Phantom Hollow Lose Your Head

Weak. She'd known it all along, had accepted from the start that she'd never be as strong as Malice and Sage, or as driven to fight as Issun, but she'd never anticipated it making her a target in her own home. With their skills making up for what she lacked, Mitanni had only viewed it as a means to do something different, an opportunity to excel at something they couldn't or wouldn't excel at. Just a little she wished she'd taken more interest in the art of fighting.

That wasn't all, however. Maybe it was because she'd known him before entering Moonlit Hills that she'd been able to cause him to think without his traitorous thoughts, to instill these feelings of companionship and joy that Judas mentioned. She wasn't sorry for it--she'd been trying to be a welcoming member of the pack, even setting aside her own unease around him in order to do it. Who knew that uneasiness was actually grounded on something true and now just in my head?

He surprised her yet again by lowering himself to the ground, a gesture that furthered his apology and the request for forgiveness that followed. The gesture relaxed her, emboldened her, and with just a little bite to her words, she muttered, "I shouldn't." He'd attacked her. Misguided or not, he'd betrayed her and used her trust in him against her. "What you did...I shouldn't forgive you."

Had the rest of the pack forgiven him? Had Malice? He'd gotten her too as Mitanni recalled, but she hadn't seen her leader since the events unfolded. "How do I know it won't happen again?" she asked softly, wishing she didn't sound so anxious as she said it. It was her biggest fear, that she'd be singled out again and that the pack wouldn't be there to defend her. She wasn't big, she wasn't strong; she'd always be an easy target.