Zuri (Done)

[Zuri]

“Image used is 'Althea', drawn by Nido at fanart.lionking.org. Copyright belongs to original artist.”

ZURI

Nicknames: No
Gender: Female
Age: Four
Species: Lioness
Homeland: Vinelands
Rank: New mother

Quick Description: Has a cream, almost white, pelt and aqua blue eyes.
Full Description: Zuri has a cream, almost white pelt, accented by various off white markings. The most distinct of these are two crescent shapes that can be found just below each of her pale aqua eyes, a trait carried from her mother. The other marking in question is centered on her head, sitting between each of her ears in a trianagular shape pointing downward toward her face and ending just above her brow level. Her muzzle and underbelly are the same colour as these markings, as are the rims of her eyes. Her nose is a soft red/pink colour and her eyebrows, tail and the inside of her ears a light tan.

In height, Zuri is a little smaller than most of her kind, but weighs in about average. This means that she isn't quite as big as some of the other lionesses that she is likely to meet, but this doesn't seem to worry her too much. In fact, it makes running and hiding so much easier, but can be a hindrance against larger prey.

Personality: Zuri is friendly, kind and sweet, but rather child like, naïve and a little ditzy. In a perfect world she would be able to make friends/playmates with almost everyone she meets, unless of course they're on the menu! She knows, of course, that it isn't possible to get along with everyone, but she tries so hard at times that she can quickly become annoying to some. She is also prone to sulking if things don't go her way, further accenting her childish tendancies.

Normally, she would attempt to shy away from any kind of responsibility, but she intends on raising her soon to be born cubs to the best of her ability. She often worries about what others might think of her and perhaps her greatest fear is to abandoned or rejected. To this end, she would never dream of doing such a thing to her own cubs, as she wishes to avoid them experiencing the same difficulties as herself.

Not the brightest of lions, Zuri can be a bit of an air head and is prone to taking things literally. She is still capable of learning new skills and such, but usually at a slightly slower rate than most. Nevertheless, she is a trier and won't give up until she has finally cracked whatever it is she has been working on either learning or improving upon, no matter how long it takes!

Goals: To raise her cubs well and to fit in with the pride.

History: Born as the only cub of a brown lion and a white lioness, Zuri began her life as the centre of attention and was understandably rather spoiled. Apparently, her parents had initially come from two different prides and had gotten together when the two had clashed. With their prides declared sworn enemies, the two ran away together and had lived as vagrants ever since, both before and after the birth of their daughter. The two had intended to start their own Pride together, but sadly didn't get the chance to fulfill their dream.

When Zuri was around two years old, her mother left them in search of food, as she had done many times before and leaving with the same promise to return soon. A scream and a loud bang insured that this time she never would never come back, nor her father after hiding Zuri to aid his stricken mate. Left alone, the cub waited for a long time before realising this and so heartbroken, she set off on her own. Unfortunately, the young lioness was left at the mercy of various predators and after only a number of days almost became prey to hyenas.

It was then that a female cheetah came to her aid and after fighting off the hyenas, and having no cubs of her own, raised Zuri as her own. So it was that she spent the rest of her childhood in the care of the kind cheetah, learning to hunt and blend into the wilderness. She would never be as fast as her new mother, either physcially or intellectually, but at least she had someone to call family, someone to provide love, protection and most of all food.

Reaching adolescence, she moved on from her 'mother' as adult female cheetahs preferred to live alone. Once again, she had been left to her own devices, although the one who had raised her promised to at least keep a look out for her. This was rather reluctantly on her part though, as she hated to be left alone. Zuri wandered as a vagrant for some time, learning to take care of herself to a degree. Her territory, however, overlapped with that of a small coalition of male cheetahs, including Chima. Rather than drive her out, she and Chima spent a lot of time together and somehow even ended up falling in love! They decided to keep this secret however, as love between a cheetah and a lioness was perhaps a little, if not greatly, unnatural in the grand scheme of things.

Unfortunately, the rest of the coalition had somehow gotten wind of their forbidden romance, and thus drove Zuri away from their land. Not knowing what had become of her unconvential mate, Zuri wandered again until she came to a conclusion that at first she found rather horrifying – she was pregnant! Not knowing what to do, for one she didn't even know she could get pregant by a Cheetah, she paniced a little and ran into a pride of lions in the thick jungle. Not knowing what else to do, she requested that she may join them, to which they surprisingly agreed. Living with a pride for the first time in her life, she is now prepared for the birth of her cubs. Hopefully, their heritage wouldn't be too obvious, otherwise she and her soon to be born family would be in a lot of trouble, or worse...

Author Alias: Mikoyo
RP Experience: A few years
How You Found Us: Already here
RP Sample: See 'Marini'

[Samaki]

Accepted! Just make sure to make the image just a tad smaller, as it stretches the board a bit.

[Zuri]

Thanks. Sorry about image, is it any better now?

[Samaki]

Yep, sure thing (: