Still wishing only to do better by her family and to drive unnecessary desires from her mind, Natalya wandered the lands surrounding the Olympus lands. She felt it important to understand what faced them in each direction so that she would be prepared if ever she needed to rush out. It had taken her far too long to get to Virgil when she was giving birth, far too long to reach many places despite now residing in the Alacritian lands for three seasons. The ebony female needed to be better, simple as that.



"Ahead the land is barren stone, my lady. Be cautious... Falling rocks..." She barely heard the raven's call over the wind. The gusts were nearly enough to take the woman off her feet, but she continued forward. For some reason, she had the horrible curse of believing truly bad things could not happen to her, something that seemed common among all beings. Perhaps it was due to her marriage into a family of the gods, her upbringing, or how well she had overcome her blindness.



Overconfidence proved to be her downfall. Her ears were perked, listening intently for any warning sounds of rock on rock, but the wind prevented her hearing it. It was the screeching of Poe that brought her to full attention, caused her to jump back at both the right and wrong moment. Her body was saved all but for the paw of her scarred leg, the one she wasn't able to move quickly enough. She gritted her teeth through the pain, knowing every toe of the foot was broken. Thankfully, the boulder hadn't been so large as to crush the foot, but the damage was still substantial.



As she pulled the foot upward to cradle against her body she felt the talons of her companion come to rest on her shoulder. He directed her only a few feet to one of the tall spires, where she settled on the ground as she decided what to do next. Her knowledge of healing was mediocre and she had no idea where to find any herbs that would help her near to this place. For now she would rest and try to slow the beating of her heart while she tried to decide how to handle her situation. As much as she hated to admit it, Natalya was afraid for one of few times in her life.






talk, think

and quoth the raven, "nevermore"

Stupidity.

He didn?t even know what else to call it at this particular moment, why he was here in an area that was filled with rocks, sharp drops, unknown enemies was completely beyond him, but nevertheless, here he was. The creature was stretched out across a boulder, his legs spread out in front of him, his hips twisted so that he was resting on his flank, and his head rested upon his front paws.

Imonde felt the boredom, and before he knew it he was drifting off, his eyes fluttering shut as his sides rise and fallen in the patterns of sleep. Moments later, the caw of a bird jolts him away. Ears upon his head flickering in a curious manner as he slowly rises from the ground, hind legs pushing his mass upward.

Leisurely he opens his eyes, a sharp snort being pushed from his body as he spots a dark female nursing an injured paw. Not worth the time. His mind rattles before he lowers himself back down onto the rock again, his tail drumming against it as he keeps his eyes locked upon the female. ?Wh-at is this?? he begins, ?wh-at is this? Th-at we do see?? The echoing of his broken rhythmic baritones sliding from his frame as he lowers himself back down into the laying position. ?A dolly that is in-jur-ed, maybe??

Apparently Poe had been far too distracted protecting his mistress to notice the lunatic(s?) sitting nearby. The wind blew so fiercely in wrong direction, he (they?) was entirely undetectable to the blind woman. She tried to give her raven the benefit of the doubt, glad he had saved her from a greater pain. Within the hour she would be able to bear the pain enough to walk, but it would be best if she had some sort of relief when she did so that she could put even a small amount of weight on her injured paw.



So it was that she murmured quietly to her companion a request that he return to Olympus and retrieve a particular plant from her stash (rather than suffering her injury to seek one out among the mass of stone where none were likely to grow). She listened to the flap of his wings as he departed before turning her attention to the new problem at hand - her company. She heard only the voice of one, and yet it spoke in multiples. Either there was a number of silent wolves before her or this one was insane. She wasn't overly fond of either idea.



I am injured, you are correct there, she said with a swish of her tail. But I most certainly am no dolly. Who are you, and what brings you to such treacherous lands, stranger? She figured it was safer to address only one to find out what exactly was going on. Better than addressing multiples and sounding like a fool.






talk, think

and quoth the raven, "nevermore"

Bird?

Eyes watch as the raven takes off, flying away from the scene and leaving the woman here to fend for herself against Imonde. This just got interesting. He thinks to himself before jaws slowly part and he yawns, snippets of teeth clicking together signal the arrival of his teeth together. Though finally when he repositions himself upon the boulder he continues to regard the female silently, ignoring her questions and comments until he felt good and ready to answer them.

?Ah but you are, do-ll-y.? He answers, tail coming to a rest from it?s constant drumming as he slowly rises to his paws once again. But this time he lurches down from his post upon the boulder that he was resting upon, paws slapping against the ground as he pads toward the female. ?Do-lls are merely pupp-ets that do as their told, we recon you are in no posi-tion to dis-o-bey.?

The comment is clipped and short, his eyes dancing along the injured paw before sliding back toward the face of the dark female. ?So we shall be taking over the con-ver-sa-tion, yes?? Though he poses it as a question, it is very much so a command. Imonde places his haunches back upon the ground, tail twitching irrationally as his lips pull away from his teeth and then fall once again to cover them ?Te-ll us, who are you??

A drawn out silence lay between them until the other finally replied, coming slowly toward her. At a certain distance, the pillar she lay by blocked the wind an she could think clearly. She heard only one approaching, only one speaking. She smelled only one. She felt the presence of only one. Perhaps there were others still resting in the direction from whence he came, but Natalya was more certain that this was simple and pure insanity.



Hearing perhaps the slightest hints of aggression in his tone, she forced herself up into a sitting position, careful to keep weight off of her left paw. She inhaled deeply through her nostrils and wondered how she should respond. She wasn't fond of handing over control of any situation, but she wasn't interested in instigating a fight at the moment. She was trained to handle it if the situation arose but... She'd rather not need to.



Take over if you must, she said nonchalantly, giving no indication of her irritation. My name is Natalya.






talk, think

and quoth the raven, "nevermore"

Curiosity.

That was the only thing that could explain him putting up with a female that was not only blind, but also was wielding an injured paw. There was no other reason that Imonde would tolerate the presence of weakness to linger in front of him, no, not linger, insult him like this. The fact that this female who was blind and a gimp of sorts managed to survive this long?he reckoned that perhaps she was actually suffering?he should help her out.

The thought alone was what made the man?s haunches rise from the ground once again as he continued to close the gap between them. Soon as she sat down the male rumbled, petitioning her to rise again. ?Sta-nd, we shall help you to your ho-me.? He asks as he circles about the lady before coming to her side, his head tilting as he indicts the mass of his flesh.

?You may le-an against us for a whi-le, until you get to your boar-ders,? He rattles, the man wasn?t helping out the kindness of his heart. No, he was helping because he figured that if a pack allowed one that was disabled like her within their ranks there must be more. Why kill one when you could kill them all?

Fortunate was the arrival of her raven companion, his wings flapping as he dropped the herbs before her and perched on her shoulder. It had felt like hours had gone by that she sat through her encounter with the odd stranger, but Olympus truly was only a few minutes walk from where she sat. Natalya silently thanked Poe for his aid as she beat to chew the plant. She would take her time, careful not to alarm the man who now stood beside her, until she raised her head to speak again.



I thank you for your offer, but I should be able to walk on my own in a few minutes' time. You are more than welcome to still escort me to my borders at that time, if it is your wish. She kept her voice even and friendly, hoping to keep the insanity that apparently nested within him at bay. Poe kept a watchful eye on the beast all the while. Will you tell me who you are, though? I have given you mine, after all.



The idea of being aided in walking by anyone but her husband made her skin crawl. Natalya was far too strong for that, but she was hesitant for other reasons as well. She wondered what would have changed within this creature to take him from the hostility in his voice to utter kindness. Perhaps he planned to get her close and off her on the way? Or perhaps he truly did want to aid her? It was hard to tell. It was far safer to keep some distance and bide her time until her pain subsided so that she could travel the distance on her own.






talk, think

and quoth the raven, "nevermore"

The male narrows his eyes at the bird as it returns, the male rises from his haunches, his muscles padding toward the bird as he pulls back his lips silently in warning, a silent threat to wring that birds neck if it didn't flap back from which it came. But soon his lips fall back to cover his lips, his eyes slowly moving over toward the female as he narrows his eyes even further at her. What was this that he was hearing? Was she trying to deny his request? He wasn't sure, perhaps he should bite her leg and wound it a bit more to get her to scream his name and beg him to take her home? Perhaps a little detour? Yes, no.

"We do ins-ist." He begins to rumble in his serpent like speech pattern, soon he steps around so that he is somewhere in front of her, his ears pressing back against his head as he pulls his lips above his teeth, tongue flashing along his fangs as the systematic clicking begins. "Our na-me doesn't mat-ter, come along." He disagrees under his breath, his head turning away as he glances over his shoulder.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

Yet another change took place within the stranger, notable again through his words. Natalya grew irritated, anger bubbling within her, but she would not let it surface. It was abundantly clear to her now that she stood in the face of insanity, wounded and more vulnerable than she had been in years. Not that she was worried for her life, but... She was not in a good state to fight. The terrain was unfamiliar and her toes were broken.



The slight piercing feeling of the raven's claws in her shoulder warned her that she was dealing with a greater threat than she could hear (what a help a set of eyes could be) so she decided to forego her pride somewhat. Without another word about his name or what he wanted, Natalya rose to her three good feet. The pain medicine had yet to kick in, but she would not lean her weight on this male. She positioned herself to the left of him, keeping her damaged paw away, and spoke in an even tone, showing him that she had no fear of him.



Let's be off, then.






talk, think

and quoth the raven, "nevermore"