Name Meaning: "to fly" or just "fly" in Swahili.
Age: Young Adult
Species: African Lion
Gender: Female
Title: Assassin (self-given), Bloody-wing (dubbed by those who have heard or encountered her)
Pride: None
Kin: Maono - father; deceased
Faraja - mother; deceased
Rangi - sister; living
Description: wip
Personality: Insanity. A word that could describe Kuruka and no one would doubt it. Aggressive, vicious, cruel, spiteful, dangerous, evil, mad--all words to fit her. She's the villain of the story, but the one with the wrenching past that almost allows for pity. She's a creature with no soul, according to others, a creature not fit to be called lion, a creature born from the darkest pits of hell.
In a paradoxical sense, she lives to destroy. Eager to see the drip of blood, to hear the last beats of a heart, to feel the ragged gasp of one's last breath tickle her ear. Death, and the path to death, is the reason she lives. She's gone further than many a murderous rogue. To her, ending another's life is a joyful experience, and the way that she does it--so carefully, cruelly--is of deepest pleasure. Her motives are left for others to ponder, but to herself, it was ingrained in her at a young age.
Kuruka isn't all a blood-seeking demon. At times she's even able to mask her madness, and speak calmly and with such liquid grace that she seems a different being. Her speech is vibrant and often sarcastic, filled with lies and fire. She is a clever creature, there is no doubt. Her skill gives her pride, but she does not actually go as far as to be arrogant about it, at least on a noticeable level. She is aware that it could bring about weakness, and to her weakness is a poison.
But like many an evil, she is blind to love. Does she have a gentle side, some wonder? Most say no, of course not. It was burned out of her in cubhood, and can never return. That one so destructive, one so enveloped in a bloodlust, cannot fathom compassion. Yet there are times where she lessens her cruelty, rare times, but those times lead one to think that maybe, if one pushed hard enough, her terrible wickedness might falter and bring out a gentler side.
Tactics: Kuruka is an effective and creative killer. Though it all depends on who her opponent is. As she has made a name for herself in the desert--Kuruka Bloody-wing--some may recognize her, and then faking is useless. She'll go straight in and kill. Slice, twist, break--as painful as possible. However, if the chosen victim doesn't recognize her as a murderer, she'll calmly approach and engage them in clever conversation with her eloquent tongue. And then surprise them out of the blue with a sudden set of claws in their chest or eyes. She'll prolong suffering no matter what way she attacks. If she's hungry, then yes she will become cannibalisitic. Especially while they are still alive--she enjoys the pain.
History: Faraja, a high-ranking lioness, gave birth to two cubs: Rangi and Kuruka. Their first few days were normal. When the cubs eyes opened, Faraja was shocked by the elder cub's blue gaze, which was unusual in the pride. Neither parent had blue. Or purple for that matter. But something told Faraja to take her cub away, to hide it. So Kuruka never remembered her sister until they met later.
She had no other cubs to play with, and hardly a friend. Faraja was a bit of a careless mother, and didn't show much love to her child, leading Kuruka to wander off and try to entertain herself. She had imaginary friends, lonely adventures. This was the beginning of the insanity to come. Most of the pride ignored her. Faraja's influence on them was great, and when she merely passed off her cub, so did they. Kuruka didn't really care, after awhile. At first she pestered them, like any cub, and then she turned away when they shrugged her off.
There was one lioness in the pride, a large, gruff young female who lurked about and did little other than lay about. She was one who took interest in Kuruka--to a cruel point. The lonely cub was picked on by the young lioness. Aside from using words, she would injure the cub, giving Kuruka her first wounds before she was three months old. At first she whimpered and fled, but in time she simply grew distant. She felt anger, and sometimes she would lash out at her tormentor. But at a young age she could do little. And the young lioness always trotted off, pretending something else hurt the cub.
Kuruka was barely seven months old when her pride was destroyed. The silent assassin group came out of the shadows and slit throats. The pride fought back, but was no match to the killers. Every single one fell before Kuruka's eyes. She felt more shock than grief. After all, no none had bothered to show love to her. So it wasn't really sadness she felt. Just...confusion. And a weird sense of curiosity. The rogue coalition spared her because they saw a coldness in her gaze. Here was a new recruit.
She was taken away. There she met another cub, a female who resembled her a little. Their scents were similar. Sisters, the pride said. Of course they knew, they'd been there to take Rangi. Kuruka was guarded at first. Kin? The only kin she knew hadn't given a care about her hardly. Why should this one? But she did, and the two bonded. Kuruka warmed to this special bond, but no one else could get to her. The pride trained both cubs, passing on the skills of fierce battle and destruction.
Kuruka wasn't very fond of the killer pride. She excelled in training, as did her sister, but her early solitude made her resist being in a group. She wanted to leave. After more than a year of vigorous fighting, she took off. With Rangi, of course. The pride made its home on the edges of the desert, where life was already difficult. The two directed themselves into the vast sandy lands. Already, that place was full of battle-hungry rogues, cruel and unforgiving just like the desert itself.
They met rogue after rogue. Each taught them more about the art of battle, through the fight itself. They didn't fight together all the time, though. Some rogues that Kuruka met, particularly males, were incredibly cruel, and this drove her to the point of full-fledged insanity. Yet, she began to win more and more, until she was pure death to anyone who crossed her. She took trophies, mostly claws or teeth. She played with skulls of her defeated opponents. She tortured and broke and gutted them alive. And of course, she began to cannibalize too. There were no rules in the desert. No one told her to be good. She was in her element; crazy and alive.
Featured In: Not yet.
