I can show you how.

Cera's renewal was almost complete, his revival like the delicate birth of a flame. It requires a spark, food, and gentle winds. Too much fuel would smother it, too much breath, exhaust it - at least until it grew, and then it would blossom into a might few could stop. That's what she wanted for Cera, what she wanted of him. She knew it existed inside of him, he was of the Throat after all, she just had to dig it out the way he did with his metal ores.

He charged towards her as she rushed across the desert, surprising her with his willingness. Cera could have stood there, teetering on the brink of salvation, or he could have turned tail and run, slipping back into the darkness. Instead he reached out to her outstretched hand, fingers like teeth curling over flesh, holding on and pulling himself up and into the light, into the fire. Ampere squealed.

The sound was cut short by the force of their impact as they collided on the sands, the vibrations rattling her lungs into emptiness. Nostrils flared in a desperate attempt to bring in air; Cera's scent mingled with it, sour with his sadness, but also fortified with the dust of their land and the powder cast off by the metals he worked. The smell was real, it was strong.

Ampere pulled away from his hard embrace after delivering her kiss. The retreat caused the black hide on the left area of her withers to tear. A bruise wasn't as evident as the mark he'd left by her stifle, the area too bony, but it was tender, raw, and red where blood welled up fresh and bright. Her teeth clenched against the pain.

She drifted to her right as she sunk back to all fours, her neck curled defensively. Her wither region thumped with the ache his teeth left each time her pulse sang. Exertion was evident in the heaving of her flanks, her breath still recovering, but endurance her one saving grace. Whether it was a physical trait, or mental, Ampere had the ability to push herself to her limit and beyond, and that's exactly what she'd do. If she let this end now, Cera could still spin himself back into the bog of his despairs. If she let herself quit just because it got hard, or because it hurt a little bit more than she wanted, then she might as well lie down and die.

"Grab hold of that," she advised to him breathlessly. She hadn't paused since she left his grip and was already bunching her muscles, grunting as she pivoted on her forehand. Sand danced at the will of her hooves, head slung low to counterbalance the rising tide of darkness that her haunches brought. Reaching out with a strong buck she aimed both barrels for Cera's chest, or whatever he might still have near her. They were both fast and agile, so he might have already danced away in the time it took her to land and start the pivot. She suspected he wasn't going to be running away this time though, not with that fire started up.

Unintentionally sand flew out with her heels, useful only if it caught him in his face, like salt on a wound. Similarly, Ampere's tail whipped about like a beheaded viper, though it was more an expression of the heat that drove them than an assault, but perhaps he was still close enough to feel its sting. Her withers ached as her body moved beneath the taut coat that had been torn, but it was not enough to deter her. The bruising that connected her stifle and her abdomen on that left side flared up as she demanded her heels to kick out, and perhaps it shortened her left's reach slightly.

"You have to fight, that's all life is," she mumbled into the sand as her nose drifted over it, talking to Cera as much as herself. Sparring with such an emotional investment reminded her of her latest tiff with Gaucho; of all the weaknesses and flaws he had exposed within her, of the way she had stood motionless in the face of her morals. Ampere closed her eyes briefly, reliving his rough voice as it berated her in the desperation of a savaged heart. She had stopped fighting for a while, she had sunken into the depths of fear and pity, and in that way, she had ceased to be.

"Never again," she whispered, eyes snapping back into blue sight as her body landed. Her head lifted as her rear dropped, neck bowing to the right as she twisted in the loose sand to face Cera.

---

A: 3/3
D: 0/1
W: 800/800

@[Cera] SO SORRY FOR MY DELAY

A M P E R E
PRETTY FACE AND ELECTRIC SOUL