[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

To say that Delano had an anxious night was an understatement, so even though he was mostly asleep, he did notice when Muroki got up and left. Not really wanting to get up himself, he at first thought of just trying to go back to sleep, but at the back of his mind, he knew that this was the best chance he would get of telling Muroki about the changes to the plan they made during the meeting with the king.

Letting out a silent groan of annoyance, Delano hesitated when he looked at Lina. While she appeared to be asleep, he wasn't sure if she actually was, or if like him, she only looked like it. "I'll be right back," he whispered to her, just in case, and got up and followed his brother out of the cave.

He finally caught up to his brother over at the waterhole, but wasn't sure about what exactly he should say. "Morning, Muroki," he finally muttered, "I guess, that you want to know about what the king said yesterday." He figured as much when Muroki nodded. "Well, Kato will be leading it. He... he wanted to be part of the bait with me." When Muroki didn't say anything else, Delano then added, "he didn't think it would be a good idea if you were with us, though. But he was fine with letting you be part of the ambush team."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki, both because he was busy drinking and because he was still sleepy, failed to hear his brother's pawsteps behind him and only realized he was there upon being spoken to. Turning around, he looked rather surprised to find out Delano was awake at such an hour. Nevertheless, he was quite interested to hear about yesterday so he nodded his head in a silent, affirmative response.

Having all three of them be bait just might make them all a less approachable target. But with Delano still hurt, having just one other lion there wouldn't make a difference in the eye of any attacker. And if having Kato be that extra lion was agreeable with his father, seeing how the plan had originally been expected to meet the king's disapproval, then by all means. "Okay, sounds good." As long as his brother wouldn't be by himself. He trusted Kato more than enough.

Being part of the ambush team would allow him to keep an eye on Delano as well. "So, how's this going to work?" When were they going to do it? Also, surely this would all require a lot of planning in advance...

[DGFone]

Delano didn't expect Muroki to agree to the changes so readily, but at the same time, didn't really see any reason why he won't. Muroki had always been much more friendly with Kato than he had, so his brother trusted the prince much better than Delano necessarily would.

As for Muroki's question: "I don't know," Delano simply replied, "the king wanted to bring in Lin, so I think there will be another meeting this morning. I think it will be a good idea if you come to this one though..." He wasn't sure why Muroki chose not to come to yesterday's meeting, but he guessed that it wasn't actually all that important. However, this next meeting will most likely be far more important as they will most likely actually figure out how they will carry out the plan.

There was another thing Delano wanted to add though. "Muroki, there is also... Well, Lina doesn't want me to go, and I don't want to disappoint her, but... I don't think that I can simply stay with her while that lion is out there. I... I have to go, but that's hurting Lina, and I don't want to see her like that." Perhaps his brother could help him out with figuring out how to have Lina keep her calm while he will be away.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki once again listened without interrupting his brother, slowly nodding his head in response to what he was saying. "That makes sense." Kato had told him that Lin was now the new Chief of Police. At least now there wasn't someone in charge that would one day turn out to be a psychopathic, sadistic killer. "If Kato's father won't mind, that is, then I'll gladly be there." There was no reason for this small request to be disapproved of, seeing how he was to take part in this whole operation.

Of course, it didn't surprise him when Delano then told him that Lina was absolutely against this whole plan, especially the part where he was to be put at the highest risk. "That is to be expected..." he said quietly. The lion still didn't know just how his own mate would react once he told her about what they were going to do, even if he himself was probably going to be in no danger at all. He was still planning to let her know today, but the more details he would have by that time the better. "I don't think there's any way around this. You won't change your mind about going and she's not going to stop being concerned for your safety."

[DGFone]

Delano simply shook his head to answer Muroki's comment about being in the meeting, but he was too preoccupied with worrying about Lina to say anything. So when his brother only said something which he already knew, he only looked back at Muroki with an annoyed look. "So you have any any suggestions on what to do or not?" he asked, perhaps a bit too quickly.

Immediately feeling guilty for getting angry at his brother, he looked down and muttered an apology. It wasn't Muroki's fault that this was happening, and it wasn't up to him to figure out what to do either, so Delano didn't really have a right to get angry if Muroki was only able to get as far as he had a while ago. Perhaps just getting the plan over with and that lion under control was the only thing to do, no matter if it caused Lina to worry about him the entire time.

Feeling like sitting around by the waterhole wasn't going to change things any time soon, Delano also took a quick drink. "I guess it's a good time to head back," he told Muroki, "I'm guessing the meeting might start early." He at least hoped that it would, so that more time would be available to act on what they will decide to do.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki went ahead and drank up some more until he no longer felt thirsty before turning around to once again face his brother. "It might start early." he said matter of factedly. With any luck, he'd be able to get some more sleep before that would happen. Kato was bound to wake Delano up for the meeting, seeing how being the bait kind of required being involved in the planning of it all.

"Yeah, let's go back." Yawning sleepily, he followed his brother back inside and wasted no time in settling down closely to Umeme and their cubs. There was nothing more pleasant when he was tired than to be able to just get some more rest. As Muroki looked at Ubawa and Marini, snuggled closely together between their mother's paws, he found his mind wondering to what needed to be done about that lion.

He didn't want to have to worry about the safety of those he loved as well as his own. His son and daughter deserved to grow up without experiencing all of that danger or the loss of a parent. But the plan was their best shot at ending this before something bad happened. He had to help for Umeme's sake and that of their cubs. Gently running his paw through the fur of the two little ones, he rested his head back down and closed his eyes, feeling himself already drifting off.

[DGFone]

When they went back to the cave, Delano barely registered that Muroki went off to Umeme and their cubs as he slowly padded over to Lina, still asleep with Akili between her paws. While she looked peaceful enough right now, he knew that as soon as she would wake up, Lina would again insist that he won't go. Of course she feared that he might be killed, after all, that was always a risk. But was it small enough to decide that going was still the best option?

Looking over at Akili, Delano found himself wondering how the cub might feel if he really was killed. Not only would Lina be in a very bad state, but Akili... Finding that thinking about it was only causing him to remember what it was like to discover the bodies of his own parents, Delano grumpily lay down next to Lina and tried to get some more rest. Like Muroki mentioned, there was nothing he could do about Lina's fears, and thinking about them was only causing him to lose rest as well, which was the last thing he needed now.

Trying to ignore his own uncertainty about the entire thing, Delano closed his eyes and waited to be woken up for whatever meeting the king wanted to hold.

[TheWhistlerify]

Next thing Muroki knew, while it couldn't have been too much time afterwards, he was being nudged awake by his brother. Umeme and their cubs were still asleep and it appeared to be a lot brighter outside than before, but not late enough to the point where Marini and Ubawa might wake up and start making noise. Their mother hardly ever woke up before they did. Kato was already standing by the entrance and waiting for them, looking rather bored and tired.

Because there was really no telling just how long this meeting was going to take, not to mention that it couldn't be too long before their son and daughter would wake up, he needed to let his mate know that he'd be gone so to not cause her any concern later. Knowing her, though, she'd probably be able to fall back asleep with ease, so there were no hard feelings about interrupting her now. "Umeme, wake up..." he said softly as he gently nudged her muzzle with his own, smiling a small smile as she eventually opened her eyes. "Listen, I'm going with Delano and Kato for a while. I'll be back later, okay?"

[DGFone]

Despite wanting to catch some more sleep, Delano was still lying around in a rather restless state when Kato walked in, looking rather tired and very much having just woken up, but also rather determined. Knowing that his meant that it was time to get up properly, Delano rose to his paws and padded over to Muroki, who he saw rather jealously did manage to get some more sleep.

"Muroki..." Nudging his brother gently, Delano waited for his brother to wake up. "Muroki, it's time..." Eventually, his brother did groan awake, and he was able to back away to give Muroki some room to wake up.

Returning to Lina's side, Delano stared at her, unsure if he should tell her anything or not. He still felt really bad about how much he was hurting her feelings, and considering how peaceful she looked right now, he didn't know if it was going to be a good idea to wake her up or not just to say goodbye. Doing so would only guarantee that she would start worrying again. So instead, he chose to lean his head down and gently touch her nose with his. "I'll be back soon," he whispered, and moved away from his sleeping mate and son. Akili lay peacefully between his mother's paws, unaware of what was going on around him.

Moving over to Muroki and Kato, Delano nodded to signal that he was ready. Even if this was only going to be a meeting, they could easily start with the plan right away, so for all he knew, Delano might be leaving Lina for more than just a short period of time. As they followed Kato, he knew that for now, all he can do was wait and see what would happen.

[TheWhistlerify]

After finally getting that sleepy "approval" in return, Muroki gave his mate a slow lick across her muzzle before quietly making his way towards Delano and Kato. His brother seemed somewhat restless and agitated, while Kato looked quite tired in comparison to his normally energetic self. This seemed almost off, seeing how the prince had his habit of going on runs at even earlier hours than this sometimes.

"So where are we going?" he asked after a minute or so as they walked between the different caves. It was still chilly, and the cool wind was both refreshing as well as helpful in helping him wake up more properly.

"One of the nearby caves." replied the younger male with a yawn. "I think the main point for discussion will be just where we're going to try and pull this off... There's no point to bait unless it's being watched, after all."