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To my surprise - and, I'll admit, my pleasure - Ampere asks about my name shortly after introducing herself. I do like my name being remarked on. It's so clever, after all. Not. Seriously, I do like questions about it, as it gives me an excuse to talk about the humans and have a nice little rant about their naming abilities. "Because humans are the least imaginative creatures on the planet," I say cheerfully, flashing the small (and scary, now I know she's a Gladiator) mare a smile. "I am black and white like a badger, so they called me Badger. Had I been light grey I would probably have been named Snowy, or Coal had I been fully black. There were two barn cats named Tiger and Smokey - no prizes for guessing what colours they were." I suppose I can count myself lucky I didn't end up being called Zebra or Panda. Ampere reveals that this place is called the Veins of the Gods, and on the topic of names I can see why. It's veiny, and there's probably Gods here. She explains that this is where one comes to speak to Gods, and I have to fight down the urge to ask why anybody would WANT to speak to a deity, when they're so frightening and would probably smite you down for looking at them funny. "Have you ever spoken to a God?" I find myself asking, my natural curiosity getting the better of me. Given the fact that the mare is armed to the teeth with all sorts of weaponry, and almost crackles with energy, I assume she's been in contact with Gods before. At that moment, another of our patrol approaches. Oh my giddy aunt, he is huge. He towers over both of us and I smother a gulp. A deadly pair of ram horns curve from his head, and I dread to picture the neck strength that it takes to keep those bad boys up. He asks Ampere the same question as me, and also gives his name - Misael. "Hello, Misael, nice to meet you," I say, just managing to keep the fear from my voice. He is a herdmate - chances are, he won't want to gore me. "I'm Badger." I offer him a dip of my head, a flicker of my ear and a wobbly smile. |
