[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

The trainer grunted and moved away from the body. "Alright, alright. It isn't something normal, I admit," he said, "but move along now. There's nothing we can do here. Just leave the body for the scavengers, at least they will have a meal..." Even as he said that, the trainer looked disgusted at what he said.

They reformed the group and walked away. Delano felt dizzy after seeing the body. Was this what they were looking forward to? He looked back at the trainer, and saw that he was not walking with them, but instead remained behind. Delano stopped in his tracks. "What's the trainer doing?" He asked Muroki. "I'm going to have a closer look."

Ignoring the others, Delano sank into the grass and walked closer to the trainer, who was now walking in another direction, looking for something. The trainer stopped suddenly and looked back, causing Delano to drop to the ground, hoping that he wasn't spotted. After a while, the trainer turned back for his search, and Delano carefully followed.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki stopped and looked at his brother as he followed the trainer. That was really weird, even for the annoying trainer. After a few moments, the two were starting to get our of sight, and when Muroki was about to follow he noticed that the entire group was right behind him, also not going anywhere. "Oh what the-" they stopped walking when he stopped walking because he and his brother were the ones leading the way the entire time. Muroki sighed in annoyance and rolled his eyes before following his brother slowly, not really caring whether the group followed or carried on with that patrol.

[DGFone]

Delano heard the grass behind him rustle and he froze. He turned his head slowly and saw that it was Muroki. The others were simply waiting off in the distance. "I think he's spotted something," Delano whispered to Muroki, motioning at the trainer.

The trainer was examining the ground, and after a while, he raised his head. "You two can come here," He called out. "I know your there." Delano froze. Had they been spotted? The trainer sighed impatiently. "Am I going to have to wait for you, or will you get over here? Come on, Delano and Muroki."

So they had been spotted. Delano gave an uncertain glance to Muroki and got up, slowly walking over to the trainer. But he didn't seem to be angry with them, something that shocked Delano. The trainer was still looking at the ground.

"This is what you will have to deal with," the trainer told them when they finally came over. He motioned at some scratches on the ground. "Doesn't look like much, but it's a warning." He told them. "Whoever killed that poor bloke back there left a warning for us. It says to stay away, or more will die."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki at first was expecting the trainer to get mad at them, and he was more than just relieved when he didn't. He went over and examined the scratches on the ground. "You mean, stay away as in stop following them like you just did or... I dunno..." he was confused. The trainer followed the trails from the border towards the inside of the lands, meaning that the ones responsible were somewhere in the pride's territory, they could even turn out to have been part of the pride the entire time.

[DGFone]

"I think I know who did this," the trainer said, "you might have heard of them. Underground, Underworld, low-lives... it's all the same." He shook his head. "Looks like they are getting braver. They never attacked anyone out in the open before, let alone leave behind a message..." He turned to look at Delano and Muroki. "When I was told what you two were planning to do, I didn't exactly believe it," he told them, "I'm not going to make it pretty. What will most likely happen is that the two of you will be sent in to whoever did this," he motioned at the scratches and the body, "and you will have to report on their activities without getting involved."

He got up and walked away towards the rest of the group. "Think long an hard if you are ready to risk your lives for it." He told them.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki was left speechless as the trainer walked back towards the rest of the group. After a while, he looked at his brother, not knowing what exactly to say to him, "So..." he said, even though he had nothing to say. "We can't know if those are the same lions, but it's a possibility. Whether they are the ones or not they have the same intentions..."

[DGFone]

"I don't know," Delano answered. "The trainer sounded sure enough about who it was..." He thought about it. "I mean, he is most likely more informed about the situation than us. And the other thing is that while he is a pain, he never actually lied to us."

Delano walked back to the body and looked at it. There wasn't much more to see. "Wasn't a fake snake bite, that's for sure." He closed his eyes for a little while, memories of their parents again flowing through his mind. "What if the trainer is correct? That the situation is getting worse?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki walked over to the body with his brother, sighing at what Delano was saying. "It could be." he felt loss. He knew that his parents would have wanted them both to carry on with their lives, but he never counted that into his considering so far. "You know," he sighed, "If they could talk to us, they'd probably tell us not to do this..." he hoped that what he had just said wont make his brother mad, but he knew their parents well, and he was sure that he was correct by saying that.

[DGFone]

Delano turned his head quickly at Muroki. Because what Muroki had said was in fact correct. When they started, they were consumed with grief and wanted revenge. But now that they had time to think about it, Delano knew that Muroki was right. "I know..." He whispered. "But they're not alive. And.... what if we could prevent someone else from coming home to a dead parent? What if it's not only about us?"

He lay down on the ground and covered his eyes with his paws. "I want to know who killed them." He said. "I just want to know why they had to die..." He motioned at the body. "And figuring this mess out is the only way I can think of that will provide those answers."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki looked down at the lions body, wondering whether Delano was right by thinking that their parents died for a reason or was it just for another lion's amusement. He thought about the scratches on the ground, "Those marks on the ground the trainer showed us were further away from the border and towards the inside of the lands..." he said, pausing for a moment at the thought of what he was about to say next. "The body still looks and smells 'fresh'. I think the ones who did this are wondering around this place right now."