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[NOTE; obviously, none of the lore i come up with is what actually happened LMFAO most of this is breeding mishaps, a couple were trades. this is all for fun!!]
(Kupanda - 'Mount', 'Ride', 'To Ascend', 'To Escalate')
♘ Kupanda and her sisters, Matope, Makaa, and Lesedi (later to be followed by Hinto), were born in a colorful megapride, as respected as it was expansive. They were born under the king, who was widowed at their birth, and were the fuzzy apples of his eye- while Kupanda wasn't as close with him as, say Matope, she did at least respect her father, and cherished the time spent with him.
♞ That is, until, their father announces that a rogue has joined the pride. Initially, her and her sisters shrugged it off, their pride has gotten rogues countless times before- but the girls, the perceptive lionesses they were, caught onto how... Close the two would get. It started small, with the sisters missing their training because their father wanted to patrol the territory with the rogue, or him constantly making excuses to bring her the juiciest hulks of prey. All of this grew, of course, with the king becoming standoffish to his daughters, opting instead to spend time with this... Stranger. Oftentimes, Kupanda was left to fill his pawprints, trying to spend as much time with her sisters as she could, as annoyed as she was with Matope's denial of the inevitable.
♘ As disappointed as she is, Kupanda isn't surprised to hear her father banishing her and her sisters from the megapride. The rogue has gotten pregnant, pregnant with her father's cub, her half sister- and while she wouldn't admit it, her heart aches when she hears Matope begging for answers. When their father makes it clear he wants nothing to do with the girls in favor of his new family, Kupanda is surprised to find usually-stoic Lesedi spit on his name, before storming off. Kupanda and Makaa are quick to follow, and of course, Matope is the last to follow. Hmph. Pitiful girl.
♞ Rogue life was rough, any former rogue would tell you that. Especially if you're a group of traumatized teenagers that lost the only father figure you ever had. Each of the lionesses were molded by their father's abandonment differently; Kupanda, specifically, thrust herself into a 'mother' figure, of sorts. Granted, a harsh, unforgiving mother figure, who bared her fangs instead of her heart, and who constantly got into spats with her sisters when they tried to 'change the flow' of their new life, out of fear that any sort of change would be a knock-on effect that led to the unit splitting, but still. The only mother figure the girls had. And despite everything, she loved them. Terribly.
♘ Eventually, the girls run into Luam. Patient, gentle, kind, all the things their father used to be. Kupanda's shocked to see Makaa and Lesedi immediately accept him into their 'family', both she and Matope are hesitant to bond with this stranger of a lion. Initially, Kupanda's stiff and awkward around the king, no matter how much he tries to coax her into relaxing. What if he abandons her and her sisters? What if he tries to hurt them? But alas, Kupanda found herself becoming fond of the lion, at peace with the fact that he wasn't her father, and wouldn't pull anything wicked.
♞ This feeling of ease is halted, however, when the king welcomes a new rogue into the mini pride. Kupanda was well aware of who this lioness was- a former queen who was banished after having an affair with the king's brother. She's surprised to learn, however, that she's expecting a cub from the affair! And yet, the king is infatuated with her, follows her around like a lost cub. It's... Weird. And scary. This change in things is scary. And so, everything comes crashing down when Luam announces his engagement with the lioness, and Matope abruptly bails from the pride.
♘ With the lost of her sister and the sudden newfound love in the pride, Kupanda isolates herself, the thing she used to condemn her sisters of doing. She found herself growing... Numb, almost disassociating from the world around her, lost in her head. What could she have done differently? How could she have gotten Matope to stay? How could she have prevented the lioness from joining the pride? Whenever Luam would try to ask her what's wrong, she bitterly refused to say a word... Until after a few months went by. One day, the usual happened- Luam would check in on Kupanda, make sure she was eating. Only this time, Kupanda begrudgingly buried herself in the king's mane, and only said one thing. "...I miss her."
♞ To her surprise, her grief wasn't met with words, only silent sympathy. The two stayed like that for a long, painful moment, before Kupanda found herself backing off. Luam told her that she had every right to miss her sister, and that she didn't have to bottle all her heartache up- she's safe here. With these words in mind, for the first time in months, Kupanda left her den, just to patrol- stretch her legs, feel the soft breeze in her fur. This proceeded into the night, where she would run face-to-face into the one lioness she'd never expect to find. Matope.
♘ Kupanda is filled with pretty much every emotion you'd expect. Confusion, pain, so much grief... And relief. Overpowering relief. When Matope tries to run off again, Kupanda immediately reverts to her rogue self, roughly scolding the lioness for even thinking about leaving, and pulls her by her ear back home. As they walk, Kupanda rants on- stupid, stupid girl, thinking she could just leave everyone behind like this! Like their father... Well. Eventually, they reach pride grounds, and Kupanda finally releases the death grip on Matope's ear, leaving her sister and her king to talk, safe and sound. Though she'd never admit it, bittersweet tears were shed as she walked away.
♞ As Kupanda walks off, her ears perk up at the sound of a cub squeaking. She rolls her eyes- how come all of this has to happen the ONE time she leaves her den? Regardless, she goes to investigate, and her eyes fall on a pale blue-stained cub, wailing for her 'mama'. She moves closer, trying to get the scent of the cub, so that maybe she could locate her parents- and she's overwhelmed with the scent of her father, entangled with the scent of what could only be his newfound bride. And the rest is history...
♘ Kupanda currently mothers three daughters- Wakati, Wimbi, and Lulu. Her motherly instincts from her time as a rogue are applied to the three, albeit a tad softer- but she's still rough, still strict, still not openly affectionate with words. But her actions say the most- at least, that's what her cubs say.
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