[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Umeme also looked over at Delano. It didn't look like Muroki was talking to him, and instead was simply leaving his brother alone. She didn't know if it was because he spoke briefly and was finished, or if it was because they didn't talk at all. But as Lina said, Delano wasn't in the best of shapes, and she too hoped that he would get better soon. Even if they didn't fight again, Umeme didn't know how long Lina would be able to wait for Delano to get better. Hopefully, long enough.

But with her question answered, Umeme nodded and turned back to her sister. "Well, that's what I wanted to ask really," she said, "want to go back to them then? I think Delano would appreciate it if you were with him again." Lina didn't exactly tell what Umeme wanted to know, mostly because Umeme didn't ask yet, but she already knew the answer and didn't feel like asking now.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina couldn't help but raise an eyebrow as Umeme said that this was everything she wanted to ask her. She kind of thought that Umeme had a more serious type of question when she said she wanted to talk to her alone, since her sister did look like she had something on her mind when she said she would like to talk to her privately. "I... I guess he will." she said, slowly walking back alongside her sister.

[DGFone]

Delano barely noticed when Lina came back to his side, but when he finally registered her presence, he let out a sigh. "time to go?" He didn't feel any better after the short rest, so he decided that they might as well start walking again. Struggling to his feet, Delano stumbled forwards. For some reason, he felt terrible now, but as Lina came to his side to help, he his his face from her view so that she won't notice that anything was wrong. He didn't want to force them to turn around, no matter how bad he felt now.

Umeme returned to Muroki's side. She saw that Delano was already walking off with Lina, and grinned. "Let's go again?"

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina was about to suggest that they could stay a bit longer, in case Delano felt like it, but before she managed to he was already walking forward so she went over to his side in order to support him. Muroki simply nodded at Umeme and they began to follow, again walking behind the two so that Delano wouldn't think that he was slowing them down too much. Waterhole or no waterhole, he wasn't having a bad time, so he didn't care whether it will take them long to get there.

[DGFone]

Once again, Delano found himself having to rely on Lina to help him walk. Even though he didn't mind having her near him, he hated the fact that without her, he was almost completely immobile. But because there was nothing he can do about it, he continued to limp along, determined to at least get to the waterhole as they planned.

Slowly, the four of them walked along. Delano thought that he would feel better the closer they got, but instead, he only felt even worse. By this time, he was was feeling so bad, he was ready to just give up. But they had gotten so far, he didn't know if he was willing to turn around now. So in order to try and help with his mood, he opened his mouth, wanting to talk with Lina, but not really knowing what to say.

He stumbled in his step and nearly fell over, but Lina was able to catch him. Delano looked at her, his eyes full of both gratefulness, but also of shame.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina kept walking silently with the others, also feeling like it will be easier to pass the time if they talked about something, but like Delano she was also lacking a subject for a conversation, so she kept quiet. She caught Delano in time when he tripped, giving him a small 'you're welcome' smile. She couldn't help but wonder how long it will take for his leg to heal. Perhaps they should have Delano examined by someone who understood those types of things better.

[DGFone]

Delano caught Lina's smile, but he found himself unable to smile back. If anything, it made him feel even worse, because it reminded him of how helpless and weak he was. Turning his had away from Lina, he forced himself to limp along, determined to at least get to the waterhole as they planned, even though he was all ready to give up now and just collapse.

Eventually though, after what felt like an eternity, Delano spotted the tops of the trees that grew around their destination. "We... we made it," he breather out, his voice weak, "we're... here..." He moved faster now, determined to use the last of his strength to get across the last stretch of ground. As soon as he was in the shade of the trees, Delano's legs gave away and he collapsed to the ground. Before he could regain control of himself, his vision darkened and finally faded to blackness as he fell unconscious.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lina had to slightly speed up as well when Delano decided to suddenly move faster, but it wasn't as much of a problem for her as it was for him and as long as Delano could cope with it she didn't have a problem. She sat herself down in the shade next to Delano, thinking that he allowed himself to drop down so that he could have some rest. "We're here." she said with a smile, waiting for a few moments but not getting a response from Delano. "Delano?" she asked, nudging him and becoming worried when he didn't respond.

[DGFone]

Umeme and Muroki made their way over to the waterhole and sat down near Lina and Delano. "Hey, we finally made it," Umeme told Muroki, grinning, "been a while since we last were here, right?" She nuzzled him, purring as their heads rubbed each other.

Out of the corner of her eye, Umeme saw Lina prodding Delano carefully. She separated her head from Muroki's and moved over to her sister, wondering what was wrong. "Lina, is everything alright?" she asked, and then looked down at Delano's still body. She saw him breathing slowly, so she assumed that it was indeed alright, but Lina's eyes told her something else. "Uh, Muroki, it's Delano..." Umeme said hesitantly.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki smiled at the contact between him and Umeme. Hearing her purr made him happy because it informed him that she was comfortable. "Yes, been a while." it was nice to be there not in order to look whether Delano had left some mark which would indicate that he was alright or that he was coming back. He noticed his brother when Umeme pointed it out to him, having until now thought that Delano was simply resting. "Maybe he's resting?" he asked, not really knowing the answer. He went over and shook him by the shoulder with one of his paws, a little stronger compared to Lina's simple nudging with her nose. "Delano?" at least his brother was breathing.