[ty_tay]

Username: ty_tay
Lion Name: Nikita
Lion Gender: Female
Pride: The Voha
Pride Status: Peacekeeper
Prompt:
"Who are you?"

"What? Who's there!?" The lioness woke from her slumber suddenly, gazing about the small dark den shed found the night prior. Her eyes narrowed looking as she listened for any intruder.

"Who. Are. You?" The voice came again. It seemed to echo softly around her, yet nothing broke the outline of darkness.

Wip

[wucaian]

wucaian | Mountain Pass Pride
Vaknoir | Founder, Myth | Agender

Vaknoir was the founder of the Mountain Pass Pride, or so the legend says. Through time his story has come to be more fiction than truth. A few doubt the legend is even true, as Vaknoir has not been seen in centuries. The Pride tells tales of Vaknoir’s great strength and magical power. His towering presence a comfort. They tell tales of the gifts he bestowed upon their Pride, before one day vanishing back up the mountain.

Vaknoir, the mountain god. His coat was dark like river stone, and his eyes glowed white as snow. He had horns like the wildebeest upon their head,but these branched like the bare limbs of a tree. Long before my grandmother was born, before her grandmother, and her grandmother before her, our Pride lived in a faraway land. There the sun baked the valley every day, and our ancestors hid in the shade. But they were trapped. The valley was surrounded by mountains with peaks that rose into the clouds. They could not escape their prison home. For just as they could not survive the sun, they could not survive the cold at the top of the mountains. Many tried to find a path over them, and each failed. Then one day, Vaknoir came. His frosty breath steamed in the heat of the valley, and his mane of ice dripped like rain.

Children, he said. For even then he was far older than those ancient lions. They were like newborn cubs before his immortal paws. I can bear this no longer. I have watched your kin enter my home and perish. Even in their last moments wishing to save you from this heat.

They say his eyes wept icy tears that fell to the ground and shattered at their feet.

Who are you? our ancestors aked. For they could not believe that salvation had found them at last.

I am Vaknoir. Come, he said. I will guide you through the mountains. To a place where you may live without fear of the sun.

But great Vaknoir! they cried. You have seen how we cannot survive the cold. How can we follow you?

Vaknoir leaned down to rest his muzzle on the head of the closest lion. Be at peace young one, he said. His icy breath alone chilled them as wind in a blizzard. I will not let harm come to you and your kin. I will grant you a piece of my power so you may cross even snow covered lands. To you and your children, and your children’s children, I promise this.

Our ancestors followed Vaknoir to the base of the mountain, where he fed them each a piece of his icy mane, and then they ascended. The higher they climbed the colder they knew it would become. But what a great shock they had! Even when they had climbed so high that snow and ice coated the rocks, they felt no colder than if they had stood amidst a rainstorm. Vaknoir led them across the mountains for many days and many nights. Just as they thought their paws would fall off from walking, Vaknoir said it was time to descend. At the base of the mountain they found a paradise. The grass was springy and soft, the rivers clear and cool. The grasslands and vegetation climbing the cliffs held plenty of fat prey. Their meat was soft and juicy, not tough and dry like before.

Vaknoir stayed with our Pride as they settled into our new home. For he had come to care for us as his own children.

Vaknoir did stay with his Pride for many generations. Though he had not borne them, after watching from his home, he had come to see them as his own. And he was lonely. He had had no companionship for so long. The only creatures he saw were lower on the cliffs, because nothing survived where he made his den. And the lions that died, lost trying to pass through the mountain range.

Vaknoir was born in a storm of ice and lightning at the birth of the world. The winds howled and chunks of ice were flying sideways. The clouds crackled with lightning that glared off the flying shards. Then lightning struck the ice and Vaknoir was born in a flash of light. His eyes glow with the energy of the lightning that still burns in his heart. He was able to grant the lions resistance to the cold when they ate some of the ice from his mane that grows out of his body. His entire body is freezing to the touch, because his body was formed from ice and snow. He lived at the top of the mountains among the clouds, because that was all he knew. He had longed for a family, watching alone from the peaks.

There were other ways out of the valley, though the stories have forgotten. But where there wasn't cliffs, there were other lions. His Pride was hungry for a change. He was determined to end their suffering. So he met with the lions and promised to be their guide through the mountains. They journeyed for seven days and seven nights up and down the cliffs. Vaknoir taught them to hunt rodents and birds to sustain them through the journey. When the Pride arrived at the land he had promised them, Vaknoir stayed. He made his home in a cave on the mountainside, and the lions did the same, so as to be close to him.

Life was good for our ancestors when they settled our home. The streams were sweet and clear, and attracted the most delicious prey. They realized the caves provided shelter, and that Vaknoir’s gift protected them from the chill of the stones. That is why we make our dens in the mountain instead of in the grasslands.

But as time passed, others started to encroach on our home. Other Prides came, hoping to take our bountiful territory. These lions were big and strong. They had scars and were missing patches of fur. Their bloodlust shown in their eyes as they threatened our ancestors.. They came from a place with many lions and little prey to go around. They had to fight for every mouthful, and only the toughest survived.

Our ancestors fought bravely. They weren’t going to give up our home! But the interlopers outnumbered them, because so many had heard about our land. They were vicious when they fought. Many were hurt and died by their claws. The sounds of battle wrent the air! The enraged roars of the trespassers when our ancestors fought back. The cries of defiance as they stood in defiance. And the wails as they fell.

Just when they thought all hope was lost, Vaknoir came charging from the caves! Their cries had woken him from a deep slumber, and he would not stand by while his Pride was hurt! The sight of his massive form bearing down on them, impressive horns thrust forward to strike, freightened the vicious lions. But they would not back down. They thought that together, they could defeat our savior. But Vaknoir holds the strength of the mountain in his body, and the swiftness of a bird. He changed the trespassers and before they could blink, he was upon them.

The first lion fell to his mighty horns, the second by his claws, and yet another by his fangs. He raised his head, his horns and front dripping red, and stared down at the remaining attackers. Those lions fled, knowing the fate that awaited them if they stayed. Vaknoir surveyed the destruction of his Pride. So many lay dead and wounded. He walked with his head bent to the ones that still breathed. He cried for their pain and the lives that had been lost.

He vowed that never again would he leave his Pride so defenseless. He shared with us his strength. He gave us the strength of the mountains. And blessed us with the ability to grow horns so we may fight without fear of our adversary’s claws. He loved us dearly, and knew he could not always be there to protect us, although he would love nothing more. So he gave us the ability to fight for ourselves.

Vaknoir stayed with his Pride for many changes of the season. He watched the young grow and pass through their rites of age. He watched them learn to hunt and fight and find their place in the Pride. He also watched when they left to find a new Pride or found their own. Those moments were always bitter sweet, for he knew he could not hold them back when they had such a destiny, but he missed them terribly. He could never decide if it was worse not to know their fates, if they found happiness or lived long, or to watch as those he knew died. For he had come to know his Pride, even more than the ones who had died in his mountain home. Even more than when he had watched them from above. Heartbreak was a new experience for Vaknoir. He knew loneliness, intimately, it was almost his companion in a way. But this heartbreak as he watched his friends and loved ones grow and die, that was new.

He stayed as long as he could. He watched over them, hunted with them, played with them, celebrated and mourned. But after many countless seasons, he could bear it no longer. Their mortality weighed on his heart until he felt he was being smothered beneath it. So, with a last tearful farewell, he left. He could not stand to go back to how things were, watching them from afar when he could not touch, but now knew the warmth of true companionship he lacked. So he crossed the mountain range. Travelling far and wide, until he found a new home high amongst the peaks, far from any Prides to which he may become attached.

[MySpoons]

ＴＨＥ...ＷＩＮＴＥＲ...ＳＰＩＲＩＴ...ＯＦ...ＩＣＥ...❄...ＩＳＯＬＤＥ

ＴＨＥ ＮＥＷ ＧＵＡＲＤ ❄ ＦＥＭＡＬＥ ❄ ＷＡＮＤＥＲＥＲ ❄ ＭＹＳＰＯＯＮＳ

[please use the page links, as I posted the pages out of order by accident D:]

[Page 1]................................. [Page 2]................................. [Page 3]



[Page 4]................................. [Page 5]................................. [Page 6]



[Page 7]................................. [Page 8]................................. [Page 9]



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During the day the Ice Spirit walks the earth with the mortals, granted a mortal life three times by the Allfather like her sister and brother winter spirits. At night, she serves Skadi and resumes her spirit form to walk unseen by mortals back to the skies where the land of the gods floats out of sight.

Her arrival to the valley during this unusually intense winter is not an accident-- the wanderings of the spirits bring forth a richer, colder, stronger winter to the lands in which they wander. Perhaps here is where the Ice Spirit will find her mortal family to mend her heart...?

[Art by ~Soul~]

[Sixbane]

Sorry on my delay ive been busy, but this one is closed and Ill get it judged asap!

[Sixbane]

Sorry on my delay, this one was very difficult to judge

Winner of this kid will be MySpoons
as the work you put in was obvious, the comic showed a lot of personality and development, and the concept itself was unique and well thought out; and im curious where you'll go with this kid in the future

with a runner up to wucaian as I found your form and concept to be unique, well considered, and wonderfully built as a character

And honorable mentions/nods to these forms as well! If I had the time i'd do ru's for you guys too because your forms were also very well done.
Tiger♥Bear, Isabella45 and mid-life

[Firedancer77]

Ahhh major congrats! All the forms were so cool, you guys did a great job!

[wucaian]

Thank you so much! Congrats MySpoons!

[Mid-life]

Congrats spoons and wucaian!! Definitely well deserved~ Can’t wait to see more of this lion around the community

[MySpoons]

Aaaaaa thank you! Everyone had lovely entries, it was certainly a tough competition

[-Isabella-]

Congrats to wucaian and spoons! I'm excited to see what kind of cubs this lion has.