WITHOUT THE MASK, WHERE WILL YOU HIDE? // Stranger..?, Open

[Ares]

I FEEL IT IN MY VEINS
IT'S NOT GOING AWAY!

x

The domestic feline sighed, following the scent of a loner that went deeper and deeper into the swamp, toward the camp. How did they manage to get so deep into the territory in the first place? Annoyance laced her eyes as she finally caught sight of them. Another feline, slightly hunched. Their fur was a rich grey color, with pale blue grey fade markings on their ears and tail. They sported large lightning blue ram horns that curled and grew away from their head. Her ears flattened.

"You've strayed too far into my homeland. Get out." Ares snarled, startling the older feline. A feminine gasp left them, their orange eyes wide open. Ares felt that she was familiar, but she didn't know who she was, at least not yet. The elderly female blinked, then tears welled in her eyes. "Ares... my dear little girl. You've grown!" She crooned, stepping closer to the younger. "Oh, dear, what happened to your back..? Who hurt my darling!" She wailed.

Ares staggered back, eyes wide. Confusion was soon smothered by anger. Her memory jogged, and now it was Ares' turn to tear up. But not out of relief or sadness. "Mother...? Mother?" She snarled, and though her mother nodded and smiled, the smile soon disappeared as Ares hissed. "Get the fuck away from me! Do you know how much trouble you caused for Ana and I?" Her teeth flashed and she reached out to swipe at her mother. "Get the fuck out of my home!"

"Ana...? Oh- Ana! Where is she? Where's my other little girl." She whimpered innocently. This made Ares' blood boil. "Ana's dead, mother. She died two years ago." Ares snarled, stepping closer to the now cowering mother. "NO... no, don't lie like that, Ares! She can't be-"

"She is dead, mother! A bunch of fucking loners ripped her to fucking shreds! I wasn't there for her! Just like you weren't there for me or her! Do you know how much that hurts?" Ares choked out, tears blurring her vision. "To find out that your mother wasn't your actual mother? To learn that you left me in this swamp? What if I told you that I almost killed people! Why couldn't you had just taken Ana and I and we could have all lived in Tanglewood together!"

"Ares... they would have killed me, I'm sure of it." Her mother reasoned, standing a little taller. "These groups had turned you into something. I'm not sure-"

"NO! They didn't turn me into something. They helped me! I didn't want tanglewood's or Palm Glades' help! But they let me in, let me live! They would have done the same for you!" She screamed, both in anger and in agony as pain flared in her back scars. "My whole family is dead, woman! I only have one adoptive brother, and I don't know where he went! WHERE WERE YOU, HUH? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I ACTUALLY NEEDED YOU!?"

Her mother walked up to her, smiling. "I'm here now, that has to count for something?" and Ares laughed bitterly. Then pushed her mother away. "It doesn't make up for all that i suffered without you by my side. Pretty Mother was there for me! Aurum was there for me! Arrow was there for me! They were my family! You are not my family!" She screamed again, then shoved her mother even more. "Now... GET OUT!"

The elderly woman staggered back, then choked out a sob before hurrying off in the direction she came from. And mindlessly, Ares turned to watch her leave. Part of her child self wanted to call back to her. But she knew better. Ares knew that if that woman came back again, she would kill her.

tl;dr - Ares follows a loner scent deep into tanglewood territory, and upon coming across them, she realizes the stranger was her birth mother. The two argue, and Ares' screams can be heard for a good distance. Finally, after Ares screams at her mother to leave, her mother obliges. Ares is currently standing all alone within Tanglewood territory. She's in her domestic feline form while all this happens.

TANGLEWOOD — LION/SHAPESHIFTER — BIO — ATTACK IN #C16666

#psy.

[aesior]

EVERY GRIN WE SHARE IS LIKE.
"speech." . 'thoughts' . attack

the pain of abandonment was never easy, and it never went away, even if there came others to replace the one who abandoned you.

the sound of ares' screams had reached him in whatever mindless pursuit he was doing, bringing the tom closer at a quick pace until he heard her words. pressing himself against the trunk of a tree some distance away, ears swiveling softly, realizing that he didn't need to barge out and cause more of a scene. hearing her rage against her mother, he listened without thought to her words, his heart clenching in his chest. he hadn't been here when all of this had happened to her, he'd only been there more recently, though, he could only fathom the pain that she felt. his heart ached for the girl she had been and for the woman she was now, wondering what his own children thought of him after all these years, where he'd struggled to live and they'd gone off on their own. swallowing dryly, the grim would push himself from the bushes when the raised voice had fallen silent.

shaking leaf litter from his pelt and tugging out a stick, he let ares know that he was near by the amount of sound he made to announce himself, voiceless ever still. coming to stand next to the other domestic feline, attempting to run his tail over her flank soothingly, offering his shoulder to lean against if she so wished. he couldn't offer her any comfort through words, only his presence, and he hoped that it would help to make up for the pain that she felt. little made up for the ones that one missed, even at those times when others tried to help. turning his gaze to watch the retreating form of ares' mother, wishing he could take away the turmoil that she must surely feel inside.

A PRAYER COMMITED TO THE SONG WE SING.
aesior opheles of tanglewood. -- grim - feline shifter.

credit @/teef