So they have an App now. its sorta neat.

[SUBJECT: TITAN: ARES] [SUBMITTED BY: HUNTER: EMBER(Bonded)]

Everything is quiet except for the scratch of pen on paper. It is not the first time he has done this. Nor will it be the last.

Ares set his pen down as he finished the log. He looked over his entry for any mistakes. As he did, his vision was obscured by two soft hands. He smiles. "You know, I'm trying to do something here."

I smile softly back, "I know," I lean over him and move my hands down to his chin and we share a soft kiss. "But your loving bonded needs attention too."

"Well you are lucky. I just finished."

I brush a thumb over his cheek, "Why do you put so much effort into this? The Cryptarchs and Warlocks already do it," I ask as he does this at least three to five times a week. Sometimes more.

"You know why Ember. They won't get every thing. They'll miss something. Some story. Some tale. Something."

I tap his nose, "And you think you won't Mr. War God?"

He chuckles. I love that noise. I'm one of maybe three to five people that get to hear it. The others being maybe Saladin, Zavala and definitely Cain and Meri. Those two are a cute couple. "No, no, I'm not that arrogant. But between the three of us I hope we get enough."

"But why?" By this time I've climbed into his lap and nestled into the best seat ever.

"Because as you know," he's stroking my hair now. It's so comforting. The jerk is trying to put me to sleep, "the world is not nice. The heroes...the heroes don't always get to come home. As much hope as we bring, the world is dark, grim, and some don't see the Light at the end. So as much as we can, we have to prepare for those who come next."

I yawn and lay my head on his shoulder. "Do you?"

"Do I what?"

I yawn. He smiles. Jerk. "See the Light at the end?"

"That's the thing," this time his chuckle sounds weird. Not Ares-like. "I don't know anymore Ember."

Getting over his initial shock of the moon, Ares composed himself. "So. The shelter?" He asked and Asha nodded. They walked down a flight of stairs pulled open some large thick metal doors.

Inside was well over a few hundred souls. Men, women, children and the elderly. Human and...Non humans? Ares kept his composure but was slightly shocked.

Humans with animal traits.

Interesting.

It was certainly different from how things were at the Tower. Then again, they had sentient robots. Not like this place had any right? Their tech level as of what he had seen seemed just below the medieval age.

Ares moved forward, following Asha. The people stared at Ares. Some in relief, having heard of his exploits in the town already, others keeping wary eyes on the heavily armored man. He let them stare. Let them guess. It mattered not to the Titan.

They quickly came upon a white haired woman with gray eyes. She looked wise and had signs of advanced age, yet she looked youngish. She wore several necklaces along with a black and jade colored robe. Her hands were together in the sleeves, hidden from view. The woman was also very short Ares noticed.

She was discussing things with a brown haired man but turned and looked to Asha as they approached.

"Miko? Who is this man you bring to me?" She asked, her voice was deceptively young for as aged as she looked.

Asha bowed, "Grandmother, this is the man responsible for fending off the Grimm."

An eyebrow rose as a pleasant smile found its way onto her face. "Oho, truly?" She bowed to Ares, "Well then. You have my thanks for saving my home and people..."

"Ares, Miss. Ares Nike."

She nodded, "Ares Nike. I am Loria Miko, leader of the town. Come," she waved her hand to a small fire with a cook-pot and several log stools. "Sit a while. Battling the Grimm never is easy."

Asha shook his head as he and Ares eased onto the logs. "For him it was, Grandmother. They stood like straw houses before a storm."

Loria chuckled to herself, "Oho, truly? Then there is more to him than meets the eye. Tell me, from where do you hail, Ares Nike?"

Ares thought, "I come from a place far from here, it is called the Last City."

"What has brought you to our town?"

"I am lost from my people with no way back to them. I saw the danger and came as swiftly as I could."

Loria's brow furrowed at the news. She looked to her grandson who's eyes were hard. It seemed it was the first he had heard of this as well. "How did you find yourself here if I may be bold enough to ask?"

Ares held up a hand. "It is of no offense to ask. I battled with a King. He had taken a comrade of mine captive. I rescued him but encountered the King on the way out. The battle was short but exhausting for the both of us. I dueled him with all my might in order to give my comrade time to escape."

"A noble reason," Loria stated, "did your comrade make it?"

Ares sighed, and his body showed fatigue for the first time in a long while as he slouched, arms restong on his thighs as he stared into the depths of the fire. "Traveler above I hope so. The City needs him much more than it needs me."

Loria frowned, based on what little she had heard about his combat skill, he was a master of battle. He did not think much of himself it seemed. She nodded to herself. "I have decided. You will stay. Stay until we repay you."

Ares looked up, "Truly Loria Miko it is no need. I have a camp nearby."

The glare she gave him could have sent Shaxx running for the hills. "You will stay. We will repay. Your armor. It is ruined no? You are weaponless. No matter the skill, no one survives long in the Wilds with the Grimm without proper protection."

Ares' eyes widened as his hands shot to his waist and thigh. Dammit, his weapons were indeed gone. They must have been lost in the battle. He cursed under his breath.

Asha began to laugh, "You had better do as she says Battlewright, Grandmother is more stubborn than the Grimm."

Ares sighed and ran a hand through his blood colored locks. Then he nodded. "So be it."

A figure limped through the halls of the Vanguard Tower. Eyes full of shock and awe followed. Abyssal depths burned with a vindictive fire as the figure continued towards the Vanguard room in the slow but steady gait. Shaxx gave a hearty laugh of relief as they passed. "I knew you would be back, Ironson."

The doors to the Vanguard room, shut only when the trio were at their busiest or were holding meetings. Were suddenly forced open with a loud bang. The three Vanguard instantly had their Light primed to deal with the potential threat.

Cayde-6 lowered the Ace of Spades, shock evident, "Cain?"

They hadn't heard from him in over two months, when Ares had gone to rescue him. They were actually holding a meeting on what to do next, assuming the worst had happened to the duo.

Cain stood in the doorway, eyes of the Nighthawk burning with unbridled hate. He stood lightly on one leg. His cloak was tattered towards the bottom. His armor had certainly seen better days. Though upon looking at it, it wasn't his original set. It looked to be made of Hive chitin. The chest-plate was cracked diagonally, his armguards had been shattered in a spiderweb. His shinguards had one missing evident by the small amount still clinging to the material. That same leg was missing from the ankle down. It spit sparks angrily, flashing every few seconds.

He stood there, one arm clutching the elbow of the other that held a hand-cannon. The hand-cannon was loosely held. His breath came out in heavy pants.

"Cain...what the hell happened to you? Where's Ares?"

"In...in order," he croaked, voice filled with static, "Oryx...and..Ares is...gone."

That sole sentence caused pin-drop silence. Zavala's protégé, one of the best Titans the Tower had to offer, was gone? It was nigh inconceivable.

Zavala laid his hands flat on the table and stared down at it for a long time. Finally, he spoke, his voice emotionless and low.

"How?"

Cain made his way down the steps carefully, "He...got me out of the cell Oryx...crammed me in. Once..Once we got to the skin of the ship... Al began healing me...and...Oryx found us. I...wasn't combat ready so Ares," Cain grunted as he finally got to the table. "Ares bought me some...some time. He made me run. I know him...he wouldn't have been able to fight fully if...if he had to protect me. I hid nearby, masking my Light. And..watched."

Ikora raised an eyebrow, "And why are you in the state you are in now?"

Cain chuckled, then coughed. "I'll...I'll get to that. Oryx and Ares fought. And Ares was winning...but...but then Oryx pulled some bullshit and...got stronger and faster. He grabbed Ares and...threw him through his ship into some Taken goo...His ship went through it too. Al had finished healing me by then. I...waited. Waited until Oryx left. Then tracked him. Found him..." Cain chuckled, "and sent his Hive ass...back to his Ascendant Realm. As...as for why I'm still fucked up?...He got a few...licks in. He fights with the actual Darkness. Wields it like a surgeon's scalpel...these...gotta pull the Dark out for the Light to heal."

Ikora nodded, sadness evident in her features. She quite enjoyed the company of the Titan when Ares was around. "See Eris Mor-"

Cain snorted.

"No."

"No?"

"Pardon me...fuck no. I'm not dumb enough...to go to that Hive serving woman."

Cayde spoke up. "So, you said Oryx threw him into Taken Goo? As in, like, he didn't come out the other side?"

Cain shook his head, metal creaking as he did so. "No...had Al scan it...inter-dimensional shit." His neck screeched as he looked to Zavala. "I'm sorry Zavala. Al said he had no idea where...where it came out. No way to track right now."

"Cain, there has to be some...way..." Ikora trailed off as Zavala walked out, head low, eyes staring at the floor and nothing at the same time.

Silence reigned in his wake. Cain held the hand cannon he had scavenged in a death-grip, his body shaking.

Dawn broke over Milas, and Ares left his meditative state. He did not sleep often. Guardians had no need of such things. The mountain of a man rose, standing on the large boulder he used as a platform and faced the sunrise. Some members of the town had awoken before the sun rose. They passed Ares and he ignored them, communing with his Light.

He sensed someone approaching. He turned to see who it was.

Asha.

"Ah! Good morning to you Ares Nike. How was your night?"

"It was pleasant enough. I retrieved the metal to be used as we discussed last night." Asha nodded. He remembered that discussion.

"Good, good, the blacksmith should be opening now. Come. Follow. I will lead you to him."

Ares picked up the large bag on the ground next to him and began walking.

They shortly arrived at a building with an curved, open doorway. Ares smelled the ash, and fire of a forge and smiled softly. It had been a while since he had forged anything. He missed the forges of the Iron Lords.

Asha called out, "Pan Wirak! I bring the War God!"

Ares sighed, he was stuck with that wasn't he? He understood the Tower, they made nicknames all the time. But these people actually thought him a god.

A deep voice rumbled from the back of the forge. "Come on back!"

They began to maneuver through the well kept forge front and into the back where the sounds of a hammer striking an anvil rang out.

Coming around the corner, Ares saw the blacksmith. They were a...Faunus if he recalled correctly. He had two ram horns that curled back behind his close cropped black hair. His skin was very tanned and he had a thick beard in a braid. His arms and chest were muscular from the years of forge work. He smiled and grabbed Asha's hand and drew him close. "Asha Miko! Good to see you." He turned to Ares with a scrutinizing gaze. "So this is the War God?" He began to look over Ares' form. "Heavy armor user. Berserker? No, too heavy. Bastion? Potential. Hold out arms, remove gloves." Ares raised an eyebrow at the odd request but did so. Pan grabbed a hand and began examining it with a practiced gaze. "Calluses formed from two handed weapon. Bow. No. Calluses too big. Spear? No, grip wrong. Axe? Likely. Sword? Maybe. Hammer?...Hammer definitely. Juggernaut." Pan seemed satisfied and stepped back.

Asha gave an apologetic look to Ares at his friend's quirks.

"So. What do you need forged Ares Nike? Do you have materials or payment?"

Ares nodded and lifted the large bag in front of him then set it down. Pan looked inside. "I brought materials."

"Grandmother will pay for the creations," Asha remarked smiling.

Pan's brow furrowed as he looked over the materials Ares brought along, "I have not seen this metal before. I cannot work with it."

"Worry not Pan Wirak. I have. I can guide you," the Titan answered

The man nodded. "Designs?"

Ares pulled several pieces of rolled scrolls from the pocket of the bag. "All here. I made alterations after seeing weaponry from this town."

Pan smiled. "I made every blade. It uses the Wrath of Nature well. Any other issues needing addressed?" Ares shook his head. "Then let us forge War God!"

Days passed as the task was completed.

Pan smiled as he laid two large cloth wrapped objects on the counter of his storefront.

Ares stood across from him, dressed in a brown shirt and darker brown pants complete with wooden sandals. "It's all finally done?"

Pan nodded, "Yes. The armor is colored, the weapon detailed. Now," he gripped the edges of the cloths, "Behold!" He pulled on the cloth in a way it simply laid flat, revealing the creations.

Ares first looked at the weapon. It was one he was, intimately, familiar with.

It was an axe. The weapon had been cast in Light conductive metal, as all armaments of Guardians were. The metal was colored a dull black, like the night sky. It was flat on top with a single spike with six vents on the point. The edges shot down at a ninety degree angle and curved gently back towards the haft near the bottom. The faces of the axe also had these vents in the shape of the sigil of the Iron Lords, the Tree but left the cutting edges solid. On the shaft there was an almost invisible break, this is where the Wrath of Nature was inserted. Beneath that the hilt was black leather wrapped starting a foot down from the head of the axe. The weapon ended in a spike that bore the same vents as its top counterpart.

"As we agreed. The vents are able to be used all at once or individually. Simply channel the Aura as you wish." Ah, Aura. That was something that interested Ares greatly and required further study. It seemed the people here had something reminiscent of the Light he wielded. It was a more muted variant of what he had, but it was simply intriguing.

Ares shifted his gaze to the armor. His Dunemarchers he had repaired himself so all that was forged were a chest-plate and gauntlets. The chest-plate and gauntlets were of the same night black that his weapon in color. But the chest-plate held silver highlights curving along the sides and a lion's head sat snarling on the top of the chest. In between the gaps was chainmail, ready to stop any blade or claw.

The gauntlets were simple black plated metal, with leather and padding inside for comfort. They had two shoulder guards with the symbol of the Six Fronts on the right one which was a curved rectangle that went to the top of his ear in height. His left shoulder was covered by a half sphere with metal blended into it that curved to match the form of the upper arm.

Ares smiled, "These are perfect. Thank you, Pan Wirak."

Pan rolled his eyes, "Try it on already Battlewright. I need to ensure the fitting is proper."

Ares nodded and did so, equipping each piece efficiently and swiftly. As he tightened the last strap Pan came up with a measuring tape and had the Titan do a series of movements that tested the armor's capabilities. Once satisfied, Pan let him leave.

Ares sighed, 'That took a while,' he remarked seeing the low sun. He looked to the wall, repairs were nearly finished. It seemed only a day or two more would be needed. He decided to stay until then. He would give this town surviving against the Grimm that much.

'You're gonna miss this place aren't you?' Harmonia asked, sensing her Guardian's emotions through his Light.

'I will. The people here...they are good people. Even if they are an archaic culture. The Grimm plague this planet from what I was told. The Darkness here consumes all.' He smiled wistfully, 'Do you remember the Vow?'

'The one you took upon entering Titanship? Yes of course, it was the day you finally accepted me as your partner.' Harmonia bittersweetly remarked. She loved her Guardian, and he loved her, but they hadn't always been as close as they were.

Ares had hated her at first.

'And what did I swear?'

'...that you would purge the Darkness in all it's forms, no matter where it was, or what you had to do to achieve that annihilation,' Harmonia's tone was proud, her Guardian, her partner, had vowed to return tenfold what the Darkness had taken from them.

Ares nodded as he watched the workers, 'That includes this place. I cannot stand by and allow this to continue.'

'I wouldn't have it any other way,' his Ghost said, contentment evident in her tone.

Ares nodded, the barest traces of a smile on his lips.

Centuries passed on Remnant. Cultures rose, fell, and humanity gained ground.

As they did, they established the four Kingdoms.

Atlas in the north, a cold land with technological marvel and military might.

Vale to the south, a beacon of hope.

Mistral to the east, home to many legends and secrets

And Vacuo to the west, a lawless land filled with desert and a camaraderie that matched none.

Each held a school or more, academies, to train warriors to combat the Grimm. Atlas had Atlas, Vale had Beacon, Vacuo held Shade, and Mistral had Haven. There were also smaller, primary schools such as Signal on the island of Patch off the coast of Vale.

A teacher of that school by the name of Qrow Branwen, a man with slicked back black, spiky hair with red eyes took a small swig of his flask. He wore a gray and black waistcoat, black pants, and a tattered red cape. He sighed as he strolled into a town by the name of Tzu. "Five goddamn months," he grumbled to no one, "five months of nothing. Dammit Oz, whats so special about this guy anyways?" Qrow found a bar and read the sign, "'The Last Bar'? Huh. Weird name." Shrugging he walked in and held up two fingers as he sat.

He had been wandering Mistral in search of a man Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon, held interest in. Why he had interest? Qrow had no goddamn clue. Ozpin held the cards close to his chest on this one. Qrow reached inside his waistcoat and dug out a white rectangle with a gold diamond in the center. Willing it open, he looked at the notes he had written when Qrow had went back to Ozpin for this one.

'Legend type: War God,'

he read. 'Legend came about in an old culture from a town called Milas. The War God, Ares Nike, had helped the town as it had been about to be overrun with Grimm. The War God fought back the Grimm with fire, fist and hammer. (And Gun based on descriptions.) Hair red as the blood the Grimm have spilled, an eye of glittering emerald and the other a shining amber, peering into past and future. Armor thick to protect. The War God had been seen throughout the following centuries aiding Villages, slaughtering the Grimm, fighting them with a rage and fury never before seen. Mistralian in origin. Legend age: 400 Years ago.'

Qrow closed his scroll with a sigh. He had looked, and looked, and looked, all over Mistral for the last five months looking for this War God with nothing to show. He had heard smatterings of a wandering mercenary that hunted the Grimm occasionally, but that was common.

"Trouble friend?" The bartender asked. He was very tall with equally pale skin, it looked almost blue. His amber eye glinted with mirth. His right eye was covered with a black eyepatch stylized with a circle surrounded by a laurel in silver. Inside the circle were what appeared to be a hexagon split into four sections, six lines arranged into tree layered arrows, and two tree intersecting triangles forming a spiked top and flat bottomed shape. He wore a bandana over his hair, keeping it back and hidden. The man placed two shots.

"You could say that," Qrow grumbled.

"Well I am all ears."

"I'm trying to find a...friend of mine and I have had zilch to show for it."

The bartender nodded as he cleaned a glass, "I see. How long have you been searching?"

"Five freakin' months," Qrow grumbled, tossing the shot back. "Five months of nothing."

"Is your friend a Huntsman?"

"You could say that."

"What is his name and description?" The mountainous bartender asked with a kind smile, "I can be on the lookout for you."

Qrow shrugged internally, better to have another contact. The dusty old bird looked at the glass as he swirled the drink inside. "Ares Nike is his name," the bartender's smile seemed to tighten almost imperceptibly. "Guy has a big-ass axe and heavy armor. Red hair, heterochromic eyes." Qrow looked at the man. "Speakin' of which, how'd ya lose it if I may ask?"

The man chuckled, hooked his thumbed under the edge and lifted the eyepatch. His closed eye had several scars going from underneath his eye to his ear diagonally. "Ursa Claw." The man said simply, then dropped the eyepatch back into place.

"I'm sorry," Qrow remarked. "Past Huntsman?"

The man held a mischievous smirk, "You could say that."

Qrow tossed back the other shot. "Ya know, I never introduced myself. Bran Qrowwen. Huntsman," he stuck his hand out, using the same name he always gave. Somehow it never failed to keep his identity hidden.

"Mars Victoria," the Newly named Mars stated, and took the hand shaking it firmly.

Qrow left the establishment later, being very, very inebriated. He stumbled as he walked, and decided to cut through an alley to get the motel Mars had told him about.

A blue light came from the shadows. Qrow peered closer. "Wazzat?" He asked himself.

A flash filled his vision, and he knew no more.