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"You woke up and found a little bird snack waiting in front of your nose. Ghala is resting nearby, with a little smile on her face."
While expecting her final litter, Kufikiri had a terrifying prophecy come to her dreams. She had a vision that she would have a violent son the size of an elephant with eyes of hellfire, who would carve a valley of destruction through the lands. When she awoke, she warned Maji Mamba about the son they were destined to have. Never one to ignore the messages sent by their ancestors but unwilling to abort the litter they both wanted, Maji simply proposed that they would change the sex of their son, so he would grow up as a daughter.
The cub was born just as the prophecy said. His littermates were born small and frail as if he'd stolen all the strength from them before birth, but the most horrifying sight of all was his eyes; literally ablaze like a wildfire. Fearful of the prophecy, he was sex changed as soon as possible. Maji vowed there to be especially involved with his daughter's childhood to make sure she grew up into a kind lioness; he said he wasn't scared of her terrifying appearance, being so used to lionesses like Kushinda. It was Kushinda who gave Ghala her name- based off an offhanded joke about how a terrifying youngster needed a thoroughly irrelevant name, "like warehouse or something."
Ghala towers above the other lionesses in her pride, her naturally striking pelt and unnaturally glowering eyes always catching eyes from a distance. Even in a pride that accepts hellspawn, Ghala stands out awkwardly. She feels like she doesn't belong with her friends and family, like she's cursed, not in the correct body and not in the correct pride. The vision her mother had of her birth, her two weakened sisters, these events weigh on her, and she can't help but feel like fate will one day force her to fulfill her destiny. This causes her to have a very distant personality, afraid of being feared, rejected, or hurt someone she cares for.
What she doesn't know is, someday, she will complete the prophecy. She'll accept that she is a male lion in a lioness' body, and in old age, he will die in a spectacular feat of force to defend his pride from a looming threat. This action will carve a gorge into his clan's territory known as Ghala's Scratch.
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