[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina was glad that Akili was so caught up in enjoying Delano's presence that he failed to notice what his father said about Sanders. The cub didn't know who the horrible lion was and probably wouldn't for a long time, but his mother didn't want to try and make up excuses as to what her mate was talking about. Looking over him as he fell asleep, with their son looking quite content in his mane, she was relieved to see that his injuries were mostly superficial. Nothing to worry about, it seemed.

Muroki, still attending to Marini and Ubawa with an occasional lick or nuzzle because of how happy he was that they were alive, felt his cheeks turn red in embarrassment at what Umeme whispered into his ear. What she was getting at was often something he would suggest or initiate, but he still found himself turning red whenever it came from her, something which she obviously thought was cute and enjoyed harnessing for the sake of her own amusement.

The male came to utter a response, only to find himself sort of speechless for a few moments before his mate noticed his predicament and giggled to herself, causing him to quickly clear his throat. "Uh... Alright..." He finally stuttered, trying not to blush even harder when the lioness licked him once across his muzzle while giggling once more. Why did this always work for her every single time?... Was "Uh, alright" seriously the best he could think of?

[DGFone]

Umeme couldn't help but giggle as she caused Muroki to lose all control over his ability to talk, leaving him a stuttering mess. Licking him gently to calm him down, she placed a paw over his mouth to help him. "Not right now," she said gently, grinning never the less.

Noticing that next to them, Lina was resting next to a sleeping Delano, Umeme motioned with her head at the two. "You should probably get some rest as well," she said, allowing Muroki to lie down, "I don't want you complaining about being tired tomorrow." She was teasing of course, and would allow him to get as much rest as he needed, but even right now he was already looking like he could use some shut eye, and she didn't want to keep him up just because he was so eager to see them. She and the cubs weren't going to go anywhere, so Muroki can take some time off right now.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki playfully rolled his eyes, still feeling embarrassed. Of course he hadn't jumped to the conclusion that she was suggesting that for, well, now. But he knew she was teasing him. It went well with purposely making him all embarrassed like that. Truth be told, while he really enjoyed the company of his mate and cubs despite being so fatigued, Umeme was right. She and their son and daughter were safe and weren't going anywhere. The king's den was probably the safest place in the entire pride. It really would be a good idea to get some sleep.

Spoiler: show

Delano can wake up and talk to the king in your next post?

[DGFone]

When Delano woke up from his sleep, he felt as though something was missing. Opening his eyes and looking around quickly, he found himself alone in the cave. "Akili? Lina?" Feeling panic rise up in him, he tried to stand up, and this time, with great difficulty, he even managed to get haul himself up, only to fall over painfully when he actually tried to walk. "Lina? Where are you?" Afraid that something happened to them, he tried to get up once more when a guard came in and gently held him down.

"Easy there, your mate and son are just out on a short walk," the guard said, "you slept through the entire night and half the day, so they felt like stretching their legs for a bit. Don't worry, they're not alone. Lin is with them for one." Delano stared blankly at him, and the guard realized that he had no idea who Lin was. "The lion who you found with Muroki," the guard quickly explained.

It looked like the guard was about to leave Delano alone again when he seemed to change his mind. "Actually, now that you're up, the king wanted to talk to you. I think it's about what happened yesterday." He noticed Delano visibly shrink away. "I know... but it's better to get it over with while it's still fresh on your mind. Come on, let me help you up..."

With the guard's help, Delano was able to get up and hobble over the short distance to the cave where the king was. Setting him down, the guard left the two alone. As he struggled to get into a position that didn't hurt too much, Delano stared at the king, not wanting to talk about what had happened, but knowing that he needed to. "You wanted to see me?" he asked eventually, wondering if the king somehow didn't notice his entrance, which Delano really doubted.

[TheWhistlerify]

Kato's father wasn't necessarily waiting for Delano to show up because he knew that the lion in question was resting after the rough day he and his brother had been through just yesterday. He was more busy thinking to himself about how Sanders ended up surviving. The involvement of the head of the entire police force made it more likely, yes, but still... How would one not execute the most wanted criminal and sneak him out of the cave systems without anybody noticing?

What made it all the more disturbing was the fact that, while it still seemed next to impossible, Sanders had in fact survived his death sentence against all odds and went back to his old, vengeful ways, almost killing three of his subjects (Hatari not included) in the process. And, even if the former leader of the underworld was now truly gone forever, the lion who'd kept him alive was still out there (and, without a doubt, completely insane).

Searches were being carried out pretty much everywhere inside the kingdom and beyond its borders, but so far there wasn't a single trace of him. Sighing in agitation, the king was about to leave and go outside when he heard Delano and he guard come in. While this wasn't his top priority at the moment, it was still something he needed to clear up. Turning around, he offered Muroki's brother a small smile.

"Yes, but I won't keep you long." he said, noticing the uneasiness in the lion's expression. It was clearly coming from yesterday's events (in addition to the regular way Delano behaved around him, which Kato's father believed was because of the false imprisonment all this time ago). "I can't rely on your brother or Lin for this because they only showed up again when it was all over." he explained.

"I need you to not let anything decide your answer. Whether its your own still present distrust and lack of forgiveness or whether, on the contrary, your brother's friendship with him might compel you to defend him on this matter. I need to know whether Hatari's presence here should be treated as trespassing." Of course, Kato's father didn't know the details (including Delano dragging Hatari after him into he kingdom, mainly). But that was why he was asking the lion who clearly had the answer.

[DGFone]

Delano couldn't look at the king in the eye, unable not to think about what happened the day before. And now the king was asking him to decide on what to do with Hatari, which Delano was sure was basically asking him if Hatari was to be executed or not.

If he had the strength to do so, Delano would have most likely simply gotten up and walked away, but he was instead stuck here, and had to say something. After all that had happened... he wasn't sure if he could say that he was as distrustful of the lion as he was before. And when it actually came to his fight with Sanders...

This was the first time he actually thought hard about what had happened then, and remembering just how close Sanders had gotten to killing him... Delano felt tears cover his eyes as he recalled the fight, the fear he felt as he was beaten about resurfacing now. If Hatari hadn't pushed Sanders off of him... he wouldn't have seen Lina or Akili again.

"He-he saved my life," he muttered softly, "if he hadn't..." Delano's breath caught in his throat, "...I wouldn't be here right now..." Suddenly looking up at the king, he said firmly, "You can't kill him. Not for this!" Feeling as though he crossed some line he wasn't supposed to, he shrank back and his his eyes beneath a paw.

[TheWhistlerify]

A part of the king didn't really believe (nor wanted to believe) that Hatari really had any involvement in Sanders surviving the death sentence or in his final attempt to get revenge. It was because of his own opinion of the lion's change of heart and, of course, the fact that he'd helped stopp Sanders from killing Delano and Muroki in the past, an attempt which had been aimed at Kato as well. Really, the most sensible way to look at things was that, if the former member of the underworld was still bad, the two brothers and the prince would have been dead long ago.

So, when Delano pointed out the fact that Hatari had saved him from Sanders, Kato's father was not surprised in the slightest. He also didn't so much as slightly withdraw his head when Akili's father slightly raised his voice. Being the king, he was quite used to it. Subjects often came to him with complaints, not to mention that some of them also didn't really agree with his ways of viewing certain things and dealing with them to begin with. Actually, Delano was far from the worst when it came to this sort of thing. Heck, there was that one finally-dead lion who'd gone on a killing spree and tried killing him and his son simply so that he could have the throne and run things the way he wanted to.

"I understand." he said softly after waiting for Muroki's brother to look at him again. "I had thought and hoped as much." According to logic, in addition, the fact that Hatari and Delano were found alone with Sanders's body clearly indicated which side Hatari was on. No lone lion would have been able to survive a fight against two experienced fighters like Sanders and Hatari. "Your brother's outside with his family, but I'm sure that your mate and son will be back soon enough." Chuckling he continued. "Curious little fellow, isn't he? You should have seen Kato show him and his two cousins around just earlier this morning."

[DGFone]

Being told about Akili caused Delano to smile, and he struggled to get up so that he can get back to at least Muroki. Despite his best efforts, he was only able to get himself up by leaning on a wall, and still needed to wait for the guard to come in and help him. Just as he was about to walk out of the cave though, he froze, realizing that there was something he forgot to mention that the king should know. "Wait..."

Delano was helped to lie down again as he tried to think of what to say. "Before Hatari and I..." He found it hard to speak, because this was the memory of being told that Muroki was dead. While it certainly wasn't true anymore, the fear he had felt was not, and Delano struggled to overcome it as he needed to tell the king what happened there. "...There was another lion... I don't know who, but I'm sure he helped Sanders. He seemed to know Hatari, so you can ask him about it. I don't know what happened to him, but I think he's still alive..." Delano his his head, trying to hide that his eyes were starting to water. "...He tried to kill Muroki," he whispered quietly, "and he... he really enjoyed it. When he told me that Muroki was...." Delano fell silent, unable to speak anymore.

[TheWhistlerify]

The king instantly knew who it was Delano was referring to. How could he not? It wasn't that surprising that Muroki's brother was unaware as to just who that lion was given his bad history with the police. "I know what he did." he said, sighing. "We're looking for him but, so far, there's not so much as a trace." Kato's father hated giving Delano a reason to worry, but he definitely wasn't going to lie and say that the threat no longer existed when the former Chief of Police was still on the loose who knew where... "Leave finding him to us." He was going to reinforce security around the entire kingdom, especially the areas where families lived. This time, if somebody was going to to to assassinate someone, he was going to have to work a lot harder than before. It just angered him sometimes how he hasn't taken such precautions in the past... "You should go and rest some more."

[DGFone]

If anything, what the king said got Delano really worried. "But... that's what you said about Sanders!" he protested, "Lina told me that you said that you would look for him... and you saw how far in he got!" Trying to get close to the king, Delano basically had to drag himself over, but he was too agitated to notice. "We have to find the lion now! He's going to want to kill someone, and the longer we don't find him..! Take me with you! I know where he was. We can find a trail and follow it!"

Finally reaching the king, Delano stared up at the other lion, a desperate look on his face. "Please... I can't just sit around and wait for him to show up. I just can't..."