Personality

Griffith will never be able to really hide his heritage. It's like he walked right off the page of a fairy tale. He is charming, a bit of a flirt but not pushy. Reject him and he'll be unruffled, rather he will continue to be friendly because that is in essence who he is. But the most obvious thing is his helplessness. Griffith never had to learn how to do most things for himself. He will be actively bad at things until he's gotten used to actually doing something and it'll be that way for the majority of things unrelated to being a prince.

Maybe the biggest thing that contrasts his princely appearance is that he doesn't seem all that regal. In fact he's something of a goof-ball and he doesn't seem to have much of an ego to protect, not in an insecure way in a doesn't consider himself too precious to have fun poked at him way. It will give the impression that he doesn't take things very seriously and maybe that's true. That doesn't mean he doesn't care though, as he is a deeply empathetic lion. One of the things that can really turn his whole mood is seeing others hurt, especially if it's his fault.

Physical Description

Griff is an impressive specimen of a lion. Standing a full 48 inches tall he's about as big as his species can get. His frame however isn't quite as large, there is no chance he'd be mistaken as buff, at least not by lion standards. While he certain has muscle and some of it's even visible his build speaks to a much more careful pedigree. He looks like he can probably hold his own in a fight but is just as capable at dancing. Somehow he seems to exude regality, at least before he opens his mouth.

Griffith isn't exactly typical for a lion when it comes to his pelt. While it is short and coarse as would be considered normal it's in his coloration that the man differs. Sure the base of his pelt is a sandy brown with a lighter blond colour on his toes, muzzle and underbelly but it's three things that really set him apart. The first is his full plush mane, fur which not only rings his head and neck but also runs from his wrists up his forelimbs and across his underbelly and caps the end of his tail is a deep red in colour, not exactly usual. The second marking is a set of darker brown stripes across his back, they aren't particularly long but they are visible when he is in profile. The final marking is the most obvious, ash black splotches like someone flung ink at him mark his face, legs, tail and even his mane. A slightly lighter tone of black marking his toes and muzzle as if it somehow still lets the markings under it show.

Finally he is the owner of a pair of pale blue eyes, always alight with amusement or joy.

History

Born into a life of privilege Griffith was the crown prince of his kingdom. The only true blooded child to survive the birth that left his mother unable to safely carry cubs ever again. Maybe that was why they doted on him, or maybe it was simply that he was the prince and they'd have treated the whole litter this way. He'd never know. He was only a few months old when he met her. A young tigress. She was given to the kingdom from a source Griffith would never learn and was then placed with the young prince as his hand maid, only a few months older than himself. They were with each other every day, any moment he wasn't seeing to his princely duties or with his family, there she was, helping him and offering her ear.

The king and queen knew they would need more heirs, both for political reasons but also because at the end of the day there was no promise Griffith would survive to take the throne. So it was arranged for the king to take a consort, one who looked as close to the queen as possible. In order to keep the secret of these cub's parentage a secret the consort was offered a position within the castle and access to her children, and the promise they would know who had borne them. But the people could not and would not know. And so a year or so after Griffith's own birth his younger siblings were born.

The younger lions were treated as true heirs just as he had been, their own hand maids being given once they were a few months old and they were given all the same lessons Griffith was. Griffith for his part adored his younger siblings and would take any opportunity he could to play with them. The citizenry of the kingdom knew him as something of an unlikely ruler, more likely to crack wise than to give speeches. He was sometimes called the Joke Prince, only in hushed tones and deep into their cups. But the truth was Griffith knew he only had so much of his life that would be his before he was expected to give his being to the people and he wasn't eager to waste what little he had.

Maybe part of that was also the understanding that he would have to eventually give up on something more precious to him. Somewhere along the way he'd fallen in love with her. He wasn't blind to the optics of it, not only was she a tigress of unknown origin, but he held so much power over her. He could if he wished, destroy her entire life. He knew he could never act on his feelings regardless of if he wore the crown yet or not. But it was hard for anyone to deny they were close, it seemed she'd grown fond of him. At least enough to put up with his bullshit when she had every right to simply walk away. Maybe that was the reason he told her... One day when his siblings were only a few months old he'd shared their parentage with her and sworn her to secrecy.

But it didn't matter what he'd made her swear though. She never did tell but someone else knew what she knew and that she knew it. That was what sealed her fate. Only a season before his second birthday he happened to discover something that would change them both forever. The plans to send her away, her secret too precious to risk. They fled that night. He didn't tell her why just that they had to leave. He was throwing away his throne, his whole future and told himself that one of his younger siblings would step up and they'd be better at being king than he ever could have been. This was the one thing in his life he refused to fully give up, even if he'd been willing to never have her the way he wanted. He was aware of another kingdom across the ocean and that would be their destination.

Relationships

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