[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

"Yeah, everyone's okay now..." Delano even sounded like he was starting to believe it. However, these nightmares were causing him to worry again, and while right now the worst they had was Muroki's shoulder and Kato's snake bit, which could have easily been an accident, he still felt like things would get a lot worse very soon.

Trying to ignore his worries, Delano placed his head next to Lina's and closed his eyes. During the night, he would still have trouble sleeping, but Lina's presence did help a lot, and while the nightmares didn't go away, they did not return as quickly, and were generally far tamer than what he saw initially. Several times he still woke up, but Delano was able to curl up next to Lina, taking comfort from her warmth.

Umeme was already starting to drift off to sleep, and was only just able to catch what Muroki told her. "I was scared of that too," she admitted, "but we're all here now. Don't worry about such things anymore. You can't change the past, and this time, I don't exactly even want to."

She thought Muroki said something else, or perhaps it was just her imagination, but the next thing she knew, the sun was making its way into the den to signify the morning. Muroki was asleep next to her, looking very peaceful considering the events of the previous day, and so she even kept her promise and simply lay next to him, resting. She thought that if he would feel like it, he might like to go and see how Kato is doing as well.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina was glad to hear that Delano sounded somewhat better. Even though she knew just how things could be the exact opposite of what they seemed, it was still a start and better than nothing. She hoped that Delano would be able to deal with his emotions better than last time. This time he wasn't locked away in the dark and alone, so she was optimistic. Smiling to herself, she rested her head down next to Delano's and fell asleep, hoping to wake up to a brighter day in the morning.

~~~~~~

When Muroki woke up the following day, at first, he had no recollection of the previous day's events or of his injury because he was still very sleepy. Only when he stretched, as was his habit every morning, he was reminded of everything as pain shot through his shoulder, causing him to wince. He sighed, letting his head drop back down to the ground. He didn't know just how long it was going to take for him to fully recover and whether he'd be able to walk before that happened, but he hoped that he wouldn't have to either lie in the den or be carried from one place to another for too long.

[DGFone]

Umeme woke up suddenly when she felt something nudge her rather hard. Opening her eyes, she saw Muroki in a rather strange pose. She smiled slightly, quickly figuring out that he must have tried to stand up. "Morning." She gave him a quick lick before she got an idea.

With Muroki pressing against her, she stood up slowly, allowing him to get on his feet as well. Carefully, together they walked outside the den, making sure not to accidently to step on either Delano or Lina, who were still asleep. "I don't know if you remember last night," Umeme said when they entered the sunlight, "but how about going to visit Kato, and see how he's doing?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki had already figured out that standing up was going to be rather difficult. With Umeme's side pressed against his for support, the normally basic and simple action became easier to perform. It didn't ease his shoulder's protests as he stood up, but he did have an easy time keeping his balance. Walking gave him a litle more trouble, but it definitely wasn't as bad as it had been back when his wound was still fresh and when he was dizzy because of all the blood he'd lost.

It took the two of them some time to step outside, though not too much, and they were greeted by the heat of the sun, which wasn't unbearable because it was still an early hour in the morning, and a gentle breeze. "Sure." he said with a smile, briefly nuzzling her to express his gratitude for her assistance in helping him walk. He was curious to see how Kato was doing. While Umeme had told him that he was alright, it would be nice to see for himself. It's not like he had anything important to do. "Which way is it?" Now that he was thinking about it, he hoped the royal den wasn't too far away.

[DGFone]

Umeme grinned, knowing exactly what Muroki was worried about. "Don't fret, it's not that far. After all, Delano carried you back here, and I don't know how much you remember from last night, but he was ready to toss you to the alligators if it meant not having to carry you around anymore." She giggled at Muroki's face of pure horror. "That's from before we even got to the king. It really isn't that far. Come on."

Making sure that Muroki was using her as the support that his wounded shoulder normally carried, the two of them began to walk slowly to see their new friend.

---

Inside the den, Delano began to wake up now that the den's temperature was beginning to change. He opened his eyes, trying to see through whatever darkness remained in the den, only for his ears to catch the sound of someone talking outside. Quietly.

Fear overtook him, and so before he could stop and identify the voices, he was already desperately shaking Lina awake. "Lina, wake up! They're here for us! Wake up!" He shook her some more as she began to grown at being shoved about in her sleep. "Lina, come on! You gotta get up!" He whimpered in fear as he heard the voices again, not realizing that they were fading as their sources walked away from teh den, and not towards it.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina was peacefully sleeping and having a rather pleasant dream when all of a sudden everything shook around her. The dream world seemed to spin for a few moments before turning into darkness, eventually being replaced by her sister's new den. She blinked in confusion for a few moments before realizing that Delano was shouting to her. "Ow... Wha..." she shook her head and looked around, not seeing anything to be concerned about. Standing up, she walked to the mouh of the cave and saw her sister and brother in law making their way somewhere. "There's nobody here..." she said with a sigh, walking back over to her mate and lying down beside him. "It's okay, we're safe..." she nuzzled him, hoping to calm him down

~~~~~~

Muroki didn't take Umeme's comment about the alligator's literally. It was their supposed distance from the royal den which really worried him. "I hope it's not too far..." Despite having lived in this pride for quite some time now there were still many places he was unfamilliar with, and the den the king's family resided in was one of them. "Do you think anyone would mind us coming to visit?" He doubted that would be the case, but it sure would be a shame to make all the way there just to turn around right away.

[DGFone]

Delano shook in fear, trying to calm down. He moved himself closer to Lina, placing his head next to hers. "I don't know what..." He wasn't able to stop himself from crying, realizing just how much he got frightened from nothing. "The nightmares are back... I thought that they were gone, but they're not..." He groaned, placing his head on the ground. "I don't know how to make them go away. Lina... I'm scared." He couldn't help but remember when he was locked in the dark cave, and how at one point, he simply snapped and ran out, not caring what would have happened to him just as long as he escaped. Delano felt that if Lina wasn't here right now, he would have done something similar as well.

After a while, he felt his body stop shaking, and was able to slow his breathing down. Even though he didn't really feel like it, he managed to smile at Lina. "I... I'm really glad you're here. I don't know what I would have done without you." However, he then looked away. "I hope I'm not too much of a burden. Just tell me if I am."

---

Umeme thought about how glad the king was at seeing his son again, as well as his offer to help. "Nah, I don't think they will mind," she replied, "in fact, I think the king would at least be delighted to see you awake." With him leaning on her for support, giving Muroki a lick wasn't the easiest thing to do, but Umeme managed. "You know, it was very brave of you, what you did yesterday. Why would the king mind seeing the lion who saved his son's life?"

Knowing that it would take them a long time to get over to Kato at their current pace, Umeme tried walking a little fast, making sure that Muroki wasn't in pain or discomfort as she did so. When she saw that he could manage a somewhat faster pace, she settled into it. "You know, I think you'll be walking on your own four feet in no time at all!"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina wished she could tell Delano that she understood how he felt but she could not. Sure, she's experienced fear more than once in her life, but never on such a scale where she began to constantly have nightmares and imagine things. As a result of that, she could only try to imagine what Delano was feeling, but she couldn't come close to truly experiencing what he was going through. Her ears flat against her head, she gave him a small lick across his cheek. "I know you are..." she said. "But they're just nightmares... They're not real... Maybe reminding yourself of that will help a little..."

She couldn't help but smile as Delano mentioned how glad he was that she was there, only for that smile to disappear when Delano brought up the fact that he often felt like a burden. "You're not a burden, Delano..." she said with a sigh, gently pressing her head against his. "I love you, and being there for you when you need me will never be a burden." She chuckled. "Think about it... I'm sure you and Muroki were quite a handful as cubs... I know Umeme and I were... But our parents never considered us to be a burden..."

~~~~~~

Muroki smiled at what Umeme said, seeing the logic behind her words. "I don't know... Brave? I didn't really think before acting yesterday..." Wasn't bravery experincing fear and then overcoming it? "I have to admit that my shoulder isn't giving me as much trouble as I thought it would, though..." True, it wasn't easy for him to walk and he wouldn't be able to do it without Umeme's help, but he wasn't experiencing too much difficulty like he'd expected to.

[DGFone]

Delano tried to explain that he knew that his nightmares were not real, but that the problem lay in that they prevented him from getting any decent amount of rest, and like this morning, he would have a hard time differentiating from reality and his dreams, but chose not to.

When Lina brought up about him and Muroki back when they were cubs, Delano chuckled as well. "Yeah, we were quite the pair then... but that wasn't the same..." He frowned, thinking. "I didn't wake you up during the night, did I? I... I think I hit Muroki once, when he visited me when they kept me in that cave... I can't remember too well, and I'm not even sure if it really happened or not... but I don't want to accidently hit you too." He thought about it some more, than got an idea, which he thought was rather crazy, but he figured that he didn't have anything to lose. "Hey, you think Kato might know something about nightmares? How to deal with them?"

---

Umeme gave Muroki a sly grin. "But isn't that what being brave is all about? Throwing yourself into danger without thinking about yourself in order to help someone else?" She motioned at his shoulder though. "That said, I do not want you to be brave all the time. Being brave... it doesn't mean that you go looking for trouble. Only be brave when you have to be."

She gave him a quick nuzzle. "Don't worry, yesterday you did the right ting. Just try not to get your shoulder almost torn off next time..." She looked at him with the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. "I still need to beat you in a fair run, and that means when you are able to run against me in peak condition. This..." She gently nudged him. "...doesn't count."

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina couldn't remember Muroki telling her anything about Delano accidentally hitting him while he was visiting his brother all that time ago. Maybe it hadn't really happened, like Delano suggested, or maybe Muroki didn't find it necessary to tell anyone because he knew that Delano wasn't thinking too clearly at the time. "I don't remember being woken up..." Either she was a heavier sleeper than she thought or Delano's condition wasn't as bad as it seemed.

While Lina hadn't the slightest clue as to whether Kato knew anything about nightmares (or ever had any nightmares on such a scale before, to begin with), she knew that talking about what was bothering you couldn't possibly make things worse. "You can try. I'm sure it wouldn't do any harm." she said, smiling at how, regardless of not even wanting to be around the prince at first, Delano has now warmed up to the younger lion and was even considering asking him for advice. "I'm sure he'll be glad to return the favor after you and Muroki encouraged him to talk to his father about what was bothering him."

~~~~~~

Muroki chuckled. "It's not that I was looking for trouble... I don't think Kato was either..." He knew that Umeme was right and he had no intention of going around looking for opportunities to put his life in danger. Nevertheless, he wasn't regretting having saved Kato's life at all, despite almost losing his own in the process. He still didn't know what was going to happen until Sanders was caught (if at all), but he didn't see any reason to worry while inside the pride's territory, especially now that the underworld has been disbanded.

Makng no comment regarding Umeme's challenge to a race sometime in the future, he carried on walking beside her. He couldn't help but smile as he looked at her in the corner of his eye. It felt wonderful to know, after what had happened yesterday, that he wouldn't be afraid to protect his mate and the cubs they might have in the future no matter the cost. "Did I tell you how much I love you already? Today, that is." he asked, wondering whether Umeme had given any thought as to what they were going to do now that they'd settled down in a den that was theirs.