightly at his sheath, baring his teeth, taking heavy breaths through his nose.

But the next wave of desperation, moments later, was too much. He trembled and gasped as his exhausted abdominal muscles gave in, refusing to listen to him as he tried to clench them. Hot piss splashed against his paw and spilled onto the dirt and long grasses around him, with a hissing sound that Simba couldn't possibly miss. Kovu lowered his head and Simba gave a small smirk, growling, "I knew it."

"I..." Kovu mumbled, shuddering heavily, trying again to stop his stream but failing to do more than merely impede it for a half-second, the spray soaking his sheath, balls, and inner thighs as he tried in vain to halt it. For a little longer he persisted in his struggle, shaking and clenching and trying to stop the flow, but it was utterly futile and he succeeded only in making a bigger mess of himself as his paws were drenched and some of his pee ran back over his wrist. Giving up, he moved his paws away and let the remainder of his piss splash onto the grass, though he was still dripping.

"You shouldn't issue a challenge you can't win," Simba lectured, wincing from his own desperation. "I am the king for a... reason..."

His boasting came to an abrupt end as his eyes shut tightly and he leaned back on his haunches, trembling in place. "Nngh, I..." he tried to assert, only to gasp when he lost control. Urine gushed from the tip of his shaft that was just barely peeking from his sheath, striking his paw and spraying off it all across his own loins, the excess dripping down to the ground under him. With only one paw between his legs even more of his mess sprayed everywhere than Kovu's, drenching more of his loins as his efforts to stop his stream accomplished nothing.

"It was... close," Kovu conceded. "Next time... I could beat you."

Simba gave him a glare as he tried once more to suppress his stream and only succeeded in soaking his paw. Finally giving up and taking his paw away to let the last of his piss splash onto the grass, he sighed. "If there is a next time, which there won't be, I would win as well," Simba asserted.

Kovu got to all fours, still dripping piss from all around his sheath. "We'll see," he replied. "But I suppose now we should try and get back."

Simba slowly rose as well, shaking his head in dismay. "We'll have to make a detour to the river on the way back," he insisted. "Thanks to your little challenge making a mess of us both."

"I didn't make a mess of you – you did," Kovu pointed out smugly.

Rolling his eyes again, Simba began to walk ahead, drops of urine still falling from him. "Let's just go, Kovu," he ordered, and Kovu smirked as he followed along.