[kyum-]

to adopt this lion, you must be have a founder and be level one. you may also adopt this lion as your founder.

this is a full-blood chinese guardian lion!

traits:
- glowing mane, leg fluff, tail
- fluff tail
- curly tail, mane and leg fluff
- leg fluff
- larger build (non-rarity)
- material (gold) markings
- smaller, pointier ears
- material (gold) claws
- fangs
- wispy mane, leg fur, tail
- fuzzy brows
- material (gold) nose and pawpads

foo dogs are protectors! tell me what this child protects; be as cliche'd or out of the box as you like.
feel free to add extras; 1000 words (excluding prompt) and 2 art pieces max.
ends: 10th may, 23:59 (cs time)

Username: Firedancer77
Lion name: Zareb
Lion gender: Male
Pride: Isle of Roses
Pride status: Praetego (a Spirit of Protection)

main thread I prompts/leveling up I artist search

[MCLAREN]

Username: crownie.
Lion name: Male
Lion gender: Ukahsiro
Pride:
Pride status:
Prompt:
res with a statue that guards the royal eggs inside

[EchoIre]

Username: EchoIre
Lion name:
Lion gender: Male
Pride: link to storage
Pride status: Wanderer
Prompt:
His face morphed from imperious disdain to fury in an instant. His lips curled, revealing almost comically large fangs. "I protect myself." He snarled. "You should do the same."

[Jantzi01]

Username: Jantzi01
Lion name: Koios
Lion gender: Male
Pride: The Ushirikiano Pride
Pride status: Guard
Prompt:
Koios was alone. He'd been alone all his life. He'd grown used to it, honestly. He had to learn how to fend for himself at a very young age. He grew up without relying on anyone, was never able to ask someone to help him, or how to do a task that seemed difficult. It hurt, but he never admitted it. There was no one who would listen, after all.

He'd begun to hide his emotions when he was fairly young. The world, as he knew it, was a cruel, unforgiving place. Any sort of misstep could mean death. So, in order to prevent any sort of error, he just hid his feelings away, and never let them get to him. It worked remarkably well. For a while at least.

When he was a few years old, he met Phoibe. Phoibe was alone, just like him. She was relieved to have finally seen someone. Koios, however, was fairly closed off. It didn't take long for her to break down his walls. Back then, he had little self control. And that would lead to his downfall.

For a while, they were great together. They would travel by day, and during the night, they would stargaze, and Koios would tell her all about the different constellations. He'd gotten good at seeing them over the years. They'd share meals, and tell each other ridiculous stories about how the world came to be.

But then, they met someone. And that someone's name was Fate. Phoibe fell deathly ill. Of course, Koios did everything in his power to heal her, but nothing worked. He had no idea where the nearest pride was, or if they'd even know what disease she had. So, he stayed by her, and guarded her weakened body, until she finally succumbed to the sickness.

Koios was left heartbroken. He left her grave soon after burying her. Remaining in that spot would leave him with nothing but more pain. So, instead, he ran. He ran as far and as fast as he could, before collapsing. When he awoke, he was surrounded by curious faces. He looked around and saw he was in, he assumed, a medicine den. He left quickly.

He was found later that day, in the Ancient Ruins. It looked as though he was planting a flower. Nobody dared to approach him. Instead, they waited for him to notice them. He looked down at his work sadly. It was a single orchid, gifted to him by Phoibe before she died. He returns to the Ruins daily, to visit the flower, make sure nothing has happened to it, and he has completely closed off his emotions. Nothing will ever break him down again.

[Kitten-Girl-500]

Excited! Mark!

[Runnersback]

💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
Username: Runnersback
Lion name: Mvelo (Zulu for Creation)
Lion gender: Male
Pride:Realms of L’Oasis Lo
Pride status:Throne
Prompt:[/1000]
💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛

[zoocyte]

mark ouo

[Ravenshadow17]

Mark!

[-Isabella-]

Mark!

[Firedancer77]

Username: Firedancer77
Lion name: Zareb
Lion gender: Male
Pride: Isle of Roses
Pride status: Praetego (a Spirit of Protection)
Prompt:

Kidogo was having a bad day. Granted, nothing particularly terrible had happened. Nothing particularly terrible ever seemed to happen, especially not to her. Not that she wanted anything terrible to happen to her; she definitely didn't want that. She just was tired of being protected from everything. But that whole tangent was beyond the point.

The point was that her siblings had once again been tailing her when she went out to hunt alone, and Kidogo was tired of it. Yes, she was the runt of their litter. Yes, she had been a bit sickly as a cub. But she was perfectly healthy now - Cuore and Mzatamo had both said so themselves multiple times - and she was perfectly capable of going out hunting by herself without them watching her. She wasn't helpless. She'd chewed out Fadhili and Kina the instant she'd caught them, which hadn't taken long at all, and thankfully, they had actually allowed her to go off by herself afterwards.

"Honestly," she huffed to herself, "acting like I'm always needing protecting. I'm not a baby. I can protect myself just fine. And even if I couldn't, how would they intend for me to get better then if I'm never given the chance to go out by myself?"

It was at that moment that she entered the clearing, which cut her monologue short.

She had never seen this place before. Kidogo was pretty sure she hadn't passed any of the pride's borders, and she was almost positive she hadn't accidentally wandered into the Trial Grounds. She was in the woods, sure, but they weren't spooky enough to be the Trial Grounds, and besides, her siblings would definitely have thrown more of a fit if she was near there. So how had she not seen this before? Had anyone?

It looked so peaceful and undisturbed among the trees. There was plenty of soft grass, all of which was a much lighter green than the stuff among the surrounding trees. The clearing was practically glowing, dotted with small flowers; it was as if it was part of a completely different world. And in the middle of it sat a decently sized rock. It was plain and gray; there was nothing special about it, at least not in its own right. No, what made it speak was the golden pendant that rested upon it.

"By the rose?" Kidogo muttered, slowly approaching and circling the rock as she got a good look at it.

Maybe it was just her curious nature that meant she never could seem to leave things be, or maybe it was to spite her family for always being so protective of her by not considering the consequences of an action, but Kidogo grabbed the pendant and slid it around her neck. For a moment, she just stood there, almost waiting for something to occur. She stared at the rock, ready for whatever taking the pendant would do, but nothing happened; she stood there for a few minutes, but despite staring even more intensely at it, she saw nothing interesting.

What a waste. Why was this place even here? She couldn't help complaining to herself as she spun around-

-and walked straight into something. No, not something, but someone. That caused her to promptly scream and scramble backwards, staring up at the creature which was now blocking her way.

"Took you long enough," it drawled, shaking its head as it got to its feet and looked down at her. "I thought you took forever to put the pendant on, but that was nothing when compared to how long you stared at that rock for. What did you even think it was going to do?"

Kidogo stared, taking the beast in. It was huge. It was gold. It was glowing. It was...a lion? She looked at his teeth, flinched, and then looked to his golden claws. The lioness swallowed back the scream that threatened to rip its way out of her throat, ears pinned back as she asked, "Who are you?" She hoped she sounded calm, because she was internally freaking out.

The larger lion chuckled till he looked at her face, and then he sobered, his eyebrows rising in confusion as he said, "I'm a spirit of protection."

Now Kidogo was really fighting not to scream. "Excuse me?" She said, her voice rising in pitch near the end as she struggled to keep her temper under control.

"A spirit of protection. A Praetego. My name is Zareb." For extra emphasis, the golden lion dramatically bowed before her.

"I don't want a spirit of protection."

Zareb, if that even was his name, frowned. "But you're the one who got yourself here. You have to be thinking about protection to even be able to find this place. Weren't you trying to get yourself protection?"

------

Zareb, as it turned out, did not take kindly to being ignored. Kidogo had decided that if she just didn't respond, he would go away and she would find she'd just imagined him. However, he was following her and making quite the fuss about her not responding, which only continued to irritate her. Her mind had to be playing tricks on her. That had to be it. She would go back, and when no one else saw him, it would be proof that he was a figment of her imagination.

Arriving at the entrance, Kidogo spotted Sasa by the entrance of the camp and made her way over to him. "Afternoon, Sasa!"

His eyes skipped straight over the spot that Zareb occupied as he smiled at her. "Afternoon, Kidogo. You seem awfully chipper. I like the necklace."

"Thank you!" She grinned. Zareb had to be in her imagination, since Sasa couldn't see him.

From behind her, Zareb commented, "I told you already, no one can see me except for you."

Kigodo resisted the urge to turn around and give him the stink eye, instead making her way into camp...only to pause as Sasa yelped in surprise. She spun around, eyes widening as she saw him now standing, looking around as Zareb sat by with a look of amusement, wiggling one of his paws at her as his claws glinted in the sunlight.

"Are you okay, Sasa?" Kidogo asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah, must've been a bug or something," he said, sitting back down.

Zareb smirked at her as she spun around and rushed into her den. If she slept on it, surely he'd disappear. She was just hallucinating. That had to be it.

------

Kidogo awoke to see Zareb sitting into her den, and she barely stifled her scream. "Yep, I'm still here," he said in obvious annoyance, shaking his head. "I don't see why you're so set on believing I'm not here. You're a princess, aren't you? Shouldn't you be required to have protection anyways?"

"I'm an heir, not a princess," she clarified, grimacing as she sat up, "and the Isle of Roses doesn't work like that. I don't want anyone to look out for me. I want to prove I can take care of myself."

"Yeah, doing a great job at that, Princess," Zareb snarked.

Kidogo scowled. "You don't even know anything about me."

"You tripped and fell on your face twice while coming back to camp."

"Leave me alone!" With that, the lioness stalked out of the den.

------

Kidogo quickly found that it wasn't a matter of simply getting away from Zareb. She had quickly ended up snapping when he kept following her, and that was when he revealed that as her spirit of protection, he had to stay nearby her. Neither of them had a choice in the matter.

So Kidogo did her best to ignore Zareb, and Zareb did his best to annoy her. He didn't like being ignored, and she didn't like being bothered. They were both stubborn idiots, and Kidogo was not going to be the first one to give up.

In the end, neither really stood down, they just naturally slipped into a relationship that was more playful than hostile. A stray posture correction from hunting here. A tip that her siblings' were tailing her there. As they both began to chat more, Kidogo learned more of Zareb's story, and quickly learned that his frequent need for attention was due to just how lonely life as a spirit of protection was. In return, Kidogo told more of her own story, and Zareb quickly came to understand why she had resented his presence so much.

"I can't teach you to fight if you're going to keep zoning out on me," Zareb reminded her, pulling her from her thoughts.

She rolled her eyes at her friend's tail lashing behind him impatiently. "I'm paying attention."

"No, you're not."

"Yes, I am!"

"Whatever you say, Princess." He gave her an infuriating grin, and Kidogo resisted the urge to try and claw his face.

Just because they were friends didn't mean she didn't still find him infuriating from time to time.

------

Kidogo had practiced with Zareb and honed her skills, and she was determined to prove herself to her siblings next time they play fought together. If she finally beat one of them in a fight, they would have to respect her and believe she could fight for herself.

And, finally, Fadhili suggested they fight again.

They tussled in a clearing with several pride members watching. Nasaba's kids were well-known for their playful fights against one another, especially the triplets; it had gotten to a point where some would actually place bets on the events. No one besides Kusafiri ever bet on Kidogo anymore, because she had her track record for always losing.

But this time, Kidogo was holding her own, though she was quickly beginning to fall behind her brother. In fact, she was certain he was about to have her and she was going to lose yet again when, suddenly, he tripped. She seized her opportunity, leaping on top of him and grinning down at him as he struggled and ultimately failed to get up from beneath her.

"I win, Fadhili!" she said with a smirk as the crowd gasped and someone, probably Cuore, cursed Kusafiri.

"Took you long enough," he said, and though he sounded grumpy, he had a huge grin on his face. "Guess you really can look out for yourself. You're lucky I tripped on the air though."

"Yeah, yeah, save your excuses for-" The lioness froze in the middle of her sentences, looking up from her brother to her pridemates.

That was when she noticed Zareb tugging his tail away from where Fadhili had leaped from.

"Yeah, whatever," Kidogo repeated, suddenly stepping off her brother and letting him stand up.

"Kidogo?" Fadhili asked, obviously concerned, but Kidogo didn't respond, just stalking away.

Zareb was quick to follow. "You did it, Princess! All our training paid off. Now they'll finally-"

Kidogo continued to face away from him as she finally came to a stop a ways away from camp. "I didn't win."

"W-what?" Zareb faltered. "What do you mean? You pinned him down."

"I didn't win honestly," she snarled, finally whipping around to face the spirit. "You interfered."

"I didn't-"

"Don't lie! Fadhili tripped. Tripped on air, or so he thinks. But he didn't, did he? You interfered!"

Kidogo stalked up, tail lashing, as Zareb began to try and defend himself, guilt written all over his face. "Okay, yeah, maybe I helped a little. But you worked so hard to beat one of them so that you could finally prove yourself to them. Now they'll tryst you to protect yourself!"

Kidogo's eyes watered as she glared at him. "It doesn't mean anything! I won because you cheated. I didn't prove anything!"

As tears slipped down her cheeks, Zareb softened. "I-I was just trying to help, Princess."

"Stop calling me that! You didn't help at all!" Kidogo's ears were flat against her head as she raised a claw to the gold necklace around her neck. "I don't want you around anymore."

Zareb's eyes went wide with realization. "Kidogo, wait, don't-"

Before he could finish, Kidogo ripped the necklace over her head and tossed it away. Her eyes were shut tight; she had no idea where it went. As she opened her eyes again, Zareb was gone.

In truth, she had realized very quickly after finding the necklace that that was what kept Zareb around. She wouldn't be able to see and hear him if she wasn't wearing it. However, for whatever reason, she had never taken it off to get rid of him, even in the beginning, when she was so frustrated by his presence. Maybe it was because Zareb was lonely. Maybe it was because she was. Maybe Kidogo just appreciated someone not babying her while helping her to improve herself so she could protect herself.

But now, even Zareb didn't seem to trust her to handle herself.

She didn't know if he was still there. It hurt, not being able to see him, but it hurt more to know he didn't trust her. Kidogo turned, trying to force her tears away as she stalked off.

------

Three days later, Kidogo had mostly gotten over Zareb's betrayal. She never would have thought it initially, but she missed the large, golden lion's presence. He had been trying to help, however misguided those attempts were, and how she had currently handled things didn't give them any way to make up. She had to fix that.

The only problem was, she had no way how to.

She looked for the necklace. Kidogo was certain she combed the entire territory, but there was no sign of it. None of her pridemates knew where it was either, though a few had noticed its conspicuous absence from her neck. She ended up just telling them she lost it. She even tried to get back into that clearing she'd initially found him, but she had no luck finding it again. Kidogo ultimately ended up wandering the territory, calling out for him, begging for him to give her some sign that he was there.

There was nothing.

It took several days before Kidogo finally gave up, no longer actively pursuing finding Zareb but instead just making sure to keep an eye out for him.

It wasn't until a moon after she'd initially tossed the necklace aside that Zareb actually made his presence known.

------

It was ironic that, after all those times where Kidogo didn't need help, the one time she actually needed protection, everyone thought she would be fine to take care of herself.

She hadn't intended to pass the pride's borders, but she had, and the alligator circling below was definitely reminding her of that fact. She'd just wanted to go for a swim, but the log she had passed was decidedly not a log. She'd managed to make her way to some rocks in the middle of the lake, managing to scramble up before the alligator could get her.

But now he was circling, and Kidogo didn't know how to get out of things.

And then, out of nowhere, came Zareb. The necklace Kidogo had found was now around his neck, banged up but still intact. He came rushing in like a white and gold angel, which Kidogo realized later was exactly what he was. In that moment, she was too caught up in the fact that Zareb had came, and he had come to save her.

He clawed at the alligator, snapping in a rage before finally flinging the alligator aside. It was definitely dead.

"You came," Kidogo said, her voice barely a whisper as Zareb stood on the rocks beside her.

"Miss me, Princess?"

"You left me for a moon!" She snapped after a moment of simply processing him being there.

"You sent me away," he reminded in turn.

Kidogo stared at him, eyes fastening on the necklace. "How?" she sputtered.

He shook his head. "I don't know. The ancestors? It's a miracle. I watched you from the distance, to make sure you were okay...and then you disappeared, and I had no idea where you'd gone off to or how to find you. But I just knew you were in trouble." He shook his head. "And somehow, I found you." Zareb sighed, staring into her eyes for a good long moment before turning away. "Now that you're safe, Kidogo, I'll...I'll go again."

"Don't," Kidogo urged, staring up at him, "please. Maybe..." she paused, shaking her head, "what you did was wrong. But protection...having someone to help protect you isn't the worst thing that could happen to someone. I obviously still am not ready to defend myself alone."

"What are you saying?"

"Please, don't leave me. I still need your protection."

Zareb grinned widely at her words. "Are you sure about that, Princess? You always said I was insufferable."

She smirked in return. "Guess I'll just have to be stubborn enough to be a match."