🌗 Juliette: The Once-Tainted Companion 🌗
Decor Plan:
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Juliette was born as the final cub to Shuri, a colorful lioness that joined the stars soon after her daughter was born. Her mother lived just long enough to introduce Juliette to Jask, as customary for the pride, and after her passing Jask kept a watchful eye on the young cub, as did most of the other lionesses.
As Juliette grew, her personality began to shine through. She was sarcastic and snarky, but underneath that there was a kindness to her. Her snark brought her close to Monroe, the primal submale with a heart of gold, and the two would hang out often. Many a joke was told between the two lions, and Monroe was a good buffer to Juliette, who’s sarcastic nature could come off as abrasive if you didn’t know her.
Juliette grew to be a quality huntress, which was good as many of the older huntresses of the pride were retiring from the job, not being able to keep up as they did when they were younger. However, while she was good at the important duty, she somehow always managed to get scraped up during a hunt. This was what introduced her to Jask’s young daughter Rosalee, who was training to be the first Herbalist of the pride. Juliette would go to her to get various scratches and scrapes patched up, and the two quickly became friends.
One night, Juliette and Rosalee were laying next to each other, watching the stars, and the spotted lioness caught sight of Monroe, and she saw an opportunity to merge her two friendships into a larger group. She waves Monroe over with her tail after asking Rosalee if she minded, which the monarch’s daughter didn’t. The primal joins the group, and before long Juliette can see that he and Rosalee got along in a different way than she’s anticipated. The two were clearly head over paws for each other, and the spotted lioness couldn’t have been happier for the two, even if they were spending much more time together.
The new relationship didn’t destroy the trio though, as they were closer than ever. Which is why it was astounding that some lion was able to sneak up to them when they were sleeping—the three almost always slept cuddled next to each other—and inflict Juliette with some kind of malady. She awoke the next morning feeling strange, her mind addled. She struggles to make sense of ordinary tasks, to the point that Rosalee notices and has a very worried conversation with Juliette—the details of which the spotted lioness still struggles to recall properly.
Over time, her memory gets worse, and Juliette’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic. She’s moody, confused and clumsy, more so than before. Monroe and Rosalee are shocked at their friend, when one night she yells at them over something trivial. Juliette still feels a pang of guilt whenever she recalls this fight…she said terrible things to them whilst in the throes of the illness. Luckily, the couple realized what was happening, and worked tirelessly to find a cure for her disease. They eventually brewed the antidote, which was difficult due to not knowing what had poisoned the lioness, however even the antidote had side effects.
Upon receiving the antidote, Juliette’s memories don’t return immediately, instead in hallucinations that makes the lioness believe she was losing her mind. Finally, through working with the hallucinations and not blocking them out, Juliette returns to a near-normal state, and the trio is whole again. Everything is fine, save for the lingering question of why someone would poison her.
Seeing Monroe and Rosalee talk about cubs and their relationship makes Juliette realize she wants a cub or two, but she doesn’t want to find a mate, or use a male from another pride as many lionesses do. She decides to have a cub with Jask, no strings attached, and from that union little Trubel is born. A tiny cub with a ridge of long fur going down her back.
Juliette dotes on the cub as Trubel grows, and is an adoring mother to the spiky-furred and feisty-tempered lioness. She bears another cub not long after, a dark-furred thing that she names Nynaeve. Eventually, as her daughters become a loyal, experienced warrior and huntress respectively, Juliette spends more time with Rosalee and Monroe again. Their two older cubs, Alchemilla and Helleborine were steadily growing into adolescents, and the couple could hang out with their friend again without having to worry, and their younger one, Delphinia, was so tiny that she could be brought wherever her parents went. Many a night was spent with the trio cuddled up next to each other, and little Delphinia squeezed between the paws of her mother, father, and Juliette. All was well…or so they thought.
One such night, the trio, asleep cuddled up next to each other, was attacked again. This time, however, a few shuffled leaves alerted Juliette to the intruder’s presence, as she had developed an inability to sleep deeply after the incident moons prior. Luckily, tiny Delphinia was sleeping in a different den with her sisters for the night, but as Juliette awakens, she sees something terrifying. It looked like Adalind…but her face was twisted into something she’d never seen before. Her hackles raise, and she immediately shakes Monroe and Rosalee, rousing them as well.
A fight ensues as Juliette leaps towards Adalind, feeling the Mage’s claws sink into her pelt. She feels a poison flowing through her veins, but continues to fight, to push past it. The lioness looks back at Monroe and Rosalee, their faces twisted in tired shock and horror, and their presence spurs her to fight back against Adalind harder than before. Eventually though, the pain becomes too much, and with a final cry, Juliette drops to the ground. The last thing she sees before her eyes droop closed is Rosalee’s red pelt standing over her. She hears an angry, heartbroken cry from Monroe, and then…silence.
🌗 🌗 🌗
*’Down falls the once-tainted companion, fighting ‘til the end,
As her spirit departs, it leaves behind those determined to avenge their friend.’*
Design Progress:
- Purring Bombay: (Birthday decor OR 80 gb; Branches)
