[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme was startled by Lina's sudden movement, but she kept her paw on Lina's shoulder for the comfort. "He'll be back," she said, smiling confidently, "believe me, I know that nothing will keep Delano away from you for long." She removed her paw from Lina's shoulder and got up. "Come on, it's boring sitting here. Let's go do something fun!"

-------------
several weeks later

Delano scratched once again the symbol showing that he was fine and next to it the heart expressing his love for Lina. He looked up at the night sky, watching the stars above him. So far, their system worked well, and even though he was only able to come to the waterhole occasionally, Lina was able to answer him whenever he put down something new. He missed her deeply, but not as much as the first few days after he left her. But now, as Delano stared at the scratches he made, he wanted to run back to Lina even more. Because truth be told, he wasn't fine. Having just completed the last of his training, he was ordered to finally infiltrate the underworld.

And this made him very nervous. The way to do it was simple: wander around the border of the kingdom looking confused until members of the underworld would come to him. But there were so many unknowns, that Delano felt fear rise up in him.

Sighing, Delano got up and walked away. Lina was waiting for him. The sooner he finished his job, the sooner he could get back.

After a few hours of wandering around, Delano spotted a few lions approaching him. He gulped back his fear and prepared to meet them.

[TheWhistlerify]

The lions who were approaching Delano were sent by Sanders to "look for new recruits". While to them it didn't seem like they needed any sort of help at the moment, Sanders has his ways of talking others silly and he always made himself look as if he knew what he was doing, which he did. While any normal pride member would be scared to death and just run off, Delano looked like he wasn't very bright by the way he was acting, and that's the kind of lions they could talk into joining them.

They approached him without any apprehension, considering the fact that he was only one and there were more of them. They formed a circle around him and then one of them approached him. "Well, what do we have here then?" he asked bluntly, circling Delano and waiting for an answer. Delano appeared to be a well-fit lion and he was young as well. Those were just the ones they should be looking for. "Lost are we?" They usually kill any lion who looks like he has some sense in him or any of the confused lions who end up refusing to join the underworld.

[DGFone]

Delano's eyes jumped from one lion to the next. He backed away slightly due to his fear, but had to stop as he found himself surrounded. "Y-yeah. I'm lost," he stammered out. "Can you help me?" He asked. These lions were definitely not police, and after the new curfew law, these couldn't be just some random lions. These had to be some members of the underworld.

He looked at them, not bothering to hide the fear in his eyes. This would only help with the illusion that he was a lost lion who would join any group that would help him in a flash. But he still needed to pretend like he didn't know who these lions were. "Wh- who are you guys?"

As he said this, Delano remembered the bodies that were sometimes found, and hoped that he wouldn't get attacked. Sure, he was strong, but he wasn't confident in his ability to fight back against this entire group.

[TheWhistlerify]

The same lion continued circling Delano, looking at him with piercing eyes. "Who we are? I don't think that's of any importance to you at the moment... We can help you, we'll be more than happy if you join us. You see, we're all outcasts, alone, betrayed, like you. We're looking to get back at those who got what we also deserved." he picked up a tree branch and tightened his grip on it, causing it to break with a snap. "If you get my meaning. Now you seem like someone with a past like ours..." the underworld didn't dwell in persuading. If there was any hint of doubt in the lion they were trying to get to join them then he could not be trusted.

(( Since Sanders is also leading the underworld should the members end up spilling it out to Delano? I mean they have to find out that he;s responsible for everything eventually. I've also been trying to think on a reason for Sanders to send lions to kill Delano's and Muroki's parents even though they weren't part of the pride Sanders wants to take over. I think Delano should find out that he was directly related to the death of his parents too, but at another stage of the story ))

[DGFone]

Delano cringed when the branch broke. That was Lina and the others they were referring to. But he forced himself to keep his composure up. "You guys can help me? Th-that'll be nice," he said, "I was exiled from my home, so I don't have anywhere to go..." He took in a deep breath. "And I won't mind getting back at them either."

Spoiler: show

The underworld doesn't know that Sanders is the head of police. He uses an alias with them to preserve his won identity. And I like your idea as well.

[TheWhistlerify]

(( I know that they don't. It would make most sense if the underworld members end up letting Delano know that Sanders is leading them. ))

The lion grinned at that, "Good, good." they still had to make sure that Delano knew what 'getting back at someone' meant. "I hope you don't have a problem 'spilling some blood'. And even if you do, we'll get you used to it, it's not as difficult as it sounds." He remembered the reason for his own exile of this pride; That lioness who caught him trying to take advantage of another lioness, her telling the king and then the king exiling him. He hated that Laini so much for this, which is why he went with a few more members of the underworld to take care of the sister he knew she had. And when he saw the opportunity to attack Laini those few weeks ago he went for it too. Hearing that she lost her cubs and may have gone infertile as a result was like butter to his ears. He knew that Laini had two nephews in the pride as well, but lucky for Delano he didn't know that Delano was one of them. If he did he would have killed him right away.

(( I'll have him reveal this to Delano at some point. Maybe in a "This is how I got here" speech or something ))

[DGFone]

Delano raised his head, trying to look confident. "I am ready to do whatever I need to do," he said, "there are those who have wronged me in my past, and I wouldn't mind correcting those mistakes." But he was worried about the tone this lion was using. Almost as though he had already killed someone. Was this lion responsible for one of the dead bodies they found?

Delano didn't know yet how big the underworld was, nor how many lions were in it, so he couldn't tell the chances were of this lion being involved in something Delano had already seen. What was most likely was that this lion was simply talking smack to try and impress Delano. But a quick look over this lion told Delano that he met with no fool. This lion looked tough.

[TheWhistlerify]

The lion smiled, seeming rather pleased at Delano's reply. "Good, good, and so you shall." the lion's companions seemed just about as pleased. "So tell me, what happened exactly? Did you lose your temper on someone? Tried to overthrow a king? Did someone frame you? How did you end up here?" it wasn't really of any important to them, but they were all always interested in comparing their past with another one's past. "Were you from this pride?" after all this was the pride they were trying to take over, and if Delano's anger was aimed at another pride then he might prove useless.

[DGFone]

Delano hesitated. He needed to think of something, but it should be also what he can remember, should he get questioned in the future again. "I was forced to leave," he said, "I was living with a few other lions here, and they decided to kick me out. I still don't know exactly why, but by now, I don't really care." He forced a twisted smile on him. "And I wouldn't mind giving out some pay-back."

[TheWhistlerify]

The lion grinned at that. Delano looked just like someone who could prove helpful to them. "Yeah, it happens... Some of us got framed, or where caught doing something that was considered wrong yet we wanted to do it, and some of us for no reason like you." he decided it wouldn't hurt telling Delano about his own personal story. "Me, I kicked out two or three months ago..." He stretched one of his forelegs and unsheathed his claws, growling. "The king didn't like the way I was acting towards a certain lioness... But he would have never known anything if it weren't for that stupid Laini who saw me..." he hated her so much. He doubted the name meant anything to Delano though.

(( basically he was kicked out like a week before Delano's and Muroki's parents died ))