•Name•
Persiphone

•Age•
5 years

•Gender & Sex•
Female

•Orientation•
Bisexual

•Rank•
Citizen

•Census Description•
A battle-torn mistress infamous for her own secrecy, with an undiscovered, yet greater vision for power.

•Appearance•
A muscular lioness blemished with many foul scars. Persiphone shows off an ebony coat blemished with multiple specks, and faint spirals creeping along her ribs. These spirals soon fade slowly into stripes running down the legs. A large marking spots Persiphone's back, acting as a beautiful ebony cape with a barely recognizable white cover atop. This female's most noticeable scar must be her glasgow grin, curving and twisting wickedly as she unleashes a fearsome snarl. Blessed with claws sharp as a knife, and teeth almost as sharp (but of course a bit blunt, due to being used so much), at first glance, this lass is definitely not a pleasant character. If it were not for the multiple scars this lass featured, many would say she truly had beautiful genetic traits.

•Personality•
Quick-witted and cunning, Persiphone is a silent, secretive character, hiding under a veil of spiraling schemes and tight-lipped plans. This lass is owned by no faction but her own, seeking to own a power far greater than Amenhotep's brute strength and position in the pride. Persiphone sees everyone else as her own personal chess piece, make the right moves, and they'll present her with everything she wants. Clearly now a manipulative character, although silent and always with a straight face, as to show no weakness. Persiphone is far from brittle, having trained herself to believe only what she is absolutely sure of to be true, and confident only in what she says. Persiphone is infamous for her abilities to spy on most others, as well as for her publicly mysterious traits. Persiphone remains in secrecy, and works only for what she herself believes to be right, whether that truly moral or not.

•Backstory•
Persiphone was born into a more nomadic life, settling down one place to trade with other prides and quickly moving somewhere else, continuing her journey. This clever lass had been taught to barter with other lions to get what she wants, receiving many rare items for her pride at an unfair cost to her customers. Persiphone's mother was very attentive to her. Persiphone spent over half her life in secrecy, however, plotting the death of her father, whom wasn't as kind.
A celestial, battle-worn primal with the same cold, uninviting dawn-hued eyes as his only daughter, assumed to be killed by the weather on a dark, thunderous night. Persiphone stalked her father, Adakai, down to the same deep lake he visited each night. Rain began to pour heavily as thunder clapped violently in the sky. Awaiting the perfect moment to set off her trap, to send a rockslide tumbling down atop Adakai.
The morning following her father's unfortunate death, chaos raised within the nomadic pride, as their king had gone missing after a devastating storm. In order to make matters worse, the king's daughter and queen had gone missing, as well.
Persiphone travelled for days to get away from her homeland, not afraid of what would happen to her if they discovered the cause of her father's misfortune, but afraid of being disowned by her mother, Irileth. Little did Persiphone know, that her mother had also gone missing.
Later, Persiphone found herself under the rule of a cruel king. After having joined to follow under Amenhotep's barbaric rule, rumors of a revelation had begun to spread, reaching Persiphone's ear. She loved the idea of a cruel rulership, but she wanted to see just how this played out, and how exactly to join this uprising, to found out its plans.

•Family•
Adakai - [Father] [Hated] [Deceased; killed by Persiphone]
Irileth - [Mother] [Loved; not mourning] [Deceased; unknown cause]

•Other Relationships•
Friends, enemies, crushes, etc.

•RP Sample•
A silvery, scarred pelt rolled, squirming in the sand only to soon arise, particles of the grainy material falling off the wet lioness in chunks after an early-morning swim. Blood dripped from the lady's mouth, a medium-sized, slimy fish squirming in her mouth to return into the frigid water. Persiphone kicked up from the dry sand to rest upon a rock, warm from exposure to the sun. Eyes reflective to that of a dawning sun pierced the shimmering water, where stars seemed to dance each night. Persiphone's tail lashed at the bones behind her as she ate her first meal of the week, reminiscing on her childhood years. It had been two days since she joined under the rule of the harsh Amenhotep, and she was already plotting her next move. The sky above was beginning to get brighter as it rolled around noon, eye-scorching sun sliding to the peak of the sky as if it were an egg yolk being poured into the bottom of a bowl. Persiphone blinked slowly as her claws tapped against the stone, and she stood up upon her feet. A chilling breeze kissed the lady's fur, shivering with the wind as it licked up into her nostrils and inducing a sneeze. Perhaps now it was time to return home, to the pride.

(Pic coming soon)
"I would hate to be like you, but I'm still rooting for you"

•Name•
Ackee

•Age•
5 months

•Gender & Sex•
Assigned male at birth, may change (he/him for now)

•Orientation•
Not applicable yet

•Rank•
Litters

•Census Description•
Ackee- a flashy cub with a nasty temperament

•Appearance•
Out of the two cubs that were born of Persica and Amenhotep, Ackee definitely got the looks. Aside from having the most in the looks department, Ackee is also physically stronger, healthier, and just generally less pathetic to look at. He's not much for admitting that he's pretty, but, well...let's just say that those are all how he'd describe himself. He inherited his father's spotted look, both the uneven Margay and the more even rosette. The shapely markings come together with his mother's golden coat to form something like a patchwork of the two of them, the perfect intersection of Golden and Red. Who cares if his mother is technically cream, right? That's what his sibling is for.

•Personality•
His overprotective mother couldn't shield him from a naturally nasty personality. He isn't a bad person- far from it. He's just a sarcastic, ironic-personalitied bastard. He loves mean jokes, he loves to make fun of others, and hardly a word out of his mouth isn't an ironic bite at something around him. He loves his brother, and he loves his mother- he doesn't know his father enough to have a clear opinion of him. Ackee is easily influenced by others around him, and will often try to go to great lengths to impress them or have them look up to him. He wants to be respected, feared, loved, liked- any one of those. Any of them would work.

He does have manners, though- he just needs to be kicked into gear to remember them.

•Backstory•
There's not much to Ackee. He's spent more time with his father than his sibling has, and more time with his half-siblings, too. He figures that he'll naturally end up in the Royal Guard as an adult, but he knows that hopes of being a real heir are far-flung and far from reality. Ackee was naturally allowed to explore and to pounce a lot more and a lot earlier than his sibling, but that doesn't stop him from still being babied by his mother. Really, he's been torn between the will of his father and his mother, but not to the point of causing a major influence on their relationship. He's the passive youngest child in a divorce, figuratively; he doesn't mind going to dad's for the weekend, but he'll still stick by mom's rules that he isn't allowed to drink juice while he's there. He'll still be an absolute little demon while he's there, but at least he isn't causing too much trouble.

•Family•
Persica - Mother
Amenhotep - Father
Drupe - Brother
Various half-siblings/Half-brothers

•Other Relationships•
(Relationships are open for other players to build off of.)

•Theme Song•
N/A

•Other•
Pic as an adult coming soon

•RP Sample•
Under Mzee's section on my previous RP post

Asad

"A spark neglected makes a mighty fire."


•Age•
1 year, and 3 months

•Gender & Sex•
Masculine

•Orientation•
Questioning; Currently likes both genders

•Rank•
Junior

•Census Description•
A charming and slight muscled young smilus with a spotted pelt and thoughtful, piercing nebula eyes.

•Appearance•
A rather large young lion with well groomed and a pretty thick skyward colored mane with onyx surrounding it. His mane is so long and thick it reaches as low as to his front shoulders and reaches his ears. He often messes around with his mane in an attempt to look fearsome. Thanks to his smilus mutation, his coat is much more fluffier than normal cubs. His coat is multicolored and spotted with a white belly and two front black paws and two white back paws. His bobbed tail is fully black and his muzzle is white. Most of his face is black and his torso area is splattered with colors including red, light gray, and some whites with an onyx cheetah marking topping it off. His paws are quite large for his age which causes him to trip over them quite often. He always has this uncomfortable sensation to scratch his sharp, long claws against some kind of surface and has a tendency to always sharpen them. Asad really cares about his looks and always tries to look his best, almost always grooming his pelt. The male has long white whiskers which he always tries to keep curved. He has a dark black nose against his white muzzle. He is something that other cats call a handsome devil. His looks are his pride and joy since he was always just praised for that and not other things. His usually cold looking eyes are surprisingly full of untamed fire which could lash out and destroy you at any moment. He usually wins staring contests thanks to his eyes. His gaze can be intimidating since it shows so much rage and ambition for such young lion.

•Personality•
Asad is probably one of the most loyal lion you have ever met in your life. He would die for his pack and fight for his pride to the end. If he isn't loyal, for any reason. Someone must have cursed him or something since he would do anything for his pride. He would be loyal to his family and friends to the end and would even join another pride to spy for them if he had to. If he had to trade his soul for the pride, he would do so. Asad is also very competitive. He would never refuse a good race or competition. He hates losing though and is a big sore loser, when he wins he brags about it until you tell him to back off which he doesn't do but he calms down. You'll never hear the end of it! He is very self confident which can come off as cocky. He has so much confidence that he would bet his life that he would win a hunting contest or competition. Asad is pretty sure he can win with no problem and no injuries.

The large cub is also VERY brash. Very energetic, he can never run out of it and usually bothers his friends about it, stating he's bored and wants to do something while jumping around and playing with his tail or wrestling with some other cubs. Asad is also probably the most mischievous lion you'd ever see. Pranking everyone a lot and scares everyone which sometimes causes him to meet the kings, not really caring or afraid about it. He claims to be unafraid, which would almost be true if he wasn't scared of being forgotten. He also is self-conscious about his self-image and reputation. He is known as a cool, awesome prankster and warrior who is unafraid of everything, an athlete and all that good stuff which is why he always gags at sappy stuff and romantic stuff. Secretly, he is a big sap and is one of the most affectionate lions in the pride which he doesn't say or do anything to show that he is though. He's also very prideful about the things he's good at and knows what to do. Asad is also a very intelligent and clever lion.

•Backstory•
Most stories all end with happy ever afters... Well, Asad's doesn't.
Even if his father was a peace-loving lion, he already knew that his mate was unfaithful to him but he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. Even if some male lions didn't care about relationships and usually ended up having multiple consorts, he couldn't and it definitely hurt to see her with more lions then himself since he was actually in love with her. Asad's father first was sad but then raged,
so one day, he decided to get revenge and also get his anger out. He found a lionesses in heat. She was surprisingly beautiful, even with all her injuries. So then, his father managed to get what he wanted which was... Y'know.
Soon after that, Asad's father left and never returned. Of course, the lioness would never forget that beautiful moment of making love with him but she didn't want a LIVING REMINDER to remind her of the moment.
She was pregnant. And of course, she didn't want the cub. After months of carrying Asad, she gave birth to him. Apparently, it was too hard and too much to give birth to such a large and mutated cub so soon after that, she died. The lions in her pride didn't know what to do so they nursed him until he was strong enough to be abandoned.
Asad was strong enough to survive his first years in the wilderness without a pride until a pride adopted him. They were all happy, Adam didn't know it of course, but he felt it. One day, he was about five months old, his pride were fighting... Fighting so loudly and hard that it scared poor Asad to death so he he hid in some bushes and listened with dried tears. Next day, something was off... His pride seemed to have a different energy to them. Though, Asad didn't notice his pride started getting rougher with him, pushing him around, shoving him, hurrying him up and roaring at him until, they started getting so rough that some even started hitting him so hard until he yelped and yelped.
That's when one day, he ran away. He ran away into the wilderness again. He was alone. He was alone until this pride adopted him. He was cautious and scared of it happening again but he needed other lions so he joined. Now, he's very thankful and loyal to this pride because they adopted him and protected him.

•Family•
"Well, I've never met him. What can I say about him?"
Lucifer [Father - Neutral] [Deceased]

"She died giving birth to me, I will never know if she would have loved me or not."
Aria [Mother - Neutral] [Deceased]

"I just wish I knew why they turned that way..."
Old Pride [Old Pride - Anger] [Unknown]

"He's my brother! Of course I love him!.. Even if he can be pretty annoying at times.
Abbas (Can be changed.) [Younger Brother (Can be changed.) - Love/Protective] [Alive] (OPEN!)

"I know I love you, but why did I agree with this?"
Arielle (Can be changed.) [Younger Sister (Can be changed) - Love/Protective] [Alive] (OPEN!)

•Other Relationships•
Asad hasn't interacted with anybody yet. Will add as he interacts.

•Theme Song•
Imagine Dragons - Bleeding Out {Lyrics}

Quote from song that fits him:
"I'm Bleeding Out, so if the last thing that I do, is bring you down. I'll bleed out for you. So I bare my skin, and I count my sins, and I close my eyes, and I take it in. I'm Bleeding Out. I'm Bleeding Out for You. For You.
This quote shows his loyalty to his pride and family and how he would "bleed out for them", just like the song says.

•Other•
Pic of him as Adult:

His scent are pine trees.

•RP Sample•
RP sample from Children of the Gods. Thread by Oliver Queen (#101978)

Male | 15 Years, 9 Months | Son of Hephaestus | Mentions: Everyone.

The young hazel eyed boy widened his eyes and let out heavy pants as he got onto a sitting position on the bed. His head hurt like hell and he could definitely see black spots in his vision. His back and sheets were covered and drenched in sweat and his heart was beating like a bunny running away from a starving fox. Where exactly was he? He didn't recognize this room. His own bedroom was nothing like this one. This one was... Plain. His was fire based and full of the color red. Sure, it was childish but he liked it that way.

After looking at his surroundings he forced himself to get on his sore and trembling legs and limped his way to the door. His legs were pretty weak thanks to a genetic that ran in his family. Somehow, he managed to not get diseased by it but it affected his leg strength. He had heard from a doctor that if he got plenty of exercise, his legs would get stronger and would be normal but Adam, didn't exercise and didn't care but now, it was affecting him pretty badly.

He started tripping over his own feet but forced himself to open the door, something told him that it might be worth it... He gasped as the air cooled his body but it didn't help that he was sweaty and instead of feeling relieved, he felt cold. The red haired boy then took off his jacket that he had completely forgotten he had around his waist and put it on, now sighing in relief as he felt his body start to warm up. Finally, he limped cautiously towards the group of people who were talking. Adam couldn't help but grin slightly as he saw his older friend, Stephen, though, his smile quickly vanished as he saw a shiny woman. She was hot though, so, he wasn't complaining.

•Name•
Talillou (roughly translates to 'of the sun' in Greek)

•Age•
12 years

•Gender & Sex•
Female

•Orientation•
Lesbian

•Rank•
Elder

•Census Description•
A bubbly (for her age) red and cream lioness with heavy piebald and heterochromatic blue/green eyes.

•Appearance•
Tal's Wardrobe Code until I can Correctly Upload an Image
Talillou is a pretty light cream based lioness with heavy piebald and red/brown tones. Her brother, who was without piebald, often teased her for looking as white as the clouds and being less capable of camouflaging. She has heterochromia: one eye is blue, and the other is green. She has two scars: one is a memorable scar on her nose from when she tripped over herself onto a jagged rock as a cub during her family's odyssey; the other scar on her back is from a long hunt where the prey had dug its horns into her in defense.

•Personality•
Talillou is a light-hearted, girly lioness. She is as femme as one can get. She tries to make friends with her elder denmates despite the air of grumpiness; however, Tal finds that starting conversations is somewhat hard, for the lioness is so clumsy at times that she can barely get a word out before stuttering or tripping over herself. She is rather accepting and open-minded of other lions. She wonders about her brother a lot, and when she falls deep into the hole of thought of her family, she becomes distant and melancholy. It is often joked that Talillou is only kept in the pride due to the fact that she'd probably fall over herself and off of a cliff if the pride were not there to watch over her.

•Backstory•
Talillou and her older brother, Amahept, were born to mother Bahansiou and father Amadehun in the middle of the wilderness. These lions truly loved each other, but they were, unfortunately, lions who had lost their pride during an evacuation from drought. Bahansiou and Amadehun feared for themselves and their children, and they set out to find an accepting pride, traveling for about 10 months in their own small pod. Upon reaching the first accepting pride, the family was starved and exhausted from endless travel but found that the pride was unwilling to accept children that were not the of the king. Amahept, about 2 years old, promised his exhausted parents that he would find a home for him and his sister.

Amahept and Talillou traveled for another 12 months until Tal fell upon an illness caused by bacteria in still water. Amahept did his best to care for his little sister, but still, he carried her small, weak body until another pride was found. This pride, the pride during Ramses' rule, welcomed both of the young lions; however, Amahept chose not to stay, and Tal has since assumed he died in the harsh wilderness.

Talillou has grown up in the pride that welcomed her, and she tries to make the best of everything given to her.

•Family•
Mother: Bahansiou ; Deceased ; Feels love and respect for her mother
Father: Amadehun ; Deceased ; Feels love and respect for her father
Older Brother: Amahept ; Unknown, Presumably Deceased ; Feels concern and curiosity for her missing/dead brother

•Other Relationships•
Open

•Theme Song•
To Build a Home By The Cinematic Orchestra

•Other•
If you get friendly enough with Talillou, she may enlighten you on her past and/or allow you to call her Tal.

•RP Sample•
Talillou was sunbathing in the grass, half-awake and unaware of her surroundings. Thus, she completely missed a mischievous cub sneaking up on her in her peripheral vision. She felt a slight tug on her tail, and she whipped her head around in complete surprise. There stood a small cub, grinning as Tal's tail lay between its little jaws. Tal giggled at the small thing and twitched her tail to begin a game with the child. As her tail swayed, the cub struggled to keep its footing, and it was not long before the smaller lion lost its balance and tumbled a foot or so, lost in the momentum. The larger lioness looked on in concern, puffing slightly to ask if the child was unhurt. However, when the cub rose and limped on its front left paw, Talillou felt a pang of guilt in her gut. She beckoned the cub into her reach, licking and caring for the cut on the cub's paw. "My apologies, little one," she hummed, "sometimes I am so forgetful and clumsy. I forget my own strength." The young one mewled in response and soon fell asleep. Talillou resumed her afternoon sunbathing, carefully aware of the cub resting between her paws.

•Name•
Kuwaka

•Age•
1 year, 7 months.

•Gender & Sex•
Cis male.

•Orientation•
Bi-curious.

•Rank•
Junior. He dreams of joining the royal guard one day.

•Census Description•
A fiery young male with big dreams still blinded by youthful innocence.

•Appearance•
Kuwaka sports a medium build and shiny, sleek fur in a wild array of oranges and reds. He sports faint stripes and spots of a more yellow hue that are more visible in the sunlight, but vanish almost entirely into the rest of his pelt in the shadow. He is still maturing through the gangly awkwardness of adolescence, though as of late he has begun to build up muscle that hints at his future as a strong, powerful lion. His mane has started to grow in dark, but it is still short and messy compared to that of a fully-grown lion. He likes to decorate it with whatever feathers he can get his paws on, and wears a necklace made of hyena claws around his neck.

•Personality•
Bright and optimistic, he has not yet fully outgrown his cub-like personality. Kuwaka fails to see the seriousness of most things; he is very hard to discipline as a result, and often wanders unknowingly into trouble. Despite this, he is a genuinely caring lion, who is perhaps far too easily won-over with his tendency to give everyone a second chance, and to believe the best of them. When dark thoughts do plague him, Kuwaka doubts his own judgement. Above all else, he values doing the right thing, and when it comes to heavy decisions he may fear he is making the wrong ones. He looks up to the pride's leadership, and though doubt has started to crack his impression of them, he does his best to ignore it, for he feels it is his duty to stay loyal and true to them. However, as such an empathetic creature, he may yet stray as he listens to the plights of his pride-mates...

•Backstory•
Kuwaka was born under Amenhotep's reign. He was neither outstanding nor disappointing; his performance in his training was solidly average, allowing him to avoid standing out in either a good or a bad way.

•Family•
Father: King Amenhotep
Mother: Queen Valor

•Other Relationships•
Kuwaka’s friendly enough to be on good terms with most of the pride, and likely friends with those in his age range. Let me know if anyone would like to have our characters be friends or anything.

•RP Sample•
Water cascaded down from Kuwaka’s drenched and shining fur as he charged through the river’s shallows, sending up tall splashes of water with each heavy pawstep. He held his head up high above the water level, and his tail floated aloft like a flag. His ears were pricked, eyes bright and alert. “Hey, wait for me!” he hollered after the others as they raced ahead of him, but he got little other than a mouthful of water that his own paws had splashed up as thanks for his trouble. The excited grin he wore resolved itself into a determined scowl, ears pinned and teeth gritted, as he picked up the pace. At first, Kuwaka seemed to be gaining on them- the spray of brackish water soared into the air around them, churned into a fine mist by running paws. The light glinted dazzlingly through it, and shone where it beaded in the lions’ fur. The nearest bouncing tail seemed inches in front of his muzzle- and then the ground beneath him seemed to shift and slip away from him. A smooth river stone turned beneath his front paw, and the surface of the brown water rushed up to meet him as Kuwaka crashed facefirst into the river.

Nootau
{Noot - Ow}

:: Age ::
4 Years

:: Gender & Sex ::
Male | Male

:: Orientation ::
Panromantic | Demisexual

:: Rank ::
Citizen

:: Census Description ::
A large white brute with strange markings and gentle eyes.

:: Appearance ::
Towering over many pride members, Nootau had always been big, even as a cub. His blinding white pelt and abnormal markings making him stand out even more from the pride. With a long narrow face, flat forehead and featherlike mane, he can be considered very handsome by some. Broad shoulders, thick legs, large paws, and a soft pelt are also a plus. He has few scars, one more prominate being across the bridge of his nose from falling into a thorn bush when he was younger. Not exactly a very heroic battle wound story, but his kind face makes up for his lack of manliness.

:: Personality ::
Clumsy and awkward sums it up pretty well for this male. Always tripping over large paws, and stuttering his way through every sentence. He hates being the center of attention, and prefers to listen in rather than give his own two cents on any issue or discussion. Of course the matter at paw has him a bit riled up and on the ready to jump up and take action at any moment, as he believes in freedom and mercifulness.

He makes sure to practice what he preaches and is always kind and gentle towards anyone he may encounter no matter the circumstance. He never goes back on promises and is extremely loyal by default, willing to fight for whoever he feels deserves it. Though not the best fighter, and more of a hunter despite it being the females job. He is exceptional when it comes to stealth, and his size and natural durability makes up for his lack of knowledge on the battle field.

Though his passionate hate for Amenhotep blinds him of his inexperience, and he’s sure to fight either way. He rarely acts out on his anger, though can show signs of aggravation when ever the king is brought up. His angry attitude more of a cold silence then a fire like rage with shouting and claws, you can never really tell if he’s upset with you or not, so hides this well from the king.

:: Backstory ::
Born to the pride, both parents had been killed by Amenhotep and from then on he’s had a strong hatred towards the pride king. As soon as the rebellion had risen, and he’d caught whispers of it in the wind, he quickly joined in on their plan to overthrow their ruler. He continues to seek out more pride members to join, though is cautious as not to get found out by Amenhotep and his blind followers.

:: Family ::
Oran | Father | Deceased
Kivahl | Mother | Deceased

:: Other Relationships ::
TBD

:: Theme Song ::
N/A

:: Other ::
Those close to him can call him Noot

:: RP Sample ::

Another of my characters from a different roleplay.

A young cat, comaflouged by the spray of shadowy treetops against the high sun, a mouth parched and cracked as he searched for water. Steps fell weak and finally, he collapsed against the earth, leaves and dust falling up and around him, shaping his form as he nuzzled his face into the dirt to die. He felt as if he’d only been laying for a second, but as he heard a quick shuffling of paws against the dry leaves and a strange feeling of claws gripping his coat, he jumped upright only to have the setting sun glaring into his eyes. Squinting against the light, he finally adjusted to see an abnormal creature in front of him.

“You’re alive?” The creature asked, her voice was strange to him, almost like he could barely understand her. She was a fat silvery thing with a pointed snout and skinny black legs that reminded him of burnt twigs. Her tail was round and short, with a set of three rings against the dark base, and with beady eyes staring straight into him from beneath the black fur that lined her cheeks and eyes. His voice was lost to him as he gazed upon this strange animal. “I’m sorry, I thought you were a Burned One.” She turned to circle him, giving his belly and legs a quick sniff then moving on to pick at his fur. Jumping away from her he finally found his words.

“Keep your paws away from me, and what do you mean by a ‘Burned One’?” He hissed, Ears falling flat against his skull as he eyed her suspiciously. She titled her head and then let out a fast breath through her tiny nostrils, expressing a sort of grief on her shadowed features. “This forest is known for fires, we call it the flaming forest,” He let her speak, curious about this place he’d stumbled into. “I should of known you weren't from here, your fur is too dark and I’ve never even seen such a thing as yourself.” He could say the same, but thought better to let her finish before making a statement on her appearance.

“After every fire, there are animal bodies that litter the ground. Their fur scorched black, so we call them the Burned Ones.” He nodded, looking down at his own smoky legs. “I thought you were one of them, your coat looked seared from my tree.” He followed her eyes towards the treetop to see a hole in one of the trunks a few feet above them. “So what are you called?” She asked, scooting closer to sniff at him again, and he was too tired and hungry to protest, so didn’t stop her. “I’ve never been called anything but kit by my mother.” She snapped her head to look at him.

“A kit! You don’t look like a raccoon at all!” He snorted at her words, not sure what she meant. “Of course not, I’m a cat!” Tilting her flat head she squint her eyes. “Well, I’m not calling you that,” he narrowed his own silver eyes at her, and opened his mouth to retort, but was quickly quieted. “You’ll be Sear.” Silenced and confused he watched her hunched form as she scurried towards her tree. “But-“

“Shush now and come. You are nearly dead from starvation,” she snapped at the tom. “Come eat, and I will show you what a true raccoon kit looks like.” She spoke proudly, and Just as she said that, a series of strange noises could be heard from her tree, and he found himself following her without thought. He’d come to know the raccoon as Raisha, and her as well as her four kits became his family for the next 12 moons he’d lived in flaming forest.