It was dark. And that was pretty much all the mare knew.

Looking up at the sky to see the stars up above, most of them covered by branches, she saw stars. Some faint, while some were the brightest color of white. She laid under a large tree, hearing the faint sound of the nearby waterfall. Ebonique, once again, laid down her head onto the cold grassy ground, staring into space.

She tried to close her eyes, but sleep could not come easily. The bay mare had had trouble falling asleep the past few days. Her mind had come up with reasons for that. Perhaps the places she stayed were simply uncomfortable. But there wasn't many ways to change that. It was winter. Almost all of the soil were frozen solid. That was part of the reason she had chosen to leave the open lands. She heard that the clearing was peaceful. Calming. Relaxing.

But she still could not relax on the cold ground. Ebonique stumbled up and followed the sound of the waterfall, hoping that it wouldn't be that far away. As she caught sight of the water falling into a small pond, she started to fasten from a walk into a jog. She stopped when her hoofs were no more than a couple of inches away from the edge of the water - just enough space for her to be able to drink from the water. Taking a few gulps, she lifted her head and felt the cold wind blow on her head.

Kuroma stopped in his tracks for a moment to gaze at the stars. His father use to tell him that the stars could tell great tales if you read them correctly. Kuroma never quite understood what he meant by that. The stallion could stare at the stars all he wanted, but he would never get a reply. Frustrated, Kuroma shook his mane and continued to make his way to the pond in Clove Clearing. A cold wind brushed by reminding him that it was the middle of winter. If temperatures were to drop anymore, the pond would freeze over.

The stallion entered the clearing. The grass wasn’t dead or frosted over but it wasn’t exactly green either. When he got to the lower clearing near the falls, he noticed a mare drinking from the pond. He had never seen her around before. Kuroma made his way over to the edge of the pond, only a few feet away from her. Deciding to get straight to the point he said, “I haven’t seen you around before. What’s your name?”

The voice that sounded in the dark spooked her. She wasn't one to be scared so easily but it was night, she could barely see what was in front of her. For all she knew, the voice talking to her could be coming from a wolf or a bear. But when she turned around, the scent of a stallion filled her nose. Ebonique let a small chuckle escape her lips and slowly walked towards the stallion to try to get a better view of him. Squinting her eyes a bit, she only found more of the color black out of the dark -- apparently the stallion was black.

The mare stopped as she was mere inches away from the horse that was clearly larger than Ebonique was. "I'll tell you my name when you tell me yours, pretty boy." Another snicked came out of the mare as she looked up at the black stallion. So, tell me, what would your name be?

The mare was clearly spooked when Kuroma spoke to her, but she settled down when his scent filled her nose. The black stallion heard her chuckle. His ears flicked a few times, wonder what was so humors. He watched her as she made her way over to him carefully. It was dark so he blending in with his surrounds extremely well. He could see that the mare was a brown bay color. The mare stopped a few inches away from him. Kuroma did not get a name from the mare, instead he got, "I'll tell you my name when you tell me yours, pretty boy." Her statement made the male smile. It seemed that she was some what of a flirt.

"My name is Kuroma." the stallion said in a smooth voice. "Don't wear it out sweetie." The sweetie part might have been a bit much but since she called him pretty boy, he would call her sweetie. He looked down to the the mare and asked "Since i told you my name do i get to you know yours now?" His black tail swished lightly behind him. He decide to tease her a little more by asking her in a flirt voice, "Or do i have to answer more of your questions?" Kuroma shifted his weight on to three of his legs, letting his back left leg rest a bit.