She was... making progress. Simple sounds were returning to her after long hours of practice and pestering Koros. At first every time she would attempt to vocalize the fear would return, the anxiety. It would overcome her and crush her like a wave. Now, the block seemed to be a subconscious thing. She wanted to speak, wanted to heal and return to what she had once been. Her chords were strained, and she knew would likely always remain raspy and fractured, but it was not something which concerned her just then. Loud sounds were beyond her, and if she tried to speak too quickly she would trip over her words and it would take her a long moment before she could try again. "Yes," she whispered, her voice the painfully slow and low tenor of a dullard. Pathetic, but even so it was an improvement. "Excellent, your Grace!" Koros was quick with his praise, and generous. Raisa felt pampered and her eyes narrowed. "N-not... a... Q-Qu... Q-" she shuddered and squeezed her eyes shut. Too much, too much... Concern flowered in her steward's mismatched gaze and the small creature took a step forward, eying her carefully. "Patience, my lady. It will all return in time." As if patience had ever been one of her strong suits... "Talk" "You" Think

She keeps to herself often, reminding herself of things she doesn?t need. She doesn?t need fame or glory, doesn?t need waves of adoring followers, doesn?t need a lover by her side. All she needs are her children, her family, and she will be okay. It?s a thought process she?s had to adopt to survive. The world has had to harden her heart, and Virgil Olympus has complied. After so much heartache, she?d been forced to evolve and grow, and now she is truly chilled. She thinks she makes progress, that each day she grows firmer, that she moves beyond the ache of her heart.

Until her eyes fall once more upon Raisa Xanilov.
A twig cracks beneath her paws, ruining the possibility of running off without being noticed. She freezes, shaking not from cold or chills, but from anger and hurt and everything she?d locked away in the darkest corner of herself. She doesn?t want to walk away right now, knowing her legs will tremble. Raisa doesn?t get to see her shake, doesn?t get to see all the holes she?d poked into Virgil?s chest. ?Leave,? she says. And her voice, perhaps, is more broken sounding than her walk away would have been. It includes bubbling upset, shaking limbs, and the pain of a heart crushed too many times.
Everyone would always leave her. And when they came back, everything would be alright for them. And yet, when she did the leaving, and when it was far from her own choice, she was the enemy. She wants to rip into Raisa, wants her to feel all the agonizing pain that the woman has inflicted upon her, wants to rip her to as many pieces as she?d ripped Virgil into. And yet, even still there is the part of her that croons, the part that wants to run forwards and embrace her love because her appearance here means she is alive.

Fire ripped through Raisa's chest, unbidden and unforeseen. There she was. Virgil, who she had once loved. Virgil, who had stolen her children from their rightful homeland without their consent, held them there, and abandoned them. And now there she was, approaching Raisa, coming into her space after all this time, ordering her around? The woman's eyes would narrow, bringing to light a moment of consideration that seemed to last a life time. Raisa had left. Admittedly she had been at fault in this matter and had Virgil come to her and requested an apology she would have received one. Raisa would have begged and pleaded for forgiveness. But this? To completely ignore her own faults, her own failures... Raisa would not suffer this pigheaded ignorance. It was clear now that Virgil was not the woman Raisa had thought her to be. Slowly, she stood, bi-colored gaze never leaving that of her once-love. To crumble in the face of hardship... Raisa had admitted her own disastrous flaws, and this woman had not. To be stubborn was one thing. To be prideful, another. But to drown oneself in hubris to the point where you are blind to the world around you was a folly she would not suffer, even to the point of standing in her presence. Without a word she would turn, breaking Virgil's gaze at last. Springing into a lope, Raisa would bound away, losing herself in the surrounding fog. ::EXIT RAISA:: "Talk" "You" Think

Raisa says nothing to her. Virgil doesn?t know what she expects, doesn?t know what she wants. In the calm of her mind, before she had been presented with the presence of the ashen woman, she would have thought she might see indifference. She would have thought that she might be angry, but she never would have wanted this. This confusion, this pain when Raisa listens and simply walks away. Fight for me, for once in your fucking life she wants to yell. Will somebody please stop making her fight for everything, and for once fight for her? Her bones are weary; she is Atlas, and there is nobody to crutch the weight of the world upon.

There is part of her that yearns to chase, to shout, to rage. And yet she does not, at least not until she sees it. Dark fur and vicious jaws, anger and hunger all directed towards the ebon woman. Virgil?s mind shuts down; she does only what she would do for all that she loved. Legs break into a sprint, seeking to knock Raisa aside swiftly, hoping to knock the woman down.
The reason will become swiftly apparent.
She stands between the beast and the ebon woman, hackles rising and lips pulling upwards into a snarl. Fiery golden gaze locks with soulless brown, her posture staying stiff and rigid. She bounces forward at random intervals, biting at the creature?s limbs and seeking to push it away. For now it seems determined, its gaze locking upon her. Good the weak (or so she labels it) part of her thinks. It is focused on me and not her.

The sound of brush crackling behind her was no surprise... In truth, Raisa might have been more confused if Virgil hadn't gone after her. After all, the golden woman always got what she wanted, right? Never mind the expense of others. The sounds grew stronger, more intense, and Raisa spun on her heels. Her features made up a seething glare, and in a ghost of instincts half forgotten she place a paw in front of Koros, blocking his body with her own, as she sqaured off with her once lover. She would not fight, could not even if she had wanted to, but without her voice Raisa was left with few ways to make her position clear... Her glare melted into surprise. What on earth... A roar screamed to life from the beast's chest and reverberated in the cinder woman's chest. Then Virgil was there, lunging and biting and dodging, pulling the creature away from it's intent. The royal's breath swooshed out of her and her limbs began to shake, as the wave of possibility crashed down. Koros quailed beside her, shivering and paralyzed with fear. Raisa darted her jaws down, grasping the Fox's scruff and gently tossing him aside. It was brash, perhaps, but it would not do for the fearful little man to be crushed. Then she too fell into the fray. She could not snarl or growl, but her features were locked into the guise of a rippling snarl. As Virgil lunged for the animal's front end, darting here and there, snapping at this and that, Raisa maneuvered to the flank on Virgil's left side. The side that placed her between the beast and her steward. Mimicking Virgil's agility and form Raisa would lunge forward, fall back. The bear gave out another scream of rage and reared up onto it's hind paws. The ashen woman's heart was in her throat, and she had half a mind to turn tail and flee. She did not give one single fuck what Virgil thought of her, but despite her less than pleasant opinion of her once-love, there were still debts to be paid. "Talk" "You" Think

She doesn?t have time to notice Raisa?s initial reaction. Her mind focuses all upon protection; this is how she reacts. Her blatant willingness to throw herself recklessly towards the threats that endanger the things she loves (no matter how much she may deny the fact). Jaws snap wide open, and she bites with all the rage that builds up inside of her, all the hatred for all the ways the world has done her wrong. Alas, against such a thick pelt, wolven jaws are little but a hindrance. Angry bear claws snap for her, and they cut thickly into her left side neck, blood oozing out at a rate that one might consider alarming.

She yelps at the impact, but she is too driven. Raisa seeks to help, and Virgil shakes as she lunges for the beast?s left paw, snapping and twisting until she feels bone snapping. Alas, the behemoth is not quite done yet. ?Raisa, run,? she says. There is a desperation in her voice. Virgil Olympus has faced down bears before; one had put her out of commission for quite some time, she remembers. The scars have only recently faded from their pink hue, after all.
Despite everything, the last thing she wants to see is Raisa Xanilov bleeding. It is something she doubts that she could ever want from the ebon woman, no matter how weary she makes the golden goddess?s heart. Being angry with someone, after all, does not mean that you stop caring for them.