Bright Bastion Crumbling [Animum, Hayden]

Sitting upon a bench in the open courtyard in the midst of a military complex, one girl whose golden hair shone like precious metal in the light sat under the boughs of an aged, gnarly tree. At the rank of private, this girl was unassuming as the grunts that surrounded her, a tiny pebble who could be overlooked on the roadside. The girl raised a pure white hand into the air, letting delicate fingers feel the warmth, even though the smile that adorned her lips failed to cause her cheeks to rise. To the passerby, she looked like a part of the mundane, easily overlooked.

Yet, to the studious, her gaze was sharp like a knife. Nothing escaped those eyes which looked out upon the realm around them; there was electrum that lingered with every passing glance. A clarity that sought to unravel the world around it, to tear it open and lay bare it's inner mechanisms. It was a gaze that was far too smart to have the wool pulled over it.

Even so, those eyes seemed to find the interactions around them to be futile. It was like watching a butterfly struggling in the web of a spider, the happy times of these soldiers did very little to satiate the woman under the tree. Eventually, that woman brought a bottle to her lips. Seeking the sweet release of fire which ran rampant down her throat, even though she knew that it would only be a momentary reprieve. Even so, a heated exhalation of release blew past slightly ajar lips as the world grew dimmer and the noise stopped just for a little while.

Her head to rest against the rough, warped bark of the tree behind her. The jarring feeling of pressure that came with the less than graceful action brought an unwanted clarity to the fuzz in her mind. The sun seemed to be almost painfully bright as Animum brought a pallid hand to cover her eyes, effectively blocking the rays that beat down upon her from the harsh African sun.

Peeking from behind slightly askew fingers, the woman marveled at the blue, uncaring sky above her, and how small and insignificant she seemed before it's majesty. She truly did enjoy the quiet in her life currently, fading from existence to hide away in an unassuming barrack, it was a life that in the beginning that she never thought she would consider being fulfilling. All those years ago as a lieutenant of the gotei 13. Then again, so much had happened that she never thought would have taken place.

In the corner of her eye, she noticed another individual walking amongst his men. A person who she had only really met once, on the inauguration of his majestic empire. Some called him a fierce monster, others a dignified ruler who was befitting of his post. Those trademark golden eyes of hers would study the man silently from her tiny corner of paradise that she had carved out for herself. While individuals like kimitsuki, and nizhuan had climbed the ranks into higher posts, Animum had been more than happy to remain where she was, the lowest of the low, a grunt. There had been a kind of release, having no one know who she was, or what she was capable of. The eyes of her squad did not look at her with expectation, nor with fear or hope. She was not an asset to them, a person to be used. She had not shared with them the monstrosity of her power either.

Thus, a soft chuckle escaped golden-eyes mouth as she took another sip of an unidentified bottle that was hidden within a small brown paper bag.