[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano only partially payed attention to the conversation, still busy trying to calm down after the very sudden and unwelcome wake-up call. But what caught his attention was that Kato looked quite uneasy as well. He felt a touch of sympathy for the prince, able to imagine what Kato's fears were of. He did see the irony in that, considering how he had growled in anger at the prince just earlier today simply because Kato didn't have the answers he hoped he would, but Delano wasn't in the mood to do anything about it. Kato was simply afraid of others getting hurt. A very honorable intention, but hardly one that Delano considered as worth anything by now.

With the queen having mentioned the king, Umeme thought about the trial that Delano was in. For Delano it saved his life when the king showed up, but a part of her feared that if Sanders would be held on trial as well, he just might somehow get away. But the queen didn't mention any trial, just that the king would have the last word in terms of what would happen to Sanders. "Wait... where is the king? Does he normally come back late or something?" She didn't know how the king worked, but she knew that it Muroki would not have been home by this time, she would have been out searching for him already.

[TheWhistlerify]

Kato also gave his mother a questioning look when Umeme asked her where the king was. Noticing her son's concern for his father, she smiled at him. "Your father's been at the police since you were brought back here yesterday. " she assured him. "I sent word for him before heading out with the searching party. He'll be back soon enough." Getting up, she slowly made her way outside. "Wait here for the time being, okay?" After receiving a nod of approval from the prince, she left the den.

Muroki watched the queen leave with a slight frown on his face. Leaving Umeme's side, he slowly walked over to the entrance of the den, noticing her enter a different cave. There was one small cave which, like the queen had requested, was guarded by more than just a few guards. Since it was already dark he could not see what was inside, and when he approached in order to get a closer look one of the guards got in his way. "Nobody is to come near this cave." he said. "Queen's order."

Muroki then asked the guards whether they knew anything about the other lion who had been caught, but to his dismay they knew nothing of any use. Letting out an annoyed sigh, he walked back into the royal den.

[DGFone]

Muroki came back almost as soon as he left the cave, and Umeme didn't need any clues to figure out what he tried to do. "They didn't let you in, did they?" Muroki shook his head, confirming her suspicions. While she could understand not being allowed to see who they were guarding, she thought that the queen would at least give a little leeway to Muroki or Delano. After all, the two of them were quite important to finding out about the entire thing about Sanders. And Hatari.

Heck, for that matter, if it wasn't for Delano, Sanders would still have been out and very much free. Although, as Umeme stole a look at Muroki's brother, she somehow doubted that Delano would be of much use right now. Lina was still trying to comfort him, but it didn't look like she was having much success this time around.

And the only other lion was Kato, who hardly knew about what was going on, so he wouldn't be allowed in either. Speaking of Kato. "How are you holding up? Alright?" Kato looked much better now that he knew that his parents were safe, but the prince wasn't entirely all right either. He was still quite spooked from the ordeal, and based on the occasional fearful glance he took of Delano, he was also... afraid? Of Delano? Umeme had to grin slightly at this. "Delano isn't going to bite you, Kato. Why are you so looking at him like that?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki nodded at his mate's question, confirming the obvious. He understood that the guards weren't letting him in because it could be dangerous, but he still wanted to see whether that 2nd lion was Hatari or not. Knowing that Hatari would be in serious trouble if he got caught, he obviously hoped that it wasn't him. Still, as long as the possibility existed, Muroki doubted he'd be able to stop worrying about it. His attention was soon caught by Umeme's rather unexpected question.

Kato was stealing an occassional glance at Delano because he wanted to make sure that he was okay. And, mostly, so that he wouldn't end up being caught off guard should the older lion suddenly enter another state where he lost control. "Oh, er... It's nothing..." he lied, hoping the two of them wouldn't question him any further. As bad as he was feeling about not having been able to help Delano out earlier, he still felt a little scared to go near him.

Meanwhile, inside the other cave, Hatari was slowly starting to wake up. He could see the outlines of the guards against the sky as they stood by the entrance and knew immediately where he was. As much as he wanted to just end Sanders's life right then and there, he knew that doing so would reduce his already low odds of finding a way out of his predicament. Also, there was no need for him to worry about Sanders now that the former leader of the underworld has finally been captured.

[DGFone]

The last thing Delano wanted to hear right now was Kato trying to cover up the fact that he had lost his temper at the prince. If anything, it only made him feel worse than he already was. "Kato... it's okay. I'm sorry that I snapped at you." He felt quite ashamed at having to admit this in front of the others, but he needed to get the guilt off him.

He also knew that just because he apologized, it wouldn't mean that the prince would still be distrustful of him. Kato would most certainly still hold some reservations about what might happen if Delano lost control of himself again. He remembered telling Lina about how he accidently hit Muroki. He still wasn't sure if it actually happened or not, but if something similar happened with Kato, it would be very bad for both of them.

Next to the lions, Umeme was trying to fit all the pieces together. "Snapped at... is that why you ran out? I only saw you when you came back, and that was after you saw Sanders, so we had other things in mind."

Delano turned away from the others. "I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled. He closed his eyes, trying to fight back tears from how terrible he felt right now. Not only was he wrong about the nightmares leaving him, he now basically lost the trust of Kato. For a new friend of the prince, he really messed up bad. Trying to be as qiet as possible, he began to weep, hoping that the others would notice.

[TheWhistlerify]

All of a sudden Hatari couldn't tell what has gotten into him, but he found himself roughly shaking Sanders awake. He remembered how Sanders told him that he wanted to see Delano's expression once Delano realized that, no matter how hard he'd tried, Sanders still won. So now, Hatari wanted to see the look on Sanders's face. "Look at where we are." he said, his voice almost a growl as he stood up and walked over to the other side of the cave. After all, Sanders was going to be quite angry to say the least.

When Delano said that he didn't want to talk about it, Kato could tell that Umeme and Muroki were looking directly at him. It's just that, when Delano had growled at him earlier, the first thing that came to the prince's mind was the image of those 2 lions who would have killed him if it hadn't been for Muroki. Even though he knew that Delano would never hurt him, he just couldn't stop thinking about yesterday whenever he looked at Muroki's brother. Not sure of what to say, he looked down at the floor and remained silent, feeling more and more uncomfortable by the moment.

Muroki got up and slowly walked over to Kato, sitting down next to him. His presence seemed to have the exact opposite effect on the prince in comparison to that of Delano's. "Delano would never hurt you. You know that, right?" he asked, feeling like he knew what was going on in the younger lion's head. The prince slowly nodded, causing Muroki to smile. "Then that's that." Kato let out a yawn and lay down. Then, to Muroki's surprise, the prince cuddled against his legs, purring as he did.

[DGFone]

Umeme chuckled quietly when she saw Kato curl up next to Muroki. "Don't try to help him too much," she teased, "or you might make cubby's parents jealous." She gave Muroki a lick across his cheek to show that despite her teasing, she approved of his actions. Kato's parents were very busy at the moment, and yet Kato still needs someone to help him deal with the ordeal. Muroki was filling in for the prince's parents wonderfully well.

She then moved over to Lina. Delano's mate was quiet for this entire time, and Umeme wanted to make sure that she was doing alright as well. "Are you holding up alright over here?" She looked over to Delano, who while had stopped shaking, didn't look well at all, failing miserably at hiding his crying. Umeme didn't know whether to be sorry for him, or be annoyed.

---

Sanders found himself being shaken awake, not something that he wanted to happen considering the huge headache he had. He groaned, trying to regain his bearings, and getting mad at Hatari by the moment. When he recognized where they were, he growled at the other lion in anger. "If you had done your job properly, we wouldn't be in this predicament, you imbecile!" His growling was attracting the attention from the guards outside, but he didn't care.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki chuckled as Umeme licked him, looking down at Kato who seemed to have either not heard her or to have not paid any attention to her. He slightly nudged the prince with his paw, but the younger lion didn't react. "I have to admit that he's really cute." he said, not having to worry that Kato would get upset by his comment now that he was asleep.

Lina nodded at her sister, still trying to think of what she should say to calm Delano down. "Yeah, I'm fine." She'd practically said everything to him already, and doubted that repeating the same things over and over will be of any help. Sighing, she walked over to her mate and lay down beside him. "Delano, please stop crying..." This whole situation was starting to make her feel helpless and useless. With another sigh, she nuzzled him. "Please? For me?"

~~~

Hatari would have normally growled back, but Sanders's anger was simply too entertaining. What was even more amusing was that Sanders still didn't seem to realize that Hatari had ruined his plan, not even after the way he'd hit him over the head when the queen had arrived. "Well, if you want something done then do it yourself." he aaid with a shrug of his shoulders. "Tell that to the two imbeciles who died back there."

[DGFone]

Umeme returned to Muroki's side, glad to see that Lina was doing alright. "You know, you'll really make a great father one day," she commented, "after all, you've known Kato for how long? And look how well he's taken to you already." She gave him a quick nuzzle before lying down next to him herself, wanting to also grab some sleep now that everyone had calmed down.

Next to Lina, Delano heard her pleading, and tried to relax himself. "It's not fair," he mumbled, "I thought... when we were at the lake, I even thought I would be fine again..." He buried his muzzle into her fur, starting to shake again. "I'm so scared, Lina... the things I see when I fall asleep... and I might accidently hu- hurt you. Or Muroki or Umeme... I already hurt Kato..." While he did try to stop his crying as Lina asked, he wasn't succeeding.

---

Sanders just about flew into a rage when Hatari mentioned the two dead lions he had sent to make sure that Kato and Muroki were actually dead. "And what would you know about them?" He screamed, "You told me you didn't know what was going on, but you seem to have a very good idea! You-" He paused, remembering why he had such a huge headache: Hatari was the one who knocked him out. "-You disgusting filthy traitor!"

He lunged at the other lion, only to be intercepted by some of the guards, who came to investigate the noise. "Let me go you idiots!" Sanders shouted, and looked at Hatari, who was also being restrained. "I'll make you pay! You mark my words!"

[TheWhistlerify]

Sanders was absolutely furious and Hatari was enjoying every second of it. "Filthy?" he asked with a growl as he was restrained by some of the guards even though he was standing perfectly still.

"I'll tell you just how much I really know. To make things easier for you, the prince had been bitten by a snake. Delano's brother was trying to find an antidote, but like you said he'd been badly injured. Delano showed up and killed one of your two idiots, but you were still winning because the 2nd idiot was just about to kill him. Until I came along."

He growled. "I killed him, saving Delano's life, then I found the cure Muroki couldn't find himself and finally, just to finish off, I made sure that Muroki's bleeding stopped! Oh, how close you were! You had all three of them just where you wanted them!" He couldn't stop himself from laughing in Sanders's face. "Do you find that filthy, Sanders? Does letting others enjoy their right to live sound wrong to you? Go to hell!" Then, to Hatari's shock, Sanders actually got free from his restrainers and lunged himself at him. The two of them collided and rolled outside in a heap.

~~~

Muroki smiled and even blushed slightly at Umeme's compliment. "You think so?" he asked sheepishly, lying down next to his mate. "You know... one day... That could be, like, I dunno..." He was already starting to feel like an idiot for what he was saying. Just then, his attention was caught by the commotion that was taking place outside. "What's going on out there?"

Heading outside, he was horrified to see Hatari and another lion, who he could only assume was Sanders, going at each other in what appeared to be a fight to the death. The queen's guards were surrounding them, but they actually seemed hesitant about coming close. Roaring in anger, Muroki ran over and, not realising just how much effort he was about to put his shoulder through, rose to his hind legs before striking Sanders as hard as he could with unsheathed claws.

A long silence seemed to follow. After a few seconds the guards recovered from their shock and once again restrained Sanders. They were about to do the same with Hatari, but something about the way Muroki looked at them made them keep their paws to themselves, although they did stand very close to Muroki and Hatari.