Heroes Behind Shadows

II: Marshall B. Bullet

HEROES BEHIND SHADOWS©Grimoirelle™ 2017-∞

Sometimes.. villains are actually heroes behind shadows.
Sometimes, they are angels in disguise.

You know the feeling of watching a movie even though you know how it's going to end?

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Hi, my name is Tantra. I'm an assassin. I live in a world where humans are suddenly given the key to obtain various powers. War was eminent. Countries are always waging wars upon one another.

There are five countries at the top of the "food chain" right now. Two of them are our neighboring countries. The first one is "Aryhmes" (read as Ah-rai-him) who is currently at war with the other neighbor country, the second one which is "Etiva" (read as Eh-tai-vah). So in other words, my country is in between the two "military powerhouse" countries.

End of Tantra's point of view

I. Marshall B. Bullet & Tantra: Young and Menace

A normal day in the nameless country in between Aryhmes and Etiva, young Tantra is once again struggling in her daily life and doing her best to survive.

"A beast-like creature broke in and stole all of my bread!" A baker in town was complaining about Tantra who was seen in her shape-shifted form when she broke in.

"How is that possible..? Our town is quite civilized and far from the woods. Any wild animal shouldn't be able to make it here" The police man said with an uncertain look on his face.

"It might be one of those gifted children." An old lady spoke, she was about the same height as a young child.

"G..Gifted..? In our town..? There's no one. We had every child checked" The policeman replied, denying the old lady's assumption.

While this is all going on, Tantra, in her human form, is hiding at a corner while silently munching on the bread that she stole. Secretly, she is listening to the conversation of the adults.

"Possibly someone not from this town or even, not from this country." The old lady said, sounding calm and flat. "Ever since the make-believe nature god came here, all sorts of power began blooming in different places. Other tribes believe it is a mysterious, unknown being that they call "Vendetta" who is responsible for the gifted children. Another story is that a meteor came crashing down, an unknown being was inside of it. When she came, powers started manifesting on children of that time. Nevertheless, the existence of those powers is a proof that a god might really exist." After saying those words, the old lady turned to the baker. "Be careful. Gifted ones can be cursed ones."Warning him, the old lady walked away slowly.

The policeman and the baker didn't know how to react to the words of the old lady, but Tantra, who was 6 at this time, ended up thinking about it.

"Who gave us those powers.. gift.. curse..?" Being young, Tantra couldn't really understand what the old lady meant.

Tantra's hair is straight and colored dark purple that it almost seems like it was black. She is believed to be "gifted" with the power to shape shift into a tiger.

The next following days only shows how much of a menace a young tiger without a parent could be. She is "abandoned" and the only thing she knows about herself is her own name. As usual, she causes a ruckus in town. Despite showing an aggressive nature, she is actually just scared of settling down in the woods.

However... the horrific day came when the enemy countries decided to make Tantra's hometown a battlefield. Other than that, countries like Etiva are seeking to expand their territory. Now... Tantra's home has become totally invaded by outsiders.