ribcages-and-bookpages

[ribcages-and-bookpages]

One day at a time; Chapter 6, New scars old enemies.

Year x438, July 26th,

    It has been four days since the trio met Xillie and Fennala, and three days since they left the two in an attempt to find a building to become their base. They had their eye set on one specific one Rowan had mentioned during their stay with the two of his friends, but it was quite the walk. They had slept inside the basements of some buildings for the past three days when it came time to sleep for the night.

        The trio felt exhausted in more ways than one and were all covered heavily in ash with smears on their faces as the ash rapidly fell from the sky, but this area felt colder than the last as well. The trio was quiet as they walked and the three of them all had cloth masks covering their mouths and noses to protect them from the heavy amounts of ash. But a large building came into view; one made of what seemed to be concrete but it looked different than the other buildings surrounding it. It had a lot more plant growth on the building and all the windows were boarded up, including the front door. It looked almost as if it was a warehouse, and even after years of standing the building had few cracks and seemed sturdy. 

    Rowan's voice suddenly rang out in the silence, "That's it." He said breathlessly with a sigh of relief. He made his way over to the front of the building and began to look at the windows and door, then lowered his mask and turned to Ares, "You mind?" He asked with a nod towards the boarded-up door. Ares simply gave a nod of response before taking off his backpack and handing it to Rowan, who took it and held it in one hand while stepping to the side. Ares made his way to the barricaded door before grabbing the wood and ripping it down, breaking pieces of wood in half in the process. He continued to work on the door before he removed the wood piece by piece and tossed it to the side, more focused on the task at hand. 

    Meanwhile, Serena watched in amazement as he effortlessly ripped down the boards with his bare hands and felt herself relieved that Ares was on their side. Rowan though, was watching Ares with a little lopsided smile on his face as he stood off to the other side of Ares, still holding his backpack. 

    Once the boards were all down, a rusted metal door was revealed. Its handle was circular and to the right of the door, and there was a small sliding door near the upper middle part of the door; almost like a peephole. Ares grabbed the handle of the door and forcefully turned it to open, but the door didn't open. It was rusted shut. Ares looked to Rowan with a small head tilt before glancing at the door, and Rowan smiled a bit more, "It's chill Ares, go ahead. If the door breaks we can replace it." He hummed before stepping back a bit more. A nod and a hum left Ares before he shifted his stance, then slammed his shoulder into the door once, then twice before it burst open with a screeching noise. 

    The trio cringed in unison at the noise, especially Ares who then shook his head a bit before looking to Rowan, who gave him a smile and nod, "Good job, Ares. let's get inside and see what this place is like." He said as he offered Ares his backpack back. Ares took the bag and put it onto his shoulders again, while Serena took out a yellow crystal from a little fabric pouch that was attached to her belt before placing it in her left hand. She tapped the top of it and the crystal began to hover in her hand and let off a semi-bright, glowing yellow light. Serena looked at the two of them as she shifted her hand to rest lower, 

    "Are you two ready?" She asked with a small eyebrow raise, causing the two to nod in unison. She nodded in return before entering the building while the two males followed behind her. 

    The little crystal gave off a glow bright enough to illuminate most of the area they were in and gave the surrounding darkness a bit more light to where they could see vague shapes. There were a few items of furniture strewn about, along with some trash on the floor, as well as heavy amounts of ash that were a few inches deep in some parts of the room; anywhere that there was a large enough gap to outside. Such as the pile that had been pushed away in front of the door because of its opening, or the pile near a crack of light by a board-covered window, a gap somewhere in it. That wasn't much of a concern though, since the boards would have to come down anyways. 

    Rowan began to head over to the window that had a sliver of light coming through and he began to pull at the boards to try and take them down, 

    "I'm gonna take a few of these down, that way we don't use up all our crystals before we can get more." He explained as he yanked a board off the wall, stumbling back a bit. Ares was at his side at what seemed to be an instance as he grabbed Rowan by the top strap of his backpack, effectively catching him from falling backward. A small nervous laugh left Rowan as he looked to Ares before giving the other male a sheepish look, which caused a heavy sigh to emit from Ares as Rowan stood up straight,

    "Be more careful. We don't know what state this building is in, or what lies about." Ares warned quietly in a firm tone as he released Rowan's bag.

    A nervous laugh left Rowan as he nodded a bit and set the board he had in his hands off to the side,

    "Alright, alright, relax. I'll be more careful." He said with a wave of his hand. He turned to Ares and gave a small head tilt; which was the best he could express himself at the moment since they all still had their masks on to protect them from the ash, "Wanna help me with the last two boards? I can actually kinda see in here." He joked with a hum before turning to face the window. 

    Removing the board certainly had brightened up the room some, so Serena pressed her finger gently to the center of the yellow crystal, and the crystal deactivated; ceasing its glow and falling still into her hand. She had been watching the two this entire time, and as she looked back at them and watched as they took off their bags and set them down before beginning to work on the window she felt a small smile make its way to her face, 'It's always nice seeing them interact. The care and trust between them is unlike anything I've seen; even my relationships with them are nothing close to that. I suppose that could be the feelings they share for each other, even if Rowan is oblivious to any of this.'.

        Serena smiled softly and shook her head as she watched Ares break the board they were working on in half, and his eyes went slightly wide before he awkwardly set the broken piece of board that was in his hand, onto the ground. Serena found herself lost in thought watching the two of them again, as Rowan laughed wholeheartedly at Ares, 'Idiots, both of them. I'd do a lot for the two of them though, my life is in their hands...and theirs in mine. As terrifying as that sounds...it's nice to have two people to rely on to save my skin if a Wings member corners me again. Oh SHI-' her thoughts were cut off quickly as she noticed Rowan yank a board and fall backward, crashing into a couple of slated wood crates that were nearby. She quickly made her way over, But Ares was at his side quicker and began staring down at Rowan in utter disappointment,

    "Careful, hm?" He said softly in a somewhat mocking tone. 

    A laugh left the pile of broken crates and legs that stuck out of the mess of wood before Rowan sat up and ruffled his hair a bit to get some of the ash out of it, then shook off his body to get off some of the ash that had covered him from the crates

    "I'm okay." He said softly.

        Serena sighed softly as she made her way to stand beside Ares, looking down at Rowan with a shake of her head, then crossed her arms loosely,

    "You're lucky that-, well, you're lucky. Most people would have gotten injured from that, but somehow you have dumb luck with dumb decisions." She was also slightly mocking Rowan, but at this point, he was used to it, and frankly even welcomed it. 

    Ares offered Rowan a hand, which Rowan accepted and gave an eye-roll at the two of them, 

    "Ha-ha, okay, I get it, not the greatest idea...but-! It got the board down didn't it?" He asked as he looked at them, and even though the lower part of his face was covered they knew he was grinning. This caused a sigh to leave Ares as Serena scoffed, 

    "That doesn't mean you should do it, Rowan." She said in an exhausted tone as she raised two fingers to rub her temple while her arms remained half-crossed. She dropped her hand back to rest against her arm and looked to Rowan as he stood with Ares's help, "Let's get back to work, we are on a mission more or less. Especially if we want somewhere to sleep tonight." She reminded them with a hum as she turned and began to explore the room and make mental notes of all the things they had to do. Rowan rolled his eyes a bit at Serena as she walked away, but he was smiling slightly under his mask. He knew she was just trying to keep everything going, and wanted him to not injure himself, or get injured in general. 

Year x438, August 2nd,

    Building began five days ago, and since then the trio has spent all day of every day, and in some cases, one or two has worked through the night to get a project done. Now it was two days later and it was done, for the most part anyway; the important things were done. This included sweeping and cleaning each room, installing crystals into the rooms to give them both light and pure air, fixing every window and entrance way, while also securing everything, then moving in furniture found from other buildings; which also had to be cleaned. They had just the basics, Three beds of various sizes and one without a frame that just had two mattresses as the bed, two couches, a fridge, and a wood-burning stove; which was on the third floor and vented out a window on the back of the building. Other than that, the building had a bathroom, but that was pretty bare as well since running water doesn't exist in Colkirk and there are only covered wells, many of which ceased functioning years ago, although many more remained, they often needed to be boiled.

    It was now morning as was asleep in the center of the three beds; which had a makeshift wood frame made with materials from the building and black sheets with a dark grey blanket on top. To the right of him was Ares's bed, which had the same sheets and blanket on top but the frame was an actual bed frame, although made of metal. To the left was Serena's bed, which had two mattresses stacked on top of each other and the same black sheets as the other two beds, but her bed held a navy blue and black striped blanket. 

    Although both other beds were empty at the moment as Rowan slept alone in the room, the thin metal door closed to the room. As he began to stir, he heard the noise of wood crackling, as well as the sound of Serena quietly speaking, and began to smell eggs cooking the more he woke up. He sat up a bit in bed and rubbed his eyes as he yawned softly, then ran a hand through his hair. He spent a moment collecting himself and waking up before heading out of the room, shuffling in his socks a bit on the tile floor as he yawned once more. 

    The room he entered was rather large and the room was lit up with the thick glass block windows allowing a small amount of sun rays that got through the ash to come in. The walls were white again, in most places anyway; some places had black marks on them, likely from scrapes against the wall. The room held several more doors that led to more rooms, although all were empty. There was a fire-burning wood stove in the left corner of the room, where Ares stood as he made breakfast and Serena was nearby, pausing whatever their conversation had been about to greet Rowan as he opened the door. 

    Serena gave him a small smile as she loosely crossed her arms,

    "Look whose finally up." She spoke in a teasing voice, causing a scoff to leave Rowan immediately before he chuckled softly, speaking in a deeper, tired voice,

    "Yeah, yeah, hush now. I had trouble sleeping so I figured I'd give myself a bit longer. The base will still be there tomorrow." He shrugged tiredly. Ares was watching them-, or, Rowan that is. His gaze was fixed on him, actually, the eggs were forgotten for a moment until he heard the popping of the grease and quickly turned his attention back to the eggs with a hint of a blush dusting his pale cheeks. 

    Serena though, had a less enthusiastic reaction to Rowan,         

    "Yeah, but the Queen might not be." She retorted instantly, causing Rowan to pause and stare at her for a long moment,

    "Okay, good point. But I also can't fight off a base of asshole if I'm a tired bitch." He said simply, then made his way to the couch. He was shuffling a bit still, but less than before, and Serena attempted to sputter out an argument at Rowan, but she couldn't find any solid grounds to argue that. He was right, he needed to sleep for what they had planned today, so she'd have to move on. 

        A sigh left her before she turned to face Rowan entirely, 

    "Alright, Rowan, fine, but next time, let's get up on our agreed-upon time." She raised her gaze to meet his and gave him a serious look and a small frown. He nodded a bit and yawned,

    "Okay, Serena. Next time I get up." He agreed before yawning once more and wiping his eyes, which had begun to water from the excessive yawning. He turned away to look at the wall that the couch faced, which held the map they had gotten from Xillie and Fennala. Three different colored pins were scattered across this map, Red: Locations they've been attacked, Blue: Known Wings bases, and Green: Cities and towns. The green pins took up 85% of the colored pins on the map since that's all they knew at the moment; and that wasn't even every village and town that existed, since many locations were lost to time as the cities around them became larger, but the people stayed. 

    Rowan's eyes were fixated on a blue peg right to the north edge of Colkrik; their target, 'I wonder how many guards there will be? Will Ares be able to get inside and get information? I don't like the idea of sending him on his own, as strong as he is I don't know what numbers they have and if he gets surrounded-, I don't even want to think like that. But could the three of us really overtake one of their bases to get information? Would stealth be the better option? I'm not sure Serena can pull it off, but I won't leave her outside to fend for herself either. Ugh! This is so complicated-!'

    "Rowan." Spoke a deep, firm voice from beside Rowan as a firm hand rested on his shoulder. He jumped as he snapped back to reality and turned to quickly look to his right, only to relax seeing it was a concerned-looking Ares; and Serena was standing behind Ares at the other end of the couch, watching Rowan with concern as well. 

    There was a pause as Rowan tried to figure out what he had even been so lost in thought about, then looked back to them and gave a sheepish grin,

    "Sorry, got lost in thought again." He said with a small, almost nervous-sounding laugh. Ares's facial expression relaxed a bit as Rowan began to respond, but his eyes continued to show worry within them as Rowan finished; he hummed in response before handing Rowan a plate of Eggs, bacon, and some sliced fruit. A quick and quiet rumble left Rowan's stomach at the sight of the food and he gave Ares a gentle smile before taking the plate from him and setting it in his lap. 

   Meanwhile, Ares grabbed his own plate that Serena was holding for him before Serena sat down beside Ares with her plate. Serena had the same as Rowan but with more eggs, while Ares had no eggs and simply had a small handful of bacon and a large amount of sliced fruit. Serena glanced at Ares's plate before looking away,        

    "Remind me again, why no eggs, Ares?" She asked with a slight eyebrow raise as she looked at him. Ares paused as he went to bite some fruit and quietly set it down and shifted before muttering,

    "Eggs alone have a texture that's...unpleasant. I need bread with them, or else I can't eat them." He said softly before beginning to eat a piece of fruit. Serena nodded slightly from beside him before looking back to her plate,

    "Fair enough." She replied quietly before beginning to enjoy her eggs.

        The rest of breakfast was rather quiet besides idle chitchat between the trio, and once they were done they cleaned up from breakfast, then got dressed for the day and headed out for their trip. Ares wore a pair of black dress pants and a dark grey button-up that had the first button undone. He had his sleeves rolled to his elbows and the shirt was tucked into his pants, showing a black leather belt with a silver buckle. He also had on a black cloth mask that hung down from his nose to his chest, entirely covering that portion of him as it hooked around his ears. To complete the outfit, he wore the boots Rowan helped him pick out a few weeks ago.

        Serena had a similar formal aesthetic, wearing a short-sleeve, black, ruffled collar shirt that had a leather under-bust corset vest on top of that, along with a pair of formal black pants, although hers were more form-fitting and stretchier than Ares's pants. She had her ankle-length hair braided into three large braids that were then braided together and wore a pair of leather boots that had details embroidered on them, and the boots reached mid-calf on her. To complete her outfit, she wore a black belt that held a holster for her rapier on her left side, and had three small satchels on the other side; don't forget the mask she had on that matched Ares identically.

    Rowan though, dressed entirely different from them both in terms of style; he wore a dark grey form-fitting t-shirt and black cargo pants that had a chain going across the side as one side was attached to his pants, and the other attached to his wallet. He had on a pair of steel-toe boots and the outfit was complete with his matching mask. 

    The trio made their way out of the third-floor room and down one flight of stairs; taking them into a room that had several weapons lying on a table, all magical types, and the room had a few doors leading to other rooms. They continued down the next flight of stairs and onto the main floor, which had reinforced windows with a half-inch thick sheet of metal behind them. It made the room darker than the rest, but a few light crystals were hanging from small metal cages, giving the room plenty of light to be able to see still. This room was narrow and had a wall close to the stairs, with a heavy metal door behind the stairs that led into the room beyond the wall. At the center of the wall on the right of the stairs was the heavy metal door that led outside, which had a long fabric log filled with sand was placed against the door to keep the ash out. There was also a rug in front of the door, a dark grey one that was a three-foot wide rectangle and made of cloth. 

    Once they had reached the bottom of the stairs and made their way to the door, Rowan stopped and turned to the two of them,        

    "You guys ready for this? We should go over the plan again on the way." He said quietly as he adjusted his mask before glancing between the two of them. Ares simply nodded in agreement, while Serena gave a hum and a nod,

    "Yeah, good idea." She said as she made her way to the door. Rowan beat her to the door though and quickly picked up the sand log before setting it to the side by the wall, then stood and gave a grin from under his mask; which showed in his eyes. Serena shook her head at him a bit, but there was evidence of a smile in her eyes as she began to turn the wheel handle to the door. 

    The once creaky and rusted shut door now opened with ease and with a quiet 'clunk' as the lock shifted out of place and the door popped open. The trio exited before Ares closed the door behind them, and then they began on their way to their mission. As they walked, Serena held a smaller version of the map inside the house, which was also drawn on in a color-coordinated way, while Rowan and Ares kept watch for anything out of the ordinary. 

    Once Serena had them on a set path, she began to discuss the plan,

    "First, when we get there we stay back and stay hidden. We watch first, see how big it is, how many guards we see, and how many people go in and out. Then, we decide from there which plan we go with. Plan A; Ares sneaks in solo and steals what information he can, Plan B; we all sneak inside, and it is the same idea, Plan C; Two people cause a distraction and fight off Wings members as long as they can, while the third goes inside and gets what information they can. For plan A, We would give Ares however long he says, and if he is not out by that time, we go in and get him. For plan B; we stick together the entire time, and if a fight breaks out we head for the closest exit. For plan C, the maximum amount of time that the third person will be inside is ten minutes. After that, one and two head inside and get three. The point in all of these is, we need to keep a close eye on each other. We don't know what weaponry or magic to expect, or how heavily guarded it could be, and if we're not careful one of us will die or end up captured." She looked to Rowan, then Ares with a serious look showing on the part of her face you could see.

    Rowan nodded softly and slipped his hands into his front pants pockets as they walked, his eyes focused on scanning the area before he looked to Serena,

    "Got it." He hummed softly before focusing on looking around again. Ares gave a small hum of agreement and then a small nod, his gaze focused on the concrete path in front of them; which had cracks in some areas, and some areas were raised several inches off the ground. After a moment of quiet between the trio, Rowan spoke again, "How long is this walk gonna be?" He asked with a head tilt as he looked back to Serena,

    "...An hour. Maybe a bit more." She responded quietly, causing a groan to leave Rowan,

    "Ugh! I know we've gone on longer trips than that but I'm sick of walking! We need to buy an Oovlexcraft." He complained as he ran a hand through his hair. 

    Ares was smiling slightly under his mask at Rowan's complaining, while Serena on the other hand sighed heavily,

    "I know, Rowan, but those are expensive and I'd much rather eat than have a way to get places faster." She said simply before focusing her attention back on the map in her hands. 

    The rest of the trip to the edge of Colkirk was chitchat about general things, and occasionally about their plan again, but silence fell over the group as the smokey fog and ash around them became dense to the point that seeing was nearly impossible. Rowan scanned the area for any shapes of bodies that weren't the two beside him, but couldn't see either of them, actually,

    "Rena, Ares, follow my voice. Don't leave my side. This is where we're most likely to be attacked." He called to his friends, and within moments Ares was to his left, his shoulder brushing Rowan's. This caused Rowan to jump and quickly turn to look, only for a relieved look to come across his features before he looked back to the fog to try and spot Serena,

    "Call out again, Rowan. I'm a bit turned around." She called from to the front right of Rowan, seemingly just out of sight. 

    "Stay there, I've got Ares with me, we'll come to you." Rowan told her before looking to Ares and nodding slightly, receiving a nod back as the two made their way to where they had heard Serena's voice, 'Ugh! This would be so much easier if the fog and ash weren't dense on this side of Colkrik. My eyes already suck, this is not helping! Maybe Ares will spot her first.' Rowan could feel anxiety slowly creeping in and beginning to take over every part of his body-

    "There." Ares spoke Suddenly from beside Rowan, snapping him back to reality. He looked ahead to see where Ares was pointing and spotted a vague shape among the trees that were beginning to appear around them as they got further through the fog. 

    "Rena?" Called Rowan, and the figure moved before becoming more defined as it moved toward them. His anxiety spiked once more when there was no answer and he readied his right hand to summon a weapon, 'Fuck, if that's not Rena-' he began to feel overwhelmed by thoughts, only to breathe a sigh of relief as the figure became close enough to see features, confirming it was Serena,

    "This is a lot worse than where we came in at, we could at least see the ground last time." She sighed as her left hand shifted on the hilt of her rapier.

    Rowan nodded softly in agreement with Serena,

    "Yeah, this part is way heavier Ash fall from the wind direction and the smoke is thick over here. Do NOT take your mask down under any circumstances. We need to get out of here quickly, this much smoke will take us down fast. Let's get moving, but we need to stay in sight of each other at all times." He spoke firmly and glanced to his left at Ares, and then his right to Serena, who both nodded as he looked to them before the trio turned their sights ahead. 

    With haste, the trio headed through the thick feeling air that was so gray you couldn't see more than a foot in either direction. As the smoke began to thin and the ash became lighter, Rowan and Serena could both feel their lungs beginning to burn and they would cough on occasion. They kept a steady yet quick pace, there were too many dangers to running blindly through the smoke and ash, including it being a terrible idea for your lungs. 

    Rowan let out a small cough and shook his head a bit before focusing on the path ahead of him, quickly glancing to his left and right to ensure his companions were still at his side, "Almost there. It looks like it's forest after this" He cleared his throat once he finished speaking and blinked a few times; their eyes all burned at this point, but they opted to stay silent throughout their trip to ensure they didn't inhale more smoke than necessary. Both of his team members let out a hum and nod beside him and continued to walk at his side as they made their way through the rest of the smoke and ash-filled area. 

    Finally, as the air felt breathable and the burning sensation in their eyes began to lessen, they all let out a small sigh of relief and began to look at the forest around them, noticing it was a dense forest with lots of foliage and large trees everywhere you looked. They continued for a bit longer before beginning to lower their masks and allowing them to hang around their necks, then began to look at their surroundings more closely now that there were no visual obstructions. 

    As Ares began to turn to the left to walk off, Rowan latched onto his forearm with his hand, "We can't separate, there could be Wings members hiding out here. It's even more important now to stick together." He said firmly, while Ares stared at him for a moment before nodding softly; Little did Rowan know, Ares's heart was pounding from their interaction and he was doing everything it took not to show it. Rowan released Ares' arm before giving him a little smile, "Sorry if I startled you." He hummed softly before looking back ahead of them. He then glanced at Serena to see her reading the map again; meanwhile, Ares was staring straight ahead into the forest as he felt his heart pound, hoping that with sheer willpower he could steady it. 

    Suddenly, Serena spoke in a quiet yet firm tone,

    "It's coming up soon, time to get quiet and start being more careful." She looked at the two males before folding her map back up and putting it in one of the satchels on her belt before closing the satchel. But as a new voice rang out in the forest, they all felt their hearts stop,

    "Hey! I think I heard something into the south!" Shouted a man from some distance ahead of them; although they couldn't see him, so they assumed he hadn't seen them yet. They all dodged behind the large trees nearby and got quiet as they waited for any more noise. 

        Soon, the trio began to hear the rustling of bushes and the crunching of twigs being snapped underfoot, and as it got closer the three got ready for a fight. Rowan shifted his back against the tree and stood up straight as he materialized a palm-sized, black curved dagger that held an aqua gem on the end of the handle in his right hand, along with a dagger that was just big enough to fit in the palm of his hand, and the blade was about two and a half inches long with a leather-wrapped handle and a gray gem in the bottom of the handle. He then shifted in his spot just slightly to get a firm stance on the ground, 'Time for the plasma mini blade and the paralysis mini blade combo. If it doesn't kill 'em, they'll sure wish it did.'

    The tree to the left of him had Ares, who had his back against the tree as well and his hands slightly raised, ready to catch any blows coming his way, his gaze ahead as he listened closely to the incoming footsteps. The tree to the right of Rowan held Serena, who had her back pressed against the tree and she had removed her rapier from its holster and held it closely to her side and slightly pointed up, ready for any attacks or to do her own attacking. 

    The trio were silent as they heard multiple sets of boots stomping through the forest around them, heading straight in their direction. Ares sat up slightly after a moment and waved the slightest bit, catching both Rowan and Serena's attention before he pointed in the direction of the guys, then lifted his hand and showed his entire palm and all five fingers, then leaned back against the tree and readied himself again. 

Serena and Rowan shared a brief look of understanding before nodding at each other and beginning to listen closely to their surroundings.  Before any of them could move from their positions, a man walked past the tree Serena was behind before he quickly turned towards her and swung a bo staff in her direction. The man himself wore a bull mask with black form-fitting, long-sleeve clothes on his body, along with a belt with pouches around his hips and a pair of heavy-duty boots on his feet. Short dusty blond hair could be seen from the lack of covering on the back of his head, besides the black band around his head that held the mask in place. 

The man shouted something Rowan didn't catch as Serena ducked under the staff and rolled to the right before steadying herself and slashing at the man with her sword. Meanwhile, a second man came from between the trees Rowan and Serena were at and attempted to sneak up on Serena, 'Oh no you don't, buddy.' He thought to himself as he shifted the daggers in his hands before slashing at the man with the leather-bound dagger. The man instantly dropped to the ground as he became entirely stiff and unable to move, while the slash on his back began to bleed into the grass; nonfatal, but painful. The man on the ground had a fox mask strapped to his face and had a similar dark attire to the last male, including the belt; this one though, had dark brown hair that was just slightly longer than the man in the bull mask. 

Rowan turned his attention to Ares as he heard a deep voice grunt and watched as Ares dodged to the side before grabbing a woman's arm and flinging her to the right as she lunged at him, disarming her as he now held her sword in his hand, examining it for a moment before launching it into the forest as far as he could. The woman wore a sheep's mask and had purple hair tied up in a bun above the strap to keep the mask on as well as a very similar outfit to the men. She lay on the ground for a few seconds in an attempt to catch her breath, but Rowan was quickly distracted as a man came around the right side of his tree and attempted to hit him with a somewhat large axe. 

As Rowan launched himself backward and slid slightly, he readied his daggers again and watched as the man in a zebra mask attempted to free his axe from the trunk of the tree; having hit that instead of Rowan. The man was dressed the same as the others, but this man was easily a foot taller than the other two men and twice as wide as the others. He was growling and muttering to himself as he attempted to free the axe, so Rowan shifted the black dagger in his hand as the aqua gem began to glow before the blade of the the dagger lit up and began to glow a similar color to the gem it held. Heat could be felt coming from the blade as Rowan held it, but it wasn't quite burning him, but it was definitely hot. 

With one solid slash downwards, the plasma blade cut through the thick wood handle of the axe, cutting it in half and causing the man pulling it to knock himself to the floor before Rowan readied himself again. 

Glancing around, Rowan could see Serena battling with the man with the bo staff still, who looked a little worse for wear as he had a few bleeding cuts along his body, revealed by the slashes in his clothing. Meanwhile, Ares was fighting another man similar to the size of the one with the axe, and this man had a lion mask and a bald head; but his shirt had no sleeves, showing his large muscles. Ares was currently dodging the other man's attacks, which were being made with a chain that was weighted on both ends of it; and the man was quick with it, but Ares was quicker and just kept dodging. The woman was on the ground, panting heavily, and had some dirt on her clothes, while her mask was crooked. 

Rowan was brought back to reality as he heard a man screaming in what seemed to be rage before he spotted a fist coming his way and quickly dropped to his knees before slashing at the man with his paralyzing blade; only to just miss when the man jumped back, 

"You think you can get through us? Me and Lion are gonna kill you all!" He laughed before rushing at Rowan again. Rowan quickly dodged as the man swung again, and Rowan shifted his weight to swing his leg at the man's legs, before catching them and then twisted his own body and crashed his shoulder into the ground as he used the momentum and his leg to topple the man in the fox mask. A loud grunt left the man, and Rowan was quickly hovering over him, standing at his head and looking down at him, 

"You are about that?" He asked in a low and slightly dark voice before slashing across the entirety of the man's chest with his paralyzing blade; making the man go entirely stiff as his eyes rapidly moved around under the shadow of the mask.

Rowan stood and readied his weapons once more as his eyes began to scan their surroundings before focusing on his team members; Serena had the man in the bull mask on the ground with her sword pointed at his throat as he heavily panted and bled from various sword wounds scattered across his body; none fatal as well but deep enough to hurt. He made his way over to Serena and paused before looking at her, 

"Tie him up, yeah?" he asked with a small head tilt. Serena nodded softly as she breathed a bit heavily, keeping her sword steady as the point threatened to enter the man's skin. Rowan nodded softly and dematerialized his plasma dagger before using the one with paralysis abilities and carefully using it to cut off the man's sleeve, before binding his hands together as the man began to threaten him,

"Do you know who you're messing with? You'll be dead by sunrise when they find out about this! Wings won't allow a survivor-" He began to ramble out, but he was cut off as Rowan tied his hands tightly and the man grunted before Rowan moved to kneel slightly in front of him and to the left. Rowan grabbed the man's mask and ripped it off as Rowan now stared into the face of a man with purple eyes and a scar over his eyebrow and lower lip and glared at Rowan, but Rowan didn't waiver and instead grabbed the man by his face, covering his mouth with his hand,

"No survivors huh? What do you call me then? I've gone to your bases... I've gotten information... I've killed some of you before too...I'm even on Lady Skel's most-wanted list... So, do you know who I am?" Rowan spoke in a low, cold voice as he gripped the man's face; watching as fear began to flood into his expression.  

Rowan released the man's face before standing and staring down at him as the previously masked man stared at Rowan in shock and fear, "Now, you can stay here and behave while we go to your base. I know it's nearby." He tilted his head slightly as his light green eyes pierced the man's soul with a hatred-filled gaze and a deep frown on his face. The once-masked man tried to recover from his initial reaction and cleared his throat before speaking,

"You're fools then! That base is heavily guarded both inside and outside! You'll never make it to the core alive!" He laughed a bit, only to be cut off by the tip of Serena's blade as it knicked his throat and a little drop of blood began to make its way down his neck. The man was silent instantly as he looked at Serena now; fear creeping in once more as he looked up at the woman who could end his life with one stroke,

"Watch us." Was all she said as she lowered her rapier and brought it to her side. The man sighed in relief before turning around as much as he could to check on his fellow Wings members; noticing all but one was down. 

Meanwhile, Ares continued to dodge the lion masked man's attacks, while the masked man took chunks out of the ground and the surrounding trees with his weighted chain in an attempt to get Ares. As the man became more exhausted as time went on, he became sloppier in his stances and moves, until Ares took his chance and stepped towards the man before grabbing his arm and beginning to lift him before grabbing his leg and bringing him over Ares' head; then Ares continued the motion before slamming the man into the ground, knocking him unconscious. When he looked up, he noticed four pairs of eyes on him; the masked woman, the bound man, and his two teammates; this caused him to blink a few times in confusion before tilting his head to the side. 

A small chuckle left Rowan as he made his way over, dematerializing his last dagger as Serena followed behind him until the three were grouped up again, 

"We need to get moving, once the base realizes they've all left their posts and haven't returned, they're going to send people out to find them, and then the base will be on alert." Rowan said with a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair, then looked between the members of his group as they both nodded. 

The group left the injured members of Wings there and continued their way deeper into the forest, although none of them spoke unless necessary and it was whispering if they did while dodging behind trees the whole way. Finally, they noticed a small clearing with a concrete building in the center and the trio dodged behind some trees and began to visually examine their surroundings. Rowan had his side against the tree as he peeked slightly around the trunk, while Serena had her front side against the tree as she held onto it and peeked around the trunk as well. Ares, on the other hand, had his back against the tree and his eyes turned towards the leaves above; although it looked as if he was doing nothing, he was listening to their surroundings. He had better hearing than both Rowan and Serena due to his dragon shifter genes increasing his hearing drastically compared to the average human, so he often listened out for threats while the other two got a visual on them.

Ares shifted slightly as he began to count how many sets of footsteps and voices he heard, while also making note of anything important they said regarding the base. Meanwhile, Rowan and Serena found themselves watching the activity outside the base, which was four large men with bulky weapons; weapons that seemed to have magic, based on the gemstones embedded in them. These men were dressed similarly to the last members, and they all had animal masks as well; a goat, a deer, a cheetah, and a duck. Rowan shifted as he focused on the weapons to figure out which ones they were, 'Plaxema gen 4, a two-handed axe that created a plasma blade when activated that will cut through flesh like butter, and even though these trees with very little trouble, so I need to make sure he doesn't get too close to me or Rena; Ares is quick enough to get away at least.' His gaze shifted to the next man beside him, 'Flaming great sword gen 2. Normally, a two-handed great sword with a very sharp edge, but if that stone activates we're gonna have a blade that's surrounded by fire swinging at us. Distance is good for him too, or attacks from behind him. After all, his size should make it harder for him to turn fast enough to catch me...That's the hope anyway.' He sighed softly and shifted to peek around the other side of the tree. 

Rowan began to scan his eyes over the remaining two men's weapons before his eyes spotted the purple gem in the bottom of what seemed to be a very large metal mallet, 'Electro mallet gen 6. Not only is it a heavy weapon that can crush skulls, but the mallet head itself can have electric properties that will burn and electrocute their enemies if they're grazed by it. He's another behind-the-back one.' He shifted his eyes to the final man's weapon, 'An axe with a light blue gem? Cold Axe Gen 3, is an axe that does frost damage while slicing and can cause the flesh in that area to die if the frost remains too long, or if the wound is too deep. Fuck, this is gonna be hard. And that's if no one comes out of the base! How am I gonna be able to relay all this to them before we get found out? Fuck, okay, find some cover.' He shifted against the tree and ducked behind it before looking for some sort of cover for the three of them to converse. 

As Rowan's eyes landed on a large, four-foot-tall bush with blueberries on it, he pressed his back against the tree and looked to Serena and waved slightly until she looked at him, then he pointed to the bushes then himself and Ares before pointing at the bushes again. After a small pause from Serena, she nodded slightly and looked back to where the men stood before quickly dodging behind the bush and kneeling on the ground there. 

A sigh of relief left Rowan at her understanding before he turned to Ares, who was watching him before glancing at Serena with a tilted head as his brows knit together just slightly in his confusion. Rowan couldn't help it as a small smile came to his face at Ares head tilt before he focused on the task at hand and pointed at Ares, then the bush, and then himself before pointing at the bush once again. Ares seemed to process it for a moment, about 30 seconds before he nodded softly before teleporting behind the bush and crouching down beside Serena. 

Now it was Rowan's turn and he felt his heart jump into his throat as he peeked around the tree trunk once more and watched the men for a few seconds before putting his back against the trunk. He leaned forward after a moment, but put his back left foot on the tree before pushing off of it and leaping into the air and forward at the same time; which caused him to seem to fly over to them before nearly crashing into them as he forced himself into a kneeling position and hit the ground in front of Serena. Now behind the bush, Rowan settled himself for a few seconds before shifting more behind the bush as Ares and Serena scooted back to give him more room, 

"Alright, I did this because they all have magical weapons, and I can tell you exactly what they all do. Remember though, these men seem to be over 6 feet tall and have two-and-half-foot wide shoulders, they're gonna be slow to turn around to counterattack, and all their weapons are heavy weapons so even though they'll hurt or kill you from a blow, it gives the space for an attack when they're coming back from a swing." He spoke in a hushed voice as he looked between the two of them with an unusually serious look on his face. 

Serena and Ares shared a look before looking to Rowan and nodding, urging him to go on, so he did, "The axe with the bright purple gem is a plasma axe, do not let it touch your skin. It will go right through and burn it the entire time, and you could easily lose a limb in one swing. The next is that great sword with the red gem, which activates fire to surround the blade and set anything it comes in contact with on fire while causing burns to the skin. That mallet? That one is one of the more dangerous ones here. It's solid metal and will break bones and crush skulls if it has direct contact, and along with that it can electrocute you and burn you at the same time at just a graze of contact. The issue with this is the longer it touches you, the worse it is and it can cause convulsions and unconsciousness... and in some cases, death." He sighed softly and ran a hand through his hair as he felt the anxiety beginning to grip onto him again, "Last is the Axe with the blue gem, it has frost abilities and if it slices you it has a chance to kill the surrounding flesh by freezing it, and the deeper it is, the greater the damage; such as amputation and death." He had dropped his gaze to the ground in front of him as he explained.

After a few seconds of silence, Rowan raised his gaze to look at the two of his team members, "We need to be careful and dispatch them quickly. The longer we fight them, the more likely it is for someone to notice and send out even more guys we gotta deal with at the same time; which is likely to end up with at least one of us being seriously injured in the end. So essentially, don't let their weapons touch you no matter what you do, and aim for above the shoulders. The quicker they're not a problem, the quicker we get inside." He spoke firmly and kept a serious look on his face. Ares was the first to answer by nodding firmly, then it was Serena's turn as she watched Rowan carefully for a moment, 

"You know, I'm glad you're on our side. I don't think I want you as an enemy." She said quietly as she stared blankly at Rowan, who gave a sheepish grin in response as he rubbed his arm a bit, 

"I'm not that scary, am I?" He asked with that sheepish smile, feeling his heart do some strange things, 'Do I scare her? Do I scare Ares? Are they worried about me turning on them?' He was brought back from his thoughts though as Serena spoke, 

"I won't lie, you can be. You fight efficiently, move quickly, and have no fear while fighting. Along with that, you can always find an escape route if you can't win, and you can identify every magical weapon we come across within moments of looking at it. I'd say that makes you fearsome to enemies. That's likely why Lady Skel wants you dead so much, she probably fears you'll stop her, or delay her plans." She explained as she watched Rowan's expression. 

Rowan turned his gaze to the ground again and shifted, 

"Yeah, it'll happen when you gotta learn to keep yourself alive...and having your father be the head of the main magical weapons-making cooperation has its benefits I suppose." He muttered, causing Serena's eyes to widen as shock filled her expression and her mouth hung open slightly. Ares's eyes widened slightly at this, but he watched Rowan's expression carefully, noticing how uncomfortable this subject seemed to make him. 

Serena stared for a few moments until Rowan looked up at her and she snapped out of it, 

"Hold on, you're telling me your father is the head of the Bricet weapons industry?? But I thought he only had one son and his name was Samuel? And Samuel is meant to take over the company once William retires?" She asked rapidly as she seemed more and more confused. 

A heavy sigh left Rowan and he shook his head, "Not right now, I'll explain after our mission and we get back to the base. I don't need to be thinking about that bastard before a big fight like this." He huffed softly and turned his head slightly to peek from behind the bushes, noticing the four men were in the same positions as before. 

Although Serena wanted to protest, she didn't and focused on the task at hand, 

"Okay, then let's talk about who is fighting who. There are four, so someone is going to be fighting two. Ares would be better off fighting the cheeta, who has the plasma axe, or the deer, who has the electrified mallet. Rowan, you'd probably do best with the duck, who has the frost axe, and I'll take on the goat with the flame sword." She looked between them, "So, who's fighting the one Ares doesn't fight?" She asked while crossing her arms slightly. Ares and Rowan looked at each other for a moment before Ares turned to Serena and spoke, 

"I'll take them both." He spoke softly, but with determination in his voice; which brought a small smile to Rowan's face before he quickly forced it off. Serena watched Ares for a moment to see if she noticed any hesitation or fear, but he showed none, so she nodded softly, "Alright. Do what you do best then; dodge. This time though, you will have to land a few strikes on them if we have any hope of getting this done before anyone notices we're here. I know you always hold back, but we can't afford that here. If we get captured we will be killed, and that's if we aren't killed on sight." She said lowly as she looked to Ares with a serious look, who simply nodded in response.

Rowan sighed softly and peeked over the bushes once more before dropping down onto the ground again and turning his gaze to his companions, "What's the plan to engage them?" He asked with a small eyebrow raise. Serena looked to the ground as she thought of her answer carefully before raising her gaze to Rowan, 

"Let's try to sneak up on them. It'll give us the upper hand. Just stay aware of your surroundings and their movements at all times. We're in enemy territory, nothing here can be taken lightly." She spoke firmly as she glanced between the two men. 

With a nod from both parties and a third nod from Serena, the three silently made their way out of the bushes. 

Rowan took large but slow and quiet steps as he approached the man with the duck mask, wielding the frost axe. He watched the man's movements carefully as he approached, 'If I use the scythe, I can block his attacks easier, but it's slower than the daggers and the daggers have a better chance of landing a hit and taking him down. Daggers it is.' He was analyzing the situation heavily as he tried to figure out the safest and easiest way to take him down. He materialized his two magic blades from the previous fight and adjusted them in his hands to ready himself; only to feel his heart drop into his stomach as he heard a blow land, then the man turned to look and saw Rowan before swinging the axe at his head. 

Rowan quickly ducked and rolled to the right before getting onto his feet and standing up as he watched the large man's movements; all while listening to the chaos of the fighting on both sides of him, and ignoring it for the most part to focus on his own fight. 

"You lost, kid? This isn't a place for you. Leave while you can." The man spoke in a gruff voice as he looked down at Rowan with a pitied expression. This caused Rowan to scoff, 

"I could say the same to you, duck face. I have things to do, and you're in my way. So, walk away while you still can." He said the words in a simple tone as if it was obvious the man should follow his warning. Of course, the man let out a deep laugh and as he went to speak to Rowan again, he realized Rowan was gone and quickly turned on his heel to swing the axe in a full circle around himself.

Meanwhile, Rowan had moved behind the man and quickly slashed his leg with the blade of paralysis and ducked before rolling away as the axe swung at him. As the axe landed in the ground a foot and a half from his leg and dug into the ground before beginning to freeze it; Rowan felt his heart stop and quickly jumped to his feet and took several quick steps back to put a bit of distance between them, 

"Keep running kid! Maybe you'll survive longer!" The man laughed at Rowan as he pulled his axe from the ground and readied it once more. A scoff left Rowan and he glanced at the man's left leg, which had some blood beginning to stain the dark fabric he wore. 

The man took a step towards Rowan, only for his left leg to buckle and drop him onto that knee, causing him to look frustrated and confused, "The hell!? What'd you do to me?!" He shouted before swinging at Rowan again; who was just enough distance away to miss being grazed by the weapon. 

Rowan tilted his head and looked at the man, "Never had your leg paralyzed? As the poisons in the blade make their way into your bloodstream, more and more parts of you will become numb and uncontrollable until you're a heap on the floor; unable to move a finger. It's not fatal, as long as I don't knick any arteries or slash your chest; which can paralyze your heart and cause it to stop beating." He explained in a cold tone as his gaze stayed on the man and his face was completely emotionless. The man tried to force himself to his feet before stumbling and nearly falling until he decided to stay on his knees and growled lowly, 

"You think you've won? Get close again and I'll split you in half!" He shouted as he slashed the axe at Rowan again; narrowly missing once more

"No. I don't think I've won. I know it. Because as we speak, your foot is becoming numb, and so is your hip as it travels up your body. Have you ever been completely immobile and unable to speak? Well, you'll be experiencing it shortly. And any more cuts? That'll just quicken the effects and prolong them. So I don't think I've won, I know I have." Rowan spoke in a low and cold voice as he began to circle the man very slowly. 

The man continued to swing his Axe at Rowan, repeatedly slamming it into the ground before having to pull it back out of the freezing dirt and trying to hit Rowan all over again. Suddenly, Rowan dashed at the man and sliced his back with both daggers, causing the man to call out in pain before huffing heavily and attempting to stand once more as he swung the axe down beside Rowan, who dashed to the side to avoid the blow. Rowan slid a bit as he stopped and adjusted the daggers in his hands before looking to the man once more; who was panting heavily and sweating. 

A small sigh left Rowan as he noticed the man beginning to adjust his grip on the axe multiple times in a row, then looked at him, "Adjusting your grip won't help, it's not your grip that's the problem, it's your hands. The toxin is spreading through your body, and because it's now coming through your back, it's going to act quicker and begin to take away the function of your upper body. You have about five minutes maximum at this point before you're just a heap on the floor." He sounded more tired than cold at this moment.

As the man's breathing turned panicked and the axe dropped from his hands; Rowan felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he felt a presence behind him, 'Oh fuck.'. He quickly made his way to the left and jumped away as an axe swung down from behind Rowan and dug into the ground where he had been standing, and the axe made a quiet sizzling sound as it remained in the ground and began to burn the grass and even the dirt. Raising his gaze, Rowan noticed it was the man in the cheetah mask and quickly scanned his surroundings. Ares was dodging attacks and teleporting around as he landed blows on the deer-masked man, and Serena was in a sword fight with the man in the goat mask. 

Before Rowan could process more, the axe was heading for him again and he quickly threw himself to the side and rolled away before jumping to his feet, 'Fuck!'. The axe was once again searing through the ground as it was then removed and readied again, 

"What happened to all that bravado go, kid? Scared now?" He mocked as he stepped towards Rowan. Rowan then dematerialized his daggers before materializing his scythe and readying himself, 

"Scared? No. Slightly concerned would be more accurate, but that's not regarding you, that's regarding your weapon. Unfortunately for you, I know exactly how that weapon works and have used it myself, and I know it makes you slow and vulnerable between attacks." He tilted his head just slightly as he watched the man with his returned cold gaze. 

"That doesn't mean you can hit me, kid. I'm faster than I look." The man seemed to give a hum of amusement before rushing at Rowan and swinging at him. 

As the Axe came at him, Rowan jumped into the air above the axe and swung his scythe at the man's head, only for the man to throw himself backward to dodge it and swung the axe up at Rowan. With little time to react, Rowan spun around and used his scythe to block the blade of the axe before getting thrown into the ground with so much force that he felt the air get knocked out of him. Rowan gasped for air as he attempted to sit up, although it felt as if the world was spinning around him and his body ached for oxygen. He wobbled slightly as he got to his knees and tried to focus on the man as he began to finally recover from the blow, but the man was already heading in his direction with his axe raised, and Rowan had no idea where his scythe had even gone, 'Where is it? Where is it!? Fuck! '. 

But before the axe could come down on Rowan, Ares was suddenly seen coming in fast and planting his feet in the man's ribs before using the force of his approach to launch the man several feet away. Ares dropped to the ground but landed on with one knee in the dirt and one up as he stood once more. Rowan could feel the world becoming clear again as he wheezed softly before clumsily looking around for his scythe; only for it to be offered to him, and then placed gently into his hands by Ares. Although Ares looked slightly concerned, he was more relieved than anything to see Rowan mostly okay. He offered Rowan his hand to assist him in standing, while Rowan shifted his scythe to his left hand before using his right to grasp Ares's hands; who pulled him to his feet. 

Rowan gave a sheepish grin to Ares and adjusted his scythe into a ready position, 

"Thanks. It's been a while since I've hit the ground that hard." He shook his head a bit and looked at the man in the cheetah mask as he pulled himself up and off the ground and lifted his axe. Although his face couldn't be seen behind the mask, huffing and angry grumbling could be heard coming from him. With a glance back to where Ares had been fighting earlier, he noticed the man in the deer mask was no longer wearing his mask; which was in pieces on the ground nearby. The man had dark hair, and a square with large eyebrows along with narrow eyes; his face was already bruising and he had a busted lip, along with being in a heap on the ground with a clearly broken arm that was twisted in the wrong direction, and he was unconscious. On the other hand, the man in the duck mask was on the ground in a bit of a fetal position, but not quite, although it was unclear from under the mask if he was unconscious or paralyzed. 

As Rowan focused back on the man in the cheetah mask, the man began to make his way over with heavy steps and his axe ready to swing. Ares shifted his footing slightly as he readied himself and he watched the man's movements closely before glancing to Rowan. The two shared a look for a moment then nodded before they both rushed at the man at the same time. Ares was there quicker, but as the man swung at him Ares teleported behind the man, causing him to stumble back in surprise as he attempted to find Ares, only to be caught off guard again as Rowan swung his scythe at the man's abdomen, causing him to dodge backward. Ares took the opportunity to kick the back of his knees and jumped back as the man buckled and fell to his knees. A low growl left him before he swung at Rowan again, who took rapid steps back as he narrowly avoided the blade of the axe, then he turned in an attempt to strike Ares; only to be punched in the face with such force he was sent to the ground and his nose was very clearly broken now as it began to pour blood down his face and drip down and off his chin. 

Ares shook his hand off a bit and looked at it briefly to ensure there was no blood on it, then looked back to the man; only to be surprised as the man recovered quicker than expected and swung his axe at Ares' legs; only for the edge of the axe under the blade to connect with the pole part of Rowan's scythe, then Rowan lifted and flung the axe out of the man's hands. The axe flew a few feet away and the blade sunk into the ground with a small sizzling noise as it burned everything around it. Without hesitation Rowan then used the back end of his scythe and slammed it into the side of the man's head, knocking him unconscious. 

A sigh of relief left Rowan as he then looked to Ares with a small lopsided smile, "Well, that was more intense than expected." He attempted to make a little joke, but Ares simply sighed at him and turned his attention to Serena.

Meanwhile, Serena was engaged in a rapier vs sword battle and as she moved around the area while blocking and attacking, she was graceful and looked almost as if she was dancing around the larger man. She would block a few of his attacks as she moved in circles around him, all while being able to slash randomly at the man's body in between attacks. The man in the goat mask had tattered clothing along his torso as small amounts of blood leaked from his wounds, but there were larger slashes on his back that bled more heavily and were changing the color of his shirt a bit. He was getting slower and more tired as it went on, but he didn't give up and continued to swing heavily at her. As Serena glanced back and noticed Rowan and Ares had taken care of their guys, she found herself filling with a bit more determination to finish this fight quickly and on her own. 

Serena moved between the man and a tree before jumping and placing her feet on the man's leg and launching herself higher into the air, then used the trunk of the tree behind her to boost her higher and over the man's head. While above him, she flipped her wrist around and used the back of the handle to her rapier to bash it into the man's head. When she landed she was on her knees before she quickly got to her feet and readied her weapon once more; only for the man to crumple and hit the ground like a bag of rocks. 

Before Serena could even sheath her weapon, Rowan approached and gave her a small grin, "Neat trick." He hummed softly as he dematerialized his scythe and loosely folded his arms. Ares followed behind Rowan and scanned their surroundings as he did so, while Serena put her rapier into its blue and gold sheath before looking back to the two of them,

"Now that they're taken care of, we have a base to find." She said firmly before looking in the direction they needed to go. Rowan sighed softly, 

"If these guys are any kind of hint about the base, it's gonna be heavily guarded with strong people. Nothing like the weak guys that follow us. Probably more magic weapons, magic users, and... well, Lady Skell tends to have people genetically modified and enhanced... which means they're stronger, faster, and more resilient. I'm betting we'll find some of those here too." He ran a hand through his hair before slipping his hands into his front pants pockets, "We need to be seriously careful. I think this base is more important than we originally thought." He looked to the two of his companions with a serious look, "We need to stay close to each other and never leave each other's sight. No one can get cornered, because cornered can be the last thing that happens to you." He spoke firmly as he looked between them, causing them to both nod in return. 

Serena shifted her stance to rest her hand on the hilt of her rapier,

"I agree, given the guards they have out at this distance, it seems they want to make sure no one gets close." She paused as she looked to the ground in thought, then raised her gaze to Ares, "So Ares, that teleport ability of yours, can you teleport others with you?" She asked with a slight eyebrow raise as she watched him. Ares looked confused by her question but nodded firmly once to confirm, then Serena spoke again, "If things get dicey and it looks like we're not getting out, whatever it takes, grab us both and get all of us out of there. It doesn't have to be far, so long as we get some distance between us and them. What do you think?" She asked as she loosely folded her arms. Ares seemed to think about it for a moment as his gaze went to the grass and his brows knit together just slightly before he raised his gaze to Serena and nodded softly. 

Serena couldn't help but sigh softly in relief as she gave a small smile, "Alright. Let's go. Stay on your toes and be ready for anything." She said while her smile faded into a more serious look, while both of her companions nodded in response. 

The trio continued their way through the forest as they searched for the base, but as they heard someone talking nearby, the three of them dodged into a massive blueberry bush for cover. Rowan slowly peeked up over the bush and looked around before noticing the base and some guards. The building was made of concrete blocks and had a thick metal door, and a keypad to unlock it. The building was large, but it was hard to see how large when most of the building was covered in various plants and hid how big it truly was. There were no windows, but there was a camera by the entrance and it pointed at the two guards on either side of the door. The guards themself were dressed similarly to the last ones in all-black clothing, and wearing animal masks; one was a lion who held a metal bat, while the other was a wolf who had a one-handed sword. The one with a lion mask seemed to be a tall male with an athletic build, while the one in the wolf mask was what appeared to be a shorter woman; and both weapons were magical.

Rowan looked at their weapons carefully as he wracked his memory to try and figure out which ones they were, 'Okay, that bat looks like the 'boom bat', generation 3, which he discontinued two years ago, but what's the other one?' He shifted slightly to try and get a better view of the weapon, then nodded, 'Sword of Frost, looks like maybe generation 2. This shouldn't be too bad, so long as we get the one with the bat down quickly. That'll cause more trouble than the sword, I need to warn them.' He ducked back down into the bushes before looking at Serena and Ares, 

"These guys have magical weapons too. The bat created explosions on impact, and the sword is a frost sword. It has similar properties to the frost axe from earlier, but it is a one-handed weapon and is much faster than the swing of the axe." He spoke in a hushed whisper, speaking just loud enough for his companions to hear him. 

Rowan shifted a bit and looked to the bush as he listened closely to their surroundings, then looked back to his group, "Don't let the bat touch you. It has a good chance of sending you flying, and it can burn you; not to mention the damage of being hit with a metal bat." He spoke in a quiet, yet serious tone as he glanced between them. Serena nodded softly and put her hand on the hilt of her rapier, while Ares gave one firm nod. 

Serena glanced between them then to the bush, "Follow me. You two take the one with the bat, I'll deal with the sword." She whispered to them before waiting for a nod from both, then left the bushes and approached the guards. Ares and Rowan stood and followed after her, and as the guards noticed their approach they both noticeably tensed and readied their weapons, 

"You shouldn't be here! Turn around and go back to where you came!" Shouted a deep voice from under the lion mask, and immediately a little scoff left Rowan. 

Serena drew her rapier and readied it, 

"That's not possible. This place has information that we need, and we're not leaving until we get it." She spoke calmly and firmly. The lion-masked man laughed before shaking his head,

"That's not possible either, girly. This base is watched by Lady Skel and has more staff than most other bases. You'll never make it out alive. Only one person has ever infiltrated our bases, and he's being hunted as we speak." He scoffed in return at Serena before taking a threatening step towards her. Then, Rowan stepped forward,

"One guy huh?" He gave a small hum before lifting his hands and materializing his scythe, "Hunted you say? I don't feel very hunted right now. In fact, I'm feeling a little lucky. Just two of you out here? Three of us? And now, don't forget; 'that one guy' Broke into four of your bases and took out some of your commanders. And he's standing right here, ready to give you something to be afraid of." He spoke coldly as he stared down the lion-masked man. His expression was empty except for the small amount of rage in his eyes; little else showed. 

Beside him, it went unnoticed as Serena got a small chill down her spine and looked back to the man in the lion mask, as well as the woman in the wolf mask who both seemed uncomfortable now, to say the least.

The woman in the wolf mask looked at the man in the lion mask, 

"Bruce, what do we do? Should we call for backup?" She asked softly with a bit of fear lacing her voice. The man, Bruce, stood up straighter and shifted the bat in his hands, 

"No, we can handle this. Those stories can't all be true, He's one guy; and a small one at that." He scoffed slightly before they both looked back to the trio, "And think about how Lady Skel would reward us for killing him!" He laughed a bit as the woman in the wolf mask nodded slightly. 

Meanwhile, Rowan gave a small sigh, 

"I warned you." He said softly, then dashed at the man in the lion mask and swiped his scythe at him as Bruce ducked and rolled away before standing up and readying himself again, only for Ares to appear behind him and punch him in the side of his head. This knocked the man to the side and he stumbled several times before he turned and swung his bat at Ares, who teleported out of the way,

"What-!?" Shouted the man as he turned to look for Ares. Rowan ran at the man once more and slashed at him as he used the bat to block; which created an explosion between their weapons and launched both of them in opposite directions. Rowan felt his back hit the ground as he slid across the grass and he tensed his body as he waited for any other impacts, only to slide to a stop and a sigh of relief left him, 'Thank God I didn't hit a rock'. On the other hand, Bruce was sent backward as his back slammed into a tree, and dropped him to his knees. He was gasping slightly as the air had been knocked out of him, but that didn't stop him from half crawling over to his bat and forcing himself to his feet again; although he was stumbling the entire time. 

Ares teleported beside the man and punched his arm, causing him to drop the bat from his hand as he turned to attempt to punch Ares, only for Ares to grab his fist and use the forward momentum to flip Bruce onto the ground. He twisted the man's arm to an angle it shouldn't be, and held it there as the man cried out in frustration and pain, "You bastard! Let me go! How do you move so fast!?" He began to thrash on the ground; only to suddenly stop as Rowan used the end of the handle for his scythe to knock the man unconscious, silencing him. 

Rowan gave a small huff and rested the end of his scythe on the ground before looking at Ares, 

"You did good." He cracked a small smile, which unknowingly caused Ares's heart to skip a beat, "Unfortunately for me, I'm gonna be bruised. That bat has a massive amount of blowback when it activates, so it's a good thing he didn't actually hit me with it." He hummed softly before turning around to check on Serena; who was in the middle of pinning the other woman to the ground and tying her hands and feet together, before tying both of those sets of rope together so she was stuck in a bit of a back bend and couldn't escape. 

A small hum left Rowan as he approached Serena, with Ares at his side, "Way to go, Rena. Now we should probably get inside before they send a small army out to keep us from getting in." He dematerialized his scythe before materializing his paralysis dagger in his right hand. Serena stood as she finished her last knot and nodded softly at Rowan before grabbing her rapier off the ground and turning toward the entrance. Although as Serena noticed the pin pad, she swore softly and looked back to her companions,

"It's locked with a code. How are we going to get in now?" She asked in a distressed tone as she frowned heavily. Rowan paused before his gaze slowly made its way to the woman on the ground, who noticeably tensed before trying to worm her way away from him, 

"Oh no, you don't" He hummed before he picked her up by the pieces of cloth that had her tied together, causing her to yelp, then she began to thrash, 

"Let me go!" She shouted as her mask flipped off her face; revealing a woman with tan skin and black hair, while also having narrow downturned eyes that were dark brown. She looked to be in her early 20s, and had a beauty mark below her left eye, and fear in her eyes. Rowan huffed softly and shook her a bit,

"Stop that or I'll drop you." he huffed once more as he had a scowl on his face, which relaxed slightly when she stopped fighting, "I'm not gonna hurt you, Well, so long as you give me the code to the building." He said calmly as he lifted her slightly more to partially face him, and his expression was cold and uncaring. Fear poured back into the woman's eyes as she thrashed again,

"I can't! If Lady Skel finds out I'm done for!" She cried out. 

A heavy sigh left Rowan before he moved over to a tree and hung her from one of the branches, causing her to spin back and forth slightly before settling as she faced him now. Rowan crossed his arms loosely and remained close to her face, 

"And if you help me, I'll be one step closer to bringin' her ass down. Now, you can help willingly, or, I could throw you in the river to the east." He said simply, his expression turning to more of one of annoyance. The woman faltered and looked at the ground as she weighed her options, then looked back to Rowan, 

"Do you really think you can stop her?" She asked softly as she attempted to bury the hope that rose to the surface, and Rowan noticed it. 

His expression relaxed slightly before he glanced at his companions nearby, 

"Truthfully, I'm not sure. But even if I can't, I'm gonna cause damage and bring down every base of hers that I can. Every dispatcher, every high-ranking member, everything I can. And I'm not alone in this either, I have my friends. No matter what happens, at least I can say I tried. Besides, I think I've already fucked her shit up pretty badly. Last I knew she had to close three bases and relocate them because I burned two of them down and blew up another. She's been scrambling to catch me since." He got a bit of a smirk as he tilted his head slightly, "And she's failed every time. So, what do you say?" He asked as his expression shifted to become more serious. 

The woman pondered her options for a few seconds before nodding softly, 

"Okay, I'll give you the code...But, I want to come with you. I want to be free of this hell I've been dragged into. I thought I was going to be a factory worker, but she decided I'd be better as a guard and put me under heavy training for months until she broke me. I want my life back." She spoke softly, but her voice was shaky and full of emotion as her eyes filled with tears. Rowan watched her for a moment before looking back to Serena and Ares, who shared a look before nodding at Rowan, who turned back to the woman,

"Alright, you've got a deal. Just don't try anything, I don't want to have to hurt you." He warned before removing her from the tree branch and carefully set her on the ground before using his dagger to slice open the cloth, freeing her. She sat up and sighed in relief as she rubbed her wrists before standing and making her way to the keypad. She entered a six-digit code, and with a loud click and a hiss, the large metal door began to slide open as it slid into a pocket in the wall.

Inside the facility were all concrete walls and white tiled floors that led down a hallway, which had doors on both sides and split into two more halls on the right and left, and there were keypads on some of the doors; which were thick metal like the door to the entrance. The woman moved from the keypad and headed inside before stopping and waiting for the trio, 

"Where do you need to go? I can take you there." She asked quietly as she glanced around to ensure no one was around. 

Serena stepped towards her as her hands rested on the hilt of her rapier, which was in its sheath, 

"We need to know where the records are kept. Specifically anything about more base locations and information on those locations, and anything about her main plan." She spoke in a quiet voice as well, but her tone was much more firm and serious. She paused before softening her gaze a bit,

"What's your name?" She spoke in a softer tone now, as the other woman faltered before looking at Serena nervously, 

"Bella." She answered quietly before turning to face the hall and began to carefully lead them down it, "She doesn't have records for her plans here, but the records for the other bases are here. Along with worker capacity, and what they guard inside. There are also personnel files, but I doubt you'll need those." She was speaking in a hushed tone, as she didn't want her voice to echo through the hallways. 

The trio quietly followed behind her while keeping a close eye on their surroundings, although Rowan and Serena were also listening closely to what she was telling them,

"You're right, we don't need those personnel files, but everything else would be beneficial." He hummed softly, speaking in a hushed tone as well. Within a few short minutes of turning down various hallways and pausing to listen for footsteps and voices, they stopped in front of a large metal door with another keypad. Bella stepped up to it before quietly entering an eight-digit code, and soon after the door began to slowly hiss open and retreat into the wall the same as the entrance door. 

Inside the room were various screens, keyboards, and other electrical equipment that filled the room, which hummed softly from all the running equipment. The room itself had much brighter lighting, as well as chairs around the computers and metal walls. The trio and Bella made their way inside and allowed the door to close behind them before Serena made her way to one of the computers and began to try and look through it. 

Rowan looked around the room briefly before looking at Ares, 

"Ares, can you guard the door? I'm going to help Rena, then we're destroying this room. They're likely to move the information after we leave here anyways since we got in, so we might as well make things harder for them." He shrugged slightly before focusing his gaze on Ares once more, who gave one solid nod before going to stand near the door, eyes fixated on it. Rowan couldn't help the small smile that forced its way onto his face, 'No doubts, no second guessing, no bullshit. He just wants to get it done. I love that.' He broke his gaze from staring at Ares back before looking to Bella, "And you, Bella, if you'd like, could help us print files and find us a binder or a folder to put all the papers in. Otherwise, you can also guard the door." He offered her a faint smile before turning to the computers and beginning to try to figure the system out. Meanwhile, Bella watched him for a long moment before nodding as determination flooded her features and body, then she began to search drawers in the room to find a folder or something of the sort. 

It was quiet for a few minutes besides the various clicks of the mouse and click-clack of the keyboard as they navigated their way through the files; although the noise of the pages being printed was louder than anything else. Suddenly, there was a noise outside the door, and the quiet beeps of the keypad could be heard, "Shit-" Rowan hissed softly before quickly printing the file he was on, then stood up straight and looked to Serena, "Keep printing. And Bella, gather her papers as they print and put them in the binder you found. Ares and I will hold off anyone who comes in for as long as we can. When it gets too intense, forget the printing and gather what you've got, then trash the room." He said before glancing between the two women; who looked at each other before looking to Rowan and nodding in agreement. Bella moved to the printer near Serena and began to gather the papers that had printed and put them in the binder, while Serena rapidly clicked away on the computer.

Rowan materialized his plasma and paralysis daggers in both of his hands before readying them, then looked to Ares, "Ready?" He asked softly, giving a small, awkward smile to try to release some of the tension briefly. Ares responded with another single firm nod before looking back to the door as it began to slide open. As soon as it opened it could be seen that three Wings members were outside the door; maskless, but in the same uniform as the others, and they had weapons attached to their hips. Once the three processed the intruders, they grabbed their weapons to attack, only for Rowan to lift his foot and place it on the chest of one of the men and kicked him back, sending him back a few feet as he fell onto his back and slid across the ground. Beside him, Ares punched the hand of the man who was about to swing a sword at Rowan and disarmed him as the sword fell from his hands, causing Ares to quickly kick it across the hallway before dodging as the woman of the group attempted to slash him with a small sword.  

The disarmed man began to swing at Ares, who just weaved his way away from each blow; which seemed to deeply anger the man as he shouted and attempted to tackle Ares, who teleported two feet to the left and watched the man hit the ground violently. Rowan focused on his target and approached the man in the hallway as he stood up once more and picked up a cylinder off the ground, then pressed a button in the center that caused it to expand into a staff with a slightly pointed top. The man had blonde hair and a defined jaw, while also standing at 6'2 and seemingly to be entirely muscle; although this didn't deter Rowan.

Rowan shifted the daggers in his hands and ducked as the man swung his weapon at Rowan's head, then Rowan lunged at him and sliced his chest with the paralyzing weapon before taking rapid steps back as he seemed to not even touch the ground. The man grunted in pain before readying his staff again, then continuously attacked Rowan with it; who would dodge or use his daggers to stop the blow from hitting him. Although as he used his plasma dagger to catch the staff and it began to sear through the wood, the man quickly drew back and swore softly before swiping at Rowan's legs. Rowan jumped to avoid the blow, then put his foot down on the staff as he landed and trapped it under his foot before slicing the man's arm with the paralysis dagger, then jumped back and readied himself again. 

The man, on the other hand, was beginning to pant softly and stumble slightly, and as he attempted to ready his staff, it slipped entirely out of his right hand as it dropped to his side and went limp. A few drops of blood dripped down his arm as the slash bled, while the toxin also began to spread through his body from both his wounds. Rowan watched silently as the man attempted to stumble towards Rowan, only to fall to his knees and wobble to the side as he tried to keep himself upright, causing Rowan to sigh, "You can't fight it. I used a paralysis-poisoned dagger on you, and it's only a matter of time before your entire body is no longer under your control and you're nothing more than a lump on the ground. Good luck." was the last thing he said before looking back to Ares. 

Ares had subdued the man when he accidentally slammed him into a wall, which was evident from the person-shaped dent in the metal wall of the room, and his crumpled body in front of it. Now he was dodging attacks from the woman as she slashed rapidly at him; although she was slowing and was breathing a bit heavily. Then, without warning she ran to the keypad on the room and held a red button on the bottom of it; and then the whole building began buzzing with alarms and flashing red lights. The woman looked to Ares and grinned,

"You're too late! Everyone knows you're here now!" She shouted as she backed up and held her sword out. 

The low growl of frustration from Rowan didn't go unnoticed either as she looked at him, only to back herself against the wall as he rapidly walked toward her with an angry look on his face. He stopped right in front of her, her sword an inch from his chest as he stared her down with rage evident,

"You think that saves you?" He hissed then grabbed both of her arms and twisted them in opposite directions until she dropped her sword from the left. He then slammed her into the wall behind her as he held her arms and she whimpered in pain, as she tried to escape, 

"I'm sorry! Just don't kill me!" She cried out, causing Rowan to scoff, 

"Kill you? I won't kill you. I can make it hurt like you did though." He huffed, then released her left arm before spinning her around with her right and pinned her against the wall,

"Rena! Bella! Its time! Trash it!" He shouted to them before looking to Ares, "Help them, break everything." He said firmly as Ares nodded before quickly heading into the room, and soon crashing noises could be heard. Meanwhile, the woman struggled under Rowan's grasp, all while telling him it was too late and he wouldn't make it out alive, until Rowan huffed heavily, and slammed her head into the wall, knocking her unconscious, "Jesus Christ, Shut up." He muttered. 

By the time the team had gotten the room half destroyed, they heard dozens of footsteps approaching and Ares looked up first, then Rowan, "They're coming, get ready!" He shouted before materializing his daggers once more and turning towards the door. In seconds, Ares joined his side, and then Serena, and finally, Bella joined them and readied her frost sword. Moments later, a group of armed and masked Wings members charged down the hall; easily over a dozen of them were there and rushed the trio, and fighting began. Ares seemed to be everywhere in the room as he dodged each attack and teleported from one place to another, while Serena focused on using her rapier to block attacks and slash at the members. Meanwhile, Rowan was weaving in between the members and narrowly dodging each attack before inflicting his own with the paralysis blade, and Bella fought nearby with her frost sword; occasionally blows would land on her, but she didn't let that slow her down. 

Although as they fought, Ares noticed the smell of cleaning supplies and blood and searched the room before spotting a male with slightly longer, shaggy black hair and scarlet-colored eyes. He had a black surgical mask over his face, and wore the Wings uniform; with some additions of patches he had sewed on, as well as a black and grey hoodie that had blood stains on the sleeves. His skin was olive-colored and covered in scars, while he was also very tall, standing at 6'8, and held two identical swords; it was hard not to notice him as his eyes scanned the chaos as if he was looking for someone. That's when it clicked for Ares, and he made his way to Rowan, and unfortunately, so did their new enemy. As Ares spotted Rowan, he was in the middle of holding off two people and the tall man stopped behind him and raised one of his swords over his head. As Rowan began to turn to counter, the sword came down; so Ares rushed forward and grabbed Rowan before teleporting them to another side of the room; but not before the sword cut Ares's upper back. 

Once they were on the other side of the room, Ares released Rowan and hissed softly in pain as he shifted his shoulders a bit, and concern filled Rowan's features, "Ares? Did he get you?" He asked as he stepped closer, while Ares gave a small nod and seemed to shake it off as he looked back to the room. The red-eyed man was watching them from across the room; as if he were a predator and waiting for the opportunity to strike his prey. But as Rowan's eyes landed on the man, a low growling noise came from him, "Fuckin Noir. I didn't think I'd see him here." He huffed as he spoke in a low, anger-filled voice. He looked to Ares after a moment, "He's mine. This is personal. If you could just keep everyone off my back while I deal with him, that'd be ideal." He said quietly as his eyes scanned the room, only to pause as they landed on someone else who wasn't here previously; and that's when he spotted another male that hadn't been here previously. This one was different from the others too; he followed the basic dress code, but his shirt was sleeveless and although his pants were black, they were a drastically different style compared to the uniform and were more of a type of cargo pants, which had chains hanging from them. He appeared to be in his early 20s. His hair reached his lower back and was cut in a mullet style with the top being short and fluffy, while the rest was long. His hair was also black with red streaks throughout, and he had thick eyebrows, along with narrow eyes that had dark purple irises. His skin was brown and he had an athletic body type, while also having a slim, inverted triangle body shape. He was shorter than the other male, Noir, but was still on the taller side at 6'1. He had many piercings, including an eyebrow piercing on the left, and two ear piercings on both sides; which were all gauged and held black jewelry within. The first hole was gauged to a half inch and held solid black tunnels, while the second one was much smaller and held a black swirled earring. 

This newcomer was making his way through the crowd and looking for a target before his eyes landed on Serena and he headed her way. Without any more thought or planning, Rowan and Ares made their way back into the chaos as Rowan headed for Noir, and Ares was going to patrol the nearby area to ensure no one snuck up on Rowan; or anyone else for that matter. Rowan approached Noir, who turned to him with a cold gaze,

"Done running?" He spoke in a deep, monotone voice as he looked down at Rowan, who scoffed slightly,

"Says the one who tried to kill me with my back turned. Become a coward, have we, Noir?" He smirked softly as he gazed up at Noir with rage filling his eyes. Noir simply scoffed before suddenly slashing at Rowan, who threw his daggers in the air and dematerialized them before materializing his scythe in his hands, then blocked the slash with his scythe. Rowan slid back on the ground slightly from the force of the swing, but that was all before Noir retracted his sword and readied himself; as did Rowan. Noir began to rapidly slash in all directions around Rowan, who used his scythe to catch most of the blows or would dodge it entirely. 

As the battle continued on, bodies began slowly piling up on the ground as they were taken out in one way or another; and the room was becoming noticeably hotter to the point it felt as if they were in a sauna and some of the walls were hot to the touch. Serena found it almost unbearable with her layers, but she continued to fight on, even when a new opponent faced her. The man with the red and black hair then approached her while her back was turned and attempted to knock her to the ground, only to get his arm sliced by her rapier. Now, he was coming at her quickly and trying to punch her any and every way he could as she dodged back and swiped her rapier at him; occasionally knicking his body. 

Ares used his time to control the size of the group, while also keeping people off his companions and knocking people unconscious in the process. Bella on the other hand, was backed into a corner and fighting four people at once; although holding her own for now. Rowan though, was engaged in an intense and fast-paced battle between himself and Noir. They were moving at speeds so quick it was hard to see exactly what was happening as they attacked and parried each other's attacks; when one seemed to gain the advantage, the tables would turn again. 

A growl of frustration left Rowan, "Augh! You're such a pain in the ass! Just go down!" He shouted as he swung his scythe at Noir's feet, who jumped up before bringing his sword down on Rowan at the same time, who raised his scythe above his head to stop the sword before it reached him, then huffed angrily. Noir was watching his every move with anger behind his eyes, but he didn't allow it to distract him, 

''I could say the same to you. You've caused too much trouble for Lady Skel." His voice had a bit more emotion to it now, but it was anger. 

A scoff left Rowan as he shoved Noir back with his scythe to gain some space between them, 

"Maybe she should watch who she kills. None of this would have happened if she would have left my life alone." He was attempting to hide the seething rage that was coming to the surface, but he didn't have time to think about it much longer before Noir spun and slashed both swords towards Rowan's torso. Rowan moved his scythe to the left of him and caught the edges of the blades, causing them to slip off and slice a Wings member; who cried out and fell to the ground as blood began to pool there. Noir looked at the now corpse in irritation, 

"You're just a thorn that'll be removed and destroyed. You'll join Brooke soon." He spoke firmly with anger behind his voice as he turned his piercing gaze back to Rowan. A low growl noise left Rowan as his hands clenched around his scythe so tightly his knuckles had turned white, "Try it then, you fucking bitch." He spat the words with venom before dematerializing his scythe. He instantly regenerated two hooked swords with padded handles with a neon blue gem in each handle, 'Let's see how he likes being electrocuted. That's gotta hurt even him.' Rowan readied himself as Noir huffed in anger. Noir took a step toward Rowan while glaring at him, 

"You think you're big and bad?" He scoffed, "You're just a little girl pretending to be strong." He knew more about Rowan than he liked, but they had a history, and Noir knew what pushed his buttons. 

Rowan let out a shout of frustration, "Shut your goddamned mouth before I make you shut it forever!" He lunged at Noir immiedelty. Rowan used his ability to boost his movement towards Noir, and as he was face to face with him Noir's eyes widened just slightly before he lifted his swords and blocked the hooked sword, and saved himself from being decapitated. Noir took a couple of rapid steps backward, only for the hook of Rowan's sword to catch one of Noir's katanas and Rowan then used it to rip it from his hands. Rowan whipped the sword onto the ground and kicked it as hard as he could, right into the crowd of fighting people. Noir let out a small noise of frustration and annoyance as he readied himself, 

"Don't think you have the upper hand, I only need one sword to kill you." He scoffed quietly before dashing at Rowan and swiped at his legs. 

Rowan jumped out of the way of the blade while simultaneously swinging one of his hooked swords and caught Noir's blade as Rowan lifted it into the air before throwing it to the side. Noir stepped back quickly and narrowly missed a swipe at his head from Rowan before grabbing a hidden dagger from his clothes and stabbed it into Rowan's forearm. He shouted in pain and dropped the hooked sword from that hand as he recoiled back and took two rapid steps back, "Fuck! The bastard stabbed me!'. 

A hiss of pain left Rowan as he held his arm in front of him and looked at the dagger within it, wincing a bit, 

"Little bitch." Rowan huffed before removing the dagger from his arm and then threw it at Noir; which splattered blood across his face as it narrowly missed his head. Noir instantly had a burning fire of rage in his eyes as he lunged at Rowan and began to swing at him with his fists; specifically aiming for weak points. Rowan took note of Ares's fighting style and began to bob and weave to avoid being hit, while randomly slashing his sword in Noir's direction. That is until Noir grabbed it by the blade and ripped it from Rowan's hands as he sliced them open and began to bleed heavily; but he didn't flinch at all, as if he didn't feel it. Once It was free of Rowan's grasp he threw it across the room before advancing toward Rowan rapidly as he continued to attempt to strike him any way possible, while Rowan continued to dodge. 

"Stop being a coward and fight!" Noir half shouted at Rowan; who suddenly stopped and repositioned his foot before using his abilities to lunge at Noir at an inhuman speed, then tackled him to the ground. The two began to roll around as they struck each other and attempted to trap the other; until Rowan got the upper hand and pinned Noir to the ground before beginning to repeatedly punch him in the face; which slowly became more cut up and bloody as Noir tried to get him off. The tables quickly turned again as Noir was able to lift Rowan slightly, which allowed him to knock Rowan off and pin him before beginning to punch him; Although the damage was greater from Noir and was making a mark on Rowan much quicker than the reverse. 

Rowan shifted around on the ground before materializing his plasma dagger, then swiped it at Noir's hand as it came down again, cutting the hand off entirely and searing the flesh, so there was no blood. The smell of burned flesh immediately filled the area around them and Noir shouted and stumbled back before scooting away from Rowan while hissing in pain and holding his arm up; it was a clean slice through, but revealed something interesting Rowan didn't know-

"Your bones are fucking metal?! No wonder you hit so hard" Rowan scoffed softly before spitting some blood on the floor. Rowan began to get up, wincing a bit as he did so before holding his arm which was bleeding a bit still. 

Rowan made his way to Noir with the plasma blade in his hand, his fist tightly clenched around it, "We're done here unless you plan to die. the next one will be your throat." He huffed before tilting Noir's chin up with the blade; met with a glare that matched the intensity of his own. 

"This isn't over. I will kill you." Noir spit his words with venom, and Rowan simply rolled his eyes,

"And yet here I am, Alive and doing better than you." He huffed softly. Rowan's eyes wandered to the hand holding his missing hand and noticed that starting from the middle and to the pinkie, it was a prosthetic hand made of metal. He couldn't help the little smirk that made its way to his face as he looked at Noir again, "Missing those fingers yet?" he mocked. 

A small growl left Noir and he punched Rowan's dagger hand away before standing and stepping up to him, staring down at Rowan with hatred in his eyes,

"You act big and bad, but one day, I'm going to put you in your place." He growled out. Rown brought the knife back to Noir's face and aimed it at his throat,

"I don't act 'Big and bad', I know my skills, and I know yours; and I've done more damage to you in one sitting than you've ever done to me. You're just not as strong as you think you are." He was glaring at Noir as he looked up to him, but there was something darker under the surface that he wasn't letting come through. Noir kept his glare on Rowan, even when his legs began to get weak from the state of his body finally getting to him, then he scoffed and headed out the door, holding his arm once more. 

Rowan sighed softly and dematerialized his plasma dagger before replacing it with the paralysis one, then began to look around the room attempting to ignore the pain in his arm and the aching of his face and body before spotting Serena; who was in a two-on-one battle. She was going against the man with red and black hair, as well as a pale 20-year-old woman with freckles across her cheeks, who had a bob-style haircut that was bright red. Her light blue eyes were empty and she smiled as she fought, hinting at something more dark beneath the surface. She looked to be around 4'11 and had an athletic body type, revealed by her sports bra and sweatpants combo. 

The woman looked to be creating and controlling a red mist in the air, which would come together to form a solid object and would launch Serena away or knock her into the ground. The male on the other hand would punch or kick her and knock her to the ground too; until Serena seemed to snap as she was knocked to the ground over a dozen times now; then turned to both of them and spit a powerful beam of water as she made an 'o' with her lips. The water blasted back both parties and sent them into the wall; the male dented the metal wall with an outline of his body, and the woman caught the edge of one of the computers and took it with her before hitting the wall. 

The man dropped onto his knees and caught himself before raising his gaze to Serena; an unreadable expression taking over his face as he slowly stood up, carefully watching Serena now. The woman, on the other hand, was up in seconds practically bouncing off the ground as she moved toward Serena again. The woman let out a heavy breath as the red mist began to pour from her mouth in a large quantity, then suddenly turned into a spiked shape before the woman launched it at Serena. 

Serena's eyes widened as it came for her and she quickly raised her rapier in an attempt to deflect it, but before it could get close to her it suddenly stopped and began to dissipate. Looking at where the woman was, she noticed Rowan had run at her before planting his feet into her back and launched her back into another one of the metal walls. She was currently next to the slightly dented wall and sitting up as she huffed and puffed in anger, her fists were clenched so tightly that her nails were beginning to cut her palms and draw blood. Serena let out a sigh of relief before giving Rowan a thankful nod, although pausing as she noticed his battered state, 'He's not doing very good. We need to wrap this up quickly before more show up.', then turned her attention to the woman again, who was standing again, and began to attack once more; although now with a square wall-like gathering of mist that she used to hit Serena, and Serena began to focus on dodging these attacks while getting close to the woman.

Meanwhile, Rowan could hear someone approaching from behind; the distinct sound of rattling chains with every step that was taken, and he quickly turned to face the man with red and black hair just as the man tried to uppercut him. Rowan quickly leaned back before putting one of his feet on the man's stomach and kicking him back before Rowan went backward as well, now entirely on the floor. They both picked themselves up off the floor before facing one another again, a small smirk on the other male's face,

"Well, it looks like you can put up a decent fight." He tilted his head slightly as he watched Rowan, "You're Rowan, aren't you? There is a very high bounty on your head within Wings, let's see if I get to collect it." He grinned a bit before running at Rowan at an inhuman speed. 

Rowan quickly dodged to the side and swiped his leg at the other males, only for him to jump over it and slide to a stop on the floor, then he turned back to Rowan with that same little grin on his face. In the meantime, Rowan materialized his paralysis dagger and readied himself before using his abilities to boost his speed as he took off in the man's direction. The man looked surprised for a brief moment before he suddenly liquified into a black liquid and became a puddle on the ground, just as Rowan swung his arm, causing Rowan to stumble a bit. The man turned his hands solid and grabbed Rowan's ankle from within the puddle, then allowed his arms to solidify before yanking Rowan's leg out from under him. With a small thud and Rowan nearly hitting his face on the floor, he quickly kicked as hard as he could with his other leg, causing him to hit the arms; which then caused the puddle man to get launched to the side as he solidified entirely again, now on his knees. 

But before they could continue their interaction, an explosion and then a scream echoed through the room, and as their eyes landed on the source of the noises; all that was left of the red-haired woman was the pieces of her scattered about the room, along with scorch marks on the metal wall and floor. Serena was standing nearby, panting softly as she readied her sword again when two more Wings members turned their attention to her; but she was so exhausted she was getting pushed back.          

Rowan quickly scanned the room and noticed a second round of reinforcements had arrived and were filling the room and stepping over their comrade's bodies; which now included Bella, who had her own sword plunged within her face, where her left eye had once been. Now the skin around the weapon was frozen and had visible frost on it, as well as the skin immediately around it was black with frostbite. Rowan could feel his heart drop at seeing Bellas's body, 'Damn it. She put up a good fight, but there's too many.', then looked for Ares; who was in a fight one vs six. Although Ares was able to dodge most attacks with minimal or no damage, it was beginning to add up as it took a toll on him, while also exhausting him to the core. 

Although Rowan snapped out of his thoughts when the puddle man lunged at him and attempted to punch Rowan again, who in turn used his abilities and leaped into the air above the man before kicking him in the side of the head, then landed behind him,

"Serena! Ares! Get ready to leave! There are too many!" He shouted before slashing his paralyzing dagger at the male, only for the other male to freeze. His eyes slowly made their way over to Serena as guilt and remorse filled his expression, 

"Serena...?" He spoke softly, his voice barely above a whisper as he watched her continue to fight two different men at once with her rapier and occasional water blasts to knock them back to give her time. Rowan watched the male for a moment before heading in Serena's direction and approached one of the two men from behind before he grabbed him from behind and wrapped his arm around the man's neck as tightly as he could. The man dropped his weapon as he gasped and wheezed as he attempted to fight off Rowan, who then slashed both of his arms and across his chest with the dagger; not deep wounds, but deep enough for the toxin to work quickly. The man shouted and struggled before his arms went limp and he began to trash until he slowly stopped fighting and began to go limp in Rowan's arms, and that's when Rowan dropped him. 

Meanwhile, Serena had the other one cornered with her rapier against his neck, threatening to go through the soft flesh and exit the other side, but she held back just enough to only break the skin just enough to cause blood to slide down his neck; a warning. She had a small glare as she breathed heavily, 

"That's enough." She spoke firmly as she watched his movements carefully, "If you surrender, I won't kill you." She said before carefully watching him. 

The man nodded quickly and raised his hands in surrender, causing Serena to step back and turn to Rowan, "Where is Ares-" She began to ask, only to be cut off as she felt a strong breeze go past her. She quickly turned to see what it was and noticed that Rowan had the man pinned against the wall with a hand on his head, and another on his arm, and that hand held a small dagger within it. Rowan grabbed the guy's arm before slamming it into the wall, causing him to drop the small blade, and then Rowan grabbed his arm and yanked it backward, breaking the arm in several places as the man screamed. Rowan leaned to his ear as he continued to keep him pinned,

"You should watch your own back, instead of going after someone who turned theirs." He hissed lowly before dropping the man to the ground and punching him as hard as he could in the side of the head, then watched him become limp and fall flat on the ground; now unconscious. 

Rowan looked at Serena with a disapproving look,

"Never turn your back on them. They have no honor and will kill you if they have an opportunity. Never believe their surrenders." He scolded firmly before looking into the crowd and spotting Ares taking on nine men; except now he was swinging. Every time a punch landed, they'd either drop unconscious or stumble around dazed before fighting again. However, he didn't land every punch, as most of the men were now using objects from around the room to hit Ares with, and Rowan frowned immediately, 'He's holding them off pretty well, but they're getting more hits on him than usual. We gotta get out of here, they'll kill one of us before we take them all down. Wait, when did the room get so hot?' He paused and looked around the room before noticing one of the metal walls was deformed and as if it had begun to melt in some places. 

Rowan felt his eyes widen before he looked at Serena, 

"Let's get Ares out of here and then we all need to get out of here. This place is about to go up like a match in a can of gasoline." He spoke firmly as he watched her expression shift to horror, then determination as she nodded. The two made their way into the crowd and began to fend off anyone who set their sights on them and focused on getting to Ares. Once they got to him, they all went back to back and faced the room while fending off the Wings members, until Serena shouted, 'Duck' before unleashing a powerful water stream throughout the whole room as it blasted the members away and against the walls. Rowan immediately turned to Ares, "We gotta go, now. this place is about to go up. Once the water soaks into the electronics it's going to make the whole place a lot more dangerous." He glanced between Ares and the before nodding his head at the open door, then looked back to the room, 

"Go." He said simply. Although Rowan wanted to protest, he didn't and headed out of the room with Serena as Ares began to back out. As members of Wings picked themselves up and charged at Ares, he suddenly formed a small 'o' with his lips before blasting out a cone of fire that filled the first half of the room. A few members who were burned screamed, while everyone else pressed themselves as close to the walls as possible. 

Once Ares was out, Rowan went to the number pad and clicked the 'close door' button, which sealed the room, then Rowan materialized his plasma dagger and slashed through the keypad, destroying it. He then turned to them with a bit of worry on his face, 

"We gotta get out of here. The whole building might go up." He said as he looked around for anyone nearby. But, before he could process what was happening, Ares put an Arm around his shoulders, and then Serena, and teleported them outside. 

Rowan could feel his stomach churning before he dropped to his knees and the world spun around him, groaning softly as he tried to ignore every other issue with his body at the moment, 

"Fuck...I didn't...I didn't expect it to be so jarring..." He muttered. Serena joined him on her knees as she panted quietly and held her hands in the grass, gripping the grass in her hands as she tried to breathe through the feeling,

"I never want to do that again..." She half whined before covering her mouth as she felt the nausea worsen by speaking. Ares watched both of them and although it wasn't easily noticeable, he felt guilty for making them both sick and not warning them, then muttered quietly,

"It's worse for long distances..but it gets better the more you do it." He was not looking at them anymore though, his gaze was on the building nearby. As there was a crack noise from within, he tilted his head just slightly; until suddenly the middle of the building blew sky high and outwards, causing the windows to bust throughout, walls to crack, and blew the front door off the building. 

Ares jumped into action and grabbed them both pulling them close before turning his back to the building as the door flew past them and into the forest. The trio took a moment to adjust to the slight ringing in their ears, and the smell of burning flesh in the air; mixed with multiple other things burning, such as plastic. 

It was silent between them all for a solid minute as they all processed the situation, and how close they were to dying, 'He just saved our asses twice. He got us away from it and covered us with his body as best he could...Wait, is his arm still on me? Oh my god, it is-, What do I do?! I can't just pull away! But the longer it's there- Ah fuck, I'm gonna throw up if I don't calm down. Who knew the building would end up fucking exploding?? I didn't even try to this time. And this time it could have killed me.'  Rowan could feel his thoughts racing between Ares's arm around him, the destruction of the building, and how close he had come to being blown to pieces. Serena could feel her heart pounding in her ears as she focused her wide eyes on the ground, 'We could have died. We really could have just died right there. If we were inside any longer...I don't even want to think about that.' She closed her eyes and took a small breath before opening them and removing herself from Ares's grasp as she looked at the burning building, which was slowly beginning to collapse in places. 

Ares removed his arm from Rowan as Serena stood, and Rowan looked at him before giving him a small, sheepish grin, 

"Thanks for the save, Ares. We wouldn't be here without you." He spoke softly as he gazed at Ares with a soft look. Ares gave a small grunt of acknowledgment as he raised his own eyes to look at Rowan; causing the two to begin to stare at each other quietly. Their bodies were still partially touching and there was barely any room between their faces, 'He's so pretty. I could stare at him all day. Wait, fuck! I'm staring!' Rowan quickly dropped his gaze as a faint blush came to his cheeks,

"We should head out soon." He said softly before standing and going to Serena's side, while Ares delayed in his spot for a moment, 'Why does he look at me like that? And then he looked away. I don't understand what this means. But...that doesn't make me want to be around him any less. I've found myself at his side a lot more lately... I need to be careful. I don't want to ruin our friendship if he finds out.' He finally cleared his thoughts and joined his companions in watching the building fully collapse under its own weight. 

Rowan spoke after a few long seconds of silence between them all, "We should get going, if they called for help, they could be here any minute at this point." He looked between the two of them, who both nodded in agreement and the trip began to make their trek home. 

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[ribcages-and-bookpages]

One Day At A Time; Planning (chap 5)

(Gore/Death warning this chapter!)

Year x438, July 22nd,

  It was two days later when Rowan and his little group arrived in Colkirk, where Rowan suggested they lay low until they had a plan; since most everyone avoids Colkirk like the plague. Serena was against the idea but eventually agreed with Rowa, but unfortunately for them, it was a day and a half trip to Colkirk and they had a small hiccup when someone tried to snatch Rowan's wallet and they turned him into the guards; even though Rowan disagreed with this. 

    As the group approached the town, a thick mixture of mist and smoke began to surround them and Serena whined softly, "We're gonna get killed, this is such a bad idea." She began to look around quickly though, she could have sworn she heard a footstep, "What was that!?" She stopped walking and put her hand on the hilt of her weapon. A heavy sigh left Rowan as he stopped and turned to Serena, 

    "Just trust me, once you get through the thickness of it, it gets better." He said as he waved his hand in dismissal. Ares now sighed at Rowan, as Serena looked at him,

    "That's not what I meant! Do you not know how dangerous this area is? There are reports constantly of people going missing around here and their bodies are always dumped a few miles away days later!" She huffed at his ignorance.  

    Rowan simply stared at her for a moment before speaking,

    "My point still stands, trust me." He said with a shrug, as he turned to continue entering the mist before Serena grabbed his shoulder to pull him back,

    "Why should I trust you? It's not like you can magically protect us from every murderer!" She huffed at him once again. This caused Rowan to stop and look at Serena's hand for a long moment, 'I could bite her right now. I really could.' He sighed and shrugged her hand off his shoulder, 

    "Just trust me. I promise no one here will murder you." He started to walk again as the rest of his trio followed, "I kinda know them." He shrugged a bit as Serena tripped on a brick and nearly fell. She caught herself though and continued to walk,

    "Don't tell me you're one of them!" She gasped as Rowan rolled his eyes, 

    "You're being harsh. Most of these people do it in self-defense and are here because they have nowhere left in the world that will protect them, while others do it for the pure financial gain of robbing others and are here because it's an easy place for targets. Similar to the smallest group of 'them' except those guys are straight-up murderers. One is friendly, one can be bought, and another beaten into submission" He explained before giving Serena an irritated look, "Don't group them together. I lived here for two years once, it's obviously not great, but it can be pretty peaceful compared to the outside bullshit." He huffed softly. 

    Serena looked taken aback for a moment before nodding softly,

    "I'm sorry, I didn't realize." She spoke in a soft voice, clearly regretting her words, as Rowan shot her a small smile,

    "It's alright, most people don't know that either. Just..keep an open mind. It's a messy place." He said softly as they walked over a major wave of heat coming from a small crack in the earth that blew their hair back, and then the view was instantly better once they passed it. 

    As their vision cleared a bit, you could see an entire city covered in ash that felt almost too warm to be comfortable anymore while ash fell from the sky, and the whole thing looked abandoned based on the state of many of the buildings. There were sinkholes everywhere that led straight down to what looked to be a lava pit but was really an unstoppable pit of burning coal that had been alight for the last 500 years. Although some of the sinkholes had filled in by now because of other areas sinking, or because the whole area collapsed and filled in the hole, and very occasionally the kingdom would fill in the sinkholes with large amounts of soil; which was also an effort to try and stop the coal from burning, but it was never enough to stop it. There was no plant life either, everything was decayed and dry or all that was left was what once held it, and you couldn't see the sky anymore, it was entirely grey. Everything was grey, but many things had flashes of other colors where there were shoe and hand prints, or the occasional cartwheel imprints in the ground where the ash had been pushed away. There were abandoned ash-filled carts all over the place and even some construction equipment that had been long forgotten, as well as ash-covered building materials everywhere. Many buildings had collapsed or half-collapsed, although some of the seemingly newer ones were holding up much better, although many of them weren't finished. The whole place had a haunted feeling to it as the entire city seemed to be frozen in several different periods of time.

    Serena let out a small gasp as she looked around and held a hand to her mouth, although Rowan wasn't sure if it was shock or horror; perhaps both? Meanwhile, Ares looked around with wide eyes as he took in the details of the once-great city. As they took in the details, Rowan stopped beside them and looked around at the place he once called home, 'Looks almost exactly the same, I guess they haven't done any more work here.', a small sigh left him as the smell of the ash truly hit him and memories of his time once here flooded in,

     Rowan was much younger and had a smaller body frame while also having a rounder and softer face. He had an overall softer appearance and much longer hair that reached the middle of his back and had no color to it. There was a frown on his face as he jumped back and slid on the ash-covered ground before catching himself and standing up before materializing a metal bat; just a simple metal bat with a smaller handle grip. He panted heavily in a much higher-pitched voice as he stood up fully and readied himself for an attack. In front of him was a man easily twice his size smirking as he fixed his brass knuckles,

    "C'mon little girl, you can't win against me. Just give up and let me have some fun with you~" He hummed before laughing softly as he made his way over to Rowan. A small angry groan left Rowan as he ran at the man before hitting him in the gut with the bat and sending him sliding back a few feet, then leaped back several feet as he slid to a stop and readied his bat again. 

    A noise similar to a growl left the man as he fixed his posture and put a hand over his stomach where the bat had hit it, "Watch yourself or I might just kill you instead! Now get over here!" He shouted before running at Rowan, who leaped over him and stepped on his head before turning and hitting the man in the head with the bat; he could feel resistance but the bat kept going for a moment before stopping entirely as Rowan let go and jumped away. The larger man dropped to the ground like a bag of rocks as a sigh of relief left Rowan and he began to make his way over to collect his bat. But as he realized what the resistance was, his blood ran cold; the bat had gone into the man's head and he could see brain matter, as well as bits of skull and lots of blood. It churned his stomach and he put a hand to his mouth as tears began to slide down his cheeks while he had to resist the urge to vomit. He could feel the blood starting to slide down his face and looked down to see his hands covered in blood and brain matter-

    "Rowan?" Called Ares's voice from behind Rowan, snapping him out of his dissociative with a startle, causing Rowan to turn to him quickly as his eyes widened. Ares was looking at Rowan with concern as Serena seemed confused and worried about one of her new group members, as Ares stepped a bit closer,

    "You're alright." He said softly. A small hum left Rowan as his mind cleared and he began to calm down, turning back to look at the city for a moment before speaking,

        "You know, this place used to be the very first major city, and then kingdom in Oselia, before it caught on fire." He said quietly, causing Serena to look at him in surprise as Ares looked at him as well,

    "Is that why there's such a large empty spot on maps? Is it really that big?" She asked softly, seeming both surprised and horrified by this. Rowan gave a solemn nod and glanced back at her,

    "It was one of the biggest cities in Oselia, and is still one of the largest in history, But mostly forgotten about." He spoke in a soft and empty voice as he gazed at all of it. 

    That was cut short though as a couple people peeked out from various spots around them, although these people had horns, multiple eyes, or other unique features that made them stand out in this world, and therefore treated unfairly most of the time. Rowan gave a friendly smile and waved, "Hey, anyone here remember me? Little Row? I know I look different, but if you remember me, you know why." He called out in a friendly voice with a smile. A duo of small gasps left two girls to the right of them and Rowan quickly turned to look as he spotted two women whom he recognized instantly, 'Xillie and Fennala!' He thought as he smiled.

     Behind the wall of a half-collapsed building were two elf women, one with short, thick, and wavy blonde hair and blue eyes with a petite inverted triangle body shape, although she was half a foot taller than the woman beside her. The woman beside her had reddish tan skin with a beauty mark above the upper left side of her lip and chestnut brown eyes. She also had dark brown hair that was in six braids that reached just past her hips, which were wider than the girl beside her as she had an hourglass shape. Even though both women were elves, the only thing they had in common was their pointed ears and their matching ankle-length grey tunics with an under-bust corset on top of that, which were both black. 

    The two women scrambled to climb over the wall as they held up the bottoms of their tunics a bit so they wouldn't tear the fabric, then rushed over to Rowan, 

    "Is that really you? You're so different!" Said the girl with blonde hair, causing Rowan to smile,

    "Yeah, Xillie, it's me. I know I look different, but I've been on it for years now, plus other stuff." He laughed nervously as he rubbed his arm a bit. Before he could explain any more, both women hugged him tightly,

    "Oh, it's so good to see you again!" Said the blonde as she pulled back, although the brunette lingered,

    "It's been so long, Rowan." She said softly before letting go and stepping back as she shyly looked to the ground. 

    Serena stepped up beside Rowan to look at the women before glancing at Rowan as she crossed her arms; she didn't trust these women at all, 'There are so many undercover Wings members, what if one or both of them are one? They target places like this...but then again,' Serena turned her gaze to look at all the buildings, 'Almost no one comes here unless they have no other choice. I don't think even Lady Skel would risk her people with the rumors that are around here.' She thought to herself as she turned to look at the ash falling from the sky, although not directly up so none got in her eyes. 

    Meanwhile, Ares stepped up behind Rowan to peek over his shoulder to see the women's faces properly as he clasped his hands behind his back before looking away. Rowan simply smiled at the woman in front of him,

    "I know it's been a while, life has been kinda crazy. Kinda had to restart entirely, so..here I am." He says as his smile turns more nervous. The two women shared a look of worry before looking at Rowan, 

    "I'm sorry Rowan." Sighed the brunette as she dropped her gaze, while the blonde smiled softly,

    "We've got your back, most of the others are still around too, and they've got your back too. You've had all of ours." She said in a soft yet kind tone as her smile grew a bit, "Your friends are welcome too, any friend of yours, is a friend of ours." She hummed as the other woman nodded.

    Rowan smiled and gave a nod to the women before looking to Serena and Ares, then back to the women,

    "Meet Ares and Serena, Ares and Serena, meet Xillie and Fennala." He said with a hum as he introduced everyone to each other. Once the greetings settled, Xillie looked at Rowan and gave a small smile,

    "Come with us, We'll take you to some shelter. It's not fun standing in the open for more than a little bit, the ash will ruin most colors of clothing and make your hair disgusting. Plus, it's better where the air crystals are." She explained as she turned and began to walk. Fennala looked at Rowan for a moment before quickly following after Xillie, causing Rowan to tilt his head and watch her for a moment before following. 

    Serena and Ares followed Rowan instantly and moved to both walk by his side, while Serena turned to him,

    "Can we really trust them? Lady Skel has roots everywhere." She whispered to Rowan, who scoffed slightly, 

    "Yes, Serena. I saved their lives a few times, and they've helped save my ass a few times too. We used to be a trio around here. We're the three who originally brought in the air crystals to purify the air of enclosed spaces. It made a huge difference in people's health pretty quick." He explained with a small hum as he slipped his hands into his pants pockets, watching the two women in front of him lead them to shelter.

        Meanwhile, the city around them came to life as people began talking and moving from place to place, although it wasn't a lot of people, there was chattering and a buzz of energy in the center of the city. As the women lead them to a large, incomplete concrete building, Serena could feel her anxiety bubbling up, 'What if he's wrong? What if this is all a trap?' She thought as her body began to tense up a bit,

    "Calm down, Rena, they're just taking us home," Rowan spoke softly to her. This seemed to snap her out of her thoughts as she looked to Rowan and nodded softly then began to relax her muscles a bit, but she remained a bit tense as they approached. On the opposite side of Rowan was Ares, who was simply looking around at his surroundings as they walked, taking in every detail of every item in the area, which allowed him to make a mental map of the area. 

    As the group arrived at a large metal door with a spinning wheel as its handle, two men came out from both alleyways and held out knives, 

    "Hey girls~ We told you to be careful 'round here." Said one man with a scar across the center of his face dark hair and dark eyes. His scan was a light tan color and he was easily over six feet tall and built like an ox, while the man across from him was shorter, but much wider and had brown hair with blue eyes, along with a unibrow. His skin was a few shades paler than the other male's, but both held daggers that looked expensive and intricate, but the end of the blonde male was rusted. The blonde man grinned at the group,

    "Now you've brought unwanted guests into our territory. I guess we'll just have to teach you all a lesson." He threatened as his grin turned wicked and dark. Xillie huffed at the men,

    "C'mon Cody and Rory, we're just trying to go home. Our friends have had a long journey and don't want any trouble." She scooted closer to the door as she huffed once more and Fennala stepped behind her. The two men laughed though and stepped closer; as Rowan grabbed Ares's wrist to stop him from intervening, which stopped him instantly. Serena on the other hand looked ready to explode as her hand rested on the hilt of her rapier,

    "Oh, but we do." Growled the man with the dark hair as he lifted his hand with the blade. 

    A small hum left Rowan, which caused both men to look at him and frown, 

    "I wouldn't do that if I were you." He said with a small smile, "Me and my friends just want to go inside and get some fresh air, so why don't you let us through?" He hummed his question as he glanced from one man then to the other. He continued to smile as the blonde man laughed again from his left, 

    "You think you scare us, small fry? We'll just cut you down first. You don't even have a weapon!" He smirked as he took a step towards Rowan. Once again, Rowan's hand flew to Ares's wrist to stop him in his tracks, and just as before Ares stopped and glared at the men as he waited for Rowan's 'okay'. A small laugh left Rowan this time as he slipped his hands out of his pockets and hummed as he materialized his scythe and shifted it in his hands, 

    "Oh I don't think I'll scare you, I think I'll have you begging for your life." He said with a smile before dashing at the blonde and slicing three of his fingers off, causing his dagger to fall to the ground, then he was back to where he had been standing. The blood on his scythe became one big drip and dropped onto the ground as the blonde man screamed and held his hand,        

    "What'd you do to him you brat!? How'd you move so fast?" Shouted the dark-haired male as he rushed at Rowan, who shot Ares a look as he went to react. Rowan ran at the man before throwing his scythe in the air and jumping n the air and placing both feet on the center of the man's ribs before putting the full force of his kick and weight into it, sending the man flying back into the ally with a shout of pain. Rowan dropped down onto the ground and bent his knees down to help with the impact, then raised his hand and caught it with one hand while he turned towards the blonde man,

    "Ready to beg yet?" Hissed Rowan as he smiled a wicked smile at the man. The blonde cried out        

    "Rory, let's go! The little demon is back!" He shouted as he grabbed his dagger from the ground and took off down the alley, just as the other man, Rory, gathered himself up from the garbage cans he hit and stumbled into the darkness of the alleyways. 

    A small sigh left Rowan as he dematerialized his scythe flipped his hair slightly out of his face and began to walk back to his group,

    "Ready to go inside?" He asked with a smile as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Ares was simply staring at Rowan quietly with slightly wide eyes, as Serena looked a bit disturbed,

    "Was...all that necessary?" She asked slowly, as the other two women laughed nervously,

    "Classic Row." Hummed Xillie, as Fennala nodded softly. A nervous laugh left Rowan now though at Serena's question,

    "Well, no. Well- Actually-" He sighed and shifted a bit, "It's complicated. Normally, no. Here? They'll fight you to the death. They have little fear, but if you find it and bring it to the surface? They won't come near you ever again." He responded with a nervous smile as he glanced away while lowering his head a bit. There was a small pause before Serena spoke,

    "I understand. Although I must admit... I was surprised to see you like that. It...was pretty fear-inducing." She explained slowly before looking back to the building, "But enough of this, my lungs burn, may we go inside now?" She asked the women, who nodded in sync before heading to the door. 

    As Rowan walked over, he noticed Ares still watching him and walked up to him and waved a hand in front of his face,         

    "You okay Ares? You seem a little surprised." He asked with a soft, yet nervous smile as Ares snapped out of it. When he did, his cheeks became a bit pink and he turned his head away,         

    "Yes, I'm fine. Let's go inside." He responded in a softer tone than normal though, causing Rowan to tilt his head a bit, 

    "If you're sure..." He said doubtfully as he watched Ares for a moment. When Ares showed no signs of stopping him, he turned and followed over to the door, which was now open, 

    "Hurry now, the ash is getting in!" Xillie rushed them as she waved her hand towards the door, causing the group to scurry inside the building. 

    Once inside, the room was mostly dark with vague outlines but felt rather spacious, only to become pitch black as the door closed. Within moments, the room lit up with a yellow glow and everyone turned their attention to Fennala, who had a large yellow crystal hovering just above her palm. The crystal rotated slowly and caused the walls to have a sparkling effect; showing the concrete walls that lead down a hallway, which had layers of fabric hanging as a makeshift door near the end of the hall. The ceilings were low, causing Ares to have to duck his head slightly as he stood there, and the floors were also concrete but there were no windows; at least, none that any light came through. The windows seemed to be metal shutters that were closed, not that they opened anymore anyway.

    Serena was tense as the crystal began to glow and her head whipped over to the light Fennala held as she visibly began to relax. A small laugh left Rowan as he noticed Serena,    

    "You're fine, Rena. I wouldn't take us somewhere dangerous-, Okay, I would, but I would tell you first." He glanced to the side as Serena stared him down,

    "Yeah, that makes me feel better," Serena muttered as she raised a hand and rubbed her temples with two fingers,

    "Great! Then let's go. Before Ares gets a crick in his neck" A hum left Rowan as he looked to Xillie, who began to lead them down the hall. A sputtering response left Serena,        

    "I was being sarcastic don't take it seriously-," She started, only to realize the rest of the group was making their way down the hall and she was being left behind in the darkness, "Wait for me!" She called before quickly walking over to meet everyone. 

    The group of five stood in front of the makeshift fabric door for a moment before Xillie pushed the various fabrics to the side and began to go through them, 

    "Like this, and watch your feet!" She called out as she got to the other side of the cloth doors, leaving Fennala near the entrance as she held the light crystal in her hand,

    "Go ahead. I'll go last." She said softly as she stepped to the side a bit and raised her hand slightly to allow the crystal to light up the 'door' better. 

    Rowan gave a small grin to Fennala as she did this and he made his way to the fabric to pull some open for Serena to go through, 

    "Thanks, Nala. Now, Serena, you're going first. Xillie is waiting on the other side." He said as he pulled the fabric further back. Immediately after he said this, Serena tensed and looked at Rowan,

    "Do I have to? Can't Ares go first?" She seemed worried as she glanced at the cloth before looking back to Rowan, causing a heavy sigh to leave him,

    "Fine, Ares, you're first." He muttered with a shake of his head. With that, Ares made his way to the fabric and began to push various pieces out of his way, until he seemed to disappear into the wall of fabric.

    Rowan looked at Serena once more and she seemed to shrink back a bit before huffing, 

    "Fine, I'll go." She muttered angrily as she made her way over to the cloth and began to push her way through to the other side. Once she seemed to be through, Rowan turned to Fennala and gave a small smile,

    "Our turn." He said before moving partially into the hanging fabric, then held up some Fennala could get through as well, "I'll hold it open for you, I don't want you to drop the crystal." He said with a hum. Fennala paused and stared at him for a long moment before nodding softly and making her way over to stand beside him. Rowan dropped the fabric that he was holding and moved to hold some more up, then looked down to Fennala and gave her a small grin, "Keep moving, I can't wait to breathe some air that doesn't make my lungs want to evacuate my body." He joked. This earned a small giggle from Fennala, who was standing beside him and looked up at him with a smile for a moment before continuing further into the fabric. 

    Once the two finally made their way through the fabric, Rowan's face lit up at seeing the room they were now in; the room itself was still concrete, but the walls were painted with various designs and there was a yellow light crystal in the ceiling corners, as well as a big baby blue one that was about two feet tall and was held in a stand in the center of the room. There were several furniture items, including four couches, three padded chairs, and a large table with ten seats that were all mismatched. The ground was covered in rugs, layered one after another to the point no concrete from the floor was visible. There were several other objects around the room such as books, blankets, board games, and packs of playing cards; multiple of which were on the coffee table in the middle of the couches. There was a metal door on the left wall and a hallway to the right, which was dimly lit. 

    Rowan began to look around the room to take in every detail, while Xillie was with Serena by the couches as the two were in conversation, and Ares was still looking around while waiting next to the entrance to the room. Ares looked to Rowan and Fennala as they came out and he turned to them, while Rowan took a deep breath before smiling softly, "Fresh air, hell yeah." He muttered to himself before turning to Fennala with a small grin, "You guys sure have upgraded this place since last time, I like the rugs." He said with a hum as he shrugged off his backpack and set it by the entrance; beside Ares's and Serena's bags. Fennala quickly looked away from Rowan as a soft smile made its way to her face, 

    "We took your advice to make it more homey, and we've been adding on since then." She replied softly. Another small hum left Rowan as he nodded a bit,

    "Thanks for inviting us in, we kind of need a place to lay low for a few days." He laughed nervously and rubbed his arm a bit as Fennala paused to look at Rowan.

    Xillie made her way over with Serena to join the conversation, and she raised an eyebrow at Rowan as he said this,

    "What trouble did you get into?" She asked in a teasing tone, causing a small huff to leave Rowan,

    "It's a long story, but let's just say the three of us are wanted by some people who won't hesitate to kill us if they get the chance." He explained before glancing away. Xillie and Fennala both stared at Rowan for a long moment before sharing a look with each other, then Xillie turned back to Rowan,

    "Well, you three are welcome to stay here as long as you need. We've got the space here, and the air crystal is enough to sustain up to twelve people for an extended amount of time, so that's not a concern either." She hummed with a smile. A small nod came from Rowan as he looked to Ares and Serena, who both gave a nod in return to Rowan before he looked back to Xillie, 

    "Thanks, Xill. We'll take you up on that offer." He gave a small smile as Xillie nodded, 

    "No problem, Rowan. You all feel free to make yourselves at home." She hummed with a bright smile. Serena smiled softly in return to Xillie's smile, 

    "Thank you, Xillie and Fennala. I appreciate you allowing us to stay here." She spoke in a somewhat formal way, causing Xillie to laugh softly,

    "No worries, Serena. No need to be so tense, we're all friends here." She hummed before making her way over to the couches and sitting down, as Fennala followed after her. 

    Rowan followed after the two, causing Serena and Ares to follow after Rowan, who sat on one of the two-person couches, while Xillie and Fennala sat on a larger three-person couch. Ares made his way to sit on the same couch as Rowan, while Serena sat by Xillie and Fennala. Rowan turned his attention towards Xillie and Fennala before speaking, 

    "Any chance you two have a map we could borrow? We gotta make a plan, and a map would help." He questioned with a small smile, 'Although I'm not sure where to even start with a plan.' He thought as Xillie nodded with a hum,

    "Sure do, let me go get it." She replied before getting up off the couch. Xillie made her way to the metal door to the left of the room before opening it with a 'clunk', and then a quiet whine left the door as it opened enough for Xillie to go inside. 

    Serena watched Xillie for a moment before looking at Rowan and Ares, 

    "Either of you have any ideas for a plan?" She asked as she raised an eyebrow, causing the two males to share a look before both shook their heads, 

    "Honestly, I'm not good at that. Tell me what to do and I can do it though." Rowan gave a small grin to Serena, who sighed softly,

    "As expected." She muttered.

        As Xillie returned to the group, all eyes went to her as she pushed aside the items on the coffee table before laying out the map, then handed Rowan a charcoal pencil. A smile made its way to Rowan's face as he nodded at Xillie, 

    "Thanks, Xill." He said with a bit of a hum as he leaned forward and pulled the coffee table a bit closer. Both Ares and Serena sat forward a bit as well so they could view the map properly; which was a map of the Kingdom of Oburus. The major cities were labeled in larger letters while the smaller cities and towns had a smaller font, and in the lower left area of the map was Colkirk, although it was just a large grey area that took up 1/8 of the map, and it had no label. 

    The trio began to examine the map for a moment until Rowan looked to Xillie as she sat back on the couch, "Either of you know of any Wings bases around here?" He asked suddenly. Both women froze as Fennala looked as if she had seen a ghost, and Xillie shot up from her seat, 

    "You idiot! You're seriously going after Wings?! They'll kill you!" She shouted at him as she threw her hands up in frustration, "Do you have a death wish or something!?" She looked at Rowan and glared at him a bit. A small sigh left Rowan as he ran a hand through his hair, 'She's right, it's stupid to try. but...' he then looked to Xillie again, 

    "I know it's not smart, frankly, it's the worst idea I've ever had, but I'm not alone. Besides, they can't keep getting away with the things they've done and are continuing to do, and if I can fuck that up for them then I absolutely will." He replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice as his gaze became firm and determined. Xillie paused as she stared at Rowan for a moment, completely taken back by his resolve to do such a thing, but her head whipped over to Fennala as she broke the silence,

    "...Just don't die, Row." She spoke in a soft, evidently sad voice as she looked to the floor. This caused a grin to spread across Rowan's face, 

    "I'll do my best. I don't think these two plan to let me die any time soon, not till we're done at least." He said in a lightheaded tone, that smile still on his face as both Ares and Serena nodded in confirmation. 

    It was quiet for a moment before Xillie's sigh broke the silence and she pointed to an area on the map, just outside of the gray area of Colkirk to the north, 

    "Here. It's a smaller base but heavily guarded. Anyone who gets close doesn't come back." She spoke softly as Rowan circled that area on the map. Xillie turned to him with a sad and worried expression, "Be careful for once, please." She spoke in a softer tone now. Rowan looked to Xillie and gave a small grin, 

    "I will. As much as I can, anyways." He hummed before looking back to the map as Serena pulled the table closer to herself. She began to examine the map before raising her gaze to Rowan, while Xillie sat back down on the couch, 

    "Where are we right now? Roughly anyways." She asked as she nodded her head at the map. With a hum Rowan grabbed his charcoal pencil again before making a small circle near the center and slightly to the left in the grey area; which was quite the distance between that and the other circle,

    "About here." He said as he glanced at Serena. 

    Serena leaned her hands on the table as she stared down at the map, then spoke after a moment of thinking, "Okay, tell me how you both feel about this plan; Tomorrow morning we make our way through Colkirk and make our way closer to the base, but we stay under the cover of the ash and smoke until the day we go to the base. When we get there, we need to find a way in without drawing too much attention to ourselves, after that, we can try to get information on Wings' next move so we can stop it. But the problem is, if no one comes back from this place, then it's likely to be heavily guarded, so we'll have to be extremely careful not to be captured or killed." She spoke confidently as she turned her gaze up to Rowan and Ares. After a moment of consideration, Rowan nodded softly,

    "That sounds like a good plan. Better than anything I've been able to come up with so far. But what if we do some recon before we go. Like, check out the size of the building and try and see how many guards go in and out." He scratched his head a bit before looking to Serena, while Ares nodded softly,

    "How would we do that without being caught?" Asked Ares in a quiet voice as he glanced between Serena and Rowan. Both of them paused before Rowan sighed and ran a hand through his hair,

    "I'll do it. I should be quick enough to be able to get out of there without getting caught." He seemed unsure about this as he spoke, glancing away as he thought about the endless possibilities of what could happen, 'What if I do get caught? They'd kill me on the spot I'd bet. I'm on their shit list, they won't hesitate.' He felt his thoughts overwhelming him. 

    Ares's voice cut through Rowan's overwhelming thoughts and he was brought back to reality, 

    "I'll do it." He spoke in a firm voice as he looked to Rowan, then Serena before looking to the map, "...I have teleportation abilities. I..can only go places I've been before, but if things get bad I can get out of there rather quickly" He explained, although he seemed uncomfortable with all the eyes on him as he shifted in his seat. A smile began to spread across Rowan's face as he looked at Ares, 'He actually spoke up in a group, that's awesome. Wait, is that why he's so fast? He is teleporting? That explains a lot.' He was lost in thought until Serena spoke and brought him back to reality once more,

    "That would be very helpful, Ares. Thank you." She smiled at Ares, who kept his gaze on the map on the table. 

    Rowan gave a little grin as he looked to Serena, then Ares, 

    "I guess we know our plan now. Most of it anyways." He hummed as Ares nodded softly before Serena nodded as well,

    "Seems we do." She responded as she leaned back onto the couch and crossed her arms. Xillie spoke up after a moment,

    "So you guys are really trying to stop Wings? That.. sounds like a suicide mission." She spoke in a soft and fearful voice as she looked at Rowan. With a nervous laugh, Rowan nodded softly,

    "Yeah, it doesn't sound smart..but at this point, it's too late to turn back." He spoke softly as he felt a pang of pain in his heart, 'I can't let them get away with anything else. I can't let them take more people like Brooke, no one else needs to go through what I've gone through. No one else needs to die.' He found himself staring at the floor as he was lost in thought.

    He was pulled out of it though as Fennala spoke to him, 

    "Rowan? I know Xillie said it but... be careful." She was using a softer voice than normal and it was laced with worry and fear as she looked at him with a fearful look. Rowan looked at Fennala and smiled at her,

    "I will. Now, let's focus on something more positive; what should we do for lunch?" He grinned softly as Serena sighed at him and a small giggle left Fennala. Xillie shifted to sit up more and looked at Rowan,

    "Well, we have a stew going in the kitchen. We used one of our big pots for leftovers, but we'd be happy to share. It's been going since early this morning." She said with a smile, earning a nod from Rowan as he smiled in return,

    "Sounds good. What do you two think?" He asked as he looked between Ares and Serena. Ares gave a small nod of agreement while Serena nodded as well,

    "Sure, that would be wonderful." She spoke in a soft and friendly voice as she gave the two women on the couch with her a little smile. With a hum, Xillie stood and turned to the group,

    "I'll go get some bowls for everyone," She paused and looked to Fennala before continuing, "Can you help me Fennala?" She asked with a tilt of her head. Fennala gave a small nod before standing as well, and the two made their way down the hallway to the right of the room. It was quiet for a moment after their departure until there was the sound of a heavy metal door squeaking open, and then closing and making a 'clunk' noise as it latched. 

    Rowan turned his attention to the members of his group and gave a small smile,

    "So, how are you both feeling about being here? I know Colkirk isn't ideal, but it's likely they won't find us here. Not easily anyways." He said as he ran a hand through his hair. His gaze flickered between Serena and Ares, but Serena was the first to speak,

    "You're right that it's not ideal, especially because of the air quality, but I will say that this wasn't a terrible idea. Colkirk gives us a good base location to hide after doing dangerous things; like invading their bases." She responded as she shifted in her seat to cross her legs, "And your friends are quite kind, it's nice to see such kind women in such a harsh world." She smiled softly as she turned her gaze to the floor for a moment before looking back to Rowan as her expression turned serious, "We need to be careful coming around them too often, otherwise Wings might find them." She spoke in a firm voice.

        Rowan paused for a moment, 'She's right. if I'm not careful they'll get dragged into this too, and neither could survive against Wings. Fuck...' He pulled himself out of his thoughts and nodded at Serena, 

    "You're right about that. If we make Colkirk our base, we should keep our base in another location, somewhere away from the main part of the city. That's our best bet to keep everyone here safe. I'd say we'd want to go north." He sighed softly as he scratched his head a bit. After a moment Rowan looked to Ares and dropped his hand from his hair, "What do you think of that, Ares? How are you feeling about all this?" He asked with a small head tilt. 

    Ares stared at Rowan for a moment as he began to piece together his words and figure out what he wanted to say, but he could feel both Rowan's and Serena's eyes on him and it was making him nervous. He glanced away from Rowan and took a silent breath, but when he turned back to Rowan and Rowan was softly smiling at him he felt his heart jump into his throat, 'Don't look at me like that!' He thought as he turned his gaze to the floor. 

    "Ares?" Called Serena, since there was a bit of a pause between the question and his answer, but Rowan immediately lifted his hand and waved it in dismissal at her, 

    "Give him a minute, sometimes he has to think about it." He said with a shrug as he leaned back on the couch. Rowan put his arm over the back of the couch and leaned back into the corner of the couch a bit to look at Ares, patiently waiting for the answer he was sure would come. Finally, he did,

    "Well....I agree. Colkirk is a good place for a base, and keeping away from the general public would be wise as well...But, how do we do this? We'll have to spend a few days alone setting up the base to make it usable and breathable before we can even think about any missions." He spoke in his usual monotone voice as he raised his head and glanced between the two of them before focusing his gaze on the map in front of him. 

    A hum of agreement left Rowan as Serena nodded,

    "Yes, that is true. Rowan, you would be in charge of helping find materials for the base; after all, neither of us has been here until now. Neither of us know where to start. Along with that, the three of us will have to find a building that has easy access, looks inconspicuous, and has little to no outside ventilation." She sighed as she leaned her head back on the couch and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her thumb and finger, "And at the same time, it needs to stick out to us so we can always find it, and it has to be sturdy enough to survive against the more powerful and magic holding members of Wings if they find us." She spoke clearly yet quietly. Serena found herself already overwhelmed with all they had to do and at a loss of how to even start. 

     "I think I know a place," Rowan called out suddenly, causing both of the members of his party to turn to look at him at the same time as Serena raised her head off the couch,

    "You know a place?" Serena asked as she sat up more to give Rowan her full attention. As he nodded, both members stared at him before he gave a little grin,

    "Oh, I should tell you about it, huh?" He chuckled softly before sitting up from his position on the couch and grabbing the charcoal pencil. Their eyes followed his movements as he pulled the map closer before making a small circle near the outer west edge, "It's around here. It's one of the taller buildings that was made before this place went up. Unless it has changed, the west burns the coldest and has the least amount of damage to the ground and buildings. It's at a higher level than the city surrounding it, meaning it has great viewpoints; but the ash falls more heavily here since the ash is heavier in the north and the west. The building itself is a good size, not the biggest around but it has multiple floors, multiple doorways, and even a few places we could turn into easy entrances that only we would know about. If it's anything like last time, the remaining doors are rusted shut, but I'm sure Ares could deal with them if we really needed." He finished as he gave a little grin to Ares, who quickly sat up before looking away from Rowan and focusing on the map on the table again. 

    Serena raised an eyebrow at them but dismissed the odd behavior before focusing on everything Rowan said,

    "Alright, well, so long as it's as great as you say, it'll be perfect. Now, how are we going to get a large amount of supplies all the way to the other side of the city? It's not like we have anything to transport ourselves, let alone anything else." She sighed heavily as she covered her face with her hand, rubbing her forehead a bit, "Perhaps Xillie and Fennala know of a cart we could have? Or borrow at the least..but even then, that would be such a difficult journey." She sighed softly. 

    Meanwhile, Rowan turned his gaze to Ares and gave him a little grin, causing Ares to slowly turn to look at him as his expression slowly turned more confused and unsure of what Rowan was thinking,

    "I got an idea." Rowan finally spoke, causing both members of his group to look at him. He paused for a moment before looking to Ares again, "Well, you have a special skill that might work for that. Especially because...we could just fly to the base." He said softly, watching as Ares's body went stiff and he glanced at Serena. Quickly sitting up, Rowan placed a hand on Ares's shoulder, "Ares, hey, it's okay. You know we can trust her. She's gonna find out sooner or later anyways, better to tell her yourself, isn't it?" He spoke in a calm and quiet voice as he gently held his hand on Ares's shoulder, 'I hope he's not upset with me about this. It's time she knows, especially before we raid that base.' Rowan's thoughts wandered for a moment, but he pulled it back and focused on Ares.

    Ares had moved to clasp his hands tightly together as he stared at his shoes, his eyes darting around every now and again as various ideas, thoughts, and possibilities raced through his mind, and Serena just watched in confusion,

    "What's this special skill?" She asked as her brows knit together and her gaze focused on Ares. 

    It was quiet for a moment before Ares spoke, although he never raised his gaze from the floor, 

    "I'm...I'm a dragon shifter. What Rowan is getting at, is that I can fly." He explained slowly like he was choosing his words carefully. Serena stared at Ares in shock for a moment before nodding softly as her expression relaxed into one of warmth,

    "Thank you for telling me, Ares. Let's use that as our last resort, yeah?" She asked with a small smile. Ares slowly looked up from the ground to look at Serena for a moment before looking back to the ground and relaxing his clasped-together hands, 

    "...Yeah." He agreed quietly as he gave a small nod. After a pause, Rowan spoke up,    

    "Well, we can always see if anyone around here has a cart we could buy off them, so we can transport things easier." He recommended, causing both Serena and Ares to nod in agreement. 

    Suddenly the squeaking of a metal door could be heard, and the smell of stew began to waft into the room, causing Rowan's stomach to growl as he realized how hungry he was, 'Man, I didn't realize I needed to eat, I've been so focused on everything else I forgot to eat.' He thought with an internal sigh. But as the metal door shut and made another 'clunk' noise, he was brought back to reality and looked to the hallway as Xillie and Fennala entered the room. Xillie was holding a metal tray with three bowls on it, while Fennala held two bowls on a smaller metal tray. The two approached the group and Xillie smiled as she began to hand out the bowls of stew from her tray, 

    "There's more if anyone wants seconds after this." She said as she finished handing out the bowls, while a chorus of thanks left the trio. She set the tray down on the table as Fennala then placed her tray on top of that one, and handed Xillie a bowl of stew before taking her own bowl into her hands. 

    Rowan was the first to begin to eat, happily beginning to do so with a small hum, although the food was hot and he was burning his mouth a bit you wouldn't think so based on his facial expression, 'Man, I missed their cooking Fennala makes the best stews...' He thought to himself as he ate with a small smile. Ares followed Rowan's lead and began to eat, although he had no reaction to the temperature of the food either and simply enjoyed his bowl of stew with a neutral expression. 

    Meanwhile, the trio of women on the couch to the right of Ares and Rowan stared at the two in horror, "You guys...It's hot." Xillie said softly as she stared at them. Serena looked baffled as she looked at the two members of her team, 

    "I can feel the heat from the bowl...how are neither of you reacting at all?" She asked as she set her stew down on the coffee table, carefully avoiding the map. Ares was quiet for a moment before muttering, 

    "Immune to fire and heat." He immediately resumed eating, and all eyes were on Rowan; as they were satisfied with Ares's answer. Rowan swallowed a mouthful of stew and looked up at the women before giving a lopsided grin, 

    "I'm just stupid and don't care. It's not gonna kill me. And if it did, then so be it." He gave a small chuckle before returning to eating his stew. 

    A heavy sigh left Serena as she folded her arms and shook her head a bit, while Xillie shook her head beside her and shifted the bowl of stew to also rest on the table, beside Serena's. Fennala paused for a moment though as she watched Rowan with a small smile until Ares eyes darted up to meet hers and he stared at her quietly while eating. This caused her to quickly look away and set her bowl down on the table, near the corner as she looked to the floor, while Ares turned his gaze back to his food. 

    After a few minutes of quiet amongst everyone except Serena and Xillie, who were chatting about clothing choices here while Fennala listened, Rowan spoke up,

    "Can I have more please, Nala?" He asked with a little lopsided smile. Fennala smiled softly in return before nodding and walking over to him and gently taking the bowl from his hands as he offered it up to her, their hands touching in the process; which caused Fennala to jump back a bit and nearly drop the bowl. Rowan quickly caught the bowl before handing it to her with a small smile, "Still clumsy I see." He teased, causing Fennala to shyly look away and give a small, nervous smile in response. She took the bowl and headed to the kitchen, the metal door clunking closed behind her. 

    Rowan looked to the others around him and noticed Ares had a slightly irritated expression, while Serena and Xillie were eating their stew and talking to each other about Colkirk; although it was mostly Xillie telling her about it and Serena comparing it to other places she has been. After a pause, Rowan looked back to Ares and gave a small smile, "What's up Ares? You're glaring your stew." He joked lightly with a smile. Ares glanced at Rowan before forcing his expression neutral, then shook his head a bit,

    "It's nothing." He replied in his usual monotone voice, although it was quieter than usual. This caused Rowan to knit his brows together as he watched Ares quietly eat his remaining stew,

    "Are you sure?" He asked once more, his worried gaze focused on Ares. A small hum left Ares as he nodded, then finished his stew before setting the bowl in his lap.

        After a moment of watching him, Rowan nodded softly before looking up as he heard the loud clanking of the metal door opening and closing, then Fennala appeared in the hallway and made her way to Rowan; although she had two bowls in her hands. Once she got to Rowan, she handed him a bowl before offering one to Ares with a nervous smile, who stared at her quietly as he accepted the bowl. After a moment he gave a nod of thanks as Rowan quickly thanked Fennala before beginning to eat his stew again, while Fennala made her way back to the couch and began to eat her own stew; all while listening to the conversation between the other two women on the couch. 

Rowan began to eat his new serving of stew as Ares set his empty bowl on the table before beginning to eat his second bowl. It was peacefully quiet, minus the chatter between the two women on the couch and the noises of spoons clanking against metal bowls. Once Rowan had finished his meal he set his bowl on the table, stacking it with Ares's bowl before looking at Ares with a small smile,

    "You know, I'm proud of you for telling Serena about..y'know. I'm sorry for putting you on the spot though." He spoke softly and gave a nervous smile as he rubbed his arm a bit, "But, I know we can trust Serena. She wants to stop Wings just as much as I hate them, and she's a pretty accepting person so far." He said with a more relaxed and warm smile. 

    Ares had turned his gaze to Rowan as he spoke and felt a bit of heat rush to his cheeks at being praised, causing him to turn his head back to look at his stew as his hair fell into his face a bit from lowering his head a bit. It was quiet for a moment before Ares spoke softly,

    "You're right, I should trust her more. She's had our backs so far.. and you're right about that part too. She wants to stop Wings more than anything, so she has no reason to betray us." He replied in a soft tone as he stirred his stew with his spoon. Rowan couldn't help but grin a bit at Ares's words and hummed softly in response,

    "Right. I know trust isn't gained that easily, but try to trust her. Xill and Nala can be trusted too, but you just met them so I don't expect you to trust them much." He said with a lopsided smile. Ares glanced at Rowan before looking back to his stew, 'He keeps smiling at me. Why is it making my heart race every time? And..the way he's talking to me. He understands me. No one ever has except...mom.' He felt tugging at his heartstrings as his thoughts wandered, but he quickly brought them back before speaking, "...I'll do my best." A simple answer, but still an efficient one.  

Rowan smiled softly and nodded at Ares as he leaned back on the couch, 

    "That's all I ask of anyone." He hummed with a small grin. He leaned back into the corner of the arm and back of the couch and looked to Ares as he put his arm over the back of the couch and his other arm supporting him on the arm of the couch, "Are you finished with your stew?" He asked with a head tilt, noticing Ares just staring at it. Ares seemed to jump a bit as Rowan asked if he was done before giving a small nod and moving to set his bowl on the table next to the other bowls, as Xillie's bowl joined theirs on the table. Fennala's was next, followed by Serena's moments after, and Xillie spoke up,

    "I'm going to go wash these dishes. It's getting late though, would you all like some blankets and pillows to sleep for the night?" She asked as she stood up and straightened out her clothes before giving a smile. The trio all shared looks before Rowan nodded and gave a lopsided grin,

    "That'd be great, Xill. Thanks." He hummed as he sat up a bit, while Serena nodded,

    "Yes, thank you." She smiled warmly at Xillie. The smile was returned as Xillie then turned to Fennala,

    "You able to help me, Fennala?" She asked with a small head tilt, while the other woman nodded softly before the two began to gather the dishes from dinner. 

    The two women made their way to the kitchen, obvious by the clunking of the door as it closed, and Serena began to take her hair down from the bun she had. She was now left with a ponytail of one large braid that reached past her knees, which she then began to unbraid before letting her hair down entirely; her hair now wavy and free of constraints. She looked between Rowan and Ares for a moment before speaking,

    "You know, Rowan, this was actually an excellent idea. I'm sorry I doubted you at first. It's just..a bit much, coming here for the first time." She spoke softly with a sheepish smile. 

Rowan gave a wave of dismissal at Serena as he gave a small shake of his head and smiled softly, 

    "No big deal, Rena. Colkirk is a bit much for anyone to take in at first, especially if you've heard the rumors about this place." He chuckled softly. A small hum of agreement and a nod left Serena, 

    "Yeah, I suppose that's true. I'm just grateful we have somewhere safe to sleep for the night. That's been harder to come by lately with how much Wings is pursuing us." She sighed softly as she ran a hand through her hair. 

    Rowan gave a sigh as well as he nodded a bit, then got a lopsided smile,

    "Let's focus on how good today was. We found some allies, a possible home base location, our next mission, and we got a good ass stew to eat for dinner. I'd call today a win." He said as his smile turned into more of a grin. Serena nodded a bit before giving a soft smile in return,

    "Yes, let's do that." She agreed in a soft tone before looking back as she heard the metal door to the kitchen open loudly once more. Meanwhile, Rowan looked to Ares, who was watching him with a very light pink hue dusting his pale cheeks. As he noticed this, Rowan tilted his head a bit and gave a lopsided grin,

 "What's up, Ares?" He asked with a hum, while Ares seemed to nearly jump out of his seat before looking to the ground as he shifted in his seat, 'Damn it! I was staring again! What's wrong with me?' Ares scolded himself as he stared at the ground, his brows scrunching together slightly. Rowan tilted his head once more at Ares's behavior, but before he could ask about it further, Fennala approached with armfuls of blankets; which Serena rushed to stand up and help her with. 

    A small thanks left Fennala as she then handed Rowan two blankets and gave a small, shy smile,

    "I don't know if you still get cold at night, but I thought I'd give you two blankets just in case you still do." She spoke in a soft voice as she glanced away. With a smile, Rowan sat up and accepted the blankets from her,

    "Thanks, Nala. You're right, I'm surprised you remembered that though." He chuckled softly and set the folded blankets beside him on the arm of the couch. He was still sitting up and a bit close to Fennala, who seemed very aware of this while Rowan was not, and he gave her a lopsided grin, "Means a lot, so thanks." He hummed. 

    Fennala looked a bit red in the face as she stared down at Rowan from his sitting position on the couch before she quickly shook her head and gave a sheepish smile,

    "No problem, Row." She spoke softly, using his old nickname. She paused before stepping back and smiling softly, "Goodnight, Rowan." She said softly before she began to leave, pausing as Rowan spoke back,

    "Goodnight, Nala. Sleep well." He said before leaning back onto the back of the couch and yawning. Fennala made her way out and returned to the kitchen where Xillie was, judging by the familiar sound of the door opening and closing after she left. 

Rowan leaned back into the couch and sighed softly as he laid his head back on the couch, looking to the ceiling, 

    "It's nice seeing them again. Some of the only friends I've ever had." He mumbled, then gave a nervous chuckle as he sat up and looked at the wall, "That came out way more depressing than I meant it to be." He spoke in a lighthearted tone. Serena gave a small shake of her head and smiled softly as she began to unzip her boots before emptying a knife in a holster out of her pocket, along with a few stray Wygen coming out of her pocket as well, "It's alright Rowan, you're just a little depressing sometimes in general, but we love you for it anyways." She lightly joked back. 

    A small chuckle rumbled from Rowan's throat as his half-lidded eyes were now back on the ceiling. He had moved his head to lean back against the couch once more and seemed to be drifting asleep, "Hmm. Loved, huh? Sounds nice. Any kind of love is nice..knowing you're cared about.." He mumbled more and more until he eventually just fell asleep. 

    Serena and Ares stared at Rowan with different expressions of surprise at his words; although Ares had more on his mind than he was leading on, 'He needs to never laugh like that again. My heart tried to come out of my throat, what the fuck was that? And.. his muttering.. does that mean he hasn't really had that in the past..? Maybe..that's why we get along so well.' He was watching Rowan with a slightly wide-eyed expression with a very faint blush on his cheeks before he quickly shook his head and looked to the ground.

Meanwhile, Serena had an expression of surprise laced with sadness as her own thoughts ran rampant in her head, 'I didn't mean to say love, we barely know each other...But I think if anyone hurt him I'd have to hurt them back, and he'd absolutely do the same for me. He DID the same for me, he saw me in trouble the first time we met and jumped in to help me without questions. That's just the person he is. Maybe I don't love him..but I sure as hell care about that idiot. Ares too, although he doesn't speak much but his care of Rowan and protection of myself have shown that he's kind. Along with the fact that he avoids landing any blows and simply dodges until his opponent is tired? He's a pacifist. A dragon shifter pacifist; that's not what you're told to think, but you can't believe everything you hear.' Her gaze shifted to Ares, who was staring at the ground still, 'He may love him though. Or, each other, maybe? Something is going on there but I'm not sure either of them have even noticed yet.' She sighed. A small smile came to Serena's face as she tuned back into the world and looked at Ares with a warm smile,

    "Let's get to bed Ares, Rowan will scold us in the morning if we don't do so soon." She spoke softly in an attempt to not wake Rowan, although he was a heavy sleeper usually unless there was a sudden noise, they noticed; Talking never woke him, but coughing sure did. 

    Ares seemed to snap back to reality at Serena's voice before nodding softly, 

     "Yeah." That was all he said before he stood up, then paused and looked at Rowan. Serena found herself smiling softly, 'He wants to cover him up.' She thought with warmth in her chest as she gathered her own blankets for the night before moving the remaining blankets to the largest couch, where Ares would sleep. Meanwhile, Ares carefully stepped over to Rowan before gently grabbing the blankets off his lap, then began to unfold them and carefully laid them across Rowan's lap to ensure he stayed warm during the night; He also knew of Rowan being cold easily during the night. Rowan barely stirred while Ares did this caring motion towards him, simply humming softly and shifting before falling back to sleep again. Ares couldn't help but smile softly as he stared down at Rowan for a moment; His peaceful expression warming Ares once thought to be cold, and dead heart.

Ares shook his head a bit and stood up before making his way over to the largest couch with the blankets and took his boots off as he sat down on that couch. As his gaze raised to Rowan's sleeping form on the couch and noticed his head slip off the couch and he fixed it before falling asleep again. A small sigh left Ares as he stood up once more before heading over to Rowan and carefully began to take his boots off him. He glanced up occasionally to make sure he didn't wake Rowan, and once he completed this action he set them to the side with a sigh. He stood once more as he scooped Rowan's legs and shifted his upper body to quickly and carefully lay him on the couch, with the cushy armrest as his pillow. Rowan stirred a bit before muttering something unintelligible to Ares, then going to sleep once more, causing Ares to feel his heart stop in his chest.

    Ares watched Rowan for a long moment as the heat slowly filled his cheeks, 'Gods he's cute. Wait- Oh, that's not good.' He quickly stood up straight before heading over to his couch and sitting down. He leaned his elbows against his knees and put his head in his hands as he felt his cheeks burn and his heart pound, 'Damn it! I have a crush on him! That's what this is! Oh, God's help me. I wasn't sure at first but I guess I decided! He can't find out. Not when we have important work to do, I don't want anything to distract any of us from our mission. Our goal.' He sighed heavily before running his hands through his hair and pulling his hair tie out of his hair; the one that held the majority of the front of his hair back. 

    As he raised his gaze he noticed Serena watching him with a smile and an expression he couldn't explain or understand, then she leaned over a bit and spoke softly, 

    "So, you realized finally?'" She spoke in a teasing tone, causing Ares's face to begin to burn as he huffed softly at her, turning away a bit. A very soft laugh left Serena as she tried to hold back her laughter, not wanting to wake Rowan for a multitude of reasons, "He has no idea, you know. He's a bit of an idiot sometimes when it comes to people's emotions. Fennala likes him too. Did you notice?" She asked in a whisper as she leaned towards Ares. 

Ares paused before looking to Serena and nodding softly, his brows knitting together slightly as he muttered, 

    "Do...you think he likes her?" He barely spoke loud enough for her to hear, and she was sure that was the intention, Serena couldn't help but hold back a laugh before shaking her head,

    "Nah, I think he likes her like a sister maybe. He treats her differently than me, but not by much. But I think that's also to accommodate her shy personality. But, don't worry. I think he likes you too." She smiled at Ares as she explained all this. Ares turned his head away a bit and unknowingly let out a breath of relief at her final words, only to sigh and drop his head as he scratched his head a bit. Serena could see his hesitation, "You..you're not going to tell him, are you? I mean, I guess I get it-" She started before Ares interrupted her for the first time ever,

    "It's too dangerous." He said simply, sitting up slightly to clasp his hands together and stare down at them. A small sigh left Serena as she nodded, 

    "Fair enough. I won't stay anything. But if he asks?" She questioned as she looked back to him, causing Ares to pause before nodding softly,

    "You can tell him." He spoke softly, feeling as if he was trusting her with his life again as he had done during previous battles. Although, he didn't quite 'need' the protection offered to him by both Serena and Rowan; he was strong on his own. He never had relied on anyone, but he knew they relied on him, and he cared for both of them so he would do his best to ensure neither got hurt. 

    Ares raised his gaze to Serena's just as she met his and began to speak,

    "We have to make sure this doesn't get back to Lady Skel. She'll exploit it, and she already wants him dead." She spoke softly, yet firmly. But Ares simply nodded along before unclasping his hands and letting them hang as he sighed and looked to the floor,

    "Yeah." He agreed quietly. Serena watched him for a moment before sighing,

    "I don't think telling him would be such a bad idea, but I'll keep my promise. I won't say anything unless he asks." She offered Ares a small smile, who glanced in her direction and gave a small nod of acknowledgment towards her. 

    There was a pause of silence between the two before Serena spoke, breaking it, "Let's get some sleep Ares, there's plenty to do tomorrow." She said softly before laying down on her couch and getting comfortable so she could sleep. Ares simply gave a grunt of response and lingered in his position on the side of the couch for a minute or so before moving onto the couch to lie down. 

    He covered himself with the blanket and covered himself up to his hips, with the end tucked under his feet, then turned to face the couch and settled into it before falling asleep. Serena's sleep followed behind him soon after, once he had settled into 'bed' for the night, she found herself able to relax and sleep as well. 

   Meanwhile, at ư̵̧̈̈̓̄͆͌͘ņ̵̞̪̈́͂͆̂̌̔͂͂͘k̴̢̡̢̛̩̝͍̫̂͊n̶̻͈̯͉̿̀ͅȍ̴̙͇̟̟͋̀̏͛̓͑̀̒͜͝w̵̧̱̬͍̠̥̤͖̲̆̋̾̌͌͋͆͆̚͠ͅń̷̢̼͇̰̤͖͕͙̳̈̂ͅ l̸̼̤̇̀̂̅̎͐͝o̵͓͂̒̄̃̆̂̈́̍̆ç̴̖̗̬͖̘̑̈́͠ą̴̤̝͍͓̤̖̙̳̈́t̸̖͍̝̭͓̼̃̒̍ͅi̸̠̖̹̯̗͐̈́̓́̔̉͠͝o̷͚̤̜͉̮̦̠̣͗͜ͅn̶̛͓̭̗͑̑͑̆͐͜  

    "Lady Skel, the men tracking your 'little problem', lost them outside Colkirk. They were hesitant to step inside without your orders." Came the monotone and deep voice of a young man. The man himself had hair that was slightly longer, shaggy, and straight, while his eyes were a piercing red; similar to scarlet. Little of his face could be seen due to his mask, and the rest of his body remained hidden in the shadows against the large concrete walls, the moonlight just casting enough light inside some of the base that the hallways could be seen; while others were lit with torches that held purple flames, which gave little light beside a dim glow. Some simply had candles on tables on either or both ends of the hallway, while these held regular colored flames compared to the purple flamed torches, and most hallways had heavy wood doors to them. 

    But this room? This one was different. This room had windows in the ceiling above that allowed the moonlight to pour in and highlight the concrete throne centered in the back of the room. The throne itself looked rather plain, except for a long plush black pillow that was glued onto the seat of the chair and went up the back a bit, undoubtedly making it more comfortable for the user. Inside the room were four men in hooded robes standing at posts; two on either side of the throne, and two on either side of the large wood doors used to enter the room. On the center of the floor was a large moon carved into the stone, with the moon divided into three sections, with ancient symbols carved in a circle around the moon; and the moonlight was shining on this as well. The room had sparse decorations, but statues of knights lined the entranceway of the room; although many of them had inhuman features among their armor, such as tails and horns. Besides this, little other decor was in the room except for a few banners on the walls. 

    Lady Skel herself, the woman in black, wore her usual black cloak over her head as her long black dress sleeves covered her hands; one of them anyway, and the other was holding a book while she paced the room. She ceased her pacing and looked to the man who had dared to speak her name, but she let out a sigh of frustration at his words,

    "No. Don't send anyone in." She said firmly as she loudly closed her book with one hand before setting it on the arm of her throne. She glided over to the throne as her black cloak slightly trailed on the ground behind her, then sat down on the edge. She rested both hands on either arm of the throne, looking at the male with a firm gaze,

    "I know it's not my place, Lady Skel.. but couldn't they have gone inside?" He asked softly, with a hint of uncertainty in his voice, earning a heavy sigh from the woman on the throne. She raised one of her hands to her face and rubbed the bridge of her nose,

    "No, Noir. With Rowan as their leader, they're likely to avoid such a place. Over the weeks we've been tracking him he's avoided it every time, why would he change that now? Besides, he's not an intelligent one. That's been proven over the series of attempts to eliminate him, but what he has is talent fighting." She sighed heavily in frustration and dropped her hand back onto the concrete her elbow rested against as she raised her gaze to the man. 

    He seemed undisturbed by her intense stare and harsh tone, and instead offered his thoughts,

    "Perhaps they've taken a turn to the east and gone to Willowdale? That is the closest city to that hell pit." He offered his ideas before silencing himself as he noticed Lady Skel turn her head from him and lean back a bit as her head tilted strangely, 

‘Colkrik is still burning? We lit that place up years ago! What's it been, nearly 1000 years now? Boy! There must be a lot of coal in that place. I wonder if anything still standing-' A deep dark voice echoed from within Lady Skel's head, but she cut it off before it could continue, 

    "Shut up!" She shouted, causing the man in the room to shift a bit as he seemed to jump a bit. He said nothing though and simply waited for her to sort things out within herself.

    Lady Skel pinched the bridge of her nose as she rested her elbow on the armrest of the throne before taking a slow, deep breath. She then muttered, "Not now Sarg, We have business to attend to.", although her words were heard by the man in the room he reacted little besides a small quirk of his left brow. The voice within Lady Skel hummed softly, 'You are right. But, we must discuss this further tonight. I can't believe it's still burning!' Laughed the dark voice as its voice became multiple during the laugh at the end; a sound that would send a chill down the spine of most people, a dark and menacing aura behind the cheerful glee in his tone. 

    A heavy sigh left Lady Skel as she crossed one leg over the other and she continued to pinch the bridge of her nose as her facial features scrunched slightly in anger and frustration, "Focus." She snapped in an angry whisper. A laugh echoed within her skull, one that gave her a headache sometimes, 'Yes, yes, we shall focus on this conversation about the thorn in our side.' It hummed in its deep tone. 

    She raised her brightly glowing purple eyes to look at the man in the shadows, her entire focus on him finally, "Nior, I agree with your plan of Willowdale. We'll send eight of our level fives. Perhaps numbers can overwhelm them? Meanwhile," She sat up properly and her gaze became more intense as it focused on Nior, who flinched none as she focused on him; he was used to her intense stares by this point. He tilted his head at her though, wondering what her 'meanwhile' could possibly mean, until she spoke it, "I want you to go to base C, the one outside Cokirk. If reports are true and they are out they are out that way, and that base is in danger of them finding it. Although it's unlikely they'll survive much further than the first hallway, I would feel much more...comfortable, if you personally kept an eye on the place. One week, that's all I ask of you now. Easy enough job, yes? You have to do little more than watch the camera's in the security room, and defend it with your life should they make it close." Her voice was light in feeling and intense in feeling at the same time.

        The importance of the job was clear to him, especially because she was bribing him in a way as well to convince him to agree; although truly, he wasn't sure he had a choice,

    "Yes, Lady Skel. I'll remain there as long as you need." He spoke in a monotone voice, but there was a hint of determination behind it. He wouldn't let her down, he hadn't yet. 

    "Good. Thank you, Noir. You may leave now. Go rest in one of the spare chambers, should you need to." She smiled, but it had a wickedness to it that made Noir feel a bit sick to his stomach for a moment. Of course, he didn't show it, he simply gave a nod,

    "Thank you, Lady Skel. But I would like the comfort of my own home and bed. I bid you farewell and goodnight." He nodded his head at her but lingered for a moment. Once Lady Skel turned her gaze away from him and sighed, he took that as his cue to leave and silently did so. 

    The room was almost silent for several minutes before Lady Skel let out a sigh once more, 

    "Alright, Sarg, what would you like to know?" Her voice rang out softly in the air as she leaned her back against the back of the throne, slumping slightly. 

PREV

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Mean-Mugging

Summary: You always joke that Zoro is your "big and scary boyfriend," but after you and some of the crew are turned into children, your words become a bit literal.

Zoro x gn!reader, established relationship, silly fluff

A/N: I'm about to be head-down in requests for a bit, so enjoy this silly scene from my drafts. It was meant to be part of a longer story but didn't quite get there.

Zoro is at his wit's end. 

For three days now, Robin, Usopp, Brook, and you have been stuck as children thanks to an incident with a cursed spring. As near as anyone could tell, you all were somewhere between 5 and 7 years old, with none of your adult memories. 

It goes without saying that convincing four kids to get on a boat with (in your minds) total strangers had been difficult, but Zoro and the others managed. 

The Marines charging in and firing at everyone had helped. 

After some sleep and food, you all seem to be adjusting. Luffy and Chopper quickly become the favorite playmates, with Nami and Franky landing the roles of adoptive parents. Sanji makes the food and keeps handing out sweets, so he also quickly found himself in your tiny good graces. 

Zoro, however, seems to terrify you. 

Any time he enters the room, takes a seat on the deck, or sits at the table, his presence sends the four of you scurrying as from him as possible. 

He doesn't know what he's done to deserve it. Sure, he’d snapped at Usopp and Brook when they tried to mess with his swords. And he could have been a bit more gentle when grabbing you and Robin to get you safely back on the Sunny. 

He knows he isn't the warmest person on the crew either, but still, he isn’t a monster. 

He could live with Brook, Usopp and Robin’s fear, but seeing the terror on your tiny face—he has to admit—stings a little. 

"Have you seen yourself?" Nami asks when he finally brings it up. "You've literally cleared street corners."

"Doesn't help you always look like you want to punch someone," Franky adds.

"And that your face is stuck in a permanent scowl," says Sanji.

"Don't forget your cool scar and missing eye!" Luffy cheers.

"Thank you for all your unwanted opinions about my appearance," Zoro says tightly.

"Um, Zoro? I have a suggestion," Chopper says shakily.

The swordsman raises an eyebrow. 

"What is it?"

"Well,” Chopper begins, “I remember being terrified of humans after I first changed. They were so big and strong and strange looking."

"I got it, I'm scary-looking," Zoro growls.

"W-what I mean is—try making yourself smaller. Sit on the ground. Find something they might like, maybe snacks or a toy. And don't approach them; let them come to you on their own terms."

The doctor clicks his hooves nervously. 

"It's what worked for me when Dr. Hiruluk first took me in." 

Zoro gives a half smile and pats the young doctor on the head, "Thanks, Chopper." 

"At least one of you is actually helpful," he calls back to the others, leaving the galley.

Later, Zoro makes his way to Sunny's lawn. You and the others are playing some kind of game on one end, so he quietly heads to the other side and takes up a spot. 

He's brought a book with him. It’s old, with a cracked spine and deep blue cover. The title has mostly worn off, and the pages are yellowed and dog-eared. 

Well-loved is how Robin once described it. 

"This had better work," he mumbles to himself, opening the book and flipping to a specific page.

He can hear the sounds of the game behind him—Usopp insisting he was allowed to do whatever he did while you, Robin and Brook argue with him. 

Finding the page he was looking for, Zoro quietly began to read aloud.

"Long ago, on an island far from any known sea, there was the small village of Aurelia..."

It was your favorite story. 

Years ago, when you were still fresh to the crew, you'd found the book at a small shop when resupplying. You'd said it was just like the one your grandmother read to you when you were little. 

"...the boy said to the Sea King, 'If I could have just one scale, my village would be saved.'"

Zoro hears a small noise to his right. From the corner of his eye, he can just see the beginnings of tiny feet.

He keeps going.

"The sea king roared a great laugh. 'Who are you to ask a king for a scale? What makes you so worthy of such a grand prize?'"

You’re right behind his shoulder now, craning your neck to get a peek at the book in his lap.

"Is that...your book?" you ask softly.

"Sort of, I'm borrowing it," Zoro replies, keeping his eye on the page. 

"That’s my favorite story," you tell him. 

He risks a look. You’re staring at the ground, fidgeting nervously.

"Can you read it to me?" you practically whisper.

Zoro fights to contain his enthusiasm and remain neutral. After clearing his throat a time or two, he manages a soft smile and says, "Sure."

He expects you to sit next to him. Instead, you wriggle under his arm and into his lap. 

"You can keep going now," you inform him once you’re settled.

Zoro resumes the tale and slowly, the other three drift over to listen. Anytime one of them tries to interrupt, you shush them harshly, like royalty overseeing their subjects. It’s a struggle for Zoro not to laugh.

After that, things are better. Chopper says the effects should wear off in a few more days. Until then, at least you’re running toward him instead of away from him.

Though he’s never going to live down the teasing from the rest of the crew. 

Of course, you made him do the voices.

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Hi

Hello!

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him

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Hey so apparently Netflix just casually put Nimona on YouTube so anyone without an account or that hasn't put on their pirate hat in ages, watch it now!!!

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About this tumblr;

My name is Crow and I’m a 21+ male who’s disabled and struggles with their physical health.

I often post one shots that I create for various fandoms and I occasionally take requests, but not always.

I also post chapters to my ‘One day at a time’ story, which is fantasy based with magic, magical tech, various races, and lgbtq+ characters. It also touches on mental illness at times, including anxiety and ptsd.

(Chapter one link)

I update things when I can, but my health is often a struggle so I usually focus on that until I can write again.

Although I have a lot of my stories here, theres more on my Wattpad than here (RibcagesAndBookpages for Wattpad as well).

My primary fandoms are, The Seven Deadly Sins and Inuyasha, but I also heavily enjoy the Nimona movie, and I’m currently getting into One Piece.

I occasionally repost things related to these fandoms, and even less often I repost things from other fandoms.

Thanks for reading !

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I re-watched nimona with my siblings and we made a pause compilation 😭 help me some of them we were dying at💀

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if some of y'all ship ballister and nimona, get the fvck away from me. :)

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Tod: * insults, Ballister, and Ambrosius in some douche bag way*

Ballister and Ambrosius: *rolls their eyes and kinda just pushes it off*

Nimona, from a near by bush: *gremlin attack*

Tod: HEY WHAT THE FUCK? GET YOUR KID OFF OF ME!

Ballister: She’s teething.

Tod: SHE’S 1000 YEARS OLD?!?

Abrosious: And she’s teething. Anyway, Ballister, wanna go get ice cream?

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hey could y'all do me a favour?

Reblog if you're okay with "weird" compliments on your stuff!

things like "biting this" and such

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FEMA is doing an emergency alert test on all TVs, radios, and cell phones on October 4, 2023, at approximately 2:20pm ET.

If you live in the US and you have a phone you need to keep secret for any reason, make sure that it is turned off at this time.

Yes, I'm doing this months in advance, and yes, my blog has very little reach, but I figure better to post about it more than less.

Please reblog and add better tags than mine, I'm bad at tags.

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One day at a time: Mercy is a cruel thing (chap 4)

    It was a cloudy day in Escrin as Ares and Rowan made their way into the small town and began to look for an inn. The two had been traveling together for another week with little incident, other than the occasional rude person they passed or met in shops who would comment on their appearances or some other factor about either one that this person did not like. Of course, Rowan responded by raising his middle finger and telling Ares not to worry about them, and no more came of it. 

    As the two spotted an inn nearby they began to approach it until they heard a crashing noise nearby and noticed debris fly down the street from around the corner. The two shared a look as people screamed and fled, then ran over and noticed a person with black and green hair that was pinned up in a bun and they had bangs that were above their eyebrows, as well as face-framing pieces on the sides. They wore a tank top, leather pants, a trench coat that was off their shoulders, and a pair of mid-calf length slightly platformed boots; and everything was black.

    The person currently seemed to be controlling a green mist that was holding a woman with hair that was primarily navy blue but had pastel blue pieces that were randomly in her hair and her ends about a foot up from the bottom are also the pastel blue. Her hair was in two long braids and her bangs were messily covering her face as she struggled under the weight of the green mist. She had on a white short-sleeved blouse with a light brown leather vest that tied similarly like a corset in a front, as well as form-fitting cotton pants and knee-high boots the same color as her vest; but her blouse was torn up, as well as the pants. A rapier was on the ground near the woman, but the person controlling the mist wouldn't let her move,

    "How do you know so much!? Who's giving you information?!" Shouted they shouted as they pushed their hand forward more as the green mist began to push harder on the woman and crawl further up the brick walls.

    Before Ares could make a sarcastic remark about how he had no choice in helping, he turned to Rowan and realized he was only gone, causing a small sigh to leave Ares, 'Idiot.' He smiled softly, 'Here we go.' He forced the smile off his face and looked at Rowan. Rowan was running at the person controlling the mist from behind and once he got close enough he jumped up and planted his feet into their back, which sent them flying into the brick wall as the mist released the woman and she began to fall. Ares made his way over before leaping up and grabbing the girl, then landed a few feet away near Rowan, then set the woman down,

     "It's about time you showed up." Huffed the woman as she spoke in a thick Scottish accent, causing Ares to turn to her confused as Rowan got up off the ground. Rowan then turned towards the woman before he put his hand on his hip and looked her up and down, then looked at her face,

    "Am I supposed to know you?" He huffed back as he rolled his shoulder, only to look over to where the person he kicked was and noticed a new person had arrived at the scene; a man with scar-covered greyish purple skin and a lanky body, as well as deep purple wavy hair that reached past his chin and neon blue eyes that bore holes into Rowan's soul as the man stared at Rowan in rage. The man was holding the person that had been using the mist, who quickly got up and muttered 'thanks' before the two looked at each other, then ran at the group. The man ran for Rowan, while the mist user went for Ares and Rowan quickly reacted by summoning his scythe and using the blade to block a punch to the face from the man, which sent him flying back a bit as he landed on his backside. Rowan took a moment and blinked a few times before finally processing what happened, then noticed the man above him with his fist pulled back, then Rowan quickly dematerialized his scythe before rolling to the left as the man's fist hit the ground and went a few inches into the bricks, 'Okay, so don't let him touch me, got it.' Thought Rowan as he quickly got to his feet. He turned to face the man but was nearly met with another punch until a wall of ice came between them. 

    As Rowan looked over, he spotted the woman with blue hair with raised hands in their direction as she panted softly, 'Badass. Almost died and is still ready to fight, love that for her.' He took the chance to escape and quickly used the little bit of fairy magic he had to make himself lighter on his feet so he could cover more distance faster. He stood next to the woman's side and got into a ready stance as he conjured a baseball bat that held a smokey quartz gem in the butt end of the bat, "Thanks for the save. Who are these guys?" He said as he looked back at the man. The man broke his arm out of the ice and shook it off before turning to them with a head tilt,

    "You know us pretty well, Rowan. Your girlfriend sure did too. Well, ex." He hummed a bit as a small sinister smile came to his face. Rowan felt his blood run cold before beginning to boil,

    "Shut your mouth before I rip your jaw off!" He shouted at him as his grip on the bat tightened to the point of his knuckles going entirely white, while the man laughed softly,

    "I'd love to see you try." His smile became bigger and his features seemed to distort a bit as the smile grew inhumanly large, "Come at me, boy. I'll show you a real fight." He hummed as he motioned his hand towards himself. 

    Rowan began to take a step towards him as rage surged through his veins and plagued his mind, 'He thinks he can talk about her!? I'll kill him! Painfully!', but suddenly went arm out in front of him and pushed him back, which snapped him back to reality as he turned his head to the left. He was expecting Ares, but it was the blue-haired woman, who was giving him a stern look,

    "He's playing with you. He wants you to fight with rage, not logic, so he can kill you more easily. Ignore whatever he says." She said before grabbing her rapier from the holster on her hip and raising it. After a moment of processing, Rowan nodded softly and looked back to the man as he took a breath, then dematerialized the bat and materialized a katana in his right hand. The woman rushed into the fight and began chasing after the man as he dodged her attacks, while also trying to hit her, which she dodged as all. Once Rowan noticed the woman was keeping him busy, he took a slow breath and raised his hand above his head as he conjured three small swords above him, then dropped his hand as they floated behind him and above his head. He then joined the fight and used his fairy magic to become lighter again before going behind the man and attempting to slash him, but the man grabbed Rowan by the shirt and threw him at the woman.

    Unfortunately for the man, two of the three small swords planted themselves in his arm and shoulder as Rowan and the woman hit the ground with a grunt and a yelp. The man scoffed before prying the knives out of his body, then threw them on the ground before huffing and turning towards the two. Rowan scrambled to sit up and grab his katana, while the woman panted softly as she grabbed her rapier and stood up,

    "What do you want, Cadogan!? I know you didn't leave the base just because you wanted to sightsee! Is it because Amaya was assigned here?!" Shouted the woman at him as she stood up fully and readied her weapon. The man, Cadogan, scoffed and tilted his head to see her through his hair,

    "How do you know my name? No one outside of Wings does, so how do you know? And leave Amaya out of this, you cunt!" He allowed a small growl to leave him as he watched their movements. The woman simply scoffed in return and watched him,

    "I know more than you think, and let's just say some of your bases aren't very strong. Especially for all the important information they have, it's crazy, really." She spoke in a calm and even voice as she watched Cadogen carefully, although she was still breathing a little heavily.

        An angry growl and snarl left Cadogen as he lunged at her, but at the same time, Rowan materialized a metal bat with a green shard in the butt of it and swung for Cadogen's head. As Rowan felt the bat connect he put as much strength as he could into the bat, while the gem glowed on the bottom and Cadogen flew backward dozens of feet. He hit a brick wall and slid down it as he attempted to recover, shaking his head a bit, while Rowan grinned at him,

    "Man, I love the HR bat series. 6 is absolutely the best." He looked at the woman, who was watching him with a surprised expression; although it quickly turned neutral again when he looked at her. He hummed softly before looking back to Cadogan, who was still shaking his head and sitting up a bit until suddenly he looked up at Rowan and tilted his head as his wide eyes seemed to stare into Rowan's soul. A small chill went down Rowan's spine as he muttered, "Bleh, creepy fucker." He stuck his tongue out at Cadogan, who rose from his sitting position and a low growl came from him. It changed the aura around him and it began to sound distorted the longer it went on and that same chill went down Rowan's spine again as he glanced at the woman. She had her rapier ready, so Rowan dematerialized his bat and materialized his katana once more, 'Light weapons only. He's too fast for anything heavy. Gonna have to use my light feet to keep away...' He took a silent breath before focusing on Cadogan, "Let's go." He muttered to the woman. 

    Both Rowan and the woman stepped towards Cadogan before running at him and rapidly slashing at his body; although almost every attack was dodged. Suddenly, Cadogan grabbed the woman by the neck and threw her at a wall before grabbing Rowan by the neck as well, then grabbing his katana with his hand. Fear began to creep into Rowan's heart as the man's bright eyes seemed to stare into Rowan's soul and Rowan began to trash in an attempt to get away as he felt breathing become more and more difficult the longer he was hanging there. He then brought his feet up and put them on Cadogan's chest before he pushed enough for Cadogan to lose his grip. Rowan fell to the ground and panted softly as he scrambled away and over to a building with a ladder on the side, but chest as he reached it something hit the ladder and a bright green liquid began to drip down it and melt the metal of the ladder entirely. He quickly backed up and looked to Cadogan, who had a grin on his face; one that was too large to be seen as human and the fear began to take hold of Rowan even more.

    Meanwhile, Ares had begun to battle Amaya, but he was mostly just dodging her attacks as she threw various attacks at him. None of them were landing, but most of them came close to slicing or hitting him, but he always seemed to dodge last second,

    "Fight back damn it! Or at least let me hit you!" Amaya huffed as she brought both of her hands down in a slicing motion as two green blades sliced down where Ares was. When they hit the ground a cloud of debris and green mist filled the place where Ares had been, and once it cleared she realized he wasn't there, "Where did he-"

    "Behind you." A monotone voice spoke from behind Amaya, causing them to turn around and end up faced with Ares staring down at her with a frown and a disapproving look. A yelp left them as they jumped back and sent a green mist wall at Ares in an attempt to bash him, but he leaped five feet in the air and dodged it. Amaya had fallen when she stumbled back and was sitting on the ground and watching Ares with wide eyes,

    "What are you!? You're not human!" They huffed as she stood up and got into a fighting stance, ready for him to make a move to attack them.

        Instead, Ares watched them as he landed on the ground and slipped his hands into his pants pockets,         

    "Why does it matter? All that matters is you can't win against me. You're not strong enough." He sighed softly as he looked at them with a sad look, "Why continue to fight? I would just end up killing you, and that's the last thing I want to do. Just leave, Rowan, and I won't bother you guys if you guys just leave us alone." He spoke in a soft voice, almost like he was begging. Which, he sort of was, but mostly for their own sake; and Rowan's. Amaya scoffed,

    "Like I'd believe you! This is just a trick to wait for me to lower my guard so you can kill me, and I'm not stupid enough for that." They raised their hands into a fighting position as Ares sighed. They created two huge walls of mist and quickly closed them on Ares, who just stared at them before suddenly disappearing just as the walls collided, "What the-" They started, only to feel hands go onto their chin, then the left side of their head. Amaya froze and tried to turn to look at Ares, who was giving her a disappointed look,

    "If I wanted you dead, you would be." He said with a small sigh before the pressure released from their head and he was gone. They began to look around before spotting him slightly to the side of them, with his hands back in his pockets. They stared at him before dropping to their knees and looking at the ground, "You don't understand, If I give up, she'll kill me." They spoke with complete and utter despair in their voice and a devastated expression on their face as she turned their gaze to the ground. 

    There was a long moment of silence between the two before Amaya suddenly snapped their head up and looked at Cadegan,

    "Cadegan! SOS!" She shouted as Ares snapped his head over to see Cadegan and Rowan. Rowan was on the ground with a bruise on his face and his back against a wall as he panted and held a metal baseball bat. There were melted bricks around him and Cadegan had him cornered and was backing him further in, but his head snapped up when Amaya spoke and he glared at Ares. Ares though, already had a dark look on his face and teleported beside Cadegan before punching him in the jaw. Cadegan was knocked back and shook his head before hunching a bit and letting his arms hang as he peered at Ares through his hair,

    "What are you...? You're not just a human, they can't move that fast. Or hit that hard..." He tilted his head the other way. Suddenly, the woman ran at Amara with her rapier out and Cadegan was on her trail in seconds. Ares turned to Rowan, who simply shook his head, 

    "Go help her. He's not human either, and nothing like a human. I'll explain later, but trust me on this." He carefully spoke as he panted in an attempt to make it easier for Ares to understand. In turn, Ares stared at him with hesitation before nodding and stepping towards Cadogan and the woman, then was gone in a flash. He appeared beside Cadogan then stuck his leg out and tripped the man, causing him to go tumbling and snarl as he attempted to grab Ares; who teleported away again and teleported to the side of Amaya,

    "You could stop all of this, and no one else would get hurt." He readied himself as Cadogan was distracted by the woman as she rapidly slashed at him, while Cadogan dodged and attempted to hit her various times as she narrowly dodged. Ares turned his attention back to Amaya, "Rowan doesn't want any of this. He just wants to go back to his life, maybe you can convince Cadogan to pull back?" He looked at them as Amaya looked to the ground before closing her eyes and clenching her fists.  

    As a small shriek echoed through the air, all eyes landed on the woman as Cadogan had her pinned to the ground by the throat and hissed down at her, 

    "You're a nuisance!! Your time in Oselia is done!" He shouted as he raised his fist. But as soon as she had shrieked, Rowan had gotten up from where he had been and ran at Cadogan, just out of sight, and materialized the Oroxlis mace he had used in a previous battle and raised it above his head. But, just as he brought it down Cadogan spotted him and spun on his left knee before turning and punching Rowan in the side, which sent Rowan flying a few feet. He hit the ground with his side and rolled a few times before he stopped himself and wheezed a bit, 'Oh fuck, that's not good. Something broke, I think.' He attempted to sit up but dropped back down and wheezed again. 

    Cadogan stood and made his way over to Rowan before spitting green liquid on him and it quickly began to melt Rowan's leather jacket; which he quickly began to tear off his body,

    "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He shouted as it began to singe his skin before throwing the jacket onto the ground and wheezing softly as he turned to glare at Cadogan. He smirked at Rowan's glare and stepped towards him as he raised his fist, only to feel someone grab his wrist and turned to see Ares gripping it tightly as he glared at Cadogan with a hate-filled gaze. He spun around to kick Ares, who teleported behind Cadogan and punched him in the middle of his back, which forced Cadogan to stumble forward and onto his knees. Ares grabbed Rowan's mace off the ground and raised it above his head, only to hear someone shout,

    "Stop!" Shouted Amaya as she raised her hands and stumbled to the side a bit, clearly exhausted from her previous battle. Ares raised a brow at her as the woman with blue hair approached Amaya from behind, but waited just out of sight to strike. Amaya panted softly and looked at Cadogan,

    "Cadogan, let's stop this. They want no part of this, and I'm sure if we leave them peacefully, they'll allow us to leave with our lives. Maybe...we could go on the run together? C'mon! Just me and you!" They said with a tired smile as they stumbled to the other side. Cadogan frowned deeply as Ares slightly lowered the mace since he was hopeful of the fight ending, but when a scoff left Cadogen, Ares swung down the mace; only to miss as Cadogan dodged to the left and punched Ares in the right leg. A small grunt left Ares as he dropped to his right knee and Cadogan looked to Amaya,

    "They've brainwashed you! They know everything and plan to take us down! Lady Skel knows it! Get your head out of the clouds!" He shouted at Amaya, who looked devastated,

    "But Cadogan, I'm serious. Let's just go." They offered a smile, then lifted their hand to offer it to Cadogan to take, "Please?" She asked softly.

        Cadogan watched her for a long moment as everyone seemed to hold their breath and wait for his response, but suddenly he was in front of Amaya and grabbed her by the neck before picking her up and holding her in the air by her neck,

    "You dare turn on Lady Skel of your own volition?!" He shouted at her as she gasped for air and struggled against him. She attempted to create mist attacks, but everything kept falling as soon as it rose as she panicked and grasped at her neck. The group around him began to shout at him and Ares teleported over to stop him, but suddenly, Cadogan shoved his free hand into her chest as she screamed. It made a crunching and squelching noise before he pulled out her heart, and she went entirely limp as he then threw her body to the ground. He stared at the heart in his hand with a look of sadness before turning to rage as he turned to Rowan,

    "This is your fault! I'll kill you for poisoning her mind! Everything was fine until you came along!" He shouted as he ran at Rowan as fast he could. Fear filled Rowan's face as he closed his eyes and raised his arms to shield his face, 'This is it.' He thought as he waited for the impact, but none came. Instead, he opened his eyes to find Ares standing in front of him with Cadogan's right arm twisted in his grasp as smoke came out of Ares's mouth and a low growl left him as his eyes seemed to glow red for a moment. Cadogan looked surprised for a moment, then shouted as Ares suddenly twisted his arm and a snapping sound echoed through the air as Cadogan's arm became deformed and bones were seen poking out. Cadogan punched Ares in the jaw with his free hand, which knocked him back a few feet as his boots slid on the bricks, and then Cadogan leaped up onto a building, "This isn't over! We'll keep sending stronger and stronger agents until you're dead! All of you!" He shouted before leaping off the roof and fleeing into the distance. 

    Rowan had dropped to his knees when Amaya was killed by Cadogan and sat there panting and feeling rage run through his veins, but he knew there was nothing he could do. The woman had tried to get there in time but by the time she realized he was turning against them entirely, it was too late. Ares was the most devastated though, after all, he had talked to them and caused their rebellion; so he heavily blamed himself for their death and dropped to his knees as he stared at their lifeless body. His eyes shifted down to the hole in their chest before going to her heart that lay just a few feet away, then closed his eyes and tried to hold himself together. A small cough left Rowan as he crawled over to Ares,

    "Ares? We should get out of here." He said softly as he winced and moved to sit back on the ground. The woman made her way over with a sigh,

    "Come with me, I have a room at the Inn here. They'll assume we left, so let's just lay low. " She said as she put her rapier in its holster and slightly limped over to them. Ares finally opened his eyes and looked at Rowan; who had a black eye and a bruise on that same cheek, as well as burn holes in his shirt that revealed red marks on his skin; likely burns from the acid. His arms were bruised as well, and Ares felt a surge of rage fill his body until he turned his gaze away and looked at the ground in front of him, 'Don't lose your temper now, Ares...Now isn't the time, Rowan is hurt.' He shifted and sat up. 

    Rowan watched Ares carefully to make sure he was okay, only to look confused as Ares knelt in front of him,

    "Ares, what are you doing-?" He started to say, but was cut off halfway when Ares picked him up bridal style and a panicked noise left Rowan, "Woah woah woah!" He moved his hand onto Ares's chest and gripped his shirt. For a reason Ares couldn't understand, it made his insides twist around and his heart jump into his throat before he shifted Rowan in his arms and glanced at him,

    "...You're hurt." He muttered as he turned to the woman, who nodded and headed over to where she could see the ditched bags from the men and gathered them before leading them to the inn. Meanwhile, Rowan was protesting,

    "I can walk, Ares." He huffed at him, only to feel heat crawl up his neck as Ares huffed back louder and gave him an irritated look,

    "I don't care." Muttered Ares as he followed after the woman. She then turned to them and gave a little smile,

    "Sorry about everything so far. I'll explain more once we get there. Too many eyes and ears on the streets." She turned back to face where she was walking and Ares gave just a hum of acknowledgement. 

    Once they arrived at room twelve of the inn, the woman took out a key from inside the laced part of her vest and unlocked the door before going inside and turning on the light, then held the door open for Ares. He entered the room and noticed there were two large beds and glanced at her before setting Rowan in one of the chairs at the dining set in the room. A small whine of pain left Rowan as he held his side that had been punched by Cadogan and Ares frowned softly before kneeling in front of Rowan and giving him a concerned look. Rowan, on the other hand, felt heat rising to his cheeks at Ares's closeness and attention and huffed softly,

    "I'm fine, like I told you. Just sore. Nothing I can't handle." He mumbled a bit as he looked away, causing an irritated sigh to leave Ares before he plopped down in the other chair beside Rowan. Meanwhile, the woman closed the door to the room and sat on the edge of the bed that seemed to be hers, since it had bags beside the bed,

    "I'll start with my name first, I'm Serena...And I've been looking for you two. Well, mostly you, Rowan." She said with a nervous smile. However when she noticed Ares tense up she waved her hand in dismissal, "It's not like that, He knows a lot about Wings and is one of their highest-ranking threats, so I came to find out why." She said as she moved to rest her elbows on her knees, then interlaced her fingers and rested her chin on them, "So, Rowan, what'd you do to anger them so severely?" She raised an eyebrow. 

    Rowan and Ares shared a look for a moment before Rowan shifted in his seat a bit; while attempting to hide a wince as he did and glancing at Ares at the same time, then focused on her,

    "I think before I answer anything, we need to know more about you. After all, you already seem to know who we are." He seemed to be choosing his words carefully as he spoke, although only Ares noticed. Serena nodded softly with a sigh before raising her head and dropping her hands down a bit before clasping them together entirely,

    "Alright, fair enough. I suppose I should start with how I know you, hm?" She cracked a small, nervous smile as Rowan and Ares nodded. She sighed once again before looking to the side, "Long story short; I'm someone who's concerned with the future of this world, should Lady Skel continue on the path she's on. Her darkness is slowly spreading to every city in every kingdom. She's trying to make little moves to make big moves, but I noticed some time ago. Because they never commit more than one crime in one place at a time, they never put it together-" She paused and shook her head, "I rambled anyways, my apologies. I started infiltrating the bases to gather information on how big her operation truly is and among their files I found your name, Rowan." She turned her gaze back to Rowan. He shifted in his seat and hid a wince again, 

    "What did it say?" He asked with concern lacing his voice, causing Serena to break eye contact to look at the floor. She hesitated for a moment, then sighed before speaking,

    "High-level threat; Eliminate on sight." She looked back to him as he muttered 'motherfucker' under his breath, then thoughts began to consume him, 'I mean sure I broke into a dozen bases and made them look like a joke, but I didn't know! Now they want me dead on sight!? Ugh! I just want to go bake some fucking bread! I miss the smell of freshly baked bread...' his gaze shifted to the floor.

    It was silent for a long moment until Ares set a hand over Rowan's which caused him to be pulled from his thoughts and his body to jolt a bit. He yelped in pain and held his side, causing Ares to rise from his seat and stand in front of him with a stern look on his face,

    "Off." He demanded, then went over to Rowan's bag that was near the other bed and dug through it before taking out a first aid kit. Rowan whined in protest at Ares before glancing at Serena and sighing as Ares went to get the first aid kit, 

    "You're going to see scars...just don't freak out if you figure out what they're from. Okay?" He said as he glanced at her again before looking to the floor. She nodded softly as her brows knit together in confusion and she shifted to sit back on the bed a bit; unsure what kind of scars they would be; large and deep? deformity scars? Her mind was racing with possibilities, but she spoke none of them. 

    Meanwhile, Rowan stripped off his shirt carefully, all while making noises of pain and occasionally holding his breath to keep from gasping in pain, then dropped his arms and allowed his shirt to fall to the floor. His body was littered with bright pink burns, along with blue and purple bruises, as well as a deep purple bruise on Rowan's side; where Cadogan punched him. Ares gave an angry huff and quickly knelt in front of Rowan, 'Damn it! I knew I shouldn't have believed him! Idiot always hides his pain.' Ares's brows knit together as he half-glared the first aid kit and began to take out burn ointment and bandages. Rowan was staring at the ground and watching Ares's movement, but wouldn't look at his face, 'He's mad. I should have told him I was hurt, but he gets so worried. Besides, now he probably feels bad for not noticing sooner. I suck.' A heavy sigh left Rowan. 

    Noticing the heaviness and tension between the two, Serena spoke,

    "Well, I suppose I'll continue while you treat him." She said before looking to both of them with a pause to make sure it was alright; When Rowan gave a small nod, she continued, "I sought you out Rowan, because I need to know what made you such a big threat to them, and if that will benefit me in helping stop them." She said softly, almost as if she was unsure if she wanted to continue. Rowan's fist clenched slightly while Ares focused on Rowan's wounds and getting them treated, 'What the fuck is my life? First I go to help a chick in trouble and then some demonic ass mother fucker wrecks my day, almost kills the chick, then murders his own companion; and now come to find out I'm one of their highest level threats and they'll never leave me alone! And now I'm covered in burns and bruises !' He could feel himself spiraling and closed his eyes. He had begun to shake without realizing and Ares put a hand over Rowan's clenched fist and Rowan's eyes snapped open as he was met with the sympathetic and sad face of Ares, '...That's right. My light. I can't leave him to defend himself, they're after him now too. And her, they're hunting her now too. Wait, she mentioned stopping them!?' He suddenly looked up to Serena and unclenched his fist,

    "You want to stop them?" He just about whispered. Serena nodded softly,        

    "Yes. They're plaguing this land. Lady Skel performs illegal magic experiments on those she 'takes in', and dumps their bodies if they don't make it; usually abandoned buildings in the bad ends of towns so no one does anything about it." She was harshly glaring at the ground as her face scrunched up and she leaned forward once more. She began to clasp her hands together and held them so tightly that her knuckles were completely white. 

    Rowan and Ares shared a look before Ares resumed his treatment on Rowan, who looked to Serena with a sympathetic look,

    "You lost someone important to you, didn't you?" He asked in a soft tone, knowing it had to be a sensitive subject for her, based on her reaction, 'Whoever it was meant a lot to her. She's angry. I hope she's not going down the same path I did. I pulled myself out just in time before It was too late, she might not be so lucky.' He felt a weight drop onto his shoulders and watched her reaction carefully. Serena pressed her lips together and closed her eyes before sighing and giving a small nod and opening her eyes, 

    "They...They took her in with claims of good things, but then...they experimented on her with some sort of magic; I'm still figuring out what it is they're using to enhance people." She shook her head, "I got off subject, my bad. Uh," She took a breath as her hands began to shake, "The ones who don't survive, they dump them in the more dangerous parts of town...So nothing is done about it." She let out a shaky breath. 

    Rowan felt his heart ache for her as he listened to her story, after all, he knew exactly what it was like to lose someone close to you. He sighed softly,    

    "I know how you feel. It's disgusting how they treat people. Anyone who isn't with them is against them and has to die, according to them. This all started just because they came into the bakery and threw a mug of hot coffee at a woman, and I wouldn't stand for it." He raised a hand and rubbed his face, "These guys really suck." He muttered as Serena's gaze raised to Rowan,

    "They need to be stopped. They're affecting every city, village, and not just in this kingdom." She said in a dark tone as she frowned deeply, "But why? I can't figure out why. No one will tell me, they kill themselves before they do." She sighed in irritation. A rush of memories hit Rowan as he remembered interrogating the man in the monkey mask, and he told them their goal,         

    "To kill Queen Madenhyrth." He spoke softly as the weight on his shoulders began to feel unbearably heavy and weighed his heart down as well, 'This is even more serious than I thought. They're not just bad guys, they're enemies to The Kingdom of Oburus and everyone in it.' As he met Serena's gaze, her face dropped into an expression of despair and shock. 

    Serena stood up and stared at Rowan as she pointed at him,

    "How do you know that? Did they tell you? How come they told you? How haven't you told The Kingdom!?" She began to shout and throw her hands around as she talked, and Rowan noticed the water in the vase of the flowers on the table began to move around while she moved her hands around, 'Water manipulation? That ice earlier makes more sense now.' He blinked as he processed. Ares shot up from his kneeling position on the floor and turned to Serena as he glared at her; it was a warning to lower her tone. She understood and groaned in anger before sitting back on the bed and crossing both her arms and her legs as she glared at Rowan,

    "Speak." She demanded. An irritated sigh left Rowan as he sat up slightly and winced,

    "I didn't realize they were such a big deal. I knew they had a dozen bases or so, but not more than that. I mostly dealt with the ones in Blackburn. Besides, I didn't think those idiots could have such a strong organization behind them...But today is proof enough that they've got some strong guys hidden in their sleeves. And knowing what you know now? I...I wish I would have known." He sighed and rubbed his face. 

    Meanwhile, Ares was bandaging Rowan's burns very carefully and occasionally using his hands to direct parts of Rowan's body, and that's when he began to realize, 'Wait. I've been so focused on what's going on I didn't even notice he was touching me. Wait. He's touching me! He's being so gentle and his hands are so warm and-'

    "Rowan." Huffed Serena from across the room as she shifted in her seat. He jumped a bit and sat up a bit more before hissing in pain,

    "What?" He asked, glancing away nervously. She sighed in irritation before she dropped her arms from their crossed position and rested her palms on the bed,

    "I said, what else do you know?" She sounded annoyed, and Rowan assumed she had said that before but he was too busy being overwhelmed by Ares and his own thoughts to notice her speak. He paused for a moment as he ran through everything,

    "Well, not much else. I took out half of their branch in Blackburn, which was further destroyed by the kingdom when I turned in some of their general-ranking members and they were publicly executed. I also burned down a few of their buildings, so they couldn't rebuild there. I mostly focused on finding people, not information" He shrugged a bit and winced for a second. But as Serena stared at him with slightly wide eyes and Ares paused to stare up at him, he froze up a bit, "What? What did I say?" He panicked a bit as he tried to figure out what caused this reaction. 

    A heavy sigh left Serena as she shook her head, 

"And you don't know why they're after you? You've already proved you can ruin their progress, and now you know what even I couldn't find out...But, how did you find it out? How did you find any of that out?" She asked as she sat up a bit more and looked at Rowan curiously. A nervous laugh left Rowan as he looked to the side, while his smile slowly turned into a frown and a darkened, sad look overtook his features,

    "It's alright, pretend I didn't ask." Spoke to Serena in a soft tone. As Ares finished with the bandages he began to put away the rest of the first aid kit, then rose from his place on the ground before going and washing his hands. Rowan raised his head slightly to give Serena a nod of thanks, 

    "What do we do now? It's not like we have a living hostage or any proof. The royal army won't believe us, and won't act without cause." He sighed and dropped his gaze to the floor, 'That's what happened last time I tried to turn them in for something. I had no proof other than a dead body, and no evidence was found anywhere else. It's pointless.' He thought as he stared at the floor.

    A scoff left Serena and caused Rowan to lift his head to look at her,

    "I don't care what you do, but I'm stopping them. Any way I can." She crossed her arms and flipped her bangs out of her face. Right after though, Ares rounded the corner to the left while drying his hands and turned to Serena, 

    "But you're just a kid." He said plainly, while seeming confused at the same time and Serena immediately seemed to deflate a bit before huffing and turning away,

    "So? It doesn't matter. I'll get it done. Even if I die in the end, I'll make sure all their secrets are revealed." She glared at the wall to the right of the room as she hunched her shoulders a bit. 

    Rowan felt something stir in him at hearing her, 'She'll die...But she won't give up either. She wants to save everyone. Could I even do something like that? That's terrifying...but...so is having to run for the rest of your life and never knowing when you're going to be attacked next.' He clenched both his fists as he stared at the ground, 'Could I do something like that? It can't be much scarier than being hunted. I...could join her. Ares will follow me though; can I really risk his life like that? He obviously has a choice, but I...I don't want to leave his side either. But...I could bring justice for Brooke, and save the kingdom from destruction....' He pondered as he stared at the floor until Ares called out,

    "Rowan....?" He asked softly from across the room as he noticed Rowan's change in behavior. Meanwhile, Rowan's head snapped up, and looked at Serena, 

    "Let me help." He said in a firm and determined voice. At first, Ares looked surprised, then slightly outraged for a moment before his expression went entirely blank and he turned to lean on the wall while crossing his arms. Of course, Rowan noticed this and looked to Ares, "Ares, please don't be mad. Maybe you could come with, and we could all work together to bring them-" 

    "Why would I want to save the kingdom when it hates me so much?" Interrupted Ares as he looked up with a glare and looked to Rowan. A pang of pain and guilt hit Rowan's heart, 'I've never seen him genuinely angry like this...not at me.' He swallowed hard before piecing his thoughts together. A small breath left Rowan and he stood up carefully to make his way to Ares, while Ares's eyes widened and he went to help Rowan, but stopped when he was doing fine and looked to his face. 

    With their chests almost touching, Rowan looked up at Ares with a gentle look, before grabbing his hands,

    "First off...Because they're never going to stop hunting you now. You're on their list..and they won't stop until you die." He sighed and looked to the side. After a moment though he looked back to Ares and smiled softly, "And second; because people just like you will see you as a hero, and then they'll see they can be the hero too." He hummed. Ares felt his heart stop in his chest and he listened carefully to Rowan as different waves of emotions hit him all at once as the world spun and he began to shake, which Rowan seemed to immediately notice,

    "It's okay, you don't have to make a decision tonight." He hummed. He released Ares's hands and turned to Serena, "You either, both of you take the time to sleep on it. Even if we don't work together Serena, I'm sure you'll be seeing more of me." He gave her a little grin before very slightly limping over to his bag and getting out a fresh shirt. Once he had one he put it on carefully and then looked to the two of them, "Let's figure out sleeping arrangements and get ready for bed. It's late now and it's been a long day for all of us." He hummed as he leaned on the wall behind him to steady himself. 

    Meanwhile, the two snapped out of their thoughts and looked to Rowan before nodding softly,         

    "This bed on the right is mine, everything else is up to you two." Said Serena as she stood from her bed and went to her bag to gather clothes. Once she had the clothes she wanted, she then turned to them, "I'm showering, do either of you need to go to the bathroom first?" She held her clothes to her chest as she asked. Rowan shook his head a bit, 

    "I need to change clothes but it's whatever." He said with a shrug, hiding a wince as he did. 'I hope I didn't fracture a rib or something, that'd suck.' He internally sighed as his eyes dropped to the ground as Serena turned to Ares,

    "What about you?" She tilted her head the slightest bit. A grunt left Ares as he shook his head a bit and moved away from the wall by the bathroom before setting the towel he used for his hands on the table. Serena nodded a bit before turning and going into the bathroom, then locking it and moments later the shower turned on. 

        Rowan made his way over to his bag and grabbed some shorts to sleep in, as well as a pack of wipes he carried on him to clean his face and things, then began to strip his shoes, socks, and pants off. This left him in a pair of dark blue boxers and his t-shirt as he sat on the edge of the bed and began to put his shorts on, only to sigh when he noticed the various dark bruises on his legs, but his eyes lingered on a scar on his right thigh for a moment. Across the room, Ares had sat down in one of the chairs at the table set up and was watching Rowan from the corner of his eye; at first, it was to check him out, but he began to feel worried as he noticed how many bruises Rowan had, and how injured he seemed, 'I need to keep him out of trouble. Something's wrong, and I doubt I'll convince him to go to a hospital...It's probably dangerous to anyways, with who's after us.' He turned his gaze to the floor, 'If he does with Serena...can I go with him? Do I really care enough about this shitty Kingdom? Can I even protect him if he goes?' He sighed very softly and closed his eyes, 'Who says I need to save the kingdom? Rowan. Rowan is my mission. Protecting him, and making sure he's happy again. He deserves it.' He turned his gaze to Rowan. Meanwhile, Rowan was struggling to get his shorts on and shakily stood up to pull them up before plopping back on the bed and beginning to roughly wipe his face with one of the wipes. Ares could feel a small smile make its way onto his face, 'Yeah. He deserves it. Besides, He promised to show me every city of Oburus, and he hasn't done that yet.' His gaze softened as he watched Rowan run his fingers through his hair. 

    However as Rowan noticed Ares staring, his face became slightly pink and he looked panicked,         

    "What? Did I miss a spot? Is my hair funny lookin'?" He quickly reached up and combed his hair with his fingers as Ares's smile grew slightly,

    "I'll go. If she says yes." He said softly. Rowan stared at him for a moment as he blinked a few times before smiling, and springing up from the bed, only to cry out softly and drop down onto the bed as he held his side and laid back on the bed. He was softly hissing in pain as he held the area right where his stomach and lower rib were and Ares shot up from his seat and made his way over, "Rowan? What happened? Are you okay?" Ares quickly leaned his left hand on the bed as he hovered over Rowan a bit, "Show me, I need to check it out." He says in a softer voice. Rowan let out a slow breath and sighed,

    "I'm fine now Ares, I just shouldn't have done that. I think I just fractured a rib is all." He smiled nervously as he began to sit up, ignoring his pounding heartbeat as Ares stood up as well. Then as Ares put a hand behind Rowan's back to help him up, he felt like he was going to explode and he closed his eyes for a moment, 

    "A fractured rib is not fine, Rowan." Huffed Ares as he finished helping up Rowan, who opened his eyes and turned his gaze away,

    "Well, no, not technically. But I'll be fine, it's not the worst pain I've felt." He gave a small shrug and ignored the pain he felt when he took a deep breath while shrugging and looking away, 'I don't want him to worry about me, I guess I could tell him about how fast I feel, but that's a whole story I dont want to get into...Ugh, okay, fuck it. I'll just say I don't want to talk about it if he asks' He finally turned his gaze back to Ares and sighed. Ares tilted his head and waited for Rowan, knowing he had something to say,

    "I'll heal fast, so don't worry, okay?" He smiled nervously as he rubbed his arm a bit, while Ares's brows knit together and he frowned,

    "You're a human. No matter how fast you heal, a fractured bone will take weeks." He huffed again. Rowan shifted uncomfortably and Ares's eyebrows raised into an expression of surprise, "Unless...you're not human...?" He asked softly. 

    Rowan closed his eyes and let out a small breath before shaking his head,

    "Well, not entirely, no. I'm uh, half fairy. That's why I'm so fast and you can never hear my footsteps; and increased healing speed. Among a few other things." He smiled nervously and shifted again as Ares stared at him with slightly wide eyes. Rowan cleared his throat awkwardly, "This is the part where you say something, Ares." He muttered as Ares returned his expression to normal, although he still looked a little surprised, and he nodded softly, 

    "Well, yeah, makes more sense now; but why didn't you tell me sooner?" He asked softly as he turned to Rowan entirely and frowned a bit. Rowan could feel guilt beginning to weigh on his heart and he turned his gaze to the floor,

    "It leads to a subject I'd rather not talk about, so I avoid it." He spoke just above a whisper as he felt his heart ache; suddenly the smell of blood filled his nose and shouting filled his brain as everything around him went dark...But as he felt a hand over his own, he snapped back to reality and jumped nearly off the bed he quickly looked around until he spotted Ares looking at him with a worried expression,

    "You back, Rowan? You checked out on me again." He muttered as he hesitantly moved his hand off Rowans. 

    A small exhale left Rowan as he realized he was holding his breath and gave Ares a small smile, although it didn't meet his eyes,

    "I'm back. Sorry." His smile dropped. He turned his gaze to the floor as he sighed softly and ran a hand through his hair, "Uh, flashbacks." He glanced up at Ares before looking away again. A small hum left Ares as he moved over to his own bag of clothes,

    "I figured as much. It happens a lot, you know." He spoke in a gentle tone as he glanced back to Rowan, who rubbed his face with his hand,

    "Yeah, I know. I try not to but..."

    "It just happens." Ares finished for him as he gave Rowan a small smile when he looked over. Rowan was surprised to hear Ares say that and felt himself almost become flustered at Ares' smile, as small as it was, but focused on talking, 

    "You..get it?" He asked slowly, it was as if he was unsure if wanted to ask. 

    There was a small pause before Ares nodded softly and looked away a bit,

    "Yeah. It's like..one minute you're here, and the next...you're there, and living it all again." He sighed softly as he closed his eyes for a moment. Rowan opened his mouth to speak but felt the words die in the back of his throat as he closed his mouth again and watched Ares, 'He's been through hell too. I should have known, dragon shifters never have it easy. No one trusts them, no one likes them, no one wants them around....But I'm the same. If Serena knew what we both were...would she trust us? Will she turn on us too?' He could feel the weight on his heart increasing as his shoulders began to slouch, 'After all, I'm so fucked up mentally I'm a hindrance to battle. I could be gone all of the sudden for fucks sake! She really shouldn't trust me...neither should Ares.' Rowan could feel tears stinging his eyes as they began to form. He turned his head away and closed his eyes as he tried to calm down and began to take a few deep breaths,

    "It gets better. It takes time, But it gets better." A soft voice rang out, pulling Rowan from the darkness of his own head as he opened his eyes and looked to Ares; who had moved to kneel in front of Rowan and was smiling softly at him. It was a very small smile, but the gentleness in his eyes was enough to make Rowan's heart lift as he felt a small smile slip onto his features, 

    "Yeah?" He mumbled as his voice cracked softly. A small hum left Ares as he nodded softly, then stood up and went across the room before turning away and beginning to change, so Rowan quickly turned his gaze to the floor, 'It gets better? Maybe he's right...I'm sure he's been through hell, and yet here he is. Smiling at me and reassuring me...someone who he thought was human until ten minutes ago' He felt a smile slip onto his face as he stared at the floor. Rowan glanced back to Ares as he was bending over to put his sleep pants on and Rowan felt his heart jump into his throat and his stomach do a flip at the same time while heat rushed through his body. He quickly looked back to the ground and closed his eyes as he took a breath,

    'Man, He's fucking up my brain real bad.' Rowan opened his eyes and began to look over to Ares before forcing his eyes closed again, 'And I'm about ready to let him do a lot more than that.' He let out a quiet and somewhat shaky breath. 

    Suddenly, Rowan felt someone plop down beside him on the bed and felt himself nearly jump out of his skin and a quiet strangled shriek left him as he resisted the urge to shout in surprise. That's when he realized it was Ares and began to feel heat rapidly crawl up his neck, then up to his ears, and finally, his entire face began to burn,

    "Oh hi-" He laughed nervously. Ares blinked a few times in confusion at Rowan's reaction before shifting to scoot slightly further away, 'Maybe I'm too close? Is that the problem?' Ares thought as he put distance between them. Once he settled, he looked to Rowan,

    "What do you want to do about sleeping arrangements? I can always go rent us our own room." He says with a small shrug, but Rowan shook his head a bit, 

    "No it's okay, you can have the bed. I'll sleep on the floor. I don't mind it too much." He smiled and shifted to slowly stand up, "Besides, saving money on a room? Hell yeah. We spend a lot of money on rooms when we travel." He laughed softly before wincing and holding his side. Meanwhile, Ares frowned and Rowan's smile became more nervous as he glanced away, "What? No?" He asked as he shifted a bit. 

    Ares sighed in annoyance and stood up before pointing at the bed,

    "You sleep there. You're injured." He demanded, and Rowan knew there was no arguing it, 'But I don't want him uncomfortable either!' 

    "Then share it with me." Rowan found himself blurting out before feeling the previously calmed heat in his cheeks burn deeply again as he opened his mouth to say 'I didn't mean that', But he couldn't. Silence filled the room as Ares stared at Rowan with slightly raised brows and the smallest blush dusting his cheeks before looking away and nodding softly. Rowan swallowed thickly as he noticed his mouth go dry and nodded softly, 'Oh my god. I have to share a bed with Ares now. I'm going to die. I'm going to actually die. If he touches me? I'll die. My soul will leave my body and I will die!' Rowan rambled internally as he made his way to the left side of the bed, only for Ares to appear in front of him and put a hand on his chest to gently push him back. Rowan felt his heart stop as Ares did this and turned his head up to look at him while trying to ignore the growing warm feeling that was taking over his body, "What now?" Rowan huffed softly.

        After removing his hand from Rowan's chest, Ares stepped back a bit before looking away and huffing softly as he stared at the door. Rowan stared between Ares and the door for a moment before it clicked, 'He wants to sleep closer to the door so he can defend me and Serena. Oh my god, he's so cute. He can't say it either! This man is going to kill me.' A small smile made its way to Rowan's face before he nodded softly, "Alright, you get that side. Let's go to bed though, it's late and it's been a long day. I'm sure Serena won't mind." He smiled a bit more before carefully moving over to the right side of the bed and sitting on the edge. Meanwhile, Ares was watching Rowan with the smallest hint of a smile on his face before moving over to his side of the bed and sitting on the edge, then lying down with his back facing Rowan. Rowan, on the other hand, could feel the anxiety beginning to bubble up in his chest and shook his head a bit, 'You're fine, it's just Ares. He'll just sleep like a log like he always does.' He let out a silent breath to calm himself before lying down as well. 

    Although Rowan was sure his thoughts would race when he laid down, as soon as he pulled the blanket over his body and became comfortable he fell asleep, and it was Ares who lay awake with thoughts plaguing him. 

Meanwhile, at ư̵̧̈̈̓̄͆͌͘ņ̵̞̪̈́͂͆̂̌̔͂͂͘k̴̢̡̢̛̩̝͍̫̂͊n̶̻͈̯͉̿̀ͅȍ̴̙͇̟̟͋̀̏͛̓͑̀̒͜͝w̵̧̱̬͍̠̥̤͖̲̆̋̾̌͌͋͆͆̚͠ͅń̷̢̼͇̰̤͖͕͙̳̈̂ͅ l̸̼̤̇̀̂̅̎͐͝o̵͓͂̒̄̃̆̂̈́̍̆ç̴̖̗̬͖̘̑̈́͠ą̴̤̝͍͓̤̖̙̳̈́t̸̖͍̝̭͓̼̃̒̍ͅi̸̠̖̹̯̗͐̈́̓́̔̉͠͝o̷͚̤̜͉̮̦̠̣͗͜ͅn̶̛͓̭̗͑̑͑̆͐͜ 

    Lady Skel was standing in her bedroom as she looked at her various floor-to-wall bookshelves and attempted to find a book that interested her; although she had read a majority of them, so it was proving to be an impossible task,

    "We need to get new books, Sarg. Perhaps it's time to donate some of these to a library and pick up some new ones. Don't you agree?" She hummed in a smooth voice as she placed the book she had grabbed moments ago back onto a shelf and folded her arms, 

'I suppose it is time. Perhaps consider more books in the horror genre this time?' Came a voice from inside Lady Skel's head, causing a sigh to leave her, "No, Sarg. We bought a dozen the last time we went, and besides, don't we deal with enough blood and guts? I want romance. God's know I won't ever get that." She sighed once again as she turned to face the dimly lit room. 

    The room itself was made of stone, but had multiple green and blue tapestries on the walls to make it feel warmer, as well as a large green and gold carpet covering the majority of the stone floor. There were a few lit candles spread through the room, as well as a dozen not lit candles decorating the room and waiting to be lit. There was a large dark oak bed with black sheets and a blue colored comforter, while the bed had black curtains around it, although they were pulled back at the moment. There was a wardrobe to the left of the room along with a vanity beside it and on the right side of the room was a chair and table with a tall candle on the table. There were drops and puddles of wax on the table, and even some drips that had made their way onto the floor; but it wasn't from the current candle, which had just been lit. A record player was quietly playing classical music from across the room in the left corner by the door.

    Quick and sharp knocks to the dark oak, windowless double doors caused Lady Skel to turn to face the doors before clasping her hands together, "Enter." She called, 'We're not getting romance, but we'll discuss this later.' huffed the internal voice as the door swung open. Cadogan entered with his arm in a sling and covered in bandages, and he looked upset, so a sigh left Lady Skel upon seeing him, "I assume you failed, Cadogan?" She shook her head softly before raising her gaze to him, 

    "That buddy of his isn't human. My guess is a shifter." Growled Cadogan as he tried his hardest not to shout at her, "They turned Amaya against us so I had to kill her. And now he has some random chick helping him! She knows my name!" He slammed his fist down on the record player, causing it to skip a few times before the needle lifted and it stopped spinning. Cadogan's facial expression switched from anger to fear in just moments as he looked at Lady Skel as her eyes began to glow a deep purple. Before Cadogan knew it, he was up against the wall and behind held off the ground by his throat and he quickly began to struggle and gag as he attempted to get down; but she was stronger than him and didn't budge

    "Know your place, Cadogan!" Shouted a deep and inhuman voice as the walls of the bedroom chambers seemed to shake while the wall behind her hand cracked a bit and she released him. He coughed and gasped for air before looking up with a glare, but said nothing else yet; he was waiting to see if she was done talking. 

    A low growl left her as the glow in her eyes resumed to their normal bright purple and no longer the deep purple they had previously turned, then she huffed, "Don't raise your voice at me. I had no information about this, Lincoln failed to mention it and no one else has said anything either." She glared at him as she walked away from him. Lady Skel walked over to her fabric chair in the room and sat down in it before raising a finger and creating a dark purple flame with it, then lit the tall candle. She moved her finger from the candle before shaking the flame out and setting her hands into her lap as she folded them together,

    "Cadogan, come sit. Tell me everything." She spoke in an eerily calm voice, one that made chills crawl up Cadogan's spine as he approached. She didn't turn her head to look at him and simply pointed to the stool at her vanity, "Bring that here." She continued to speak in the same calm voice as she waited for him to follow her directions. Cadogan did exactly as he was told and sat on the stool across from Lady Skel, although not close to her at all, then sat on the stool and set his hands in his lap; he felt as if he was a kid in grade school who got in trouble and his mom was called. 

    Once he was settled, Lady Skel spoke,    

    "Tell me everything, Cadogan." She said calmly as her glowing eyes looked at his face and he felt himself shifting uncomfortably under he gaze,

    "Amaya was fighting some woman who recognized them when Rowan and his friend came. The three of them teamed up, and somehow got into Amaya's head that they should flee Wings and go on their own, running from us...so I killed them." He sighed heavily, "But that man, Rowan's new companion, He's strong. He's definitely something that's not human, and I think that bitch joined their team now. She just has a sword, she's quick but she was pretty beat up by the time I left." He raised his gaze to Lady Skels, "I wanted to come back to inform you of this for future missions to take him out." His voice became softer, as if he was afraid of her; which he was. She was one of the most powerful people he'd met, and she had a whole organization behind her, so he wouldn't dare get on her bad side; after all, everyone who does, dies. 

    She seemed to be in thought as her gaze turned towards the ground and began to form a new plan,

    "Can I leave?" Asked Cadogan in that same quiet voice, only to feel his heart drop into his stomach as her eyes darted over to him and a deep frown made its way onto her face. She gave him a look of anger and disgust, 

    "No, we're not done yet. Did you kill Amaya? Who gave you the order to do so?" She spoke in an angry and dark voice as she stood from her seat before circling Cadogan, "You know you must be punished, don't you? You failed me in many ways." She spoke in a soft yet angry tone as she placed her hand on the back of his head and held it in place, "Hold still, or else she may kill you." She sighed as she pulled her hand back,

    "Wait what do you mean-!?" Shouted Cadogan as he began to turn. But as he felt hands placed on either side of his head, he felt his eyes widen,

    "Wait, Mel!" He shouted once more, only for it to turn into guggling noises as the woman behind him sent electricity into his brain and body,

    "Hold still Cadogan, Unless you really want your brain fried." Hissed the woman from behind him, who was surrounded by shadows. He couldn't see her, but he knew her magic, and her hands; which were slender with long fingers and long black nails, and he had noticed it was her hands based on color as well; since her skin was a medium shade of brown.

        Cadogan gurgled and seized as 'Mel' shocked him, until she lifted her hands off of him a few red sparks left her hands before fading away, and Cadogan fell to the floor, occasionally jerking from the high voltage that had just been sent through his body, but he was pretty much unconscious,

    "Remember your place next time, Cadogan. This is a warning. Next time, I won't have her stop." Growled Lady Skel in an inhuman voice before she turned on her heel and exited, "I want him removed from my room before I return, I do not care who does it, as long as it is done." She said with a sigh as she closed the large wooden doors behind her and a small hum of agreement left the shadows. 

Bonus content:

    It was around 4 a.m. now as everyone in the hotel room slept silently, except Rowan, who was beginning to have a nightmare,

    He was in a dark room, surrounded by the sickening and overwhelming smell of blood and he could hear screaming, "Brooke! Brooke! Where are you!?" He shouted as he ran in the direction of the screaming until it suddenly stopped as he tripped and fell to his knees. He felt panic bubbling up in his chest, "Brooke! Answer me!" He shouted again as he stood up, only to freeze as the lights came on. All he could see was carnage; body parts were thrown about the room, and entrails left a trail into another room. The walls were painted with blood, and the wood floor was barely noticeable under all the blood. Everything was destroyed; the couch was flipped while the coffee table was broken and in pieces and everything that could be flipped, was flipped. Everything that could be broken, was, including all of their bookshelves and nicknacks they had collected together over the years, but it didn't stop there. It was almost impossible to tell who it was that had been torn apart since there were so few intact body parts, but Rowan prayed it wasn't Brooke. However, that prayer was cut short as he spotted Brooke's decapitated head resting on the kitchen counter. She was bruised and had multiple wounds all over her face, while her hair was soaked in blood and knotty, but her eyes were still open and staring into his soul, "Brooke!" He cried out as he ran to her head-

    Rowan awoke with a small gasp and looked around the room as he sat up a bit; or attempted to, until he realized he was being held down. Panic began to fill his body as he quickly looked to see what it was, only to notice a pale and muscular arm with dark red tattoos all over it, 'Wait, is that-' He slowly looked over to Ares. He was facing Rowan and had thrown an arm over him during the night and almost had his face buried into Rowan, who could feel a rush of heat hit his body as his heart began to pound harder; first from the nightmare, and now because of this. He took a few quiet, deep breaths as he tried to figure out what to do, 'Oh fuck, oh fuck. What do I do? Do I go back to sleep? Do I leave the bed? Do I move his arm? Oh my God, wait, he's cuddly!?' Rowan could feel heat crawl up his neck and spread into his face, then the rest of his body. But as he began to shift, Ares stirred and Rowan froze entirely as Ares slowly opened his eyes and hummed softly as he tried to fully open his eyes, 

    "Rowan...?" He mumbled softly as he shifted to sit up, only to realize his arm was over Rowan. Ares quickly threw his arm off Rowan, then began to roll off the bed as he accidentally slipped too far backwards; but Rowan grabbed both his arms and pulled him back onto the bed. Once he was safely back on the bed, Rowan let go and nervously smiled, 'Oh God, I hope my face isn't red. Maybe he can't see it in the dark?' He was trying to calm his pounding heart as Ares seemed to be recovering mentally.

    Finally, after a moment, Ares gave Rowan a small, nervous smile, 

    "You keep the bed, I'll sleep in a chair." He whispered in an attempt to not wake up Serena, who shifted in her sleep, causing both men to go quiet and still as they watched her. Once she seemed to relax and fall back to sleep, Rowan nodded softly and handed Ares the pillow he had been previously lying on before pointing to the closet next to the bathroom, 

    "Blanket." He whispered, 'Don't wake her up, Don't wake her up! I don't want to have to explain!' He smiled nervously at Ares. Meanwhile, Ares just gave a small nod and took the pillow before getting up and going to the closet, then opened it as quietly as he could. He then grabbed a blanket and made his way to one of the chairs before sitting in it and attempting to get comfortable. Of course, Rowan felt bad, but he knew Ares would rather make Rowan bcomfortable than himself, 'He's sweet...' He thought as he laid back down in bed. He snuggled up into the blankets and pillow and soon fell back to sleep, still exhausted. 

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Ambrosius definitely bit Todd when they were kids. For years following he could shut Todd down with a simple "I swear to Gloreth, I'm gonna bite you again". Regrettably it stopped working in their teens once Todd developed a crush on Ambrosius

[ribcages-and-bookpages]

obsessed with this whole sequence. the pre-ceremony public canoodling. the heart eyes. ambrosius' glower. ballister's little glances back at him. how ambrosius catches him. the hand holding ambrosius back.