[Firedancer77]

Username: Firedancer77
Lion Name: Dionysus
Link to Pride: Isle of Roses
Pride Status: Prisoner
Prompt:

Time has driven the former Oracle of the Mountain Pride mad.

Dionysus had an easy life till the ancestors interfered. It's easy to assume this is because of his four eyes; in fact, that assumption is correct. However, it is not the fact that he has them, but rather the gift that came with them, that has made his existence so miserable.

One set of eyes to see the future, and one set to see the past. Such a gift should have opened one up to possibilities of endless power...but someone neglected to give him a set to see the present. It was an attempt on the ancestors' part to convince Dionysus to take the role laid out for him. He had no interest in becoming the Oracle of the Mountain Pride, despite it being his destiny to do so due to his ability to actually commune with them and host their spirits. The gift chosen to persuade him was the ability to see forward and backward in time, a gift Dionysus had never even asked for and had never wanted, but the ancestors bestowed it upon him all the same.

Bestowed it like it was some honor, as if Dionysus should thank them for the debilitating curse they'd laid upon him. No matter what he does, the lion cannot see what is presently happening around him. He can see what's happened minutes earlier, or what will happen minutes later, but the present itself is something he cannot see. It's made all the worse by what Dionysus' other five senses can sense, for no matter what time he views, he still can hear, smell, feel what is going on in the present. It is only his sight that refuses to register his current surroundings.

It's no wonder he hates the Mountain Pride and had to be locked away, made a prisoner to ensure he doesn't hurt himself or others. How could one not lose their mind when time itself has warped the way you can interact with the world?

[339 words]

[Spotted.Newt]

Username: Spotted.Newt
Lion name: Kao
Lion gender: male
Pride: The Cosmos
Pride status: Jedi Knight, Seeker
Prompt:

When Kao was born, he looked like any other cub. He had some strange markings on his forehead, but no one thought anything of it.

Until the day those markings blinked open and revealed an extra set of eyes. That was the day the cub began speaking of strange things, following ghosts into the forrest and having an uncanny knack for winning hide and seek.

They thought he was cursed. When a Jedi came and told his pride that he was Force-sensitive, and offered to take him to train as a Jedi, the pride was secretly glad to be rid of him.

It was the Jedi who gave him the language to describe what he saw. Kao could see the Force itself. He could see the way it pooled around living beings, could see the way it flowed, leaving a path behind when someone wandered off. He could see where it collected to form a Touch-Point, an area where a Force portal is hidden in something mundane like a boulder or wall. And yes, he could see Force-ghosts, ones that weren't strong enough to present themselves to regular lions in the traditional way.

With an understanding of his powers, Kao became a valuable member of any team. Tracking a villain? No problem, Kao could see the wisps of their aura that lingered on objects they had touched, and follow the thread of their existence within the Force. Trying to find a way home? No problem, Kao could find the nearest Touch-Point.

So, it was no surprise when Calian came to Kao for help when his padawan went missing.

"Would you calm down?" Kao said. "I can't see ANYTHING with how much anxiety you're giving off. You're a huge cloud of purple."

"Sorry, sorry," Calian forced himself to stop pacing and focused on taking deep breaths, pulling his emotions back behind his mental shields.

"Thank you." Kao turned his attention to the rock that held the portal Sienna had fallen through. It was a beautiful portal, really. The Force cradled the rock like a cub cradled within its mother's paws. Curious, Kao reached out to it with the Force, stretching one tan tendril to brush against the multi-color haze that enveloped the rock. The haze seemed to recoil, and then it flared, and Kao was thrown back.

"Oof."

"Are you ok?"

"Fine," the lion grunted. He stood again, and frowned at the rock. He could see traces of a dark maroon within the haze.

"It's hurt," he said.

"A Force portal is... hurt?" Calian echoed skeptically.

"Yeah. I don't think it's supposed to be a portal, just a Force-sensitive rock. Someone made it be a portal."

Calian deflated. "So we can't go through."

Kao shook his head. "No. I'm sorry, Calian. The amount of energy it takes to force a portal where one doesn't naturally exist.. someone could get really hurt."

The green lion nodded sadly. "I understand."

"We'll find her," Kao said gently. "There's always another way."

[498 words]

[MySpoons]

Username: MySpoons
Lion Name: Svantovit [slavic, four-headed god of war and light]
Link to Pride: The New Guard
Pride Status: Blessed Healer
Prompt:

Svantovit was born with two sets of eyes. Maybe it would have been a curse to the small cub if Svantovit's mother was not as clever as she was. Svantovit's mother sobbed and made hysterics about a shrine and visions of a lesser-known god. The god-fearing pride ate it up. Instead of seeing the newborn cub as a threat, a monstrosity, they saw Svantovit as a blessing.

From the beginning, Svantovit was treated differently. Honored by the pride, trained in secret by Svantovit's mother. The pride adopted neutral pronouns for the young cub after Svantovit's mother did so, mimicking the style of how that pride honored religious figures. Tovit, as they were nicknamed, grew up with this purpose placed heavily on their shoulders. Even before the pride know what special sight Svantovit possessed.


It was not prophetic sight, unfortunately. But Svantovit's mother took that in stride. The first pair of eyes that opened was the top set, much earlier than most cubs. Svantovit could track the movement of other lions easily, orange eyes locking onto others with ease. The second set of eyes opened after a normal amount of time, but they did not focus as well or notice more than light, shadow, and movement.

Svantovit's ability to follow lions with their gaze even at a few days old was another sign that their mother pushed onto the pride as another gift from the gods. It was only when the cub was much older did their mother learn that Svantovit's sight was based on the heat of life. Svantovit could see living creatures through thin walls and across fields with their first sight. That was what allowed Svantovit to 'see' lions from such a young age.

Of course, Svantovit's mother fed it to the pride as an ability to see life. No mention about heat-- which the intelligent lioness had put together her self. She made sure to feed that same idea to her only cub, forever fearful that they would be shunned-- or worse-- once no one was around to protect them.

Svantovit's other eyes were not as helpful. The cub was almost blind, unable to see well unless things were right in front of their nose. At least it was no handicap when paired with Tovit's other sight. Tovit could walk and care for themselves well enough. They had time.


Svantovit's mother ensured Tovit would become so necessary to the pride, the other lions would never think of getting rid of the four-eyed lion. As Svantovit grew, so did their knowledge of healing and religion. Their mother worked many night hours studying obscure artifacts, tracking down myths and legends in order to recite them back to her child in the hopes that all this knowledge could protect her only cub. This was all framed as the young Svantovit needing a messenger to follow the calls of the gods while they were still too young to travel.

All of the knowledge Svantovit's mother gathered, Tovit learned. Medicine was easier at first-- but then Svantovit's mother brought back seeds of faraway herbal cures and treatments with the precise knowledge to grow and administer. All of this was done in secret, away from the pride, for Svantovit's status as blessed allowed their mother to leverage a quiet den away from the rest of the pride.

The older Svantovit got, the more the pride believed the blessing. Tovit was not a lion nor a lioness. Their hair grew in some, but not in a full mane. They didn't bulk up like the other male cubs, either. But they were larger than the lionesses older than them. It was another sign of godliness-- to be separate from the confines of mortal bodies. Tovit was too busy with their studies, unaware that this was feeding the masquerade their mother had created surrounding the strangeness of their appearance from birth.


It was only when Tovit's mother became old and ill did she reveal her scheming to her fully grown cub-- now a Blessed Healer of the pride. Svantovit did not rebel against the lies-- they only felt frustration and sadness that so much of what they believed was fabricated... Tovit was determined to show their ailing mother that they could be trusted with such a secret. If anyone ever knew this was fake, the two of them would pay for their deceit in the cruelest of ways.



"All the better to see you with, I suppose."

It was Svantovit's most repeated phrase, after the prayers and hymns of the lesser gods, of course. The young cubs of the pride were either frightened or fascinated by Svantovit's strange appearance. The extra eyes were only half of it-- their hair was kept in an unusual cut and braided, often with jewelry and symbols of the gods Svantovit honored. The long fur on their tail was treated in a similar manner. Often, Tovit was dressed in beautiful jewelry and silks, with woven bags serving as places to store herbs when they worked. It gave Svantovit an aetherial appearance in combination with four glowing eyes and the undescribable but intoxicating herbal scent blend that surrounded them.


Svantovit could see infection before it set it, seeing and feeling the increased heat from a poorly healing site. This can be treated and dealt with before the cub would even feel it. Their skills in healing were unmatched among the local prides. Svantovit's ability to treat with both of their sights, their knowledge, and their keen sense of smell made it so that even difficult cases could be treated. Sometimes even the neighboring prides would pay steep prices to beg Svantovit to see their injured members.

All of this was done under the control of Svantovit's greedy king. Svantovit could not leave the camp without permission or a guard-- which suited the healer just fine. It had been years since Tovit's mother passed. The masquerade had not faltered once.

Considering the short, unhappy lives of other 'cursed' cubs, Svantovit knew their situation could get very, very worse.


[996/1000 words]
*excluding the phrase about seeing you wrote

[ataraxic_gone]

Username: irockwaffleking
Lion Name: Aion
Link to Pride The Pantheon
Pride Status: Member of Time’s solace (monastery)
Prompt: -snip-

I fell absolutely in love with this story! The way the story is told and the way you integrate personality and the characters view of the world is *chef's kiss*.

I also loved MySpoons and Nia the Elf's entries so I'll be awarding RU's to them!

Thank you all for the entries ;0; I enjoyed reading them all!

[Mercuré]

Username: irockwaffleking
Lion Name: Aion
Link to Pride The Pantheon
Pride Status: Member of Time’s solace (monastery)
Prompt: -snip-

I fell absolutely in love with this story! The way the story is told and the way you integrate personality and the characters view of the world is *chef's kiss*.

I also loved MySpoons and Nia the Elf's entries so I'll be awarding RU's to them!

Thank you all for the entries ;0; I enjoyed reading them all!

Ahh thank you (for both the lions and comments on story)! I’ll take good care of him :)

Also Yay now I can read other peoples entries

[Nia The Elf]

Thank you so much! Congrats Mercury, your entry was really fun to read <3

[MySpoons]

omg congrats, irockwaffleking, that story was so epic!


thanks so much, King, for the adopt and comp! Super stoked to have a lion by one one day <3