IT'S NOT TOO LATE
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE!

Snarls and chattering noises filled the air as the deinonychus stumbled through the snow, heat making it melt away. The beast groaned, swaying to one side and colliding with a tree, wing taking the brunt of the impact. Her jaws part, and fire licks up her tongue for a second. Then she closed her jaws and kept stumbling. Trying to get away.

She was doing so well, she thought. She had everything going for her, and still it had to happen. It angered her. She wanted to be better -- for Aesior, for Serendipity, for herself. The beast snarled again and, this time, swung her head into a nearby cliff face, chipping a horn. "You have to be better... you can't do this again.." she hissed to herself, swinging her head into the rockface again. "You have to be better... she can't see you like this."

The softly colored cheetah had been wandering around the territory all day, looking for Ares. It was odd that Serendipity had seen the other woman yet today and it was starting to concern her. With ears pinned to the side and head slightly lowered the cheetah continued along her path, sniffing the air every now and again on the hunt for Ares’s scent and finally she picked it up.

Seren hurriedly headed in the direction of the other, something in her gut telling her she needed to get there quickly. And finally the woman stumbled across Ares, her gaze widening a bit when she watched the other bash her face against the rock. “Ares!” She called out rather loudly with was unlike her. Her paws quickly carried her over to the other, attempting to wiggle between the  deinonychus and the rockface to keep the other from hurting herself. “Ares please stop, you’re going to hurt yourself.”

IT'S NOT TOO LATE
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE!

The sudden appearance made her recoil, gasping. She was silent, eyes wide. Then, with little warning, she tore into her own forearm, raking claws across her feathers, spilling blood onto the snow. "It's the only way i stay in control. I'll hurt you if i can't control myself..."

She took a few steps back, a deep snarl resonating in her, and she raked her claws along her neck. "I have to... for your sake..." her voice cracked as she spoke, an unfathomable sadness in her eyes.

Serendipity quickly shook her way, still keeping her body firmly planted between Ares and the wall. “There has to be another way!” She exclaimed with a hint of pain in her tone. She hated seeing Ares like this, it hurt her to see the other in so much pain but she had to be strong, for Ares. “We can find another way, I promise you don’t have to resort to hurting yourself!” She said. The normally soft spoken feline wanted nothing more than to keep yelling, to scream at the top of her lungs that there was a better way.

She reached a paw out a bit, wanting to keep Ares from hurting herself even more but she was at a loss for what to do. If she tried she knew Ares would find another way but Seren couldn’t keep standing there and watching. So what could she do?

IT'S NOT TOO LATE
IT'S NEVER TOO LATE!

It hurt her to see Serendipity so desperate. It felt like Aesior all over again. Ares fell to her knees, a sob breaking from her mouth. "I've tried!! Nothing works!" She wailed, looking at Serendipity like some sad puppy, a pitiful puppy. "I'm trying! I'm trying to get better, you have to believe me..!" She sobbed, wings coming around to shield her. She felt her body get smaller and smaller, feathers turning to fur. Talons became paws and eventually she was just a little cat, without wings to hide her. Just a little black and red cat, sniffling, hunched over in searing pain and agonizing fear.

"I do believe you!" she cried out to ares. serene watched as ares curled up, shielding herself away from everything until her body suddenly started to get smaller. a soft sigh slipped past her muzzle and she padded closer to the feline, laying down beside the small cat. she would curl her tail around ares, moving to rest her chin on her paws. "we all know you're trying ares, we can all see that you are getting better," she hummed softly. "but hurting yourself like this isn't going to help you, let us help you, let me help you," she said.