Name: Keisha (meaning 'her life')

Pride: Pridelands (birth)/ Mountain Pride (current)

Parents: Unknown

Siblings: None

Mate: Kosey

Cubs: Tama (w/ Mufasa) and Malka (adopted)

Distinguishing Features: cream fur, eye patches, brown eyes, hair tuft, pink nose, fur uptill chest, colourless paws, coloured thighs, smooth markings, bi-coloured tail

Personality: Keisha is extremely insecure and shy. She prefers being alone, but also hates it when she's all alone. She tries hard to change, because she believes that change should always happen, even if at a cost. It takes a very long time, but she soon believes in herself, and that change is not always the best option. She also hates keeping everything cooped up, and prefers having it out in the open.

Likes:change, open minded people, Kosey

Dislikes: secrets

History:

Keisha was born in the Pridelands, and was proud of it. The land flourished under King Ahadi and Queen Uru's rule, and she felt herself lucky that she had friends at all. She was especially close to Mufasa and Taka, the two princes.

Nothing much happened in her childhood, and she didn't mind. She saw the world as perfect, and that was fine by her. She also watched her best friends Mufasa and Sarabi come together, and congratulated them when they decided to reveal it. She was the first to tell Sarabi that she would make a fine queen.

But the twist happened when Mufasa had taken up the throne a little into their adulthood. Most of the lionesses had gone out and Taka, now calling himself Scar, was busy sulking in his cave. Keisha hung out with Mufasa for a while, and he revealed his desire for a son. She affectionately called him out on gender discrimination, but soon the moment turned heated, and Keisha found herself doing something that she wasn't supposed to be doing. That was also how she found herself pregnant with Mufasa's cub.

Both of them agreed to keep it from the rest of the pride, especially Sarabi. When asked who the father of the new cub was, she simply replied that it was a rogue. Then, the news circulated that Sarabi was also bearing a cub. Mufasa and Keisha decided that when the cubs were born, they would keep the fact from both that they were siblings.

Luckily, when young Tama was born, she looked just like a copy of her mother, save for the dark brown tail tuft and hazel eyes. Despite his good intentions, Mufasa found it hard to be around his daughter. Even worse, Tama decided to befriend Mufasa's new son Simba.

Then Keisha decided that it was enough. Tama was old enough to take care of herself and if she needed help, she had about twenty lionesses to go to. But Keisha felt that she was being too closed up and was finding it harder to keep the secret. So, she came to a logical decision: she was leaving the Pridelands.

Of course, leaving her daughter was extremely hard, but she was able to tell Tama that she would always be there for her, in her heart. Then, Keisha set out to make a new life for herself. And she got the chance when she stopped by the Mountains and met Kosey.

Kosey was a charming guy, sweet and kind, and she was immediately swept away by him. But he didn't seem to know much about himself as he viewed her as just a friend. He offered her a chance to stay at the Mountain Pride, which she gladly accepted.

Over the span of a couple of months, she harboured secret feelings for Kosey. She felt frustated that she had left her home pride because she was tired of keeping secrets to come to this one and keep another one. She actually considered leaving again, but with the way her luck was going, she figured that she'd probably end up keeping another secret. 

But things once again started changing when she noticed Kosey acting a little wierd around her. Probing a little further, she found that Kosey was also harbouring feelings for her, but was in denial of everything. Finally, with a lot of work, she finally got Kosey to admit that he was in love with her, and she told him that she was honoured to be his mate.

Then, Kosey's brother and king Onani found that he could not conceive a cub with his mate Halla as she was infertile. Then, Kosey suggested that he(Kosey) and Keisha try to have a cub who could be the next heir. Keisha also agreed to it, and Onani finally caved and let it happen.

But sadly, no matter how much she tried, she couldn't conceive a cub with Kosey. So she suggested that Kosey try with some other lioness. Kosey, reluctantly, gave in and mated with a lioness named Ese. Ese soon gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, whom Kosey's mother Hiari named Malka, mistaking him for a girl due to her slight loss of hearing. Still, the name stuck. 

When Malka was a little older, he wandered off to the Pridelands, and Ese went to get him. Soon after that incident, an attack of a pride of rogues on the Mountain Pride caused severe hardship, and huge heartache for Malka. Ese had died in the battle. Mourning along with him, Keisha took Malka in as her own son. It wasn't long before she started to refer to him as her son, not Ese's. She still feels guilty about her pridesister's death.

For Malka, Keisha found herself being more calm and at ease than with Tama. She thought it was because of all the secrets she had to keep from Tama, but nothing needed to be held back for Malka. Hence, to redeem the mistake to her daughter, she forged an extremely close bond with Malka.

Even as much as she loves her son and would never change a thing, she still regrets leaving Tama alone. But, she knows she cannot go back, even if her one wish is to see her daughter one last time before she passes.

Relation to TLK: Born in the Pridelands, mother of Tama and Malka, lives in Malka's pride

Bases (C) me