You would have thought after all these years of fighting the good fight, that Ampere either would have won, or given up, or at least learned something. Wisdom doesn't necessarily come in age, just experience, but Ampere had enough of either by now. Yet she continued, as unwavering as the tide, storming the beach of those whom opposed her crusade.

That's what it had become, a crusade. What began as childish outrage at real or perceived unfairness about companions, had evolved into some deranged quest to liberate anyone and everyone. If she bothered to stand still for more than a couple seconds, she was forced to think, and to talk, and whenever that happened she always found holes in her rationality. It was why she had grown so fond of Gaucho so quickly - he was a man of action and settled his decisions with his might. Unfortunately he stood on the other line in the sand more often than not, and his might far outweighed hers; knowledge which both terrified and invigorated her. She would not stop, not now, not ever. If she stopped, then it would all catch up with her, and what would she have?

That fear kept her alive.

It was a fear that she bit into as she engaged with her Sultan. Tricks, she thought in annoyance the moment before his knees made contact with her face, are for fools. Ampere didn't have the strength to beat Gaucho, but neither did she have the deceit with which to slip past his brute force. He was fire, but so was she, and all she knew how to do was burn.

Too committed to turn back, his knees lifted into her gaping mouth, pushing hard against her teeth and making her neck bunch with a hasty recoil. Her lips and her gums swelled instantly and throbbed in time with her pulse, but she managed to turn away before he knocked anything in, or out, or bloody. The fury of that small defeat, one she couldn't afford, spurred her into greater fervor as she lunged for him, but he happily took her, holding her like some ghostly reminder of what they once were. Was this a trick of his?

It worked.

Held by his wings, she stiffened, losing some ferocity as she reached for him. He was so tall all he had to do was lean in a little, throw his presence over her and remind her of just how small and fragile she really was. It was almost kind actually. Like a hand thrusting her up against a wall (his wings), and the other hand grabbing out for the slap she was about to deliver (his legs tangled up in hers). The strength of his grip seemed to ask, are you sure you want to do this?. She wasn't sure. Just for a moment... she had to fight back that flaring urge to crumble into him. Gaucho, her heart mourned, too fond of the flame to settle for the stars, but too burnt to accept any more.

His touch left bruises along either of her forelimbs. She would have stayed woven together with him if she could have, but she was falling back down to all fours and his wings were slipping away, giving her the choice to make. As she dropped, water splashed up against her chest. Its chill helped chase away his heat.

"I- I can't accept that you take freedom so easily." She whispered to him as she stood, huddled in the water in the wake of his touch. Blue eyes blinked up at him, and like her words, were etched with a grief she didn't know what to do with. He tore her apart like no one else.

The threat of tears were blinked away as Ampere slung her head abruptly left, dropping her weight onto her forehand so that she could whirl her haunches around and fire out a buck towards Gaucho's chest. The water slowed her though, and he was tall, so the aim might end up closer towards his legs.

Why couldn't he just understand? Why couldn't anyone seem to see what she did? Ampere could talk about these things, it wasn't as if she was unwilling or incapable. She had done so before and it had gotten her nowhere. The fighting hadn't either, really, but it was a lot more worthwhile for her. Each strike left her feeling whole and empty all at once, and each bruise felt like a medal. I earned this, for you, is what her battle wounds said, even if she wasn't aware of it herself. In a world that was so abhorrently selfish, Ampere couldn't face the fact that she was too.

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A: 2/4
D: 0/1
W: 800/800