[Birth Stats: 1,274]
[Mother: Shizuka [Tserin]]
[Father: Magister [Tserin]]
[Decorless: http://i.imgur.com/uCKmu0f.png]
[De-Fluffed: http://i.imgur.com/cWORevz.png]
[Generation: 3]
[Name Origin: Japanese]
[Name Meaning: Demon]
[Extra: GMO Cow + Shamanic Stew + Buffalo Scrotum used in breeding]
She felt like one of the most important parts of her life was taken away from her.
Magic was not unheard of in the pride. Its usage was quite widespread, actually, as Akuma learned early on. She was of royal birth, her father the king of the pride and the most powerful king of his time, and her mother among the strongest of the pride and a lioness widely feared by other prides. Naturally, her mother, Shizuka's, cubs were highly anticipated, and when the lioness finally gave birth, everyone was eager to see the results and make their predictions on who would be allowed to say in the pride. Very few bet on Akuma, the attention was focused on her vastly stronger brother and sister, both of whom went on to make their homes amongst a related pride. Sure, Akuma had looks on her side, everyone was in agreement that she was the most beautiful out of the three, but in a pride where strength is valued more than looks, she didn't have much going for her.
Under normal circumstances, Akuma's fate would be to be sold off to the highest bidder so her pride could bring in riches and a new pride could use her. These were not normal circumstances, however. Shizuka had been given what is known in the pride as "tainted" food, a cow that had been somehow changed by humans. A lionesses who was given such food tended to have cubs that were not... completely right. It changed them, made strange things happen. Sometimes those things were deadly. Other times, they just looked a little different from the normal lions. Knowing that there was the possibility of these three cubs to be "different" when they grew to adulthood, some sort of magical stone and a crystal were used, and Akuma and her siblings grew to near-adulthood in a mere day.
A month later, when the trio had grown to maturity, it was found that Akuma was one of the different cubs. She had developed a sort of mane, not one like a male's or like the mysterious Kveta, but rather something that could be described as extra fluff rather than a full mane. This worked in her favor, though, as her different and unique appearance landed her not only a place in her parents' pride, but as the heiress to her mother.
Despite the honor granted to her by pure luck, Akuma was not happy about it. Her cubhood had been taken away because they wanted a cub that turned out to be different. She never had the chance to be a cub, to play with other cubs and learn the ways of the pride as they did. Age and knowledge had just been magically bestowed on her, and while some may consider that blessing, she remained jealous of the cubs. They could play without a worry in the world, could do what they wanted without worrying about the consequences, could take advantage of their youth. She wanted that. She wanted another chance to live like that, without the interference of magic. Instead, she had been aged up and pushed into a strict training regime with the older lionesses only a month after her birth.
She didn't mind being different, she really didn't, she just wished that her difference hadn't had to be one that appeared at adulthood. Takatalvi, the heiress of Shizuka's alleged secret lover Valkea, had been different right from the start, with those little folded-over ears. It was kind of funny, Shizuka and Valkea had been so close to each other that they were rumored to be lovers (though nothing was ever confirmed), despite all lionesses in the pride being dedicated to Magister, and their daughters were quite the opposite. Well, in Akuma's case at least. Even while Takatalvi was a cub, she could not bring herself to like the other heiress, even if holding a cub in such contempt was unheard of. While she felt horrible for it, she was just unable to control her jealousy towards the other lioness.
Fate had dealt her an exceedingly lucky hand, and Akuma could not find it within herself to be happy about it.
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