4 Points
Song: I See The Light from Tangled
All those years outside looking in
On her journeys with the wandering tribe of nomads that she calls her family, Kipepeo has always wondered what it would be like to settle down, and just have a steady home. Something that could provide some feel of constancy in her ever-changing life. She'd been subjected to several different cultures over the years, but she was looking for something much more stable than her current life could provide. She was very interested in this one pride, who had an extremely strict hierarchy system. The nomadic lions had some form of social classes, but they were very lax, and not really taken too seriously. The only one who really held some form of leadership or authoritative role was one of Kipepeo's mothers, Mfalme. Kipepeo has always been very curious about the world around her, and has always wanted to be apart of something else. She still loved the life she and her family led, she just felt that she would be more useful in a different setting.
Now I'm here blinking in the starlight.
After her parents were killed, she felt lost. She was forced to run away from everything she'd ever known, and had to completely give up her old life if she wanted to be safe. She was confused, and it seemed as though her world had turned upside down. Nothing was the same. Everything was changing. This lead to many nights of lost sleep, staring at the sky, wondering where she went wrong, if her parents were happy together in the afterlife, and how she couldn't see the red flags that seemed so obvious to her now. She spent her time wandering the valley, searching for some sort of purpose in life, or some way to help her heal this pain that she feels. She truly didn't care what happened to her, and she just wanted to be happy again. During this period in her life, she realized that the life she thought she wanted wasn't so great after all. At least, not on her own. She tried setting up a permanent shelter several times, but she always eventually ended up getting chased off or bored a couple days in.
Standing here it's all so clear. I'm where I'm meant to be.
She stared in shock at the large, intimidating gray lion in front of her. He had invited her to stay with him in his new pride. She hesitantly accepted the offer, not truly believing that this wasn't some sort of cruel trick to give her hope, only to tear it out from underneath her, leaving her to fall into her own oblivion. But she couldn't focus on that for now. She was guided to a small hollow of sorts, inside of a sprawling birch forest. It was a large clearing surrounded by seemingly ancient buildings. She assumed they were build when an old pride lived here. She was told to explore around a bit, and settle in a cave. The gray lion, Shimo, showed her where his cave was, and told her to give him a call if she needed anything. She picked a medium sized hole, and gathered some moss and leaves together for a small nest. She curled up on it, and fell asleep, feeling somewhat complete again.
And at last I see the light. And it's like the fog has lifted.
Kipepeo realizes that her life is precious, and that she needs to appreciate those around her. She starts taking time for herself, trying to build back her mental health. She knows she can't run from the past anymore. Every morning, she checks on the garden right outside the camp entrance, and goes on a long, refreshing walk, often lying down for a short nap in a sunny clearing. When she's off duty, she makes herself some chamomile tea, and lies down at the edge of a small koi pond she found while on her morning walk. She's starting to figure out how to take control of her emotions, and not let them get too out of hand again. She meditates quite frequently, and is very enthusiastic about group nights, where everyone gets together to do an activity. She tends to vote for a nature walk (obviously) or something involving flower crowns. Her butterfly collection helps too. She looks at them whenever she feels down, and they tend to give her mood a boost to help her get through the day.
And it's warm and real and bright.
Everything is becoming clear to her. She really only had time to find out what she liked when she was a cub, and the years on the run didn't really help that. In addition to making sure she's doing okay mentally, she's begun to take time out of her day to discover her interests, especially since her role wasn't technically vital to the pride's survival yet. Since her arrival, she's found that she likes nature, tea, rules, walking, and exercise. She greatly enjoys being left alone, and discovered that she has very violent tendencies. She has a pretty bad habit of threatening others if they have the gall to annoy her. She doesn't like laziness, buzzing bugs, water, and poison ivy. She also tends to prefer lions who have a similar personality to hers, because she understands how they work, they understand how she works, and they can work together in tandem. She's begun to have an appreciation for the world around her. Before now, Kipepeo has never really noticed how pretty the sun looks when it's disappearing from the earth, slowly slipping down over the horizon, lighting the sky on fire and having darkness gradually falling over everything.
And the world has somehow shifted. All at once everything looks different.
Kipepeo has taken on her role in her new pride with much enthusiasm. She gets along with most of them (save for Arctic, the lazy brat), and she's much more welcoming to new members than she used to be. She even went as far as to promise Kai that she'd teach him about flowers when he's older. That ended up biting her in the butt when he took off, but she tries not to beat herself up too much about it. She tries her best to help Arctic with his hunting, and is spending a lot of time showing Talako around. She truly hopes that she's not falling for him, but now she believes that she's in a much better place, and is actually ready for a relationship.
1033/1000