[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano wanted to take comfort in Muroki's words, but was so shaken up by his dream that he was having a hard time doing so. "I watched them die..." he muttered, almost in a whisper, "they were right there! And... I couldn't do... anything!" He clung tighter onto his brother. "I really miss them... Why did I have to watch them die?"

He didn't receive an answer, and after some time, his shaking lessened until Muroki let him lie down on the ground again. Still crying quietly, and letting out the occasional whimper, Delano covered his eyes with a paw. He really was tired... Fearful of what might happen, he tried to relax and get back to sleep, knowing that it would take him a long time to do so now.

Umeme watched as Delano slowly calmed down. "Yeah, I think he'll be alright," she said in reply to Kato. "At least for now. We're hoping that the trials tomorrow will really help him out." She gave Kato a slight smile. "Just let him rest for now. He wasn't able to get much sleep for the past several days. That's why he was behaving so strangely. He's not normally like this, but I think you know that."

With things in the cave calming down again, Umeme was about to take her spot next to Muroki again when a young lioness walked in. Umeme examined her for a moment before realizing who it must be. So this must be Desta: the lioness that stole the prince's heart.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki wanted to answer Delano's question in an attempt to calm him down, but he couldn't find a proper answer and he doubted there was one to begin with. Nobody should watch their parents die. So instead of saying something he might regret, the lion continued to hold his brother, letting out a sigh as Delano finally began to calm down, eventually ceasing to shake altogether. Regardless of that, he continued to hold him close, feeling like it was necessary.

Kato pretty much already knew what Umeme was telling him. After all, Delano had come to him asking for help a few days ago, which ended up not making things better at all. He continued looking at Delano, not noticing Desta walk into the den, and was about to say something when she decided to playfully pounce at him, pinning him to the ground. For a moment he didn't realize what was going on, but when he saw her his eyes went wide in surprise.

Oh good heavens no...

[DGFone]

Hearing some new noise from behind him, Delano turned his head to see a lioness who appeared to have tackled Kato, rubbing her head on his. Envy flared up in him as he watched the two, jealous that he wasn't able to be in a similar relationship with Lina. Knowing that just earlier today he had growled at her in anger brought shame to him, and he had to turn away as grief overtook him again. He knew he was in a bad situation right now, he really couldn't take much of others rubbing it in.

Umeme sat next to Muroki, grinning slightly as they watched how Kato would deal with Desta. He had just told them that he wasn't nervous about her. Time for him to put his actions where his mouth was.

Desta grinned down at Kato. "Hey there! Missed me?" She knew that the others here must be the friends Kato told her about, but she did not come here to talk to them. Kato had spent less time with her recently, and it was time for him to make that all back.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki couldn't help but chuckle slightly as Desta tackled Kato to the ground, completely taking the prince by surprise. Having heard the young male's conversation with Umeme earlier, the situation was even funnier. Despite really wanting to see what would happen, Muroki noticed his brother look away from the young couple, obviously upset for some reason. "What's wrong?" he asked quietly, deciding to settle for just listening to the two of them.

Despite being completely nervous that Desta had decided to show up while Umeme was there, Kato couldn't help but purr and smile sheepishly when his girlfriend rubbed her head against his. The answer to her question was obvious. "Yes..." The two of them hadn't spent much time together since the events at the gorge. The prince chuckled a little nervously, apparently enjoying the position the two of them were in.

That is, until he suddenly remembered his bet with Umeme. Sure enough, the lioness in question was looking on with an amused expression on her face. Feeling his heart begin to beat faster and faster by the second as his mind comprehended the situation he was in, he didn't know what to do. He was obviously nervous about telling Desta how he was feeling, but on the other paw... Letting Umeme get the last laugh was out of the question.

"So, um, Desta..." Kato started, feeling at a loss for words. "I know I've never been good at choosing places we could go to..." he admitted, remembering that one time with the bees, "But I was shown this really awesome place which I think you'd love. And, well... We haven't seen each other too much recently, and I was wondering whether you'd like to go here with me?" There was no turning back now. He may have asked her to accompany him to the oasis, but what would he do once they got there?

[DGFone]

Delano lowered the paw from his eyes to glance at his brother. "Nothing," he muttered hurriedly, but as he turned back away, he knew that his brother wasn't buying it. Staring at the sleeping form of Lina, Delano let out a sigh. "I growled at her earlier today," he whispered, "because of me... she's hurting bad." He shook slightly. "Kato and Desta... why can't we be like them?"

Desta grinned at Kato. She knew something was up, considering that the prince usually didn't act like that. She glanced over at the lioness who was looking at them, who was grinning back. Yeah, something was up. Well, she didn't see anything wrong with having Kato take her somewhere cool. "Yeah, I'd like that Kato," she replied, "you can show me that place."

Next to them, Umeme frowned, but still grinning. She felt that if she wasn't here, Kato would have wimped out and not ask Desta to go with him. However, her little test for him was still not complete: he still needed to actually go there with Desta for Umeme to admit that at least that time, he was pressured into asking her.

[TheWhistlerify]

Spoiler: show

Hooray for dentist apoointments... I have to go back, though... So I'll cya tomorrow!

Muroki did recall Lina being quite upset after Delano had left the den earlier that day, but he couldn't remember hearing any growls being exchanged. He must have been quite caught up in his conversation with Umeme if he'd missed something like that, although it did explain why Lina was so emotional after her mate had taken his leave. "You were like them, remember?" he asked, smiling at his brother. "And I'm sure you'll be like that again once this whole ordeal is behind us."

To say that Kato would have chickened out again if it weren't for the fact that Umeme was there would have been an understatement. There would have most likely not been even the smallest chance of him carrying out what he had planned for his confession, but he didn't mind that. In fact, in a way, it was thanks to Umeme that he'd just asked Desta to accompany him to the oasis. He should probably thank her for that later. Maybe. Unless she'd tease him too much about it.

Chuckling sheepishly, the prince allowed himself a moment of relief. While the more difficult part was still ahead of him, at least he'd gotten through the initial block, in a manner of speaking. "Great!" he said, smiling that trademark smile of his. "It's amazing, you'll love it!" A short silence followed. "Um... Mind letting me up please?" With that taken care of the young lion got to his paws, becoming a little nervous again as he and Desta walked side by side out of the den. Despite his reservations about this, he was also quite excited as he began to lead the way, acting more like his enthusiastic, usual self. "Come on! It's this way!"

Spoiler: show

EDIT: It's been like 4 hours and I'm still here... It's 18:44 and we're supposed to be back by 12:00-14-00 tomorrow... Still, there's a chance they'll bring me out of the base, even if for like 12 hours or so. If you post and I don't reply, then that's what happened.

[DGFone]

Delano tried to smile with Muroki, but couldn't get himself to. "And when will that happen?" he asked bitterly, "how long more do I have to wait?" He showed Muroki his paws, "I can't even control myself anymore... what will happen when I do something more... permanent? What if I attack Lina?" He let out a quiet whimper, and Muroki moved closer to try and comfort him.

Desta liked how Kato was now again energetic and excited as he usually was. "Yeah, I'm coming!" She followed the prince out the den, wondering what sort of place existed that he would be so excited to show her. In fact, she had to break into a run in order to keep up with him as he ran off, shouting at her to keep up.

Having watched Kato and Desta leave, Umeme returned to Muroki, finding him holding onto Delano. Having missed their conversation, she didn't know what was going on, but at the same time, it didn't look like anything particularly bad was happening. She simply sat down next to them, content to watch as the two brothers dealt with whatever was going on.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki had fo resist the urge to frown when Delano said that he was worried about the possibility of him attacking Lina. "I think you won't end up doing something as drastic as that..." He knew how much Delano loved Lina. Heck, he'd proposed to her just a few days ago. Surely there wasn't a chance that he'd ever end up hurting her. "You haven't attacked anybody, have you? Then why worry about doing that to your own mate? I'm sure you don't have to worry about that ever happening."

~~~

In his excitement to see how Desta would react to what he had to show her, Kato didn't notice that he'd broken into a run. Only once she'd minimized the distance between them a little did he realize just how fast he was going. The prince slowed down to a walking pace, allowng his girlfriend to catch up. Giving her an apologetic but still excited smile, he continued leading the way at a normal pace with her walking alongside him, their sides brushing every once in a while as they occassionally nuzzled.

Having run for quite some time, the young couple was already getting closer and closer to the hidden waterhole. If Kato remembered correctly, they should be arriving there soon. And, indeed, after about another minute, the prince could see the trees that concealed the waterhole ahead of them. "We're almost there." he said with a smile, walking a little faster before coming to a stop in front of the group of trees that stood tightly together, hiding the clearing they were heading to from their eyes.

"After you." Ever so politely, the young lion held a paw foreward in a 'ladies first' sort of manner, chuckling as Desta giggled at the gesture before walking past the trees after her. He was about to ask her what she thought of the place, but as soon as they walked into the clearing he found himself at a lost for words as well. If he thought Desta was beautiful, her beauty was even more enchanting with the way the light of the afternoon sun penetrated between the leaves of the trees that surrounded them. "Wow..."

[DGFone]

Delano let out a growl, but it wasn't aimed at Muroki or even Umeme. "But I attacked myself!" he argued, "and... and I wasn't even aware of doing it! How do you know that I won't... won't..." he felt tears begin to flow once more. "I don't know if I will be able to stop myself from hurting Lina if I lose control again..." He broke down sobbing, despite Muroki's attempts to calm him down. "I want this to be over already!" He begged, "sometimes... sometimes I fell that... that I'd be better off dead... I just want to die sometimes, and end it all..." As son as he said this, he felt Muroki's grip on him tighten. As much as he hated it, he couldn't help but to remember the time he had asked Muroki to kill him when he was still locked up in the cave. It didn't make what he just said any less significant: he had tried before telling someone how he felt like, but he always got too frightened to do so before. Even now, it simply came out more than him actually wanting to say it.

Delano shuddered and pressed himself harder against Muroki. "I'm always scared," he whimpered, "why... why do I have to go through this again?" He felt Umeme place a paw on his shoulder as she too tried to calm him down.

----

Desta followed Kato to what looked like just any other place in the savanna, but for some reason, the prince looked very excited about where they were. "What's so special about this place?" she asked, only to stop when she saw the tops of the trees. There was something concealed here, and she accepted Kato's offer to go in first. She topped the small ridge-line and got her first look at the oasis. "Wow... Kato, you're right. It is beautiful!"

She turned back towards the prince only to the prince, who was looking at her rather strangely. She then realized why he was looking at her like that and immediately blushed. "Oh, Kato! Come here, you!" She waited for him to walk over to her before she gave him a quick kiss followed by a nuzzle. "Thank you for bringing me here," she told him, "it's... majestic."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki couldn't stop himself from instictively tightening his grip on his brother as a result of what Delano was saying. It easily brought back memories of when Delano had asked him to end his life during his confinement in that cave. "I don't think there's an answer to that..." he admitted, letting out a sigh. "But let me ask you something. Are you scared right now?" he paused for a brief moment. "With me and Umeme right here? At this very moment? We're both here for you..."

~~~

While one thing Kato had waited for was to see Desta's reaction, he found himself not focusing on that at all. When he first came to the waterhole a few days ago he thought he came accross a very special place. But now that he was there with Desta, the oasis had just become too good to be described by the word special. It seemed like the prince finally managed to take her to a place that wasn't a complete disaster, something he was very proud about even if he hadn't found it by himself.

Walking over to the young lioness, Kato smiled sheepishly and blushed when she kissed and then nuzzled him. While it wasn't the first time they'd kissed and definitely not the first time they'd nuzzled, it reminded him of what he was there to do. "I knew I had to show it to you the moment I found it." he said, nuzzling her back as a purr escaped his throat. There wasn't much to the clearing, but he decided he could show her the waterhole. Maybe she was thirsty. Still rubbing his nose against hers, he slowly led her towards the water's edge and sat down there.

Despite clearly enjoying the contact with her, he decided to pull away. Kato was still quite nervous, but now that the two of them were there... Everything just felt so right. "Desta, there's something I need to tell you..." he began quietly, knowing that he also wanted to explain how he'd arrived at his conclusion. But he didn't know where to wtart.