[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

"I think you'll be able to fulfill this promise without worrying about it," Umeme told Muroki. "I wouldn't have married you if that wasn't the case." She giggled as he nibbled on her ear, glad to know that she was of great help to him. "Even if you didn't calm down quickly, I would have not left your side, Muroki. I love you, you know. No matter what happens."

She stopped purring when Muroki suddenly ended his nuzzle. "What's wrong?" she asked, clearly concerned. To her great relief, her mate was not taking a turn for the worse again. But his question did pose a problem. "Well, I... I don't really know," she admitted, "Lina did stop by when you were out of it, and she had said that he had woken up briefly, but I think he's asleep again..." She noticed the worried look on Muroki's face. "I can bring you over to Delano if you want. The others are with him as well, I think." Umeme figured that if he's awake, Muroki wouldn't mind seeing his aunt and uncle as well.

[TheWhistlerify]

Despite being obviously cheered up a little at hearing that his brother had woken up, which was definitely a good sign, Muroki was still a little worried about his brother. "That's good to hear... But... Are you sure I can see him?" He still felt very weak and didn't know whether he'd be able to walk or if it was even safe for him to try at the moment. "I mean, in my state..." It was annoying to know that he might be too weak to even limp his way around with somebody supporting him.

As if right on cue, though, the queen approached them. "I came as fast as I could," she explained, "but when the others said that you'd woken up and that you're okay, I decided to give you two a moment before coming to see you." Then, to Muroki's confusion, she gently placed a paw against his throat. "Heart beat's a little slow, but normal for someone in your condition." She smiled. "And since you're awake, I can safely say that you'll be perfectly alright."

Muroki thanked her, but immediately hurried to ask whether it was possible for him to see Delano. "Of course." she said. "Just don't walk on your own and don't fall over. If you feel like walking is making you tired, then stop." She got up and began to take her leave. "Hold on, I'll instruct Kato not to jump at you as a result of joy and then it'll be safe to come over." Chuckling, she left the couple alone.

[DGFone]

Umeme squealed in delight as soon as the queen had left them alone. "See? You'll be all right!" In her excitement, she hugged Muroki perhaps a little too tightly, and had to release her grip as soon as he protested at the power that she hugged him with. Umeme pulled back, very much embarrassed. "Sorry," she muttered, "got carried away..."

Returning to herself, she then added. "Well, the queen says that it's alright for you to see Delano. I can help you help you get there." He still looked somewhat uncertain, so she added. "If you really don't want to walk, I can carry you over there. It's not that far." Compared to how long Delano had to carry Muroki after the gorge ambush, carrying him over to where Delano was resting was nothing. "What do you say?" She also imagined that the queen mentioning Kato would make Muroki more eager to move as well.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki had to suck it up as Umeme hugged him a little too tightly, but he was so relieved as well so he couldn't blame her. "Don't be silly..." he said with a chuckle. Not only were male lions slightly larger and heavier than lionesses, but Muroki was also a little bigger than the average young adult. It's not that he didn't believe she could carry him, though. "You've done enough for me just by being here. I'll walk."

He wanted to see just how much he was going to have to rely on the help of her or anybody else until he got better. Sure enough, when he then tried to rise to his paws, he found it extremely difficult. Muroki soon found it slightly easier as Umeme assisted him by slightly pushing him upwards with her side. "Thanks..." he said sheepishly, giving her a short nuzzle to express his gratitude. Then, leaning against his mate, the two slowly made their way towards where the others and Delano were.

Spoiler: show

I'm going to sleep now (should have gone to sleep almost 90 minutes ago)
I'll post again in a little more than 4 hours after guarding for 30 minutes and then, 2 hours after guarding, we have to wake up. Then it'll be posting when I can. When it comes close to when you often go to sleep I'll PM you in case I know it'll take a long time for me to post again.

Sorry, I'm getting tired and don't want to be too dead tomorrow. But we did get a nice amount of posts in, no?

[DGFone]

Despite Muroki's insistence that he would walk himself, Umeme was right in her suspicions that he was not actually able to get up on his own. Helping him up, she accepted his nuzzle with a smile, but other than that, concentrated on helping him walk over to the cave where Delano and Lina were supposed to be.

When they finally got to the cave, Umeme saw that sure enough, Delano and Lina were not the only ones there. Kasi and his parents were there too, along with Kato and his mother, who seemed to be examining Delano, who was still asleep. Kato looked up to see Muroki and Umeme, and immediately got up, clearly excited to see them. However, the queen must have already told him to back off, because he remained where he was and waited as Umeme helped Muroki lie down again before finally approaching them.

Umeme grinned at the prince. "Hey, Kato. How's it going?" She knew that he was very glad to see Muroki awake and moving.

[TheWhistlerify]

While Muroki had insisted on walking on his own, he knew ahead of time that he would definitely not make it far without assistance, although he was surprised at how difficult it was for him to simply stand up. When he and Umeme entered the den he was a little disappointed to see that Delano was asleep, having hoped that he'd be awake. The queen was examining him, but she didn't look concerned or anything while she was at it, which was comforting, in a way.

For obvious reasons, as when Umeme helped him lie down next to Delano, the first thing Muroki did was to check whether his brother was breathing or not (even if the queen wouldn't have been so calm had Delano's condition taken a turn for the worse). "Um... A little better now..." Muroki looked in the direction of the voice, chuckling as he saw Kato hesitantly approach him and Delano. His mother had instructed him to be careful not to knock Muroki over, but now that he was lying down there was no reason to worry about accidentally doing something like that.

Even with what was going on, there was no denying that the prince was still completely adorable. "How are you doing, Kato?"

"Me?" asked Kato with concern as he lay down next to Muroki. "What about you?"

"I'm fine." He still felt very weak but, in a way, he's never felt better.

[DGFone]

Silently chuckling to herself, Umeme decided to let Kato and Muroki talk to each other as she moved over to Lina. "Hey, how are you hanging?" Lina didn't look too worn out, but Umeme was still able to detect a hint of worry on her sister's face. "Did he wake up again, o not?" she asked, looking at Delano. Sure, the queen had said that he would be fine, but she had also said that Muroki would almost certainly be fine, only to have him stop breathing.

However, Delano was still breathing, and the queen had been more worried about Muroki, so perhaps there really wasn't anything to really be concerned about.

However, just as Umeme was about to return her attention to Lina, Delano began to quietly whimper in his sleep. Umeme glanced nervously at her sister. Was he having another nightmare? His whimpering grew louder as he started to shake and move about in his sleep. Umeme didn't know if it would be a good idea or not to try and wake him up. "Should we wake him?"

[TheWhistlerify]

"You really had me worried..." said Kato somewhat nervously as he snuggled against the older lion, causing his mother to chuckle as she left the den.

"Yeah, you and everyone else by the looks of it..." said Muroki with a soft smile. His aunt, uncle and cousin looked quite relieved with seeing him awake and focused. "How are you holding up?"

"I don't know..." admitted the prince, letting out a sigh. He was obviously still quite startled by everything that's happened.

"It's over." said Muroki, reassuringly placing a paw on Kato's shoulder. "We're safe here."

Lina meanwhile smiled at her sister. "I'm okay." True, there was still some uncertainty, but she was feeling quite good. "I'm glad Muroki's awake... It looks like he'll be okay." At first she hesitated to wake Delano up, but if it was another nightmare then she definitely couldn't risk having him wake up like he usually has from his nightmares. He could seriously hurt himself this time around. Slowly nodding at her sister, she began to gently nudge and shake him awake.

[DGFone]

Everything around him was a foggy mess. The sounds were all muted and everything around it felt strange... Delano tried to call out for help, but no replies came. A pair of shadowy figures occasionally became visible through the fog, and he eagerly walked towards them. "Mom! Dad! It's me!" However, as he got closer, he stopped in fright. The pair were not his parents...

He turned and ran back as fast as he could, knowing that the two were going to be on top of him at any moment. He felt his bod shaking as the world started to move around, and at that moment, he felt a sharp pain as claws tore at his body...

He jolted awake, screaming in fright. Just about jumping up to his feet, his frightened scream turned into a pained one as what felt like his chest being split open tore through him. He fell hard on the rocky ground, clutching his chest in agony, only starting to remember where he was.

A soft pair of paws embraced him, and Delano reached out to grab them. Everything around him was still blurry, but as he looked up, he could see the fuzzy outline of his mate. "Lina..." Despite the pain, he was still able to smile slightly. He was so glad that she was here...

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina immediately regretted not grabbing onto Delano as quickly as she could because he soon jumped to his feet upon waking up, which was exactly what she'd worried might happen. Despite him smiling and calming down quite quickly, she was still worried about the way he'd clutched his chest. "Everything's okay, it was just a dream..." she assured him, relieved to see that the wounds on his chest hadn't been torn open by accident. Smiling, she gestured with her head in Muroki's direction.

"Delano?" His brother wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not. Delano appeared to be alright but he did have a nightmare again after having given off the impression that his nightmares were going to stop. "Are you okay?" Muroki asked, a worried expression on his face.