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Lyca snarls softly, tail flicking as she faces her opponent, a fern. "My father is the great Technoblade! You think you can beat me?" The cub pounces on the fern, claws shredding the defenseless plant, before Mott huffs good-naturedly. "Your father is strong, yes, but great he is not. He has a wicked reputation. Do you truly wish to follow in his footsteps Lyca?" Lyca looks up at her mother, disbelieving. "He's never hurt me! He can't be bad!" Mott sighs, shaking her head.
Lyca frowns, tail flicking. Her mother was gone. Did this mean she had to go with her father? Could she even find her father? She didn't know the way yet. Her protector shields her from the world as she cries.
Lyca wondered, faintly, if she should talk to Night Sky about the path of a submale. Her tail flicked as she stood, padding over to where Night Sky rested. She knows it's not conventional, other prides do it differently! But... it's better this way. One day she'll lead the pride from the destruction Rain's Light brought. She'll be strong. She has to be. Her pride needs her. And so, she ignores the taste of frog on her tongue before she washes it off with the water from the spring. "The Spring of Change" Night Sky called it. "The frog allows you to keep your current appearance, while the spring gives you the ability to do the things Kings do. There is more to teach you, but for now, we must get back to patrol before we are gone too long." Lyca looks up at Night Sky, tail flicking as she readjusted slightly. "How do you handle heats?" Night Sky paused in her walking, before continuing. "The spring makes you unable to experience a heat, nor carry cubs, if you started off as a Lioness. That does not mean you will be unable to have cubs, but that's a conversation for another time." Lyca nods, padding beside her new mentor. "How did you figure this out?"
"I asked a Queen for advice. She gave it willingly. I gave up the path of a lioness at a much younger age then you have. Only Glowstar knows why I did it, outside of myself."
Lyca tilts her head at the name. She doesn't remember Glowstar, he died when she was just a tiny cub, but she's heard of him. I wonder if he's watching over us. Is he protecting the lost cubs? My mother?
Lyca huffed as she hauled herself up over the ledge, ears pinned back nervously. She knew it wasn't typical for anyone but the broodmothers to come up to the Flatrock, but she needed guidance. She shuddered involuntary as her front paws pressed onto the cold stone, but she kept on, leaping the rest of the way up, before curling into the hollow on the surface.
When she dreamed, it was of racing alongside the shadowed figures of other lions, before they faded and she found herself at an unfamiliar watering hole, the water a perfect reflection of the stars. She looked around, seeing noone, before padding to the waters edge and daring to drink. It was as she was drinking that she saw something in the water's reflection, and looked up. A white lion with orchid and hyacinth marks watched her from the opposite edge of the pool, a small, blue cub on his paws. Arctic! That must mean... She hesitated. "Glowstar?" The former king smiled. "Hello Lyca. Night chose correctly, I see." Lyca paused. "What do you mean?"
"Mott said you would fight for your pride. Night gave you the chance to do so." Lyca opened her mouth to ask about her mother, but the dram started to fade.
She woke up to a world on fire, and curled in on herself in terror. It was hours before they burned out, hours where she remained on the Flatstone, watching her home burn. And yet, when the fires were through, when they burned all they could and went out, she made her way down to the dens, where endless stone protected her pride from the flames.
Lyca was heading out to investigate a sound when Rain attacked. She let out a roar of pain as claws tore through her back, and whirled around to meet his blows with her own. She was almost an adult, and her roar drew the other lionesses to help her chase him off. She snarled as she watched him retreat, seeming to re-evaluate his options, before he snarled darkly and stalked away. She winced as someone nudged her towards the nursery, where Roseli waited to handle her wounds.
She huffed softly, slipping through the trees and undergrowth. Her first solo patrol. She was an adult now, she couldn't rely on Night Sky to be there all the time. And so, when Rain's Light tried to attack again, she slapped him as hard as she could, a snarl across her face.
She sighed, eyes sharp as she scanned the territory. Chicken Nugget had decided to come with her today, riding on her back and acting as an extra set of eyes. Nobody really knew where the former pet of the humans came from, or how long he's been around, just that he showed up in the dens one day, playing with the cubs. He hunted for himself, but would accept any scraps from the lions' meals offered. He definitely didn't eat as much as they did, as he was much too small, but he could still eat.
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Stats started at 142.
2 years: 185
3 Years(?):
Kinged:
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