Dawn Lights the Way

“Finally, I've found the strong lion I've been seeking. The spirits are disturbed, joined suddenly by the ones who were killed as mere trophies...too early, too many…”

Dawn Lights the Way, often shortened to Dawn in conversation, was originally just like any other lioness. Her king had dozens upon dozens of projects in his pride, with Dawn’s beautiful gilded markings being just one of many. As is the way with project prides, space is a premium, and as Dawn didn’t QUITE fit the bill she was slated to leave at adolescence. That was fine, normal even. She didn’t doubt that she was loved. It was simply the way of things.

And so, trained and prepared for the African wilds, Dawn bid her family farewell before heading out on her own. She wandered for a while, not entirely sure what she wanted for herself. Dawn didn’t want to tie herself down to a pride so soon, not when she hadn’t figured things out just yet. She’d find one eventually, just…not now.

And then, the day came. During the bloodshed and heartache of the poaching season, a lion shaman approached her. The ancestral spirits spoke through them, their voices raising Dawn’s hackles and lifting her heart all at once. The world was out of balance, they told her. Humans were killing too many too fast, and the natural order of things couldn’t compensate. Not with this. And so, they were searching out the strongest of lions to give their blessing to. Would she accept the call to put a halt to poachers where she found them, and protect the African wildlife?

Yes. The answer was yes. And so with new form and power, Dawn Lights the Way knew she had found her purpose. She settled in the large stretch of grasslands bordering a nature reserve, gathering together what other lions blessed by the ancestors she could find with but one singular goal: keep the poachers OUT.