[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

During the night, Delano had often thought about where the ambush would take place. Truth be told, the only place he could think off was next to the cliffs by the gorge. Personally, he hated the idea of going there again, and certainly felt like it was going to be too soon if they did go there today, or even tomorrow. And Muroki as well: Delano doubted that his brother wanted to return to the scene of his near murder.

But where else would they be? They can either search for the lion where they knew he had been previously, or they might as well try searching just about everywhere. After all, where else can he be?

Hatari.

Delano almost stopped when he realized this. Hatari had said that the lion had visited him several times, so it was also possible that the lion might try to go after Hatari as well, or at least be in the general area. With this in mind, Delano and Muroki followed Kato to what looked like a rather small cave and went inside, where the king, Lin, and a couple of other lions already were.

[TheWhistlerify]

Muroki certainly had no idea as to what the difference between all these caves they were passing by was or what they were even all for, but there sure were a lot of them just standing there all empty. Most of them actually looked as if no one has been inside them for quite some time. Surprisingly enough, Kato clearly had a very solid idea as to where he was leading them, and it wasn't too long before the prince entered one of these small dens.

Following Delano and the younger lion inside, Muroki wasn't surprised to discover that Lin and the king were already there. It was to be expected, but he didn't really know about these two other lions who were also present. He knew Lin could be trusted, but who was to guarantee that these two (or one of them) wouldn't run off to tell the one they were after about this plan? At the same time, though, they were going to need more than just a few individuals to set up the ambush team... This was probably inevitable...

[DGFone]

Following Kato inside the cave, Delano didn't know who these other lions were, but suspected that they would go with them on the ambush. Glancing them over, he wasn't sure if he wanted them to go or not. While he knew that they would need help in actually carrying the ambush out, he wasn't sure that he was going to be able to trust them enough to be comfortable with them tagging along.

But the king must have trusted them enough to bring them here, but that thought was not the most comforting. The king had also trusted Sanders and this other lion at some point, and nothing good came out of that. What about these other lions that he never saw before?

Delano didn't want to voice this opinion right away though. The last thing he felt the king wanted was to think of who to have on the ambush team, only to have him show up and right away start complaining about it. Not sure of what else to say, Delano let Kato or the king start talking first. After all, they should have a better idea for what to do in this meeting.

[TheWhistlerify]

The king waited for his son to sit down next to him and, after saying a few things quietly to him and getting a sleepy nod in response, gestured for Lin to start talking. "Right, I don't think I need to repeat what it is we're going to do. You already know. It is true that the extra patrols we've been sending out haven't been successful in tracking him down, but there is a pattern in the areas of the border he occassionally crosses briefly to hunt."

"It's far from ideal, yes," the Chief continued, "but our best option at the moment is for Kato and Delano to position themselves in the hunting area he's most likely to enter. He definitely knows the times when the patrols take place, which is how he avoids them, but this can help us time things better. Now, with Delano already having recovered very drastically, the sooner we carry this out the more of an easier target the two of you will be."

"I wouldn't necessarily say that." said Kato all of a sudden. "Of course, the sooner we end this the better, but Delano doesn't have to be injured if you ask me. You see Sanders wanted revenge and, of course, this guy plans to carry it out for him. But he is a lot more cunning and sadistic. Sanders was far more straight forward; that plan with the gorge, sending that assassin on the day of his trial. There are many examples."

"The lion we're dealing with now has an entirely different approach. One perfect example was the way he taunted both of you before throwing you into the gorge." The prince briefly looked at Muroki and Lin before continuing. "He enjoyed every bit of it, I'm sure. The point is, Delano, that when he sees you soon he won't kill you. It will be too soon for him and there won't be any fun to it."

"I'm sure he'll love the opportunity to see you afraid. What better way to maximize that effect if not to kill someone right in front of you? You'll be surprised at how easy it is to immobilize someone; you can be completely healthy for all he cares. Besides, if I die, it could easily cause Muroki to take some kind of drastic action in response and make him easier to get rid of. You see, he'll be leaving you for last, watching you react as everything falls apart around you."

"I'm sorry for the drastic language," said Kato after another silence, "but what he'll see before him will be an opportunity to see you squirm and he won't pass it up. It'll be way too tempting. That's where I'll be to beat him at his own game."

[DGFone]

Delano didn't really feel like he wanted to hear Kato explain how the lion liked to taunt his opponents, but chose to remain silent. After all, Delano was on the receiving end of that too, when the lion gleefully told him how he had killed Muroki. Of course, at the time, he had been much more concerned about Sanders and had viewed this lion as little more than a nuisance, albeit one who enjoyed very much in tossing Muroki off a cliff, and then telling him about it. Perhaps the only reason why Delano hadn't cared much about the lion since now was because Muroki had survived.

So when Kato finished explaining what they will all need to look out for, Delano simply nodded his head. "I know what he's like," he said simply, looking over at his brother, "when he told me where you were... he took great delight in doing so. I know what he likes to do." Then glancing over at Kato, he added, "I am also no as immobile as I was even yesterday. If I have to, I won't just sit and watch if he decides to attack early." While not as friendly as Muroki was towards Kato, Delano had no intentions of simply letting the lion attack the prince without a fight. He knew that he wouldn't stand a chance, but if he had to, he hoped he would be able to provide enough time for the others to run over and help out.

However, they all knew that the plan weighed a lot on the fact that the lion loved to taunt. Even if it was a very risky plan, Delano believed that just as Kato just told him that the lino would enjoy watching Delano suffer, he was also sure that the lion won't simply kill Kato right away either. As the prince himself said, it wouldn't be any fun.

Deciding that there was no reason to wait any longer, Delano then decided to ask what he wanted to ever since they went inside the cave. "So when will we do this?" he then motioned at the lions which he hadn't seen before, "and who are they? Will they be going with us?" He didn't think it was a good idea to beat around the bush about their presence. If they were not going to go with them, Delano didn't want them to be at the meeting. The less who knew about this, the better.

One of the lions chose to answer his second question. "We will be coming with you on the ambush. The king trusts us to carry it out, and we are some of the best fighters he has.You may be the bait, but someone still needs to make sure that the lion will be taken out. That's where we will come in." As he said this, the king nodded in agreement.

Delano wasn't sure if he was able to trust these lions or not, but the lion had a point. Kato was most likely not going to be able to stand up to the lion for long, and neither would Muroki. He himself certainly wouldn't be able to. And even all three of them together might still not be enough, so as much as he hated the idea of bringing someone whom he didn't know, Delano knew they needed some help in this.

[TheWhistlerify]

Lin waited for the lion to finish talking before speaking up himself. "I think the best time to give this whole idea a go would be tomorrow in the morning." He paused for a second and was about to continue when Kato suddenly cut him short.

"Yeah, so you two can just run along and come back here at dawn."

The Chief, of course, was very much confused by what the prince said. Surely these two lions, who were going to be the main part of the ambush team, needed to be there when they planned this whole attempt out. He was about to protest when the king, seemingly knowing what he was going to say, interrupted him as well. "Yes, you may go."

Much to Muroki's confusion, even if he still felt unsure about these two, they really did nod their heads without objecting and took their leave. Surely this meeting wasn't going to be this short... What they were going to try to do was way too serious for it to end so quickly... "Your majesty, with all due respect, shouldn't they-" he paused, looking all the more unsure, when Kato's father silently made a slight motion with his paw, telling him to stop talking.

Delano's brother, however, was far less in control of his curiosity. "Uh... Are we done here already?"

[DGFone]

Delano wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but he couldn't say that he didn't mind the fact that the two lions had left. Sure, they would be needed to help with the ambush, but the less others knew about the plan, the better.

Still, the fact that the king had them leave just like that had placed Delano just slightly on the edge, not entirely sure what was going on. He moved slightly closer to Muroki, unsure if, by some very strange and explainable reason, this was some sort of elaborate setup. It's not that he believed that the king himself would do such a thing, just that he Delano wasn't sure what to believe right now.

However, unlike Muroki, he didn't say anything, mostly because his brother asked what he himself was mostly thinking. Delano didn't actually think that the meeting was over, and based on Muroki's clear confusion, so did his brother. So whatever the king would answer about this, it should clear up why he had the two lions go out of the meeting so quickly. So without saying anything, Delano watched the king and Kato, wondering what was going on and what they were planning.

[TheWhistlerify]

What made Muroki all the more confused as to what was going on was that Lin himself seemed just as unsure and in the dark as he and his brother were. Being the Chief of Police, surely this wasn't supposed to be that way. "You were right in choosing him." said Kato all of a sudden. "That quiet one is definitely a spy." Wait, what?

To his further confusion, an entirely different voice suddenly spoke up. "Did it seem that way to you?" Looking around, Muroki couldn't see anyone else there with them. Now that he was thinking about it, the voice sounded like an echo.

"Yes."

"Who's talking?" Lin suddenly asked, unable to help his curiosity. "What's this talking about a spy?"

"Where is he?" asked Muroki.

"It's called the tunnel communication system." explained Lin. "That small hole you see in the wall in the back of this cave is actually a very long, thin tunnel. He's in another cave but it allows him to speak to us and hear what we're saying in here."

[DGFone]

When Kato announced that one of the lions who were supposed to help them was in fact a spy, Delano snorted in anger. "There's always one, then, isn't there?" he asked sarcastically. Of course it explained the sudden change in the meeting, but Delano really had hoped that there wouldn't be anyone else who might get in the way. After all, how many more could there be? At least it meant that he didn't distrust the others without any reason.

However, when the hidden lion started to talk through the 'tunnel communication system', Delano just about had enough. Spotting the hole that the voice came from, he walked right up to it before shouting into it, "if you can hear us all this time, how about you also have the decency to be here in person as well!"

He almost didn't care who it was at the other end, just the fact that the lino wasn't enough was enough to strain his patience with all of this. Especially now that he was going to risk his life, Delano wasn't ready to be left in the dark from any details that Kato or the king felt like keeping away from him.

[TheWhistlerify]

"Decency?" Came a calm, quiet response. "Sanders had no decency, and the lion who'll certainly kill your brother the next time he sees him doesn't have any either. However, you're definitely no longer that broken lion I spoke to during your imprisonment."

Muroki felt rather compelled to barge in. "Just who are you, exactly?" He spoke to his brother so long ago?

"Pretty much the main reason you were let out was because I spoke to you and determined that you really are innocent. Surely you recall the trial being pretty formal and nothing more." said the voice. "There were many others to supposedly investigate you so, with you probably not remembering much from that period of time to begin with, my identity is guaranteed to remain a secret."

"Having said that, I am rather sick of former police officials getting away with things simply because they're familiar with the system and feel that something must be done. After reviewing the information I believe there's a strong possibility that revealing your plan to a spy can lead to the arrest and execution of that maniac. As such, I'll be lending the king my full support for this case."