He had a point there. Shadow tried to remember a story that didn't have a bitter or sad tang to it, but none came to mind. There always seemed to be some unpleasant part to the tales told by the elders, if only so that the happy ending would seem all the happier.

She mulled over the thought as she padded behind him, barely seeing the gloomy landscape that passed around them. When a wisp of silken hair flicked across her cheek she flinched and threw the head up, startled at the sudden touch; the ears flung back in anger at the carelessness of the unicorn, she was about to tell him to keep his tail to himself when his words made her break into a sudden halt, too shocked for words.

Shadow wasn't used to being flirted with. Her only contact with stallions aside from her father and the newfound friends in the herd had been as she fought to save herself from the slavery it would mean to be stolen into a harem; to become a broodmare, used and discarded at their whims. And after seeing how her father wasted away after the loss of her mother, love had become a thing to fear. Her heart was well guarded, to the point where even friendship was a rare thing for the raven. She saw herself as someone cold, hard, strong and able - but beautiful?

Not in a million years.

After the initial shock settled, the mare found herself with an incredulous, disbelieving smirk on the face. A part of her wanted to laugh at the stallion, mock him for his bad eyesight and poor judgment - while another part felt more like crying in humiliation. She was beautiful? It wasn't something she wanted to hear from a unicorn who walked with a grace that made her chest ache, who's slender figure held an elegance and poise she could only dream of.
"You don't know what you're saying" she cawed hoarsely, having to force her voice out from a throat that had contracted in a strange way. The cheeks burned, heart pounding beneath the ribs so hard that she thought he must hear it.

Her head was a mess as she kept speaking, words falling like stones from her lips - he thanked her for the story even though it was old to him, and the mare wanted to snort at him again for being overly polite.

What was it about this boy that made her eject all thorns like this? Shadow felt like a hypocritical porcupine where she walked, close on his cloven heels with the skin crawling from his presence; was it pleasant, loathsome, did she want him to leave or come closer? She couldn't decide, her emotions was a mess.

His voice was a murmur in her ears, tongue uttering nonsense she neither could nor wished to reply to. The accent was foreign to her, melodic and soothing - yet even so his next question managed to startle her again, pulling her mercilessly from an absent-minded study of the lean figure that slithered along some invisible path before her, the rocking movement of slender hips waking something within her that she thought she had quelled a long time ago...

"What? Foal? Never" she spluttered, glad he was unable to see the furious blush that broke out over her face. "I mean, I guess it would be nice sometime, but... not now. I have too many things to do, to see and experience before I go and become... old and wise." Because that was a requirement for a parent, right? She remembered the soft smile of her mother, so full of wisdom, her fathers solid strength and experience...

"Besides, it's quite impossible to just 'have' a foal out of the blue" she pointed out, hurrying her steps so she could walk next to him, shoulders sometimes swinging close enough to press against his on the narrow trail. "You'd need... a stallion," she said, and this time there was no mistaking her embarrassment - the voice was unable to hide the uncertain tremor, eyes shying away from his brown gaze, "and I've never... been with.. one.."

Her voice died away, the mare stopped abruptly and turned the head away from Carnesîr. What was up with her, letting a stranger know something so... private, so... so... sensitive about her?