EsterFrom the Tropical Forest | Joined in the beginning of Dry Season| at 5 years, 4 months old {Cubs born into Pride: 7 | Cubs rejected by the King: 7}
*Vistor greeting/interaction*
Bio
Ester is the 12th lioness to join Vesper's pride. She was wandering in the Tropical Forest, her home since she was a cub. She was on the look out for an easy meal when she spotted an interesting male. His pelt reminded her of the setting horizon behind a darkening sky. Her interest peaked when she caught sight of his face or more like what it hid behind. He wore a lion's skull and the sight excited Ester. She followed him quietly until his broad head swung around and met her gaze, spotting her. His eyes widened and it looked like his jaw dropped for a moment as they stared at each other. Electricity sparked underneath her pelt and she made the first move, stepping closer. It must have snapped him out of whatever spell she put on him and he growled. The sound rumbled deep in her chest and she curled her tail in delight. "Impressive," she praised. "You haven't seen Impressive yet, female." He rumbled. Her claws unsheathed and she fought the sudden urge to sink them into his pelt.
"Well, I'm waiting."
Adult: {7 years, 7 months old} - Ester had just finished grooming her cubs when two lions entered Mother's Den. Her King and the blind lioness he claimed had a six sense for things hidden in our world. Seeing the muted female always put her in a bad mood. Her King's obsession with her didn't help matters. Vesper approached, unable to hide his eagerness at the possibility of her having birthed some so called 'soothsayers'. He couldn't stop talking about it when she was pregnant with her last litter. Ester's ears drew backwards when the lioness approached, leaving her be with a warning look from Vesper. There was a ridiculous amount of silence, before the blind lioness shook her head.
"Are you certain?" Vesper stressed, the disappointment in his voice infuriatingly apparent.
The lioness simply turned her head to him slowly, her expression softening with understanding, before saying, "Your Soothsayer will come when it is time. No earlier, no later."
Vesper sighed, nodding in defeat. "Thank you for coming all this way, Felice."
"My pleasure, Sire." She bowed her head and nodded to Ester before she made her way to the exit as if she could really see.
Ester looked to Vesper, thoroughly annoyed. "Can I name them now?"
"No." His voice was hard. "They're not staying."
Suprise and anger bubbled to the surface at once. "Because they don't have some 'sight' that doesn't exist?" She spat.
"They are not staying, because I said they're not." Vesper countered, his tone becoming more abrasive.
Ester lashed her tail. "You are taking your anger out on our newborn cubs. It's not their fault you're delusional."
Vesper snarled and drew closer, his temper showing. But she simply raised her chin, staring him straight in the eyes.
"If there is nothing exceptional about them, then they do not belong in my pride. You are free to follow them, should you decide to get in my way."
His words evoked her wrath and she felt her claws crave to be embedded in his pelt, but her King was obviously in a serious mood. She knew pushing now would mean a real fight and real wounds and a possibility of her demise. "Take them and get out of my sight." She growled at him, her tail lashing back and forth.
He replied with a growl of his own, before calling Condor over and taking both of her cubs away. She didn't know what she would do if that lioness caused her next litter to be taken from her was well. She probably wouldn't be able to be her King's invisible eyes anymore...
{9 years, 7 months} - Estar was already irritable before her King and his infuriating 'Soothsayer' appeared at the entrance of Mother's Den. She looked down at her daughter, hating that she was actually hoping she had the ridiculous 'sight' that her King was obsessed with. Why couldn't he be here for the same reason he came for everyone else? Why did her cub's fate have to depend on some 'gift' they did or didn't have? He already had one cub that supposedly has it. How greedy was her King to demand she still provide him with more? Her tail was lashing angrily by the time they arrived. Her King didn't even acknowledge her, simply waited like an eager cub as the blind female 'stared' at her daughter. She then shook her head and Ester let out an explosive growl. She would have lunged at the mute had her King not warned her with a growl of his own, finally his eyes pinned on her.
"Thank you Felice, you may leave." Vesper said.
The lioness bowed her head and left as if she was in no hurry, as if Ester was of no threat. She huffed and looked back at her King. "So now what? You're going to kill my cub?"
Vesper let out a small sigh. "They all can't stay."
"But mine are solely dependent on if they have some otherworldly power!"
"Not solely. If anything, my dear, they are given a second chance should they have the gift of sight. You have a cub here that has no such gift."
Ester looked away and straightened out her posture, very much done with the conversation. Her King took that as an opportunity to take another of her cubs away. They both left Mother's Den and Ester got ready to do the same. Since she wasn't going to be a mother, she had some hunting to do.
{11 years old} - Lost her daughter, Ignacia.
{11 years, 6 months old} - Ester felt murderous tonight. Her tail lashed violently as her newborn daughter slept soundlessly, all warm and full. Her king had killed every cub she had ever birthed into his pride, including her two fully grown daughters. The only kin she had left within the pride was a granddaughter she was waiting for Vesper to take as well. And it was all because of her failure to give birth to a Soothsayer. She hated the word, hated the lionesses that bore that title, hated it all. Two lionesses who also had the possibility to birth a Soothsayer were welcomed into the pride and both had given birth to Soothsayers. Ester knew that Vesper prized them over her and that made her all the more violent. She didn't know if her daughter was given this oh so important sight, but if not, someone was going to be seriously hurt.
Ester stayed deathly silent as Vesper entered with Sybil, the Lead Soothsayer. Felice was nowhere in sight, which was both a relief and a disappointment. She would have been the target of all her rage when she deemed another of her cub as unworthy. She considered Sybil for a moment as she made her way blindly over to her nest, her veil draped over her eyes and dragging from her front paws. She was one of the lionesses Ester despised, but she was also a lion born and raised here. She watched her play and tumble with the other cubs, caught her excelling in training, and wandering around where she wasn't supposed to be in her adolescence. There was shared history only pride members could understand. Ester's gaze travelled to her King. Now there was where her anger resided. Just at the sight of him, Ester could feel the need for blood rising in her throat.
Sybil stopped just in front of Ester's nest, her expression calm as she stood there. It was Vesper that was antsy, his tail slowly swishing side by side, ears twitching as he waited for the lioness's verdict.
"This cub lacks the power of sight." Sybil finally spoke in a monotone voice.
Vesper stilled, in further disappointment no doubt, and Ester bared her teeth in anticipation.
"Let's get this over with, Ester." Vesper nudged Sybil out of the way so that he could take their cub, not giving Ester a bit of his attention as he leaned in for her daughter. "There's no need-"
Ester struck with all her might, lunging for her King's face. She was going for his beautiful eyes, planning on gouging them out for the sake of poetry, since he was so obsessed with 'sight', but Sybil grabbed a mouthful of Vesper's mane and yanked him away just in time. He yowled in a mixture of shock and pain before he righted himself, his eyes landing on Ester, outraged.
Ester released her frustration in a snarl. She had one shot at blinding him and now it was gone. How did she know? The question screamed inside her head. Ester could rationalize how Sybil got around with her eyes constantly covered, her sense of smell making up for the loss, but this was different. This was as if she knew what she was planning before she was able to follow through. Did she hear her movements? Did she feel their intention? She chanced a glance at the lioness draped in winding shades of purple and orange. This was the first time Ester actually considered the truth in the notion of otherworldly sight.
A smile crept along Sybil's mouth, causing an unwarranted chill to run up Ester's back. "Do you know what I see in your future?" That chill returned, causing the hair on her back to rise. "It's quite beautiful, Ester. I think you would appreciate the brutality of it. So much blood, you're drowning in it. So much pain, your face will never go back to what it once was. It will stay frozen, twisted in the remembrance of your final moments. All those you've accepted as family will turn their backs on you as you have done to them, you will know their rage, their betrayal, their hunger for justice. Your actions to strike the heart of the pride will not go unpunished, unless" Sybil paused and Ester found herself holding her breath until she spoke again, "unless our King grants such a pitiful attempt at mutilation with mercy."
Ester's heart thrashed against her chest, panic running rampant, as she tried to get a hold of this prophecy of sorts. She couldn't think straight, Sybil's words swimming in and out of her mind. She looked to her King, terrified of the distain she found in his glare. "Will he?" She asked desperately, seeking Sybil out again.
"That is for our King to answer." Sybil took a few steps back, making room for what was to come.
Ester was scared. She'd never been scared like this before, and she didn't know how it came to this, but she didn't want what Sybil had painted with her words to come true. She didn't want her pride to turn on her. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to lose everything. "Please," she begged. "I understand. I understand what it means now. Why the 'sight' you've been searching for is so important. I was naive before, but I know now. I can still provide you with another one, a Soothsayer from my blood. Maybe now that I understand, one will be born..." she trailed off, out of breath. "Please, grant me mercy and a chance to give you what you seek."
Vesper watched her for what felt like an eternity, but eventually she could see his anger dissolve right in front of her eyes. "I'm glad this brought you some clarity, Ester. Hopefully, you may begin to respect the power behind such a gift and the lionesses who wield it. This is our legacy. This is what will make us greater than all the prides that came before us and those that will come after us. I'd rather you be a part of that legacy than another body left in our wake."
Ester relaxed, feeling tired all at once as Vesper approached her again.
"All of my cubs, even those that live for no more than a day, are a part of that legacy. None of them are insignificant to me. They all have their purpose." He stated, before leaning down and grasping their daughter in his jaws. He carried her away, leaving Ester untouched, and Sybil following on his heels.
Ester hunkered down in her empty nest, not having the desire to go anywhere. She decided to take the day off and sort out the jumble mess that was her mind. Hopefully she'd be successful before she was back on duty, but one thing she was sure of was next cub season would feel and look a lot different than it had before.
Pride Interactions
~● You charged Ester as soon as you saw her this morning. She snarled in ferocity and tackled you to the floor. You didn't miss the grin behind her snarl, though! {5 years, 11 months old}
~● You trot towards Ester to say hello, but you get smacked fiercely onto your cheek. You stand in shock, as she keeps giving you smacks, one after another, until you let out a growl, to which she replies with a roar. Women. You like them rough, don't you? {6 years old}
~● You were having some trouble getting into a carcass with a tough hide, so you invited Ester to share with you. Sure enough, she proudly tore the decaying beast to shreds. You wonder if her claws are permanently bloodstained. {6 years, 7 months old}
~● You charged Ester as soon as you saw her this morning. She snarled in ferocity and tackled you to the floor. You didn't miss the grin behind her snarl, though! {9 years, 1 month old}
~● You charged Ester as soon as you saw her this morning. She snarled in ferocity and tackled you to the floor. You didn't miss the grin behind her snarl, though! At 10 years, 9 months old
~● Here |
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