[J] Rainey's SoAs

[Raine_Storms]

Here goes a quote from Bessie Head's Where Rain Clouds Gathers, when I can find the book again.

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Keys to the Kingdom

1. Introduction

2. Ajani

 

[Raine_Storms]

"What makes the desert beautiful," says the little prince, "is that somewhere it hides a well."
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Name: Ajani
Meaning: She who fights for what is hers (Yoruba)
Age: Adult
Pride: None
Personality: Despite the rough edges her life has given her, Ajani never became as jaded as her mother. She greets new lions with insatiable curiosity and a paw already extended in friendship. If the lion refuses that friendship, the door to her affection becomes hard to open again, but with enough effort she can bring herself to forgive what she considers a grievous mistake on their part. After all, in her opinion, who wouldn't want to befriend her?

Confidence is a trait that Ajani has never lacked, and she fears few things except losing the freedom her mother taught her to cherish. She sees prides the way her mother taught her to, as snaring branches that offer food and safety in exchange for freedom, and doesn’t understand why any lion would want to be part of one. Because of her beliefs about prides, she's careful not to become too close to lions who belong to one, preferring to find friendship among other rogues to avoid the temptation of falling into the life her mother always warned her against.

Ajani values unpredictability more than routine, and can hardly be seen repeating any activity at the same time for more than a few days. She finds joy and amusement in the smallest places, and can often be found because of her loud, booming laugh. Her friends often find themselves at the wrong end of that amusement, as she has a tendency to exploit her knowledge of them in the form of relentless teasing.

History: Ajani’s mother came from a pride in a far away land where only a few males were born every few generations. In order to keep their pride alive, the lionesses had to travel far away to find rogues to breed with, each hoping that one of her children would be the male the patriarchal pride was hoping for. When she had just reached adulthood, Ajani’s mother was fortunate enough to give birth to a son, born only a few months before another lioness in the pride gave birth to her own son. The pride sheltered both of the lionesses because it was believed that a lioness who could bear a son had the blessing of the gods, and could bear another with the proper rituals.

Ajani’s mother had been too young to understand what the life of a pride mother would entail, and soon she began to long for the thrill of the hunt and the foreign sights she had seen on her journey, but the pride would not allow her to leave their encampment for fear that an accident would occur before she bore any more sons. When her son was old enough to walk, she attempted to leave with him, but the other lionesses cornered her and shattered one of her hind legs to ensure that she could never abandon what they saw was her duty to her pride. While the other pride mother understood her desire for freedom, she could do no more than set the leg and wait for it to heal as best as it could, although Ajani’s mother would always have a limp. Ajani’s mother did not attempt to bring her son the second time she tried to leave, and it was only through the help of the other pride mother that she managed to escape. She began wandering through foreign territories, vowing to herself to never join another pride or doom any of her children to live in one either.

Ajani was the result of a tryst her mother had with a prided lion, and while her mother begged him to leave his pride to help take care of her, the lion belonged to a pride in which rogue breedings were seen as shameful and refused to acknowledge that Ajani was his daughter. Ajani joined her mother in her travels, and although it was challenging for a crippled lioness to raise a child on her own, she taught Ajani how to chase prey toward where she was hiding, helping her daughter to develop sharp herding instincts and strong muscles from running. Her mother was injured again in a rockslide accident while they were travelling, leaving her young daughter to provide for her until she finally succumbed to the infection caused by the wound. The loss of her mother only confirmed the lesson her mother had taught her since birth: that sooner or later, a lioness has to take care of herself. Ajani was already used to helping her mother hunt and she grew into her adulthood ambushing and chasing down her own prey. She wanders from territory to territory, never wanting to commit herself to living in any certain land, because she still remembers the stories her mother told her about life in a pride.

Colorist: Kaelyndra
Date Received: 12/14/09
Received: Through the SS exchange (2009).  

[Raine_Storms]

Ajani's Current RPs:

[x] A Path That Winds with Gizamulika [ShinosBee] & Peremende'Ment [_Shouko_]
[x] Could It Be Friendship? with Aras [chi honda]
[x] Fun In All Its Forms with Peremende'Ment [_Shouko_]
[x] So Much Energy... with Khepri [Tamiko-chan]
[x] Unnamed with Almasi [Das Tor]
[pms] Unnamed As Of Yet with Brasidas [Krysti_Auzuki]

Ajani's Finished RPs

N/A  

[Raine_Storms]

"What makes the desert beautiful," says the little prince, "is that somewhere it hides a well."
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Name:
Meaning:
Age: Adult
Pride: None [Future Planned]
Personality:
History:

Colorist: Ary Keeyara
Date Received: 02/12/10
Received: Gift For Being A Raffle Newbie (2010).  

[Raine_Storms]

Unnamed's Current RPs:

N/A

Unnamed's Finished RPs

N/A  

[Raine_Storms]

"What makes the desert beautiful," says the little prince, "is that somewhere it hides a well."
- The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Name: Shahil
Meaning: The Guide (Indian and Sanskrit)
Age: Cub
Pride: Ashani'le
Personality: Shahil is very passionate about everything he does, whether it be playing or training under his mother. He tries to understand where other lions are coming from, but sometimes, his temper can get away from him. Shahil can be a hot-head at times, leaping to conclusions before he stops to think about it. This can lead to some frustration on his part, since he thinks that a proper Tama lion should be more reserved than he is. He’s strong-willed and doesn’t compromise his ideals easily, especially when another member of Ashani’le is in pain.
History:

Mother: Indira (not biological) [Honey Gee]; Mafunde (biological) [N/A]
Father: Unknown Rogue
Siblings: Jabari [Ice Queen] and Kayin [zephira738]

Colorist: Ary Keeyara
Date Received: 02/16/10
Received: Pride Roleplay Contest (2010).  

[Raine_Storms]

Shahil's Current RPs:

[x] Teamwork with Indira [Honey Gee] & Jabari [Ice Queen] & Kayin [zephira738]

Shahil's Finished RPs

N/A