[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

"I take it you already figured out that things are not going well," the trainer said, "but as things stand, I either don't know enough or I simply do not have permission to tell you anything." He sighed. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Delano asked, startled. "But you have to tell us something..! Our cousin's friend died! You can't just ignore that... We need to know what to do." He couldn't believe that they came all this way for nothing. That the very lions that were supposed to help them weren't.

The trainer sighed again. "Look, I hate this just as much as you do. But right now, we really don't know enough to tell you anything. The only advice I can give you is to stay inside at night. There's word that it might become a temporary law soon anyways."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki bared his teeth, feeling his anger rising. "Listen, this is just like our parents all over again! We thought it was behind us but no, it's chasing us here!" he calmed down after a moment, "I know exactly what my cousin is going through right now. I do not wish such a thing to ever happen to you, but if you were with a past like ours you just might understand what we and our cousin are going to go through until this is all over. That is, if it ever is over any time soon. Well, I'm going to come back every day in case you do find something. I'm sorry if I sounded disrespectful... This is just too much... Anyway, you might as well get used to seeing me around."

[DGFone]

The trainer just stared back. "You can come all you want. But don't expect to learn anything from it." He replied, clearly annoyed by Muroki's outburst. "Have a nice day."

Delano knew that now was a god time to leave, so he nudged his brother towards the cave opening and lead his brother back through the maze of tunnels and into the sunlight. "Well that was useless," he said once they were somewhat away from the entrance feeling both annoyed and angry. He came here wanting to get answers, but did not get any. He saw that the sun was getting close to setting. "Come on, Muroki. We better get back before it gets dark. We can always try tomorrow." He doubted that coming back all the time would be of any use, but Muroki's outburst actually gave a plan on what to do. Just sitting around wouldn't solve anything.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki rolled his eyes once the trainer was gone. "He just doesn't understand. He'll never understand. I bet he would be a lot more understanding if he loses someone. He doesn't seem to even care." it was kind of weird to him that the trainer didn't say anything about the police needing Muroki and Delano to come back, but he didn't really care. "It kind of reminds me of why I hated those caves in the first place." He turned around and began walking alongside his brother. He didn't feel as if there was any reason to rush, because it will still be some time before it got too dark and possibly dangerous. Muroki did not at all mind coming back again and again, since they just might accomplish something by that compared to just sitting on their butts all day long.

[DGFone]

Making their way back to the den, Delano and Muroki got inside just short of sunset.

Umeme looked up when she heard Muroki and Delano outside, and smiled when they came in. The day was long and boring for her and Lina, having nothing to do but talk and watch over Kasi, who barely did anything. "How did it go?" She asked.

Delano made his haw next to Lina and lay down next to her. "It was useless," he muttered after a yawn. "Didn't find out anything." He closed his eyes, wanting to get some sleep. Being up all night and the day left him exhausted, and the fruitless trip to the police caves left him agitated. "Kasi suggested that we try again tomorrow, but I don't think it will work." With that, he promptly fell asleep.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki didn't feel like doing anything or talking about anything. He lay down next to Umeme and also fell asleep almost immediately. However, he didn't sleep for too long because at some point he began hearing noise and a lot of commotion. He opened his eyes and saw lions and lionesses gathered around in the middle of the den. Muroki grunted and stood up, looking outside. It was slightly darker outside, so he probably slept for about half an hour. Delano, Lina, Kasi and Umeme also seemed to be waking up from all the noise.

With a sigh, Muroki went over to where all the lions were gathered and tried to glance over their shoulders and see what was it that caused them to make such noise. It was to no avail though because everybody were standing too close together, so Muroki ended up pushing his way through the crowd. Despite all the frowns he got, he kept going until he could finally see what it was, and it made his jaw drop. He could see his aunt Laini, Kasi's mother, lying on the ground.

The worst thought came to his mind, but he was soon relieved to see that she was breathing. However his worries rose again when he saw the reason to why everybody was staring at her. On her belly area were a few large claw marks. Muroki didn't need to look to close to realize that the gashes were deep and probably very painful. Some feet away from Laini was Dakari, Kasi's father. He was seated and he was staring down at the ground, looking nervous. "Uncle?" Muroki asked, nudging his uncle's shoulder, "What happened?"

Dakari took a few moments before looking at Muroki and talking, "Your aunt and I left during the afternoon to spend some time together. It was a few minutes ago when we decided it was getting dark and that we need to Laini wanted to get some water on the way back so we passed by the waterhole, and that's when they came... Three of them just showed up out of nowhere and attacked us." Muroki noticed that his uncle did have a few small cuts. "I scared them off, but..." he looked at Laini and at the gashes on her stomach in particular, "The healer said she'll be alright, but..." he paused and sighed. "About a few days after you and your brother arrived here the first time... Laini became pregnant, but..." tears began forming in his eyes. "The healer said that she lost her cubs, and... She might never be able to have cubs again."

Muroki was speechless. There was also the problem of how Kasi going to react to that. He's been through enough as it is. Muroki could then notice that Delano, Umeme, Lina and Kasi were right behind him, having probably heard the whole thing. "By the waterhole?" Muroki asked his uncle, feeling his anger rising. Dakari nodded, and at that very moment Muroki found himself turning around and running outside, heading towards the waterhole.

[DGFone]

Delano felt sick. Having lost their parents, he wasn't ready to deal with losing his aunt and uncle as well. But when it was discovered that they were alive, he was greatly relieved. But that relief, coupled with the fear, gradually began to be replaced with anger towards those responsible. He felt himself tense up, eager for a fight, when he felt Muroki brush past him and run away towards the waterhole. Surprised, Delano was pulled out of his anger and was able to regain his senses.

Quickly turning towards Lina and Umeme, Delano shouted at them, "Watch Kasi! Make sure he doesn't do anything!" and bolted after his brother. "Muroki! Wait up!" He found himself blocked off by the very crowd that had impeded his progress in, and had to fight the masses on his way out. When he finally separated himself from the last lion, he saw that Muroki was already far away. "Muroki! Wait!"

But Muroki didn't stop, so Delano ran after him, running as fast as he could to catch up to his brother. Despite running so fast that it hurt, Delano wasn't able to close the gap fast enough. Unable to keep up the pace, Delano slowed down. "Muroki! Slow down!" He tried calling again, but it was of no use, so he forced himself to keep up.

When Muroki did finally stop, Delano was finally able to close the gap. "Don't run off like that," he gasped, out of breath. "It's dark. We can't be alone now." But as he said this, he looked around, hoping that they were in fact alone, and that no one else was nearby, friend or foe. "We need to go back. They need us."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki could hear his brother shouting at him and running after him, but he did not stop. It sounded like one of the times when Delano and Muroki talked about something, but Muroki was so bored of what his brother was saying that he couldn't even try to understand it. Muroki eventually did come to a stop, by the waterhole closest to the den. He figured that this was the place, since there were trees and bushes in the area. However, sniffing around, he couldn't catch onto any scent beside his and Delano's. When Delano arrived next to him and told him that they should go back, Muroki wanted to again run off and looks for who was responsible for something so horrible, but he knew that it was of no use. The cowards behind the whole thing were probably long gone by now. With a sigh combined with a growl, Muroki turned around and walked back towards the den with his brother.

[DGFone]

Delano walked back to the den with Muroki. Feeling brain-dead, he was grateful that Muroki turned back willingly. Reaching the den, he saw that the crowd had parted by then, so he followed Muroki inside. There, Lina and Umeme were waiting. At the far end, Muroki was off with his parents, trying to comfort them.

Feeling angry at Muroki for having to chase him, Delano made his way to Lina and lay down next to her. He knew that tonight, he most likely won't be getting any sleep, but he didn't care. He needed time to think.

Umeme looked up when the brothers came back. She smiled, grateful that they were back and unharmed, but her smile faded when she saw their expressions. When Muroki sat down next to her, she leaned against him, only to feel him tremble, but wasn't able to tell if it were fear or anger. "Did you find anything?" She asked. Being close enough to Muroki when they were told what happened and seeing him run off, she knew where he went.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki felt slightly cheered up when Umeme leaned against him, but he was still quite shaken up by what his uncle told him. He could see Kasi and his parents, this was obviously going to give Kasi a harder time recovering from his friend's death. "No, nothing." he said in a quiet voice. He didn't really plan on what to do in case he did run into the lions who attacked his aunt and uncle and as a result caused his aunt to lose her unborn cubs and maybe turn infertile. "It's just... horrible..." he knew that his whole body was probably as shaky as his tone. "What has she ever done to them? What has anyone ever done to them?" the fact that those innocent and unborn cubs were dead shook him the most. Having a new little sibling might have turned out to be just the thing to cheer Kasi up, even though Kasi's parents probably didn't anticipate that Tango would get killed.