🌹 The Oracle

☆♡◇ ●●●●●●● [LORE] ●●●●●●● ◇♡♤⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️
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"Speaker of Misguidance. What a plague of a title."

This lioness is already growling before you even approach. She hardly notices that she caught your eye, her ears are pinned back so hard against her head they may as well be invisible. Around her neck, The Oracle has a thick and fluffy mane, ungroomed and untethered as it curls boundlessly around her cheeks, throat, legs, and even down her chest. As you clear your throat, you're struck by her beauty.

This lioness is majorly black undercoated, with accents like crimson sunsets. Her eyes are radiant and beam as she faces you, her dappled, striped features seemingly telling their own tale as you trace your eyes down her sides.

"Come for an omen? I don't have one for you. Leave me be." This lioness growls, but you refuse. Perhaps it's your libido, or perhaps you can sense the energy within her coat- either way, you reach your muzzle close. "Get away from me!" You can hear her snarl, before suddenly the world goes black as you make contact with her pelt, her growls fading away until all you can hear is the rush of blood, pumping from heart to lung.

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As the ink ebbs from your vision, your open your eyes wide to witness... Death? Your own eventual fading? You look down to notice your body and spirit have separated, your corpse nowhere in sight. But as you continue scanning the territory, you notice it. There, in the deepest, darkest cavern grazing the edge of your gaze, there's a lioness, her throat torn and gashed as an unruly, dappled.. Presumably male? Countered and gaped the wounds deeper, and deeper. This had been the cause of the blood, the sound of choking and sobbing as you'd awoke in this place.. But.. Crying? The lioness, her coat melanistic and faintly visible if not for the oily sheen of blood oozing from her throat, was curled up- fading away as you breathed between your whiskers. But what you hadn't noticed, at least briefly, was a huddled pelt at her flank. The cub wailed and screamed, her eyes bright with fury and terror as she attempted to fight back the oncoming threat.

"Stay away from me." You can hear The Oracle now- she's standing beside you. You take a step back to face her, and watch as she stares down her own pelt, desperate to save her doting mother. "But you couldn't listen. You didn't have the heart to hear." Aa suddenly as it had began, the image fades away. You feel your paws lifting from the solid gravel and you seek out more land, only to be gently tucked into yet another corner, yet another edge. Yet now, the sun shone strong. Icicles melted as blood caked edges of the frosted cave. Your whiskers tingle as you hear The Oracle behind you, whispering gently.

"Back then, mates came and went. They took our food on occasion, sometimes they'd let us hunt it. But there was no king. They preferred it that way." Your eyes glaze over from the frigid wind as Cupcakes, the "founder king" stroked his paw down on passing cubs, before slamming down with enough force that they went limp in an instant, no squeal or murmur, nothing but the sound of a nasty crunch.

"You'd never hear of a cub doing that, unless they were forced too." By now, you realize, through the violent snow and heavy winds, that Cupcakes had skinned the lioness you'd watched die previously, her glorious mane draped scathingly over this lion's shoulder and neck. Where once was none, now had grown luscious, yet scarlet still oozed at the tattered edges. Behind them lay- what was now very clearly to you; the young Oracle. Her eyes alight with terror, she glanced away from the fray, bounding soundlessly against the ice as she rocketed from the cave. You find yourself following her, despite what you may have been intending for.

Just then, when you reach the edge of the moors, you meet her, face to face. The Oracle, now fully grown with a thick, dense mane mirroring her late mother's. She brushes her muzzle against your own, snuggling deep into your fur. The vision keeps your body still as ice as you watch on, as Cupcakes emerges from the frost.

"Kings don't take kindly to roaming males." Is all you can hear as your soul transcends your body. Cupcakes lunges at your form, where it had once lay. The Oracle reared back, screeching, fighting against the bastard king, but there was little to be done. Savaged beyond repair, Cupcakes had pooled what remained of your "body" out onto the snow, staining winter foliage and the ground at once. With a jerk of their head they lunged at The Oracle, claws reaching towards her throat as they barked into her face. Though you couldn't hear them anymore, you could faintly hear the whisper of The Oracle behind you, mimicking what you read through their lips;

"Misguidance is villainy. Your felony will be repayed. No matter the generation, your manes will soil my fur." Just then, you can see The Oracle, who had once been much younger, much lovelier- much sweeter. Her claws droop meaninglessly from his shoulders, and her lungs deflate. With a heavy snarl, Cupcakes then grabbed the lioness by her scruff, jerking her away forcefully until she'd been forced to standing. They'd hauled her on and on, until eventually, they'd fade from sight.

You feel a sudden rush of warmth as your weight returns to you, and you plummet down from the sky harshly. Upoj reopening your eyes- the vision fades once again. Now you're cradled nearby The Oracle, in a tiny den close to more icy caverns. Within, the Oracle lay upon frigid stone, a few feathers tucked under her sides as she struggled painfully. Before you could react, an unfamiliar pair of eyes follow that burning reminder of Cupcakes', before a very striking lioness pads forward.

"Oracle! Lovely, are you alright?" It's a pastel lioness, her pelt glowing with a soft purple hue. She rushes to her side, pressing her muzzle meaningfully against The Oracle's cheek. Only then, had a second lion inched closer. Weeping Velvet Custard.

Cupcakes' faint appearance lingered like fog over the den, your pelt ruffled alongside The Oracle's own. Hadn't they been glaring through the shadows? Was Velvet just blocking them?

"She'd attempted to free us. But she invited a burden entirely her own." The Oracle spoke to you, her sides still heaving and her voice strained, though it seemed none of the other lionesses heard her. Or saw you, as a matter of fact. Wait, were you fused into the wall?

"Leave us. I'll need space to assist her." A familiar voice made your whiskers fizzle, interrupting your concern. The Oracle understood, too. She tried to cry out to the beautiful purple lioness, but it only came out as a gasp of pain. Without an objection, the purple lioness nodded vigorously, bowing her head to the lion you were starting to realize was her mother. As they passed, their markings mirrored one another.

"Another king. Same grievance. Like cub like king." The Oracle spoke through her teeth, her eyes visibly shifting towards you. The moment the purple lioness had gone, you witnessed what could only really be described as, the sounds of thousands of lionesses screeching with frenzy. Whispers peeled from the shadows as Custard's eyes rolled into the back of her head, her body sloppily lazing backwards ghoulishly. With a hiss her spine raked itself forward, as though her pelt was being puppeteered by a being much larger, and much angrier than she'd looked a second before. The Oracle reeled backwards as Custard hissed into her face, raking the bedding from beneath the lioness and sending her flailing away from her in terror.

"Their manes. Their manes are mine! Give them to me. Now!" Lifelessly, Custard's head spun as she spoke, her ears rapidly flapping against her head as her neck craned viciously. Yowling with terror, The Oracle reached back, before violently clawing at Custard's chest. Only then did she fall, her once strong, yet painfully awkward stance fading as she collapsed to her paws.

"The damage was done." Only then, as Custard's head hit the floor, did you suddenly feel a similar pain in your jaw. You open your eyes and see The Oracle, sprawled out painfully as she wailed beneath a Weeping tree, a pair of stones rested between her paws.

"Speaker of Misguidance. What a title to give a victim of your abuse. Your torture. She hid the pain she caused me." As the vision fades away for good this time, you face The Oracle in present time. You're suddenly awakened, your pain easing away, slowly but surely.

"But that pain wouldn't fade for me. It never will. They'll continue to taunt me- she can travel as far away as she likes, she can return as little. The King rests within her. Generation after generation."


☆♡◇ ●●●●●●● [BACKSTORY] ●●●●●●● ◇♡♤⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️⚠️
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You notice carvings on the waterfalls surrounding the territory. Though it's misty, you can make out faint pictures, scratches that tell of the past. You inch so close your muzzle may as well freeze alongside the images- and faintly, you can make out the following;

The Oracle is the oldest lioness (ignore her actual age lmao..) that resides within the Spires. She's a caretaker and mentor to the younger lionesses, and she's the lioness who taught the others who prefer the sanctity of the shrine the secrets and truths held within. The Oracle (once again ignore her page loool only her decor matters) has never had any cubs of her own, but was pregnant once in her life. She'd met with a King of a distant land, in a far warmer climate and territory, and had chosen to attempt to start their family together. But as fate would have it, Cupcakes discovered this "unholy" act and killed the rival male. He threatened her with the torture of her bloodline for failure to comply to his rule set, and with fury he forced her to return back to his pride with him.

The Oracle would lose that litter of cubs, she'd never truly get the chance to meet them. Mourning their miniscule impact on the world, The Oracle isolated herself within the Shrines, where she's at most every second of everyday. The prey here is incredibly scarce, but you do what you must to keep your freedom.