Name: Lutalo (African for 'warrior')

Sex: Male

Parents: Ajani and Kimani

Siblings: Ikuta, Ashiki (half)

Crush: Rhaenys

Mate: N/A

Cubs: N/A

Theme Song: "Changes" by Three Doors Down

Pride: Ari's Pride (currently)

Generation: Tenth (Kiara's Generation)

Personality: As his name suggests, Lutalo is a warrior, but with Ajani as a father how could he not? Like his father, Lutalo does not like to mingle with other lions and lionesses, and the only other he prefers to be with, besides his father, is Samanya. He does not speak much, only saying the occasional word or two, but expresses himself freely with body language. One notable feature about Lutalo is his undying loyalty to his family - mess with them, and you'll wish you hadn't.

His Relationships:

His parents: As Lutalo was still young when Kimani was killed, he didn't form as strong of a bond as he did with his father. Despite the abuse and beatings he suffered by Ajani's claw, Lutalo's loyalty and dedication towards his father never wavered. When Ajani was killed, Lutalo died along with him, becoming a shell of who he was, turning into a violent lion to protect himself from harm. Even though he gets better and grows more wise of his antics, Lutalo still suffers from the pain of losing his father.

His siblings: Lutalo is unaware that he has siblings because Ajani is unaware that he had fathered cubs with Bahati. Therefore, Lutalo has no real relationship or acknowledgement of Ikuta or Ashiki.

Samanya: At first Lutalo did not care for bringing Samanya into their little family. He felt she was a threat and unwanted, even though Ajani said otherwise. Because Ajani wanted Samanya to stay with them, Lutalo begrudgingly accepted Samanya into their family, though he never accepted her until they shared a moment where Samanya broke down in frustration and Lutalo comforted her. That was when their relationship grew, and was only amplified when Ajani died. The pair clung onto one another for comfort and became a toxic duo. But that was the peak of their sibling-hood, for when they joined Ari's pride, that was the end. Samanya wanted to distance herself from Lutalo, citing him a bad influence to her attitude, and Lutalo rebuffed her when he felt she was rejecting him. Though whether they will let bygones be bygones and become friends again, no one is sure, but for right now, they're better off without one another.

Ari & Maalik: Lutalo disregarded the pair as his leaders, and often pushed the boundaries on what he could do in the pride. Though Maalik didn't think that highly of Lutalo either, the pair were still reluctant to shoo Lutalo away until he came to his breaking point. Fortunately, because of Rhaenys, kicking Lutalo out of the pride never became an issue.

Rhaenys: Of all the other pride-members living with him, Lutalo has the best relationship with Rhaenys. It wasn't always that way, though. At first he was bothered by her continued requests of friendship and stability, and almost got violent with her. Eventually, he begrudgingly accepted her as his friend, and became incredibly overprotective and possessive of her - after all, she was the only friend he had in the world though. She brought a gentler side to him, though Lutalo only shows this side when Rhaenys is about. He has a bit of a crush on her, but because he is not the most social of lions, he doesn't know what this feeling means.

His other pridemates: Because Lutalo's world revolves around Rhaenys, Lutalo doesn't have much regard in the way he thinks of the rest of the pride. It is not only that either - the rest of the pride has not eagerly associated themselves with him out of fear. Only Jamil has, and that's because the older lion was not afraid to be confrontational to Lutalo when he felt the need to. So Lutalo respects Jamil to an extent, but as far as liking the rest of his pridemates, he is indifferent to them.

History: Though he claims that he broke away from the bachelor pride because he was inspired by Judas, Ajani's intentions could not have been farther from the truth. During his time in the pride he met a young lioness named Kimani who was in heat. Despite not caring for the opposite sex, he still mated with her, and found that though he didn't like other animals, Kimani and their unborn cub would be the exception. Around the time she was to give birth, he broke away from the pride to be with her.

Lutalo was small and born with a lazy eye, but even despite his faults Ajani and Kimani loved their son dearly. The family was happy together for awhile, despite Ajani's occasional violent slip-up. One day, though, Kimani went off to hunt and never came back. At first he thought nothing of it, and looked after Lutalo while she was gone. When several days passed and Kimani had not returned, Ajani took Lutalo, and the two of them went searching for her. They eventually found her, dead and nearly only bones. She had been outnumbered by a hyena pack while she was hunting.

Ajani quickly took Lutalo out of the area, and over the years taught his son how to take care of himself. Lutalo was often subject to his father's violent abuse, some of the scars on his body being proof of that, but despite the abuse he also had to deal with, Lutalo stayed by his father out of undying loyalty.

After a huge fight left one of Ajani's hind legs useless, Lutalo had to begin hunting for them. At first it was challenging, and Lutalo suffered wounds and scars from the hunts and fights. Eventually he grew skilled enough where he could handle himself in those kind of situations, and his strength eventually rivaled that of his father's, though he insists Ajani is far stronger than he could ever hope to be.

One day they bumped into an adolescent lioness named Samanya. Being the product of inbreeding, Samanya had as much of a violent temper as Ajani did, and their first encounter led to Samanya picking a fight with Ajani. Of course she was no match for him, and once she was subdued she tearfully admitted she killed her father and was on her own. Though Ajani felt pity for her, Lutalo did not, and hated her the moment she entered their lives. He did not outwardly antagonize her, but he ignored her.

Then Ajani suggested that Lutalo train her in fighting, which of course Lutalo was against. However, his father forced him to do it, and the first few spars were very one-sided as Samanya could not land even one blow to Lutalo. During one of their spars she broke down, admitting she was a monster and he deserved to kill her then and there. Touched Lutalo comforted her, and this episode was the momentous turning point in their relationship.

The three of them became a very close family unit, and the violent outbursts ceased, at least until Ajani was killed from a blow to the head by an enraged water buffalo. Both Lutalo and Samanya regressed into their former violent states to cope with the loss of their father, and attacked anyone who stood in their way. They eventually made their way into Ari's pride but, while Samanya has begun to calm down some, Lutalo has only gotten worse.

In fact, his anger became such a problem that Lutalo was threatened with exile from the pride out of fear that he would soon attack one of his fellow pride members. Lutalo had no one to help him either - Samanya distanced herself from him in order to work on her own temper, and it ended up leading to a fight where they renounced themselves as brother and sister. One male in the pride, Jamil, tried to help Lutalo through his crisis, but the male was very heavy-handed in disciplining Lutalo, encouraging Lutalo to act out more.

Then, Rhaenys came into his life. Drawn to him because of his case in the pride, she tried to befriend him and ease him out of his constant state of anger. At first, Lutalo wanted nothing to do with her, but then it escalated to where he would grow violent towards her. He never struck her, but nearly had several times, until Jamil intervened. Still, Rhaenys did not back off, and Lutalo grew to begrudgingly accept her company in time.

In time, Lutalo's anger began to subside, and the rage he felt over his father's death was finally beginning to pass. He came to rely on Rhaenys, for her attitude balanced out his bad temper. She was teaching him out to enjoy life again, and in time Lutalo did begin to enjoy life. He and Samanya never made up, nor restored their once close bond, but it was for the best. That part of their lives was behind him, and now all he had to look forward to was a life ahead with Rhaenys.

Family History:

Great-Grandparents: Ukweli and Anki

Grandparents: Nusura and Tufane

Niece: Winta

Great-Nephew: Thairu