She is Lapisi, the runt of her litter. Small but painful - the Splinter
Dynasty
First Finisher / First Chaser of the Blood Guard?
The third Flame Orphan
The Flame Orphans: Shaskol, Limyè the Fox, Zöld the Small, and Kisithunzi the Restless
Apprentice of Ntsundu the Gentle, Head Warden of the First Keep
Homecoming
Zöld the Small joined the Hart as a young adolescent, when she was 8.5 months old. Like the other Flame Orphans, the Hart took her in after a terrible fire swept the woodlands. She serves in the Blood Guard, along with Idanu the Keen, Isati the Rash, and Valhalla the Bold. Her unique combination of wily stealth and bone-crushing strength earned her the title of First Stalker.
Relationships
When the Hart adopted Kisithunzi, Ak'sakka the Sharp, a haughty warrior and the First Commander of the First Guard, seemed to see a piece of her younger self in him and immediately took over his care. Unlike the gentle First Keepers Ntsundu and Isati, who raised the three remaining Flame Orphans, Ak'sakka could be cold, distant, and brusque.
Character
Early Life: Arrogant
Later Life: ?
Kisithunzi was born with a selfish disposition. His outcast mother trained him as best he could, but he would never quite fit in with groups, settling down, or pack discipline, having been accustomed to a nomadic life as a single child without much supervision. Though Kisithunzi learned a lot from his mentor in the Hart, the mighty warrior Ak'sakka the Sharp, his mentor's aggressive ways rubbed off on him and he became self-serving and greedy in his youth, craving the affection he did not receive as a pup.
Only as a mature adult, when he had children of his own, did Kisithunzi realize that his injured mother had chased him away in order to save his life, knowing that she would be too slow to escape the encroaching fire. Ever since, Kisithunzi often accompanies the Dawn Alpha Maharani on her explorations, hoping against hope that his mother survived the fire, and that he will one day find her and reunite.
Origins
Like the other Flame Orphans, the Hart took in Kisithunzi after a terrible fire swept the woodlands. Unlike the others, who had belonged to packs that succumbed to or became dispersed by the flames, Kisithunzi had already been an outcast before the fire drove him into Hart territory.
Kisithunzi's mother had been chased away by her clan when she was pregnant with him. Her crime was that she had mated with the pair bond of the Alpha's daughter in a secret tryst; her accomplice, guilt-ridden, confessed to the Alpha. Not daring to antagonize the powerful Alpha of her birth clan, Alphas of nearby tribes refused to take in Kisithunzi's mother, who decided to wander as far as possible from the mountainous lands of her birth to find a new home.
Along the way, she bore Kisithunzi. The two of them traveled together through thick and thin. She trained him as best he could, but he would never quite fit in with groups, settling down, or pack discipline, having been accustomed to a nomadic life as a single child without much supervision. However, one day, his mother became injured during a hunt. The wound would take several months to heal. Kisithunzi and his mother made a temporary den, and it became his responsibility to obtain food and herbs.
Kisithunzi did his best, but still being a young adolescent, he was easily distracted and a poor hunter. One terrible day, a bizarre, alarming smell began to seep through the forest. A crackling sound hissed somewhere far away, and black smoke rose from the treetops in the distance. Kisithunzi ran back to ask his mother what was happening, but when he arrived, she snarled at him. "Get away from here," she snapped.
Kisithunzi promised her he would be a good boy and bring her all the food and medicine she could dream of, but she would not relent. Heartbroken, Kisithunzi tucked his tail between his legs and fled, chased away by his own mother and the only family he had left. It was in this forlorn condition that the First Guard of the Hart found him.
Ak'sakka the Sharp picked up his scent after a failed hunt. The other warriors disagreed with her decision to go after the scent trail of a wolf who did not smell like a clan, but rather had the dirty and unfamiliar smell of an outcast. However, Ak'sakka could tell that the smell belonged to an adolescent, and so she pushed on and tracked him down.
Even though the other warriors objected to adopting a boy, Ak'sakka insisted on initiating him into the Hart and took him on as her apprentice, promising the Keepers that she would take primary responsibility for his care. Unlike the other three female Flame Orphans, who were raised by the gentle First Keepers, Ntsundu and Isati, Kisithunzi was trained by Ak'sakka, a brilliant but harsh mentor.
Only many years later, when he had children of his own, did Kisithunzi begin to put the pieces of his memories together. At long last, he realized that his mother had chased him away in order to save his life, knowing that she would be too slow to escape the encroaching fire; her injury made it very difficult for her to walk, and impossible for her to run. This discovery caused him to go through a long period of grief and loss.
Eventually, Kisithunzi found peace in the knowledge that his mother had not abandoned him, but rather loved him till the end. Ever since he became one of the Hart, Kisithunzi often accompanies the Dawn Alpha Maharani on her explorations, hoping against hope that his mother survived the fire, and that he will one day find her and reunite.
First Finisher of the Blood Guard"
Hunter