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Description
Relationships
Mate: Ayah
Cubs: Usha, Udai , Ubaya
Parents: Jahi & Urbi
Siblings: Ike , Ijaba

Pride Affiliation
Mbala Pride (birth)

Rank
Crown Prince, King (Mbala Pride)

History
Issa was born at the end of one of the major droughts, just as encroachments into the Lowlands by rogue males increased. He rarely saw his father in the earliest years of his life, and instead was taught by his mother. He also made fast friends with his cousin Ayah.

Around the age of seven his father began to take more interest in his training, and Issa began to see more of the outside world. He quickly learned that unknown lions meant danger, and instinctually hid among the long grasses when one appeared. His father would handle the intruder, and Issa witnessed more violence than most young cubs at that age.

He was ten when his younger siblings were born, in the midst of a relatively mild, but very long drought. His mother introduced them, and for the first time Issa realized how his father found the courage to fight rogues. The cubs were tiny and defenseless, and he felt helpless to protect them from the world outside the den. His mother nuzzled his head and assured him that one day he would be as fierce as his father.

When he was sixteen, a young prince trained in leading a Pride, his grandmother died. He did not need to be told, he was there. When she fell, he was again a cub fleeing from a rogue. Royals were not well looked-upon after a Pride takeover. And then his father was there again, and the rogue fell under his paws. Jahi did not stop with spilling blood, he tore open his opponent's throat, and dragged him back the way he had come. Issa watched as the first body decorated the northern border. It would not be the last.

That night, his mother found him alone, watching the stars. His father had long since fallen asleep in her nest, his younger siblings safe beside him. What his mother told him that night would never let him look at the Pride in the same way again. He had never thought of her as blind, and never known that she was Mohatu's elder sister, not his younger. When he protested this - for the Law said that the eldest cub was to be heir - his mother laughed at him. He knew of the way desert lions chose their heirs, but it had always seemed a world away.

Issa had never before been told that the Pride came before all. Before the lands, before other lions, before even himself. His mother had taught him to respect and care for all creatures within their lands. She had had him recite the Law until he dreamed of it - creatures are killed only to be eaten, one does not kill for fun. Creatures killed for fun would never live again, but those that died to feed the Pride would live on in their hunters. She had always seemed pleased when teaching that Law, but now she was sober. If the survival of the Pride required it, she would sacrifice everything, even her own birthright.

While some of the Pride embraced the new king's methods, others were hesitant. They held the Law dearly, and did not easily accept a change in it's meaning. Now, Issa learned another lesson: the power a Consort held. Urbi wrenched control of the Pride away from Queen Anila's advisers. She challenged them on the Law, on loyalty to their King, not arguing solely on philosophical differences, but now their daughters and sisters could go about unmolested. The Pride bent before her fire.

Issa was thirty when his sister left for the Pridelands. He bid her farewell, but he would have been more concerned for her safety had she not beaten him in every mock-fight they had. His father had long since thought him trained in the ways of kings, but Urbi was not yet satisfied. With the lands safe, they often went on long walks, and she taught him the things her mother had taught her. The parts of ruling that Jahi had avoided while protecting their Pride.

From his teenage years, many Prides, from the Mbogo to the south, to lionesses from the Freelands, to even the golden lionesses of desert Prides, had offered lionesses to be his mate. Princesses and noble born lionesses aplenty, one Pride had even offered it's Crown Princess. His father had turned them all away, and with the crisis in past years, Issa had no complaints. Now, though, he looked to the cubs of the Pride and wanted his own, so he did the only thing he could think of. He went to his mother, and told her it was not he who turned the offers away. It was his father

The argument caused by that was legendary among the Pride for the rest of Issa's life. The prince lay outside the den, listening to his mother's roars, in case she needed aid. He needn't have worried, for she came out unruffled many hours later, and told him he was free to choose his mate. Who else could Issa choose but Ayah? Even his father seemed pleased with his choice.

When his father told him that he was stepping down from the throne, Issa thought he was joking. Yes, it was rare for his sober, stern father to joke - and it was unheard of in such a level - but to leave the throne? Issa couldn't comprehend it. He didn't even bother to rebuke the Pride when the gossip began that his mother was a witch. She quite deserved the title, he told her so, much to her amusement.

At forty-one, after losing a litter, Issa's heir is born. He names her Usha, for her golden pelt, and perhaps for his father too. He trains her in the way of battle, as his father taught him; but also in the way to rule, as his mother showed him.

He sometimes wonders if his father's bloodshed was truly the only way to forever deter the northerners, but he dutifully replenishes the ghastly border markings when intruders challenge him. And when he dies at seventy-four, his death is not the violent death of his grandmother.

He dies in his own den, with his eldest daughter's roar ringing in his ears.

Lines by oCrystal
Issa mine

Description
Relationships
Mate: Ayah
Cubs: Usha, Udai , Ubaya
Parents: Jahi & Urbi
Siblings: Ike , Ijaba

Pride Affiliation
Mbala Pride (birth)

Rank
Crown Prince, King (Mbala Pride)

History
Issa was born at the end of one of the major droughts, just as encroachments into the Lowlands by rogue males increased. He rarely saw his father in the earliest years of his life, and instead was taught by his mother. He also made fast friends with his cousin Ayah.

Around the age of seven his father began to take more interest in his training, and Issa began to see more of the outside world. He quickly learned that unknown lions meant danger, and instinctually hid among the long grasses when one appeared. His father would handle the intruder, and Issa witnessed more violence than most young cubs at that age.

He was ten when his younger siblings were born, in the midst of a relatively mild, but very long drought. His mother introduced them, and for the first time Issa realized how his father found the courage to fight rogues. The cubs were tiny and defenseless, and he felt helpless to protect them from the world outside the den. His mother nuzzled his head and assured him that one day he would be as fierce as his father.

When he was sixteen, a young prince trained in leading a Pride, his grandmother died. He did not need to be told, he was there. When she fell, he was again a cub fleeing from a rogue. Royals were not well looked-upon after a Pride takeover. And then his father was there again, and the rogue fell under his paws. Jahi did not stop with spilling blood, he tore open his opponent's throat, and dragged him back the way he had come. Issa watched as the first body decorated the northern border. It would not be the last.

That night, his mother found him alone, watching the stars. His father had long since fallen asleep in her nest, his younger siblings safe beside him. What his mother told him that night would never let him look at the Pride in the same way again. He had never thought of her as blind, and never known that she was Mohatu's elder sister, not his younger. When he protested this - for the Law said that the eldest cub was to be heir - his mother laughed at him. He knew of the way desert lions chose their heirs, but it had always seemed a world away.

Issa had never before been told that the Pride came before all. Before the lands, before other lions, before even himself. His mother had taught him to respect and care for all creatures within their lands. She had had him recite the Law until he dreamed of it - creatures are killed only to be eaten, one does not kill for fun. Creatures killed for fun would never live again, but those that died to feed the Pride would live on in their hunters. She had always seemed pleased when teaching that Law, but now she was sober. If the survival of the Pride required it, she would sacrifice everything, even her own birthright.

While some of the Pride embraced the new king's methods, others were hesitant. They held the Law dearly, and did not easily accept a change in it's meaning. Now, Issa learned another lesson: the power a Consort held. Urbi wrenched control of the Pride away from Queen Anila's advisers. She challenged them on the Law, on loyalty to their King, not arguing solely on philosophical differences, but now their daughters and sisters could go about unmolested. The Pride bent before her fire.

Issa was thirty when his sister left for the Pridelands. He bid her farewell, but he would have been more concerned for her safety had she not beaten him in every mock-fight they had. His father had long since thought him trained in the ways of kings, but Urbi was not yet satisfied. With the lands safe, they often went on long walks, and she taught him the things her mother had taught her. The parts of ruling that Jahi had avoided while protecting their Pride.

From his teenage years, many Prides, from the Mbogo to the south, to lionesses from the Freelands, to even the golden lionesses of desert Prides, had offered lionesses to be his mate. Princesses and noble born lionesses aplenty, one Pride had even offered it's Crown Princess. His father had turned them all away, and with the crisis in past years, Issa had no complaints. Now, though, he looked to the cubs of the Pride and wanted his own, so he did the only thing he could think of. He went to his mother, and told her it was not he who turned the offers away. It was his father

The argument caused by that was legendary among the Pride for the rest of Issa's life. The prince lay outside the den, listening to his mother's roars, in case she needed aid. He needn't have worried, for she came out unruffled many hours later, and told him he was free to choose his mate. Who else could Issa choose but Ayah? Even his father seemed pleased with his choice.

When his father told him that he was stepping down from the throne, Issa thought he was joking. Yes, it was rare for his sober, stern father to joke - and it was unheard of in such a level - but to leave the throne? Issa couldn't comprehend it. He didn't even bother to rebuke the Pride when the gossip began that his mother was a witch. She quite deserved the title, he told her so, much to her amusement.

At forty-one, after losing a litter, Issa's heir is born. He names her Usha, for her golden pelt, and perhaps for his father too. He trains her in the way of battle, as his father taught him; but also in the way to rule, as his mother showed him.

He sometimes wonders if his father's bloodshed was truly the only way to forever deter the northerners, but he dutifully replenishes the ghastly border markings when intruders challenge him. And when he dies at seventy-four, his death is not the violent death of his grandmother.

He dies in his own den, with his eldest daughter's roar ringing in his ears.

Lines by oCrystal
Issa mine