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Kobe- Swahili for "tortoise"
Born during the era of Mlinzi the Protector, died during the era of King Ganda.
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In the early days of the Shaded Stones pride, Kobe was discovered by Mlinzi himself as he patrolled his own lands. The dark-furred lioness was easily visible from a distance, moreso due to the fact that she was clearly limping. Mlinzi approached the wary lioness, and before she could say a word, informed her that he meant no harm and wanted to offer her a safe place to spend the night. The lioness slumped to the ground in relief once she realized Mlinzi was not a threat, and at that moment, he spotted a tiny cocoa-colored head peering out from behind her. She had a cub with her!
Once the lioness, who introduced herself as Kobe, was resting comfortably at the Pridetree with a juicy zebra haunch in her belly, she explained her situation to Mlinzi. The father of her young son, Ganda, was unknown (she refused to go into detail on how exactly THAT had come to be). When her pride's king noticed that the cub did not look like him, he flew into a rage. Fearing for her child's life, Kobe fled the pride with him that very night. She had been traveling ever since, looking for another pride that would welcome them in. Her leg had been injured a day previously as she tried to defend a kill she'd made from opportunistic hyenas. Ganda, who Kobe had told to stay hidden, leaped out of the brush at his mother's cry of pain and charged at the hyenas, squeak-roaring as fiercely as he could. The cub's appearance startled the scavengers just long enough for Kobe to grab him and make a getaway. Kobe ended her tale with the remark that she was lucky to have been found by Mlinzi, as her leg would have probably become infected in another day or two, and she almost certainly would have died on her own.
In the following days, Mlinzi found himself keeping a close eye on the cocoa-colored cub. The cub's bravery in protecting his mother from the hyenas had made an impression on the wise king. He himself was currently the only male in the pride, and while it was nowhere near time for him to even think about choosing an heir, he would greatly be aided by having a young apprentice to help him patrol the lands and keep enemies at bay. And in the future, who knows - maybe young Ganda would prove himself worthy of running the Shaded Stones pride.
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