Ring of Fire (Safiya vs Lewis)

"I...I want this..."

That prolonged exposure to the flame was getting into his head. Despite his attempts at struggling, that small moment of weakness was opening him up. And with those words, he may have just walked right into her hands.

A silent beat passed, with Lewis having fully succumbed to his desires. He'd given up. A little smile crossed her face, and she started to chuckle. "You still have a long way to go, don't you~?" She brought the flame extremely close to his face, to rest on the edge of his nose. It only took a small moment before his body jolted from the slight burn, snuffing the flame out from the sudden movement and snapping him out of his half-trance with ease as she backed away from him.

"Gah! I-Wha-Eh?" He jumped slightly, his cheeks turning a slight pink. "That's a dirty trick, Safiya....A dirty, dirty trick." Despite his words, a small smile tugged at his face.

"You're not wrong. I think I need to train my mind, first and foremost."

"You'll come to find I am filled with dirty tricks. But, if you can't even beat this one...well, that'd be a waste, wouldn't it~?" She chuckled, having done her bit. "Think of that as...hazing the newbie? That's probably the best way to put it. For the record, the goddess wanted me to. She put it in much more grandiose terms, but I'll simplify it down for you."

She cleared her throat, trying to sound somewhat serious if only for a while. "Fellbloods are...extensions of herself. She wants to be sure you can keep that up. Looks like you're gonna be training for quite a while." She shot him a grin, before turning on her heel and giving him a casual wave. "Best to keep up your work on that, Lewis. Kashvi's gonna want a rematch when she gets back, and she definitely won't be holding back next time."

"Heh. I blame whatever part of the old me is still around. You almost had em after all. But..yeah, the Goddess isn't wrong. I still cant believe this is happening. It's all surreal."

As if to emphasize, his tail began to wag. "Like that. Me having a tail feels surreal." As she walked away, he nodded, taking in her words.

"I'm no stranger to training and harf work. I'll keep at it until I'm one of the strongest Grimleal around."

Safiya didn't turn around as he spoke, making her way towards the door. "Oh, I'm sure you will. You're stepping into a world where the people around you are more than capable of giving you a run for your money. This is what you wanted, right? A challenge. You've certainly got that, now." Her hand reached up to turn the doorknob, opening it with a click and stepping through. She gave him one side-eyed look back before she left.

"Welcome to the Grimleal, Lewis. Keep working hard. You're going to need it~" With that, she left, her tail reaching up to pull the door closed as she did.