[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano hugged Lina tighter as he tried to think of what to do. As Lina said: if he didn't go, Akili would wonder why he didn't go to see his brother's friend. This would most likely cause the cub to find out why very early... and cause a whole lot more trouble. But at the same time, can he trust himself to keep his composure up if he did go? As much as he didn't want to, was scared to, Delano knew that the best thing he could do was give in. "All right," he said eventually, "I'll go."

He gave Lina one last tight hug and lead her outside, blinking in the morning sun. Walking over to Muroki and Umeme, he stopped next to them. "Well... I guess we're going as well," he told them, trying to sound confident for the cubs, "when do we go?" He really did hope that he wasn't making a big mistake, but it was too late to back out of it now: the cubs already heard him say that he's going, and he did not have to want to deal with needing to explain why he changed his mind if he backed out now.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina remained silent as she waited for Delano to make his decision, constantly reminding herself that it was his to make and not hers. She didn't know that the main reason her mate was afraid to go was because he was worried about possibly being unable to keep himself in check around Hatari. When he did agree to go, she smiled softly at him and gave him a gentle lick across his muzzle, feeling proud that he was willing to set his own resevations aside for the sake of making things easier on Akili in due time.

Following Delano outside to where her sister and brother-in-law were still waiting, Lina slowly nodded her head when her mate said that they were going to come with them. She saw both of them smile but failed to notice the slight hesitation in Muroki's expression. "Well, we were thinking of going as soon as possible." said Muroki. This would be the farthest their cubs has ever travelled away from the den, after all. Making it to Hatari's place would take far longer with the cubs deciding the pace.

Sure enough, the three little hairballs in question had heard Delano's remark and were obviously intrigued to find out more. Where were the adults going? Were they, the cubs, going as well? If not, could they spend the day with their grandparents? "Where are you going, daddy?" asked Marini, her voice and expression hopeful at possibly seeing something new.

"Your parents want to visit a friend of theirs." said Lina with a smile, looking down at her son, niece and nephew. She might have her own doubts about doing this, but Hatari was still Muroki's and Umeme's friend. "And we're coming as well." As was expected, the cubs smiled broadly at this. Getting to meet an entirely new lion sounded rather neat to say the least.

[DGFone]

Having made up his mind about going, Delano sighed quietly. "You know where to go, Muroki," he told his brother, "lead the way. We'll be right behind you." He knew that Umeme was very eager to do this, and Lina was as well, if less than her sister. What about his brother? Was Muroki fine with going as well or not? Not that it really mattered, but Delano didn't really want to be the only one who was hesitant about going.

Not to mention that there was no use in asking the cubs if they wanted to go or not: they were already running around the adults, yelling eagerly and impatiently waiting to get going. Umeme saw this and decided to take the lead. "All right everyone. Cubs, don't wander off too far away or behind, and be sure to tell us if you get tired." She looked down at her nephew. "That especially goes to you, Akili. As the youngest, you'll have the most trouble. Unfortunately, our friend doesn't live very close to here. He likes to be alone most of the time." This should be a good enough explanation as any as to why Hatari lives all alone when everyone else the cubs know of all live in the same general area.

[TheWhistlerify]

Despite having been told to lead the way, Muroki found himself continuing to sit there as the cubs ran and hopped about in excitement because of what Lina had said to them. He could see it in his brother's expression as clear as day; Delano wished he didn't have to be doing this. While he himself wasn't hesitant about going, he was nervous about Delano tagging along (Lina not as much anymore, because she seemed to be much calmer about this whole thing. Calmer than he thought she'd be, at least).

Eventually, Umeme took the lead and he silently followed, letting his mate lead the way. It occurred to Muroki that Delano still didn't know where Hatari lived, having never been there before. For some reason, that made him a little more nervous about the whole thing. He did chuckle, however, when he saw his nephew pout upon hearing his aunt point out that he was the youngest. The cubs (his in particular) always seemed to be able to lift up his spirits. It was something about their adorable innocence that kind of made him connect to their perspective and temporarily forget about his concerns.

"Really?" asked Marini, beating her cousin to it. One could always count on her to always ask questions in order to satisfy her curiosity. "Why?" Being alone most of the time sounded really, well... boring. Who could possibly like that? The cub giggled. "Your friends are weird!" Her father chuckled once more, knowing who she was talking about. Sometimes his mate would tease him about how childish he acted when playing with their cubs, but Kato... The prince seemed to be a much more natural playmate for tiny little hairballs than anyone. Then there was Kasi, who was actually called 'weird' by the little lioness cub for no apparent reason at all.

[DGFone]

Delano stayed near the back of the group as they walked, both to make sure that no one would fall behind, as well as so that he could stay by himself as he fought to control his uncertainty and fear about going. He could see Muroki occasionally glance at him nervously, and therefore knew that his brother could see through his care-free guise.

Despite his internal battle, he was still able to concentrate somewhat on what the cubs were talking about, and just like Muroki, chuckled at what Marini said about their friends. "Yeah, we're quite strange like that," he said, "all of our friends are... erm... weird like that."

Umeme grinned as she overheard the cubs. But she had a different opinion. "Our friends are weird? I think it might be because of you, Marini. After all, if I remember correctly, you had hardly even met Kasi before you were boldly claiming that he was weird as well." Despite her teasing, she knew that her daughter was at least partially right, and that Hatari if anyone was someone who could be called that.

[TheWhistlerify]

Marini frowned in an absolutely cubbish manner at her mother's teasing. Being a cub, she came across things that were new and unusual to her on a daily basis. It was only natural for someone her age to think of almost anything as weird. "Because he is!" she said, recalling how her father's cousin (she referred to him as an uncle as well) had told her about some mischief he and his friends used to get into as cubs. Somehow, their adventures fascinated a cub as energetic as her.

After arguing about it with Umeme some more (the lioness clearly enjoyed teasing her daughter), she seemed to grow bored of talking about her "other uncle". Pouting, she looked at Muroki instead. "Kato's also weird!" The lion chuckled. "I mean, what kind of a prince is he?"

"What do you mean, 'Rini?" asked her father, noticing that his daughter's ramblings were making it harder to pay attention to the passage of time. They've already gone through quite a distance and Akili had already been placed on Delano's head because he'd grown a little tired. Somehow, Muroki felt as if they were making their way to Hatari's too quickly for his liking.

"Well, he can't possibly be a prince! You always call me a princess!"

"Oh, uh..." Muroki chuckled nervously. He had all sorts of cheesy nicknames for his daughter, but Lina and Delano didn't know that... "Of course. You're my little princess."

Marini smiled. "Is that better?"

"Of course it is." said Lina, causing the cub to beam happily as her aunt shot her brother in law a provocative grin. "I'm sure Kato would give anything to be your father's little princess." She pretended not to notice it when Muroki shot her a red-cheeked and very embarrassed glare. His sister in law sure didn't tease him as much as his mother in law, but when she did...

Spoiler: show

I just couldn't help myself.

[DGFone]

Having only partially been paying attention to the conversation, Delano just about stumbled and allowed Akili to fall off when he heard what Marini had just said. "Muroki, do you really call her that?" As nervous as he was about going to see Hatari, he didn't know where the lion lived, so he didn't know that they were close. Besides, he still wanted to take the opportunity to play around as well, for it would help him keep calm. "I guess that explains her attitude..." he grinned slightly, "...issues."

He was of course referring to Marini's far more playful and excited nature compared to either Ubawa or Akili. Still, he really didn't expect his own brother to call Marini his 'princess. "You might give her the wrong idea if you keep doing that," Delano added simply, shrugging and pretending not to have said anything when Muroki glared at him.

Umeme was busy telling a story to Ubawa in between Marini's loud arguments with her father when she realized that they were nearing the border. "We're almost there, not much further to go." Akili had already given up, and while Ubawa and Marini were still walking, and most likely would protest about resting, she could see that her cubs were also beginning to tire.

[TheWhistlerify]

Truth be told, Muroki knew more than well that him calling Marini 'his little princess' had nothing to do with how energetic his daughter was. After all, she'd been acting that way ever since the moment she was born, way before she could even understand what was going on around her let alone what was being said to her. Doing his best to forget about Lina's comment regarding Kato, he continued to glare at his brother as Delano replaced Akili back on his head while the cub protested rather loudly, with Lina giving her mate a small 'be careful' look.

Both of their two cubs really did look like they were starting to get a little tired as well but, upon hearing their mother mention that they were getting closer, seemed to get another small burst of energy to keep them going. It was cute how they liked to do it on their own and to be in control, as if they were faster than the adults and would get there more quickly if walking by themselves. But, knowing that suggesting to carry them in order to get there faster might annoy their little cubbish pride, Muroki simply chuckled and remained silent.

However, seeing how they would be there quite soon, he could feel the slight relief their playful little argument had brought him disappear as it was once again replaced by anxiety regarding his brother. He also didn't know how Hatari would react to seeing Lina and Delano there. There were also the cubs, but they probably weren't going to be that much of a problem. After all they couldn't possibly be harboring any hard feelings for the lion (not to mention that they were too small to cause anything any harm whatsoever).

Surely enough, despite his growing wishes that nothing would go wrong, he could soon see the few bushes that concealed the small waterhole and the den that were located just beyond the kingdom's border. Talking could be heard as they came closer and closer to their location, much to the confusion of all of them. When Umeme poked her head through the greenery first, since she was the one leading the way, she was most likely surprised to find the lion they were looking for talking to Kato.

[DGFone]

Spotting the trees that grew around Hatari's waterhole, Umeme was already starting to look among the branches where the lion liked to quite literally hang around, when she realized that she was also hearing voices that sounded rather familiar but were not coming from behind her. Walking past the first few trees, she stopped in her tracks when she realized who she saw. "...Kato? What are you doing here?" She then turned her attention to the lion that they actually came to see. "Good morning, Hatari. I didn't know that you talked to Kato."

Delano, who was following close behind, also stopped when he saw the two lions. "Well... this is it," he muttered quietly, right away feeling dread rise in him as he gazed upon the lion that Kato was talking to. Quickly remembering that the cubs were nearby, he forced himself to look relaxed. "You already know Kato, so that weird friend is the other lion right here. Want to say hi to Hatari?"

As the cubs rushed forwards, he stayed behind, trying to build up the courage to calm himself down and approach closer himself.

[TheWhistlerify]

Hatari's expression lit up when he saw Umeme. He hasn't seen her since the beginning of her pregnancy, nor has hes see Muroki, who had to look after her and then after the cubs as well. After a period of just about half a year, it was rather exciting to see her again. However, before he had a chance to greet her in response, the others emeged from the bushes as well. While he'd expected Muroki to be with her, he didn't see the rest of them coming, especially Lina, Delano and the slightly smaller cub who, according to what Kato had been telling him, was theirs.

Maybe he should have seen Muroki's and Umeme's cubs being brought to meet him one day coming, but he hasn't expected Delano and Lina to ever show up let alone bring their son with them as well. "Um... H-hey..." The two's presence made things raher, well... stressful. Then, suddenly, he found himself surrounded by three little balls of fluff who were obviously very curious about him. He tensed up a little, looking almost like Delano had when his niece had abducted his paw. He's never been good around cubs...

As the three cubs' voices got completely mixed up together, making it impossible for Hatari to understand what they were saying to him, Kato moved over to the four adults in order to give them some room (and to get a better view, since it was prety amusing) "Well, I figured Hatari's place is a good place to go on runs to because it's quite far." he said. "Plus I figured he'd like the company..." Lina appeared to be listening, but her eyes shifted onto the cubs every nowand then just in case. Hatari still hasn't move much and, in a way, the sight was a litle funny.