Deimos

Deimos started out life in a small pride, mainly consisting of her mother, her mother's brother and his child, Erros, and their aunt. She and Erros were very close as cub, growing together with just each other in their little pride. It wasn't all fun and games, their little pride was on a plain that didn't offer much in terms of plentiful prey as they competed with the few others groups of predators that also occupied the plains. The cubs usually had full bellies, but at the expense of the older lions in their family. Her aunt especially took most of the brunt of starvation, and after a year passed away no longer able to go on with such little food. When Deimos' aunt died, her mother's brother made the decision to take the pride on to somewhere they wouldn't have to compete as much for food. After many days of wandering in seemingly unknown directions, they came upon a small valley where a watering hole had quite the assortment of prey.

As the two cubs grew into adols, their play fighting took on an even nastier turn. Erros played too hard, and frequently Deimos would end up with deep gashes and bruises laid upon her by Erros who didn't quite understand an unsheathed paw. Deimos stopped playing with her brother after he nearly drowned her in the watering hole, but he made up for it by bringing her a crocodile that he says he caught himself, though it smelled like it was a few days older than he claimed to have caught it. They tended to joke that they would go out on their own and start their own pride, though their mothers were very harsh with them about mating with each other. Of course they quickly realized there were no romantic feelings or sexual feelings to pursue those jokings so they settled for finding mates and ruling the pride side by side. Of course their musings became reality with their parents deaths while out on a hunt and crocodiles caught them in their jaws instead of the zebras they were both after. Deimos and Erros were devastated, and Deimos seeked some kind of answers or help to make the gods bring their parents back. Erros followed along not wanting his cousin to go at it alone, but also to make sure she stayed safe. Soon they came upon a lone serval that claimed she had access to the messengers of the gods, and that with just two rituals, she could bring them to Deimos.

Deimos of course said yes, desperate, and the serval sent them out for all kinds of ingredients, from herbs to skulls, to human things that made no sense to either of them of why they needed them. Within a few days they had collected everything and the Serval took them to her cave and prepared the space. There was a large hole in the ceiling that when the sun or moon were at their highest points, they could be seen centered in the hole. The Serval made pastes and spread them around the cave in intricate symbols and placed skulls and feather and beads around in two circles that intertwined in the middle to form a rounded diamond. With the crescent moon soon approaching, the Serval prepared Deimos and Erros by painting symbols and rubbing them down with herbs and bone fragments into their furs. It was the night of the first ritual, and the Serval sat them in the two circles, with the Serval in the middle but just outside of the rounded diamond. She sang in a language neither of the cousins knew, and after just a few verses, the two collapsed to either side in trances. For days they were out as the Serval performed the second ritual that morphed them.

When the cousins awoke nearly two weeks later, the Serval and all evidence of the rituals were gone, but the two were forever changed. Deimos' pelt had been turned into one of a dawning sunrise and Erros morphed into something only heard of in prehistoric stories. The cousins were bewildered, but Deimos had received a message from the gods in her trance. Their parents were simply catalysts for their new path. They set off from the cave and spread the word of the gods. Deimos was come to again and told she needed to produce two cubs, and that she did with fathers. She was gifted Temple and Stained Glass, who they took with them and continued their journey across the territories until Deimos was told that a pride needed their leadership. They came into the pride and forced their way into leadership under the word of the gods, and Erros became king as he always dreamed and prophesied with Deimos at his side with her messages from the gods to guide them.

Thanks to Scouting for Booty (#89370) for writing this! It's great!