[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano was already able to tell that there was no way that he would be able to keep up with the others. "I'll go as fast as I can," he replied to his brother, "hopefully it will be fast enough." As they headed off towards Hatari's den, very quickly they lost sight of the others as they ran in front.

As much as he hated to admit it, but combined with his healing wounds, lying around endlessly did not help Delano retain his strength from before, and he was really beginning to feel it as he forced himself to keep going, even as he felt himself fatiguing. At least they were getting close to the den, so when Delano caught Muroki looking at him, he ignored the worried look. "I'm fine," he panted out, "we're almost there."

[TheWhistlerify]

It sure was a good thing that, while Delano and Muroki both wanted to see the lion get caught, their presence was anything but crucial in this situation. So, when Delano's pace slowed down even more from obvious fatigue, his brother was about to suggest they slowed down when the latter beat him to it, saying he was alright. Well, they were already past most of the way there...

When the distant waterhole came into view, he was surprised to see that there was no fight going on. He could identify Kato, his father Hatari and Lin for sure, and as they continued to approach he managed to recognize the former Chief as well. They had him surrounded, and it strangely looked as though he had no intention of resisting. "I..." Muroki was really unsure as to what to think. "Is this good?" Honestly, considering who they were dealing with, he had no idea.

[DGFone]

When they arrived at the waterhole, Delano took the opportunity to stop and slowly regain some of his breath. Looking at the others, he didn't like at just how calm the lion they were after looked. It reminded him too much of how Sanders was before he escaped his death sentence. He looked at Muroki, unsure if it was even safe to approach the others. "I don't know..." he admitted.

Sure, the ex-chief was surrounded and under watchful eye. But he wasn't the kind of lion who would simply admit defeat and give up. Delano was very afraid that they are the ones who might be in a trap instead, and desperately hoped that it wasn't the case. If they did just walk into one, it was too late to turn back now. "What else can we do? Let's go."

At least, next to the others, they would be safer in that they would be close to someone who can help them. Out here on the side, Delano and Muroki were very vulnerable.

Walking over the rest of the distance to the others, Delano tried not to look at the ex-chief. However, for a brief moment, the two of them shared eye contact, and the satisfied smirk that the lion gave to Delano sent a pang of fear down his spine. Perhaps he was only bluffing, but Delano had no way of finding out if that was true or not.

[TheWhistlerify]

Whatever was going on, if there was anything else going on here, Muroki felt confident enough that it was more than safe to approach the others. The former Chief was completely surrounded not to mention on his own. Even if this was some sort of a more elaborate trap, the spot they were in was completely out in the open. If some kind of an ambush set up by their target would suddenly appear, they'd spot it way before it was too late.

So when the cornered lion looked at him with a smug look on his face, Muroki hardly even acknowledged it let alone thought anything of it. After all, this lion was probably just trying to enjoy seeing them worry over nothing. There was a very high chance that he was bluffing. "How nice to see you again." he said in his usual tone. "What, don't act like you didn't miss me..."

[DGFone]

Feeling very much annoyed at how casual the lion was talking, Delano let out a low growl as he glared at the ex-chief. "In case you hadn't noticed, your friend is already dead. Soon you will be too." Considering that this was the ex-chief, someone who was able to hide his true intentions from even the king for a very long time, Delano kept telling himself that the lion was simply hiding his own feelings behind this mask of nonchalance.

Not feeling like talking to the lion, he walked past him towards where Hatari and Kato stood next to each other. "So what are we going to do now?" he asked quietly, starting at Hatari as he did. The last time he had seen him was during the fight with Sanders, and he hadn't yet properly thanked Hatari for his help, but Delano felt like now wasn't the best time to do so either.

[TheWhistlerify]

"Is that so?" was the only response Delano received, followed by a quiet chuckle.

Nearby, Hatari and Kato didn't seem to be taking him all too seriously either. He could say what he want and plan whatever the heck, but at the end of the day he was captured and would probably be executed immediately after questioning and without trial. "Well, nothing really." said the prince with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "His plan worked flawlessly and we got it right. There's nothing else to it."

In the corner of his eye, Muroki could see the somewhat slouching outlines of a lion sitting in the back of Hatari's den. It was somewhat dark there, but it seemed as though he wasn't all that interested in what was going on outside. Unable to help his curiosity, Muroki left his brother's side and went inside where he could have a better look.

Much to his surprise, the lion he then saw was in fact definitely younger than Kato, seemingly just about entering adulthood. His almost fully grown mane wasn't all that groomed as well as rather messy and he was sitting in a very odd way, staring at the wall as he held the "thumb" of one of his paws against his lower lip. "Sup?" he asked quietly, not even looking at the older lion as the other stared at him in shock.

"This is him?" Muroki asked in confusion as he looked at Kato, who was now standing next to him. He definitely didn't look like a sort of lion who worked with the police let alone was old enough to have a lot of experience as the conversation with him earlier had suggested.

"He's nothing like my father and I thought he'd be..." admitted Kato, also somewhat awkwardly.

[DGFone]

At first, Delano let Muroki go inside Hatari's den on his own, but when Kato followed his brother, he figured something was going on inside and too headed in. Stopping besides his brother, he too stared in shock at the young lion in front of them. Based on the sound of the voice he heard back in the cave, he had expected someone older than him and Muroki, but the lion in front of them was very much younger than that.

"Who are you?" was all Delano finally asked coldly, his suspicions rising up within him. Why would someone so young get involved in something like this? Perhaps this was why the lion had wished to keep his identity a secret, but for Delano, he was already starting to think that he might be staring that Sander's next replacement.

However, this was also the lion who managed to predict where the ex-chief would go... or knew about a plan already, and had just successfully lured them into a trap. Suddenly the idea that the ex-chief was only bluffing about his attitude was no longer such a definite possibility. Or was he only bluffing after all?

No doubt helped by his fatigue from getting here, Delano had to sit down as he struggled to figure out what was going on, and why so little was making any sense. "Muroki..." he muttered quietly, "I don't think... something's not right."

[TheWhistlerify]

The young lion in front of them looked at them in the corner of his eye as Delano spoke up, not failing to easily notice the coldness in his tone. "The one you spoke to earlier." he finally answered back, not sounding hurt or even slightly shaken up by the aggression. "Who else?" Listening to him, there really was no doubt that it was the same guy, even if his voice made him sound older in one way or another.

"You said you spoke to my brother during his imprisonment." said Muroki with a slight frown.

"I was an adolescent at the time, yeah..." said the latter. "My voice has already been somewhat deep at the time. No one seemed to mind the young lion wondering around the caves cleaning up after everyone..." He started scratching the back of one of his ears. "So, he's caught, as I promised. No casualties." He glanced Delano over again. "I know what you're thinking. Not sure whether you'll believe me when I say you've got nothing to fear, but it doesn't matter. You'll calm down eventually now that he's out of the way."

[DGFone]

While the voice of the lion certainly was familiar because he had spoken to them just earlier today, Delano couldn't remember anyone like this lion when he was imprisoned. He fidgeted uncomfortably when his time held in that cave was brought up, never liking to talk about it, or to be reminded of it in either case.

"You know just as well as I do that it's better for me not to believe you," he finally muttered, somewhat bitterly, "too many lions who were supposed to be helping didn't end up being like that. Why should you be any different?"

However, in the end, even that didn't matter."So what are we even doing here anyways? We got who we came here for. The sooner we leave the better." Delano glanced at Kato, who hadn't left the den yet. "Unless you're planning to end it right here and now." For some reason, he didn't feel too bothered by the idea of a lion being killed, even if it was the ex-chief.

[TheWhistlerify]

The stranger in front of them simply shrugged his shoulders. "Whether you believe me or not is entirely up to you..." he said quietly before turning around to face the wall, drifting off to his own thoughts again.

"I suppose the two of you can leave if you want." said Kato after a short silence. "There's not going to be a trial, but I don't think he's going to be killed right here and now..." Either way, it wasn't him who was making these decisions. "I'm sure Umeme and Lina are worried, so perhaps it's for the best." There didn't seem to be any reason for them to stay here.