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Cross had finally taken it upon himself to venture out beyond a familiar era. However, where he had taken it upon himself to venture, was still a mystery. Instead, he found himself wandering idly, until the sound of trickling water attracted him. "Hm..?" Cross said, with a questioning tilt of his head, emerging from a cavern of trees onto a grassy ridge that overlooked quite a large lake. It was already dark, Cross realized with a not-so-startling relevation. He had lost track of time, he supposed, while lost in the dark midst of the forest.

A bright shine across the surface of the water caught his eye, Cross following it's reflection, quickly seeing it as the white reflection of the nearly full moon out tonight. His dark form was concealed at night, Cross taking the initiative to walk down the gently sloped path, a short distance away from the banks of the lake.

"Anyone here?" Cross called out into the silence, as a polite courtesy as he cantered to stop at the edge of the lake. He didn't expect anyone to answer him, moving closer to kneel his head, and lap at the cool water that sataited his thirst.

The only time of the day where Yuu didn't feel overwhelmed by the vibrancy of nature and other creatures was at night, when the pattern on her hide blended nicely with the colors of darkness and the deep sky. She travelled for a little bit each evening until she could find a comfortable place to sit and enjoy the silence until the break of dawn. For some reason, the earliest hours of morning were the few times she felt the most at peace. The most whole. Tonight, her revery was accompanied by the soft music of the wind pushing lake water against the ground that surrounded it. Eyes turned towards the sky, she chuckled lightly for no particular reason that she was aware of and flicked her tail through the grass in a counter tempo to the sound of the water.

Just as the mare started to get bored of the game she was playing with herself, a rustling of something large coming her way forced her ears back and she willed her body to be perfectly still. With nostrils flared to scent the air, she relaxed a bit when she caught the whiff of another horse nearby. There was no blood mingled with the smells drifting to her nose, so she felt she had no reason to fear. Turning towards the noise of the stranger, Yuu had to strain her eyes to see the dark equine coat against the black of the forest and the heavens. He, or she, was stopping and possibly looking about?

As the stallion, for that's what his voice told her, called out. She whinnied in polite response and moved closer. She hadn't thought she was that tough to see, but she'd never actually spoken to another soquili when it wasn't blaring daylight. "Hello," she called back politely. "Can you see me?"

The water trickled down his muzzle, the drops of water gleaming on his black pelt. He had immediately lifted his head, when their was a whinny returned to his call. He had raised an eyebrow -- his beliefs were unfounded after all. There was indeed someone else, Cross's head turning otwards the direction in which he heard the whinny come from. Cross's eyes immediately focused, catching a form in the darkness. Another moment passed by, without Cross answering, until the mood finally shedded some light on the mysterious voice. "I believe I can now." If her voice hadn't said it, Cross would have certainly told that by her figure, it was a female. "I believe that you can see me?"

They were both of a dark pelt, although hers wasn't as dim as Cross's charcoal black coat. Executing a polite bow, Cross moved on to ask, "I would ask how you're faring .. but it seems like a moot point at such a late hour." in a rueful tone. It must've been midnight already, Cross having wandered out here because of losing track of his time. He bit back a question, why a mare like her would be wandering at such an hour .. but that would be a later point in their conversation. This might've been one of the first soquili he had talked to, aside from those that accompanied him at their home, Cross reflected.

Curtsying in reply to his bow, the gray mare smiled warmly and stepped closer with a nod. "Yes, I can indeed see you." Moving closer to the stallion, she stopped just far enough away that they could hold a polite conversation without yelling but still she wouldn't intrude on his personal space. She hoped that it was enough, and that he wouldn't feel crowded by her or want to run away. He had such lovely wings, and was so polite... It'd been a very long time since she'd run into anyone with the same calibur of manners that she had and she didn't want to ruin the moment. Bending towards the water, she took a small sip to clear her throat and then returned her full attention to the male. "Whatever do you mean?" She knew it was late, but she was always out this late. "I am Yuu Hakuto, may I inquire as to your name?"

Cross was wondering about the distance -- he had never been one for formalities, steeping closer, with a quizzical look, hoping that she didn't mind the lack of distance between the two. They might not be shouting, but it would be a rather boring conversation otherwise. WIth a half smile lingering on his lips, he lifted his gaze to meet the young female's gaze. "My name is Cross. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss. Hakuto." Cross gave a nod, feeling slightly at odds at making her introduce herself first. His thoughts switched though, wondering how to answer her question, regarding the late hour. He decided that the best way to get to the point. "Forgive me for my bluntness, but normally, everyone is asleep at this hour. The females of my acquaintance .. normally have few good things to say when they stay up this late.. " He quicked a smile, when another thought came to him. "Would you be one of the rare few that enjoys the pleasures of the night?"

Instinctively the mare's muscles tightened and she pulled her face into a tight smile. She'd forgotten the last part of her introduction, and by pure chance the stallion before her had chosen to call her by her given name. "I do NOT like--" Cutting herself off, she shook her head as if in answer to a voice no one else could hear and then smiled serenely. "I am sorry, Cross," she repeated his name with an apologetic shrug. "I forgot to mention that I do not wish to be called just Ha- Hakuto. Yuu Hakuto, or simply Yuu would be much appreciated."

Deciding then to forget about the incident, if there were really one at all, she nodded in understanding at his comment about the behavour of other mares this late at night. With a playful stamp of a front hoof, she chuckled and looked up at the stars. "This is the only time of night where I can quietly be myself." With anyone else at any other hour she would not have said anything, and just nodded politely and let them come to their own conclusions; but this was her time. Yuu didn't feel the need to watch her tongue or her speech. "I guess you could say that I am one of those mares," she finished softly. "If by pleasures you mean the ability to just simply exist."

Cross's eyes flickered at the emotion that rose up in the other mare, wondering what had brought such a reaction on. If he was any lesser of a man, he would wonder if he had done something wrong. But he waited, as a serene smile replaced her earlier one. "I apologize for that Yuu..?"

He dropped the subject as quickly as Yuu had though, folding his white wings back, so that they wouldn't intefere between the two of the them. His gaze softened, as he heard Yuu's reason for being awake at night. Almost instantly, he regretted lumping Yuu into the category of females that he knew. "Simply.. exist?" He echoed softly, his gaze lowering. "Did I.. intrude? I can leave if you'd like." He had never experienced not knowing himself, his existence, or ever losing sight of who you were.. but that simply sentence said more than Yuu would ever know.

Yuu watched the subtle change on Cross' features and nodded almost to herself. That was the general reaction... What she wasn't used to was his response. Cocking her head to one side, she thought about it very carefully. Had the stallion intruded? She couldn't imagine that he had as there really wasn't anything to intrude upon. Just her thinking, but that always lead down dangerous roads. With a more resolute nod of her head directed at him, she twittered something that could have been a laugh.

"No," she said nicely. "You did not intrude, and I would be very glad of some company right about now really. Would you care to sit with me?"

"..Not at all." Cross replied easily, closing the distance between the two as if they were already friends. Well, it was after Cross had made a mistake, but he didn't feel that lingering on past events would help him any further. Instead, he decided to introduce a top they both might enjoy. "Are you a traveler? or do you have a home, that you go back to frequently?" Cross asked, settling himself in an area with soft grass, to act as his bedding. Cross couldn't have found a nicer spot, glad to have met Yuu tonight. A comfortable area, and a companion was more than enough to put Cross into a cheerful mood. He was sure that his herd mates could have argued further on that subject, but Cross has no intention of that. "Or it is something else I haven't guessed?"

Waiting for the stallion to sit and get comfortable first was an old habit that seemed would never go away, so Yuu waited patiently before settling down herself with a contented sigh. It always felt good to rest her legs. The questions this time didn't catch her off gaurd, since he was just making conversation, but still she wondered how much of her life to tell him. It did seem like he felt easy with her, and strangely enough she didn't get that panicky feeling with Cross that she did with other stallions. Again she pondered if it was because of the time of day that things were different. Making that odd twittering laugh again, she flicked a stray clump of hair out her eyes and made a sort of shrugging motion. "I am indeed a traveler of sorts. I felt the need to escape my old life and start anew. Migrating here felt like the surest thing to do." Choosing what she wanted to say next very carefully, she nibbled on a blade of grass as she thought.

"Are you traveling also, or do you have family about? Are they good to you?"

Cross returned her answer with a smile, hearing of others telling him the same reason. "I believe.." He paused, considering how to word his reasons when the question was asked. "..I haven't seen my parents, nor my siblings in a long time." His family erred on the more 'holy' side of things, and he wasn't really sure if his childhood was good or bad. But he didn't mention that to Yuu, not bcause of a need for secrecy, but he figured that she would be bored by such a lifestyle. Or maybe it was his own reluctance not to have any other person look down upon him, and make a judgement from then instead of now. His male pride did make concessions, however, as it lost out on a debate on whether or not to say his next words. "This is actually my first time, venturing out. Have you met many others like me, in your travels?"

He knew that traveling offered you the chance to meet new people, and he wanted to see what type of soquili that Yuu had met.

Yuu was not sure how to react, yet again, when Cross answered her. From what real interaction with her family had taught her your family was either very good to you, or in her case, very very bad. She'd been raised by a jealous mother and a father that viewed her only as collateral for a larger herd. Never had she been treated as anything more than an object before she left them. Still, it was best to keep her mouth shut and pretend to understand the stallions words. Most soquili, upon meeting a stranger, did not wish to be bogged down with emotional baggage of a broken mare. She knew it would only serve to scare him off.

Eying his wings, she took in his question directed at him and shook her head. "I believe that every soquili is different from another, no matter how similiar they may look..." Moving her head from side to side, she smiled warmly and shook her head again more throughly. "I do not believe I have ever met another soquili with wings such as yours, though."

"Oh?" Cross looked surprised to see such a statement, pondering thoughtfully. "Good." He tilted his head at her, giving her a broad smile. "Then I'm a first." It wasn't that he monopolized others, but wasn't it always interesting? "How is your family? I don't believe I've asked you that." He didn't know whether it was good or bad to ask that question, considering that a personality was formed from a parent's affections, or lack thereof. He seemed to realize his mistake belatedly, meeting her gaze. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But if you don't, we'll have to move on to your more interesting outings while you were traveling." Cross didn't try to pry, concluding that if she needed or wanted to tell, he would hear it.

Aside from that, despite his cheerful demand, he was never at a loss for conversation. Mainly, because small talk did not require depth, but relationships like those were tiring to come across. He would like it if he could regard others as friends, and be regarded as so.

Yuu froze up a little at that. It almost seemed like he'd been peeking into her head, and known just what to ask. It was uncanny in a way but she knew that probably wasn't the case and that he was just being friendly. Friendly started with the word friend, right? She'd never truly had a friend, and had never stayed in one place during her travels long enough to make one. Maybe she could settle here and find out what such companions were like. "It's okay." She said it so faintly she wasn't sure he would be able to hear her, but she didn't trust her voice to go higher. "My mother and mate are... a-are dead. He and I never h-had any children, and I am not sure about my father. He did not like me much anway." As she finished her small sob story, she could feel the anger at her family rise in her chest and she closed her eyes tightly to push it back down. It felt like bile, but of the word variety, and she'd already told herself she didn't want to scare Cross away from being her friend.

"Life has been difficult, hasn't it?" Cross replied softly. His feathered wings, stretched to gently touch Yuu's dark coat. "Had I been you.." A shadow fell over his eyes, his senses heavily acute to the tension in the air, "I would have been unable to survive." Yuu was already stronger than Cross, especially in that regard. She must have lost everything, yet she was working towards creating something new for herself. "I suppose I should say that I'm sorry to bring up such sad memories... But. I'm not." He knew that his words would probably push her into a fiery blaze, like he had glimpsed earlier. Or into crying. "You must have some sort of reaction." He couldn't even fathom how she could continue to speak. There had to have been sadness, resentment, or even worse emotions.

"Bottling up your emotions is going to hurt you in the end. Wouldn't you rather do something about it?"

It started as a chuckle, and then Yuu just lost it. Laughing so hard it shook her, she shook her head and looked Cross in the eyes. They were warm, though she was furious. He'd mnaged to coax out a part of her she didn't always like, but just this once it felt safe to succumb to it. Letting the laughter kill itself off, she smiled and flipped her hair out of her face. With a lean into his wingtips, she thanked him. "I wouldn't call what I've become surviving," she finally said with more confidence. "The broke me, and I just use that disrepair to get from day to day." Finding a way to move closer to him she placed the tip of her nose on his in a gesture of gratitude. "I don't know what that was, but it feels like you understand me to a degree." Even if he didn't understand why, she thought to herself. She knew that come morning, this part of her would be hidden away again and she could go on pretendind that she'd always been a whole and normal mare, but for now she'd enjoy the moment. As though she'd just thought about it, she changed the subject back to his family and childhood. More specifically his belief that they'd been good to him. "Are there really shades of grey? In how a family treats one another?"

Cross pretended to look affronted at the laughter, but eventually, he lost his facade and grinned. "Laugh all you'd like. In fact, you can cry, or rage for all you'd like to." Cross shrugged, telling that he wouldn't run from her reactions. In fact, he would whole-heartedly accept them. "What is broken, can be repaired. It'll begin with despair, but we'll move on eventually. " Cross winked at her, knowing that everyone moved at different rates. If he could help at leats a little bit, well -- that would be Cross's reason for continuing. he hadn't been expecting the personal touch, his eyebrow raised. But his eyes softened, to a degree of warmth that he rarely showed. Cross returned the light nuzzle with one of his own, his feather soft wings wrapping around her.

He didn't know if he understood her, but he understood the context of emotions. "You seem to suppress alot. Feel free to use me as a punching bag."

He winced at the question, obviously bringing up bad memories. It wasn't that he felt adverse to sharing, but remembering it was a bit more difficult. ".. My believed in throwing me to the wolves to save myself. I mean literally." Cross remarked dryly, a hoof pawing at the ground. "There were good intentions.. most likely, she wanted me to defend myself through brute strength. How do you define that as black or white?"