Bittersweet Youth
╔═══*｡❅*⋆⍋✧ ✦ ✧⍋⋆*❅｡*═══╗

The wind rustling his half-grown mane carried the trouled adolescent's sigh up to the stars. He stared absentmindedly into the shaman's watering hole, thoughts churning his stomach with anxiety, a contrast to the serenity of the landscape around him. He had run away again, unable to bear the suffocating presence of his mentor. He knew he was lucky to have found a pride that  was willing to take him in, much less allow him to become an apprentice of this knowledgable shaman. But... everything in this pride was so different than he was used to, and his mentor's harsh words did nothing but bring back memories of his bitter cubhood, filled with days of being neglected, starved, and ignored by his indifferent parents. Were these days of exhausting learning worth it in the end? He raised his head and peered at the vast night sky, as if seeking an answer from his ancestors above. What he did not expect was for his ancestors to be peering back in the form of a whispy cloud. 

"We can end your troubles, young lion. We have seen the injustice your father and mother have done to you. We hear your pining for knowledge, for wisdom. We can grant it all to you, but at a cost. We will rewrite your fate. We will erase your mentor and your king, and appoint you in their place. You must use this knowledge for nothing but to lead your pride to glory. You must become the heir, and shoulder the burden of a pride. If you accept this, we will fulfill your dreams." 

The young male stared up at the clouds, doubtful. He hesitated for a second, then made up his mind. It was time to grow up, and leave behind his bittersweet youth.

K A G U R A
she/her


Forsaken Beauty
❀⊱┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄┄⊰❀

Named after Hinokami Kagura - Sun Breathing
Meaning: Dance of the Fire God

☀️☀️☀️

Among the luscious vines and blossoming flowers, a strikingly beautiful lioness wandered, paws leaving no trail behind her except for a whisper of her haunting presence. These flowers had not always been here. She had sowed the seeds with her own paws, in an attempt to find solice within a meadow of serenity. The flowers had flourished, nourished by the remains of her tribe. Though the flowers buried the cracked and hardened bones, they could not bury her grief. She had been meant for a purpose much greater. And yet... she couldn't even heal her tribe of the calamatious plague that claimed their lives along their journey. The only life she had reclaimed from the jaws of death had been her own. Without her tribe, her potential was nothing more than a wilted flower among the the endless meadows. Lamenting her failure, she locked herself from the outside world, only showing herself to those in the most dire situations. And thus, she became "Kagura the plaguebringer, who only appears before your death." This was her punishment, her prison, her atonement. Though she was still alive, this field was her eternal grave, and she would haunt the flowering meadows until the end of time.

☀️☀️☀️

ᴅᴀɴᴄᴇ
ᴄʟᴇᴀʀ ʙʟᴜᴇ sᴋʏ
ʀᴀɢɪɴɢ sᴜɴ
ʙᴜʀɴɪɴɢ ʙᴏɴᴇs, sᴜᴍᴍᴇʀ sᴜɴ
sᴇᴛᴛɪɴɢ sᴜɴ ᴛʀᴀɴsғᴏʀᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ
sᴏʟᴀʀ ʜᴇᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴢᴇ
ʙᴇɴᴇғɪᴄᴇɴᴛ ʀᴀᴅɪᴀɴᴄᴇ
sᴜɴғʟᴏᴡᴇʀ ᴛʜʀᴜsᴛ
ᴅʀᴀɢᴏɴ sᴜɴ ʜᴀʟᴏ ʜᴇᴀᴅ ᴅᴀɴᴄᴇ
ғɪʀᴇ ᴡʜᴇᴇʟ
ғᴀᴋᴇ ʀᴀɪɴʙᴏᴡ
ғʟᴀᴍᴇ ᴅᴀɴᴄᴇ

Nightmare King
••●───── 🕸️⋅🕷⋅🕸️ ─────●••

Fearsome. Outcasted. Tyrant. These were the words used to describe Zoran Hellsing. He had supposedly passed away decades ago, but his vengeful spirit lived on, refusing to wither away and be forgotten. Now king of the underworld, he sought to bring destruction on the pride that had revolted against him and taken his life. Though he could no longer walk among the living, the land of dreams was his to reign. He tormented the ruler of his former pride each time he lay down to rest. A nightmare, Zoran was called. Just a nightmare. But he refused to be brushed off as a figment of imagination, an illusion created by some lion's mind. He would take back control of his pride, even if it meant possessing the body of his successor. With a mighty roar, he spread his ink-black wings, taking off to seek out the young ruler as he entered a dreamless sleep, a canvas for Zoran to paint a nightmare with deep-red streaks of blood.