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Amni has arts <3 - http://oi58.tinypic.com/2yy4co3.jpg - by Nelcoma #28328
Somali for 'wildfire'.
A very hot headed little cub, so she lives up to her name in more ways than one. Her mother Isipho feels that she will be good to take on her Lead Huntress role once she retires, but she must learn to kurb her hot temper and use it productively.
She has to learn to entertain herself as a cub, as her mother is hunting a lot of her waking life. This does not mean that she is lonely, as there are lots of mother figures in the pride for her to have fun with. She does miss her *actual* mother (her temper swings are blamed on this), but the short times spent with Isipho are very much enjoyed and valued, and she loves to hear hunting tales such as how her mother gained her scars.
She also adores her two older brothers, and they are very protective over her. She goes exploring with Xuba, and gets storytelling by Ruwe. Whether she wants it or not, this protectiveness will last her whole life!
Jibes that her father is an escaped tiger were quickly stopped by her mother, who nobody should really mess with.
Now she is becoming an accomplished huntress, as was hoped, she has found out that her preferred hunting place is the waterhole, for the bigger and more challenging prey. She relishes a hunting challenge. She is pushing herself very hard to become the next lead huntress, and her mother worries that maybe she pushes her body too hard. But Amni will not listen to her warning; she is young and fit, what is there to worry about , she pshaws.
She is very much against being bred on her first heat and is doing anything to avoid it; either by being away on hunts, or directly scrapping and growling at any potential suitors. This despairs her mother, who insists it will only have to be this one time, and it will help prevent certain illnesses in future that could keep her from her beloved hunting.
Nevertheless, it will take one determined lion to take her on, so to speak XD
Motherhood appears to have changed her in some ways, and accentuated her protective, fierce streak in other ways. Her mother Isipho is very proud of her four cub litter of granddaughters, and says to Amni that she was meant for breeding all along. Amni scoffs and says it isn't very likely that I want to go through that ever again.
So, retirement day for her mother has approached, and Isipho is welcoming it. She has a chat with her daughter, granddaughter and 2 sons, to try and prepare them for when she is no longer around in a year or so.
Xuba tries to be the sensible oldest sibling but fails, tears running down his Creamy pelt while listening carefully to his mothers' instructions to him. Ruwe is brooding as ever, but his huge face framing mane cannot fail to hide his sadness.
Amni bumps heads with her mother affectionately, and *appears* to be the most unaffected of the 3 of them. When, in reality, she is dreading the loss of her mother, who she has never really told she loved, and proceeds to whisper it to her gently, bluntly, with no further reasoning, while her emotions are whirling round her head. Then, to hide the tears, she runs from the den with her brothers looking after her in astonishment. Isipho smiles to them sadly and tells them to leave her be for now, however much they want to baby her. Fuya is surprisingly grown up about it, but still the sadness shows while she says to her grandmother that she will look after her uncles and mother. Isipho smiles. Fuya always makes her smile.
Once Amni has calmed down, Isipho goes to have a little chat with her alone. The two lionesses end their conversation and walk back to the pride, sides touching, with the younger lioness supporting her mother. Isipho announces to the pride that at the age of 14 years old (general mumbled astonishment from the lionesses) she is stepping down from her position as Lead Huntress and handing her position down to Amni, whose head is held high, eyes sparkling with tears. This is met with general approval, and the lionesses congratulate Amni on her new position and proceed to bombard her with various questions, the most prominent being 'so who is going to be your second?'
She shakes her head, unable to talk. When the questions continue she turns her back with a snarl and leaves, leaving her mother to answer best she can.
When she has calmed down further, she puts some thought into who could be her second, trusted second in command of the hunting parties, as even this proud lioness admits she needs some help organising and filtering such information as who goes well with who, as she is no good at the social stuff.
She thinks through her options. Casaan she lingers on, but the red lioness is too cruel for her liking. Vutha, she shudders as if to get the thought out of her head. Her minds fall to some of the new lionesses. Jambazi, maybe, but she tends to take her favourite bits for herself, and this hasn't gone un-noticed by Amni's sharp eyes. Haiba, hrm, a lovely girl but a bit too flighty. Sherehe, lets her mouth do the thinking (Amni rolls her eyes). Her eyes snapping open, she thinks of Sifihle, the lioness she has been admiring for her camouflaged pelt, good hunting skills and what seems to her like an organised mind. A good all rounder, she thinks. I'll ask her tomorrow.
Well, that was easy. Gosh, I hope she accepts, no one else is really suitable...
Her mother passed just before her 5th birthday. She doesn't let her sadness show, but keeps Isiphos' prized Buffalo skull beside her in her sleeping spot in the Den. She remembers playing in it as a cub, and it is the closest she will get to a cuddly toy, or a security blanket. She dwarfs it now, she can barely get her own head inside it. Gosh does she ever miss her mother.
So, at the start of her eighth year, the news that her only daughter wants to leave the pride is saddening to her. She regrets not being closer to her, but regret does nothing, so she spends all the time she can with Fuya and trying to make things right. She knows her daughter is as stubborn as she, so her mind won't be swayed, but Fuya appreciates it none the less, and the pair part on good grounds.
In a way Amni is happy her daughter has gone to a place where she will be more appreciated, but a change is noted in her by her friend and second Sifihle. She becomes more distanced and focusses even more on hunting, if that is possible. She is the best hunter the pride has ever seen, made stronger by all that has happened to her.
Now she has no family left in the pride, (even though her late mothers' best friend Umusa still has 3 daughters in the pride. They are decent huntresses, and well natured, but still.)
So her mind turns to who will take her place when she gets too useless to hunt. She growls at the thought, which makes her friend Sif and her daughter Seth stop at their play and question her intentions.
Ever a lioness of few words, she has trouble getting her thoughts across, but Sif knows her worries after knowing the lead huntress for so long.
More recently, Sifs' little daughter Sethunya follows the untalkative lioness around when she isn't with her mother Sifihle, regaling her with tales of her day, which Amni finds rather repetitive and boring but, despite character and appearances, doesn't have the heart to tell her to get lost. Much to her own annoyance, she is feeling a certain fondness for her hunting companions' daughter.
She even find herself considering her as a potential heir to the lead hunters' position, as she shows a great interest in tactics and locations of various prey.
Considering to be the word, as Amni is full of thoughts at this moment. Now she has reached her 10th year (where did the time go?) she is worrying more than ever about the lead huntresses' position.
Eeeh, become a mother again, at my age? She ponders this. Cub-birth wasn't too bad, but it has a lot of mentally painful memories associated with it. Well, what is a little bit of pain to ensure the wellbeing of the pride, she thinks. I will find a male again on my last heat before I reach my 13th year, and if nothing good comes of it, Sethy can have my position. At the worst she will be the 2nd in command. She yawns with satisfaction, and heads in amongst the pride, lithe body swinging, as she finds the next hunting party.
Sifihles' younger daughter Tofauti is proving to be very good at hunting where her older sister Seth isn't. This throws Amni into even more turmoil. She has desired to have one last litter with a very handsome young primal stud, the only male she found worthy of taking her on, and will see what comes of it. Now she is nearing her 13th year she is reluctantly coming around to the fact that she is responsible for choosing a new lead huntress and she wishes to pass her stats and skills onto someone with her hunting bloodline.
Her last litter proved fruitful - one very large, red cub from a savage father. The cub is rather brutal and Amni is slightly worried but hopes she can channel it into something useful before she passes.
The cub does look up to her mother and is rather blinkered when it comes to hunting - but, she proves excellent at it. Her bloodlust may come in useful yet, but the other lionesses worry what effect such a ruthless lead huntress will have on the hunting parties.
As Sifihle reached and passed her 14th year she can feel her rogue bones begin to age and creak. Years of living a hard life without a pride has taken its' toll and she sadly informs Amni that she needs to retire. Amni snorts. "But you are only my age! We have at least a year left in us yet!" Sifihle smiles sadly. "You were born and raised here. You have been taken better care of than I, but during my life here I could not have asked for a better hunting partner," Sif stops, watching Amni closely,"...and friend."
Amni frowns and bumps heads with Sifihle. "Make sure you are looked after, you hear? We can still spend time together when I am not hunting." She turns, head down, and doesn't say another word, which is as good as you will get from this lioness. Sif looks after her with a small smile for awhile and then goes to inform her two daughters.
Amni makes as if to find a hunting party, but instead, stops and turns towards the river, where she lays down to ponder awhile, back on her life, her pride and her best friend.
Well into her 15th year she still hasn't retired. Igazi is proud of her strong mother who still appears as if she is 5 years younger - yet she cannot attend every hunt anymore, and lectures her daughter when she is able. She is the only one Igazi will listen to and she hopes that she can continue to look after her headstrong daughter even after she passes.
2nd gen.
Daughter to Isipho and Aurum Aquilla.
Youngest sister to Xuba and Ruwe.
Mother of Fuya and Igazi.
1st (only?) litter -
4 cubs (all females) born 21st April '14. <- Fuya
2nd and last litter -
1 cub (female) Igazi, born 7th November 2017.
Level 19 - 28th June
Hit 600 out of 600 successful hunts!
Stats = 679 (minus Skill).
Level 20 - 11th July -
705/705 :3
Stats = 764 (+ 134 skill.)
Level 21 - 23rd July
816/816 :D
Stats - 858 (+ 152 skill).
Level 23 - 8th November -
998 / 1010
Stats - 1234 (+196 Skill.)
Level 24 - 26th November
1079/1091
Stats - 1343 (+ 209 skill)
1300 stats hit 19th November!
1400 stats hit 5th December!
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