[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[TheWhistlerify]

It was true, while the water was surely refreshing and nice to be in after so long, that it was still an early, chilly time of the morning. Even with the sun beginning to rise, it was to be expected that one would start to feel cold inside the waterhole eventually. Akili didn't seem to be cold but he was huddled up against his parents, the majority of his tiny form coming in contact with them and sharing their body warmth. That sly, sneaky little hairball.

Helping her mate stand, Lina went ahead and slowly walked towards the shore with him. Their son followed closely behind, shaking whatever small amount of fur he had dry once they got to the shore, only to then immediately settle back down closely to his father and get himself wet all over again from his mane. His mother chuckled at the rather silly spectacle and settled down next to them, deciding they might as well enjoy the sun in quiet before their cub would grow restless and energetic again, something which was bound to happen sooner or later.

[DGFone]

As Delano lay on the soft sand, his mind began to wonder around, as if to compensate for the fact that his body couldn't. Next to him, Lina was once again busy doing something with Akili, so Delano was left basically alone, which he didn't mind. That is, until he started thinking about his fight with Sanders again.

Despite trying to get himself to think about something else, it proved too difficult to fight off, and he tensed as he recalled the fight... and how it ended. He again felt that sickening feeling of a lion's throat in his jaws... the blood covering him... and worst of all, after thinking that he had finally done it, of Sanders talking as if coming back just to taunt him once more. It had forced him to attack again, which made it so much worse...

Feeling his insides churning from the memories, Delano pressed his muzzle against Lina's foreleg, trying desperately to distract himself with her contact.

[TheWhistlerify]

At first Lina was content with just lying there and allowing the sun to slowly, but definitely pleasantly dry her fur. At least, that was the case until she saw Akili poking his tongue out at her. That cheeky little hairball was just begging for trouble, wasn't he? Chuckling slyly, the lioness used her muzzle to gently roll the cub onto his back before pinning him down by pressing her nose against his stomach. The cub let out a short laugh of surprise and pressed his tiny paws against her muzzle, wrestling with it in an attempt to regain his freedom.

His mother smiled and continued entertaining the two of them in a similar manner for several more minutes, until she felt Delano press his head against one of her forelegs. Withdrawing her own head from their son, while offering Akili her paw to nibble on instead, the lioness looked at her mate and could immediately tell that something was really upsetting him. She licked the top of his head once before resting her head on top of his. "What is it?" she asked softly, not wanting their son to overhear.

[DGFone]

Struggling to fight off the bad memories, Delano couldn't do much in terms of answering Lina other than to hope that he would be able to overcome the sickening feeling before it became too much. However, the harder he tried to get over it, it seemed, the worse the feeling got, leaving him completely helpless.

It wasn't until Lina nudged him hard on the side that the pain distracted him enough to realize what was going on. Delano stared at his mate, his eyes wide as he started to realize that she was looking at him with concern, having completely forgotten about her in his internal struggle. "I...-" He stared back at her, unable to explain himself.

Recalling how he wanted to talk to someone about it, he didn't really know who would be able to provide help, except for... Hatari would know. The king too, or at least, Delano thought the king would know, and he was supposed to be fairly close too. "Lina, can you help me get over to the king?" he asked quietly, "I really need to talk to him..." He needed to find out how to get over that he had murdered another lion, even if it was Sanders. Currently, it was if the lion was taunting him from beyond the grave, having the last laugh in how he can make Delano suffer, and now in a way that Delano couldn't do anything about.

[TheWhistlerify]

It took Lina longer than she'd expected to get her mate's attention, something which only emphasized just how troubled he was, but she eventually managed to do it by (unwillingly) poking him hard enough in his side with her paw. Staring at him with an expression of great concern on her face as Akili mindlessly continued goofing off with her other paw, she waited for him to pull himself together and say something, which he eventually did.

To the lioness's surprise, he asked if she could help him go back to the den so that he could speak with Kato's father. She found it a little strange seeing how he'd spoken to the lion just yesterday, and about his worries regarding their safety no less. Surely Delano could see that the security was being taken a lot more seriously now. But if so, what could he possibly want to talk to the king about now? Lina knew that he was usually uncomfortable in his presence, be it because of the past or for some other reason...

So, deciding she might as well not shove her nose in his own personal matters, even if she was curious to know, his mate gave a slight nod of approval. Then, looking at their cub, she chuckled as she gently knocked him off his paws. "Come on, Akili." she said as the little hairball stood back up, still looking as cheerful as ever in his playful state. "Let's go back." Then, once she was up and ready to move, she helped Delano stand up as well, allowing him to lean against her for support as always, before the three of them began making their back to the royal den.

[DGFone]

With Lina's help, Delano was able to get up and start the long journey back that was the short distance between the waterhole and the caves, wondering just how he was going to describe how he was feeling and how to be able to deal with the effects. He was so lost in thought, that when they finally arrived, he almost forgot to repeat his request to one of the guards. Somehow, he doubted that Lina would allow him to simply walk in and force his way to the king, even if it was what he wanted to do, if only slightly.

Feeling like the effort would be too much, he remained leaning on Lina as they waited, but he was still about to sit down and ease his aching legs when the guard returned, saying that the king was waiting. Much like the day before, he was helped somewhere deeper in and guided to another cave where thing king was already inside.

Upon actually seeing the king, all of Delano's confidence left him, leaving him unmoving at the mouth of the cave, silent, and feeling very embarrassed. Would the king even understand what he wanted to say? Surely he would, but the smallest of doubts left Delano feeling very much ashamed and vulnerable. All he was able to do was stare at the king, trying to get himself to talk but unable to.

[TheWhistlerify]

Kato's father, who was already waiting for Delano to arrive seeing how he'd been told of his coming, smiled when he saw Muroki's brother approach with the help of a guard. "You're looking better." he said, giving the guard a slight nod as he took his leave, leaving the two of them alone. He meant it and it was visible, too. The lion's injuries were already looking far better and there was no doubt that he was cleaner than before, which was also important for the healing process of his wounds. In addition, at least from the king's perspective, Akili's father looked better rested as well.

All pleasantries aside, though, it was clear from Delano's expression that something was upsetting him. Could it still be the concern for the safety of him and his family? The king doubted that, seeing how it was probably impossible to not notice the increased amount of guards pretty much anywhere. Then again, Muroki's brother might think that it wasn't enough, which was his choice. He had the right to have his own opinion and voice it if he so pleased. "You obviously have something on your mind." That much was obvious, really.

[DGFone]

When the king spoke, Delano's confidence fell even more, and he was already starting to doubt ever coming here in the first place. It probably helped that he was rather immobile at the moment, because he was really wanting to just flee the area, but at the same time, he knew that he won't solve his problem if he did.

No matter how uncomfortable it made him, Delano knew that he would have to say something. He was desperate enough to do so, so he forced himself to look at the king rather than to try and think of a way to escape. With what he wanted to say completely forgotten, he simply blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Have you... did you ever kill another lion before?" he asked, but so quietly that he was afraid that the king didn't hear him. "How did... you deal with it?"

[TheWhistlerify]

When Muroki's brother finally voiced what he wanted to say, the king looked quite surprised to say the least. It wasn't a question he'd expected, that's for sure. "Yes." he said, not hesitating much. That was to be expected, really, seeing how trials were sometimes held and how a death sentence was a real thing, meaning that by ordering an execution he was damning someone himself, but something was telling Kato's father that Delano was talking about physically ending the life of another lion with his own paws, and the answer was still a positive one.

Figuring he might as well give the full story, the king continued. "It was not long after I became king." he began. "I was a young adult, somewhere around the age of you and your brother. Kato wasn't but a few weeks old at the time, still barely moving about and not able to speak words when he wanted some attention." It was hard not to chuckle at the cute memories, especially seeing how his son was a young adult now as well, so he allowed himself to.

"I'm sure you often wondered how come there are so many males in this pride." Indeed, the kingdom was very, very large and was the home to many families. "Those that live here just want to live their lives in peace and aren't looking for dominance and power." Unlike many rogues, that is. "But troublesome outsiders are still a common thing every now and then." he explained. There was this one lion."

"He was the only one who didn't realize he was better off looking for another, smaller pride to take over." continued the king. "Most of them do, but he didn't. On the contrary, he just seemed absolutely determined in his goal. But I wasn't the only target at first. All the other lions in this pride were an obstacle in his eyes." Lionesses aside, of course. "It started with random killings. Like the ones you had the misfortune of dealing with when you first got here, but in a much slower, less consistent pace." It was a lone rogue after all; not a group of them.

"One day I met him myself for the first time when I was with one of the patrol groups." He sighed. "Obviously, he couldn't do much when we had him outnumbered. I thought he'd realize he would never be able to get rid of all the males in the pride and just... not come back. But he came back, always looking for an opportunity to get me alone. It seemed as if finding out who the king was made him stop targeting everybody else. At least that was a plus."

"I think that I only kept telling myself that he would give up because the danger kind of ceased to exist. I mean, he was prioritizing me and not hurting anyone else while I was too hard to reach. But I only used my safety net because I didn't want to remove him as a threat, instead just waiting for him to go away on his own. One day, though, I was out and away from the den, with Kato no less, and he showed up."

A short silence followed. "I tried to talk, I want you to remember that." said Kato's father. "Whenever I'd met him on previous occasions I tried to reach out. I tried to get him to understand but I think that he understood me perfectly. And I know that he just didn't care. Now I don't know whether he wanted power, females or was just out for blood. I don't suppose that really mattered. He was a monster. That was the role he seemed determined to play so it followed that I had to play mine."

Another silence followed. "It made me feel sick and to this day I'm happy that Kato was too young to remember any of it. But when it came to choosing the lives of my son, of other lions in my pride and my own, I chose the ones I care about."

[DGFone]

Delano had been afraid that the king wouldn't have been able to answer his question, and was glad when he did, but was still left feeling like he got an empty answer at the end. Going over what Kato's father told him, Delano tried to figure out how he could use what he just heard, but couldn't figure it out.

"It's- it's not that I regret killing him," Delano finally said, "I had to do it, and if I had to do it again... I would..." He could feel the sickening feeling return to him, and he had to look away from the king, ashamed at feeling so weak. "But lately, whenever I think about it... I try not to, but it just... comes to me... I don't know what to do when it happens-" Despite wanting to say how he felt, Delano was finding it harder and harder to do so, shrinking away from the king as he tried to curl up in a faint attempt to feel slightly better. "I feel... terrible when it happens. Just yesterday, I almost threw up on Lina because it made me so sick- I don't know what to do when it happens..."

Shaking his head slightly, Delano fell silent, too drained to continue speaking. He hoped that he said enough for the king to understand what he wanted to find out, because he was now unable to force himself to say anything else.