Children of Hope

Two people jumped through the gate from the Forest of the Lost and fell through a cluster of trees. They were in a forest uncomfortably close to the shifter wolves and humans. They both landed on their feet and looked around. "Shouldn't we tell Aria that you're leaving?" Ares paused, then shrugged. "She wouldn't care. Matter of fact, I think she would be quite happy to see me go." The chief snorted. "Who asked you to freak her out like a creepy little kid?" He cackled, only to receive a scathing glare from Ares. He scoffed. "But it's quite a surprise that she's your mate. I didn't think you would have a second chance mate considering the first one's still alive." Ares exhaled. "Who knows what the goddess is planning?" "But..." "I don't want to talk about it!" "..." The chief sighed. "Fine, we won't talk about it, but we need to set up camp. It's getting dark." "We will keep going. I need to get back the essence of my core. I need to return to full power. Only then can I protect her." "And we will get it, but we need you to be alive by then. You insisted on leaving immediately when you heard the news, and your injuries are barely even recovered." The chief reached him in a few steps and touched his head. Ares slapped his hand away. "See? You're running a fever hot enough to boil an egg. We're camping, and that's final!" The chief walked away. "Sit aside while I set up camp." And by set up camp, he meant conjuring up a large tent and an already steaming pot of soup. Somebody somewhere will probably return from the loo to find their tent and soup missing. Ares sat on a low rock and shut his eyes. He was performing a kind of meditation to speed up his body's healing process. A warm breeze circled him. In the tent, the chief found a few bowls and a spoon and a whole cooler of mineral water. He dished out the soup and brought a bowl to Ares. "It's not very tasty, but we can manage," he sighed in disdain. The unlucky camper whose food was stolen: "...!" "I added a few herbs to help you heal faster, so you should be much better by tomorrow." Ares nodded and took the bowl. He drank the steaming liquid in a single gulp and returned to his meditation. *** Early the next morning, the chief was woken up by the tent collapsing. "What the..." he pushed the heavy material high enough to free his hand. With a snap of his finger, the tent disappeared. Although the sky was barely visible through the trees, the chief could still tell that it was dark. He turned and saw Ares throwing away something that suspiciously looked like the peg of the tent. "Seriously?" he rolled his eyes. "You know I can't function well without my proper amount of sleep." "I've regained my strength. You don't need to function well," was Ares' reply. The chief cast him a deadpan look. "Oh, how great. I'm so happy for you." Ignoring the obvious sarcasm, Ares nodded and started heading in their original direction without so much as a "let's go." The chief sighed. "Ice block head," he murmured. In the front, Ares' ear twitched, but he ignored him. Ares was determined to find the thieves that stole his essence and take it back. Only then could he return to his original look and power. "Hmm, wish I could just snap my fingers and your essence would appear," the chief said. He snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. "Even if you could, it would dissipate instead of returning to my core," Ares hissed. Meanwhile, a few feet away, Sam was asleep on a tree. Suddenly, the sword shook and fell off the branch with a loud bang, impaling itself into the tree root. If the loud noise didn't wake her up, then the tree rapidly turning to stone would have done the job. Sam slid from the branch with practiced ease and sighed as she saw a familiar sight. She yanked out the sword with annoyance. "Seems you're determined that I get caught, right? You keep turning something to stone every few feet!" The bang had been so loud that the chief and Ares couldn't ignore it if they wanted to. They glanced at each other and ran in the direction of the sound. Sam was ready to start moving when she heard footsteps running in her direction. She frowned in annoyance. It was bad enough that she was woken up abruptly, and now her pursuers had caught up to her. She gripped the sword. "Stupid thing." Two figures came into sight, a man and a boy. She didn't relax her fighting stance, but she didn't attack either. The trio stared each other down for a minute before the chief sneezed, breaking the tense atmosphere. "Who are you?" "Who are you?" Sam and Ares spoke at the same time. Ares stiffened, and Sam frowned. Sam moved, and so did Ares. They circled each other. The chief stood to the side, ready to help Ares once the stranger attacked. Ares lost patience, and his eyes flashed violet as the energy around him swirled. Sam was not idle either. She gave partial control to Scar, so her hands grew into claws, a thin frizz of fur layered her skin, and her eyes shone a bright violet. The chief stared at Sam in shock. "Stop!" he called and stepped between the two. He raised a hand to Ares. "Wait!" Then he turned to Sam. "Who are you?" Sam scoffed instead of replying. "Are you gonna fight me or what?" "No, no one's gonna fight anyone. Let's all calm down." "You're a wolf," Ares said. "Oh my, what gave you that idea?" Sam rolled her eyes. "And you're a witch." "Sorcerer." "Meh, same difference." Ares narrowed his eyes, looking ready to attack. "Children of Hope!" the chief screamed. Birds took off in the sky, and the arguing duo were about ready to attack him. "What the fuck?" Sam cursed with a scowl. 'Ah, Children of Hope,' Scar spoke in her head. Sam frowned. 'You know what the crazy guy's talking about?' Scar was silent for a moment. 'I'm not sure. I feel like I should know it...' Sam looked over. "What is that?" "I read it in an old book once. Same violet eyes, same powerful aura. Children of Hope are a powerful trio born on the same night. They are said to be reincarnations of the goddess' best warriors. They can only meet when... when the world's about to descend into chaos, and their job is to stop it." There was absolute silence. Two seconds later, Sam coughed, and silence returned. The chief was furious. "You don't believe me!" Ares was back to being stone-faced and had, at some point, returned to meditation, while Sam looked at the chief like he was a fool. "I'm serious." "And what book was that?" Sam laughed. "Fairytale for kids?" "No, it's not!" the chief huffed. His handsome face was dark. "Fine, don't believe me!" "The sword!" Ares' eyes shot open, and he stared wide-eyed at the sword in Sam's hand. "What's wrong?" the chief asked. "I can feel my essence in it." "What?" the chief gasped. Sam looked at them weird and took a step back. Ares charged towards her, and she swung the sword in an arc. "Stand back, creepy child." "Stab me." Sam paused, then shook her head in astonishment. "Say what?" Ares snapped his fingers and ran towards the sword. Sam frowned and moved the sword away, except the sword didn't move. As a matter of fact, she couldn't move. Her eyes widened when she realized something was wrong. "Stop him!" she called to the chief. The chief cast a contemplative glance their way but didn't move. In a short while, Ares reached the sharp edge of the sword. But he didn't stop until it pierced through his heart.