[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Despite still harboring some feelings of animosity towards Hatari, Delano nodded slightly. He didn't bother to explain why he wasn't feeling completely up to spec, but he was able to tell that the other lion was able to see very easily that he wasn't ready to go after Sanders just yet. Recalling how easily Hatari was able to stop his attack just moments ago, he also wondered if he would have done better if he wasn't so tired and slow just now.

However, he was still able to feel that simply forcing himself to rest longer wasn't going to produce many results. "Why don't we just go?" he asked, standing up, "I'll be able to run if I have to." As he started to walk though, he found his way blocked by Hatari.

[TheWhistlerify]

It all happened way too quickly for Muroki or Lin to realize just what was going on. The Chief grabbed onto one of his second in command's legs and twisted it, causing the latter to yelp out in both pain and surprise as he was easily forced onto the ground. He tried to stand up, but his attacker only increased the pressure on his leg, making his attempt too painful and rendering him pretty much immobile. "What are you doing?!" he yelled out, gritting his teeth in order to hold himself back from screaming as a result of the pain shooting through his leg.

Muroki felt completely frozen to the spot. This other lion was in a completely helpless position and he knew that he couldn't just do nothing, but... "Say something nice." said the Chief, still holding Lin down.

"Please, this is crazy!" said Lin hurriedly. It really did look like his superior wanted to kill him. "Why would you do this?! I-I don't want to die, I have 2 cubs!"

"Oh..." From the Chief's tone, it really sounded like he could care less. "Say, something, nice."

"Please!"

"Lin..." He rolled his eyes. "I've got all day!" Muroki was still shocked at how messed up and cruel this lion was. "And I'm not going to kill you until you say something nice."

●●●●●●●●●●

Slightly rolling his eyes, Hatari sighed. "I honestly don't think that that is a risk you're genuinely willing to take." he said. "You have a mate and a cub waiting for you back home." The former member of the underworld doubted that Delano didn't want to return to Lina and Akili safe and sound. After all, what would be the point in killing Sanders if Muroki's brother died in the process, thus granting Sanders his revenge?

[DGFone]

When Hatari brought Lina and Akili up, Delano wanted nothing more than to hit the lion very hard for daring to mention them. However, instead, he lay back down, letting out a very annoyed sigh. Now that at least things were starting to look like he was finally doing something, he was now being forced to lay idle for no better reason than that Hatari thought he needed to rest.

He wasn't even going to rest now because he himself thought he needed to: he felt like that if he really needed to run, he would be able to. But Delano knew that if he tried to move now, Hatari would simply stop him, which was why he stubbornly lay on the ground now, despite his mind screaming at him to get up and go after Sanders.

[TheWhistlerify]

Still looking very much petrified, Lin continued to stutter. "Please! I thought we were friends!"

"Oh you did, did you?" asked the Chief with a murderous gleam in his eyes as he raised his other paw into the air and unsheathed his claws. "What a nice thing to say..."

Just as he was about to strike and slice the throat of the helpless lion underneath him, he was suddenly tackled and knocked away by Muroki, who had finally snapped out of his state of shock and realized that, unless he acted right away, a lion was going to get murdered right then and there. Looking at Delano's brother with a slight frown, the Chief huffed. "How rude of you." he said bluntly.

Muroki growled. "Don't come any closer..." he hissed. His overall objection to violence aside, his life as well as that of a lion who had a mate and 2 cubs back home was at stake. Lin tried to stand up but failed to do so, clearly because his leg still hurt a lot.

●●●●●●●●●●

Hatari was honestly almost feeling as if he was dealing with an overgrown cub, but he held back from making any sarcastic, unnecessary remark. "Where was it you saw Sanders anyway?" he asked after a short silence, unable to help his curiosity. If it wasn't that far from where most of the pride lived, perhaps they wouldn't need to wait much longer before setting off.

[DGFone]

Delano had to think were he and Lina had seen Sanders and how far it was away to where he was right now. "It wasn't that far away, I think," he eventually said, "Lina and I were near the border, but not necessarily that close when we saw him..." He looked around, trying to figure out where they would need to go to get to where Sanders was. "If we go over in that direction," he said eventually, pointing with a paw, "it shouldn't take us too long to get there."

He sat up, but didn't get up just yet. While Delano was still as eager to get going as ever, he wasn't willing to have to put up with Hatari ordering him around again just yet. Hopefully though, the lion won't take too long to decide that he had 'rested' long enough.

[TheWhistlerify]

Briefly calculating just what possible part of the border was the one Delano was talking about, Hatari came to he conclusion that that particular section of the border was close enough to the pride for comfort, meaning that they would be able to flee to safety relatively quickly if they had to. "Right, then..." He stood up. "Let's get this over with."

●●●●●●●●●●

The Chief of Police snickered slyly, looking rather amused. Muroki's reaction was bound to be amusing. "If I were you I'd look to my own predicament, Muroki." Delano's brother raised an eyebrow, obviously confused as to how this maniac knew his name and as to just what he meant by that. That is, until he saw an all too familiar lion who was supposed to be dead come up behind the Chief.

[DGFone]

As soon as Hatari stood up, Delano scampered onto his own legs as well. "Come on, let's go." He walked quickly, perhaps even faster than he intended to, but the knowledge that soon he would be able to finally be rid of of this nightmare was making him desperate. Hatari had forced him to wait long enough already, so he wasn't about to slow down now either.

Making sure that the other lion was following him, Delano made his way to where he had seen Sanders, forgetting that Hatari can't cross the border. It was only when Hatari had to remind him of the fact that he had to re-hop across the small stream that marked the edge and resumed the search. Sooner or later, Sanders will finally be gone for good.

---

"Well, if it isn't the all mighty Muroki. How have you been?" Sanders could only smile with glee at the look of pure shock and horror on Muroki's face as the lion realized who was talking. "What can I say? Being dead just didn't suit me." Looking very bored, he let out a very exaggerated yawn. "For your information, Muroki, yes, I really did die. But I didn't accept that deal, so I came back."

He extended his claws, showing them to the stunned lion. "Which does make me wonder though... can you do the same thing? How about we find that out?" He began to approach towards Muroki slowly, knowing that the lion was trapped, and was in no hurry to rush taking his sweet revenge. "I hope you have said your goodbyes..."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki was naturally shocked. That lion his brother had seen the other day really was the former leader of the underworld... But how? How was that possible? Frankly enough, he wasn't all too curious about that at the moment given the circumstances. "I haven't, in fact." he replied with an aggressive glare. "But I'll say one thing for you, Sanders. Your conversation is totally predictable. You're like a deranged child, always talking of killing, revenge and destruction!"

Next the Sanders, the new Chief of Police snorted and rolled his eyes, only to cackle maniacally to himself less than a second afterwards. [b"Leave this one to me."[/b] he said. "If not because I want to shut him up myself then for the sake of seeing the look on his face as I prevent him from stopping you from going over to deal with the little hairballs..."

Muroki snarled. "Don't you dare!" he threatened. "Don't even think about it!"

The Chief looked at Sanders with a grin. "See? It"s priceless!" he exclaimed.

●●●●●●●●●●

Hatari continued following Delano until the lion seemed to slow down, looking around restlessly. "I suppose this is the area where you saw him." he pointed out, looking at Muroki's brother. "Alright, let's have a look around." There didn't seem to be anything unusual around them. Yet. "But be careful."

●●●●●●●●●●

Back at Lina and Delano's den, Umeme's attention was soon caught when the cubs began to squeal more loudly and excitedly than usual. When she looked, she saw them running towards Kato, who seemed rather unprepared for the massive ambush. "Wow, take it easy!" he said, chuckling as they were all over him in an instant. "It's good to see you too, I know!" Carrying / dragging the three with him, he walked over to Umeme. "Uh... How's it going?"

[DGFone]

If Sanders found Muroki's criticism to be annoying, he didn't say anything about it. He did, however, grin at his partner's suggestion. "I think I rather like the sound of that," he commented quietly, knowing that sounding like it wasn't a big deal would only make Muroki even angrier. "You can have him. Besides..." He grinned even more, showing his teeth to the other lion, "it's your brother I'm really after. He's the one I want."

He turned, turning his head only slightly so that he can see the Chief stop Muroki from attacking. He could hear Muroki struggle to get free, but it was a one-sided affair, proven when the pained cry of Muroki alerted Sanders that he lost the fight. "Oh, and uh, Muroki, where was it that you all lived again?" He shrugged, although he took great pleasure at seeing Muroki being held down by the Chief, "never mind. I'll find it myself. Well, gotta go! Don't want to be late for the appointment!" As Muroki let out a loud roar, Sanders hesitated, "on a second thought, I have all the time in the world! I think I'll stick around for your final moments. You know, to say... goodbye or something."

----

Despite being told to be careful, Delano rushed off ahead. So he wasn't taking Hatari's advice, he wasn't completely ignoring it either, just that he wasn't completely willing to compromise speed for the sake of paranoia. Despite that, it wasn't long until he sensed something that didn't seem right. "Did you hear that?" he asked Hatari, slowing down so that he wouldn't make as much noise, "I thought I heard... a roar."

He wasn't sure if he heard it though, or if it was just his head. Or even, for that matter, the water below them that would soon be the gorge that marked one of the boundaries. Perhaps the roar was simply from the water, but he swore it sounded like a lion, and not one who was simply roaring because they felt like it.

[TheWhistlerify]

Spoiler: show

I was thinking Hatari and Delano could arrive when Sanders has already left.

Enraged by the idea of someone trying to hurt his cubs, Muroki immediately forgot all of his reservations and hesitations as he tried to get to Sanders and attack him, only to be blocked by the Chief of Police and subdued rather easily. He barely managed to force the attacking lion off of him and stand up, only to get slammed in the face by his paw and find himself rolling over the edge of the gorge as he desperately managed to cling onto the sharp edge and prevent himself from falling.

He could sense that he had enough strength to pull himself up to safety but, as the Chief approached him with that disturbing grin of his, it finally dawned on Delano's brother that there was no escape. He was going to die. He was never going to see Umeme or Delano or his cubs again... There was nothing he could do to protect his son and daughter and that was the worst feeling he's ever experienced in his entire life.

"I know what you're thinking..." said the Chief apathetically as Delano's brother shut his eyes tightly in both fear and shame. Something was telling him that the crazy lion could read him like an open book at the moment. "That really does sound horrible, but I'm sure you'll be able to live with it. For the short remainder of your life, that is." Without as much as a slight consideration, he threw his helpless victim into the gorge, not even bothering to watch him fall down as he turned around.

"It would be much more fitting for you to kill Delano after he sees his precious little son dead, you know." he pointed out. "So why don't you run along and I'll join you soon?" Grinning, he looked at his 2nd in command, who had a horrified and disgusted look on his. "Don't worry, Lin, I haven't forgotten about you." Not waiting to see whether Lin's leg still hurt that much or not, he threw him into the gorge as well as Sanders took his leave.

●●●●●●●●●●

Hatari also came to a halt after a rather brief moment of looking around, staring at Delano with a slightly confused look. "Not really..." he admitted, also looking down towards the water. They were quite close to that long, treacherous gorge that was a part of the border... Whatever sound Delano might have heard could have easily echoed through the gorge.

If it was real and Muroki's brother wasn't sure as to whether it was just in his imagination, chances were that it was pretty far off from their current location. That gorge really was big... "We could go and investigate." said the former member of the underworld. He doubted Delano has forgotten how Sanders had tried to kill them and Kato there before. Maybe he was wondering about in that area, seeing how there seemed to be no trace of anyone where they were?