[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Finding Muroki loosing his senses again, Umeme rolled her eyes and waved a paw in front of his face, waking him up from his trance state. "Well, in that case, let's get going." Leading the way, she was soon joined by Muroki and Hatari. Knowing that they had to stay outside of the borders, bu also not wanting to get lost, she decided to stay along the creek that marked the border, figuring that as far as sights go, it was the most visually impressive thing they will see anyways.

As they walked, Umeme wanted to make sure that Muroki wouldn't be paranoid for now. Whispering that only he would hear, she told him, "I really don't think that someone would try to attack three fully grown lions. There's nothing to worry about here." Plus, where they were at, there was nowhere to hide, and even the yellow grass wasn't too tall. There was literally no way for them not to spot someone else before it was too late should they need to run.

Walking along, and glancing between the familiar lands of the kingdom, and the similar but surprisingly exotic feeling neighboring area, Umeme asked Hatari, "I was just wondering, while I do know that you enjoy it when Kato and us visit you, but have you ever thought of moving somewhere else? Somewhere that you won't be restricted on where you can go?"

---

Delano grinned back at Akili reassuringly, even if he himself didn't feel like it. Not only was he unable to guarantee when he would recover enough to play with his son again, but to add to that what he was just discussing with Kato while the cub was asleep... "Yeah, we'll be able to do that soon," he replied instead.

Letting Akili run over to the waterhole, Delano allowed the cub to drink alone as he waited nearby, trying to keep as much weight off his more painful limbs as possible. It would be nice to be able to run around with Akili again, he found himself wondering, carefree and without any worries... Recently he had just about lost hind worrying about Sanders. Despite that, with Sanders gone, he was still worried for very much the same reasons, just a different lion. Some things just never change...

[TheWhistlerify]

Walking alongside Umeme and Hatari, Muroki was too busy staring at the creek that marked the border and remembering how that creek eventually connected to the side gorge that marked another edge of the border. This gorge carried on way beyond this line. For how long, he had no idea. So, when Umeme suddenly spoke to him about the very low odds of them suddenly being attacked, he simply nodded his head without thinking much of it. Just the thought of those treacherous cliffs made him uneasy.

"This is the most suitable spot to live in for miles outside the border." Hatari said, wondering whether he's given them this explanation once in the past. "There's nothing but wasteland if we were to keep walking past it. The same goes for the part of the border on the opposite side of the kingdom." Then there was the gorge, although he didn't know just what lay beyond the mountains on the other side of it. Lastly, there was the fourth edge of the border. The place Muroki and Delano used to live at with their parents was a few hours' walk in that direction. Before that there was no water or prey whatsoever. But the former member of the underworld felt as though it would be really wrong for him to live there of all places.

●●●●●●●●●●

Smiling broadly at his father's reassurance that they would soon be able to either run or play together normally, Akili excitedly rushed over to the waterhole to have his fill of water as the lion waited for him a short distance away. Surely soon meant sometime in the near future, and that was enough to get the cub to feel surprisingly patient about how long that would take. He could always keep playing with his cousins in the meantime seeing how, for some reason, they were all staying inside the same den and could therefore see each other every day.

Once he'd finished drinking, the little hairball ran back over to Delano, brushing against one of his legs affectionately as he did. "How come your legs are like this, dad?" he asked innocently. His father had compared this to when his son exerted his legs too much by playing a lot. So... did his father do the same thing? He couldn't recall the two of them moving about too much before this started. "Were you playing with Uncle Muroki?" And, most importantly, were the two of them playing without him?

[DGFone]

As she listened to Hatari, Umeme couldn't help but notice that Muroki was once again hardly noticing what was around him. Worried that he was losing his mind with worry again, she decided that perhaps walking here was not the best thing. Hoping that Hatari won't take too much offence to it, she turned to him and said, "Listen, Hatari, I don't think that Muroki's doing too good right now... I think it might be better if we just go home and let him rest."

As if proving to her that he really did need to get out of here, despite being right next to them, Muroki didn't act like he noticed that she had said anything. Bidding Hatari a rather sad goodbye, Umeme nudged Muroki in the direction back into the kingdom. They can just hop across the creek and go home from here, no need to return to Hatari's waterhole. "Come on Muroki, let's go home."

While saddened that the day hadn't gone as well as she hoped, Umeme was much more concerned for her mate's well being over the fact that he wasn't able to keep his promise of letting her dictate how today would go. He can always do that again later when he got better.

---

Especially at times like this, Delano really wished that Akili wasn't such a curious cub. He could hardly blame his son though - he himself was just as curious at that age as well. His mind racing to try and think of another answer that Akili wouldn't question, Delano felt like he was only digging himself into a deep hole with these questions and answers. "No, I wasn't playing with Muroki," he muttered, but quickly regretted it as he could have used this as his excuse. "I was... helping your mother with something." At least he said something that wasn't a complete lie - fighting off a lion who wanted to kill her and Akili could very well be considered helping her, even if she wasn't aware of what was going on then. "It was more work than I expected, which is why my legs are like this right now."

Delano was now hoping that Akili would simply leave things at that. After all, with all of Akili's curiosity, it was easily only a matter of time before the cub would look up higher than his legs and see that it was far more than sore legs that were bothering him, and then he would really be in trouble as far as trying to explain his wounds would go.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki really was as distracted as Umeme thought he was because, when she nudged him towards the creek and caused him to snap out of his daze, telling him to come home with her no less, he gave her a confused look. "W-what?" he asked, sounding very much taken aback by what she was saying. "Why?" They've only just started taking that walk his mate had suggested, not to mention that it was still morning, and she wanted them to not only bid Hatari farewell but also go back home? This was supposed to be a day for them to spend entirely together, so why was she telling him they were going back so early?
Hatari meanwhile didn't say anything, although it was easy for him to notice just why Umeme wanted to take her mate and leave. He did feel somewhat disappointed at this, yes, but that didn't mean he was going to try and take Muroki's oblivious side on the matter. Delano's brother clearly needed to rest and give his mind a break, and he wasn't going to be able to do that out here.

●●●●●●●●●●

Now making his way back home with his father, Akili seemed to somewhat lose interest when Delano told him that the reason his legs were so tired was because he'd helped Lina with something. It seemed as though the cub didn't want to know just what that thing was. Come on, these two seemed to enjoy licking each other's faces. For all he knew, it could be something of that sort. But, obviously, this was a good thing for Delano because his son then stopped asking him questions and simply continued trotting back home silently. When they finally got back, while Marini was still asleep, Ubawa seemed to already be up, so Akili quickly left his father's side in the hopes of finally getting to play.

[DGFone]

Once it looked like Muroki was at least partially paying attention again, Umeme decided to explain to him why she was cutting the day short. "Muroki, you- you're not being yourself again," she explained, "and I would much rather do this again once you're properly better than to have a ruined day because you weren't able to enjoy it as well." Bringing his head over to hers so that she can nuzzle him, she then licked him across the cheek and added, "I am not angry with you or anything. I understand that you need time to get over all of this, and I will happily wait however long you will need."

Giving him a sly grin as she backed away, she then added, "then once you'll properly be yourself again, we'll be able to have an entire day for ourselves like we planned today to be like. But for that to happen, you need to get your head back." Nudging him along, she lead the two of them back in the direction of the cave. "If you want, when we get back, we can ask the queen if she will know of anything that might be able to help you."

---

Glad that Akili dropped the subject, Delano followed his son back into the cave where he was able to gratefully lie back down next to Lina as the cub ran over to his cousin and the two started to play. Staring at his mate, he smiled slightly at how peaceful Lina looked in her sleep, oblivious to the world around her. Placing his head on her paws, he got himself comfortable while still being able to watch over the cubs, despite the fact that Kato was still nearby and doing the same thing.

However, it seemed that his laying down next to her must have woken Lina up, because soon afterwards he felt her start to move next to him. Sitting back up, he waited for her to take her time waking up. "Morning Lina," he said quietly, trying to build up the courage for what he knew he would have to tell her very soon.

[TheWhistlerify]

To Muroki, it didn't really change anything that Umeme wasn't angry with him because their day had to end so soon or that she understood he needed more time. Her understanding was important to him, yes, but that didn't at all make him any less frustrated with himself for not being able to keep up the very simple promise of stopping to constantly worry at least for a few hours so that his mate, in turn, could do the same and take a break from her own concern for him.

Today had started out so well and yet, despite having felt a lot better earlier, he was still unable to get himself to keep it up for long. And that made him feel depressed and agitated. Perhaps things would have turned out differently if they hadn't come to visit Hatari, but Muroki didn't want to think about it that way. He didn't want to be restricting himself as to where he could and couldn't go... There would be no forcing himself not to sleep anymore, that he was sure of, but it was more than just annoying to not be able to live normally despite wanting to and despite genuinely understanding that, even though the danger existed, behaving like this could only make things worse.

Not saying anything back to his mate, as well as forgetting to bid Hatari goodbye as the former member of the underworld turned around and began to head back over to his den, Muroki didn't resist Umeme's nudging and hopped over the creek that marked the border, allowing her to lead the way as he slowly followed closely behind, his head held at a height where he could see where the lioness was heading but where he also didn't have to look at anything else.

••••••••••

With Ubawa and Akili now playing in a manner as loud as was typical for two cubs and with the feeling of Delano settling down next to her, Lina soon began to wake up. She eventually opened her eyes to the blurry sight of her and Delano's son playing with his cousin, but her attention was soon caught by her mate's voice as he bid her good morning. Blinking a few times as she sleepily stretched and sat up, she smiled and she gave him a short nuzzle to return the favor.

"Good morning to you too..." With their cub already up and at it, Lina simply jumped to the conclusion that Akili has been awake for quite some time and that his father was LAO already awake because the little hairball had woken him up for whatever reason. That is, assuming Delano hadn't already been up. Either way, as she watched the two male cubs goofing about, she couldn't help but notice her niece still asleep between Kato's paws. This, of course, immediately triggered her curiosity. "Where are Umeme and Muroki?"

[DGFone]

Noticing that Muroki was basically only watching her so that he can follow hear lead, Umeme didn't bother to say anything as they made their way back to the cave. His silence was all she needed to know that it was going to be futile to try and get him to spend the rest of the day with her. Muroki wasn't in the right mindset to do so, and it was pointless to try and force him into one. Umeme would much rather have him arrive to that point on his own so that he won't slip back, rather than being forced to before he would be ready.

---

Delano looked over at Lina, and realized that she wasn't awake to know where the two had gone to. "Oh, uh, they went off to enjoy the day together," he replied, "they said they'll be back in the evening and Kato volunteered to watch over Ubawa and Marini."

He felt a lump form in his throat as he prepared to tell Lina what he had tried to avoid telling these past two days. She was awake enough to listen, and delaying was only going to make the wait worse. "Listen, Lina, there's something I need to tell you," he muttered nervously, already feeling his will weaken. As his mate looked at him curiously, he glanced over at Kato. The prince must have heard him, and was motioning with his head for Delano to continue talking. Delano glared back at the prince. Didn't Kato realize how hard this was for him?

"Listen, Lina, I uh..." feeling completely hopeless, he lost the will to tell her and shook his head. "Never mind, it's not important," he muttered, staring down at the cave ground. If Kato was so desperate for Lina to find out, he can tell her himself! Delano simply wasn't able to. He wasn't able to ruin her day like this just so that he can get some guilt off his shoulders.

[TheWhistlerify]

Briefly staring at the entrance to the royal den, Lina smiled. "Oh, really?" Her sister and brother-in-law had gone to spend the day together? "How nice." Chances were the meaning of this was that Umeme's mate was feeling better, and what better way was there to improve both their moods even further than by using the opportunity to take a break from everything and just enjoy themselves? She felt a little jealous of the two but, at the same time, this could be just what they both needed, Muroki in particular.

Lina then turned her attention back to Delano, feeling her curiosity rise upon hearing him say that there was something he needed to tell her. She didn't have so much as the slightest clue as to what that could be so, when her mate suddenly told her to forget it, she wanted to question him further but was stopped from doing so when their nephew's excited voice reached their ears and she looked towards the cub, feeling more than surprised to see him running towards his parents, who were in the process of coming inside.

Delano had just told her that Umeme and Muroki would return in the evening, and she knew that she herself would have done exactly that with Delano if they knew someone was keeping an eye on Akili, so what were these two doing back so early? It wasn't even close to noon! Was Muroki behaving erratically again? He looked perfectly alright and smiled fondly at Ubawa as the cub approached him before nuzzling him affectionately. As a matter of fact, the lion looked better than he looked just yesterday in the evening.

But the truth was, while he was putting this all up so to not cause either Ubawa or Akili to get the impression that something was wrong, Muroki still felt very much upset about having been unable to keep up his promise to Umeme. Luckily enough, wanting to not cause his son any confusion or concern gave him enough willpower to pull it all off. The cub's excitement also seemed to help, as it was impossible for his father not to smile upon seeing him so happy. "Hey, buddy!" he said with a chuckle.

"I was just about to get some water." he then told the cub. "Why don't you come with me?" Some time with Ubawa sounded like just what he needed before he would feel more comfortable about being back in everybody else's presence without getting too carried away by his thoughts again. Besides, what he knew his son and daughter needed was for him to act normally, at least around them, and he felt as though being alone with either one or both of them while not having the others stare at him and wonder what was wrong would allow him to do just that.

Also, Muroki really did feel like having some time to himself with the little hairball. It would help him calm down more and, with Marini and Umeme also almost always nearby, the two of them hardly found themselves to be in each other's company alone. After having been so disconnected from the world for the past two days, the lion decided that there was some catching up to do. He missed interacting and playing with the cubs, and felt quite ashamed of himself at having pretty much almost completely ignored them since the fight.

Now that he and his son were making their way towards the waterhole, though, Muroki was feeling confident enough to start rectifying that. Looking down at Ubawa as the cub trotted by his side, he offered him a grin. "Wanna run there?" The expression on his face was most likely going to be enough to let Ubawa know that he wasn't talking about the two of them racing each other there (with him letting his son eventually beat him on purpose). Lowering his head to the ground, the lion made a slight gesture with his muzzle, silently telling his son to hop on.

[DGFone]

It had been a long time since Ubawa got to take a ride on his father's head, so as soon as Muroki suggested it, the cub looked up eagerly. "Yeah dad!" Quickly scampering on, he had only just gotten a good grip on Muroki's mane when the lion below him broke into a fast run towards the waterhole. Whooping with excitement, he felt the same great exhilaration that he always did when he got to ride on top of Muroki's mane.

All too son, they arrived at the waterhole and Muroki lowered his head so that he can hop off. Jumping down, Ubawa ran into the water with a large splash, enjoying playing around in the shallow water, especially since Muroki sat down next to him rather than try to avoid getting wet like he often did. To the cub, this was a great opportunity to hang out with his dad, and so he didn't care to think of any reason why Muroki would suddenly do this.

From inside the den, Umeme briefly watched as Muroki ran off with Ubawa, smiling slightly. As much as she had wanted it to be her that he was running with, she knew that he wasn't fully recovered yet, and most likely needed to spend time with Ubawa to calm himself down. Besides, she always thought that Muroki spending time with their son was a good thing, especially since lately he hadn't really interacted much with any of them, for obvious reasons.

"Boys", she muttered playfully as she lay down next to Marini, who was now awake. Picking her and Muroki's daughter and placing her between her paws, Umeme began to give the cub a bath, something Marini always enjoyed unlike her brother. "But we don't need to be as rough as they, do we?" She grinned at Lina, especially since both Delano and Kato were right there and heard everything. Kato especially looked rather amused by it.

Umeme knew by how Lina looked at her that she would most likely need to say something about why she and Muroki were back so soon. Either Kato or Delano must have told her that they would be gone for the day, so naturally Lina would be confused at seeing them back so soon. After finishing giving Marini she could perhaps take Lina outside and tell her, since Umeme didn't want Lina to worry that something was wrong.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki waited for Ubawa to get onto his head but not a second longer. As soon as the cub was securely holding onto his mane, he broke into a run at tull speed, grinning at the sound of his son's excitement. As always when they did this, the little guy was having a blast while his father, in turn, more than enjoyed helping him have a good time. For someone so small, the speed at which the lion was running probably seemed very fast indeed.

It was a very short run, what with the waterhole not being very far from he royal den, but Ubawa's enhusiasm even after they came to a halt was an indication that it had accomplished its goal regardless of that. Following his son into the shallow water, Muroki felt rather content with simply lying there and watching the cub splash about. Being so young, the cub obviously didn't know how to swim, but his father felt as though now was a too early a stage to start learning.

He noticed a few small fish swimming around, mostly anywhere but close to the rampaging cub on the loose, and found it impossible not to chuckle to himself as Ubawa soon saw them as well and began chasing them around in a cubbish attempt to catch one. How cute. "What're you doing, son?" he asked quietly, as if trying not to interrupt the mighty hairball on his glorious hunt.

●●●●●●●●●●

Even if Marini hadn't still been rather sleepy, she would have most likely not protested when her mother took her and began to bathe her. She hardly ever did, unless one of her parents chose to do it right in the middle of a game she was really caught up in, which was hardly ever the case. Purring happily at Umeme's attention, he cub looked up at her mother with a curious look. "Mommy, didn't you say Kato was going to look after us today?" Or had that been a dream? She wasn't quite sure...