VANGUARD OLYMPIANS

A/N: The TWD Olympians are back, same names, different circumstances. Rick/Ares. Michonne/Nike. Shane/Kratos.

Chapter 1

Immortals Playground

A long ass time ago…

Hidden behind long grass and thick foliage, the azure, baby-blue eyes of Ares watched two young immortals playing in a field filled with crimson, fuchsia and indigo flowers. The large playground was located behind a gigantic marble palace he discovered on one of his many jaunts away from Olympus.

He was bored, his home life was monotonous, and his parents sucked. They kept telling him he was the god of war and that his destiny had already been destined by the Fates… blah, blah, blah.

They even had a wife picked out for him.

He glanced down at his mini-form and his pudgy legs, "I can barely walk up a flight of steps. Why are they talking about me marrying anyone? And, not just some random stranger… but my fucking sister. Ugh, I don't know and don't care why my parent's generation thought it was a cool thing to do. I ain't doin' that shit."

Ever since they started pushing on him their plans for his future, telling him how it was in the Olympians' best interest to stick with their own, Ares began to venture further out for longer periods than he'd ever been. That's how he discovered a new pantheon of immortals living on the other side of the African continent.

He went ahead and settled more comfortably on the soft grass. He was confident the tree branches, large boulders, and leafy shrubbery would keep him hidden as he indulged in watching two of the most fascinating people he'd ever seen in the whole world.

Even though they had no clue who he was.

Ares musings were interrupted when the girl toddler screamed at the top of her lungs, "Kwatos! Give it back!"

Ares' gaze followed the girl who looked a little younger than he. She wore a simple white tunic that flowed loosely around her, and short enough to leave her bare feet free to run around the field unhindered.

Her long, dark and purple hair was twisted in some intricate chignon. Her tawny, coconut tinted skin looked very smooth and gleamed warmly under the bright, Alkebulan sun.

She was a cutie. She had big lavender doe eyes and chubby cheeks that appeared flushed as she chased after the boy. Her plump lip pouted in frustration from not obtaining the object he kept from her.

The little boy didn't look that much older and if Ares hadn't been watching them for a while, he wouldn't have known they were siblings. The boy, Kratos was fairer in skin-tone, dark, almost black eyes and short twisted curls covered his head.

Every day, he found them in the meadow playing or fighting… mostly fighting.

The first time he discovered her name was a time he would never forget. It was shortly after he'd been watching them:

Kratos sat on the ground making about a dozen or so toy soldiers made from twigs and leaves. He had them all standing in formation and used rocks for walls and barriers. He didn't notice his sister sneaking up behind him balancing on her toes, while he played a battle between his two armies.

Ares settled in for a front row seat to all the soon-to-be carnage.

The little girl's wide eyes narrowed as she focused on her mission and kept her steps quiet.

As soon as she was close enough, she screamed, stomped, kicked and trampled her brother's elaborate setup.

Kratos jumped up and stood frozen in shock at the damage she wreaked and couldn't believe his sister had the nerve to do this to him. Ares saw a spark of anger ignite within the toddler's onyx eyes. A burgeoning, raging red spread across his cheeks, then down his neck to smatter across his shoulders when he bellowed, "NIKE!"

Ares finally got a name.

The short little tike had already escaped halfway across the field when he yelled it out. In her effort to look back, she tripped over her own chubby feet and tumbled onto the ground. Luckily, she was already close enough to it and didn't have that far to fall.

When her knees hit the dirt, she was next to where Ares lay hidden and he almost blew his cover by leaving his hiding spot to help her back to her feet. He stopped from lifting when he heard Nike giggling loudly. That sound implanted into his brain and he swore it was another thing he wouldn't forget.

"Get back here!" Kratos yelled as he stumbled closer to where Ares still lay on the ground, distracting his focus off the little girl. Nike hurriedly stood up and took off for another part of the grassy meadow before her brother could reach her and ignored his heated demand, "I'm telling mama what you did."

Hardly breaking stride nor falling again, Nike turned her head and stuck her tongue out at her brother and smiled.

Ares unconsciously mimicked her smile and was captivated.

That had been some time ago. Time constraints among the immortals had no meaning, at least, in terms of how mortals calculated it.

Back to the present chase, Kratos raced past Ares' hiding spot first, stopping briefly to listen to his sister yelling at him. He peered down at something he was holding. From the ground, Ares could see it was small, and greenish-brown with legs. As soon as he realized what he carried, Kratos ran off again.

Ares hurriedly clamped his hand to his mouth. Cutting off the snicker that escaped when he recognized a crawfish in Kratos' hands.

Nike entered the area where Kratos once stood and stopped abruptly, directly in front of where Ares lay on the ground, with only the leaves and branches between them.

She turned in the direction of where her brother ran and called his name quietly, "Kwatos?"

After all the yelling and screaming demands at her brother, the quiet saying of his name brought Kratos to a screeching halt. He dropped the crayfish. Ares blue eyes widened in disbelief at the speed Kratos made to reach her side. Without a word, they both turned around and faced a still concealed Ares.

Nike's perceptive purple gaze lowered and focused on the leaves Ares thought kept him hidden, "We know you've been watching us for a long time. Don't you think it's time to come out and meet my bwother and I?"

The jig was up, he'd been busted and there was no reason to hide in the bushes anymore. Ares took a deep breath and stood up among the bramble. Nike and Kratos' eyes followed his ascent. Ares stood almost a full head taller than Nike and was the same height as her brother.

If a normal human was observing this little meeting, they would have thought they'd seen three, four and five-year-old's standing around the outer edge of the field talking to each other, and not actual immortal gods who have been on the earth's plains for over hundreds of years.

The little girl of golden mahogany, dressed in her white chiton, had her arms haughtily folded and the curly raven-haired boy of tanned peach, wore an over the shoulder short tunic with his hands resting on his tubby waist. They both faced the young newcomer with a military-style haircut, wearing a traditional loincloth.

The boys were around the same age. The girl, slightly younger.

Ares's hands hung loosely on his sides when he smiled sheepishly, raising one hand in greeting, "Hi. You're right, I have been watching you and I'm sorry."

Kratos asked, "Why were you watching us? You some kind of perv or something?"

Nike turned to her brother with a quizzical look, "Perv… Weally?"

Her brother shrugged, "Heard uncle say it the other day."

Shaking her head, she turned back to Ares, "Don't mind him, what's your name, stwanger?"

He was so fascinated with the sweetness of her voice, and how she couldn't seem to pronounce her r's, he neglected to hear her asking him a question.

Kratos yanked him by the arm and pulled him out of his hiding area, bringing him out of his zone, "Hey, my sister is talking to you."

Ares rubbed a hand on the back of his neck to get his faculties in order, "Uhm… I'm uhm…" He became flustered because he had forgotten his name and forgot how to say it.

Kratos didn't have the patience so his pudgy palm glanced across the back of Ares' head, "Focus, buttercup."

Ares' head snapped back in surprise then turned to shock when the little firebrand whipped around on her brother and pushed him nearly halfway across the field, "Don't you ever touch him again… you… meanie!" She grabbed Ares' hand and practically dragged him over to where the entrance of the meadow began, and he could see the columns of their palace in the distance.

Kratos ran to catch up with them with an apologetic grin on his face. Nike pulled a still stunned Ares behind her as she faced her brother, "What did mommy say about you putting your hands on people? If you weren't my welative, I would stomp you into the gwound. That was just wude." Her little bare foot stomped itself onto the dirt with a shake. "Now apologize and then we can all be fwiends."

The toddlers spent the rest of the day, playing and getting to know each other.

"So, your parents are Titans. How did you end up on the other side of Alkebulan? Does my father know you're here?" Ares asked as he drew pictures in the dirt with a stick.

Kratos was busy doing cartwheels in the field (the kid never kept still) while Nike was busy weaving blades of grass into long plaits. "From what we were told, there was a war over who controlled Olympus and our pawents left before it started."

"Yeah, it was called the First Battle. Who are your parents, if you don't mind my asking?"

Nike wrapped the braided piece of meadow around her ankle and tried to fasten it, "The Titans... Pallas, and Styx. Who are yours?"

Ares ducked just in time when Kratos flipped over his head, "The Olympians... Zeus, and Hera. I heard of your parents. There are other Titans who refused to fight. Good for them, the war was stupid."

"Oh, so you're second genewation. Is that why you were hiding out over here?"

He reached over to help her with the knot… both of their short stubby fingers having trouble tying it. "Part of it. Most of it, I was just bored, but I don't want to do the thangs they want me to do. I don't want the life they say I should live."

Kratos came wheelbarrowing back and tumbled into them. Nike yelled, "Kwatos!", as Ares tried his best to remove her brother off of her. Then it became a wrestling match. Nike scrambled to her feet and jumped on her brother to help Ares. When Kratos finally gave in and held himself still, both Ares and Nike were sitting on top of him. Nike grabbed a handful of grass and sprinkled the torn pieces onto his hair, "That's what you get."

Ares stood up, reached down and pulled Nike up by putting his hands under her arms, lifting her clear of Kratos' torso.

She looked up at him, "Thanks, Awees."

Ares smiled down at her, "You're welcome, Nike."

He then held a hand out to help Kratos to his feet. When Kratos was solid, he snuck a look to his sister and then suddenly they both jumped on Ares, knocking him off his feet.

All three giggling, as they rolled around on the soft ground.

A/N: Thanks for reading :) Please leave a comment or note and let me know if you like this version of our favorite couple.

See you next chapter!