Location: The Meadow

Raven stepped out into the meadow glad that this time, since it was dark, her shadowy coat would keep her hidden. Her hooves still didn't make a sound as she walked towards the pond on the far edge of the meadow. She could feel the blood dripping down her sides now. Then she saw him, drinking from the pond. She stopped for a moment. Why does he have to be near the pond? She wondered. That meant she'd have to get closer to him to get in the water. That he'd have to see her, she couldn't just rinse off and leave without him knowing. She hesitated, but then made herself step forward towards him. She stopped about 6 feet away from him and wondered how she should go about this. She could just walk right up to the pond and step into it, but that might scare him. She could whinny to him, but that might also scare him. She didn't know what other options she had so she decided to go with the first option. She stepped forward, walking past him into the water. Then she lays down and rolled multiple times, the cool water soothed her wounds, cleaning them. The stallion definitely knew she was here now. She hopped to her feet, shaking herself off and probably splashing him, with tiny droplets of water.

The scent of blood wafted into Dusty's nostrils and he lifted his head to figure out where it was coming from. He expected to see a cougar carrying a fresh kill nearby or something else and was surprised at what he saw. His eyes landed on Raven as she silently walked towards the water. The little bit of moonlight that shone from above gleamed on the fresh scars on her pelt. He watched as she walked into the water and rinsed her scars clean. A few droplets of water landed on his face and chest as Raven shook herself free of the water. Dusty hesitated to ask if she was ok or what happened. Would she want to be bothered right now, he thought, or would it be rude. He contemplated this in his head for a good few moments before letting out a quiet sigh. "So," he says to Raven, "may I ask what happened? Those wounds seem pretty bad."

Raven was surprised that Dusty hadnt questioned her sooner. Maybe he was trying to be polite. I mean, she wasn't very open with him earlier. He hoped he didn't think that she was rude or annoyed by him, it was the opposite, she liked Dusty and wanted to get to know him. She just had no idea how. Raven bounded out of the water to stand a few feet away from him. "A mountain Lion," she said. "I have to say," she added comically, "it was not your typical cougar. It was very....determined. Normally I wouldn't have been hurt, generally I can scare them off pretty easy but my usual tactic didn't work."

Raven still kept a neutral expression but inside she was stunned at how much she had said to Dusty. She didn't think she had ever said that much in her life.

Dusty turned his head to look at Raven as she left the water. He winced some and his ears tilted back slightly as he heard Raven say that she was attacked by a mountain lion. Must've been the one I heard screaming earlier, he thinks remembering the cougar scream from earlier. "It was probably a younger male and he was so full of himself," he says after Raven explained how the cougar hadn't ran away, "like some of the younger stallions around here." Dusty recalled the new stallions around the area that were so full of themselves and thought that they were the strongest and fastest horse around, but in reality they weren't. He tried his best to avoid staring at the wounds of Raven's pelt, but he had to admit that some of them were pretty bad. "Atleast those wounds will heal and give the other herds something to talk about if they see you," he says with a small chuckle, "probably say that you kill mountain lions for fun or something."

Raven let out a small chuckle at his joke. "Yes, that would make me even more fearsome and dangerous!" She declared, letting a small smile slip into her face. Then she corrected herself, going back to not showing her emotions, because all of a sudden a wave of loneliness washed over her. She looked into Dusty's eyes for a moment and then started back at the ground. She paused for a long moment before turning her head away and whispering, "Sometimes I wish I wasn't so different. It's like I wasn't meant to have anyone but myself in this world," Raven felt sad all over. Her cuts throbbed and she wanted to collapse. She felt so vaunerable and she hated it. She was meant to be strong, tough, brave, confident, independent, undefeated. Not lonely, sad, and in need of love. She tried to ignore it. She straighted up, holding her head high and looking back at Dusty. She was unsure if he saw the sadness in her face, her confidence and neutral expression may have slipped a bit there.

Dusty smiled some as he saw the mare chuckle and smile at his joke. His smile soon went away as he saw Raven's disappear as well. His ears perked forward so that he could hear what she was saying before they went back some to show that he was kind of sad. He had never thought that the mare would feel like that since she seemed to be holding her own. He could easily read sadness on her face until she attempted to fix it and make it neutral again. Cautiously, Dusty took a step towards Raven, his head slightly lowered to try and make himself look less threatnening. He could sense that she need comforted and couldn't imagine the last time that she had been. Now would the mare allow this was a different story. Please don't kill me, he repeated in the back of his head as he took another step and watched for a reaction from the mare.

Raven held her breath as Dusty took a few cautious steps forward. He looked kind, not threatening, empathetic almost. Yet, at the same time he looked terrified. She turned her head towards his and looked him in the eyes. She took a slow step forward, bringing her muzzle only centimeters away from his in the moonlight. It was the closet interaction she had ever had with another horse and the moment was making her uncomfortable. But she stayed still and kept eye contact. Then she whispered again, "Your afraid of me too, aren't you?" She asked.

Dusty watched as Raven stepped closer to him as well until they were almost touching muzzles. He was quite surprised that they were able to get this close, but still had a little thought in the back of his mind reminding him of Raven's strength. His ear went back some, embarrassed that Raven could see that he was nervous, and looked at the ground some. "Well I'm not usually the one to judge others," he whispers to her, "but from the stories I have heard I guess my head is saying otherwise." He chuckled some as he finished saying this before lifting his head back up and looking at Raven, his brown eyes looking into her blue eyes. "But I don't think you are as bad as the stories say you are," Dusty continues, "like you said a few moments ago, you are just in need of some love."

Raven liked how he was honest, even though it might hurt. She always liked to have power, to have control over everyone and everything, and she had that...but Dusty was right, she was missing something else. She turned her head away from Dusty, stepping towards the water and looking down at her reflection. Her beautiful blue eyes stared back at her. Her long mane blew gently in the midnight breeze, but she could see a scratch on the side of her face, bloody and imperfect. Another sign of her power. She felt confident but confused. Was this really who she wanted to be? Suddenly her ears picked out small, silent hoofsteps on the ground behind her, and they weren't Dusty's. She didn't know if he heard them, as they were cautious and quiet. She whipped around and bounded past Dusty, pinning her ears and rearing to meet the stallion the had been about to ambush them. It was a young stallion so she figured he'd be overly ambitious. That meant he'd put up a fight, she rolled her eyes. Two attacks in one night was too much, but she kept at him, he had confidence in his face but she easily wiped it away with a blow to his face. He wasn't very skilled but he was wild. She avoided his uncalculated strikes and easily knocked him to the ground. She pinned her ears all the way back. "I suggest you get the heck out of here before you get hurt," she threatened. "Or worse." The stallion glared at her.

Dusty watched as Raven went over to the water and tilted his head some, confused on what she was doing. He wished that he could read her thoughts and figure out what she was thinking. As well as if he could read her emotions better even when Raven's face was blank. His ears perked up as Raven's did and he turned in the direction of a few hoofsteps. Before he could say anything he watched Raven dash past him and cantered after her. He found Raven soon finishing a fight with a young stallion. Dusty stopped so that he was still hidden in the shadow of the surrounding trees. He didn't want to be seen by the other stallion and possibly get attacked by him or have the stallion run off and tell others about him being around Raven. Although why would anyone listen to a younger stallion, he thinks, they usually make stuff up anyway to get attention or go on crazy adventures just for the heck of it.