[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano ran as fast as he could, not realizing that he was taking the long way around. He didn't even look that carefully where he was going, all he knew was that Muroki needed him. Muroki, I'm coming! Just hold on! If this was an ordinary day, and Delano was simply running with Muroki or Lina, he would have stopped a long time ago in order to rest, but his aching legs were the last thing on his mind.

Not soon enough, he reached a point where he was able to cross the gorge and now had to run all the way back on the other side. He only hoped that when he would finally get there, Muroki would still be in one piece. Delano didn't even dare to think anything else could happen. He reached the point where the land started to be dotted with caves and tunnels, but knew he wasn't close enough yet. He had to keep going.

---

One of the two lions though he heard something. "They are close. Very close." The other one nodded, and they continued to search. The scent of their targets was heavy in the air, and he noticed something on the ground. He leaned down close and grinned.

Blood.

"Over here! I got their trail!" He was soon joined by the other lion, and together, they followed the scent and the occasional footstep, knowing fully well that it was only a matter of time before they found Muroki and Kato.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina meanwhile looked at the sister, not knowing what to do. As scared as she was, she didn't want to let Delano run off alone like that. On the other paw, she couldn't leave Umeme on her own. "Can you walk?" she didn't know how much of a help the two of them would be, but she didn't want to sit by and do nothing.

~~~~~~

Muroki kept leading Kato up the pathway, briefly looking over his shoulder when he heard one of the two lions claiming to have found their trail. They had to hurry up and find what he was looking for so that they could hide again without him having to worry about Kato's poisoning. All of a sudden he heard a quiet thud behind him and saw that Kato was already starting to have a hard time keepng up. "I don't feel too good..."

Muroki knew that he was going to have to carry Kato in order for them to be able to continue. He was about to ask Kato to get on his back when he heard two loud growls coming from behind them. Just what he needed. "Listen," he said, hoping he'd be able to reason with the two of them. "This young lion hasn't done anything to you." He didn't know if he'd be able to take on both of them but, noticing the narrow and high pathway they were on, he got an idea. "You don't have o do this..."
.

[DGFone]

Umeme nodded at Lina. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just shaken a little, that's all." Delano hadn't actually hurt her, it was just that she was so shocked and scared when he had shoved her aside like that that it took her a while to regain her senses. Quickly getting up, Umeme knew that their problems were far from over. "Come on, they need out help!" Together, they followed Hatari's path to the other side of the gorge.

---

Delano had to slow down, not helping his frustration at all. He knew he was close. He could feel it. So of course he had to slow down and search his way around the maze of caves and tunnels to find Muroki's path. His eyes were wide as he scanned everywhere, looking for anything that could resemble a trail or path. He thought he saw something, and followed it.

---

The two lions looked at each other, grinning. "You see, we kind of have to," one of them replied. "We were given a job, and you're kind of it." This was going to be so much easier now that the prince was out of it. They didn't know why, but they didn't particularly care. They will take care of Muroki, and then make sure the prince is really dead afterwards.

With one last look at each other to make sure that they were on the same page, they charged.

[TheWhistlerify]

Hatari, having also arrived somewhere at the foot of the mountains, began to look around. There were a few scents in the area, one which he could tell belonged to Muroki. This meant that he had either climbed the mountains from that particular area or passed through it. But there were so many mountains and Hatari didn't know for sure. He heard something behind him and, out of instinct, turned around and growled. It was Delano. "Sheesh, you almost gave me a heart attack!" he said, dropping the aggressive approach. "Your brother and the prince were here. I have no idea which one of these mountains they climbed, though." It looked like they were going to have to search through all the montains, and that was going to take quite a while.

~~~~~~

Muroki growled aggressively as the two lions charged in his direction. He's never been a big fan of violence, but it looked like he didn't have a choice. Hopefully he wouldn't have to fight them for more than a few seconds. As one of the two was about to tackle him he moved aside before slamming into the lion with his side, sendng him rolling off the pathway and all the way back down. Since he ane Kato haven't made it too high, he didn't have to worry about accidentally killing his attacker.

The 2nd lion wasn't having any of that, though, and managed to pounce at Muroki and lock his jaw on the younger lion's shoulder. Muroki managed to not yell as his legs termbled as a result of the pain, and when he felt his attacker try to force him to the ground he regained his bearings and clawed a his face as hard as he could, somehow managng to force the lion's jaw to open.

Growling in anger, his attacker tried to push him off his feet, but Muroki managed to shove him away easily. The underworld lion then raised a paw to strike him, and when Muroki tried to do the same he was unable to because of the pain in his shoulder, much to his attacker's amusement. He took to blow right to the head and fell down. His attacker was about to pounce at him and go for his throat when a sharp pain shot through his tail. "You little brat..." he growled, looking around at Kato.

Muroki took the opportunity to bite into the lion's scruff and fong him off the mountain as well. He knew that it wouldn't take the two a long time to climb back up again. "You're hurt..." said Kato, looking worried. The look on Muroki's face made the prince realize what he was about to say. "What, me? No, I'm fine..." However he soon collapsed to the ground with a grunt of pain. Muroki walked over to the younger lion, placed him on his back and continued up the montain, ignoring his bleeding shoulder.

[DGFone]

Delano growled aggressively at Hatari, still thinking that the lion was responsible. "You stay away from me and Muroki," he said coldly, making it very clear in his tone that if he wasn't busy looking for his brother, he would have attacked him on the spot. For some reason, Hatari didn't move. "Did you hear me? GET OUT!" Delano was about to lunge at Hatari when at that moment, the noise of another fight caught his attention.

"Muroki!"

Running past Hatari, Delano followed the noise until he came to a hill, and what he saw almost made him cry out in horror. Muroki was there, still alive, but barely. He had another lion who looked a lot like Kato on his back, and was climbing as fast as he could, slowed down by both Kato's weight as well as a very nasty wound to the shoulder.

Two other lions who Delano couldn't recognize were already climbing up after Muroki and Kato, and Delano didn't even need to guess about their intentions. Unless he acted now, Muroki would die. Silently charging at the nearest one, something in Delano made him all to aware about what he had to do. Without the lion even realizing that he had arrived, Delano jumped over and in one swift movement, bit hard into the neck of the lion, killing him quickly.

However, Delano's victory was short lived as he was rammed hard in the side. He barely got back up to his feet before the remaining lion charged him again, and Delano had to dodge again, just narrowly avoiding a pawful of sharp claws. His lack of practice in fighting became very apparent as Delano found himself on the defensive, and all of the sudden, on his back and gasping for air as the lion pressed his paws on his throat.

Delano tried to throw the lion off, but was growing weak with every moment, only to have the weight lift of him instantly when the lion was thrown off. Looking at the attacker, Delano stared in disbelief as Hatari took over the fight. As though waking up from a daze, he realized where he was and jumped back up to his feet, and ran over to his brother. "Muroki! Muroki, are you alright?" Despite his own fatigue and pain, he took over carrying Kato, freeing up the weight off Muroki. "You need help, come on!" He turned, only to realize that he had no idea how to get back.

[TheWhistlerify]

The only thing Muroki was focused on was climbing up the mountain as fast as he could in the hopes of coming accross another nook or narrow passage where it would be easier to try and stop their persecuters from reaching them. As difficult as it probably was, he didn't notice Delano was there until his brother physically arrived next to him and took Kato off his back. Boy, was Muroki happy to see him. He's never been happier to see to see a familiar face in his entire life.

Being a little more than half as big as an adult male, Kato probably didn't weigh as much as Muroki's injury made it feel like. Nevertheless, it felt like a huge relief to have the prince lifted off of his back. "He's dying, Delano..." he said in between his heavy breaths, ignoring his brother's comments about the fact that he was injured. "A snake bit him..." He rememberd how Delano never showed much interest whenever their parents taught them about snakes, so he didn't bother givng him the details.

"I need..." he paused, feeling dizzy. What was the thing he was looking for called? He shook his head, regaining his focus to a certain extent. Why on earth did the name matter if he knew what it looked like? "I need to-" he grunted with pain and effort as he took another step up the pathway. "-search on the mountain..." he paused and shook his head again before slowly walking forward, trying to stay focused. "Bring him..."

Hatari meanwhile had Sanders's second helper pinned to the ground. "Start talking!" he yelled, growling angrilly at him. "Where's Sanders?!" He knew Sanders well enough in order to know that the former leader of the underworld probably had a plan B. If that was the case, then chances were that these 2 goons weren't the only one who had come there to help him.

[DGFone]

Delano instantly grew worried when he saw his brother falter in his climb. "Muroki, you need to rest..." He doubted that Muroki would listen to him, but he simply couldn't let his brother go off and kill himself just to try and save someone else. "Tell me what Kato needs! I'll find it... You just stay put."

He set Kato on the ground and placed himself in front of Muroki, blocking his brother's path. "Muroki, listen to me! You stay right here, and I will get whatever he needs!" He noticed to his horror that Muroki didn't look well. His brother's eyes were out of focus and wandering about. Delano's voice quivered as he tried to get Muroki to lie down. "Muroki, don't do this... I can't lose you too... stay here and rest... I'll get some help..." He gently pushed his brother onto the ground, and then sat up, looking around for anything or anyone.

"Help! Someone!"

---

The remaining one of Sander's lions chuckled despite the pain that Hatari was inflicting on him. "It doesn't matter, he won anyways." As if to prove his point, they heard Delano's anguished cry for help. Grinning back at Hatari, the lion didn't care if he was going to be killed anymore. "He is going to be delighted to murder Delano, and then you. He's going to find you, and he will make you pay for the betrayal. Slowly, and painfully. Even worse than what he's going to do to him."

[TheWhistlerify]

Hatari, realizing that he wasn't going to be getting any useful information from the lion he had pinned, slammed his head hard with his paw to the side, twisting his spine and breaking it. While he wasn't very thrilled at having killed again, he knew that letting the lion live would have put their lives in danger. He didn't know whether Sanders was on his own and planning to get him and Delano seperately or whether he had any more helpers nearby. He also didn't know where on earth the bastard could be.

Leaving the dead lion behind, Hatari walked forward, coming accross Delano and Muroki shortly afterwards. Muroki appeared to be trying to explain something to his brother, but it was his friend's condition which worried him the most. "What happened?"

"A snake bit Kato..." said Muroki, looking around at him.

"What species?" asked Hatari, decidng to get straight to the point.

"Er..." Muroki couldn't remember the name. "Brown with black stripes..."

"Try creating some pressure on his shoulder." said Hatari, looking at Delano. "The bleeding will stop faster that way. I'll go look for the anidote." He didn't wait for Delano to answer, immediately taking off and heading further up the mountain.

~~~~~~

Lina and Umeme came to a stop upon reaching an unfamiliar area with mountains. This was the general direction they'd seen Hatari run in. Lina doubted it was any different in her sister's case, but she didn't have even the slightest idea as to where they were. "Where are we?" And more imporantly, where were Delano and Muroki?

[DGFone]

Not really believing what he was doing, Delano actually listened to Hatari this time and pressed on Kato's wound. Left alone with Muroki and the unconscious prince, Delano finally had time to actually stop and think about what was going on. He really didn't have a clue.

"Muroki, what happened? I was with Lina and the next thing I know, Umeme comes out of nowhere screaming that you're in danger... What's going on? What do you now that I don't?" Despite wanting to control his emotions, he felt tears from over his eyes. "I was really afraid that I would lose you today."

Again, he looked over the wound on Muroki's shoulder. It still looked bad, but already the bleeding was slowing down, and Delano was glad to see that most likely, Muroki would end up fine. However, this comfort was only a little help compared to the fear that he had felt, and was now only coming to terms with.

Then there was the whole deal with Hatari. "And when did you find Gakuru? Do you even know what he did?" This time, Delano couldn't stop himself from growling a little, still very distrustful of the lion that they were now relying on to save Kato.

---

Umeme frowned, looking around. "I don't know. But they have to be around here somewhere, I guess." Giving up on trying to search for them, she then tried a new approach. Concentrating on the scents around her as though hunting, she could smell Delano and Muroki in the area. "Come on, let's go find them." She lead Lina, trusting her senses to lead her to the two brothers.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki couldn't help but wince as Delano pressed a paw against the wound on his shoulder. It wasn't a very pleasant sensation, but Muroki knew that the action was ncessary. He chuckled at Delano's comment at how he was afraid that he might lose him. "Hey, I know the feeling..." he said, still staring at the exact same spot on the ground. He hoped that Hatari would return soon because he was still worried sick about Kato. The thought of the prince dying was unbearable, especially after the way they'd gotten to know each other so well.

The injured lion let out a sigh as Muroki mentioned Hatari. He'd never heard he name Gakuru before, but it would make sense if underworld lions didn't use their real names. "Met him a few days ago..." he said, sounding confused for whatever reason. "I only found out who he really is yesterday, but he claimed that he's different now... I came to him again today to question him, and since he realized I'm your brother he told me about all of this... he hesitated a little before continuing, looking at his brother. "Sanders is behind this setup... He wants me dead because I'm your brother and he wants Kato dead because his father ended your trial..."

~~~~~~

Lina, who still felt quit uncomfortable about Hatari's presence despite the way he'd refused to fight Delano earlier, silently nodded before following her sister. Splitting up was obviously out of the question, and Umeme did seem to have a clue as to where she was leading them...