ADOPTED FROM CLAIRE COOPER

Name: Raisa (meaning 'exalted')

Parents: Rubanza and Taabu

Siblings: Chioke and Taji

Mate: None (Crush on Inaya)

Cubs: None

Pride of Origin: Nyasi

History: Raisa was the second-born of Rubanza and Taabu's twin cubs, younger than Taji by only a matter of minutes. Since Taabu had given birth so soon after Mthama, her orphaned cub, Inaya, was placed nursed by her as well and treated as if she was Taabu's third cub. Some of Raisa's earliest memories involve suckling at her mother's side with both Taji and Inaya, friends from the very beginning.

When she and Taji were finally old enough to understand the truth behind Inaya's existance and Nyasi Pride law, Rubanza took her and her brother aside and explained to them. The truth must never be revealled, to do so would put their best friend in mortal peril. Both twins were horrified, Raisa especially as she had always been closest to Inaya, that wasn't fair! Why shouldn't her friend be allowed to live in a pride she'd technically been born into just because her mother hadn't been one of them? It was nonsense! She was quick to swear to utter secrecy, she wouldn't allow anyone to take Inaya away, not while she had a say!

From then on, Raisa's cubhood was nothing all that remarkable, her days were mainly spent playing with Taji and Inaya on the rocky border of the Nyasi Pride's lands. The only 'excitement' that she was when Inaya needed to be hidden amongst the pride when King Makwetu came to meet with her father.

When Raisa was entering her adult years, she realised that what she had began to feel for Inaya was decidedly less friendly and more in a romantic sense. Terrified of her new realisation, she desperately tried to bury her feelings for her friend. What would her parents and pride think? What would Inaya think? It would be better if she didn't say anything. Besides, Inaya's attention was firmly focused on Chioke, Raisa's elder brother, but this was just as hopeless as Raisa's on infatuation. Chioke was not only their father's heir but almost white in colour, he was considered far to high up the social ladder for anyone like Inaya.

Also, there was the issue of Chioke's betrothed, Princess Hiari.

Rubanza had decided that instead of looking to the Nyasi Pride for his eldest son's bride, he would go to the Kilima Pride instead, trying to cement a better relationship with the mountainous pride that they shared a border with. Makwetu was less than happy about this but saw Rubanza's reasoning and allowed it. 

However, things went wrong when the escort sent to bring Hiari to the Nyasi Pride disappeared and Hiari along with it. Rubanza immediately called Raisa, Taji and Inaya and tasked them with finding the lost princess as he wanted to keep her disappearance as quiet as possible for fear of the Kilima Pride blaming them and because there was no one else he trusted to be more discrete. So the three set out to find the lost princess.

The three patroled the pass which led through the mountain and towards the Kilima Pride's territory but found nothing. Eventually, they decided that splitting up to cover more ground would be the best option. Raisa took the western side of the mountain (as it had the steepest and most jagged slopes and she was the best climber out of them), Taji the eastern and Inaya the pass just in case they missed something. After agreeing to meet in three days by a distictive rocky ridge, they all parted ways.

Raisa searched the rocky crags for sometime and found nothing, that was, until she saw a brown spec on a distant ridge. A lone lioness. Calling out to her, the lioness didn't respond but only jerked her head and disappeared, reappearing at the ridge when Raisa didn't immediately follow. She quickly caught onto what the strange lioness wanted, she wanted her to follow. Wary but curious, Raisa followed her strange and silent guide as she wound her way through the rocks and ridges until finally she stopped, motioning down the slope. Convinced that her guide was trying to help her rather than lure her into a trap, Raisa descended stealthily.

Her guide hadn't pointed her wrong, hidden by the steeper ridges was a small pride of lions, only a few individuals, and among them was Hiari, clearly terrified. Raisa knew she hhad to find her brother and Inaya and tell them but when trying to scale the slope again, she was spotted, her tan pelt easily distinguished against the brown rocks. The leader, a female, quickly ordered a large male to give chase and kill her.

Terrified, Raisa tried to race up the slop as fast as she could but the big male was strong and quick and started closing the gap between them quickly. Even though she managed to reach the top, she knew she wasn't safe. She was qucikly caught and as the big male tried to wrap his jaws around her throat, a brown blur came out of nowhere and shoved him off her, her guide had came to her rescue! Using the gap her guide had given her, Raisa fled again.

Down the slopes she ran but the big male was quick in persuing her, shaking off her guide, and came after her again. He wasn't too long in catching up and in her desperation to escape, Raisa didn't pay much heed to where she put her paws. The ledge she stood on collapsed under her feet and the lioness was sent plummeting down, snapping her neck on the hard rock and killing her instantly. The big male gingerly made his own way down and picked her body up, intending to bring it back to his leader.

Raisa's body was soon dumped on the Nyasi Pride border to be discovered by Taji and Inaya and thus the civil war of the Nyasi Pride couldn't be stopped.

Relation to TLK: Crush on the daughter of Scar

Head base (c) ImvulaAdopts
Body base (c) SixNewAdventures