Welcome to Gaia! ::

It almost felt foolish, coming back so soon. Jarujan couldn't lie though, his failure had only driven him harder and made him long to prove himself not only to the pride but also to Sekhmet that much more. He was not a failure. He was the son of a goddess, of a revered priest, of two beings stronger than anyone looking at him could possibly imagine and he meant to make his mark upon the world as clearly as they had.

He could do this.

To his surprise, it was again Sekhmet that he found at the borders when he came to make that claim. Was she waiting to judge his commitment? He would have stopped to consider it but this was not a pride of thoughts, it was his actions that would determine his fate. Overthinking would solve nothing.

His only greeting was a polite nod, face all business even if he respected formality. Then he was charging, aiming a solid, if not overly strong, blow at her shoulder to start things off right.

Jarujan tried to step wide of her blow as she countered his opening attack but, true to his nature, he faltered on the shifting sands that clung to his pads and sank between his dark toes. It was harder than he had reckoned, getting used to the way their dunes shifted and pulled against his weight, and he knew that he had not learned much of duels between the first time he had met her and now.

With a sigh, he corrected his stumble and circled around to face her. If he dived in now he would only lose his footing and he opted to simply regain his footing and right his balance instead. If he lost again, what kind of warrior was he at all?

Well, it wasn't the best outcome for him thus far but he at least felt like he wasn't losing quite so miserably as he had before. He thought himself a great fighter, he had sparred and won his fair share of tiffs and encounters, but he was beginning to learn that he was no match for what appeared to be even the most casual of this pride's members.

Talk about a blow to the ego.

At least by missing her own hit they had reset just a fraction. With his teeth bared and his ambition flaming out of irritation at himself, he dove forward and swiped at her again. He connected hard with her shoulder, at least, and that did a little bit to renew his faith in himself.

He hadn't been expecting that.

The brief moment he had stolen to reset had been interrupted by a well placed aim that sent him shifting off balance in the sands. For a moment he simply fought to maintain his balance in the unsteady dunes beneath his dark feet, unable to do much but buck her blow and recoil from her range so that she could not attack him again before he regained his balance.

A part of him wanted to curse these damn lands but he knew that was unfair; these lands had been this way for as long as time could remember and it was only his own folly that let them best him now. It was no wonder the lions of the Firekin were such renowned fighters - their opponents had to fight just to stand.

As he finally found his stead, his eyes rose back up to see her winking at him playfully. It did the job of pulling an unexpected smile onto his jaws and he laughed, wishing that he could be more annoyed with her for her skills.

By now, Jarujan was struggling. His ribs heaved a little beneath his dark fur and he took a step back to get away from her and, hopefully, to regain a little of his breath and composure. There was no way, at all, that he was going to be able to dive in and attack her even one more time; there wasn't enough energy left in him to expend on a flashy, quick attack.

Besides, she had proved to him time and time again that he was not quick enough on these sands to surprise her with any attack - at least not enough that she could not retaliate.

With a grit to his teeth and his heart pounding against his chest, he lowered his head and waited for her to make the next move; his only chance was to bide his time and try to overtake her once she came in close for him again. He had heart but, right now, he also had his doubts..