[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano looked up when he heard the others walk in. He right away spotted Lina, and at first felt glad, only to remember his nightmares and his feelings turned to fear and shame. He tried to move away from her, but she was already hugging him tightly. He relaxed slightly when she did, only to have the shame return when she pulled back and asked him about his broken leg.

Delano just shook his head slowly, not wanting to speak. He placed his head back on the ground, not in the mood to talk with Lina.

Next to them, Umeme also gave Muroki a hug, smiling as seeing him again. "I missed you so much," she said, starting to realize how Lina must have felt like. While Umeme had only missed Muroki for a day and a night, Lina had to wait much longer than that. She watched Lina and Delano, and her eyes fell on how rough and dirty Delano looked. She also saw how one of his legs looked odd. "Wait, Muroki, you said he was fine..." she said, frowning, "what's... what's up with him?" It also didn't escape her that Delano didn't look too happy to be back with Lina.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki of course was most happy to see Umeme again. "Well, by that I meant that he was alive..." he said, loud enough only for her to hear. "I didn't want to worry Lina too much by going into details, but being alone all that time didn't do him any good..." he didn't really need to keep his voice down, because Lina wasn't paying any attention. She simply stood there and stared at Delano, confused. This was not the reaction she expected from him once she saw him again.

[DGFone]

Umeme didn't really know what to say. "But... wouldn't it have been better to say something?" she asked, also quietly, "I mean... he's your brother! And now he's a mess... and Lina was expecting him to want her to return to him..." She saw how Lina was clearly shocked, but couldn't tell yet if Lina was simply confused or hurt. "Lina was expecting more..." Umeme whispered.

Delano continued to look away from Lina. He was too scared to look at her and try and talk. Too many times he killed her or hurt her in his nightmares, and now he wasn't sure if some part of them was true. He shook slightly, but made no attempt to move closer to her.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki didn't know how to answer her question. Saying something back then could have made Lina a little prepared for Delano's behavior, but it could have also terribly worried her to the point of making the time without Delano impossible to bear. Either way, there was no going back and changing anything now, so it didn't really matter. Lina was even more confused when Delano continued looking away from her. "You... Aren't you happy to see me again?" it seemed like he wasn't happy to be seeing either of them again.

[DGFone]

Upon hearing Lina speak, Delano quickly turned his head to see her. He opened his mouth, deciding that he might as well say something. "I... I don't know," he whispered, "I... I'm scared," he finally admitted. Slowly, he reached out with a paw and brought Lina closer to him. She quickly embraced him, and Delano placed his head on her shoulder. "When I was alone... I saw things that..." He stopped, unable to tell her about his nightmares and how many times he killed her. His body shook as he started crying again, and he pressed himself harder against her, much as he had done when Muroki was with him.

Umeme calmed down slightly when she saw Delano finally react to Lina. she placed a paw next to Muroki's. "It looks like things will turn out all right after all," she said softly, smiling. "I'm sorry if I made it sound like you did something wrong, because your his brother after all, and so you know what to do."

Behind them, Moto was waiting for Lina to separate herself from Delano. He didn't want to rush her, so he didn't say anything, but they had yet to free him, and the lions who were going to question him didn't look to happy to wait for them.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki smiled at Umeme and moved his paw onto the one she placed next to his. Lina was even more confused at what Delano said. What could he have possibly seen that made him scared of her? She was about to ask him what happened and to remind him that he could always feel free to talk to her, but stopped herself from saying anything when her mother suddenly placed a paw on her shoulder. Her mother gestured towards the lions who were waiting for them and Lina saw that they were looking quite impatient. Maybe it will be better for them to get this whole thing over with and then they could talk for as long as they wanted.

[DGFone]

Moto moved quietly to Muroki and Umeme. "I think it's time to start this," he said quietly, and motioned for them to take positions next to Kasi and his parents. He smiled slightly at them reassuringly before moving to Fadhili and Lina, still next to Delano. "It's time," he told them, and lead them over to the others.

Delano felt Lina leave him, and he flopped back on the ground. Just as he got confident enough to face her again, she had to leave him again. He tried to sit up so that he would be able to look at her, but his front legs grew too weak and he gave up trying to sit. He stared at the lions who would determine his fate, wanting this entire thing to be over.

Spoiler: show

Want to try being the lions now?

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki looked at Moto and nodded a short nod. They either get Delano out now or they lose him forever, and neither of them seemed as if they were willing to leave without Delano. One of the other lions spoke, "Good, we can get started now." it's not like he and his colleagues had nothing better to do than to judge on a trial against a lion who seemed as if he would barely hurt a fly. Then again, the opinions of the others would also matter, so it's not like the lion could avoid being there. "You guys know the rules. You can answer out questions but you can't say anything other than that."

Spoiler: show

Just letting you know that I'll be gone for 2 days

[DGFone]

Moto nodded at the lions. "We understand," he said formally. The better the impression they would give, the higher the chances that they will be able to get Delano out quickly and painlessly. He sat next to Fadhili, but made sure that the others were close to him as well. He didn't like that they had left Delano out in the middle of the cave, but there wasn't much he was able to do about it.

Lina was sitting next to her mother, but was looking at Delano the entire time. Moto placed a paw on her shoulder reassuringly and waited for the first questions to be asked.

Spoiler: show

got it

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki and the others, especially Delano, had a hard time keeping their eyes open after being inside the dark and gloomy caves for so long. All of them were more than happy that this whole thing was finally behind them, especially Lina. While she did believe the others whenever they reassured her that she'll get Delano back, she still always had the fear that she'll never be with him again. But now she had him back, limping because of his leg, but back.