The answer: not long.

"Hey big boy," Ampere crooned, her voice a gentle, sultry sound as it wove through the forest air. It seemed to come from nowhere, but everywhere, at least at first. She was not somewhere easily seen, because it was not where you tended to find anyone.

Anyone that wasn't Ampere anyway.

She moved, and a tree branch swayed. The needle leaves whispered as they brushed each other, the bough rocking unsteadily, threatening to topple the snow which had piled ontop of it. She laughed, a delightful sound full of energy and warmth. "Up here," she called down to him, peering through the foliage as she balanced on two tree branches overhead of him.

She had been napping here, rather by surprise. All the patroling she'd done lately coupled with the mental exhausting of over-thinking certain scenarios had taken more out of her than she realized. While grazing among the trees and waiting for one, well one just like him, she must have dozed off. Not wise she mentally scolded, but it was half-hearted, partly because she was so self-assure she didn't think much could hurt her anyway. Of course we all know that's bullshit, including here, but sometimes it's fun to pretend; sometimes it's saner.

"Traveling through or just apt to stroll through cold as hell forests?" she queried by way of conversation, though her gaze, as bright and wild as a summer storm, was busy asking other questions of him as it washed over his physique.

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"Perhaps I could convince you to stay," Ampere replied slyly, her head leaning further down from the tree tops, blue eyes sparkling with desire... yet he looked away. She exhaled clouds as she pulled back up into her tree, ears flicking towards where he looked, to where a new voice joined the fray.

Elsa Ampere knew as soon as she heard the voice, only needing a brief glance to confirm the pale mare whom had become her Threshold companion as of late. Ampere grinned. It was always more fun with Elsa around, one way or another.

As the ice queen began to banter, Ampere tip toed in her boughs, searching for a more open region where she could glide down from her wings. As much as she enjoyed her perch, particularly its height, she was getting cold and she suspected Oberon could warm her up. Maybe she thought as the wind caught her after she leaped from the trees. He seems a bit, stiff she thought with a frown as she landed among the snow. The cold settled in instantly, kissing her fetlocks with winter.

"There's not much to know," Ampere replied simply, picking up after their banter. She turned back to face them, wings tucking easily against her backside as she strode in closer, drifting more so towards the stallion. "There are four," she remarked pointedly. "The Aurora Basin in the North, the World's Edge to the west, the Hiddens Falls to the east, and the Dragon's Throat to the west," she paused, flashing him one of her crooked smiles, the kind that was beautiful, but wild, "where I take roost, and by far, the one with the best company." Ampere winked.

"Politics hardly matter much to you if you're just passing through though. This dingy old forest is not the best place to rest your head." Ampere made a face as she shivered, only partially being dramatic. She did hate it after being coddled by the supple sands of the Throat, not to say it didn't get cold at night there, but at least it wasn't wet.

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Ampere was accustomed to nicknames. In fact, she rather preferred them. She had never quite understood the necessity of actual names, and figured even if one wasn't supplied, one would be given anyway (case in point, blue bird). To Ampere, names were just hollow words and well practiced manners.

If you knew someone, you knew them, name or not. Know me, don't name me.

Ampere's attention flicked to Elsa as she refuted the Mother of Companions' words. It wasn't irritation that crossed the lightning marked face; mostly just curiosity. Did Elsa truly believe a drifter needed to know every tidbit of the land? Ampere had never been warned of the Basin, and yet here she stood - if he took to wandering to the North (what idiot would during Frostfall?) they would chase him out as they had her. Perhaps I was luckier than most though Ampere thought as she glanced at Elsa's bad eye, never noticing it before. The claims of their racism were nothing new to her, and though it had angered her at first, didn't every herd have a right to defend its borders? She certainly did not appreciate strangers on the edge of her orange sands.

There was something to be said though, about what happened inside the borders, but now was not the time.

At Oberon's voice the blue eyes made of electricity turned to settle back upon him. Her ears flicked, listening with a growing smile, one that tried to hide the prickling unease of the Basin. As if growing evil of a divine nature wasn't enough, the northerners remained a continued threat - only small stories here and there, but threats to their freedom all the same.

"Feed you, shelter you, bed you - everything the wilds in Frostfall do not," Ampere said pointedly, distracted by her thoughts. With a pause she school her head, chasing the demons inside back into the depths where they would stay until she dreamed. "Ranks of ample choosing and interests, warmth of many kinds, and company to share it with." Ampere's smile seemed to grow heavy on one side, becoming rough and lopsided - a wild kind of look often found on the recently fucked or the recently fought. Ampere was looking for either.

"All herds offer that though," she went on, her tail swishing dismissively, feathers ruffling with the readiness to leave. It was cold here, and she shifted her weight to remind her bones to stay awake. "All that really matters is who you're standing with each dawn, who you're grazing beside every dusk, who you're sweating with afternoon...and night." A coy look as Ampere tilted her head, finishing with the unspoken intent - he picked them now, they had already chosen him.

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Ampere had to give Elsa credit for her passion of her herd. It made the Mother of Companions curious as to just what exactly the Falls was like... although if Elsa's continued disapproval of her was anything to go by, it might only be a pretty place to visit and not a place to live. One individual usually did not embody the entire herd and its ideals, but it was difficult not to think that when all you were given was a single individual to judge a herd by.

Ampere did not envy these strangers who walked through the woods, as she had so long ago. Even then she had never really chosen the Throat, it had picked her, and now that she was there, she realized it was home after all. Would it have been the same elsewhere, or would she have wandered the wilds the rest of her life? The idea still struck a sort of romantic fantasy in her, but she enjoyed the various luxuries of herd life, chief among which was good company. The wilds had been unbearably lonely, but she'd never felt that way since roosting in the sands.

That was why Ampere so strongly pressed the importance of company in this dance of recruiting. It was why when Oberon accepted, she beamed. She had just gained another brother today, the best kind too since they didn't share blood but could share other bodily fluids.

Wings stretched eagerly at his announcement, a wide smile consuming her muzzle as Ampere reached out to touch his shoulder in greeting. No more was he a stranger, now he was her herdmate. "Let's get you out of the snow then!" she trilled as she beat a path through the forest, ensuring he was beside her, before taking to the skies - the one true home of them all.

[We'll continue this in this thread :D ]

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