- name;; tufani
name meaning;; "storm, tempest" in Swahili
age;; four years
alliance;; southern pride
position;; queen
kin;; hidaya (mother - deceased), mwiba (father - deceased)
personality;; rough but even-tempered. she's clever and presents a strong, polite appearance. she is compassionate to a length; no cub will ever be turned down, but to rogue males she's less willing to work with. she's still fair, though, and nothing like execution has ever come to her mind.
backstory;; her mother was an exotic lioness who came from a pride that lived in high mountainous regions. she had joined the delta island pride as an adolescent, unaware of the situation with the royals. she became a huntress, fit and young and strong. over time she came to despise the pride as the leadership was twisted and violent. tufani's father was just some rogue that hidaya met and fell in love with. the child born of their union was a beautiful she-cub. mwiba, her father, was not as attached to hidaya as she was to him, and he left her. as a rogue, though, it was dangerous for him to continue to lurk around the delta island pride's land anyhow. however, hidaya cherished her daughter and cared for her as best she could. yet the delta island pride was a threat to her child, and she was frightened for tufani's life with all the tumult. after the death of king nakama, she decided it was time to flee. taking her now-adolescent daughter, she fled from the territory.
however, as she did, one of the pride guards caught her. she furiously fought, and even tufani assisted, drawn by the anger of her mother and the notion that this pride was very bad and that this was very serious. to the surprise of the youngster, the guard lay dead. when she looked to her mother, she found hidaya half-conscious, bleeding and collapsed. rushing to her side, tufani urged her mother to get up, that everything was okay... she woke next morning, realizing she had fallen asleep against her mother's side. hidaya was cold, and as tufani looked at her, she knew that her mother was dead too. the cub was too aware of the danger to howl her grief, but as she fled the rest of the way, tears painted her cheeks.
she managed to survive, having learned meager hunting skills from her mother, and even a bit of defensive skills. as she reached adulthood, she looked up on the delta island pride with a silent hatred. however, she didn't let it show for the sake of safety. as she walked the land, she encountered others, victims of the delta island's cruel reign. tufani began to band together a group, one that looked to her as queen. she graciously rose to the position, vowing to herself that she would do her best to keep this pride safe from the harm of king ghariki's rule.
