[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano started to shake again at Muroki's suggestion. "I- I can't..." he whimpered, "if I will... I don't want to see anything again... and I know I will..." He clung onto Muroki again, but he didn't feel any relief this time. "I can't sleep anymore... I'm too scared. I can't handle the nightmares anymore..." He placed his head on Muroki, but didn't close his eyes. "It's too much," he muttered, "I just can't..."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki sighed, "You have to get some sleep... Instead of fearing what you might see, just remember that I'm here with you, that we all love you and that you did nothing wrong..." he let out a sigh as he realized that it wasn't really working. Suddenly though, he chuckled. "This reminds me of when we were cubs you know? Sometimes we've had nightmares and didn't want to go to sleep, and then mom and dad used to sing to us..."

[DGFone]

As bad as he felt, Delano also couldn't help but chuckle at Muroki's comment. "Yeah, I remember," he said, "but now it's just that... it's so much worse..." The memories of their parents calming them down when they felt bad were a stark contrast to the nightmares he now had. "I see them you know," he muttered, "I see mom and ad now in my dreams.." Delano paused as he tried to fight back the bad feelings. "and... I'm always glad to see them, but then they die! Either I kill them or something else, but they always end up dead..." He grabbed onto Muroki tightly. "Once they told me that I killed you!" He collapsed again, sobbing against Muroki's shoulder. "I can't sleep! I don't want to see them die again... I don't want to kill them again..."

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki almost held back a frown, but let it climb onto his face when he realized that Delano wasn't able to see him either way. "So what if they did? I'm alive aren't I? Lina and the other's are also alive." he put his arms around Delano as reassuringly as he could. "Just try to sleep okay? I'm here and I'm going to make sure nothing bad happens to you while you're asleep."

[DGFone]

Delano crawled closer to Muroki and closed his eyes. He was dreading having another nightmare, but the lack of sleep was really taking a tole on him. Muroki's presence comforted him a little, but he doubted that it was enough to help him. "You'll be here when I wake up?" Delano asked softly, "and if I... wake me up if I start moving..." He closed his eyes, and allowed himself to fall sleep.

---

Moto was finally able to get out of the caves and head back to the den. He frowned when he saw that it was already dark, for he had wanted to get back sooner than that. But he couldn't do much about it, and broke into a run towards the den.

He had a lot to tell, and not much time to do so.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki held his brother even closer, "Just remember that it's not all that bad. Tomorrow you will be out of this place." The next thing he noticed was his brother's calmer breathing, indicating that he was now asleep. Whether he heard what Muroki said before falling asleep or not Muroki had no idea, nor did it matter too much. For a moment back there Muroki thought that he might end up having to sing Delano a lullaby.

[DGFone]

Moto finally reached the den and saw that everyone were outside, apparently waiting for him. Well, everyone but Muroki. Moto frowned a little, figuring that Muroki should have been back by now.

Umeme was talking with Lina, trying to ignore the fact that Moto had yet to be back and it was getting very late, when she finally saw him. "Hey dad," she said, smiling, "how did it go?"

Moto smiled at his family and gave them all a nuzzle in greeting. "Took longer than I thought, but I have everything we need. Come on, let's go inside and I can tell you." He looked around, trying to see if Muroki wasn't somewhere where he could have missed him. After not spotting him, Moto asked, "where's Muroki by the way? He should've been back already."

[TheWhistlerify]

Fadhili smiled when her mate finally arrived back. She was starting to get worried by how late it was getting without Moto returning, and she even began to fear that he might have been arrested for whatever reason. "Muroki was here, he said that Delano can barely handle being in the cave anymore, so he offered to stay with him..." she doubted it was a problem, since Muroki being there will obviously not do any harm but instead help Delano feel better.

[DGFone]

Moto nodded. "Oh, alright. If he thinks that he should do that, I think I can fill him in tomorrow morning on what he will need to do. Speaking of which, let's go inside." He followed everyone inside the den and sat down where they all can see him.

"We will need to get up early tomorrow, so that we can be there by sunrise," he said as an introduction. "there, we will be lead to where Delano will be questioned. By then, he would have already been questioned once, alone, and when we arrive, we will be able to speak up for him." He waited for a bit, making sure that everyone would catch what he had to say next. "We can only speak up for him to answer a question that he is asked. We cannot ask our own questions, and we cannot just say whatever we want."

[TheWhistlerify]

Everybody listened to what Moto said and nodded. What Lina cared about the most at the moment was finally being able to see Delano again, even if she wouldn't be able to actually talk to him. Just seeing that he was okay was everything on her mind at the moment. She continued thinking to herself and her mother was the first to answer. "Okay. But there shouldn't be any problem right?"