And thus we stand, Open to all

[Ares]

Life was nothing. Life...it didn't matter....The life that Ares had before...it was pathetic. It was....useless, stupid even. But now, the afterlife, the second deminsion, my oh my, it was..dare she say? Hell. Her lands, created by Wolfbane himself, he morphed it, molded it to her delight. The bloodstains that covered the earth was art, and the carcasses were decoration. Ares Taharu flapped her ivory wings, moving silently across the skies, then landing on the ground silently. She paused, folding her wings neatly across her back. Her eyes, those cold eyes, viewed the lands before her. It was the same as before...Where were the others? She snarled in frustration and stamped her paws into the earth, then looked into the waters. Staring back at her, was a gorgeous ivory hued femora with wings. A demon. She grinned and drawled, "My, my Ares, you are a sexy beast no?" She rolled her eyes and added, "Stupid" in a cold tone. Only bitches did that, and what do you know? Ares was a bitch, but a smart one. She knew how to play her games and win them. Never would a male take advantage of her, hell no. She smirked and watched a hare run by. Aww...how cute... she thought sarcastically, then glared at it. Her eyes entrancing as it seemed to change colors...slowly, her power washed over it...cursing it. She smirked as it withered in pain, then she let go of her grasp, letting her magic dissapear.

[Shantanu]

Although thirst and hunger are two things which he didn't feel anymore, this didn’t change the fact that, in a sense, he was thirsty. He wanted to taste the cool taste-less liquid. Thus, the gray, black, and brown colored canine ambled his leisurely way towards the Klavier River, as so many called it. He didn’t personally care what it was called, to be honest, nor did he ever truly think about it. At this point in time, he hadn’t smelled another canine in the general area he was headed towards. Therefore, he paid it no mind to really glance around or listen for sounds. The main sounds he heard were a very select few birds, but that was about the extent of it. At this point in time, his caudal appendage was lying limply at his posterior. After all, there was no true reason for him to be asserting his godliness since there was no one around to worship him, right? No, that sentence wasn’t meant to be funny, by the way. Shantanu reveres himself as a God, and according to him, must be treated as such. Anyway, onto the real subject. His ears had harked however, and suddenly he had heard the sounds of a very familiar voice. His amber eyes contracted into a meager glower as his sinew pulled taut, pelage rippling above his muscle. His hackles had elevated slightly as his belfry descended, only a minor precaution, as his labrum pulled taut a bit, revealing a flash of blood-stained teeth. He had withheld his growl however, forcing it to remain deep within his thorax and unable to be heard. Soon, his labrum and hackles returned to a normal everyday position. However, his taut sinew hadn’t quite softened just yet, but he did continue his amble from a very slight momentary pause, that could have easily been mistaken for hesitation. In reality it wasn’t hesitation, but mere surprise. Slowly he made his way near, and very soon, set eye upon her tail as she toyed with some small animal, which he cared nothing about. As she’d spoken, he remained silent, but only simpered. That was, until she was finished, to which he'd responded with a slightly darkened tone. “Indeed. But even as sexy as you may be, you still refuse to follow me.”

[Ares]

Now, now, don't get me wrong, Ares was a seductress, but hell, she didn't waltz around to everyone. Only those who were worthy. She smirked as the rabbit attempted to race pass her. In a flash, her ivories had sunken deep into its flesh and she had let the crimson spill upon the earth. She grinned as she tasted the warm blood, feeling it spread across her mouth and drip upon her ivory peltage, staining it with crimson. Now, now, everything, EVERYTHING looked good in blood, and that, my friend, is a fact she purred in her mind. Really, Ares had been oblivious to around her. So oblivious, so absorbed in bloodshed, that she didn't hear the footsteps behind her. “Indeed. But even as sexy as you may be, you still refuse to follow me.” At the voice, Ares whipped around, her bloodstained ivories and maw with her ferocious snarling made her a truly frightening sight. Her lips lifted to show healthy gums but razor sharp teeth, ready to rip and tear at her opponent only to find that this was, indeed, another Demon. Demon eh? Well, well she thought to herself as she reconized the face instantly. Immediatly, she calm down, allowing her anger to cool and she to regain her air of calmness. She seemed almost peaceful, or would if not for the coat of blood on her. Shantanu, her old friend. But hell, though he was a friend, he was extremely foolish. Go against Wolfbane? Yeah right she thought. But still, some part of her regretted it, it might have been the friendship and bond they had built in their childhood what not. Ares turned toward him, her features beautiful, but deceiving. "Well well, if it isn't the great Shantanu" she drawled, ignoring his first comment in her little intro. Follow you hmm? And moi? S.exy? Aww how flattering, but tsk, tsk, you're just as foolish. Wolfbane would crush you, it was he that gave both you and me our little...gift, though I hear of one more male with it." she continued.

[Shantanu]

Shantanu didn’t pay any mind to Ares’ antics towards the rabbit, because quite frankly, he didn’t care. His sinew remained taut, however started to let go of some of it’s shield, but not by much. He could still feel it’s stiffness throughout his entire body. At this point, his belfry had elevated a smidgen, and his caudal appendage elevated slightly, but surprisingly not in a I’m better than you, so submit now or die type of dominance. No, he wouldn’t force that on Ares. Else she’d probably have already had scars from him or been dead; one or the other, because she did bluntly refuse to follow him, but instead follow her own path. He thought her foolish for it, but that was her choice, but that’s not to say he wouldn’t continue to sway her, because he would and will. Of course she’s the only one whom has ever gotten away with even half as much as she has with Shantanu, and for reasons that were his own. As Ares whipped around viciously towards him, snarling and baring her fangs, although he should have flinched, he should have done something; he didn’t. He knew her too well, or at least he thought he did. As she cooled herself down, he remained as he had before, unfazed and unmoved. Shantanu listened to her response, and snorted slightly, as his tail swooped as he moved to recline, his muscles now relaxing more than before, and thankfully so because he was starting to cramp up. “I’m the fool? I will one day rise up to a higher position and power than Wolfbane, and he and all whom follow him shall parish. I don’t want you in that category, Ares, and you must understand that. But I will do what I have to.” At this exact second in time, he’d ignored her comment about another. It wasn’t exactly threatening or anything, just yet anyway, so it wasn’t top billing. However, he did make it a note to inquire later.

[Ares]

Now, Ares was not a patient wolf mind you. So when Shantanu didn't answer right away, she was annoyed. But then again, Shantanu loved to get on her nerves, even as a pup. Then again, he was pretty coy in doing so as well. She smirked at him, standing in a relaxed position as she pawed at the dead carcass, allowing the blood to flow. “I’m the fool? I will one day rise up to a higher position and power than Wolfbane, and he and all whom follow him shall parish. I don’t want you in that category, Ares, and you must understand that. But I will do what I have to.” She snorted. Shantanu, he still hasn't given up that silly dream of his no? She chuckled to himself. "Will you now? Perish? Us? I hate to say I disagree, but more of that later, so, what brings you here back into these lands?" she drawled, looking him over. Now, Ares was short-tempered, but at this time of year, it was natrual for all faes to be for it was Mating Season. Shit she thought to herself. Ares hated being vulnerable, females were already portrayed so and she didn't need anything else to worry about besides patrolling her pack lands, looking for some dumbass that forgot about boundries. Ares's tail quickly lowered, her lips lifted in annoyance. Wings folded, then opened again, beating once or twice to cause air to dance around, lifting dust and such into the air.

[Shantanu]

He'd already expected Ares to get aggrivated with him, so it didn't come as a surprise that she'd smirked at him, while attempting to remain calm. Of course, he didn't really know for sure if she was or not, it was more or less a mere guess than anything else, but he figured he knew his friend. His eyes watched as she toyed with the carcass, before ascending them towards her pate once more as she chuckled to herself. He hadn't moved a single muscle as she'd done so, and promptly started speaking. He knew he was right, and one day he'd convince her of that too. "So you'd rather wait until the ending battle to find out that I was right all along? That, my friend, is foolish." His tone was a fairly normal one; no hidden malice or anything; it was just as simple as two men talking politics over lunch at some restaurant at some business meeting. Her question then hit him. What was it that had brought him back to the lands? His posterior remained upon the alluvium as Ares started into what Shantanu took to be a mild fit. "Ares, calm it down. You know I'm not going to hurt you, and no one else will so long as I'm here. I'm simply tired of wandering is all."

[Ares]

"So you'd rather wait until the ending battle to find out that I was right all along? That, my friend, is foolish." She growled softly. "Maybe I do, but that's to you too. You'd rather die then submit?" she growled. Ares would not let her gaurd down. Shantanu was as sly and cunning as a fox, and if not careful, he would steal your position or slit your throat. Yet, she had been his friend....Why? she asked herself. Why? Because you fell for him at that time, you were stupid, a voice in her head responded. Ares could have sworn Shantanu would have attacked anyone by now, by the way that she was speaking to him, but no, something else was going in that brain of his. "Ares, calm it down. You know I'm not going to hurt you, and no one else will so long as I'm here. I'm simply tired of wandering is all." She snarled. Eyes flashed angrily as she spat, "What that suppose to mean? I'm not stupid, I can fight just as well as you and you know it." Ares flared her wings in ager, watching him, hearing his next comments. Now that, she would never believe...unless...he had another plan. "Knowing you, that is hardly true, you have another reason Shantanu" she said softly, her eyes narrowing, staring at him.

[Shantanu]

"Would you submit to a mere bantling? Neither would I. I refuse to submit to something inferior to myself, and you shouldn't have to either, but yet you choose to, and I fail to understand your reasoning behind it." As Ares growled, he'd attempted to keep up his calm facade, and for the moment it was working. His caudal appendage curled around his paws as it thumped serenely, in tune with the rhythm of his own heartbeat. As she grew silent, he knew she was thinking to herself. Which was fine with him, and he wouldn't interrupt it. For now anyway. As Ares' flurry of anger rose back up again and she spat words at him, he sighed internally. He noted her flaring her wings at him, and if he could have pursed his lips in a slightly aggrivated manner, he would have. "You know that's not what was implied." He resisted the urge to nuzzle her, feeling it both weak and dangerous at the moment. It wasn't that he didn't trust Ares, it was just simply that with her intense anger like it was at the moment, he'd probably manage to get a nice chunk of his shoulder ripped out. "A war's brewing. You know it; I know it. I'm stronger than I was before, and with more power backing me, I can take him, and I plan on it. I'm not going to stand by and wait anymore. I'm tired of waiting for what we all deserve; I'm tired of being a pawn in his little games, and I'm not tolerating it anymore. And it's about time I've visited my dear friends. After all, it's been a while since you and I've spoken. Don't you think?"

[Ares]

"Would you submit to a mere bantling? Neither would I. I refuse to submit to something inferior to myself, and you shouldn't have to either, but yet you choose to, and I fail to understand your reasoning behind it." She glared at him. How dare he say that? Inside, she was bursting with fury, on the outside, she was calm and mellow, or so she seemed. In a cold voice, she replied, " Because in truth, he holds more power, his will is ours and because he is Wolfbane". Nothing more.Crap she sounded corny. "You know that's not what was implied." Oh really? She rolled her eyes and growled at him softly, not threatening really. "Knowing you, that is hardly true, you have another reason Shantanu" she said softly, her eyes narrowing, staring at him. "A war's brewing. You know it; I know it. I'm stronger than I was before, and with more power backing me, I can take him, and I plan on it. I'm not going to stand by and wait anymore. I'm tired of waiting for what we all deserve; I'm tired of being a pawn in his little games, and I'm not tolerating it anymore. And it's about time I've visited my dear friends. After all, it's been a while since you and I've spoken. Don't you think?" She listened to his words silently, waiting. "That's where you're wrong, and the visiting? That's hardly like you Shantanu, unless there's something for you in it." Sighing, she sat down on her rmp. "Forget the war now, where have you been the past years?" she asked, letting the anger leave her voice, trying to remember Shatanu more as a friend.