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back-dated to 7/10, if you don't mind, so it can occur before ares finalls runs into princess  . sub-territory: cottontail valley. 326 words.
If Ares' incredibly depressed / buoyantly happy trade off was a tame version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this was definitely a Mr. Hyde day. Or was it Dr. Jekyll? God fucking damnit, it had been too long since he read that book, too long since he had read anything. He couldn't remember which was the bad guy, but the important thing was that, today, he was not feeling particularly pleasant to be around in any sense of the word at all. He couldn't even fucking hunt. He wanted to hunt to calm his nerves, to assure himself that he was worth something, worth something, worth anything! But he had fucked that up, too. His agitation was betrayed in careless footsteps, poor aim, and a myriad of other simple dumb idiotic mistakes that just reaffirmed to him that hah, he wasn't actually even good at the things he thought he could do. Nothing! He couldn't do a single fucking thing right.
So he had given up, and his stomach rumbled unpleasantly as he stalked the borders, starting near the manor and wound his way north, stopping for a minute at the very tip-top most north-east corner, staring off in the direction he knew held his mother. His mother, whom he hated, and his sister, whom he was constantly failing, every second that he stood on safe grounds while she was out being brainwashed by Tokyo. What if his mother was hitting Princess, now, instead, without Buttface around to soak it all up? He shivered, wanting, desperately longing for the courage to step off the border, to traverse the forest, to travel for the few hours he knew it would take... But he didn't have the courage, didn't fucking have the courage! He veered west, still sticking to the border, relishing the soreness of his muscles, complaining at the fast-paced trek uphill, back out of this valley. Ares deserved sore muscles. Fuck, he deserved much worse.
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7/10 it is! 300+
Everything had grown duller over the course of the several weeks. Consistency and a normal day-to-day routine was something she’d always wanted. And now that she had said regularity, life had become a complete bore. At three years of age, it felt as though she’d seen everything when in reality, the Acer hadn’t seen much of anything. She’d lived a saint’s life thus far: caring for unfortunate children, never inflicting harm upon others unless absolutely necessary. Drugs and alcohol were foreign substances to her; never had they infiltrated her body. There were times when she just wanted to let loose, to experience things she’d missed out on (regardless of the consequences).
It was a little peculiar, how she always sought to find her Italian friend whenever things weren’t quite right. Maybe it had to do with the fact that Savina was the only non-Dahlian wolf she truly appreciated. Their meetings were always quite eventful too. Maybe that's what she longed for; something to shake things up a bit. The route from Dahlia de Mai to Crimson Dreams was well known; the confidence in her movements indicated as such. However, her brisk walk slowed into an amble of sorts when familiar borders infiltrated her vision. Pack protocol still applied to her, no matter how strong of a friendship she had with the Lieutenant Commander. So out of respect for the mother of three, the Koios girl stopped a few feet away from the invisible boundaries.
A howl threatened to escape her already parted maw when a silhouette flashed before her eyes; a dark-colored male, roaming aimlessly (or so she assumed) around the valley’s outskirts. It gave her a reason to wander a little closer. And she did so, hesitating every now and then, before calling out to the wandering youngster. “Hey!”
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<33 315 words
Ares swerved at the sound, pivoting around to face the owner of the voice that called to him. He took a deep breath, both attempting to pacify his whirlwind of agitation and inhaling the scent of the other. Mmm, she was a Dahlian. Great. The young boy had already lost his temper at that old male on the boundaries, and even in his current mood he didn't feel like he had the heart to verbally attack this female, as well. Why the hell were there so many of them, though? Counting Conor, who hadn't actually ended up becoming a friend, this made three. Ares had sort of had the impression that Crimson Dreams and Dahlia de Mai weren't exactly on good terms, by the fact that his mother was forbidden from the lands. But by this point he realized that it was probably just a Tokyo-specific issue. If the other members of that pack were really worth anything, though, why did they tolerate her?
"Hi." He called out sullenly, not able to keep his current state of angst out of his voice even if his face was neutral enough. The mottled gray boy wandered a bit closer, sizing her up. She appeared pleasant enough, but living with Tokyo had taught him that the worst monsters lurked behind those sort of facades. Blah, Ares should be friendlier if he was going to bother staying to talk at all. He fixed his posture a little, un-crumpling some, and forcing a more relaxed, more welcoming tone into his voice. Maybe he could pretend to be happy hard enough to make it truth. "I'm Ares Chance. What's your business here at Crimson Dreams?" Polite enough of a question, very business-like but not too formal - he had bothered to introduce himself, and didn't include rank or anything. Not that his rank was like, anything impressive. Still a Basic Officer.
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300+
Alexey couldn’t justify the tension in her limbs, as if reticence had washed over her all of a sudden. But she did not feel endangered; Crimson Dreams was led in part by someone she appreciated as much as her own pack mates. No, it was something else: a negative vibe radiating from the younger boy. It had nothing to do with him specifically though. Au contraire, he looked charming enough (even if his voice held a tinge of what she presumed to be uneasiness). Perhaps it had to do with the way he looked at her, as if he knew some incriminating information. The Acer did not say anything, grasping the opportunity to observe him as he observed her.
His greeting wasn’t up to par with the friendly tones Savina always greeted her with. But then again, he had every right to doubt her motives. Alexey understood this, and also thought it ideal for the boy to seize this occasion and prove his worth as a scout. Granted, she had run into him and not the other way around, but that was unimportant. In a sense, he looked somewhat familiar and yet, the Dahlian was positive she’d never met him before. “Hey…” she repeated quietly, unsure of what to say. When he made an effort to spark a conversation though, Alexey’s honey-hued eyes found his face once more.
Ares Chance. She’d never heard of anyone named Ares, but she did indeed know the Chance family. Where did he fit in? Neither Tokyo nor Princess had ever mentioned him before. And to her knowledge, Chance wasn’t a common surname around Souls. A nephew of Tokyo’s perhaps? “Oh, I’m Alexey.” she replied, providing him with her own name. “I just came here to see a friend of mine, Savina Marino.” A pleasant smile had found its way to her lips, hopefully indicating that she meant no trouble. “I’m sorry, but I have to ask. Do you know Tokyo and Princess, by any chance?” A little curiosity couldn’t hurt.
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316 words~
What was up with everyone coming 'round here to see Savina? She sure had an awful lot of friends in Dahlia de Mai. First Mr. Ambassador, and now this girl Alexey. A vague suspicion sparked within him, but it guttered out quickly. Savina had been speaking the truth when she was talking about his mother. She hated Tokyo. Ares knew that. Savina probably just had to make a bunch of friends in other packs cause she was a leader. It was her business to keep in touch with them, make sure relations stayed peaceful, and all that jazz.
Ares had assumed that like Conor and Mr. Ambassador, Alexey would be just as useless as far as providing information on his family. As rapidly as her next sentence, however, he disproved that theory. And why did it surprise the adolescent? There really couldn't be that many members in Dahlia de Mai, and Tokyo was bound to know some of them. He supposed he had just thought that the subset of Dahlian that actually knew and lived with his mother were not part of the subset of Dahlians that were friends with Savina. Well.. he didn't know that Alexey was necessarily friends with Tokyo. That would be a good thing to ask right off the bat, figure out her thoughts on his mother so he could determine how exactly he should feel about her.
And... well, there was no reason to lie. Except the truth might get back to his mother. Ares had already revealed to Lubomir that he was her son, which in retrospect was something he pretty seriously regretted. Oh god, it would suck if that got back to Tokyo... "First.. first, tell me what you think of her. Tokyo. Are you two friends?" Ares tried to keep his tone neutral, so as not to bias her response, but suspicion wormed its way into the last question anyway.
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