[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[TheWhistlerify]

If anything, what the king really wanted at that very moment was for Delano to calm down. Not only was dragging himself over the floor not the best thing to do when it came to giving his injuries time to recover, but his mate and son could return any second now and ask to see him now that he was finally awake. At first he considered ordering the guard to stop Delano from moving when Muroki's brother began to crawl over (for the sake of him not accidentally hurting himself, that is), but he figured that doing so might not work well in favor of trying to get him to relax.

"Lin and I did tell Lina that we would look for anything suspicious beyond the borders when she told us about Sanders, yes." he said. "But that's nothing in comparison to the searches that are being done for him right now." There really was no comparing between the "searches" for Sanders yesterday to now. "It was just a suspicion when she presented it and it was treated as such, but I can assure you that now, if he's anywhere nearby, we'll find him."

Also, Akili's father was in no condition to go off looking for crazy murderous lions. The king doubted that Lina or Muroki would like him to do that. Motioning for the guard to help Delano stand, he offered the lion a small smile. "Get on your paws, will you? I don't think that crawling about and staring up at other lions is fitting for someone like you. Go back to your family; I'm sure they don't want you running around looking for trouble."

[DGFone]

As he was helped up, Delano couldn't help but feel rather embarrassed and undignified. Just yesterday he was able to run around and decide what to do for himself, which while was still a very rash decision, the fact that he went out after Sanders most likely saved Lina and Akili. But now he couldn't even stand up without another lion's help, and on his own, he was only able to crawl around like a newborn cub. Quietly muttering a farewell, he allowed the guard to take him back to the cave where he had woken up in.

Getting there, he stopped, seeing who was inside. Lina and Akili were there, but so were Kasi and his parents. If anything, this caused Delano to feel even worse, because up until now, he had completely forgotten about them. No doubt they were worried sick about him and Muroki, especially Laini, who no doubt wasn't eager about possibly losing either or even both of the sons of her dead sister.

Feeling thoroughly ashamed, Delano was placed on the ground, where he lay uncomfortably as the others came over to him. He halfheartedly returned Lina's nuzzle as Akili settled down next to one of his legs while Kasi and his aunt and uncle sat down a little bit further away to give him some breathing space.

Dakari gave him a smile in greeting. "How are you holding up, Delano? As soon as we heard what happened we rushed over here. We already saw Muroki just outside, and he reassured us that you're okay, but we still wanted to see you either way."

In response, Delano groaned as he placed his head on the ground, feeling very fatigued once more. "I guess I'll be all right," he said, not really feeling like it. Some sleep felt like a really good idea right now. Not only will it help with his embarrassment, it would also help get rid of some of the pain he was feeling, which since he had woken up, started to get ever so slowly worse. He closed his eyes, hoping that the othes can leave him alone for some time.

[TheWhistlerify]

Laini, while having been told by Muroki that Delano was physically okay and having just seen it with her own eyes, could easily tell that her nephew wasn't entirely alright. It was clear that he was still exhausted despite having slept since the previous evening and that he was having a really difficult time getting over what had happened. She's known him extremely well since his cubhood and was able to notice as much especially because no one should have any trouble figuring that out. It seemed like pretty basic conclusions.

The lioness could also easily tell that Delano wasn't really in the mood for chatting (she'd expected that, which was why she'd left Nyoka outside to play with Ubawa and Marini). She wasn't going to express her concern so that he could rest, but she was still worried. Who knew if her nephew might start losing it like he had the two previous times (after his imprisonment and after Sanders's trial)? What then? He had a cub of his own now and these two thing clearly did not go well together. Sighing softly, Laini quietly told Dakari and Kasi to go outside with her so that Delano could stay alone with his family.

[DGFone]

While Delano didn't really want to force the others to leave, he really didn't feel well enough at the moment to do anything other than to try and get some more sleep. So unless they wanted to talk, did they really need to stay here? Not really. He struggled to ignore the pain and discomfort that was making getting some rest difficult, but if anything, his worrying was keeping him even more up.

There was still a lion out there, who most likely now wanted to get at them more than ever. And if he knew that Delano was the one who killed Sanders, does it mean that he was now in danger? Especially now that he was weak and vulnerable. Or was the lion going to try and get to him by attacking his family first? That thought was even worse, and Delano unintentionally felt himself cling onto Lina, as well as making sure that Akili was snuggled up against him securely. "Lina... please don't go anywhere," he whispered weakly, "I don't want you to go... it might not be safe."

Despite the king reassuring him that there was nothing to worry about, Delano just couldn't trust him. Not that he didn't believe the king, but it's that he couldn't get himself to trust the one who ordered the execution of Sanders, only to have the lion walk away alive. Feeling exhaustion start to overcome his worrying, Delano finally settled into an uneasy sleep.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina brought her head closer to Delano's when she suddenly felt him place his paw around her and pull her closer. She wasn't really planning on going anywhere for the time being (that walk anywhere hadn't been taken far and she and Akili hadn't gone on their own), but it seemed like her mate would be a lot calmer if they stayed closely together, at least for now, even if she doubted that there was any risk with all the heavy security that was present pretty much all over the kingdom now. Delano wasn't aware of it yet, having been inside the den since the king's order was given, but it was there.

The lioness was about to close her eyes and join her mate for a nap, seeing how she wouldn't be doing anything else for the time being, when she noticed Akili looking up at her with that adorable, wide eyes of his. He did seem rather confused, no doubt because they still haven't gone back to their own den or, possibly, because he was able to tell that his father wasn't in top shape. It was visible, not to mention that the lion wasn't in very high spirit. The cub probably didn't know what to make of anything that was happening. Giving him a reassuring smile, she gently placed a paw over him while nuzzling and licking him affectionately as he purred and let out an occasional, tiny mewl.

[DGFone]

Not having been outside to indeed see that security was much higher than before, Delano couldn't stop worrying, even after he finally managed to fall asleep. As he started to dream, he saw the lion again, the one who teased him about killing Muroki. Except that this time, it wasn't Muroki who was in danger.

"Let him go!" Delano shouted, afraid to move should the lion hurt Akili, whom he had pinned on the ground. If only he can somehow distract the lion, then he can get close and lunge at him, freeing Akili. Instead, the lion just chuckled and picked his son up. As though he was simply discarding a bone after a meal, the lion tossed Akili over the side of the cliff.

"Akili!" Springing into action, Delano charged as fast as he could after his son, stumbling as a sharp pain tore through his leg, and then just before he got to his son, his head collided with something, hard. Coming to a stop on the ground, Delano withered in pain from both his head and leg, trying to figure out what was going on. Then he realized that he was still in the cave, and that he must have ran straight into a wall. With a shaky paw, he felt the area where he had collided, wincing as the paw came back wet with his blood.

Feeling a paw gently press down on his shoulder, Delano looked up to see a very worried Lina staring down at him. He simply stared back at her, unable to explain what had just happened.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina's small displays of affection for Akili soon turned into a bath (which he surprisingly didn't struggle to escape from) as she gently scooped the sleepy cub closer to her chest and away from his father's leg. That walk outside hadn't gotten him dirty, no, but running all over the place with Ubawa, Marini and Nyoka earlier certainly had. Besides, in addition to the little hairball needing the bath, his mother more than enjoyed giving them, especially when he was too tired to pretend to hate them and actually just went with it.

Not long after Delano had fallen asleep, before she could so much as come close to finish cleaning their son, her mate suddenly jumped onto his paws and, exclaiming Akili's name furiously, dashed forward before stumbling and headbutting the wall of the den. Quickly standing up as well, the lioness rushed over to him, leaving their no longer sleepy cub behind. Arriving next to Muroki's brother, Lina already had somewhat of an idea as to what had just happened, and couldn't help but feeling even more concerned than before.

[DGFone]

Struggling to calm down after seeing his son tossed to his death, Delano glanced around nervously around the cave. Spotting Akili staring at him nervously, he gulped nervously. "Akili... Come here, please..." Delano had remembered how the last time he had a nightmare, Akili struggled to trust him enough to get close, but right now, Delano desperately needed to feel for certain that his son was all right. Just seeing it wasn't enough for him right now.

He tried to get up to try and get over to Akili himself, but as soon as he tried to do so, a wave of pain from his leg prevented him from moving. Delano clutched it weekly, struggling to understand why leaping up as he did hurt him so much. But no matter the reason, it meant that he was still very much immobilized. "Akili..." Delano repeated, unable to hide the desperation in his voice, "please..." He weekly beckoned for his son to come over, hoping that the cub wasn't too frightened to do so.

[TheWhistlerify]

Akili's hesitation to approach his father the last time he's had a nightmare was because, in his sleep, Delano had unintentionally squeezed him very tightly and caused him pain. Well, perhaps not with too much strength, but the size difference between the two of them made that very much irrelevant. This time the cub hadn't been accidentally hurt or anything that could have made him scared to get close to his parent, but he was still startled nonetheless. Having Delano suddenly shout and run straight into a wall, hurting himself even more as a result, was clearly not a sight for sore eyes.

However, once the shock from witnessing such a sight began to slowly fade away as he realized there was nothing else to worry about and as he was beckoned over by his father, Akili began to slowly walk over to both of his parents. He arrived in front of Delano and just stood there, slightly tilting his head as he stared at the lion while blinking in confusion as he continued to find it impossible to explain what was happening.

[DGFone]

Delano waited for Akili to close the last step or two between them, but it soon became clear to him that his son wasn't going to do it, at least not on his own. Delano couldn't even blame him for it, for how would he react if, back when he was a cub, he had seen his own father just suddenly shout and run straight into a wall? Even he doubted that he would rush forward like he was now wanting Akili to do.

Reaching out towards his son with a paw, Delano gently brought Akili close to him, letting out a small sigh of relief as his son didn't resist too much. Embracing him with a one-paw hug, Delano let out a small smile as he felt that yes, Akili really was indeed in one piece. Glancing up at Lina, Delano hated what he was about to say, but knew that as he was currently, it might not be safe for Akili. "Lina... it might be better..." Delano hesitated, really not wanting to say it, "...until things improve... it might be better to keep Akili away from me for now."

His hug on Akili intensified as Delano struggled to fight the grief of needing to let him go, but as he was right now... He had already hurt Akili once before, and did not want to risk it happening again. Until he could regain control of himself, it would be better for his son to stay away. Letting go of the embrace, Delano gently nudged his son towards Lina. "Just for a little while," he promised, knowing that Akili would also want some kind of explanation, "until I get better."