[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Glancing outside at the others, Delano tried to think about what was the best thing to do now. When Kato mentioned Lina and Umeme, he also initially thought that going back would be a good idea, but something held him back.

"I don't think I can do that," he finally replied, "it's just that... unless I know for certain that he will finally be gone... Everyone told us that Sanders was dead, but in the end..." he motioned at the healing wounds that covered his front and sides. "Even if the chance is small, but if he somehow will survive... it's not something I can take right now."

Just talking about the possibility of the lion surviving was hard enough, and Delano leaned against a wall to support himself. "I just want it all to be over..." he muttered quietly, "been wanting for it for so long..."

[TheWhistlerify]

Kato nodded quietly. That was understandable. "You can come with us back to the police's tunnels if you want, but I don't know how long it's going to be." The prince knew how much Delano hated that maze, but he also knew just how important it was for him to see with his own eyes that the lion out to get him and his brother was really dead, especially after what's happened with Sanders.

Truth be told, Muroki wasn't as keen on that as his brother was. "I suppose I should go back to let Lina and Umeme know it's over and that we're both alright..." He trusted Kato and Lin to actually see to it that the former Chief was killed not to mention that the king probably wasn't going to be as careless as he'd been with Sanders.

[DGFone]

As much as Delano wanted to be there to see the ex-chief being executed, the thought of going back to the place of his imprisonment was not what he had thought would happen. He had never been there since that time, and had always wanted it to remain that way. Why couldn't things go easily for once?

"Muroki, after you go and tell them... can you come back?" He knew that he really shouldn't be afraid of that place anymore, and that it really was in the end just another set of caves that populated the kingdom. Despite it only being another set of walls, the thought of returning to that specific location filled him with a sense of dread that was almost debilitating.

He had almost lost his mind when he was held in there, and if it wasn't for Muroki, Delano felt like that would have indeed been the case. So even though he would be with Lin and Kato, he still felt like he needed the comforting presence of his brother, something which Delano doubted even Lina would be able to provide.

[TheWhistlerify]

Truth be told, while his brother had far better reasons than him to not want to go back to these tunnels, Muroki felt very much reluctant to do so as well. So when Delano asked him to come after he'd just pictured in his head how great it would be to go home, let his mate know it was over and just forget about everything, it kind of came as a request he would have normally said no to.

But there was no doubt his brother would find it difficult to be there (for who knew how long), so perhaps it would be for the better if he did tag along after taking that quick detour. "Yeah." he replied softly, nodding his head. "I'll do that." How was he going to locate him in those tunnels later, he had no idea. No doubt the former Chief was going to be held in a deep part of them. Oh well, he'd cross that bridge once he got to it... Giving Kato a quick nod, he left the small cave that was Hatari's den and made his way back to where Umeme and Lina were most likely waiting to hear from both of them.

[DGFone]

Grateful that his brother was willing to stick with him, Delano nodded his head slightly. "Thanks, Muroki," he muttered as he watched the other lion walk out and head off back to the king's cave. Staring outside at where the others still stood around the ex-chief, talking to themselves, Delano felt uncomfortable at how bored he looked: as though he didn't care that he was about to die, or he was simply hiding very well that he had a way out.

Turning his attention away from the lion, Delano found Hatari and slowly padded over, feeling somewhat nervous and slightly foolish. "Listen, Hatari, can I... may I speak to you for a moment?" he asked, "In private?"

---

Even though they had to watch over the cubs, Umeme still felt rather nervous about Muroki and Delano, especially due to the sheer suddenness about the news of what they were going to do. Unable to help herslef, she moved over to Lina's side, hoping that her sister could offer some help to the agonizing wait, but it didn't end up being the case. For what seemed like forever, Umeme sat and watched over the cubs, but her mind making up worrying predictions about what could go wrong.

Even though she was proven wrong so many times that she lost count, she would still look up whenever she would hear someone approaching from outside, but always it was a random lion about on business. However, eventually, to her great relief, Muroki returned, looking no worse for the wear other than perhaps out of breath from running over.

"Muroki!" With great joy, she bolted over to him and embraced him in a deep hug. "How did it go? Was everything all right?" Again, she noticed how Muroki was all alone, but much like before, he was also too calm to look like something had gone wrong.

[TheWhistlerify]

Hatari was somewhat deep in his own thoughts and mostly waiting for everyone to leave his waterhole and take their murderous prisoner with them, so he was a little surprised when Delano suddenly approached him, saying he wanted to talk to him alone. "Uh, yeah, sure..." His den was still occupied by that weird lion who helped them out, but going a short distance away from the others was ought to be sufficient.

●●●●●●●●●●

As always, Muroki couldn't stop himself from smiling broadly when Umeme rushed over to greet him. He immediately hugged her back, glad to know that now there was nothing for her to worry about anymore seeing how he was alright. "Yeah..." he said as they separated, giving her a quick nuzzle. "By the time Delano and I arrived with his slower walking pace they'd already restrained him..."

Noticing his sister-in-law approach them, no doubt wanting to know where Delano was, he stopped nuzzling his mate so that he could give her his full attention. "Delano wanted to stay behind, to make sure he really was put to death." he explained. "We don't know when exactly that'll happen, but I'm going back to him soon because the former Chief is being taken to the tunnels. Delano asked me to be there..." Even though he didn't really want to be there himself.

[DGFone]

Walking away from the others, Delano stopped when he felt that they were far enough away, all too aware that this was the first time he was alone with Hatari since the fight with Sanders. Feeling rather nervous, he struggled to find the right words to say. "It's been a while since we... no, uh, well, just that... I never really got to tell you before, but..."

Letting out a frustrated sigh at not being able to talk properly, he simply gave up trying to lead into what he wanted to say. "If you hadn't showed up when you did, I wouldn't even be here right now... and most likely, neither would Lina and Akili. I still... can't really forgive you for what you did initially, but in the end... I was wrong about you too. So... thanks, for risking your life to help us." Feeling rather foolish, he reached out with a paw, holding it out in front of him to allow Hatari to shake it.

---

Umeme knew that everything would be all right when Muroki returned her affections with equal passion, which alone told her that neither was he worried about anything. When he told her that he would have to leave again, she couldn't help but feel rather disappointed once more, but knew that it was for the best. "Oh, all right then," she told him, "come back soon. We'll be waiting for both of you."

Letting her mate go, she watched as Muroki ran back out before returning to Lina's side, grinning as she did. "It will all be over soon," she said, "they'll come back, and then there really won't be anything else to worry about." For some odd reason, that kind of felt like a strange thought, but not an unpleasant one.

[TheWhistlerify]

Hatari was a little dumbstruck, to say the least, upon hearing what it was Delano had to say to him. It was no secret that his showing up ended up stopping Sanders from winning (even if Delano did save his life as well in the end) and it was no surprise to hear that he still didn't forgive him for all this time go, but Hatari hadn't expected the bit that came afterwards. Since Muroki 's brother never seemed to ever get comfortable around him, this was quite surprising to say the least.

So when the other lion held out his paw, looking rather embarrassed to say the least, the former member of the underworld simply stared at it at first. It took him several seconds before he finally reached out and shook the paw in front of him. "Um..." it was clear that he was finding the situation to be rather awkward as well. "Don't mention it..."

"That's cute." Hatari looked to the side just as the young, unidentified lion who helped them out walked past them and began heading into the kingdom. He wasn't sure as to what to make of that remark. The stranger didn't sound sarcastic just now, but at the same time...

"What a weird guy..." he muttered as he withdrew his paw from Delano's. Wasn't he the one who was supposed to question the former Chief? Where was he going if the others were still not heading out themselves?

[DGFone]

At first, Delano was afraid that Hatari might not accept his apology for whatever reason. He was even about to bring his paw back to the ground when Hatari finally shook it, also clearly not knowing what to do. Then during the worst timing possible, the young lion left the den, interrupting rather rudely with yet another one of his remarks.

"He shouldn't have seen that..." Delano muttered underneath his breath as Hatari withdrew from the pawshake quickly, also startled. "At least you could have kept your mouth shut!" He called out after the lion. There was a reason why Delano had taken Hatari aside, and it wasn't to draw even more attention to the two of them.

Watching the young lion leave, he wasn't even sure what to do now. He wanted to stay somewhere where he can keep an eye out on the ex-chief, and since Kato was still here anyways, perhaps that was the best plan. But where was this young lion going on his own? Deciding to stick with the others just in case, Delano went over to the prince. "So when are we going to get moving?" he asked, "or do we have a reason to wait here?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Hatari was rather curious as to where this other lion was heading, but it most likely wasn't all too important anyway. As far as he knew, the younger male was probably just taking a head start in getting to the tunnels. Thinking nothing of it, he followed Delano as Muroki's brother went back over to the others. "I dunno what they're talking about..." said the prince with a slight shrug of his shoulders, briefly looking at where his father and Lin were having a rather tense conversation with their prisoner.

Heck, when the former Chief asked Lin how his daughters were doing, Kato thought Lin was going to go at his throat right then and there. He was clearly trying to agitate him and the king, but they weren't letting it get to them. "I'm just as eager to go home as you are..." The prince added.

●●●●●●●●●●

Muroki was still a little out of breath from running all the way back to his den that hurrying over to Hatari's place again was more difficult. Of course, since he wanted nothing more than to be able to go back home as soon as possible, he wasn't paying too much attention to his surroundings as he sprinted on. At the same time he was also not keeping an eye out for hostile lions who might be hiding in bushes, so when one of those pounced at him out of nowhere it was impossible to react quickly enough to get out of the way.

He was also quite exhausted and, before he even realized he was actually being attacked by someone, Muroki found himself on his back as a set of sharp claws pressed on his throat, making it both hard to breathe and unwise to struggle because of the talons that were dug into such a vulnerable spot.

Still in complete shock, the pinned lion looked up and growled when he figured out who it was. It took him several seconds, but he eventually recognized the lion from earlier that morning in the meeting with the king. "This will only sting for a moment..." he said coldly as he forced his paw down even more, this time enough to draw blood.

His attacker seemed ready to just go for the swipe and get it over with right then and there, but at that exact moment his attacker was suddenly tackled by someone else, causing Muroki to cry out in pain as the claws stuck in his flesh moved ever so slightly before being taken out as the lion on top of him was knocked away. But he was too startled by the blood oozing out of the clawmarks on his throat to pay attention.

There was the noise of a struggle as the two lions fought next to him for a few seconds before it went silent. "Let me see." The voice sounded familiar, and Muroki didn't know what to think when anoher paw smacked the one he was holding against his wound out of the way. He looked to his left before noticing the young stranger from before; the one who helped them lure the former Chief into the ambush.

"Y-You?" he asked faintly, still breathing heavily from the shock.

"I suspected he'd have his little helper standing by..." said the unfamiliar lion as he took a closer look at Muroki's throat before gently pressing his paw down on it, causing him to wince. "Hold still." All the while, he had the same usual, blank expression on his face and spoke in the same, calm tone. "Relax. The bleeding's very mild. You'll be fine."