[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano stopped. The last lion he expected to meet now was his own brother. He gave Muroki a deep hug. "I missed you so much..." but he stopped when Muroki told him about Lina. "She's gone?" He backed away in disbelief. "What do you mean you can't find her! How hard is it to keep track of one lioness..." He didn't have time to worry about Lina.

Deciding that he can trust Muroki to find her, Delano nodded suddenly. "Listen, if you find her, tell her that I'm fine... I should be able to return home soon, but there's a problem..." He quickly explained about the attack the underworld was staging. "The police are already preparing, but I want you to take Umeme and Lina... if you can find her... take them and hide somewhere until I come back."

He decided that Muroki should know about Gakuru. "I know who killed our parents," Delano said, "And he was responsible for the attack on Kasi's parents..." he looked at Muroki. "I need to take care of him. He's to dangerous." He looked at the ground, and quickly scratched a star on it. "If you find Lina, show her this. She knows what it means." He quickly gave Muroki another hug. "I'll see you soon." He separated himself from Muroki and ran off before his brother could say anything.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki tried to again explain what exactly happened with Lina, "She was gone when I woke up... I..." before he could even try thinking of how to say what he wanted to, Delano carried on with his own talking and spilled out the rest of what he himself had to tell him. "Wait, what?" this was too much for anyone to take at once. Not knowing what to say and unable to get his body to move, all Muroki could do right now was watch his brother as he took off again and disappeared into the distance.

Muroki found himself sitting there for almost an entire minute before shaking his head in order to get his bearings. Delano was planning on going out after this lion, but that lion was probably with the entire group of underworld lions and even if Delano did catch him alone Muroki doubted that any underworld lion would turn out to be a bad fighter. There was nothing Muroki could do in that regard at the moment, since Delano was long gone and Muroki wouldn't be able to recognize their parents' murderer on his own.

Sighing, Muroki again took off, surprisingly finding Lina. She was wondering around like a lost cub. He approached her and touched her shoulder, and when she looked at him her expression was so piteous and she seemed to hardly recognize him. "Delano's alright." her eyes lit up at that, "He left a star," he thought she shouldn't know that he was still around, it would be dangerous for her to look for him. "Come, we need to get back to the den." once they were there he would take her, Umeme, Kasi and his parents somewhere safe. He'd have to explain why of course, but he'll cross that bridge once he got to it.

(( Kasi's parents aren't dead... His unborn siblings are though ))

[DGFone]

Delano reached a small ridge and climbed to the top. Looking down, his eyes widened at what he saw. The underworld force was assembled, facing down another force of roughly the same size. This must be the police force sent to stop them. Delano shuddered at the thought of what was going to happen soon. He didn't want to be close when the two groups attacked.

Scanning the attacking force, Delano frowned when he didn't see Gakuru anywhere. Where possibly could the lion have gone to? He hoped that Gakuru didn't have his own plans. The lino already went after Lina or Umeme once. He might do so again.

---

Umeme heard someone outside the den, and looked up to see Muroki enter, Lina behind him. Umeme smiled and rushed forwards, embracing her sister. "Lina! Where have you been?" She also saw that Lina looked much better than before. "Did Delano leave something?" Umeme asked.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina, for the first time in a long time, smiled. She returned her sister's embrace, her happiness noticeable even before she spoke. "Yes," she started, excited. "A star. Delano's coming back soon." she was barely able to remain seated as her excitement also showed through her body language. Muroki said nothing, deciding to give the two sisters a moment or two. Also, he remembered that he shouldn't tell them that Delano was still around, especially not to Lina.

After a few moments, he went over to them, "Alright," he started, "It might sound weird, but we need to leave and go hide." he went over to where Kasi was talking to his parents and said the same thing today. They were just as confused as Lina and Umeme were as they followed him towards the entrance of the den where the two sisters were waiting. "The entire underworld is marching here... We have to go somewhere until things calm down. he was worried that they might ask how did he know this, so he said right away, [b]"Before I found you, Lina, a police lion saw me and told me this. That's why I brought you back as soon as I found you, but we have to leave."

[DGFone]

Deciding that it wasn't safe where he was, Delano started to edge backwards away from view when he saw something move near the edge of the underworld group. Squinting, he saw that it no one else but Gakuru. So now he knew where the lion was, but Delano still needed to get down there without getting involved with the impending battle.

Crouching down in the grass, Delano began to make his way down towards Gakuru.

---

Umeme frowned. "Leave? Where? For how long?" She didn't like the sound of this. Were things really that bad? Lina just said that Delano would be returning soon! That should mean that things are getting better, not worse. "And what if we're still gone when Delano comes back?" She asked. "What will he do?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Gakuru, while he was there with the rest of the group, had his own plans and was not going to take part in the battle. With him were the two lions who were there during the day where Delano first 'joined' the underworld. They hated Delano just as much as he did right now. He knew that the odds of the underworld losing weren't low, but he wasn't admitting any defeat until he finally got what he joined the underworld for. He was going to kill Laini even if it will be the last thing he'll ever do. With the other two lions by his side he began heading towards the pride's main den, knowing that the entire police was focused on the battle and that the den will not be guarded.

---

Muroki wished he could explain things out, but he was just as clueless as everyone seemed to be. "I don't know, but it might not be safe to stay here for much longer." other than the fact that they had to hide he didn't know anything else, and as much as he wanted to just run off and look for answers he knew it was dangerous, and he also didn't want to leave Umeme's side in case she would suddenly be in danger. "All I know is that we should hurry." they still seemed not very convinced, "Please." after a few moments they followed him outside. He figured it'll be safe to hide by Delano's and Lina's waterhole for it was well hidden.

[DGFone]

Delano suddenly found himself having to sneak back to where he started when Gakuru and two followers left the rest and headed off inside the kingdom. "Where are you going?" Delano asked quietly to himself. When he was safely hidden from the others again and was able to stand up, he saw that Gakuru and the other two were running as fast as they can. They were also very far away.

Cursing at ho far they were, Delano broke into a run after Gakuru and his goons. He also realized where they were heading. The main dens. It took only moments for him to remember how much Gakuru talked about hating Laini, and he connected the dots instantly. Gakuru want to kill them. With this realization, Delano accelerated, hoping that he would be able to catch up in time, and that Muroki safely hid Lina and the others.

---

Umeme heard the urgency in Muroki's voice and nodded. She can ask questions later. Together, they all ran towards the waterhole, knowing how well it was hidden from the surrounding land. She trusted Muroki with her life, and so did the others.

[TheWhistlerify]

After a while of running, Muroki and the others arrived at the waterhole. Lina walked over to where Delano's messages were usually left by him, and smiled when she saw the star. While she didn't think that Muroki lied to her about it, she also wanted to see for herself, it made her feel even better. Laini went over to the water and drank for a while, looking the most tired. Because of the past few weeks where she could barely move and because of her injuries and the because of healer advising her to not take part in any hunts for a few more weeks, she was out of shape.

After a while, Laini finally caught her breath. "Did that lion tell you how long we'll need to hide?" she asked. Muroki shook his head and shrugged, silently telling her that he didn't know. While Laini no longer had any trouble moving, the healer's advice was a 'just in case' sort of advice. As for whether she will be able to have cubs again or not, the healer couldn't tell. The greatest relief to everyone though was the fact that she made it through and that she was able to function like any other lion or lioness could.

[DGFone]

"Do you think that Delano will come here when it's safe to leave?" Umeme asked, hopeful. "What he left does mean that he'll be back soon, right?" She didn't really mind waiting in the waterhole, but it will become problematic if the wait would be more than a few days. And Laini did point out correctly that they did not have a way of knowing when it would be safe to leave.

---

Delano slowed down, catching his breath, feeling defeated. Unable to catch up to Gakuru and his chums quickly enough, he saw the lions head straight into their den. He quickly took a deep breath and forced himself to run again, trying not to think of what might be going on inside. Hopefully, Muroki got the others out in time.

A furious looking Gakuru left the den almost immediately after he entered, and Delano flattened himself against the ground in order not to be seen. This gave Delano a bit of hope. There is no way that Gakuru could have killed everyone inside that quickly, but if he left that to his goons... Delano was about to blow his cover in order to rush inside when the two lions who followed Gakuru also came back out. Gakuru turned to them and started talking to them furiously. Delano edged closer, trying to hear what was being said.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki nodded, "Yes, that's what it means." Delano would probably look for Lina in the main den first when finally coming back, and then maybe he will come here next. Either way, he and Lina should be together again soon. There was always the possibility of Delano getting killed before that happened but Muroki remained optimistic, especially after seeing the star Delano drew on the ground. All they could do was wait for now until Delano came. Muroki had one main goal on his mind though; to protect Umeme in case things turned ugly.

---

Gakuru, obviously furious for not finding anyone at all inside the main den, looked at the two lions with him. "Don't think we're done yet. We're going to look for them even if it takes all day!" it was probably Delano who rushed all the way to alert everyone, which made Gakuru hate him even more. He had no idea where to start looking though, as the pride's territory was huge and they could be almost anywhere. Frustrated, he just took off in a random direction, his two goons following close behind.