Sinhalite

Sinhalite was a rescued gem who was forced to shape-shift into a lion as part of a circus act. Smoked Topaz happened to be next to her in the cage next to hers, and freed her when she escaped her prison. She took Sinhalite back to the hidden village and she's been there since. But before that, she was a late defective gem from a kindergarten, and while traveling the nearby area right after popping out of the ground, she discovered a circus for the first time. While looking at the animals, she spooked an elephant and it stomped on her, poofing her. The animal tamer, who was nearby, heard the commotion and found the poofed gem. When she reformed, the animal tamer saw her ability to shape-shift, and realized her potential for a circus act. He told her that he was the one that commanded the elephant to stomp on her, and if she didn't do what he said and be an act for the circus, he'd make the elephant stomp on her so hard that her gemstone would shattered. Of course, this terrified naive little Sinhalite, so for several decades she did what he said, acting as a shape-shifter and turning into a lion every day. However, she is a defective gem, so she couldn't shape shift without a cost. Shifting into the form of a lion so often caused her to take on the attributes of a lion, and developed lion ears as a result. This went on for many years, until Smoked Topaz came along and freed her. Now, she just acts as a vet for the village, using her experience with circus animals to help the pets of gems in need. However, she is still terrified of elephants.