The Heart of a Lion

Tanya being all [Mammon growl]; an anthology

For context: past

"You can't run anymore, Phoenix. You're out of options."

It was getting dark. The sun was steadily making its way beneath the horizon, and with it went all forms of natural light, making the tall shadows of the trees around them blend with the surroundings darkness ominously, hiding within its thickening depths numerous people that wanted her dead.

"You betrayed your people, your best freind, and your country. Some sister."

"Who are you calling a traitor?" She yelled into the woods, narrowing her eyes as if it would help her discern the figures that surrounded her from the darkness.

"You and Karame were inseparable until you went to America. Then she dies and you don't bat an eye, even go so far as to protect the murderer!"

"So yes, traitor."

The ironic part was that they didn't even know half of it. Tanya heard the uneasy growl that came from Yasuyori at her back, and her hands clenched into fists. They had been caught in a private moment, unarmed and unexpected. Venerable. And with the timing of the sunset, they were at a further disadvantage.

So far no one was using a kagune, and they all had on archaic white cloaks with bluish trim, hoods dawn up and shadows obscuring their faces. They all seemed to move like a single mass, and she wasn't sure how many were actually there. More or less than twenty, for sure.

If only they'd use their kagune, then she'd be able to do a proper head count based on the pulsating colors. She refused to get into a low fighting stance. She had to stand tall and remain confident.

"Karame was my best freind, yes." Her words we're breathed in a sigh, and she reached behind her head to tie up her hair quickly. Things were going to get really ugly really fast. "We had done everything together, from discouraging Doves to wreaking havoc in different prefectures and cities. She was my other half."

The crowd seemed to shuffle angrily, voices beginning to rise.

"But when you heard she died, not a tear was shed!"

"You're a cold-blooded bitch,"

"You just wanted power,"

"If you cared so much about her then why are you protecting her killer?"

She felt her senses sharpen, her eyesight becoming keen, making it slightly easier to see with red and black eyes. Okay, one, two, three... "Because I knew the reason why she talked to me in the first place was because we were both strong. She wanted an alliance, and it just so happened she liked me. Our friendship of more than two decades was built on her lust for power. She may not have married the strongest man, but she trained her kids like soldiers and she had the city in line and under her thumb."

She felt a pause in the building tension around her until someone yelled,

"She did that to intimidate Doves and keep unnecessary death down!"

"She also instilled fear into the hearts of all ghouls! If you didn't know her personally, you pushed your limits until you were nearly a drooling impulsive mess until you ate again!" That was how she worked. Karame was an expert on psychology and sociology. She knew how to play others like she was born to wield them like instruments. "She got what was coming to her. I understood what she was doing, that she was causing so many people pain, but I let it pass because she was my best freind. And then I saw the power balance shift in the Wards and caught the next flight to America.
"I knew something big was going to happen and wanted no part in it." So much for not being part of it. She had gone from being thrust out if the ring of happenings to being thrust back into it—to a degree. In some sense, she was at the center, in the very eye of the storm she saw coming with no knowledge of the weather until it was on her doorstep. "I knew she had hell to pay, and those around her would pay it as well. I had known for so long what she was doing but didn't bat an eye because it didn't effect me, so when someone gave me a heads up about him coming to America to escape yet another bloodthirsty Yomiga—trying to kill him for retaliating to a grievous offense on Karame's part, no less—I saw it as a chance to repent."