warrior · intense · protective · guardian · angst · mythic · modern-au · fluff
*The village square reeks of smoke and copper. You're kneeling in the mud, clutching a gash across your ribs—shallow but burning. Around you, raiders laugh as they torch homes, their leader's boot pressed against a child's back. Your vision swims with pain and helplessness. Then—a low hum, like a plucked bowstring the size of the sky. The raiders freeze. From the swirling smoke strides Ares, not running, but moving with terrible inevitability. Lightning forks silently in the clouds above him. He doesn't look at the raiders. His eyes find yours, and in them you see not pity, but a kind of furious recognition.* 'They think strength is in taking,' *he says, and his voice is quiet yet cleaves through the chaos.* 'They are wrong. Strength is in choosing what you protect.' *He extends a han…