[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano gritted his teeth. This lion was responsible for the attack on Kasi's parents! It took all of his self control not to launch himself at the smug moron. He knew that getting inside the underworld was more important right now getting revenge. That can come later.

Just as he was feeling ready to say something, the lions around Delano dropped into the grass, and he immediately followed suit. Looking around, he saw a police patrol in the distance, but they didn't seem to have noticed this group yet. Even from a distance, he recognized the police members as some of the new recruits he trained with, and hoped that there would be no confrontation.

"Should we get moving?" he asked quietly. "Before we get spotted?" If they were to be spotted, he would have a lot of trouble. In a confrontation, he would have to side with the police, but if there would be any survivors, his cover could be blown. Hiding was the only real option.

[TheWhistlerify]

Despite the underworld members being harsh and almost fearless lions, they still avoided confrontations where they weren't outnumbering their enemies by at least three lions. This patrol group was just about the same size as their group and they couldn't risk losing any members or having any members badly injured right now. The lion looked at Delano and quietly answered, "Yes, we should leave." if the underworld was not dwelling on that method they would have been all caught and killed by now.

[DGFone]

The lions left, and Delano followed them. He quickly looked back and saw that the police lions had yet to see them, and therefore were not following them. He sighed. Following these lions, Delano knew that he had no idea about what the future had in store for him.

With one last glance back, Delano looked back at the life he once had, and wanted to get back to, and turned towards the life he had to concentrate on. From now on, he was no longer Delano. He was now Colt, the exiled lion seeking revenge.

[TheWhistlerify]

The lions left the pride's territory completely. They walked quite a good distance from it before arriving at a large cave, similar to the one of the police. It was also a tunnel system just like the police, only that it wasn't identically the same, there were many different things about it. Delano could, before going inside with everyone, take a look around and realize that he was close to where he and Muroki once lived with their parents. "This is where you'll be staying with us from now on." this was basically the heart of the underworld, it was where they plotted and did everything they needed.

(( Maybe Delano can see Sanders there? Maybe he can catch a glimpse of him and overhear a conversation? If Sanders sees him however he'll have him killed so we can't let him see Delano. ))

[DGFone]

Delano nodded. For now, it looked like he would be staying at another large cave system. Unlike the police ones though, this one had a lot of tunnels that did not have holes in the roof for light, and were therefore dark. This large amount of unknown pathways left him uneasy, but he made sure to look confident and happy with his new 'home'.

"It's rather large, isn't it?" He asked the lions he followed here, "where do all the tunnels go to?" But before he got an answer, one of the lions motioned him to stop talking. That was when he realized that someone else was talking loudly. Sounded like a speech. The lions lead Delano to another cave, packed with others, and one lone lion standing on a rock at the far end, lit by a hole behind him.

Squeezing in at the back, Delano found himself unable to move, and therefore with nothing else to do but to listen to what this lion had to say. Most likely this was a leader, so Delano had to pay attention.

[TheWhistlerify]

On the rock at the far end was no other than Sanders, the police chief who could almost always be found inside the police caves and the same one who every once in a while walked in front of a row of fresh trainees and looked at them without saying a word. Why, he also talked to every single trainee who completed his training, and that included Delano as well. And since Sanders didn't want anyone to know that he was the police chief, he couldn't have anybody from the underworld know, which meant that if he recognized any police trainee he would have him killed on the spot.

So far his plans were going swimmingly, the king was continuing to supply him with "power for emergency". It wouldn't take too long before Sanders will be able to get him involved in a little "accident" and then, with the power that was given to him, take the throne legally. The same lion who talked to Delano before was still next to Delano. "That's our boss. Nothing is being carried out unless with his permission." he grinned, "But he hardly disapproves of any black work..."

The lion carried on, "He even allowed us to take out two that weren't even part of the pride. They have family there so we can't have them 'coming over to help' can we? That pride's big enough as it is." he paused for a moment, "Beside, it was another chance to teach that stupid lioness to watch her mouth... I wish I could have seen the look on her face when she found out. In fact the boss even came on this one with us, he took liberty of finishing those two off." Unknown to him, Sanders only joined on that one because it was out of the pride's territory. He couldn't risk being spotted by anyone of the pride but he also needed the satisfaction of killing someone every once in a while.

The lion then stopped talking and listened to what Sanders was saying. Sanders began talking, his voice echoing through the large cave. "We're on the right track my friends. Soon enough we'll be powerful enough to overthrow the monarchy and take back our rightful places inside the pride." everybody cheered. Sanders however had other plans. He was planning to turn the entire underworld in once he became the king and have them all killed, he couldn't have dangerous lions like them wandering all over his kingdom..

[DGFone]

Delano felt his breath catch when he finally got the chance to get a good look at the lion making the speech. It was Sanders! His immediate reaction was to turn and run, and get back to the police and report it. But he killed the idea as soon as it came. Not only were the chances of him escaping extremely low, but no one back at home would believe him. And even if they did, they would have to report it to the police, who would then report it to Sanders, who would then find him and kill him. Delano was stuck again.

So he watched, half listening to what the other lion next to him was saying. This lion killed the sister of his aunt, and Delano thought of who it might have been. Muroki and he had only one aunt, so her sister had to be... their mother... who was dead. It took him a while to connect what he heard to its proper meaning, and when Delano finally figured it out, he nearly lost it. Not only was the lion he was standing next to was responsible for attacking Kasi's parents, this lion was also the murderer of their parents.

Delano recalled the walk he did with Muroki that day. The two lions they saw. It must have been this one and Sanders. Back then, the two lions were too far away to differentiate. But now, Delano was standing right next to one of them, and facing the other.

Feeling sick, Delano closed his eyes, trying to fight back tears. He was hardly able to to stand, let alone comprehend anything anymore. He swayed in place before finding the strength to regain his balance and stand still.

At this moment, one his very first night undercover, Delano already found out much more than he wanted to, and his confidence was gone. He no longer knew if he was able to complete this. This was not what he expected. He knew that it would be hard, but not... this. He opened one eye to get a good look at his parents' murderer. Ways of getting this guy played through Delano's head, each more gruesome than the next.

Back at training, it was stressed how the assignment could not become personal. The training failed, because this just became very personal.

He had to wait for Sanders to finish his speech, and when that was done, Delano made his way out of the cave. "Where can I sleep?" He asked the lion, hiding the anger in his voice. He still had a job to do, and attacking on sight would only get him killed. "I'm feeling rather exhausted." After all this new information, Delano didn't need to lie about this part. He needed to rest. And plan.

[TheWhistlerify]

The lion looked at Delano and said, "Follow me." with that, he led Delano deeper into the cave system. There were many smaller caves in there, and that was where they slept. They slept in the deeper parts so that if anybody attacked the cave system they would first come across the lions who were awake and on guard and not those who were asleep and harmless. The lion walked with Delano into one of the smaller cave, where there were a few lions already asleep. However Delano could see lions walking in the tunnels the entire time and keeping guard, so he would have to keep his anger in check. "Pick a spot, it doesn't really matter."

The lion also went ahead and settled down, "So you said you don't know why they kicked you out eh?" he went ahead and again talked about his own past, "As I told you I was seen trying to... force myself upon a lioness... Well, I almost had her. But the boss promised me I can have her after we take over. She's quite young," he looked at Delano, "About your age I'd say, but that's how all males like them." he grinned. "Now that I'm thinking about it she's a friends with the stupid son of that stupid lioness who saw me... So what's your name kid?"

(( It's Lina he's talking about. Just figured we could give Delano more an d more reasons to hate him ))

[DGFone]

Delano lay down next to the wall, so that he would only have to watch out in one direction. The other lion he came with settled down next to him. Delano watched him with hate in his eyes, covered only by the darkness in the cave. And no matter how much Delano wanted him to shut up, the lion would just never stop talking.

And when the lion told Delano that he tried to force himself on either Lina or Umeme, Delano groaned quietly. Did this lion have a vendetta against his family? But no matter how much Delano hated this lion, he had to appear as though he might become a friend. So when he was asked his name, Delano sighed. "Colt. My name's Colt." If he were looking at the lion, he would have charged at him to wipe the grin off his face. But as it were, Delano simply then asked, "so what's your name?"

He closed his eyes, trying to get some sleep and wishing that Muroki was with him. His brother might have had a second opinion on what to do. Feeling lost, alone, and angry, Delano managed to finally fall asleep.

[TheWhistlerify]

The lion went ahead and said, "Call me Gakuru if you want." after that he finally stopped talking as he noticed that Delano, or Colt as he had presented himself, was already sound asleep. He went ahead and lay his head down on his paw and also went to sleep. The next morning, some of the guards inside the tunnel went ahead and woke them up, saying, "Up on your feet everyone. The boss has called another assembly in the main hall." Gakuru was up on his feet almost immediately.

(( Just a name, not of any importance ))