[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

The next morning, Delano woke up when he felt the sun's rays on his back. He yawned and opened his eyes, grateful that this time he was able to sleep properly. So today was the last day of the training? His mind hard a hard time comprehending this fact. He got used to the regiment so much that their brief time with Kasi felt like a lifetime ago. And the time that they lived with their parents... even longer.

Delano got up slowly and stretched, groaning the last feelings of sleep away. Seeing the others were still asleep around him, he carefully nudged Muroki awake. "Hey, Muroki," he whispered, still nudging his brother, "Today's the last day!"

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki, like the night before, was sleeping well. Again his sleep was filled with dreams about Umeme, alot of short and random ones at that. In most of them they just talked, but in some of them he managed to gather some guts and tell her that he liked her. In those cases she smiled and then she turned out to like him back, which didn't surprise him too much, because it was his dream.

When Delano nudged him, Muroki was in one of his previously described 'better dreams'. Half awake, Muroki felt like he was still in the middle of his dream. "I love you too..." he said, kind of talking in his sleep. After a few moments, his eyes went from half open to open, and he realised that he was no longer dreaming. Feeling nervous as he realised that he had actually talked in his sleep, he looked at Delano, "Um... Hey, Delano..."

[DGFone]

Delano frowned when Muroki mumbled something in his sleep, but he didn't understand what. "Uh, good morning," he said uncertainly when Muroki woke up enough to realize where he was. "You said something in your sleep, but I didn't catch it..." He grinned apologetically. "But as I was saying, it's the last day. Can you believe it?"

Around them, the others began to stir, most likely from the noise. But Delano didn't care. He was extremely excited, and didn't care about what the others thought. "Soon we'll be able to go back!" he told Muroki. Right before he fell asleep the night before, he decided that Muroki was right: it would be better for both of them to move on with their lives. It only took Delano a long time to figure it out, but in the end, he decided that that time was worth it.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki's relieve that Delano didn't understand what he had mumbled in his sleep was almost palpable. He smiled back at his brother rather nervously, "Yeah, that's great." if Delano had heard him and then somehow found out about Muroki's crush then Muroki would have been driven crazily upset. He was barely managing to talk to Umeme properly, so having anyone know that he liked her a lot would be a complete disaster.

He too couldn't wait to get back already. He wanted to see Kasi's reaction once he saw that they were both still in one peace. Their aunt and uncle were probably also worried, and maybe even Umeme or Lina actually became curious about their whereabouts. And all they had to do was get through this last day. And by getting through it Muroki didn't think of doing what they had to do well enough so to not get kicked out, he thought of finally just getting to the end of the day.

[DGFone]

Delano saw the Muroki seemed to be nervous. His grin turned into a frown. "Is something wrong, Muroki?" He asked. He couldn't think of a reason why Muroki would be nervous. Unless it was because of what he had said in his sleep. But Delano grinned again. "Today's gonna feel like forever, won't it?" He asked, knowing that because they wanted the day to finish quickly, it won't.

In the meantime, the trainer also woke up and walked up to the front of the clearing. "Alright, everyone listen up!" He said loudly so that everyone could hear him. "As most of you probably already know, today is supposed to be the last day of your training," as he said this, the others cheered rather loudly. "Well, you're wrong." The trainer said once the cheering died down. "It is true that you went on this patrol, and I didn't have to do anything." He said. "For the most part." When he said that, he looked at Delano and Muroki.

"This means that yes, you are ready to end your training. Today we head back to where we started for the beginning of the end: a long and hard course that will test everything you have learned." The trainer said. "Even for the best of you, it will take several days, at least. If you pass, then you will will have truly finished with your training." He stopped talking for a while. "Not everyone will pass."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki quickly shook his head as his brother asked him whether he was nervous, and he held back a sigh of relief when Delano decided to drop the subject. He smiled at the thought of finishing their training today and going home, only to have his jaw drop once the trainer told them about the course they were going to have to take. "You have got to be kidding me." he said, under his breath and not to anyone in particular. This couldn't be happening.

But it was happening, and Muroki felt like the trainer wasn't kidding when he said that it was going to be hard. His heart sank when the trainer said that it will take several days. He was so excited about finishing today that hearing that was just catastrophic. The other trainees also seemed to be sharing the exact same thoughts as he, and he wondered whether the trainer kept the final course as a secret just for his own amusement.

[DGFone]

Delano felt anger rise up in him when the trainer announced his plan. He knew that it was hidden from them purposefully - to give them a false sense of hope. But this meant that they would not get to return to Kasi today. Delano let out a frustrated sigh, knowing that being angry at the trainer was useless.

Everyone got up, and the trainer started to lead them back to the cave complex. They walked in silence and Delano thought about what the trainer said. Many would not make it through, and at best, it would take them several days. But what if he worked with Muroki? The prospect of two lions working together was clearly unusual, based on how hard the trainer had tried to separate the brothers. But if they worked together, the work would be simpler.

So it would be hard, but they had a better chance than the others. Delano grinned at this realization. He and Muroki will will finally get a chance to show the trainer that they are tougher than he thinks. That they can work together to perform better than as individuals. Delano wanted to show the trainer that the two brothers can also teach him a thing or two.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki held back the frustrated sighs and just followed the trainer and the rest of the group without saying a word. When they got back to the complex Muroki immediately realized that he hadn't missed the place at all. He could remember the first long run they had which started from there and immediately didn't feel like being there. Considering that the trainer said it was going to be hard, Muroki was already expecting a lot of running or log rolling.

Unlike Delano, Muroki wasn't having any thoughts on working with his brother to make things easier, and he was already imagining how hard the course was going to be for him. He would have been as confident as Delano or even twice as confident if he knew what his brother was planning. He sat down once they stopped and waited for the trainer to explain what he and the other trainees were going to have to do to complete the course.

[DGFone]

As they assembled to learn of this final test, Delano looked at Muroki and saw that his brother looked extremely worried. "Hey, we're going to do this," He told his brother, trying to encourage him, "we're going to work together and beat this." At the back of his mind, Delano felt that he should too be worried about the challenge, but he ignored the feeling. "We're going to beat the system!" He said, grinning. "It's made to be hard on us individually. But together, we will win it! And then we'll be able to go back to Kasi and the others." Delano hoped that Muroki would cheer up before Delano would lose his confidence as well.

"Alright, listen up!" The trainer called out, and everyone listened. "This final task is long, hard, and will test out everything you learned." He looked around at all of them. "The task itself is technically very easy. All you need to do is retrieve a certain item..." Confused murmurs resonated through the group. "This item is a black rock. A dark, glassy black rock. But you won't find it here. The only places where you can find these rocks are the tops of the largest of hills. Of which the closest is a day's walk away." The trainer paused again, letting his words sink in. Also to prove his point, he pointed with a paw at the direction he was referring to. The horizon was flat. "You will have three days to get the rock, starting tomorrow morning. Naturally, you will be outside our territory. You will be on your own. And this is what will test you. Got it?"

The trainer let the ensuing chatter die down before speaking again. "The chances of you getting hurt or killed are low, but as you will be outside the usual safety you are familiar with, remember that there are others out there who would gladly remove you as competition." He waited again. "If you return after three days, you will fail. If you come back before this without the rocks, you will fail. If you get attacked, return here. Yes, you will fail, but your chances of survival are much higher here than out there."

Delano looked at the horizon at which they were supposed to head towards. He recognized it as where they came from when they left for Kasi. He frowned, not recalling passing any large hills when they left their home. But he wasn't thinking to clearly then, and he could have easily missed something even as large as a hill.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki smiled at what his brother said, feeling really cheered up at that. After the trainer was done talking, Muroki had so many questions on his mind. The trainer said that such rocks could be found on the mountain, but then he said that others wouldn't mind removing anyone else as competition. Was he talking about a trainee actually attacking another trainee? Muroki had a hard time believing that anyone here would do such a thing. And why would they, it's not like there was only one other black rock in the world.

After a few moments of dwelling on that question, Muroki figured that the rocks were probably rare and hard to find, which made him even more glad that he and Delano were going to do this together. The odds of either of them getting attacked after finding a rock on their own compared to if they stayed together were much higher, especially if each of the other trainees would be going alone. Muroki could not imagine him and Delano ending up taking a rock from someone else by force, but at least none of the other trainees would be stupid enough to try and take a rock from two other lions, maybe they would from one, but definitely not from two.