Awiti

[Carl]

Name: Awiti

Meaning: "thrown away"

Gender: Female

Species: Spotted Hyena

Appearance: see attachment

Personality: She has a calm and gentle nature most of the time. She mostly keeps to herself, but doesn't mind speaking up and telling others what she thinks. She questions much, but in some ways is quite naïve. She can be stubborn and lonely. She tends to sympathize with other creatures, even sometimes pray animals.

History: Awiti was born with a mark on her hip that strangely resembled a lion. The appearance of such a mark so soon after the incident with Scar and the Disbanding of the Clans caused the hyenas of her clan to take it as a bad omen and they would have left her to die somewhere, except for the fact that she was a female. Therefore, they named her Awiti, as a sign that they were casting her aside, and chose mostly to keep her on the edges of their society. Growing up, she always felt distant from the clan. They would rarely speak to her and often ignored her presence, when they did pay notice to her, they chose oft to call her "lion-lover."

As time went on, she heard many stories about lions told by the older members of the clan. Some of these stories were even told directly to her. The tales painted lions as ferocious, vile creatures, and Awiti began to wonder if they, like she, were simply misunderstood. She began to feel sorry for the lions and the way they were portrayed by her people. It was true, she knew, that lions had caused the hyenas' lack of food in this area. It was true also that lions had killed their brethren and caused the Disbanding of the Clans. These were facts; what she was unsure of was whether or not the lions did those things deliberately, and if they did, if it was, as she'd been taught, without provocation.

One day, her clan comes across a couple of young lionesses who have just made a kill. The clan attacks the lionesses, stealing the kill and severely wounding one of the lionesses while the other escapes. Having a bad feeling about the situation, Awiti convinces her clan that the wounded lioness is no longer a threat in order to give the lioness a chance to escape. She cautions her clan that two female lions never travel in a pair and since one got away the pride will come looking for them, but they dismiss her theories. After much disagreement, she is presented with a choice by the clan's matriarch; she can leave and join lions, or she can stay with the clan. Awiti doesn't want to leave her clan, but a gut feeling tells her to get away from them before they get themselvesㅡand herㅡ killed by the lionesses' angry pride. Not willing to ignore such a feeling, she chooses to leave and goes off in search of the lioness that escaped, though she doesn't expect the lions to be anything approaching welcoming towards her.

Relatives: Unknown

Mate/ Crush: She has a crush on Jongeni, despite the fact that he is a lion. Because they are different species, she does not intend to win his heart, or to even try.