[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme lay next to Muroki on the bank of the waterhole, feeling very much content. Resting her head on his mane, she felt like doing nothing more but wait for both of their excitement to calm down. Giggling softly, she nuzzled her mate, still feeling some of the aftershocks of their actions. "Wow, thank you, Muroki," she muttered dreamily, "that was really... it was wonderful." She heard her mate chuckle in reply, and knew that he felt the same way. But then again, why wouldn't he?

Compared to their run in the morning and the swim immediately afterwards, Umeme felt right now that lying down by Muroki's side was all she wanted to do. The great thing was that they still had most of the day to themselves, and there was no way that she was going to spend it all lying around, even with Muroki. Sure, right now it was great, but she could already feel that sooner or later, she will want to move around. Of course, with it just being the two of them, who said that they couldn't play around like cubs again? When Marini and Ubawa were around, they had to be the responsible adults, but for today, they both can relax and let themselves get carried away.

---

Delano was ready to ignore Kato's advice about telling Lina about the lion. He simply couldn't... But he also felt that what Kato was saying made sense, and that the only reason why he hadn't told her anything yet was because of his own fear. Lina had a right to know what was going on, after all. She wasn't like Akili, who was better off being left in the dark about it.

But what really caught Delano's attention was the fact that the prince mentioned knowing this lion. "You-you've met him before?" he asked, "I know Hatari had known him, but you..? Who is this lion?" he added, letting out a low growl. He hadn't meant to get angry at Kato, but he wasn't in the best of moods to begin with, and just thinking about this lion was enough to get him on edge. "Why did he even want Sanders alive? What did he have to gain?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Some time later, Muroki and Umeme were resting closely together in the exact same spot they'd chosen after leaving the waterhole earlier. He had one of his paws wrapped around his mate, as was almost always the case, and he felt like he was probably going to stay in that position for a while. Nuzzling her affectionately, he smiled widely and chuckled at her words, pulling her even closer to him as he did. "It was my pleasure." he said flirtatiously, licking her once behind her ear. "Come again any time."

Flirting and teasing aside, though, he was feeling really glad to see Umeme so relaxed. While he himself felt from way before they were done that it's been way too long for him since they'd last been together like this, Muroki was even more satisfied knowing that his mate had enjoyed it just as much as he had. After all, she spent the past week or so thinking that he'd died and then continuing to worry over him because of his paranoia...

As much as the male had thoroughly enjoyed himself just now and was feeling even better than before, he also felt as though the more important thing was that she'd gotten the same results as he did. Maybe it was because the past few days had been hard for her because of him but, in addition to that, he always loved seeing her calm and happy like this. Knowing that they were going to be lying there for at least the time being, Muroki started to lick and gently nibble on her scruff and ears. It was no news to him that she liked it when he did that, and why not let Umeme relax even further? He had promised her that the day was going to be dedicated to her, after all.

**********

Seeing how Kato was not an adolescent anymore, this time he didn't get very excited about the growl Delano once again let slip because of his bad mood. It did seem as though there's been some misunderstanding. "Of course I've met him." he said. However, it probably wasn't in the way Muroki's brother was making it out to be. "He'd been a highly rank officer in he police as well as the Chief. How could I have not come across him?" He was the king's son after all, and with having to learn from his father he was bound to get to interact with the police quite a lot.

"Don't you remember me being there when you and Lina saw him for the first time, while she was still pregnant?" he asked. It wouldn't be a surprise if Delano couldn't remember right away. To Kato, it was just another time where Sanders's little friend once again acted like a complete weirdo and treated him like a one month old cub. However, that didn't at all mean that the prince knew much about the former Chief of Police. Quite the contrary, in fact. Because of the way the interactions between them usually went, the young lion never really wanted to get to know him better. As a matter of fact, he used to dread the days where he was going to have to work with that guy.

And, not knowing much about the lion, it was just as hard for the prince to figure out what his motives were or what he was trying to accomplish. "I'm sorry, but I really don't know him in that way. I have no idea who he is or what he wants." Something was telling Kato that perhaps this lion's reasoning weren't all that complicated. Perhaps it was just the way it seemed - that this crazed killer was simply doing what he was doing for the sake of his own entertainment. "Hatari hasn't met him until a few days before the fight, by the way." He didn't know where Muroki's brother had gotten the impression that the former member of the underworld knew the former Chief of Police. Maybe he just really wanted answers...

[DGFone]

Umeme giggled as Muroki flirted with her, enjoying his playfulness. "I just might do that," she agreed, winking at him, "depending on how well you behave yourself today." Either he was already planning to do that, or because he did want to impress her, but Umeme allowed her mate to lick and nibble on the back of her neck and the top of her head.

"You really know how to make me feel like a queen," she replied dreamily as he did that, feeling completely relaxed as he massaged her. To say that she was content was an understatement, but even better, she knew that Muroki wouldn't be doing this unless he himself felt all right as well. Just compared to the previous night, or even perhaps when he woke up this morning, it was almost as though Muroki was an entirely whole new lion, and one Umeme enjoyed having around tremendously. It felt really nice to be able to lie there on the soft ground, head resting on her paws and Muroki tending to her, to put it mildly.

---

To Delano, even the little Kato was able to tell him was more than he knew before, because truth be told, he had not remembered meeting the lion before. Or perhaps he did, but the memory was so fuzzy that he felt like was simply imagining it. It did surprise him though, about what Kato mentioned about Hatari. "Well, it's just that I went off... in search of Sanders, and Hatari followed me. It's when we met that lion, and the way he talked..." Delano shrugged. "To me it sounded like they knew each other for some time."

Recalling the memory, even though he tried not to, Delano let out a slight whimper. "It was then where he told me that he killed Muroki. To... to go and find his body at the bottom of that gorge..." Knowing that Muroki was very much alive and well did little to help with the pain from that memory: at that time, Delano had truly believed the lion.

Looking back at Kato, Delano now had a look of rather fierce determination. "Someone has to stop that lion. Otherwise someone's going to get hurt again... Or killed." He couldn't help but look at the cubs, who were still blissfully asleep. "He will try to go after them, he's the kind of lion who will do that." Despite Kato having just told him not to let the paranoia get to him, Delano was finding it very hard not to do so. How did he know that that lion wasn't planning to attack at this very moment?

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki found it impossible not to grin at what his mate saying, especially with the wink she threw in his direction. He was definitely going to remember that later but, for the time being the two of them were clearly very content with just snuggling like that and enjoying each other's company so he carried on with what he was doing, much to Umeme's delight as well as his. Being affectionate with the lioness on any level whatsoever was something he never grew bored of and could probably do for hours after hours, even if he was the one tending to her most of the time.

They definitely weren't royalty, that was for sure, which was why he chuckled at what she said soon afterwards. "That's because you are one." he said softly, smiling all the while as he placed his other paw around her as well and flicked his tail so that it was resting on top of hers. "To me, at least." he added with another chuckle. "But I hope that's satisfactory..."

**********

Kato himself hasn't seen Hatari and the former Chief of Police ever interact with one another, so he was finding what Delano was telling him to be rather odd. The former member of the underworld had told him about their conversations and encounters, but this was something he was hearing for the first time. It was definitely like that crazy lion to give off the impression as if things weren't the way they seemed and that he and Hatari really did know each other, but the prince couldn't think of a reason for Hatari himself to lie about that. Was it possible that the ex Chief knew Hatari, but not the other way around?

There really could be no arguing that that lion had to be stopped, the sooner the better. Kato very seriously doubted that there was anyone in the pride who disagreed, seeing how rumors and news spread very quickly around it despite it being very large. "I know..." he said, also taking a brief look at Marini, Ubawa and Akili. They weren't his, but even if they hadn't been his friends' cubs the thought of some lion trying to hurt them for the sake of getting at their parents made him feel really sick. "But you're in no condition to do anything." he quickly added, just in case Delano was having any funny ideas. "And we don't even know where he is." Also, simply going on his own could be very dangerous. That lion wasn't going to just expose his throat upon being found. Also, who was to guarantee that he would be alone when discovered? There could always be even more like him involved...

[DGFone]

Feeling Muroki's tail rest on top of hers, Umeme then moved her own so that the two were intertwined. "It is satisfactory," she agreed with her own chuckle, "and now I can see why you always call Marini your little princess." She giggled as Muroki turned a deep red beneath his fur. While he did sometimes enjoy calling their daughter that, especially when Ubawa was around, Muroki would tend to get rather embarrassed about his nickname for Marini. Still, Umeme enjoyed teasing her mate, and this was no exception.

With his paws wrapped around her, she wiggled her way closer to his side. "I guess I like being your queen," she said as Muroki began to play with the fur on top of her head again. "Although, I do wonder what Kato's father would say if he heard us now." Laughing quietly, she added, "I think he would find it funny."

---

Delano glared at Kato when the prince mentioned that he wasn't in a condition to act. "That's what Hatari told me," he replied, "it was a good thing that I didn't listen to him..." He didn't mention that if it wasn't for Hatari, he would have most likely not survived, but at the same time, if he had listened and not gone after Sanders... Lina and Akili would have most certainly be killed.

However, now with this new lion, Delano didn't know what to do. As much as he wanted to pretend otherwise, Kato was correct in saying that he was in no condition to do anything. If he did, he would be more useless than if he wasn't there if a fight broke out. Wanting to get his mind off such thoughts, he thought about what said about the lion being missing. "How hard is it to find one lion? Patrols are being sent out all the time, I saw them." Staring at the ground bitterly, he muttered under his breath, "or is he being informed on how to avoid them?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki gladly allowed Umeme to intertwine her tail with his, and was about to say something completely unrelated when Umeme suddenly connected the way he kept making her feel like a queen to the rather embarrassing nickname he had for their daughter. As was to be expected, even if she was Marini's mother, this caused the lion's face to turn completely red for definitely not the first time that day. "W-Well, she is!" he said, a little defensively but also playfully.

He felt his grumpiness fade away as his mate simply giggled once again before snuggling up more closely against him and he gently tightened his grip on her and began to once again caress the top of her head with his tongue. "I suppose the king might find it funny..." he said, smiling to himself. "But I'll be sure to let him know that you and the cubs are getting the best royal treatment out there." Ubawa didn't have a cute nickname like his sister. Not only did Muroki know his son would really dislike that, but he also felt uncomfortable about occasionally calling him his little prince. It just wouldn't be the same as with Marini...

**********

Letting out a soft sigh, Kato briefly rubbed the back of his head with a paw. "Yes, I know that." he said. Delano showing up was what prevented Sanders from continuing to search for the cubs as well as led to finding Muroki at the bottom of the gorge. "But a few days ago you weren't as you are now, not to mention that Hatari came with you." The prince knew that the former member of the underworld would have never just stayed behind if he knew Delano was going to look for Sanders on his own. Thinking about it, perhaps Akili's father had known this as well and maybe even relied on it at the time.

That aside, though, Kato was more than able to understand the older male's frustration at how so much effort was being done with no success in finding just one single lion. "These patrols are completely random." he explained. "Eventually they go through every part of the kingdom, and since there are so many it would be very difficult to evade them for long because they're bound to catch onto a scent sooner or later. There's no pattern." He believed that the killer they were all looking for wasn't staying inside the kingdom at the moment. Him being that well hidden just didn't seem possible.

[DGFone]

Umeme found it very amusing how Muroki continued to use royal puns once she mentioned about his 'little princess'. No doubt he hadn't actually connected the dots himself when he had called her a queen, and found it funny enough to continue having fun with the idea. "I don't think he will disapprove of you telling him that," she answered, "though I wonder how much Kato would like to hear it, or not. That the commoner from another land known as Muroki is more of a king than his father is..." Hey, if she was the queen, and Marini was the princess, than it only makes sense that Muroki would be the king. "Although I like the kind of king you are... One who listens to me and not the other way around. One I can boss around if I have to..." In other words, king in name only.

"You know, it makes me wonder," Umeme continued, "if Delano and Lina have any such silly names for either themselves or Akili. I don't think I ever heard them use one like you do." Smiling wickedly, Umeme pressed on Muroki's nose with a paw. "I also remember you getting very, very embarrassed when you called Marini your princess around them. Especially Akili, he found it especially funny."

Letting her laughter fade naturally, she got an idea for something they can do that isn't simply lying around by the waterhole. "Hey, listen, Muroki, while we still have most of the day, how about we go and pay Hatari a visit?" She rolled over so that she can get up easier. "We haven't seen him since, well, you know... And," this part she added with a sly grin, "we go now, there will be time left in the day afterwards for us as well."

---

Delano hated being reminded that only a few days ago, he was in a much better shape than he was now. There was no point in hiding the truth, but it still really hurt his pride whenever someone brought it up, even if it was his own fault that caused them to do so.

"I want to go after him, you know," he told Akili, "even if not now... I don't know if I can just sit around and wait for something to happen. That's what almost what happened with Sanders. It -it was too close. Lina and Akili nearly died..." He shook his head, staring at the ground and feeling thoroughly depressed, "I don't care if you don't think it's a good idea," he added firmly, "either... either I go and find him on my own terms, or he finds me. Or Muroki, or someone else I know who will wind up dead if we just let him do as he pleases."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki was rather enjoying their very silly conversation about royalty, even if it did start off in a really embarrassing way and even if Marini's nickname kept getting mentioned. "Well, they say that behind every king is his queen." he said with a chuckle, licking Umeme across her muzzle. He knew she was referring to more playful situations when talking about being able to boss him around. It's not like their family was some dictatorship. "Besides," he grinned slyly, "I think you bossing me around is very beneficial to me..." He gave his words a few seconds to sink in and chuckled when his mate blushed a little. "Like, very."

Letting that one drop, Umeme then really got him thinking about whether there were any silly nicknames running around in his brother's family. He knew that Delano might not be the type of lion to start coming up with this type of thing (he was wrong, though), but there was a pretty big chance Lina had maybe even a few in her arsenal. "I never called her princess around them." He corrected her. "I still remember how they found out, it was really awkward."

Umeme had been there at the time, but perhaps she forgot by now. If that was the case, she was sure to get a laugh out of being reminded. "So Kato was there. Marini comes up to him and, because I keep calling her princess and because she knows Kato's a prince, she asked him what kind of a prince he was and revealed our horrible secret to everyone." He rubbed the back of his head with a paw. "So then she just had to ask me whether being my little princess is better than being the kind of prince Kato is, so of course I told her yes." He wouldn't want to hurt the little cub's pride on the matter.

This was the even more embarrassing part. "And then your sister just had to make it even worse by reassuring Marini on the matter and telling her that Kato was clearly dying to be my little princess too." His cheeks were once again a shade of noticeable red by the time he finished. That Lina... She was way more like her mother than she was willing to admit... Poor Akili had absolutely no idea what he was in for.

With that embarrassment soon laughed away and gone, Muroki was a little surprised when Umeme then suggested they went to see how Hatari was doing. Not that he was very proud of it, but he hasn't really even thought about the lion these past few days even though, in his paranoid mindset, it should have constantly pestered him that Hatari's home was probably one of the more dangerous spots around the kingdom at the moment. What if something bad happened to him?

The former member of the underworld knew how to take care of himself, but this lion that helped Sanders... He was just... Muroki didn't really know what to call him. And who was to guarantee that this lion was working alone now? However, knowing how Kato always dropped by at Hatari's little waterhole whenever he went running, he was able to calm himself down before he started to freak out over what might have happened since the last time they'd seen each other. "Alright." With the cubs not being there at a time like this, now was probably the best time to go see how he was doing. Looking at his mate, he grinned back at her. "See? Letting you be the boss is the smartest thing for me to do."[b] All joking aside, though, he really did want to see how Hatari was doing so he stood up as well. [b]"Let's go?"

**********

Kato nodded. "I know how you feel." He didn't have a family of his own, but if this lion was planning to execute Sanders's original plots for revenge, that meant he and his father were targets as well. There was no doubt that the former ex-chief wasn't happy with how he was being persecuted at the moment (even if, come on, what king wouldn't try to find him?) "The sooner he's found the better. But what I'm trying to say is that you can't go for it on your own." If Delano had gone without Hatari that time he might have arrived at the gorge sooner and found both the lion and Sanders there. He would have been killed for sure, and the prince knew from Hatari that Sanders was about to kill Delano when he himself had shown up at the scene that day.

[DGFone]

Umeme smiled flirtatiously when Muroki mentioned how much he was benefiting from letting her lead him around. "Oh yeah? Well, you just might be able to benefit some more later today if you continue to listen to me," she teased, effectively telling him that she very much got what he was saying. She allowed her mate to finish telling the story, even though she had been there. It was nice to hear Muroki say it, especially since she found it absolutely cute how the deeper into the story he got, the more embarrassed and redder in the face he became.

Now that they decided to go and pay Hatari a visit, Umeme got up and waited for Muroki to join her before they set off. Unlike when they went here, this time they chose to walk at a brisk, but leisurely pace. After all, she was planning to run back here after this again, so why waste her energy before that? "I'm sure he wouldn't mind us visiting either," she commented, "after all, he most likely doesn't have much company. Kato pays him a visit every now and then, but other than that..." Plus, she wondered how he was doing since after the fight. Muroki didn't exactly fare very well, and only now did he seem to be recovering, and Delano, as far as Umeme was able to tell, was also having some issues which were not simply physical, although he did seem better than Muroki in that regard.

The only other lion involved with the fight was Hatari, and so Umeme wanted to know how he was doing. Well, not exactly true. Muroki had mentioned today about that other lion, but Umeme didn't care if he was feeling well or not, in fact, in her opinion, the worse he felt, the better.

---

Delano looked back down at the ground. "I know," he muttered quietly, "if only... I hate feeling so useless!" There really wasn't much he was able to do about his current situation. He knew that he was healing fairly quickly to begin with, but he was still only just able to walk around at the rate of a very young cub at best.

Placing his head on top of his paws, Delano stared at the wall in front of his muzzle. "If only there was a way to get him out of hiding," he thought out-loud, "what might be something that he would risk being caught for?" And idea came to him, one that he didn't necessarily like, but one where he can at least lend a helping paw in, even in his current state. "What if we baited him? He wants to go after us... What if we presented ourselves as an easy target, but really set up an ambush?" It was a very risky plan, sure, but that lion was proving to be just about impossible to find otherwise.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki also very seriously doubted that Hatari was going to have a problem with the two of them coming over to pay him a visit, especially after the fight. He was without a doubt wondering how they were doing, and with only Kato to drop by every now and then, he would probably appreciate the company. The prince must have already informed him that they were doing okay, but the former member of the underworld would most likely not mind seeing them himself.

With him and his mate heading towards the lion's home, even if at a walking speed, Muroki felt himself get just a little bit uncomfortable about the awaiting conversation. As much as he wanted to see how Hatari was doing, he knew that the fight was bound to come up sooner or later, as well as that lion... Umeme no doubt wanted to find out whether the former member of the underworld knew anything about him.

Sure enough, they eventually began to see their destination in the distance and, upon getting closer to it, they found Hatari sleeping on his usual branch. He looked fine, which was nice to see even though Muroki couldn't recall him grtting anything but superficial injuries during the fight. As was his habit, somehow he managed to hear them approach despite being asleep and opened his eyes, smiling when he saw the two of them. "Hey!" standing up, he made his way down to greet them both properly.

**********

As much as the logic behind Delano's idea was very easy to understand, Kato had a feeling that its success wasn't guaranteed. "My runs these past few days were always close to the borders." he said with a thoughtful look on his face. "Running means I'm at least somewhat tired and an easier target, and yet I haven't seen a single sign of him..."

His father would definitely not approve if he knew just how far his son went when going on his runs. But Kato knew how to remain alert, and with patrols all over the place, he would have to be really stupid to get into trouble. ...Perhaps the lion they were looking for knew that? "Maybe he wants to see us get more and more paranoid as the time goes by..." It definitely sounded like something he would do. "But your idea's still worth a try."