[PRIVATE: DGFone & Thewhistlerify]

[DGFone]

Delano could tell that whatever Lin was talking about with the ex-chief, it wasn't something he was very eager to talk about. Of course, the ex-chief seemed to be delighting in angering Lin, and was rather successful at it. The king also looked rather angered by the lion's antics, so Delano was wondering why they weren't going yet.

Feeling like it wasn't his place to suggest leaving to them, he simply sat down next to the group, and waited impatiently for when they would finally decide to get going. Looking at the ex-chief, he really was wondering how in the world the lion was able to maintain such a calm, if not even smug, demeanor. He still remembered the lion's last comment to him, asking if he really was going to be killed or not. More than ever, Delano wanted nothing more than to lunge out, kill the lion, and be done with it once and for all.

But he knew that he couldn't do that. Feeling stressful, he glanced around, hoping that Muroki would somehow show up again soon. His brother would at least be able to say something to hep him calm down, but he wasn't here right now...

[TheWhistlerify]

While Kato had a somewhat uncertain feeling that the ex-Chief was anything but talk at the moment, he really did believe all of them would be a lot calmer if the lion was to be taken to the stupid tunnels already. The prince was about to just walk up to his father and suggest this when something caught his attention. It was a faint but an impossible to ignore scent, carried towards them by the wind from the direction of inside the kingdom.

Someone could have made a kill next to the border, but that didn't smell at all like some fresh impala or what not. "What's that?" he asked quietly.

Hatari seemed to have caught onto it and, from the looks of it, so did the others. "It's blood..."

Are we gonna stand here all day?" asked the former Chief with that smile of his. "I'm bored."

[DGFone]

It took a while for Delano to also catch the scent of blood, but when he did, he instantly got suspicious. After all, the way the ex-chief was acting was reminding him too much of how he was when they first met, atop the gorge where the lion gleefully bragged about killing Muroki.

While he doubted that Muroki was in danger now, Delano still couldn't help but think that something suspicious was going on. Besides, wasn't the scent coming from the direction where that strange young lion went off too?

Combined with Hatari's comment about the scent, he knew that something had to be done. "Hatari... I need you to come with me. We need to go and see what's causing that smell." Delano quickly glanced at the king, his gaze asking for permission to allow Hatari into the kingdom. Just in case, Delano needed someone who knew how to fight well, and he didn't know anyone else here who was as good. Kato certainly wasn't good enough... Besides, most of them had to stay behind and keep the ex-chief under close watch.

It could be just more of his paranoia, but Delano had sickening feeling that the smell of blood was related to the ex-chief's casual attitude. And whatever would cause him to feel good meant bad news for everyone else.

[TheWhistlerify]

Chances were that the scent they were all smelling was at the end of the day in fact the result of another lion or lioness hunting, but there was just something to it that seemed off. With the close proximity to the border and with Muroki having gone off briefly to inform their families they were okay, it was probably a good idea to quickly take a look. It's not like every single one of them was needed to keep an eye on their prisoner, what with all the guards that were there.

Looking at Delano, the king gave him a quick nod to silently let him know that no, he did not mind having Hatari go with him to see what was going on. Before the two could leave he glanced at Lin, who understood the message and tagged along. It's not that Kato's father did not trust Hatari by that point but, with Delano still not fully healed, it would be a lot safer if someone else aside from Hatari was there while they investigated.

[DGFone]

Glad that he had permission to go with Hatari, even if Kato would go with them as well, Delano gave one last glance to the ex-chief, needing to decide once and for all if leaving the area was a good idea or not. As their gazes met, he froze for a moment at seeing the self-confident smirk on the lion's muzzle. Whatever was going on, Delano feared that the ex-chief knew something that non of them did, and the thought greatly worried him.

"C-come on, let's go," he said, tearing his gaze away from the ex-chief, his nerve faltering. What if they themselves were about to walk into a trap, much like the ex-chief was in? Well, that's what Kato and Hatari were with him for. Following the scent, the three lions walked off, knowing that they were already very close to the source.

Coming over a small ridge, Delano spotted what they were overarching for. It was hard to miss the dust cloud being generated by what looked like two lions fighting with each other, as a third lay nearby. Picking up the pace, Delano ran as fast as he dared that wouldn't hurt him too much, knowing that it wouldn't be a good idea to wait. Sure enough, next to him, Kato and Hatari broke away and ran off ahead, not slowed down as he was.

[TheWhistlerify]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Sure enough, as most lions would have most likely done, Hatari and Kato both left Delano's side as soon as they caught sight of the fighting ahead of them. Even if they weren't initially too far away in order to identify just who the three lions in the distance were, the dusty mist surrounding them would have still made it impossible to make out anything but their outlines. Despite not knowing who they were looking at, though, the first thing they thought of doing was to quickly stop them.

Unfortunately, before they so much as made it half of the way, the fighting stopped with one of the lions having either killed the other if not having at least gravely wounded him or knocking him out first. The victor then made his way to the figure of the third individual, who was lying nearby. Not knowing just who either one of the three was or whether the third lion was about to get killed as well, Hatari, being the fitter out of him and Kato, sped up even more into the cloud of dust before tackling the lion.

He didn't recognize Muroki's voice as the still shaken-up lion yelped in surprise at having the one who saved his life suddenly attacked by someone else, and the former member of the underworld attempted to pin down the young detective, who he definitely couldn't recognize because of the quarreling and the dust around them before, to his surprise, he found himself on his back with a pair of paws pressing firmly into each of his shoulders.

For a moment he just stared up in shock as the dust finally began to clear, his confusion only increasing when he realized just who it was. "Oi!" said the younger male, frowning ever so slightly. "Just what are you doing?"

[DGFone]

Spoiler: show

Thanks mate!

Struggling to keep up with the other two, Delano also couldn't identify who the three mysterious lions were as he fell behind. However, he had a sickening feeling who one of them was - after all, he had lived with his brother for both of their entire lives, so he knew how to spot Muroki from a greater distance than he would someone else. Afraid of what he would find, he forced himself to run faster over to the fallen lion.

Arriving after what felt like far too long, he stopped just shy of the lion, who was without a doubt Muroki, now risen to a partially sitting position, his gaze transfixed on Hatari and... and that mysterious young lion from Hatari's den.

"Muroki! Muroki, what happened?" Delano asked, trying to regain his breath as he came to a stop, looking over his brother to make sure that he wasn't hurt. Spotting some blood running down Muroki's neck, he reached out with a paw and wiped a bit off, not liking how Muroki winced and shied away from the contact. "You're bleeding," Delano muttered, but decided that the wound wasn't serious. There wasn't that much, and serious wounds to the neck would have left Muroki barely able to move, let alone be able to sit up like that.

His eyes wandering around the area around them, Delano's gaze settled on the only lion he didn't recognize, lying on the ground nearby and alone. "Wh- who's that?" he asked, his question aimed mostly at their young helper, who was now being helped up by a rather undignified looking Hatari. If anyone of them would know who this lion was, their helper was most likely to have an idea.

[TheWhistlerify]

Truth be told, the youngest lion out of the group really wasn't too surprised when Muroki's brother didn't recognize the very lion who, as soon as he'd left the discussion earlier that morning, was pointed out to actually be spying for the ex-chief. Delano always did seem like the less attentive one of the two, and with how agitated and paranoid he was there couldn't really be any reason to blame him.

Still, the young detective stared at him oddly for a brief moment. "It's that guy from your discussion in the morning." he said. Of course, Hatari had no idea what they were talking about, but both Kato and Muroki did s3em to recognize him. "Save your breath." he then added with an emotionless look on his face. "He's dead."

[DGFone]

Delano stared at the dead lion, feeling foolish for not recognizing him. "Oh," he replied quietly, wondering how he had been able to forget about someone whom he had only seen earlier in the day. Returning his attention to his brother, he looked over Muroki once more, making sure that he didn't miss any other wounds, and that the bleeding in the neck wasn't in fact serious after all.

When he didn't see anything else, and that the bleeding had already stopped, Delano still couldn't help but feel agitated. "Muroki... don't scare me like that again. It's only a few days ago that I found you at the bottom of the gorge, you know." He was really just trying to hide the fact that he had been shaken up by finding Muroki like that, knowing that his brother wasn't exactly able to control which lions felt like attacking him or not.

[TheWhistlerify]

Spoiler: show

Sorry for the long absence. I've been trying to think of how to continue the plot.

Was that it? Like, seriously. Was there even a point in being relieved by that point or was Muroki going to find himself almost dying again in about five minutes? The young lion genuinely didn't know what to think anymore and, quite frankly, just asking himself all of these questions was giving him a severe headache. That and probably the blood loss, even it wasn't major.

This whole thing of giving his brother a heart attack and then returning home for Umeme to also get worried sick was really getting old. His mate was bound to take this very badly considering how it clearly wasn't the first time. Also, the fact that he'd seen and spoken to her just a few minutes ago was probably going to make it all the more unsettling.

So when Delano told him to stop scaring him like that, Muroki got the slight urge to ask him what he genuinely wanted him to do. For real, if his brother had any ideas... But instead, he merely sighed and kept a neutral expression.

"We should probably go back..." Kato eventually pointed out. "Dad is probably starting to worry..."

"Hm?" The young, still unidentified lion seemed as though he'd just snapped out of a daydream. "Oh." Whatever. "I'm not carrying that, though..." He pointed at the dead lion.

Hatari rolled his eyes. "Doesn't matter. I'll do it."