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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!!]
(Matope - 'This Shall Be The Last', 'Mud')
☾ Matope and her sisters, Makaa, Lesedi, and Kupanda (shortly to be followed by Hinto, but that's for another time), were born to quite the sizable pride- every corner you'd turn, you could count at least twenty colorful lions. They were born under the king, widowed at their birth, and were treasured terribly- Matope, in particular, was closest to him. She'd always find a way to make him laugh, be the most attentive when he'd recite ancient stories...
☽ ...She's reminiscing on this one day, as an adolescent, when her father announces 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. It's all so obvious, so painful- and because it was so painful, Matope would make her own excuses, to the frustration of her sisters. Father hadn't had someone to love him for so long, she'd say! Have some sympathy, already!
☾ With that, Matope is shaken to her core when the king announces the girls' departure from the megapride. The former rogue is pregnant with his cub, and as far as it goes, the king is entirely infatuated with his new family and entirely irritated with his old one. Matope begs her father, to tell her how he could just throw her and her sisters away like this... The king simply states, like she said, that he hasn't found a lioness to love him for years, all because he devoted himself to his daughters' childhoods. So have some sympathy, little girl.
☽ Before Matope could even speak, Lesedi steps forward, spits on the ground in front of her father, and coldly states that he can stick that 'sympathy' up where the sun doesn't shine, before taking off. Makaa and Kupanda are next to follow, muttering their own grievances... Matope was hesitant to move from her spot. How could she? She could only stand there, glassy-eyed, heart pounding, trying her damndest to fight away her tears, under the apathetic gaze of her father. It's only when Makaa calls after her does she move, albeit not without looking back at her father.
☾ 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; Matope, in particular, convinced herself that she was completely independant, that she couldn't- no, shouldn't- rely on anyone. She isolated herself from her sisters the best she could (as in, without starting a blowout argument), and was constantly apprehensive, unwilling to attach herself to her sisters to lessen the pain of potential abandonment. Her feelings on herself were inconsistent, constantly flip-flopping between "Look at what my father lost, aren't I great?" and "Oh spirits, father was right about me, I'm worthless!", but put up the former as a front whenever the latter would occur, to the annoyance of her sisters.
☽ Eventually, the unit of sisters run into Luam, a lion who was nothing short of warm and pleasant, and hoping to start his own pride! Makaa and Lesedi immediately attach themselves to him- Kupanda and Matope are more hesitant and rigid, but damn it, they can't leave their sisters alone... Surprisingly enough, Kupanda was the first out of the two to warm up to him, deciding that he was perfectly safe. Matope, however, was less warm to the idea of Luam- their father was nice, too, and just look what happened with him! Putting up her walls, she flaunted herself as above him, was passive-aggressive at his attempts at connection, and would make cruel remarks whenever the two were too close. And yet, Luam was a saint, unwilling to let Matope push him away... This earns him her respect. With time, as Luam finally establishes the pride's den and territory, Matope attaches herself to Luam, never to let go.
☾ And so, she's sick to her stomach when an elder rogue lioness strolls along, looking for a place to stay. The lioness was upfront with her history- she was a respected queen that was banished for adultery, and was now expecting a cub from her affair. A harlot! A whore! In the moment, Matope believed that this would be what could make Luam send her away- but the fool doesn't. He's clearly enamored with her, willing to look past her faults- as in, a literal crime! And Luam was... What? Half her age? Granted, both were consenting adults, but still! Time goes by, resentment grows for the stranger; Soma, was it? Whatever. This resentment blows over when Luam announces that he's making Soma his bride, his queen, and with that, Matope bolts off in a heartbeat. Luam is heartbroken, but trusts the older teen to come back.
☽ Those few months alone were the hardest in her life. She endured the exact same challenges she did before meeting Luam, except this time, she was alone. There wasn't much she did, aside from hunt and sleep, and goodness, she was terrified throughout it all. Whenever she dreamed, she saw her father's sneering face again, and whenever she tried to stay awake, she could swear she heard his voice. The last day of her self-banishment, having recently became a full-fledged adult, she runs face-to-face with her sister Kupanda, who was simply on patrol, and is pulled by her ear back home.
☾ As soon as the sisters are back home, Kupanda finally releases Matope (and inadvertently leaves her with an ear knick, ouch), and Luam is begging to know what happened, what prompted Matope to run away. She's silent for a long time... Before sobbing into his mane, telling him everything. Her father, the rogue, how it was all triggered by Soma... And Luam is nothing but sympathetic, allowing the girl to cry all she needed to. Feel what you need to, yes, but he's not going anywhere, he tells her. And with those words in mind, she's able to truly rest, for the first time in months.
☽ Matope now mothers two cubs, as of now- and while she is loving, she is nothing short of overbearing, considering her trauma. Fancy that.
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