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It had been a while, days, a moon or two, he didn't really know for certain. But it had been a while since Avahk had had a chance to find his favorite lion in the whole pride. If he didn't know any better, he'd have said that Fuu didn't want to be found! But that was silly. Fuu was a Lord, and married to Selene. Everyone wanted to find them!

The young lion didn't know too much about what it was Fuu did, but he knew that Selene would one day be the Queen, since she was the Heiress now, and that would eventually make the purple lion King - which was really, really cool if you asked Avahk. Kings didn't just stand up and look important, they got to do important stuff too! He wasn't too clear about all of what they got to do, he was still learning some of this stuff about how the pride worked, but it was all important and that was good enough for him!

But what mattered most was that he'd asked an older lion if they'd seen Fuu and been pointed in this direction. And lo and behold, there he was! Avahk approached the adult excitedly. No sneaking, he wasn't a silly cub to do that anymore.

Oh my. Fuu had talked to him! Had initiated conversation! This could be the happiest moment of Avahk's life thus far. And...the older lion had stopped. Paused. Seemed to be waiting for a response. Oh! Right! He was supposed to reply! Say something. Say anything!

"Hi!" the boy replied, voice going a bit higher than normal. He cleared his throat and tried again, embarrassed by sounding like his sisters. "Hi." Oh great, now he sounded like an idiot...quick, he had to think of something else to say!

"You remember me, right?" He thought the purple lion had probably noticed him following at one point or another (it had been a common game for him as a cub, something he'd now outgrown as a juvenile) so he'd hope Fuu would know him. But...what if he hadn't? What if there were so many young lions that trailed him throughout the pride, and grey wasn't that uncommon a coloration, that Fuu didn't remember him? Oh, that wasn't even worth thinking about, but Avahk couldn't get the fear out of his mind!

Shadow, huh? That put a new complexion on it. He'd thought that he'd been...well, he didn't really know, but the way Fuu said it, it sounded so much better than anything Avahk could have ever come up with! More proof that the purple lion was the most amazing creature in the pride. No, in the world! Avahk hadn't been born in the pride, he'd arrived here because his mother had led him and his sisters here to be raised by their father. So he'd seen a lot more of the world than lions who had lived in the Mwezi their entire life without leaving.

"Yeah!" the juvenile agreed readily. "Only it sounds a lot cooler when you say it," he added shyly. "I just called it sneaking and it was just a cub's game, really."

Though if he thought it'd be worth it, he'd "play" it again in a heartbeat.

Well now, that was a very good question. Avahk knew he'd had some vague thoughts about coming here today and actually talking to his hero, but the purpose behind them now escaped him as Fuu actually asked him about it.

"I...I want to be like you!" he blurted out at last. Horrified, he stuffed a paw in his mouth, as if by that action he could take back that awfully embarrassing statement. It was true after all, but he hadn't ever meant to tell Fuu that!

Oh damnit, what to do now...

"Well, uh, yeah," Avahk admitted sheepishly. It was amazing how Fuu saying something could make it the epitome of coolness...or the stupidest idea in the entire world. The juvenile had no idea what his father's opinion of Fuu was, in fact Yareha rarely mentioned the purple lion, even in passing, unless if Avahk brought him up first. Not that the younger lion noticed anything unusual about that.

"I mean, you're so cool! You're a Lord and you're Selene's husband and you're big and strong and just really really cool!" Avahk finished slightly breathless, and very nervous that Fuu would think him extremely uncool and ignore him or worse, tell him to go away. That would be...awful. The worst thing ever!

Avahk practically radiated joy as Fuu complimented him in turn. Fuu thought he was cool! And had noticed how much bigger he'd gotten! And thought he'd be big and strong! If he'd been a girl, the young lion might have fainted from all the excitement. As it was, he was quivering, restraining himself from bounding around in glee.

"Thanks!" he replied, since Yareha had drilled some form of manners into him and he knew he was supposed to say that when people said nice things to or about him.

"Well, I wouldn't want to be Selene's husband because she's a lot older than I am and that would be weird," Avahk replied after some consideration. "Plus she's not nearly as cool as you are." He thought about the other qualification, Lord. He knew that you had to be high class to have that rank, which he wasn't. He knew there was some way around the class you were born in, but it wasn't something that had mattered much before, so he hadn't paid much attention to that in lessons.

"I can't be a Lord though," the boy said sadly. "I'll have to be a Hunter, like my dad." Which was a shame, because his father also wasn't nearly as cool as Fuu. It wasn't fair!

Avahk's eyes grew wide as Fuu spoke. He...could be in the high class? He thought that only special lions were in the high class, like the royal kids, or Selene, or Fuu, or his cousins. He wasn't special though, so it seemed weird to think of that as a possibility for him.

And Fuu still helped out with the guards? That was...awesome!

"That's really really cool!" he exclaimed. "That you still do that, even though you don't have to. I bet all the guards think you're cool too!"

Okay, maybe the word cool was starting to be overused. He should think of a new word to use. A better word. But what else would sum up how amazingly awesome and uber cool Fuu was?

Avahk didn't really notice that Fuu wasn't nearly as enthusiastic, or even as cheerful as the juvenile. He wasn't the most observant of all creatures anyway. It was neat though, that he might be in the high class. But that was in the future, so it didn't really matter right now. He'd worry about that later. When he was older.

"You're welcome," he replied, remembering that was the proper response to 'thank you.'

"So...what are you doing?" the grey lion asked, curious as to what his hero was doing.