Mateus

• Build, Looks + Mannerisms: A well-defined cub although not chubby in any sense of the word. Looks to inherit his father's build when he grows, well up to 14ft. Additionally shown through his rather long, slender legs with large, green paw pads. While he lacks the extra fluff that his mother and sister possess, he has his mother's bright eyes. While he has only small black nubs at the top of his skull, his sister and he can only spatulate that they'll be short like his mother's, a slight bend in their formation obvious even in his young age. Calypso never fails to remind him of their 'shorter' statue compared to her own tall, slender points. His fur is soft and full with a series of longer guardhairs along his back, these hairs are a lot courser than the rest of his pelt, permanently stuck upright. Tends to walk around with a tense, quick stride, the less attention on him the better. Ears are held cautiously back but eyes bright and steely. Twitches his tail when he walks, becoming even more erratic when frustrated or irritated.
• Voice: Mellow, deep and soft, doesn't raise his voice often as he doesn't think it necessary. His voice kind of rumbles when he speaks.Laugher is soft and rather rough, considering it isn't something that he does often, especially not in company. Has a clear and concise way of speaking, like his mother, he has quite a charming and persuasive way with talking should he feel like it.
• Voice Claim / Inspiration: Markiplier
• Scent: Sweet, like a ripe peach

Persuasive + Well Worded, Introverted

If you don't mind, I'll catch up with you all later."
While this lion was young and only starting to experience all that the planet has to offer, it quickly became obvious that Mateus had developed a rather compelling manner of talking. Like his mother, it takes little effort to string together sentences to keep lions interested and engaged. Being a young love elemental, Mateus can't yet control his pull on other's emotions which can be a blessing and a curse. When he is trying to get something across with proper reasoning, there is a look in their eyes that convince him that he may be 'cheating' to gain their approval or sway them. With having such little control over his element, he doesn't go out of his way to seek out large groups or company in those more quiet moments of the day. To say that he enjoys just being around family may be an exaggeration but finds it a little easier being around those who share the same element and who are exposed to it. They seem to understand it a little bit more than others. He would rather use words to create an impression, not his element. Even as an adult, he still thinks that he could be 'cheating' when he seems to 'win' any argument or scuffle with only his words.

Sceptical, Distrusting + Superficial

"I'm sure you're right, but I think I would like to hear it for myself."
Rebel's aren't usually the warmest lions on this planet but Mateus is happy enough to be civil and engage with other lions around him, with a small 'innocent' smile. But he wouldn't be Oshun and Atsuyavanth's son, if he truly was innocent and naïve. No, his parents (mostly Oshun) have taught the light coloured lion to be tough, self-reliant and proud. Mateus is a little bit distrusting of others, relying on his 'senses' to help form his judgment. With the tension between his parents easily obvious to the lion, his 'happy' family hasn't helped install a 'trusting' trait. He has come to learn that information is easily manipulated so doesn't usually believe things others tells him, would rather see things for himself. Hates feeling like he's being manipulated in any way, manipulating feelings/actions. Also doesn't like the idea of doing the same to others. Sceptical of his own control of his element and to lose control of an action or thought scares him.

Thrifty + Intuitive

"Oh, hand me that scrap of metal!"
With limited resources, one has to get inventive to get things that they don't have and to be careful with what they do have. Mateus is careful to not waste any resource, especially when it comes to food. Since they don't have the Pride's golden dust to sustain them, hunting is the only method to get food which doesn't boast a high success rate. So, Mateus became very good at squirreling away food which he shares only with his family on rare occasions. Due to his element, he finds it very easy to make extremely strong connections with other lions. Whether he acts on those connections vary, but even if he did, you wouldn't know it. Tends to 'feel' auras of other lions around him and will often make quick judgments/decisions on these feelings. Doesn't feel like he needs hard evidence for things, works on what he feels to be true even without 'proper' reasoning.

Loyal + Hardworking

"Blood is thicker than water"
Mateus isn't like his sister or mother; he isn't ambitious to become the best rebel in camp, not even the best warrior. He just wants to try and prove that love elementals aren't just "lovey-doveys". But at the same time he doesn't want to disappoint his mother, so he works very hard. Has a strict method for how certain things should be done, especially his training, becoming frustrated and withdrawn if it not to his liking/understanding. Stickler for the rules, even though the rebels don't seem to have many, he still feels obliged to follow what rules he can as well as those set out by his mother. With the brokenness of his family and their constantly shifting loyalties, Mateus always says that he is only truly loyal to them. Mateus can't boast about having a 'close' family but they are his family and he would never do anything to place them in danger or fail to defend them.

Capricious, Protective + Emotional

"I'm, *sniff* not crying, back off!"
Love is a very intense element, as it is an emotion based element it plays heavily on the wielder's emotion and the emotions of those around them. It so very easy to succumb to its intensity. The lion is aware of this, thanks to his mother's teachings, filling in all the gaps in the young cub's information when Oshun has the time. He tries not to rely on his emotions for decisions but finds this incredibly difficult, especially in a time sensitive manner and when the decisions involve close friends or family. Often gets overwhelmed with emotions easily, feeding off what everyone around him is experiencing in strong bursts, the more intense the other's emotion, the more he feels. When he does become overwhelmed, a large combination of things can happen. Rarely, he will stir up empathy and pity in all those around him which only worsens his 'situation' but more commonly, he'll either run and hide or his not so favourite, cry. But not in an emotional way but in a 'tears won't stop rolling down my face' way. His deep connection with emotion also leads him to have intense mood swings. Every love elemental is different, but his swings go between intense protectiveness and needing to be close to someone, to withdrawing himself completely, becoming quiet and sullen.

0-1

Light green eyes fluttered open but found two different pair of eyes with what seemed to be different intentions. Green eyes, very much like his own, peered down and there was an intensity that shone through the 'care' and warmth. Like he was being, 'studied'. There was another set of eyes, a brown amber that was further away but eagerly trying to look down at them all. Unfiltered warmth were bright in his eyes but there was something there. The new-born blinked a few times, listening to the heartbeat of his mother and feeling the soft fur of his siblings around him. Worry, that's what it was, worry in his father's eyes. His world wasn't very big, it consisted of only his mother, father and four siblings. He didn't know anything about 'rebels', 'pride' and 'war'. All he knew and understood was that he was warm, fed and safe.

1-10

Even at his very young age, it was obvious that there was tension between his parents. While he and the siblings zig zagged through their mother's legs as they walked through the camp, their father Atsuyavanth appeared to walk in Oshun's shadow. Tentative. But regardless, he was always there. His mother appeared eager to start their training young. So, when the cubs were about 2, the parents began testing their offspring to see what elements had been passed to the next generation. His mother hoped it would be the destructive, untameable fire that her mate possessed, or even mind clouding hate. Both elements or even a combination of the 2 would make a great asset to the rebel cause. A great passing of her legacy. Her own second element, she had wished with all her might that none of her children would bear the gift of love. It was useless, pointless and a unfit element for a rebel to have.

It was drilled into the little cub's mind, over and over. He and his siblings were told the same speech whenever they asked about their parent's elements and what they thought of the other elements in the world. Love was good for manipulation, nothing else. Not befitting for a rebel warrior.

Little by little, their elements began to show. Emotion based elements are one of the hardest to detect but physical ones, a little easier. They all trained with their fire elemental father for a few months, the 14ft male attempting to light the fire elemental spark by seeing if they could control the flame he created. Mateus tried very hard, eyes focused on the dancing flame and held his breath, willing to make the flame do something, anything. His father gave one of his rare laughs and said it would probably help to breathe. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be. In the end there was only one sibling who was able to control the flame, Calypso. His mother was ecstatic. As time went on, Mithos showed signs of being a hate elemental, stirring up anger and violence in other cubs and even lions with very little effort. Not a word uttered. Then there was the day his own element was discovered. One he sometimes would like to forget.

It was a cool day, the starry sky above bright and full of colour. Mithos, like most young emotion elementals often become overwhelmed by his element. Mateus felt so bad for his sibling and in a strange overwhelming feeling of empathy he gently pressed his paw against his brother's chest. Suddenly, the outpouring of hate stopped almost as quickly as it began. Tears began to pour down the cub's face, paws hastily trying to wipe them away. His mother who had been watching gasped, trotting up to the pair and peering at Mateus as if she was trying to look into his very soul. "Tsk, love. How useless," she growled, turning to Calypso mumbling something about starting their training for the day, the light pink cub happily trotting after her.

At least he wasn't alone, his other sister, Chervil, had inherited the same element he did. Though, she was different to him, quick to put up her defences while Mateus liked to pretend to 'play along' with whatever nonsense was sent his way.

Months passed, and all the cubs had shown something of the element they had inherited, with only 2 with more favourable elements. One day their father took his other 2 siblings for training, away from the camp. "Needed some more space," or something mumbled along those lines. Mateus watched them leave, curious, and watching long after they were out of sight before he returned to the den.

"YOU DID WHAT?" the words thick with anger and hate echoed into the small space, causing Mateus to wake with a start. Quietly as he could, he snuck towards the entrance where his parents stood. Intense emotions permeated off the pair, overwhelming the poor cub, tears beginning to roll down his face. To be honest, he didn't really understand what they were talking about. His ears were ringing, vision blurred due to the tears that fell down his cheeks and his mouth dry. When his mother vaguely mentioned something about her other two children, Mateus stood up and scurried away to the dark corner of the den. Crying and not stopping until he fell asleep.

10-100

Not too much changed for the young cub but there was a certain emptiness in his life that he knew couldn't be easily fixed. Not with his element or any other. While that day was a bit of a fuzzy memory, it couldn't be forgotten. Whenever his parents argued as they did every so often, Oshun would remind his father of the siblings, Vanth's children that had been lost. Every time she did, his father went deathly quiet and would return back to his sullen, grumpy self.

Mateus' training continued; however, it seemed to be at a slower pace compared to his sister Calypso. It was obvious that he wasn't the favoured cub, anyone could deduce that but Mateus isn't in anyway vindictive and has no intention to try and muscle in on his sister's dream. This meant he spent long hours on his own and with his father being a little 'distant', he had to find other ways to fill his days. He does really like his training sessions with his mother, when she has the time for the love elemental. She worked him hard, testing his abilities to their limits with very little care for the taxing nature it had on the young cub. Testing not only his 'physical' abilities but the knowledge of the element he possessed. As he grew he slowly began opening his interactions to more lions outside his family.

There were other lions in the rebel camp that were interesting to interact with, but finding ones that were willing to teach the cub different forms of physical offensive and defensive moves was no small feat. Mateus is adamant to learn as much as he can to try and provide that love elements can be more than just manipulators. One lion willing to teach was Nirav, a rebel assassin, known for his brutality and skill. Mute but had other ways of communicating his point across to the cub. The cub hoped that training under such a well-known assassin rebel will give him some 'brownie points' from his mother. Several times a week cubs were gathered to train with their 'peers', Mateus apprehensive about who he was going to be paired with, being of a 'weaker' element. A dark grey cub with curved horns was placed in front of the light coloured cub. The other cub, Malik, seemed unimpressed with his match and Mateus didn't trust that this double element wielding cub wouldn’t just beat the snot out of him. But they slowly became unlikely friends. As he gained confidence, the cub met with some other 'nice' lions as he wandered around the outskirts of the rebel camp, unable stop himself from wandering off if something/someone presented itself.

There is still much left to discover for this young cub. His grasp over his element is still rather poor and while his family isn't held together by much, he is still very protective over them. Even his teasing sister and manipulative mother. Blood is blood.

100-250

Not long after the young cub grew, the war had erupted, much to his mother's excetiment. Before he knew it Mateus was being roughly squeezed into some ill-fitting armour, flooded with emotions that threatened to overwhelm the young adult. Clenching his jaw, he held himself tall using his own element to calm his racing heart as the clang of metal being clicked and held together echoed around him. Scurrying out of the tent, he tried to find the supportive soul of his father but he was no-where to be found. Mateus' heart dropped, a frantic-ness to his movements gripping his body trailing around the camp looking for Atsu. He only found his sister instead, Calypso.

The battle itself was something Mateus could only explain as the worst experience of his life. Watching the light fade from the lion's eyes as he stood over them, the emotions of everyone around him cutting him to the core. To be honest, Mateus wasn't sure how he survived and someone part of him was sad that he did.

They were now in limbo, the rebels had been disbanded, the family split and left feeling lost. Mateus could only imagine where his father had gone and his mother was frantic to do anything to oppose the Pride so she clung to the last survivors who joined a group called the Scourge. So the male did the only thing he thought it could, and followed.

Living with the rebels was a tough existence, but this took things to a new level. The leaders were intimating and blunt, there was something about their aura that made every instinct tell him that he needed to run, to break away from this cycle of following his family pursuing the darker path. He was so torn. The thought of leaving his family, even though it was only his mother and sister, made him feel guilty. He had spent so long thinking about others and dealing with their emotions and thoughts that he never stopped to consider his own.

This turmoil made him retreat, become a husk of who he was. Mateus wasn't even sure if he knew who he was, only what his mother wanted him to be. Especially since she had grown rather distant, irked that her lifelong goal of seeing the Pride defeated and the taste of success was still out of her reach. Barely had enough strength to respond to her angry rants that almost seemed to be playing in the older lioness' mind on repeat.

Apparently he wasn't the only one to be made aware how out of control their lives had become when the news came to him that his sister had disappeared, made an escape to be free of the Scrouge. That was when Mateus become deeply despondent. The pride he had for his rank, the main fighting force of the Scourge which challenged lions to be the strongest and swiftest of lions became nothing more than an empty title. Enthusiasm for training had melted away, Mateus spending most of his day prowling around on the outskirts of the Scrouge camp, every day convincing himself that he needed to go back to make his mother proud.

Pacing was what he ended up doing, a space between two oddly shaped rocks that quickly became 'his' space. In these moments, he didn't notice the hours fly by and responded to most stimuli with startling disinterest. So when a voice called out to him, it took him a few seconds to register he had been spoken to. Mateus turned his attention to this dark brown lioness with black swirling, almost runic markings strolling towards him. Nothing in her body language screamed that she was a threat, she could almost be mistaken for a love elemental as she pulsated this gentle warmth that Mateus' own love element swiftly copied. "Darling, I don't mean to interrupt but it seems like you have been pacing a while. Are you okay?"

Mateus opened and closed his mouth, eyes snapping down to stare at the earth that he had shaped with his pacing. His green eyes returned back to the lioness, who sat down slowly, the bag slung over her shoulder bursting with herbs swaying gently. Never in his 250 years on Lochern, had anyone asked him, sincerely, how he was. In a flash, tears were streaming down his face, his element overwhelming him and he began spilling his whole life story to a stranger.

The lioness sat silently, allowing him to get what he needed off his chest and when he finally finished she gave him a soft smile. "Do you feel better now?" With a soft nod, Mateus sniffed loudly, rubbing his red eyes. "Now, it seems to me that you already know the answer. I can tell you exactly what you need to do but you need to be the one to action it. It'll be a big change and while change can be scary or even painful, you'll find it usually is the best decision you'll make'.

They spoke for a while, and before the lioness went to leave she offered for him to stay at her hut when or if he ever made the decision to leave. He just had to be brave and make that first step when he was ready.

• Mateus is a lion who has Synesthesia, someone who can 'see' colours in music/numbers etc. Has always found that he sees life with a little more 'colour' than others. Especially in music.
• Can't help but cry when fighting or training, comes from his intense love emotion. Finds this very embarrassing, hiding himself away if discovered or if it's mentioned. Will snap if mentioned enough. Also will randomly have tears fall down his cheeks when doing mundane things, especially when he is trying to sleep.
• Has a secret obsession with shiny things. There is a small hoard of gems hidden on the edge of the camp, squirrelled away.
• Snores when he sleeps. Is a very heavy sleeper.
• Would never admit it, but has an eye for beauty. Dark coloured lions are a favourite, there's something about seeing a dark pelted lion against the starry sky above.
• Calypso's nickname for her brother is 'Stumpy', referring to his rather short horns that are small compared to her own when they were cubs. While he isn't a fan of the name, it would take too much hassle trying to get her to forget it.

• Mother: Oshun [alive; still with the Scrouge]
• Father: Atsuyavanth [alive; moved back to the Pride]
• Siblings: Mithos+ Chervil [alive; in the pride], Calypso [alive, wandering the unknown lands]
• Partner: N/A
• Past Love(s):
• Children: N/A

Daddy Issues by The Neighbourhood [ x ]

Go ahead and cry, little boy
You know that your daddy did too
You know what your mama went through
You gotta let it out soon, just let it out

SLOW DANCING IN THE DARK by Joji [ x ]

When I'm around slow dancing in the dark
Don't follow me, you'll end up in my arms
You have made up your mind
I don't need no more signs