Ampere had known when the God of the Sun set the crown upon her poll that its weight would prove to be more than the golden metal. What she hadn't known was that it would grow so heavy so fast.

Already her thoughts whirred with concern, each one tangled among the lives of the strangers that lived here alongside her. "Not strangers" she chided herself. They were to be herdmates, family, their blood tied by the dust that settled in the grooves of their coats. She didn't know most of them yet, but it didn't matter, they were her brethren. It was why her teeth grit at Shadow's absence, thinking still of Kari shouting for help in the caves - even as a wraith her Sleuth talents kept her trail elusive. It was why her feathers bristled at that attempted stealth of Hector the past evening. Why her teeth worried her lip at the small handful that had collected for the herd meeting. Why her heart sunk for Sohalia's presence and Gaucho's absence. Why her 'brow furrowed, contemplative, furious, protective of Africa with her ideas, bonded soul, and broken wing.

Each name was a swirl of flame wrought in gold upon her forehead, and each one drug like lead in her heart.

Ampere had never wanted this. or she thought sourly as she flew, partially patrolling the lands, but mostly trying to clear her head in the skies. Even the wind could not lighten her now though, and her frustrations grew increasingly jumbled inside her.
This was exactly what Ampere had been looking for though. She'd been alone before, and with it she had been buoyant, empty of anyone to care for. Now she was surrounded by her dust-red brothers and sisters. Each one a name, a face, a heart to hold within her own.

Teeth gnashed with conflicted emotions as Ampere rolled through the desert breeze. The movement of her jaw reminded her of a rising thirst. With a sigh she tilted to her left, towards the oasis, towards the resignation of a grounded status after a flight that had done nothing to soothe her.

She landed in the shadow of the Dragon's Blood tree where sand was whipped around by her flight winds and the air whined through her feathers. A voice called to her just as she was settled, and ti seemed as if it had called her here all along, her thirst forgotten in the honey of his syllables. Surprised she spun her head around, glancing over her shoulder. The blue of her gaze skated over his smoldering frame and there, was melted to it.
"Yes?" she answered softly, almost hesitant. She was afraid he had seen the doubt in her thoughts and had come to relieve her of her 'weight'. Her emotions were running strong, her frustration chief among them. It made her judgments snappy, and at times, poor.

With her fear though, she realized what she wanted. Her body stiffened, her gaze hardening. She would fight him to remain here, because this, all of this, is what she needed. "Appreciating your new herd?" she asked more strongly now, almost challenging him to demean it, or her. Her passion could not be kept from enveloping her, even before a god, such is the foolishness of mortality.

She shifted her body to face him head on. He was not as bright out here in his city, wreathed by the glow of his own might, but even so she was better able to appreciate him and be reminded of what god meant. It was as though she had turned towards a pillar of fire, each stroke of flame a wash of warmth that assaulted her senses. Her nerves prickled, deliciously cool in comparison. A weakness returned to her, though this time it flooded her knees instead of her confidence.

[Pro tip: don't talk about actual making of babies or else she may flee!]

He was softer than she expected he'd be. Rather than the cruel slap of flame upon flesh or the brutal glow of summer sunlight, he was like a new dawn just peeking over the slumbering world, playful and inviting with his warmth. It was the kind of warmth that was just enough to tease you into chasing it so that you might feel its comfort further.

She relaxed, if only by a margin. His words seemed honest, and none of them suggested he was here to strip her of what he had given her. "No take backs," she thought with a childish glee that expressed itself like a rough smile, one that stretched only partially on the right side of her face - ever asymmetric.

Even so, Ampere was not calm. Her frustrations remained bundled up inside her, surfacing in new ways with every passing word and thought. "Brothers," she thought with a scoff, remembering all to well the scouring of their eyes and the sneer in their voices at the meeting. Maybe the God of the Sun had not deemed her unworthy today, and maybe she had the confidence in herself, for this moment at least, but their opinion remained unwavering with disapproval. It was an entirely different kind of weight, but no less oppressive. Its restrictions made her struggle instinctively, but this was not a battle she could win through blood alone (beating them into submission was certainly out of the option).

How could she convince them to love her, when she was so sparse with the feeling herself?

Her gaze which had wandered away in their shared moment was immediately wrenched back with the god's movement. His stride was like a golden shimmer, the way the heat played in the distant horizon line, and it was not something she could ignore, regardless of what raged within her.

His touch was even more commanding, her senses melting into worthlessness after her initial shudder, as though he were driving a chill out of her. Ever since the ocean had been swallowed by the darkness and she'd been driven underground Ampere had wanted nothing more than to nestle in the embrace of someone strong, someone warm, someone handsome.

Just as he had done before, the God of the Sun gave her precisely what she needed.

Her stiffness gave way beneath him with a single exhale. Such was the release of tangled emotions that for a moment Ampere was worried she might burst into tears, a most embarrassing thing indeed, but her body saved her. In this moment of frailty her mind was overwhelmed by commands ingrained in her muscles. She let herself grow lost in him. Much like slipping into unconsciousness, Ampere protected herself in this way.

Her muzzle brushed up against his neck, light and delicate at first, but quickly she began to rub it against his brilliant hide. She groomed him, caressed him, absorbed him like a drug. Her tail twitched lightly at her flanks, while a low, soft sound crooned in her chest. Any fear of his flames or his godliness was forgotten in the moment of his embrace. He was masculine, that was all that mattered.