The Lives We Lead | tmr/tw • tw/tmr |

(30) To Hate A Coworker, Discover An Old Friend, And Seek An Ally

If Ramahilla found the Laws of Protectors tedious, then the meetings were excruciating. How anyone could sit through the meetings without wanting to smash their face into the table--or smash someone else's face through the table--was beyond her.

If there was ever a protector that Ramahilla couldn't stand, it was Ponnetta. Rama had a lot of humans who she loved dearly--but their Protector was a piece of shit and she had no problem pointing that out.

Ramahilla hated Ponnetta, Protector of Adanaha. But she wasn't alone... because Nadaviel hated the wench, too.

"How dare you violate our Rules to aid hunters!" Nada's voice roared as Rama continued down the corridor to the Hall of Meeting. Usually, Protectors followed the the unspoken rule of using 'inside-voices,' but Rama found little reason to uphold that standard in the most recent meetings. 

Varonada, the Realm of the High Protector, was different from all the other realms. It consisted of a vast continent with estates for all the Protectors, though most preferred the comforts of their own realms. Ramahilla chose to live on earth 618 instead of either. Sunyata was her realm, yes, but it was mostly her workplace; her office. Almost every Protector of Sunyata over the years chose a specific earth to reside on, allowing them to be closer to their Sunyatans.

Earth 618 had been the only active Home Planet for Sunyatans for nearly a thousand years. Sure, there were plenty of universes with plenty of earths, but not many hosted Sunyatans and only a fraction of those planets were Home Planets. The rest were Catalyst Planets, like earth 816, where Sunyatans traveled and lived tumultuous lives that would prepare them for what awaited when they returned to their Home Planet. Earth 618 had acted as Home Planet to any number of Catalyst Planets over its lifetime, the most recent being earth 816, of course. Besides that, she always had her father and her brothers on Earth 618.

And so Rama spent little time on Varonada aside from meetings like the one she prepared to enter. She was glad she arrived early; it wouldn't work for Nadaviel to tear Ponnetta's head off before Varona, the High Protector, even showed up.

"Oh, am I not allowed to protect my own?" Rama could hear Ponnetta snap.

On second thought, Rama mused bitterly. Maybe it could save us all the trouble if Ponnetta suddenly lost her head.

"That was not protecting anyone!"

"They were going after a threat to humankind," Ponnetta defended the hunters, making little effort to hide the condescension in her voice. Rama would have begged every entity to ever be conceived that Ponnetta find another career, but nothing with Broadway; the bitch couldn't act.

"You already slaughtered over half of her pack! She was running! There was no threat!" Nada screamed back at the hag.

"Oh, then how do you explain that woman she bit?" Oh, that was it. Rama already wanted to punch her.

"Get off your high horse, Ponnetta, and admit you were wrong," Rama pushed the door open to the Hall of Meeting, making her way to Nada's side at the long table.

"I simply cannot fathom a single good reason why the two of you should be blaming me for the actions of a mutt," Ponnetta sneered.

"I'll show you a damn mutt, you b-" Nada looked read to spring over the table and solidify her threat had Rama not grabbed her shoulder.

"Nada, please," Rama urged her to stand down. "You, Ponnetta, broke the Rules upon you as a Protector in order to lead you to a werewolf that the hunters were not  fated to kill."

Ponnetta scoffed. "You have no proof."

"I don't?" Rama raised an eyebrow. "Their trail went cold hours earlier. She got away."