Decor Plan:
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Achillea is born to the red-furred lioness Moiraine, and her mother notices at once that the little cub bears the same pelt she has. She nurtures Achillea, though there is turmoil in the pride as Jask III and Trubel lead forces to figure out what has happened to the trio. Eventually, when Achillea is just three moons old, this turmoil comes to a head. The Dark Mage is killed, leaving behind two newborn cubs. Achillea can’t help but hear the angered roars that night, and though she hadn’t been meant to see it, she notices Trubel’s shape fighting, though the spiky-furred lioness bears a massive wound on her neck from the Mage. At that moment, the young cub becomes intrigued, even perhaps inspired, by Trubel’s intent defense and vengeance. She must learn more.
As Achillea grows, she starts to follow Trubel around. Trubel, who is now Captain of the Grimm’s Gaze, scolds her a few times after the red-furred lioness sneaks out to join her on a patrol. However, this does not deter the youngster, and eventually, Trubel agrees to train her. Achillea is thrilled by this, and takes her training very seriously. She is a natural fighter, swift and bold, though adept at slinking through the undergrowth when necessary. Her natural fighting style is slightly different from Trubel’s, though Achillea finds that many of Trubel’s lessons are extremely helpful in some way, once she adapts them to her own methods. She is a brutal killer, even as an adolescent.
Her admiration of Trubel, and enthusiasm for learning to defend the pride, leads Achillea to become slightly jealous when Gloriosa, the now-daughter of the cruel Mage, asks Trubel for lessons as well. However, it soon becomes clear that the maned lioness does not wish to fight to protect the pride, like Achillea does. Instead, she wishes to prove herself in the area, to become a Champion. Achillea doesn’t care much for the sport, but this reassures her that Gloriosa will not take her ‘place’ next to Trubel.
Eventually, Achillea graduates her training, becoming a full member of the Grimm’s Gaze. One day, she finds a dagger whilst out on patrol. It had been dropped by some human, who surely won’t miss it, so the red-pelted lioness swipes it, taking it home with her. As her mentor has her sword, Achillea now learns to become one with her dagger. It’s useful, she finds. Light enough to be swift, but deadly powerful in the right paws. She also reinforces her claws and dons armor, just as Trubel does. These will help her become an even more ruthless fighter than her spiky-furred mentor, though she never kills for pleasure. Only when the pride needs it. She is not sadistic, of course.
As the moons pass, Trubel starts to show her age. The Captain, knowing that she won’t be around forever, promotes Achilllea to Commander of the Grimm’s Gaze, telling the younger lioness that she alone will lead the Gaze after her death. Achillea is honored by this, and starts working even harder to fulfill her duties. Then, not long after Jask III dies, Achillea is faced with the reality that her mentor is not long for this world. As she, and other members of the pride, surround Trubel on her final night amongst the living, Achillea notices her Captain look over at…nothing? The Captain’s gaze widens, looking worried. Trubel then looks to Achillea, as well as to Gloriosa and Jask IV, and warns them of the return of…something. Achillea isn’t entirely sure what, but knows that she must be vigilant, if Trubel was this apprehensive about it. Trubel then draws her last breath, and finally, Achillea’s much-admired mentor is gone. The Commander, now the full leader of the Grimm’s Gaze, buries her former Captain, with the help of many of the other members of the pride, including Trubel’s daughter Eucharis. Achillea decorates the burial site, making it known that this was a well-loved lioness. Then, it’s back to work.
As the moons pass, Achillea begins to wonder if perhaps Trubel had been wrong. She hasn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary…What if the Captain had simply seen an apparition to aid her transition from the living world to the stars?
In the meantime, while Achillea is still keeping her gaze sharp for anything suspicious, she trains another young lioness for the gaze, Volumnia. The speckled lioness, with an eery pink gaze, is none other than the daughter of Heliconia, and therefore a direct descendant of the Mage Adalind. However, Achillea knows that Gloriosa and Helionia don’t wish any harm on the pride, and therefore, it must be safe to train Volumnia. Plus…she knows the pride hasn’t exactly treated the twins with the most…trust in the past. So this will be her ‘olive branch’, so to speak.
All seems well. Volumnia excels in her training, though she is much less of a direct fighter than Trubel and Achillea. Achillea notices that the younger lioness prefers to use…sneakier methods. She even trains a serpent to do her bidding, it seems. Achillea briefly remembers the stories of Adalind having some sort of shadowy creature following her, though none had been able to figure out what it had truly been. But, the Commander refuses to let herself do to her own trainee what Trubel had done to Gloriosa. No more would the Grimm’s Gaze be so untrusting without reason that they would harm another of their own. Never again.
She will eventually live to regret this decision.
Design Progress:
- Blessed Touch (12 DS October event shop; OR 2-8 gb Branches)
- Sphinx Ornate Leg Jewelry (Trivia reward any difficulty; OR 20-200 gb Branches)
