Name: Xolani (meaning 'please forgive') (First called Sikudhani, meaning an unexpected gift)

Parents: Unknown

Siblings: None

Mate: None

Cubs: None

Distinguishing Features: light brown fur, red eyes, colourless back paws, coloured front paws and thighs, stripe on head, coloured ears, eye patches, brown nose, brown tail tuft, brown collar.

Personality: Xolani is lot more like a leopard than a lion. She prefers to be alone but still enjoys company. Her background sometimes makes her take decisions that make her regret it later on. It not only makes it hard for her to communicate with others, but also makes her sensitive when it comes o the topic of upraising. Still, she's sincere and does her best to serve her pride the best way she can. 

History: Xolani was a surprise at a local breeding centre. Her parents rejected her and so the humans took her in and raised her like their own daughter. She was originally dubbed "Sikudhani" as they considered her arrival a gift. But seeing her as nothing but a waste, her parents named her Xolani as a tribute to the other lions who wished a male instead a female. So, she spent all her time with her humans and grew to be more comfortable with them than her own kind. Because this was unnatural for her, the humans did the best thing they could think of. Once she reached the age of one, they put a radio collar on her and released her into the wild. Xolani had no idea how to live out in the wild and began to wish that they hadn't left her like this. Fortunately for her, her wild instincts kicked in just in time to lead her. She soon bumped into a lioness named Ari, whom she befriended after a while (and quite a while too). She explained her situation of being extremely lost and confused. Ari offered her a place in her pride. As she had no place to start, Xolani took the offer. She found that the lions in Ari's pride were totally different than the ones back home. She quickly befriended them. But, in a corner of her mind, she kept thinking of life back in the centre, where the humans cared for her so well. She longed to feel their caring hands in her fur again. Slowly, she began to distance herself from her pride, something which Ari and her mate Maalik noticed. Ari approached her newest pridemember and comforted her. Xolani appreciated Ari's concern, but knew that it wasn't going to bring her old life back. She told Ari this, and Ari simply told her that her old life existed in the past. The pride was her new family, but it would never be until Xolani let go of her past. Saying so, Ari walked away and left Xolani to think. In the back of her mind, she knew Ari was right but couldn't acept the fact that lions were her real family. They had rejected her and had made her a peace offering, making her carry an apology wherever she went. One day, Xolani happened to stumble upon her human guardians and ran to them. She was happy to be back in their arms and hoped they had come to take her back home. But they hadn't. They had merely come to check up on her. Xolani was sad about this, but little did she know Ari had seen the whole thing. Once she went back to the pride, Ari told her that they needed to talk. She told Xolani that she had seen her confrontation with her humans. Xolani told her that it wasn't wrong as they were the ones who had raised her, not her parents. She spilled out all her doubt, confusion and confessions. Ari told her that she couldn't live with a paw in each world and that she needed to decide where she belonged and what she called "home". She told Xolani that till then, she was an inactive member of the pride. Xolani found that Ari kept her word and had excused her from all pride duties. Nothing would have pleased her more than going back to her humans, but something told her that she belonged here. She slowly realised that and finally told Ari, "I thought living with the humans was home, but I was wrong. I've finally found my home." 

Relation to TLK: Is in a pride headed by the granddaughter of Mufasa and Sarabi.