Welcome to Gaia! ::

T H E . F A T H E R
OCHIENG - He's as innocent as his fur is white. Growing up without a single parent nor
role model hasn't made him cynical, but instead dependent and trusting.
However, that doesn't mean he won't still look for his parents, [less as he
grows older] or wish he had some. He isn't one to go help another so they will
thank them or look up to him, in fact, if such an event were to transpire, he
would probably flee the scene.




T H E . M O T H E R

YING - Just awoken from a mini coma, Ying has no memory of who she really is
or even what family she belongs to. Ochieng will be able to tell her just
what her name was, she won't even realize it was the leopard who's gotten
her pregnant. She was searching for her twin sister before something
caused her to get knocked out, and on a warm night sometime before then
she found comfort with the leopard male.




T H E . F A T H E R ' S . I M A G E

??? - owned by hibi-tea





T H E . F A M I L I A R . E Y E S

??? - owned by kasailoki

and open!

Which leopon are you trying for? The silver boy
Are they staying with their mother or going with their father? Father

Name Abhayasinha
Meaning Fearless lion
Personality A bit of a manic depressive, this one is wildly creative but also self criticizing and easily hurt. But Abhayasinha will keep all of those feelings bottled up. Going about as a normal, if a bit grouchy leopon. Understandably hurt by the constant belittlement of being a half breed. With his depression comes some abilities as well. It enables him to be very empathetic. Very realistic in goals or in his views. With his mania comes creativity. A different view from what other's might normally see. As his life progresses, Abhayasinha will become aware of his consistent 'bad feelings', becoming aware that it isn't 'normal' and will try to correct it. Try to think positively. And will surround himself with positive types.

Prompt choice g
Prompt Response

He was sensitive to the thoughts of other's. Treading carefully lest someone should say anything adverse to him. Abhayasinha would never get used to the cruel stares of strangers. Today was no different. Being mocked by some lioness at the watering hole. He always took the cruel treatment in silence. Pretending not to be hurt or care. But each and every occurrence weighed on his mind. Abhayasinha could never remember happy memories. Not because he didn't ever have any, but because the 'bad things' weighed in his mind more than the happy.

Seated at water's edge of a lake, the leopon stared at his reflection in the still water. He looked nothing quite like any other creature he's come across. Lion cubs he has met were all sorts of different in comparison to him. Sometimes he was allowed to play with them, but the boy was still self conscious. He will always be.

But he kept appearances up. Always sure to lick at his fur and keep it in pristine condition. Finely groomed and combed into a uniform manner. Abhayasinha grinned down at his reflection, repeating the words silently to himself. 'I'm handsome. I'm attractive.' Despite his unusual appearance, the boy was once told by a relative that he DID look nice. He couldn't quite remember which. But that wasn't the point. Abhayasinha still clung to the kind words, hoping to bring his spirits up.

There was a ripple to the water once a bug landed on the surface, breaking the leopon from his trance like state. Lifting from his seated position, the meek male turned tail and headed into the forest, to search for his father. And act as the 'Fearless lion' like his namesake. Maybe.

Which leopon are you trying for? the masked girl
Are they staying with their mother or going with their father? Staying with her siblings (if the other two stay with one parent) or with her mother and which ever other sibling stays in order to look after them. If none stay with mum, she'll go with dad.

Name Daiyu
Meaning Chinese name meaning 'black jade'. (For her pelt and eye colour)
Personality Generally friendly and rather outgoing, she is always the first one to talk to any cubs they meet and is prone to getting into fights in defense of her family. Often acting older than her age in order to protect her young sister and her brothers, Daiyu has taken on some of the duties their mother should really handle. She looks out for her siblings and makes sure they eat and drink enough on their trips. But she is not too serious for all the trials they experience. She loves travailing and seeing the world. She harbors a secret wish to settle down for a little while, but honestly doubts she will ever find somewhere she will want to live for the rest of her life. There is far too much out there to see and experience, and stories she has heard of massive lakes with no edge and rocks that soar into the clouds.

Prompt choice A
Prompt Response Yawning she blinked open bleary eyes, the all too familiar nudge at her head pulling her from a nice nap. Swallowing the urge to sigh she hauled herself to her feet and stretched stiffly, tail kinking. Ugh... was it time already? Shaking her head she lifted a paw and scrubbed at her face, trying to rid her eyes of sleep. Mama must have got itchy paws again... every time her paws itched they moved on, wandering about the land in a seemingly random pattern. Daiyu was fairly sure Mama had no idea where they were going, but had mentioned they were looking for something. Daiyu half suspected even Mama didn't know what it was she was looking for, but Daiyu hoped she found it soon. Travailing around was fun and all, with so much to see and do, but Daiyu would have liked to spend a little more time in one place. She tried to make friends, she really did.. but they moved too much for her to get to know any of them well enough... by the time she remembered their names, they were leaving the area. She felt for her siblings, it was just as hard on them as it was on her, but at least she was a pretty tough cub, or so she liked to think herself, and often got into scraps with the other youngsters they met on their travails, wanting to defend her younger sister and brothers. Sometimes she wondered if Mama really had wanted them, but then, Mama was Mama, of course she wanted them, she just had a hard time showing it sometimes. Satisfied with this way of thinking, the young cub pulled herself to full awareness and went over to lick at her sister's ear. "Come on.. its time to go again." Smiling softly at the grumpy little grown she received for her efforts, she bent and tugged on the ear again before going over to rouse her brothers. Another day... another new place to see.

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Which leopon are you trying for? the red armwarmer girl
Are they staying with their mother or going with their father?

Name Li-Hua
Meaning Chinese name meaning 'pear blossom'
Personality Shy and retiring, the constant travailing is very hard on the young female. Never having been very good with strangers, she usually hangs back and lets her siblings deal with any rogues they meet. She loves her siblings and her mother, but is prone to worrying about all of them far too often. She really worries about their mother, hoping that she finds what they are looking for so the can stop moving around. She really wants somewhere where she can rest and live quietly. All the moving around is very stressful for her and as soon as she gets used to a particular place, they are moving again. She has taken to carrying small stones and rocks in a pouch about her neck which she collects from those few places that she likes in order to remember them. Her stones become almost like her security blanket and when ever the world becomes too much for her, she will take herself off somewhere, find a large boulder where she can hide against its base and pull her little stones out, curling up around them and gently playing with them. Rocks are her biggest comfort and her favored places are caves or other rock-surrounded areas. Once she was asked why she collected the stones and she replied . "Because stones don't leave you like family does."

Prompt choice b
Prompt Response It had been a hot day and the family had spent the best part of it travailing. Now night had fallen and they had camped beside a small stream. A bad panic attack had sent Li-Hua upriver a short way to where the bank was higher and had wedged herself against it's sheltering curve, her stone-pouch held tight in her paws. Yet the young female had something on her mind more than just the heat of the day. They had met a family of hyenas, the cubs of which immediately started taunting her and her siblings, calling them 'freaks' and 'weirdos'. Her older sister had immediately yelled back. But it wasn't that that had bothered Li-Hua so badly. It was what the pups had said.. they were 'hybrids'... only part lion... She didn't know how to respond to the idea.. she wasn't who she had always thought she was? But she felt just fine.... Dropping her gaze she rolled a stone out of her bag and gently played with it. If only she could be half-rock, the rocks never yelled at her or chased her.. the rocks never went away. Sighing softly she curled up around her little hoard and settled her chin on the stones carefully. Maybe she could be half-stone.... if she was half-lion then there had to be another half somewhere... why couldn't she be half-stone? Smiling softly at the idea she closed her eyes and drifted off, the smile remaining on her maw as she slumbered peacefully.

Which leopon are you trying for? The silver boy.
Are they staying with their mother or going with their father? Mother.

Name Bongani
Meaning 'Be grateful' in Zulu.
Personality Bongani is clearly aware he is the most different looking cub out of his litter mates, most seem to be black, red and white however the grey that adorns his mothers head and back as covered his body and he fathers striking violet eyes has also been given to him. Much like his physical traits he also takes similar amounts of qualities from his mother and father in personality traits. As if gaining his fathers violet eyes has also given him the same perception of life, Bongani has a positive outlook on life and has a rather upbeat banner, he is optimistic and generally will always be a source of strength when harder times come. Perhaps by another chance of fate the grey that adores his mothers back bone, the back of course beginning a physical source of strength to the bodies frame, he has this strength in character. He shares his mothers determination to see a job or task done.

Prompt choice A
Prompt Response Just another day like any other really, Bongani was trotting alongside his mother when one of those now familiar looks over took her, she was else where, lost in her thoughts. Bongani was generally a rather upbeat guy but he did hope that his mother found whatever it was she was searching for, he hated to see the far away look on her face, she always looked as though she'd lost a part of herself someone and needed to find it to be complete. Lost in her own thoughts however she temporarily forgot about her cubs and her pace lengthen and she began to stride out in her eager search.

Bongani and his siblings were still young, their bodies still growing and developing and they often lacked the strength and physic to be able to keep up with there mother if she strode off. One of his sisters which often grew sad and slightly depressed when this happened stopped in her tracks and sobbed, 'Why does she do this to us, I can't keep this pace. It's always like she's trying to leave us behind to catch up with whatever she's hunting, we're just a burden to her!.' Bongani stared ahead at his mother knowing at some point she'd return to the present and notice they were no longer at her side or trailing close behind. He hated to hear his sister and other siblings upset, he turned about and stared into his sisters eyes, his own violet ones showing his own love and compassion for her, 'Hush now, something haunts mother, we must be strong for her, she loves us really and we must return this. Look how she's always alone, we can't leave her and I'll always be here for you sis' to look after you.' He dipped his head, bowing his shoulders to look her directly in the eye, love shining in his eyes and his voice tender, 'Come on, it'll be alright.' With that she smiled softly back at him and like so many times before he and his siblings found the strength and carried out trailing their mothers tracks.

He picked a pace he knew his siblings would happily match for some time before they'd need to slow to a walk and then they'd beginning trotting quickly again, hopefully this would be enough to keep a reasonable distance between them and their mother before it dawned on her she'd left them behind. Part of him had always pondered on what it was their mother searched for, if it was an other creature, family, friend, an object, a place. He didn't know and he feared to question her in case she withdrew into herself like she characteristically did. He had his own questions about life of course, generally ones which is asked of openly but deeper rooted ones like where was their father, why were they all slightly smaller than other lion cubs they meet and why did they look at him strangely, was his father alive. He wondered if such personal questions plagued his mother and this was why they were constantly travelling from place to place.

He wanted a place to call home, somewhere solid but he also wanted to know his mothers story had an ending, he wanted to see she found contentment. One task at a time he reminded himself and he knew once she'd found her answer it would be his own chance to hunt down his own.

END DATE WILL BE SEPTEMBER 10TH

Thank you for all of the entries already, lovelies heart