The little faerie mare hesitated on the shores of the sea, leaving the trail of her pacing in the sands. Behind her rose the tall grasses that surrounded the caves of Helovia’s Heart and ahead, shimmering on the horizon, the isle of Dragon’s Throat. 'Is this where Thunderhead lives, then?' She’d seen the stormy mare fly south and hadn’t yet found her, so that far-away island might have been her destination. 

Ever since she had met Thunderhead and Raven near the bloody waterfall, Aisling had been trying to come up with ways she could make herself useful to the secret society. The four recent battles had seemed to highlight just how little she had to contribute. She was no warrior, and 
lacked the kind of courage to throw herself into battle despite her diminutive stature, she could not help them fight if called to do so. She did know a little of healing, but a pinch of herbivore could not rival those who healed with magic and there wouldn’t be much point for the Whatchers to seek her out if she could only help with minor cuts and bruises. She was determined to learn more, but that would take time, and she’d have to find someone to teach her.

Growing up, she’d had a penchant for mischief, though never of a malicious sort, and she and the other foals on Éire had become quite accomplished pranksters. 'A secret society will have secret business; if I cannot fight maybe I have the skills for other things.' And just as she’d had that though she had chanced upon the blue and black mare and decided to do something that was perhaps a little reckless and pilfer an item off the leader of The Whatch herself. She had never intended to keep it, only to test her skills and had thought Thunderhead would understand. She’d been gone, however before Aisling had had time to give it back and longer she had the dagger in her possession the more nervous she felt. 

'Was this even where she had gone? What if someone else comes? I don’t even know the mare’s true name to ask for and what if she’s angry?' Part of her wanted to run; if she fled now no one would ever know she’d taken the dagger. 'But that would make me a thief in truth.' she thought, little ears flattening at the idea. 'No, I must return what is lost, not take for myself.' Gathering enough courage to hold her still, Aisling planted herself on the beach looking out at the water—the dagger tucked out of sight where her braided make ran over her withers—and hoped it would be Thunderhead who found her first.

"."
[For @Ampere - She's right at the shore on the heart-side :3]

we love the kindly wind and hail, the jolly thunderbolt, we watch in glee the fairy trail of ampere, watt, and volt

She had first notice the missing dagger yesterday. Whether she woke up with it missing, or had lost it at some point from the god battle to a patrol, she couldn't be sure, but she noticed it yesterday. Now, Ampere was not a careless horse - reckless perhaps, forgetful of names definitely, but not careless, especially not of something as useful as that blade. That she might have lost it, was a thought that was present, but not the one she was inclined to believe. Given how many thieves riddled Helovia, she was more than sure it had been taken.

Yet she didn't know by who, or why, or where. With little to go one, the very thing that had been confounding her Whatch efforts, Ampere did her best to retrace her steps, or her flights, in case she had just simply lost it. Maybe she'd find some clue about the thief along the way.

So it was she spotted Aisling near the shore, a place Ampere frequented often so where she'd gone to look after she scoured the herd lands. Recognizing the mare from the last few Whatch meetings she spun in closer, tilting on her wings, wondering if this was a fated meeting or if someething had happened that required them.

"Fairylights!" she greeted as she landed nearby."How goes it?" she asked easily enough as she turned and inched closer, her wings tucking against her back while her hip cocked for conversation. "I'm not sure how much you've been whatching, but my bone dagger has been stolen from me, so if spot the culprit let me know." Ampere shook her head, doing her best not to let the anger seep through.

She had a mission to share with the girl as well, but first she'd see if the fairy had any news of her own.

Ampere

Mother of Companions

The bold leader of the Whatch descended before Aisling lost her nerve, and luckily with no company. The little mare was not sure how much Ampere’s presumed herd knew about the Whatch and she might have been hard pressed to come up with an excuse for such blatant loitering.

She smiled as the blue mare touched down though not as brightly as she might have at other times and greeted her amiable inquiry with a nod. “It goes well enough, at least I hope to think that Helovia is done with monsters for now.“ She had heard a fourth battle had been fought on a new outcropping of little islands and had prayed that spelled then end of the fighting. When Ampere continued, Aisling found it harder to keep eye contact. It was horridly uncomfortable, having taken from a fellow, and she was eager to return the dagger but the anger in Ampere’s voice had her glancing at her feet.

“I ah… did know, and I’ve a bit of news on that score but um…” She paused briefly, wondering how to give her reasons before confessing to what the blue might decide to be a crime after all. The mare was no giant, but larger that the little faerie woman, and a warrior who could beat her soundly if rileb, Aisling guessed. “I’ve been thinking…” She began tentatively, “…since the troubles in the east started, that there is little I’ve been able to do for the Whatch as I am really no fighter. I know some of healing, but not much and unless I stick close to others that’s not much good anyway. So I started to thinking that I might make myself useful as, well not a spy precisely, but if we’ve tasks that require someone light-footed and small…Well what I mean is…”

It really wasn’t coming out the way she intended and the dagger pressed against her neck was like a swinging sword of damocles whilst it remained hidden. There really was no use to stalling so with a sigh she reached around and tugged the sharpened bone from its hiding place and offered the hilt of it to Ampere.
"."

we love the kindly wind and hail, the jolly thunderbolt, we watch in glee the fairy trail of ampere, watt, and volt

Monsters, Ampere mused quietly, were not always so obviously large and scary. Helovia might be done with the Rift gods, but monsters, never. They too easily existed among their own kind, shackled within the dark depths of blackened hearts surely, but just as easily too beneath the armor white knights bore. Monsters Ampere thought again, existed everywhere and endlessly.

The disjointed mumbling of Fairylights jostled Ampere's attention back to the present, which was for the better, she could sit and ponder monsters all day if allowed to. "Do tell," Ampere urged as Fairylights' tongue seemed to grow thick with things unspoken. Her curiosity piqued now, Ampere's head tilted, a 'brow cocked in quiet question. It was that interest alone that kept Ampere from pressing on about the blade, because how did she know it was stolen? Ampere hadn't exactly broadcast it, though perhaps anyone in her herd that had been close enough might have overheard her frustration upon the discovery of its loss, but Faitylights did not bear the mark of the desert- her hide was too sand free, not accentuated with the red dust and fragrance of heat her family flourished among.

Instead Ampere was entrapped with the small voice that seemed to be her own quiet thoughts squeaking away inside her head, or her heart, if not both. As Fairylights finished her short jumble, Ampere deflated with a long and audible sigh. "You've got the same problems as-" but before she could continue, the girl reached back around and bore the blade, her blade out to her. Blue eyes widened with light, stretching with the delighted grin that coursed across her maw.

"How did you get it back so soon!?" she exclaimed, reaching joyously for it with her electric hands, guiding the blade with the impulses towards her nose for inspection and then back to its sheath. "And why didn't you say so before, you clever Fairy!" Ampere laughed lightly, the anger and frustration dispelling with the sound of relief her lungs expelled. She hadn't the faintest trace of a thought that Aisling had taken it herself, so her good mood continued on, tainted only marginally by Aisling's own feelings of uselessness that Ampere too often shared.

"As you were saying before, I agree with you. The Whatch is good in theory, but I failed to think about it in practice. Such a well kept secret the realm has no idea to ask for our help, and we've not enough eyes to always catch the nefarious in the act. What we need is for others to seek our aid, to tell us of the thievery and the misfortunes wrought upon them." Ampere's nostrils flared with the excitement of the task at hand. Unwilling to give up, Ampere was chewing on this challenge with her every spare moment."I've a mind to ask Raven to build us a statue, a testament to our group that might get the horses interested and talking. Maybe they'll use it to communicate with us... though I've no idea how. And we still need a better way to protect our identities, names do not alone make a horse." Her dark lips set into a frown, proving that while she faced the issues at hoof, she had not yet resolved them. Shaking her head to dispell her dourness, Ampere's blue eyes focused back on Aisling.

"There is one thing I have learned of though, that perhaps you might be suited for if you're such an apt stealer of the stolen," she grinned, still pleased with the return of her blade. Ampere went on to explain the details of the horse and the item it possessed, so that is Aisling saw either she would know the perp was at hoof. Because she knew the details, she even explained the horse the item rightfully belonged to, as she understood it.

"Do you think you're up for it?" she asked in conclusion, gaze whirling with expectancy. A thought seemed to strike her then because her gaze suddenly widened, a small smile finding its way to her features, replacing the concern and concentration. "Here, this might help you," Ampere murmured as she pulled out two daggers. One, the bone one returned to her, hovered expectantly at her side, while a second, metal one she tossed at the girl's feet. "It will help you whatch the world, because the whatching shift goes ever on." In response to her words the surface of the blade would gleam, reflecting images from a nearby land, showing any horses or otherwise occurring there if one had the patience and the mind to decipher the small, silent story.

Ampere

Mother of Companions