After a long silence from the stallion. He admitted his defeat and walked away. Raven sighed.

"Dusty?" She asked. She didn't know where he had gone. She hoped her fighting skill and aggressiveness hadn't scared him off. The trees on the edge of the meadow rustled in the wind and the moon shine down on her black coat illuminating it. At least the stallion hadn't hurt her any further. She was, minus the cougar scratches, otherwise unharmed.

(Sorry for not posting yesterday, busy day! :) )

He watched as the stallion left and after a while heard Raven call his name. His ears perked up to make sure that no one else was nearby before stepping out of the cover of the trees. He walked over to Raven, not too close though, and looked her up and down, examining her for new scars. He was surprised to not see any new wounds on Raven though since the younger stallions were often quite feisty and would always leave a fight with wounds on their oponent, not to mention also on themselves. "That was some good fighting," he says to Raven, "I don't see a scratch on you. Well- Except for the cougar scars. No new scars I should say."

(Might not be on in the afternoon Friday or a lot Saturday, just a heads up)

(so sorry About the late response lately!)

Raven nickered a thank you to Dusty. "I have to say, I'm a decent fighter," she said, only slightly bragging. She moved a tiny bit closer to him so they were standing next to one another. She looked at him as she said, "I should be going for tonight, but I really hope that I will see you again very soon." She nudged him gently, surprising even herself with her courage around him and then took a step away, glancing over her shoulder as she broke into a canter back into the forest.

(Totally fine!)

"Well I would imagine so seeing the reputation you have," Dusty said with a small chuckle, "plus the fact that you live alone out here." He watched as Raven moved closer to him and noticed that she seemed more comfortable around him now than she had later. He nodded his head some at Raven's statement, "I hope to see you soon as well." He felt Raven nudge him and felt something down in his chest flutter. He watched her canter off before thinking about where he should rest for tonight. Should he rest in the meadow like he had planned to earlier or somewhere more hidden?

A million thoughts ran through Raven's head at once. She has never had such a close interaction with another horse. Was this was a friend felt like? Did she finally have someone who didn't fear her? Would she be able to find him again? What if he traveled a lot, how would she get to him? Her brain was a mess, this was half the reason why she had never had any close relationships with any other horses. She tossed her flowing black mane and forced herself to focus on the woods. She turned into her senses and realized how good it was that she had snapped out of her thoughts. She could smell a herd of horses awfully close to the forest. Unusual. She slowed her steps and moved silently closer, investigating.

(Sorry busy day)

After a while of thought Dusty decided to go back to the meadow to rest for the night. When morning came then he would eat there and refresh himself at the pond. Once that was done then he would go back on his journey, but for now he had to rest. He moved at a slow trot and headed back into the meadow and over to the bed he had made not too long ago. He laid down on the bed of flattened grass and looked up at the sky. He knew that he would see Raven again whether it was tomorrow or after a few days. Dusty let out a sigh and laid his head down, curling it around him and closing his eyes.

Raven peered through the trees to find a herd gathered in a small clearing in the forest. Most of them looked scared and lost, and a few were conversing seriously towards the far edge of the clearing. She could make out some of the words in their conversation. "Just rumors", "still need to be cautious", and "what if" were phrases that came up more than once. She hadn't seen any of these horses before and they were built different than the typical horses from the herds in the plains. They had dark coats for the most part and a large muscular build. She cocked her head, thinking. She wondered if they had come from farther away. She hadn't ever traveled very far past the boundaries of the forest so she wouldn't know. She knew someone who might though. Dusty. She needed to find him.

Dusty slept quietly in the bed he had made. Occasionally he was awoken by a noise from the forest. Most of the time it was a bird or other nighttime creature but every once in a while he laid there staring towards the forest, trying to identify a noise. Of course he was happy that there were nighttime noises around him. Usually when there are noises in the night then that meant danger was not near, but if it was silent then something was not right. After being woke up by another noise Dusty let out a long sigh and laid his head down and tucked it against his side, flicking his tail around the other side of it. He then fell into a comfortable sleep, ignoring any noises that were not signs of danger. He needed to get some sleep for when morning came anyway.

Ravens hooves pounded the ground as she sped into the meadow. Sliding to a halt, she looked around taking in what she saw. Morning dew coated the lush green grass, the birds whistled softly to each other, the trees swayed in the breeze. It was a beautiful, peaceful start to the day and it calmed Raven's nerves. She spotted Dusty sleeping and she made her way towards him silently. When she got close she whinnyed to him softly so she didn't scare him awake.

The morning sun shone through the leaves of the trees and made parts of Dusty's pelt warmer. His ears perked up at the familiar whinny and he lifted his head up and saw Raven a few steps away from him. He nickered a greeting back and climbed to his hooves, shaking the morning dew off of him once he did. Dusty's eyes then focused on Raven and saw that her wounds from the cougar seemed to be better. -Well that's a good thing for her- he thought and took a few steps towards her. "Didn't expect to see you this early," he said to Raven, "is there something up?"