Name: Zeru

Meaning: "Sky", Basque

Gender: Male

Age: Varies

Personality: A quick, bold lion, Zeru is alway sup for trouble and is extremely clever. He is always thinking on his feet, trying to understand everything. Zeru isn't completely social, but he is very curious about other animals. He doesn't particularly like hanging out with lions so much, but will if he has to, as he has a civil, pacifistic personality. He'd rather run than fight, and is fantastic at it. Zeru is the picture of freedom on the grasslands: He would run for distances, only to run. He is also very arrogant about it, a bit gruff and sharp-tounged, but always feels bad if he hurts someone. He's usually very shy to new lions, a bit mean to aquantences as far as brutal honesty goes, and a brave and loyal friend when he opens up.

Likes: Freedom,rain, wind, storms, running, racing

Dislikes: heat, fire, fighting, sunny days

Strengths: Endurance, running, agility, honesty(Won't lie)

Weaknesses: Fighting, strength, honesty(Holds nothing back), lying

Crush(es): None

Crusher(s): None

Mate(s): None

History: Zeru was born in the Pridelands at the beginning of Scar's rein. He lived a cheerless cubhood there, dealing with a constant flow of anguish, depression, hunger, and abuse. Scar hated him, but knew the state of the pride was volatile enough that the lionesses may fall on him and kill him. He did, however, leave Zeru with scars. He constantly beat him within inches of his life. He was cruel and unkind to Zeru, causing the little cub to become shy and dislike lions: All the older male cubs followed Scar's lead and the females ignored him for it. The lionesses could do nothing. Zeru retreated to running, always running. He would run through the pridelands, for what to him felt like hours, but to everyone else would only be short times. He felt like he would run miles, but it was not.

It was, though, enough. That was all that mattered. He found a wonderful place under pride rock: A cave system. Streams flowed through, tunnels of all sizes, and it was, eerily, always in motion. Dripping water from Stalagtites. Running water. Shifting silt below his feet. Sometimes, Zeru could find paw prints of others: He didn't know who, or what, but they were there, always, he just could never find them.

It didn't bother him. He was happier not seeing these... Others, these things that were not feline, he suspected, though their prints were. No feline lived underground, not like this. Zeru explored them for a long time, finding that they glowed with their own light, something creepy and almost disturbing. But Zeru explored forward, finding each peculiar path until all was familiar. He found himself lost at one point, and was lost for weeks. He immerged malnourished, and was nearly blinded by the sunlight. He stumbled for a long while, not able to find pride rock until a huge storm clouded the sky for days. Zeru became able to stand that light and found he was almost a mile from Pride Rock. When one of the lionesses found him, he was taken back and he only told his story to the other cubs. To adults, he simply said, "I just got lost, I guess."

He found this skill for telling stories was extremely helpful, and he began using it to gain the favor of the cubs. He once told a story in which king Scar was overthrown, and the King tore his ear almost completely off for it, leaving him with a horrible tear in it. He stopped telling that story and switched it to appease the Tyrant king, making Scar the overthrower rather than the overthrown. He at least gained a few less scars a day from it, which was enough for him.

Zeru constantly went back to his caves though. They were his haven. His safe place. One place scar could not reach him. One day, after an exceptionally bad beating from Scar, he ran back to his caves into an unknown branch of it. He didn't realize he was lost at first. Then he started looking around, finding himself in a massive cavern.

That's when he met them.



The Others.



They were lions, that he could sense. But they were eerily different. Their eyes seemed to glow. They were different.

But they excepted him, and that was all that mattered. He spent most all of his time there, meeting these Others, learning about them. They were his pride it felt, much more than Scar's. Here, he was treated well. They taught him to survive underground, though he always had to go back to the Above to convince everyone he was just wandering. He never did tell the Pridelanders about the caves, and he felt is should be no other way.

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Adopted from Smash! Thanks tons and tons!