[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme was also missing their little den. Not to mention, it felt rather odd sleeping in someone else's den. True, this was the queen and king they were talknig about, who were most likely used to having others over for a day or several. Not to mention, they were sleeping in the main cave next to the entrance and not where the royals themselves slept, but still.

But mostly, it was odd to have moved into the new den only to, even temporarily, move right out again. As for Hatari, "Well, you know that we can help him, but it's not us who determine in the end what will happen. We can only do our best, and hope that it all works out." Much like with Delano.

With Lina's contact, Delano was able to slowly calm down. "I really don't know what to think of him right now," he muttered shakily, "this whole thing... it's confusing."

He moved his paws towards his face so that he can properly examine them for the first time. The blood had already dried up, but he could easily see the damage he had done to himself. With all the rather deep cuts and gouges all over them, it would be a miracle if he would be able to walk. He hated to admit it, but he did more damage to himself than Sanders did. No wonder they hurt terribly, even now. "I messed up bad, Lina," he whispered, "and I don't even remember doing it..." Leaning his head on hers, he closed his eyes, wishing to try and get some rest.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki knew that Hatari's fate rested entirely on the decision Kato's father would make, which could easily end up being anything as far as Muroki was concerned. He was already thinking of talking to the king later and finding out his current opinion on the matter, and also if there was anything more he could do to persuade him in the right drection. "I guess all we can do now is wait for the trial." He nuzzled his mate again. "Then we can carry on with our lives..." he purred at the thought. "Wouldn't that be nice?"

Lina sighed, licking Delano's muzzle once as he rested his head against hers. "It could have been worse..." she said, trying to find strength and comfort in that fact. "These are just wounds... Wounds heal." Even without the queen's help, she was fairly certain that Delano's paws would be alright if given enough time. "Let's just get through this trial and put it all behind us, alright?"

[DGFone]

Umeme smiled back at Muroki. "That would be nice," she agreed, "but speaking of the trial. You really need to clean yourself up. You can't exactly go there looking as you are right now." While Muroki was nowhere as messy as Delano was, he was able to get himself cleaned up right now, and Umeme wanted to make sure that at least her mate would be as good looking for the trial as possible. "Come on, let's go and make yourself presentable."

Delano nodded slightly. "Alright Lina. I'll try doing that." It was all he could really promise her at the moment. He also knew that if anything, losing control during the trial could be very bad for him as well. Even though it wasn't for him this time, he couldn't help but feel as though he was once again waiting for his fate to be decided as he slowly drifted off to sleep...

... and was gently nudged awake. Groaning, he slowly opened his eyes to see the queen staring down at him. He suppressed his fear, for while he did not suffer through another nightmare, he was woken up right as it was beginning, and he was aware of it to start growing afraid. "What's going on?" he asked. Did he move about in his sleep again? His dream was going to turn into a nightmare, he knew, but nothing frightening had happened before he was woken up. Then the smell got to his nose, the same rancid smell of whatever the queen used on Muroki's shoulder. His gaze fell from the queen's. His paws. How was he going to explain those to her?

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki couldn't help but chuckle. Just like he hasn't eaten in a few days he hasn't cleaned himself either. Making himself look agreeable for the trial was a good idea. "The nearest waterhole should do." he said with a smile. Because of that night where Delano had spoken to Hatari, he knew where the waterhole was. "I know the way." getting out of the royal den for a while seemed like a good idea, especially now that Delano had calmed down. They got to the waterhole quickly enough, and Muroki did not hesiate before running and jumping in, lauguing as he did.

When Delano was woken up, Lina gently nuzzled him to let him know that she was there if he needed her, even if she did seriously doubt that the quee would make things worse. The queen let out a soft sigh, looking quite unsure of what to say. "What happened this time, Delano?" she eventually asked, speakng calmly. It wasn't his injury which worried her. The fact that he kept losing control and getting hurt was what was bothering her.

[DGFone]

Umeme followed Muroki to the waterhole, laughing just as much as he did. Jumping in after him, she waited for him to surface. Normally, she would have felt like splashing him in the face with water, but now, she instead waited for another reason. When his head broke through the surface, she swam over to him. "Stay still, Muroki!" Carefully, she reached out and rubbed water through his mane, making sure that she could get as much dirt out of it as possible. "If there is one bad thing about manes," she muttered as she noticed the water noticeably get dirtier around them, "is how much dirt gets stuck in them."

Delano felt his lip tremble. "I don't know..." he pleaded quietly, "I... I went outside to calm down, but... I don't even remember what happened! One moment I was just... and the next... this..." he showed her his paws, his eyes blurred with tears. "I couldn't even remember doing anything... I don't know what happened!" He felt Lina gently embrace him, and he was glad that she was there. He couldn't tell how disappointed the queen was with him, but he knew that she was.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki couldn't help but smile sheepihly as Umeme began to clean through his mane. The water close to them got slightly darker, but as time went on it became transparent again as the dirt slowly spread through the entire waterhole, making the water look normal once more. "I love my mane unconditionally." he said with a chuckle as she finished cleaning his mane, wrapping his paws around her and pulling her close to him. "Who knew being inside the water without splashing about could be just as fun?"

It was true that the queen was disappointed that Delano had ended up getting hurt again, but she knew she couldn't really blame him for his behavior. "Well your paws are going to take a while to heal." she said, beginning to dip them in what she'd used for Muroki's shoulder. "It's going to be some time before you can walk without feeling any discomfort, not to mention that these bruises are very delicate. So untill further notice no running, jumping or anything else of the sort."

[DGFone]

While it was indeed fun, Umeme felt somewhat bad at getting to enjoy her time with Muroki while Lina remained worried about Delano. "Well I can't splash you all the time," she reasoned, "now get out of the water so that we can brush you down." Her face turning more serious, she added, "I don't want to just leave Lina and Delano alone like that right now."

Delano knew what the queen was talknig about by the simple fact that even though the stuff the queen applied helped, unlike with the cuts on his side, his paws still hurt afterwards. He could only nod at her instructions, knowing that in the end, it was he who brought this onto himself. He couldn't risk permanently hurting his mobility by not listening to her, no matter how much he hated the fact that he was very restricted on what he was able to do. As soon as the queen let go of his legs, he placed them beneath his body again where he could avoid moving them any more than he had to. Placing his head on the ground, he closed his eyes again, needed to get some rest, but afraid of whatever his dreams would throw at him.

[TheWhistlerify]

As much as Muroki was enjoying Umeme's company very much, he knew that it wouldn't be right for them to run off and have a good time while forgetting about Lina and Delano. "Yeah, you're right." he said, slowly following her out of the water. As she began to brush him down he took the liberty of returning the gesture to help her clean up as well. They could allow themselves to enjoy some more time together once this trial was behind them and over with.

The queen gathered her stuff once she was done with Delano's paws. "I'll check on you again later to see if there's any need to apply more, alright?" once she recived a nod of approval she left him and Lina alone, getting a slight bow of gratitude from Lina and returning it.

"Does it hurt?" Lina asked worriedly once the queen had left, nuzzling her mate's mane as she did.

[DGFone]

Delano nodded slightly in answer to Lina's question. His paws still hurt a lot, but there wasn't much that could be done about it. He had no doubt that the queen used the same stuff that allowed Muroki to basically walk again after his shoulder wound, but Muroki's shoulder had not taken a repeated beating that he must have put on his paws. Almost as if in punishment, he would have to deal with the pain instead of having it be removed. Lessened, yes, but not removed completely.

Returning Lina's nuzzle, he relaxed as much as he could and closed his eyes, hesitantly allowing the fatigue that haunted him constantly lately to take over him. Very quickly, he was deep in an uneasy sleep.

Umeme enjoyed how Muroki helped her out by helping her get cleaned up as well. When she was satisfied at how the two of them looked, she motioned with her head back to the direction of den, or at least, where she thought it was. Letting Muroki lead her back, they returned back to the den, where Lina lay next to Delano, who looked to be fast asleep. Umeme walked over to her sister, sitting down next to Lina. "You should get some rest too," she said quietly, "don't worry, the two of us can watch over him." She didn't tell Lina yet, but she didn't want Delano to be unsupervised for the time being, otherwise he might slip away while the others are resting and possibly get himself even more hurt than before.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki silently nodded as Umeme signalled that they should get going, standing up and leading the way back to the royal den. There, they found Lina keeping an eye on Delano, who appeared to have once again fallen asleep. While Lina wasn't suffering from a lack of sleep like her mate was, it looked like the events of the day had made her quite worn out to say the least. Despite that, the lioness seemed quite reluctant about going to sleep, even if Delano would be observed by someone else.

"It will be okay." said Muroki, smiling reassuringly. "We'll make sure he doesn't get hurt." His sister in law seemed to hesitate some more, but she eventually consented and rested her head down next to Delano's, falling asleep almost instantly.

Muroki was about to say something to his mate when a familiar voice reached his ears. "Uh... guys?" the two looked towards the entrance of the den and saw Kato nervously looking into the den. "Er... I didn't mean to interrupt earlier... I didn't realize this was a bad time..."