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He sat on a slight hill, or rather a raised plain just high enough to look down on the grazing herds in the distance, his light form silhouetted in the shade of a small tree. The young lion was silent, contemplative, a look of sorrow in his pale blue eyes as he looked out over the horizon, his red mane ruffling in the light breeze that rustled the leaves nearby.

Juhudi was no stranger to death having been touched by it at such a young age with the lose of his mother. But for one so young, that didn't make the lose any easier. And though he had only been in the lands and known its king for a short time, the old king had briefly filled a place that had long been empty in the adolescent's life.

A dark paw flexed, as if closing around something, the necklace he normally wore around his neck noticeably abscent. Perhaps the lose of the king had reminded him of the past, of something that he had been unprepared to face again.

Ears flicked at the sound of a familuar voice, his head turned to look at his friend. He gave her a small smile, and though it was strained it was sincere, he was truly glad to see her and welcomed her company.

He was silent for a moment, his posture shifting closer to her dark form, his head brushed against her shoulder in a gesture of friendship and perhaps mutal comfort. She had grown so much since they'd first met, as had he, they had matured.

"Yeah...I was just thinking. What about you?"

He nodded, looking down at his paw and the leather necklace that had belonged to his mother. The king's death had struck him hard, not only having lost the only father figure he had ever know, but it was all too close to how he had lost his mother on that day that she had given her life to save him from a vicious male.

But even in sorrow, there was something that spoke to him, that touched his heart, and it caused him to lift his head, looking toward the sky and the stars beyond. He knew they were there, even in daylight, he knew the stars still looked down, watching over those below.

"He's not really gone, he's up there...watching us, even though we can't see him. Maybe he's met my mother."

A soft smile touched his maw at that thought and he wondered what they would talk about and if they would say anything about him or the friend who sat beside him.

He closed his eyes, ears flicking as if trying to listen to the words they might say, smiling as he tried to imagine the conversations they would have. Audibly those who had passed on could not be heard, but the adolescent was certain they could and did speak to the heart.

"I think they'd talk about family and their adventures while they lived, about those they left behind. About us...and how proud they are."

As he spoke those last words, he turned to his friend, a smile of geniune happiness replacing the look of sorrow. He was certain that they would say that, he knew it deep in his heart, as certainly as he had ever known anything.

His paw closed tightly around the necklace he had held, lifting it to his heart as if it spoke to him, assuring him of his mother's vigilant watch from the stars. Motivated by what he wasn't sure, he rested his chin against his friend's shoulder, remaining close to her, perhaps it had just seemed like the right thing to do.

"Yes, I'm sure that's what they'd say."

His smile broadened, a faint laugh breaking through his jaws at the thought of his mother and the old king as cubs. Maybe they ran around like silly little cubs up there sometmes, restored to their youthful energy.

"Maybe even more so."

Somehow he could just imagine the old king as an energetic cub who insisted on exploring even the most dangerous places, and his mother terrorizing her own parents by running off after wildebeasts. Whether that image was accurate he could never know, but it made him happy to think it was true.

His posture shifted a bit, comfortably supporting her weight when she leaned against him, purring softly as his tail curled, a gentle embrace.

The young lion couldn't help but laugh.

"Or taunting wildebeast and chasing zebras."

His ears flicked a bit a bit at the reference to herself as a child in past tense. It was amazing how much they had both grown and matured, both adolescents now, himself rapidly approaching adulthood, his mane seeming to grow fuller each day. And while physically he knew he had grown, his heart would always remain that of a cub.

"Well, there's no reason you couldn't do that now if you wanted to."

He smiled at her, nuzzling against her affectionately, tail flicking, his mane ruffled in the light breeze.

"Maybe, but you're never to big to have fun."

Pale eyes looked at the lioness leaning against him, then to the land that surrounded them. This place truly was beautiful, a home to cherrish and protect. And it was here and now, with his friend in this place, that he truly felt that he had found where he was meant to be, he had found his place.