Icarus stood up, and due to being in the same spot in the den where he lied down, he simply assumed that he was in fact awake. He assumed that, and then heard Saul's voice from behind him. "Hey, finally got your attention again." Saul said, and laughed when Icarus whirled around in shock to face his spiritual brother. "Good to see you've been keeping in shape. Then again, not having to hunt your own food would leave much more time for weight training, eh?" Icarus knew it to be true; having a Pride to hunt for him as opposed to having to do it for himself meant that he had much more time to devote to honing his combat skills. As he followed Saul out to the lake in front of the den and looked at his reflection, he could see that it was more than just his mane that had gotten bigger. "Maybe so." Icarus conceded, and then turned to Saul.
"I wish we could talk while I'm awake." He said, voicing his innermost thoughts. Saul knew that was coming, and seemed to consider it before answering. "Well, a lot of Spirits are trying to reach the living world right now. And all of them think what they're doing is the most important thing ever. So this ain't as easy as you might think it is. But, hey, we're here now, right? That, and I think the Spirits actually do think what I have to tell you is of utmost importance." Saul finished nonchalantly, but Icarus wasn't so engrossed in his dream that he missed those words. "Of importance?" Icarus repeated. Saul had to know Icarus wouldn't miss that, but he raised his eyebrows anyway.
"I'm… actually surprised Mato isn't here to tell you this himself. What with his cub being here and all. And his oldest son being out with Lana right now." Now it was Icarus' turn to raise his eyebrows. "Mato? I mean, I know he's the son of a tyrannical demon, but that's only metaphorically true. Isn't it?" Icarus lead, but Saul did not follow the way he had hoped. "Oh… I guess it is too soon for you to know this, but Mato's dead now. He was killed this morning, in fact. By Iago." If the news of Mato's death wasn't shocking enough, then hearing who it was that carried this out nearly jolted Icarus right out of the dream world. As he looked into Saul's emerald eyes, he couldn't help but notice the disbelief within the speaker's own eyes just saying that. But the truth of that statement couldn't be denied, and as Saul continued Icarus felt uneasy.
"If that's true, then… that can only mean that what you, Dad and the others showed me has come to pass already. And that means…" As Saul nodded and the world around him flashed white, Icarus literally jumped himself awake. As he did so, his feet landing got the attention of his son and his playmates. "Dad?" Jai asked, and the look of concern on his face was shared by the other three cubs present. However, it was the male cub with blue eyes, peach fur and the blonde tail tuft that held Icarus' rapt attention. "Don't worry cubs, it's just an emergency." Icarus looked to where Akato was sleeping, and didn't even care that he was slacking off on his assignment of watching the cubs. "Akato!" Icarus said with a little more force than he intended, but the reddish-brown lion was jarred awake nonetheless. "Who? What? Where?" Akato said as he was launched back into reality, and upon seeing the urgency etched into Icarus' face he became nervous. "We have to go. Now! Lana and Masika both are in danger!" Icarus belted out, and the worry on the other cubs' faces was all the prompting Akato needed. "Okay. Let's go!" He said, as he exited the den. "Well, funs over, kids. Let's get you all ho-" Nyota started, and Icarus cut her off right there. "NO! Whatever you do, do not- I repeat- DO NOT send Davu back to the Goldlands!" Iacrus said with such finality and emergency that Nyota didn't even think to argue.
As Icarus and Akato raced to the border of the Goldlands, Icarus could only think one thought: I hope I'm not too late.