*If studs are closed, it's likely a mistake!!!! PM me and remind me to open them.*
here's some dumb fanfiction i wrote about these lions in like, 2018. it really feels like ages ago. please don't make fun of it, it was a comfort to me and still makes me very happy. i don't care that they're mary sues. they're funky little lesbians and i like them. i've been promising myself for over a year that i'd rewrite this, but i still haven't so
ALSO most of the links probably don't work so you just get to imagine whatever you think the lion looked like lmao!
cw: slurs (that i've reclaimed but are used in a derogatory way in context), violence, homophobia (not super major)
♪ am I allowed to look at her like that?
could it be wrong, when she's just so nice to look at?
[historical context: Sappho was a primal at this time)
Her eyes opened slowly, limbs stiff after sleeping on them wrong, but looking at the beautiful view in front of her, she couldn't care less. The sunrise, of course, was nice too, but the true beauty that took her breath away was the sight of Solanio, dozing peacefully next to her- really, half on top of her, but she certainly doesn't mind. As the world around her began to slowly wake up; birds chirping as they pecked through the green grasses of the wet season in search of seeds, the distant rumble of a herd on the move, the gentle whisper of the grasses around her; so did her lover. The golden lioness currently entangled in the long limbs of the queen stretched, reaching forward to press her muzzle lovingly against Sappho's. Waking up like this was more than worth walking through the hellscape of discrimination she faced, and she made a silent promise to herself to never let herself get too caught up to spend time with her love.
Sappho was brought into the pride as a scrawny, nervous cub. She came from a horrific 'trading center', where rumors of tyrant kings swirled around the young lioness's head until she was dizzy with anxiety. She waited with bated breath as she grew into an adolescent, waiting for the terrible treatment to start... but it never did.
The king, Timit, never had such plans. He was kind-hearted, if a bit unintelligent at times, but he made up for it with a heart of silver. Not quite gold, but still pretty good. He trained her as his apprentice, showing her the ropes and making sure she receive fair treatment. With her long teeth and gangly paws, she was sure to be bullied. But Timit refused to let her take any of it to heart.
Over time, she developed into a gorgeous warrior, willing to fight for her loved ones. And love she did. With a mentor like Timit, she was sure to grow up with a big heart, and hers surpassed even her teacher. Sappho loved with everything she had, every breath, every quark in her body.
This love wasn't always returned. She was seen as undesirable, with her strange looks and still too big teeth. Until she met Solanio. The fierce primal was entirely entranced by the alluring lioness, but never dared to hope she would return the feelings. But return she did.
~~
Sappho spent the entire morning pacing the length of her den. "Come on, you can do this, you're worth it. She'll love you for who you are." She told herself, before falling to insecurity. "Maybe she's already happy with someone else... I've seen her with like four other lionesses..."
Her bouquet of wildflowers lay several feet from her paws. She had intended to give them to Solanio, but looking at them... Sappho had picked them too early, so they were slightly wilted. "Maybe I should just call it off..."
A voice capable of making Sappho trip over her own paws filled the den. "Call what off?" Solanio asked, oblivious.
Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit. She stepped in front of the bouquet, trying to hide it from view. "U-uh, nothing. Nothing. What are you doing here?"
Solanio ignored the question and stepped around her. "Oh, who is this bouquet for? Someone in the pride catch your fancy?" She teased, trying to mentally guess who it was. Was it Quini? I heard he was leaving the pride anyways.
Sappho felt her voice go up a million octaves. "Yeah, you could say that..."
The golden lioness bounced excitedly. "Who is it? Does he know? Oh I'm so happy for you!" Wish you were into girls. She thought to herself.
"..... No, she doesn't know..." Sappho avoided Solanio's gaze, afraid that her friend would be mad.
Meanwhile, Solanio's brain short-circuited. AH SHE'S GAY SHE'S GAY SHE'S GAY SHE'S GAY SHE'S GAY SHIT
When Solanio didn't reply, Sappho stepped backwards. "I-I'm sorry. I thought you were- I thought you liked gir- I'm sorry." The primal panicked, shuffling her paws.
Solanio raced forward. "No no! Girls! You're- you're girls?" Wow, real smooth, dumbass.
Sappho cracked a grin. "I'm girls." She turned to the flowers, now slightly trampled. "These are- well.... They're for you. I wanted to know if you'd like to... hunt with me sometime?" She finished awkwardly.
Solanio stretched onto her tiptoes and brushed her muzzle against Sappho's. "I'd love to."
~~
Sappho was introduced to Solanio's loving harem of ladies, who she got along great with. They were quite the eclectic group, bound only by their love of this strange lesbian goddess. Finally, Sappho had somewhere she could channel all of her love to, and she never once felt the jealousy for the rest of the lucky ladies who got the attention of Solanio. She herself is busy with monarch training, so she doesn't mind sharing the love of her life.
When she can afford to ditch training, she takes her lover out on a picnic beneath the stars, talking and grooming and simply loving.
~
Everyone noticed Timit slowing down. His fur grayed, his skin sagged, his eyes clouded. He would have to announce an heir soon. The only adult male at the time was Niria, who was an... okay lion. He had a nasty streak, but Sappho was sure she could put up with him and make sure her loved ones were safe from his wrath. As Timit's days dwindled, Sappho made mental preparations for submitting to her new king. But on the day that Timit announced his heir, everyone was shocked.
It was unprecedented. His words rang in Sappho's ears, but they just sounded like garbled noise. She couldn't process it. Her? As the next queen? The cheering of her pridemates rose around her, ecstatic that they would have such a sweet and loving ruler. She stood and walked closer to Timit, her friend, her mentor. Sappho was in a daze as he completed the ceremony, blinking warmly at her with his tired eyes before retiring to play with the cubs. She looked at the sky, barely streaked with pink as the sunrise faded, and knew that she would remember this day for the rest of her life.
~
Soon after her coronation, she came across a hauntingly similar lioness- another queen by the name of Sappho, an outsider by her biology, and a lover of lionesses- all rolled into one confident, stunning creature. Our Sappho, Sapph, was head over paws the moment she laid her eyes on her. It took several patrols close to Sappho's territory and many pep-talks in the reflection of the watering hole, but finally Sapph worked up the courage to talk to this mysterious beauty. Sapph, all but tripping over her paws, managed to win the affections of her beloved, patiently letting her fail at pickup lines until she assured her that, yes, she was definitely interested. They spent several nights together, but Sapph had her own pride to run. "Alas, how terribly we suffer, Sappho. I really leave you against my will."
~
Around that same time, she met another badass queen. Though not romantically involved, she's extremely fond of Marilyn Monroe, the queen of a pride a few territories away. On quiet days, the two groom together and gush about their respective girlfriends. Marilyn has more than once drawn blood in an argument about who was gayer. Sappho won the argument, of course- you can't mess with teeth those size- but Marilyn put up quite the fight! Patient as she is, it took many visits to convince Marilyn to open up to her, but their friendship was well worth the wait.
~
Sappho grumbled the entire walk there. She hated the idea of socializing right now- one of her litters had just been lost, and she was in no mood to talk with anyone but her mates. But, as Solanio so helpfully pointed out, she needed to keep up appearances. That's how she found herself making the trip to the 'Great Barbeque'- a grisly metaphor for the... lowering of the groupie populations. She sat at the very edge of the area, trying to avoid breathing through her nose so she wouldn't have to smell the 'manly musk' of all the unhygienic kings around. A rage-filled screech snapped her out of her moping. She shot to her feet on instinct, being quite used to breaking up scuffles in the pride. As Sappho crept closer, avoiding the males trying to make themselves seem cooler, she noticed a half-white lioness battling, wait 3 lions at once?
Shit. She tried to intervene, avoiding the whirling claws, before finally resorting to crushing the lioness with her larger frame until she settled down.
"What's going on?" She lowered her voice, not wanting to rile the ferocious female up.
Finally shoving the weight off of her, the lioness stood and tried to straighten her fur. "One of those brutes stepped on my tail." She replied haughtily.
The brute in question shoved his way forward. "Yeah right, you crazy bitch. You just got pissy that I called you out on being a dyke. Why else would you not want me? I'm a fucking prime specimen" He slurred. Ah, so they found the marula fruits and got drunk. Lovely.
Sappho studied her paws for a moment. "See, normally I try not to resort to violence. It sets a bad example for my cubs." Faster than he could blink, she had him pinned by the throat with her intimidatingly large teeth extremely close to his face. "But my cubs aren't here, now are they?" Her claws lightly pricked his skin. "Now, you are going to apologize to her this instant, or your balls will make some lovely dwarves."
He squeaked out an apology and scrambled into the crowd, tail between his legs.
Lowering her stance into something much less intimidating, she approached the lioness again. "A-are you alright? Did I hurt you during the intervention, miss....?" She trailed off.
The lioness moved closer, her tail working under Sappho's chin. "I'm Lochstar. And that was quite the performance there." She purred, though her eyes turned hard again as she smirked. "But I could've handled it myself."
Sappho tried not to show how affected she was. "W-well, I'm sure you could, but you see.. I had to make sure the lesson would stick." She shuffled her paws.
Lochstar rolled her eyes. "Well, thanks anyways, 'knight in shining armor'. Let's get out of here. This party sucks, and I believe I owe you a marula fruit."
~
Her paws had grown weary, her pelt ragged, her teeth worn and cracked. It seemed like an eternity ago that she had been made the Queen, and though it was tough at times- hell, most of the time- she wouldn't have it any other way. Ever since Solanio received Bastet's light, they could stay together forever. But forever could only last for so long.
She knew her days were numbered. Sappho spent nearly every waking moment with her mate, who doted over her and never allowed her more than a whiskers distance away. It was in this situation that Bastet found them, searching for Solanio for some old-fashioned stress release. It was in this situation that Solanio found herself explaining their plight, tears barely held back as she felt her heart break a little more.
Without a word, Bastet turned and left. Solanio lashed her tail, visibly agitated that her lover would just ignore her troubles like that, but Sappho simply held Solanio closer. Days later, Bastet returned with an extremely pissed off Anubis in tow.
"-already shared your light, why are you still meddling in the business of mortals!" It was clear that Anubis had put up a fight the entire journey.
Bastet's eyes glowed a dangerous gold. "Because she is my lover and it breaks me to see her hurt." She hissed at him, fur spiking. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't take it out on you." She turned away, shuffling her paws. "Is there anything we can do?" Bastet finally finished, laying her head on Solanio's shoulder.
The canid sighed dramatically. "I guide souls, not save them!" He gazed upwards and tapped his foot, deep in thought. "Well, I suppose... Yes, there is a way. It's a simple reincarnation."
Bastet jumped to her paws. "How do we do that, then?" She practically mewed excitedly.
"We don't. When her time is up, I'll guide her soul right into a cub. She'll retain her memories, though she'll have to face puberty again. And it won't come cheap." He yawned, settling into a stray sunbeam.
"H-how much?" Solanio spoke up, hesitantly. Her pride didn't have much to offer, but she was desperate.
Anubis chuckled snottily. "Oh no, dear. Not from a mortal like you. But it'll take some favors from your celestial lover there." He winked at Bastet.
The goddess curled her claws into the dirt below them, gritting her teeth. "Fine. Whatever it costs. Solanio is worth the price."
The canine stood and summoned a portal, a dark rip in the sky swirled with void and starlight. "Come to get me when it's time. And if you wake me from a nap again, I'll make sure to leave fire-ants in your nest. I still know where the entrance is from our own.... adventure."
~
By Sappho's estimates, she had a few weeks max left in this form. She was determined to still be a functional ruler as she looked for her... replacement... and as such she found herself wandering onto further territories. She had not traveled far when her paws began to grow weary, her pads worn and cracked with age no longer taking her as further as they used to. Sappho tried to slow down to catch her breath, but it was too late. As she felt her limbs give out from underneath her, she smelled the distinct smell of several species of rare flowers.
The next thing she knew, she was being groomed by at least 3 small felids. She looked around her, the intoxicating scent of flowers causing her to become drowsy while the lull of a waterfall contributed to her sleepiness. Combined with the gentleness of the felines, she felt sleep overtake her once more.
She awoke with a start a second time, the felids replaced by a fluffy lioness, a primal just like her. "Oh! You're awake! Oh good, I was so worried. My name is Ophelia! My mate found you passed out, so we brought you here. You've been asleep for a day and a half."
Sappho jumped to her paws- well, tried to. Her joints popped in protest and she fell forward onto her face. "A day and a half? I-I need to go! Solanio will be so worried about me..."
Ophelia blinked at her. "Go? You just arrived! You need your strength, I don't want you getting hurt on the way back." She hopped to her paws much faster than Sappho did. "Don't worry, my pridemates will take care of you, and feed you, and protect you and-" She trailed off, forgetting where she was going with the statement. Her words had begun to run into each other due to the speed she was trying to talk at.
Sappho struggled to her paws. "I...." She sighed in defeat. "Thank you."
...
Sappho forgot that Solanio was the best tracker in the pride. When she didn't come home for the night her stubborn lover traced her all the way to the flowery pride, ready to kick ass and take names.
What she wasn't ready for was a weekend at the spa. Ophelia doted on the two, eager to have someone to relate with and care for.
Needless to say, it took the two several days to go home.
~
Anubis was there alongside Bastet as Sappho drew her last breath. Solanio was curled around her and felt the life ebb from her lover. She looked pleadingly at Bastet, but she could offer no solace. This was all up to Anubis.
The canid pulled out a jar- a rainbow one, how fitting- and managed to trap the pale blue whisper before it got lost. "Give me a few days."
...
Three days. Three absolutely heart-wrenching, aching, days for Solanio. She could hardly move without her love, to the point where several of her other lovers brought her everything to eat and drink, and there was never a moment without a lioness soothingly grooming her. But every moment was still daggers to her heart.
Finally, finally, she heard a familiar voice, much younger and less tired than the last time she heard it. "You didn't miss me too much, did you?"
Solanio gasped and launched herself towards Sappho. "Oh you're back! It was agony, my love." She took a step backward. "Y-your teeth...? And your tail?"
Sappho shuffled her paws. "I- Anubis said that I was something called a 'primal', and it didn't carry over... I hope that I... Hope that you can still love me. I'm still the same lioness you fell in love with." Her pale eyes glimmered with tears.
Solanio pulled her even closer. "I don't care what you look like, baby. I love you for you. You'll always be my fluffbutt." She purred roughly, attacking her in a flurry of smooches.
~~
Without the menacing teeth of the primal, her martyr complex now had serious flaws. She learned that the hard way.
...
She'd made a special trip under the guise of visiting Haarkon, but in reality she was passing a message from her own teenagers to Veðrfölnir. When Sappho got there, however, she was met with Veth's peers teasing them again. The occurrence had lowered ever since the... incident... but teenagers are ruthless.
Sappho stalked over to the group with a low growl. "Don't you children have something better to be doing?" She spat, venom evident in her voice. To her dismay, however, they just laughed it off.
"Don't you have some flowers to smell, punk?" The nearest male jeered as his friends murmured in agreement.
Sappho looked up to search for Haarkon before aiming a hearty smack at the male's side. It wasn't enough to hurt, it was just intended to knock the breath out of him and intimidate the others. But her mercy was her downfall.
Outraged, the male leaped onto her and fastened his teeth into her ear. The rest of the teenagers circled the two fighting lions, several knocking Sappho to the ground so that the leader could continue his attack.
Luckily for Sappho, Solanio never let her too far out of her sight. She sprang from the shadows viciously, her lean muscles from seasons of hunting visibly rippling like a glorious horse. If Sappho was able to see her lover she would no doubt be a huge gay mess. Nevertheless, Solanio had no problem throwing the teenagers around, Veth joining in to leave them with a few scars they'll remember.
Once the dust had settled, Sappho sneezed the blood out of her nose. "I think it might be best if we trained again as we used to, love."
~~
Sappho the Second took her last shuddering breaths gazing lovingly into Solanio's eyes. "I'll be back soon, my love." She murmured before her vision faded away. Anubis huffed dramatically and grabbed her whisper before sauntering off.
...
Until a few bullies came along.
"Hey PUPPY! Where's your chickenshit boyfriend, out gorging himself?" Anubis heard a jeer from his left and swiftly turned away and began to run- right into the broad chest of a teenaged lion.
"Going somewhere, dog breath?" The lion in front of him rumbled menacingly, stepping closer to the jackal.
"You can't kill me, you know. Just leave me alone." The dark canine snarled, pretending to be confident.
"Or what? You'll call your daddy on us? I'm sure he'll appreciate that." The first voice piped up, chuckling.
The second lion swiped at Anubis, knocking the vial out of his shaky paws. It seemed to fall in slow motion before shattering onto the rocks, the whisper trailing out in a sparkling cloud. Faster than Anubis could react, it was vacuumed up- right into the lion that broke the vial.
"Oh, scarabs."
...
[historical context: in this incarnation, Sappho was a Patches Corrupted]
[2022 update: i had left this on a cliffhanger and i finsihed it. it took me so long. now i'm goona go revamp solanio's because i'm mentally ill!]
Something was wrong with Sappho. Anyone could see that. Since the latest rebirth she had fits of rage, attacking anyone near her and violently throwing things around.
The dark patches that had been seared onto her fur with her latest rebirth ran like inky tears down her bright pelt. Anubis had assured them that this was completely natural, and just a side-effect of the process, that each time she was born again she could change; from white or black patches growing on her pelt, to her fangs protruding again as they had the first time, or even losing her tail. But that didn't explain the anger that simmered beneath her pelt, the cold emptiness that sometimes reflected in her eyes.
Come to think of it... Anubis had been awfully sketchy when he came back with Sappho's latest body, covered in dust and stinking of Bast-knows-what. But the scrawny canine hadn't said anything about it. Perhaps she just wasn't feeling well after the raging fires and the horrific demons they had encountered.
That's what Solanio would keep telling herself, anyway.
...
But Sappho's fits only became more frequent and more violent. Sometimes she would be her normal, lovable self, but in mere moments a shadow would come across her eyes and Solanio knew at those times that the safest place was out of reach of her claws. Solanio could swear she'd see blue fire from her lover's soft purple eyes.
She confided in her lover, Bast, about the situation. The ethereal feline looked concerned, before suspicion flashed across her face. "When did you say this all started?"
"Just a month ago, when she came back with Anubis." Solanio answered, tail curling. "Why?"
"I need to have a chat with him."
...
"I told you, I had nothing to do with this!" The skinny black jackal was being carried by his scruff unceremoniously by Bast as the hulking feline strode across the pride's den.
"Don't give me that crap, you son of a shoe!" She growled as she dropped him on the ground in front of Solanio. At her questioning look, she added, "It's a lot harsher in the original tongue."
"I'm sure it is. What is he doing here?" Solanio asked, pointing a claw at Anubis.
"Anubis here has something he hasn't been telling you." She responded, glaring icily at him. "Speak up, now."
He was silent for a moment longer, before opening his jaws. "I... something may have happened. On that night, when I took Sappho for the rebirthing process."
Solanio's gaze simmered with fury as her claws dug into the soft earth. "What?! Why would you lie to us?"
He flinched away as the lioness loomed over him. "I thought it would go away on it's own! I didn't- I didn't mean for it to get this bad." He finished with a glance towards the queen's den, where Sappho's sleeping form lay inside. "That night, I got cornered by a bunch of mean teenagers. They knocked Sappho's whisper out of my paws, and she was taken into the wrong body."
"Wrong body? What do you mean?" Solanio felt curiosity begin to dull her fury, though only barely.
"When Sappho is reborn, her whisper is put into the body of a living lion. Usually, I use willing hosts. Lions that dream of running in the stars, untethered to their mortal bodies. Or as payment, for something they want; shiny beetles to pay off a lifetime of debts, more often than not." He looked away, tail coming to rest between his legs. "But when they broke the vial, one of the lions became Sappho's unwilling host. He must still be fighting it, or his anger is corrupting the process. I don't know. I've never seen this happen before. I've only ever used lions that were willingly a part of the experiment." He finished.
"So what do we do about it?" It was not Solanio, but Bast who demanded an answer, head rising. "There has to be something in that canine brain of yours you want to try."
His ears perked a little. "Well, there is something..."
....
The plan was simple: Solanio only needed to slip the bracelet around Sappho's paw as she slept. Once her lover had it around her paw, she would be able to expel the extra whisper that was tearing her apart.
Of course, when had things ever gone simply for them?
Solanio sunk into a hunting crouch as easily as she had seasons ago, putting one paw silently in front of the other as she crept closer to the sleeping form of her mate.
Her heart stopped as her paw brushed against a dry bone, sending it sliding across the den with a betraying rattle. In a flash, Sappho had leapt to her paws, and as Solanio had feared, that cold blue fire had returned to her normally soft, loving eyes. She took a pawstep forwards, hoping she could still settle this easily.
"Sweetheart," Solanio mewed softly as she slunk closer. "You're sick. I have something that will make you feel better. Just come ov-" She was cut off as she dodged to the side, claws sinking into the ground where she had been just a moment ago. She yelped and ducked into a defensive crouch, eyeing up her opponent.
With a roar, Sappho swiped sideways, but whoever was in her body was clearly not as good a fighter as she had been. Too slow, her claws whistled uselessly a whisker away from Solanio's ears. The ginger lioness ducked under the blow and headbutted Sappho under the chin, dazing the taller lioness. She weaved closer, trying to pull the charm around Sappho's paw, but the lioness shook her off with a growl.
The dusky lioness slammed herself into Solanio, throwing the two of them to the ground. They rolled over each other, fighting to pin the other. This wasn't unlike their playful sparring, though with much higher stakes as claws dug into tender skin. Sappho reared herself up, preparing to slam her forepaws onto the other's shoulders, but by the time her paws crashed down Solanio had already squirmed from beneath her and had whirled around on a dime, nipping at her heels. She spun after the ginger lioness, but Solanio had already changed her tactic and used her turning to unbalance the bigger lioness. The two crashed to the ground once again.
As the two struggled, Solanio tied the charm around Sappho's flailing forepaw. Her lover fell instantly limp below her. Scrambling to her paws in terror, she watched as Sappho began coughing. The horrific sound echoed through the den, her breathing as ragged as if she had been underwater for moons and only now broke the surface. As she stared down, terror rooting her paws to the ground, a sickly black shadow slid out of her throat and onto the scuffed ground in front of them. Nimbly, Anubis darted in and caught it in one of the strange jars he had brought, sealing the lid and holding it shut as it shook for a moment and lay still. He breathed a sigh of relief, trembling for a moment before speaking.
"She'll be fine in a day or so. Give her plenty of rest." He mumbled, his guilty gaze trailing on the floor as he slipped out of the den.
Bast dipped a nod to the two and followed him out, her tail lashing. They could hear muffled whining from outside the den, and curses from Bast that were far too ancient for them to understand.
Sappho turned to Solanio sheepishly, stretching her muzzle out to her mate. "Hey, cutie," She spoke lowly, trying not to startle her. She was exhausted from the fight, but more than anything overjoyed to be wholly with her mate again.
Thankfully, Solanio's gaze held no anger for her lover. "I always told you that you couldn't beat me in a tussle." She purred.
~~
sobbing and crying this person is no longer active so i cannot find anywhere to credit them. link for me to keep checking
~~~
Starting stats: 150
Total Patrols 817 Total Stats Gained 1534 Total Items Gained 416
9/27/24 kinged @1691 stats
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