All mentions of Tiesen, Gaelen, Chale, and Rika belong to silver ruffian and the story, "The Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"
Gaelen and his brothers watched over Ari after she returned from the pagan gathering utterly destroyed. After that meeting, she began to rip this world a new one. Plans that had been in motion for years, centuries even, were destroyed as she fully became the Horseman of Change. Destinies were destroyed, and free will became more than an illusion: it became a reality. Some would say that it was a good thing, but only Ari knew how horrible it was to have no destiny, to know that there was no plan for you, that you were simply here for the ride. Chale tried his best to cheer her up, but he stopped after the first few times when his efforts went unnoticed. Tiesen and Rika were really worried for her, but they did nothing to stop her: who knows what could set her off next?
Gaelen was the only one that she would confide in, and he would tell the brothers after she went to rest. At night, they listened to the screams and ignored them; the next day, she would act as if everything was normal, but at night she would grieve. Piece by piece, Gaelen pulled the story out of her. How Gabriel was her little brother, more like her best friend before the Fall. How, during the battle, he disappeared and left her alone. That was the first chink in her armour that Alastair exploited: her inability to keep her family together. She told him about the time when she, Dean, and Sam found him again. How she screamed at him for leaving her alone. How she ordered him never to show his face to her again. How she regretted those words as she walked away from him. How, at the conference, she never got to apologize for saying that to him, how she never got a chance at forgiveness. How, every night, she relived his death over and over and how she couldn't stop it.
It got to the point that Ari was impossible to be around without getting her angry at the slightest of details. Her brothers stopped talking to her; they left her completely alone, with the condition that if she wanted to talk, they would be there. Once they left, Ari felt even more despondent, like the greater piece of her heart was gone once again. She wept herself dry and raged at the world, but then she had drained herself completely of the rage. She was empty, and she missed her brothers.
It was three weeks after the conference when she finally got control of herself and of her powers and came back to her brothers. Ari no longer screamed at night, no longer raged out at her brother Horsemen. She was herself once again, save for the void in her heart. She watched and waited, waited for her chance to complete her only goal: destroy Michael and Lucifer, the ones that had taken everything that she had valued and treasured and turned it into a weapon. That could wait, though. It was Chale's turn to wreck havoc on the mortals.
Before she had become one of the Horsemen almost five months ago, Lucifer had approached Chale with an offer: if he were to distribute the Croatoan virus while he was infecting the world, then he and his brothers would be richly rewarded when the Apocalypse was over. Chale told him to stick it where the sun shines: no one interferes in the affairs of the Horsemen, not even the Devil himself. This swine flu that he had created was spreading like wildfire, fueling people with panic. Plus, there were other diseases to be played with to, all of which come out of those lovely developing countries, and all of which have no immunity in the developed world. This was good enough. Of course humankind would develop a vaccine to the swine flu, but by then this worldwide pandemic will have done its damage. All those little diseases running rampart around the world? It was like heaven on earth for Chale. And now, they were one step closer to watching the world burn.
Chale went off to one of his 'petri dishes' as he called them to watch his experiment unfold. He was trying to combine chicken pox and dengue fever, and where better to try this new combination than at a convalescent home, where people were just waiting to die? Never let it be said that the Horsemen didn't had a sense of mercy. If it helped them to get closer to the Apocalypse, then a few sacrifices were necessary. Ari and the others were moving their base of operations to Chicago, where Gaelen wanted to begin his increase of personal power. Now that people were dying from Chale's infections and diseases, time to amp up the power. Unlike his brothers, Gaelen had been around for millenia, almost as long as Ari. Tiesen, Chale, and Rika came to be before her time in Hell, right around the start of the Fall. His power was unfathomable: natural disasters were his ball game. Floods, fires, earthquakes, torrential rain storms? He had so much in store for this pathetic planet.
Ari was polishing her Sword in their apartment in Chicago; they had picked a place in the middle of the town close to that bar that they went to the last time they were in the city. Gaelen was out creating torrential rain storms and earthquakes around this area, and Tiesen and Rika were exploring this town. When Chale would return, they would go out for a meal. However, nothing ever goes according to plan.
Gaelen returned after a lovely little torrential downpour began to take over this city. Floods were inevitable at this point. Tiesen and Rika were back, changing out of their wet clothes. As they chuckled lowly to themselves, Chale burst through the door, clutching his bloody hand. His tanned face was pale now, and his golden eyes were in agony. Ari and Rika lifted him onto the bed and got him to uncover his hand. His ring was missing, as well as two of his fingers. Ari growled. "Winchesters?"
Chale shook his head. "Your bloody ex. Working with the mortals. Took my ring. Goddammit!" He slapped his head against the pillow.
"Calm down, Chale!" Ari wrapped his hand up in bandages, trying to stop the blood. He would heal on his own, but not while he was so angry. Once he had calmed down, then he could focus on healing himself. Ari stood up and looked to Gaelen. The oldest Horseman cleared his throat and waited for the others to listen. "Brothers, and sister. It is clear what has to happen next."
Tiesen whipped his braided hair around as he turned so fast to glance at their leader/brother. "What happens next? That's simple! Kill off Dean and Sam!"
Rika nodded his head. "They've been after us since they found Tiesen in River Pass. Come on, Gaelen! Three rings, in less than a year? Even Lucifer couldn't do something like that, and he's been searching far longer." His mulatto features darkened as he thought about this. "What other options are there?"
"We trap Lucifer back in his cage." At that, all four of them paused and looked at Gaelen in a new light. "That's what our rings are for. They aren't channels of our powers, the sources. They're part of that angel's cage back in Hell. However," he cleared his throat and looked out the window, "it can only be done by a vessel." Ari stared at Gaelen, her face clearly reading what the hell are you saying? "We need the Winchesters."
All five of the Horsemen were silent, thinking it over. Tiesen was thinking that this could actually be a decent plan. Rika was thinking about his own desire to help Ari out, how this might work. Chale, behind all the painful rage, was thinking along the same lines as Tiesen. Ari, however, thought about her own plan to destroy her older brothers. If Dean and Sam actually said 'yes', then Lucifer and Michael would be in the same place at the same time. She wouldn't have to hunt them down. They would come right to her. She looked up at Gaelen. "All right. Let the Winchesters come to us. Bobby will be with them. I'll arrange a meet at MacAnally's for two days from now." She sheathed her sword and walked over to Gaelen. "I hope this works, brother." With that, she hopped in her Impala and drove like the wind to South Dakota.
A ten hour trip was condensed into two as she walked up the stairs and opened the door to Bobby's place at midnight. She walked on silent feet past the devil's trap, past the salt-loaded shotgun and silver machete and walked into the library. Bobby was looking through a book, not even paying attention. Dean and Sam looked sound asleep on the couch. Castiel was sitting on the floor, out like the dead. She couldn't sense any angel left inside of him, but Cas was still in his vessel. How interesting... She picked up the bottle of Jack's and walked right through the shadows to Bobby's right. "How's it coming, Bobby?" She spoke quietly, setting off a wonderful chain of events. Bobby jerked in his chair and shot her right through the chest with a shotgun, to no effect. Dean and Sam woke and had daggers and shotguns in their hands pointed right at her. Cas jumped to his feet, only to fall right back down in weakness.
She just stood there and watched the hunters and ex-angel slowly recognize her. Dean was first. "Ari?" She lifted up the bottle of Jack's and took a swig. Sam was still confused. "Ariel?" She cringed at that name; the being associated with that name had been long dead. "What the hell?" Cas didn't even acknowledge her. Bobby stared at the place where he had shot her, where no blood was coming out.
"Bobby, I like this jacket!" She looked at the iron buckshot holes in her shirt and jacket as she manipulated them to mend in front of their eyes. "Besides, immortal, remember? Can't kill me that way." She placed the bottle of Jack's down and stared at them all. "Look, I'd like to stay and chat, but I've got places to be and people to kill, so I'll keep it short. If you want the keys to Lucifer's cage, come to MacAnally's Tavern in Chicago for five in the evening tomorrow. All will be explained then." She made to leave, but paused. "Oh, and boys?" She winked at them. "I'd come if I were you. Death doesn't usually take no for an answer."
The sun sank and rose, and it was the next evening before anyone could do anything. Chale had finally calmed down enough to heal up his hand, but it was a nasty war wound; for the sake of people passing by, he covered his hand in a layer of gauze and tape, thanks to the medical skill of his sister. As one, all five of them walked into the tavern and watched as the local-yokels cleared out. The owner looked at them, same as before, and pointed to the sign above his door that read, "Accorded Neutral Ground." All of the Horsemen nodded, but Ari walked up to the bar. "Five ales and sandwiches, please?" He stared at her for another moment. "Don't worry, sir. We have a peaceful meeting here." She unsheathed her sword and handed it over to him. "As a promise." One by one, all five lifted their dusters and their shirts and showed that they carried no mortal weapons. Neutral ground was neutral ground; no blood was to be shed here tonight.
Dean, Sam, Bobby, and Cas came a few minutes before five. They drove all through the pre-dawn light to get here in time. The rainfall didn't help much either. All six of them heard the racket that getting Bobby out of the Impala and down the stairs. The mortals looked at the Horsemen in disgust; they still thought they were demons, even after all this?
"Dean, Sam. Good of you to come. Bobby." Ari looked over her shoulder as she turned to face them. "Castiel." That introduction was far colder than the others. "Please, leave your weapons with Mac."
"Why? So you can kill us easier?" At Bobby's accusation, Ari grew far serious.
"No. Because this is neutral ground, Robert Singer. Not even we shall disregard that. So, please, leave your four shotguns, two handhelds, and the three knives on your persons to Mac." She motioned over to the bar before sitting back down with her brothers. The seating arrangement worked in their favour: the corner booth sat six comfortably, and with Mac's permission, they moved a few chairs from the back to sit in front of them. Dean, Sam, and Cas took their seats; Bobby wheeled his way over.
"So, Dean. Rumour has it that you're looking for me." Gaelen took a swig of his ale, looking right at the eldest Winchester. "Well, here I am. Hi, I'm Death." He sighed and took another swig of the liquor.
"You're..." Sam looked reluctant to believe it. So Gaelen proved it: with a bat of his eye, he made the thunderstorm outside get worse: tornado-force winds, monsoon.
"Sit. It gets old, talking to humans. Besides, you never even asked my name." All four of the mortals in front of them (Castiel had no powers left, so he wasn't a true angel in the sense of the word) were shocked. "Please, Death is a title. Just as Ari is Change, I am Gaelen. My brothers are Tiesen, Rika, and Chale." Each of them waved a maimed hand at them, reminding them of their dues. "You try going through life being called Hunter. No one cares for you, for you are nothing to them but a tool. Me?" He placed the bottle down. "I'm old, Winchesters. God and I don't remember who came first. But in the end, he knows I'll reap him too."
"You'll reap God?" Bobby turned whiter than a ghost, but Cas was turning redder and redder by the moment.
"Oh, he knows it, Castiel. He knows it. But, down to business." Gaelen flashed a grin and leaned forward. "You want to trap the Devil, right? Well, you'll be needing these, won't you?" He and Ari both lifted their hands up. "By the way, boys, you could ask next time for the rings. They're nothing special to us. They're not the source of our powers." Ari's eye gleamed as she summoned the three rings from Bobby's pocket and placed them on the table. "I'm inclined, and so is Ari, to give you these rings."
"Why?" Cas looked at the five like they were roaches. "Don't you work for Lucifer?"
All five of them growled. "Ari and I have lived since the beginning of time. My brothers came about during the time of the Fall. Not once have I seen Lucifer, other than for a moment at my rebirth. Not once have I talked to Lucifer. He isn't giving the orders. I am." Gaelen's voice dipped down an octave and made the mortals cringe. "No one interferes with the Horsemen. Not the Devil, not God, and certainly not mortals." He spat that last word out with so much venom that it hurt. "Why do you think that there's no Croatoan virus running around yet? Because my brother," he nodded to Chale, "refused Lucifer. We don't make deals with the Devil, and we don't make deals with the angels."
"Dean, Sam." Now it was Ari's turn to speak. "Do you want the rings or not? This is a one-time offer, and we will live long after the Apocalypse is over. Your fates, however, are still in dispute." She drained her bottle of ale. Cas left right then and there, stalking out the door like a child. Ari just chuckled a few times; still the same old stubborn Cas. The three remaining mortals looked at each other, slowly coming to an easily-read conclusion.
"Okay, we're in." All five of the Horsemen nodded as Dean and Sam stood up.
"However, there is one condition." Without asking for their permission, Ari looked to Bobby. She stared at him for a while. "Aren't you going to join us, Bobby?" He began to wheel his way to the table, but she stopped him with a single extended finger. "Walk to the table, Bobby. It shouldn't be too hard." Dean and Sam glared at her like she was insulting their best friend, but Bobby looked confused as he began to wiggle his toes. In one grunted moment, he stood up and stared at her in shock. Ari nodded her head once to him, a salute to the senior hunter. "Consider this thanks for watching out for these two knuckleheads."
"What did you do to him?" Dean looked right livid, but it was Sam she was intrigued with. His fists were white from the tension, his face completely riddled with anger.
"Really, guys, I'm not Change for a reason." She sat back in the booth. "I didn't have the powers before because beloved brother Michael made me a warrior! Now, I'm not angel, not demon, not mortal. Get it through your skulls, because I've told you both this several times. I'm. A. Horseman. My powers are beyond your recognizance. Now thank me for the gift, or Bobby goes back to the chair permanently." Her golden eyes threatened to go back for a moment. "I don't like it, Dean, when I do good and others question my motives."
"Boys, you might wanna do what the young lady asks." Rika and Chale both sipped at their ales. "She just got off a three week power spree, so she can kill you guys quite easily. But, we need you for our plans to work."
"Ari, relax. They are important to our plans." Tiesen tugged on her shirt, keeping her in place. "Remember, this is neutral ground!" That was the only thing that kept her from ripping out their throats.
Gaelen looked back to them. "The key to remember, is that this only works with an occupied vessel. Now, do you want the user instructions, or not?"