|
Nobody knows who she is or what pride she’s from or how she finds all these unfortunate cubs, where she takes them, and nobody knows how on earth she manages them all.
She is currently caring for 17 orphan cubs.
Nobody envies her.
All anyone really knows about Bless is that she seems to be immortal, as some cubs she raised have already died of old age. Some even became Kings of their own prides. They also know that she never stays in one spot in public for long, only ever appearing in public when scouting for more abused, lost, chased or orphaned cubs. Any young and actively nursing cubs she is currently raising accompany her on these rescue missions, since she can’t leave them alone for long. Adolescents will remain at her home to mind the older cubs who can eat solid food and handle being separated for a period of time. If she finds a cub that is relatively fit for travel, she will simply add it to the group and continue scouting. However if she finds either a newborn, badly wounded, starving, or debilitatingly mutated cub, she will pick it up and return to her home so she can focus on that cub’s recovery. That’s all anyone knows about her.
Bless is actually a shaman who, during her time as an apprentice was tricked into accepting immortality by an evil god, so that she would survive as long as she had cubs. As soon as she was without cubs, the evil god would devour her soul and occupy her body, and would then use it to bring about the end of all Lion Kind. What had happened was the young apprentice had fallen in love with her handsome mentor. Her mentor was more than happy to play with her feelings and accept her love, until she got pregnant with his cubs on a pilgrimage. Then he abandoned her in the middle of nowhere to starve. Shamans were forbidden to have their own mates and being caught with one would lead to not only public humiliation and scorn, but also death if cubs had been produced from the pair.
Bless realized she had been abandoned and mourned over her fate. She was too far along to try and return and even if she did, she’d be killed for breaking the law. But she wanted to survive and raise the unborn cubs, so she prayed to the gods. Unfortunately her prays were tainted with bitterness and hatred towards her mentor, so she unwittingly summoned a malevolent god. That action itself forever damned her to hell upon her death. The god however spoke to her in a sweet and tempting voice. It offered her a deal. It would grant her immortal life until all her cubs were fully raised, but when they were, her body would become its vessel.
Bless at this point knew what would happen if the god had a vessel. Endless death and destruction. The purpose of making her body immortal wasn’t for her sake but the god’s. So when it devoured her soul it could use her body until the end of time. Gods can’t create their own vessels for that exact reason. But this one was crafty and finding a way around it. But she also knew that she was screwed even if she didn’t take the deal. The god had already been summoned and was unable to be sent back, and would be free to bargain with another more evil lion for a vessel. He only offered this to her first because she summoned him. But if she took the deal, he was bound to her and would only have his desired vessel when she didn’t have cubs. She took the deal. The god expected her to simply try and get pregnant as often and fast as she could. But he wouldn’t give her the chance. The second her cubs left the nest he would claim her as his vessel.
But Bless was clever. She realized the god didn’t bind her to only raising her biological cubs. So she set off while still pregnant, since she wasn’t in any danger of dying, and began to head towards pride territory. When her cubs were about to leave the nest, she would adopt one of the frequently chased young male cubs and raise it. She soon branched out after realizing cubs could be prone to accidents and die, leaving her without a cub. She adopted many cubs and would do so continuously, helping the cubs and never allowing the god to win. Only when the god himself gave up and took back the deal would she die. By that point, her good deeds would have far outweighed the evil deed of summoning the evil god (Normally impossible to do with a lion’s limited life span, perks of immortality) and her soul would be saved.
|
