[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Spotting Lina and Delano waiting for them outside the den, Umeme broke off from Muroki and ran over to her sister. "We can leave!" she said excitedly, "the queen gave us her permission! We can finally go home!"

She gave Lina an excited hug before pulling back, feeling quite embarrassed. "So what are you and Delano going to do?" Umeme gave Lina a sly wink. "I heard that Delano wants to take you out and find a home of your own. Are you looking forwards to it?" She also told Lina about the number of dens in the same general location as the one she and Muroki took. "That way, we can still be close as well."

Delano allowed Umeme to talk to Lina, as he instead moved over to talk to his brother. "So, I take it the queen has told you that all is fine?" He noticed how out of breath Muroki was. "Yeah, I can hardly keep up with Lina myself," he admitted, "looks like we both have a long way to go to get to where we were before."

[TheWhistlerify]

Even though Lina already knew what Umeme was going to say, she still reacted with excitement when her sister told her the news. Returning her sister's hug, she giggled. "Of course I am." she said "I hope we can start looking today." she listened to her sister some more before continuing. "I also had that in mind. I think Delano will agree that finding a den close to yours is a food option." Chuckling, she hugged Umeme once more. "But nevermind that! Congratulations!"

Muroki smiled at his brother, nodding with excitement. "Eeyup!" he exclaimed, "Finally." As far as he was concerned, he wouldn't mind heading straight back to their new den once Umeme finished talking to Lina. "So what about you and Lina?" he asked after a short silence. "Are you going to begin your search today? You know, there are plenty of empty dens in the area where Umeme and I found ours."

[DGFone]

Umeme found herself blushing at Lina's comments. "Well, thanks. You know, we can help you find a den..." She eyed her sister, "or would you rather search on your own?" While Umeme wanted to help Lina find a den, she knew that it would be a lot better for Delano and Lina to do so on their own. "If I were you," she muttered quietly, "I would take Delano right now."

Delano nodded. "Yeah, I think we'll go look for our own place now." He chuckled, perhaps a little bit nervously. "Figure it's about time..." He tried to recall what Muroki had told him about how to tell apart those dens that were taken already and those that weren't. He really didn't feel like digging out one right now. "Wait, so how do I know which ones are safe to move into? How do I know that someone else won't walk in on me and Lina at an random moment?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki couldn't help but smile at his brother's nervousness, chuckling as Delano asked him that last question. "Dens that are taken have claw marks scratched on them from the outside." he explained, nudging his brother's shoulder. "You can't miss them, so I wouldn't worry about anybody accidentally interrupting your privacy..." Holding back a short laugh, he looked up at the sky. "It looks like it's going to be a fine day, which might be a sign for good luck. I'm sure you'll find a den you'll both like."

Lina chuckled, shrugging her shoulders. "I think this is something we should do on our own." she said, obviously not because she didn't appreciate the offer. "Unless you two really want to tag along, in which case I wouldn't want to be rude..." When Umeme shook her head dismissively she smiled. "I thought so. You two want to go back home already. We'll drop by later!" She then walked over to Delano and Muroki, giving her mate a quick lick across his muzzle. "Ready to get going?" she asked, obviously excited.

[DGFone]

Delano grinned and nodded at Lina. "Sure, let's go." He looked back at Muroki. "If we find a den, I think we might stop by your place and show you guys, I think..." He got up to is feet. "Well, alright, I think it's a good time to get going. Lina, you coming?" He didn't even need to ask her, for as soon as he got up, Lina was ready to go as well.

"We'll see you soon, then," Delano told Umeme and Muroki, and began to walk of with Lina by his side.

Watching them leave, Umeme waited for some time before turning her attention back to her mate. "We have permission to go now," she grinned, "let's go home?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina smiled as Delano gave his consent and got to his paws. She was very excited to begin searching for a den to call their own with him. Even if it would take a long time it sounded like it could be very fun. "Let's hit the road." she said with a chuckle, walking alongside him. "See you two later!" Feeling her excitement grow even greater, she looked at her mate with a smile. "The area we're looking for is this way." she said. "I bet we'll find the perfect home!" she giggled, licking Delano's cheek.

~~~

Muroki watched his brother and sister in law walk off, smiling the entire time. "Are you serious?" he asked, grinning that trademark grin of his. "You bet I am!" Not caring about no longer being able to outrun her like he'd once been able to, he broke off into a run with her beside him. It would take them less time to get home that way, and the sooner they got there the better.

[DGFone]

Delano blushed from Lina's lick. "Alright, you lead the way." He didn't have any problems with letting Lina telling him where to go. Sure, he had a rough idea where they were supposed to be, but she seemed to have more of a clue than he did, so it only made sense that she would be the one in front of the pair. "So what king of den are we looking for, anyways?" he asked as they walked, "I mean, I guess I don't really have any problems with it, but I would prefer not to have a den like the one Muroki and Umeme got. Finding another one like the one where I grew up in... it's uncanny, that's all."

---

Umeme willingly gave Muroki a few moments of head start before chasing after him. She caught up to him in no time at all, sticking her tongue out at him as she slowed down in order not to overtake him. "Someone needs to get out more now that they can," she teased, "are you sure going straight home is such a good idea?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina lead Delano on, feeling really excited even though they haven't really started looking for a den just yet. "We obviously need a den that will be big enough for more than the two of us in case we have more than Umeme and Muroki over or my parents at the same time." she explained, looking at him with a smile. "I'm sure we can find a den that we'll both like. But it has to be roomy enough." They carried on walking, and eventually the area they were looking for came into view. "Ooh, we're almost there!" Lina exclaimed, enthusiastically licking his cheek again.

~~~

Muroki shot Umeme a playful grin as she stuck her tongue out at him to let him know that he was keeping up with her only because she was letting him. "Perhaps." He knew that she was right, and had every intention of listening to her. "Yes, it's a perfect idea." he wanted to see their new den again after all this time and know that now it was officially their home. "We'll see what we feel like doing after that. I want to see it again first."

He would have run faster, but they were already getting close so there was no need for him to overwork himself. "There it is!" he exclaimed as the small slcave they were looking for finally came into view. The two of them slowed down as they neared the entrance, eventually coming to a stop. After catching his breath, he nudged his mate's shoulder with his own and smiled warmly at her. "Shall we?"

[DGFone]

Delano felt himself turning red again as Lina licked him with excitement. "Well then, what are you waiting for?" He had no problems with letting her pick out a den, because he really had no idea what kind of den he would like, and she was already having some good ideas about what they will need. If she wanted to pick a place, and simply have him agree or not with it, it would be alright with him.

---

Taking Muroki's nudge as an invitation to walk in, Umeme went inside their den. Having spend hardly any time in it, the place looked just like they had found it as originally, and not like someone's home. "We'll need to certainly tidy this place up a bit," she commented, "talk about your fixer-upper." She felt Muroki brush past her as he too walked in their den. "Well, this is our home. No one wanted to steal it from us while we were gone..."

She turned towards her mate, grinning. "We're indie our home. Now how about getting you to build up some of those muscles back up?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina had a hard time believing that, at last, she and Delano were searching for a den of their own. In the past she's had her doubts and reservations about when that would happen, and it felt great to finally be rid of those. "You're right. Let's go!" Giggling, she ran the small distance that was left between them and the area filled with hills and caves. "Those who live in these dens are usually around in the mornings and evenings." she said.

Since it was still quite early, they were going to have to make sure not to accidentally disturb anybody's sleep. That would be a bad way to make a good impression on your potential neighbours... "Here, see this den?" she asked, turning her mate's attention to the claw marks outside. "This one's taken." From there she walked over to another one, which had no marks outside. "This one's big." A short silence followed. "Maybe a little too roomy..." There was no need to get greedy, was there? Unless Delano really liked it, that is.

~~~

Muroki quietly followed Umeme into their den, brushing past her as she came to a stop at some point. "It hasn't changed at all." he commented with a smile. He couldn't help but chuckle as she suggested he started building up some of his muscles back. "What do you have in mind?" he asked, grinning back at her as he walked over to her. It's been some time since they'd just ran through the savannah together. He'd be okay with whatever she proposed, really.