Ampere greeted the dawn with a loud series of whistles carried out over the sands on her wings. She circled around the heart of the sands, while her summons should stretch towards its borders. Although the greeting of a new day was certainly a habit of birds, it was not the purpose for her song - she sang of battle and blood, of duty and might.

She was calling her shield sisters and battle brothers. She was gathering her warriors.

In a gentle spray of sand Ampere's hooves touched back down by the Oasis, where she'd left her son. She glanced towards where he should be, checking he hadn't run off this time, before setting her attention towards the shapes she saw arriving. She was their Gladiator, it was time to start acting like it. Several things had drawn her attention away from the role, namely her trepidation to wield it. She had never been a leader of anything, not really, considering her short term as the Throat's sultana. After plunging head first into motherhood though, this certainly seemed less scary, and at least this time she was leading something smaller and closer to her heart. It made the crown intimate, rather than heavy. Still, this wasn't a path she knew well, and the uncertainty of her heading their army put butterflies in her stomach. She'd trust in Gaucho though, as she hadn't in the Sun or herself.

I can do this, she breathed, cocking her left hind leg to appear more comfortable than she felt. Unfortunately warriors were well versed in reading body language, and most tended to be brutally blunt. Still, maybe she could pull of acting like she knew how to do this whole, I'm in charge thing.

First things first, meet her siblings of swords. She needed faces, and names to go with them, and ideally, an assessment of their fighting prowess. She'd like to test them all herself, but maybe not today, they had patrols to attend to as well - the murderer was still on the loose after all.

Second, a show of strength. She had been pregnant and recently given birth, something of which nearly all the herd knew of by now. The last thing she needed was any of them thinking her unfit to hold her position. Maybe there were certain traits that were truthful to that thought, but her physical prowess wouldn't be one of them, of that she was solidly decided. I am strong her eyes said as she looked at each arrival in turn. I have made life, and I have recovered her body suggested as she stood tall (ish) and firm, muscles still toned and sturdy.

"I thought it was past due that we all get officially acquainted. So to start, I'm Ampere, the Mother of Companions (and Zèklè), and the Dragon's Throat Gladiator." Such was the greeting she proffered after quiet nods, once all had gathered within reasonable time. "If you would, offer your own."

[POST ORDER IS A LIE]

They all come. All but one, and she knows that one, though it's possible they don't. His absence as of late had been noticed with a growing disquiet, and Ampere intended fully to inform him of such whenever she actually managed to find him. Not expecting his arrival in the least, the meeting began. Easily, she cocked a hind foot and fell into easy patience with her brothers and sisters, though like any true siblings, their love was a troubled sort as she well saw.

A massive, well decorated stallion of mud coloring lead the charge in her conclusion. Respectfully her attention shifted fully to him, though it was no difficult task, Hector easily commanded respect and alertness. He regarded her with a certain air of comfort, as if he had seen more than the likes of her in the role she carried, perhaps more than once. He was not familiar to her, but neither was he a stranger, and she recalled his face from seasons past when she stood with a different sort of summons.

Hector and Veci. Well at least he had the mind to name his companion, though Ampere could hardly hide the tilt that settled upon her lips as its name, and most importantly it were uttered. So it served at his side? Of course.

The next to speak thankfully drew Ampere's attention away from the brute of war, though it was no easier task to look upon her. Another face not unknown, but not well placed; just a defensive anger over Gaucho in a heated moment when sparks flew. Ampere did not hold it against her then, and did not now, but the image was there all the same. Megaera she thought with a growing smirk, because she had to admire the warrior's fire. Though, Ampere was not so foolish as to think them bound by the code of their gender, nor by the similarity of their character. If anything, Ampere figured they were bound to clash more than once. Then again, in a land made and governed by flame, weren't they all stoked to burn?

Finally, a dark stranger took the mantle, his eyes haunting as Ampere held their weight. She wasn't sure what to make of him just yet, but she supposed given all her options he was the most likely candidate for camaraderie among her soldiers. It was not that she discounted the other three, but Dalibor's dislike of her predated either of them living int he sands, and it did not escape Ampere's notice that Hector and Megaera were more gaucho's warriors than her's.

That was fine, so long as they all belong to the Dragon's Throat and the God of the Sun. She didn't know them, they didn't know her - it went both ways and with it ran respect and loyalty. Even now she felt their judgement as they watched her, waiting for something to reveal strength or weakness. Ampere grinned then, unafraid of the challenge. She stood all the taller for it, purposefully easing the tension from her muscles as a show that she did not succumb to the fears of their inspection. She trusted in herself, and she trusted in Gaucho, as she was sure they all did.

Besides, if one of them could best her, then they deserved it. Such was the law of blood by which they toiled, for now, and forever.

Glancing over them all once more time, nodding appreciatively of their icebreaker, Ampere was about to speak, to reveal the true intent of this gathering. Zèklè however, had other plans. She saw him approach, but somehow his disobedience, his interruption, his wetness did not hit her until he was pronouncing his name for all the world to hear. In an instant the strength that Ampere had built with each word her warriors uttered crumbled around the small boy. Her ears fell against her head and her neck snaked out towards him, teeth cutting out from beneath tightened lips.

"I told you to stay!" The words fell hard and harsh, low with danger and seriousness. Her teeth punctuated her point as she nipped at his neck, an attempt to drive him away. "All young warriors must first learn to listen," Ampere tutted, softening as she realized her harshness, though she did not apologize for it. It was born somewhat of shame, the rest from inexperience, but all of it had purpose. If they were so quick to judge her, then what of her son? Each of them bore a wing.

Yet what of her son?

As Ampere drew her head back towards her chest, she caught view of the approaching golden girl, and she certainly drew the blue stare that Ampere offered. In many ways she resembled hector, but in others... nothing by the likes of which she had ever seen. It was not fear that goaded Ampere to look so openly though, but wonder. The mare's hide was interwoven with glistening scales, each one shimmering bright and hard - inlaid armor, perhaps? Was this barely a mare so devoted to her trade?

Her words didn't suggest as much as her frame, but they returned Ampere's focus, a swift shake of her head clearing her thoughts and redirecting her gaze to the group. "Welcome, all of you." She stressed the inclusion of them all, glancing at Amaris kindly, then to her son, sternly. "Protecting our home is why we've met. I've no doubt in any of you that you do not love this land, fight for this land, sweat for it, bleed for it... but we stand as only a fraction of the whole herd." A small fraction indeed. The borders were vast, the rest of Helovia even more so, they could hardly hope to catch every threat. "With the recent murders we've all been on alert. Your tireless work patrolling and defending has not gone unnoticed, the Sun thanks you." She offered the last phrase as more of a symbolic praise, than the actual voice oft he god. "We would do better by ourselves and the herd though if we helped them help themselves. Everyone should learn the most basic skills of survival, everyone."

Ampere paused, her silence swelling with what she said. It was an undying belief with her, similar words shared with a previous leader crowned in gold and grey. Gaucho seemed to think himself capable of protecting them all, always, but Ampere was less sure. "What do you think it takes to survive?" She had her own ideas, but was curious to know theirs. She thought it might shed light on their character even more than mere names did.