Ring of Fire (Safiya vs Lewis)

The look on Ava's face was that of a sinister grin. Hook, line and sinker. She hadn't planned on recruiting today, but he showed promise. As well as interest. Safiya only rolled her eyes at the display, though. She was being a little diva about the whole thing, as usual. Girl had a temper a mile long, so it's not like she could say much against her without her getting too pissed off. It was best to let her play out her entire spiel, see what she did with it.

Ava brushed of the bits of stone on her dress with ease. "In that case, I have no further questions for you. I can already see your goal written on your face. 'To grow stronger'. Am I wrong? I've seen many like you. Many of them join us under the goddess's wing, still pursing that goal while learning of others. One way or another, the goddess finds a way into them, and they become better off for it, provided they're worthy of such a blessing..." She gave him a side-eyed look, letting him piece together what she was getting at.

"You're not seriously planning to...?" Safiya had to speak up right about now.

"Oh, I might. Much more important than potential is drive, after all. You were driven to live. I was driven to hurt people that had wronged me. So tell me, boy. What are you driven by?"

"....." Her words were stoking a fire within him. A grin threatened to split his face at her words.

"I have something to prove. Weapons have their limits. Swords dull, axes rust, bowstrings break....But the body has the potential to become an ultimate weapon....You say this Goddess can assist me? Then you have my attention."

He took a step forward. "I'm not afraid of the price, or the cost if there is any...The idea of taking a shortcut may rub me the wrong way..but at the same time, it's a good way to see how far I've come..and how much farther I can go."

She had him interested, now. That's how it always started. Like many that had sought out the cult, he was one in a crowd of others that wanted Her backing to reach even higher heights. No matter the cost, hmm?

"A shortcut, you say?" She scoffed at the wording. "Hardly. Transcending your human limits is simply a new step in a new direction. But! I can't guarantee that she will see what I do. That...will come down to you. Show your drive, your will, and most importantly, your potential, and maybe, if you're willing to bend a knee, she will guide you, just as she has guided myself, and many others, just like you." With that, she turned around in the other direction, down the street, motioning him to follow with her tail.

Safiya let out a sigh as she got up, shaking her head with a hand on her forehead. "Honestly, always having to blow things out of proportion." As she walked next to him, she shot him a side-eyed glance. "Not too late to back out, you know. The goddess doesn't take people that are unwilling."

"Safiya!" Ava whirled around quickly at hearing that. "How dare you! Don't take this from him, or me!"

"Oh, I'm not. You know I'm right. Hesitation won't be met with much. And, she doesn't just take anybody." She shot him another look. "You better be sure, after all."

He gave Safiya a look from the side, grinning slightly. "Are you worried about me? Oh, that's sweet...Or maybe you're just upset that she stopped you from trying whatever little shenanigans you had planned, eh?"

With that, he began to follow Ava, smiling. Transcending his limits...breaking them..That sounded like a damn plan to him. He'd become stronger and stronger. Better than any weapon....And if this Goddess could show him the way? Well, he might have found religion.

Ava had a similarly smug look on her face, walking with pride. Safiya could only roll their eyes at the two of them. He didn't have a clue, and she was only so gung-ho about the whole thing because it could potentially make the goddess happy. Around everybody else, she's as prickly as a cactus, but melts like a puppy around her. Oh well...at least that will be entertaining to see.

Ava lead him to the large cathedral at the end of the city, large enough that he likely saw it over the other buildings over the horizon. People in robes were coming and going, most of them having a mark somewhere on their bodies. People of all kinds, to boot, from large construction workers to businessmen. Ava lead him in, pushing the large doors open by herself, and flagging down another like her, a tall man with pale skin, two outward stretching horns and an incredibly imposing frame, built solid like a mountain. His pupils were black as night, as he looked down at her much, much smaller form "Mitesh! I demand to see the goddess! I have an urgent matter to attend to with her!"

The man's gaze went down to her, then back up to Safiya. "What did you do."

"Nothing!"

"That's right, she did nothing. She's just...a bystander, in this case! I have a potential new recruit and I must have her meet him!" Once again, she puffed out her chest, likely expecting praise.

The one she called Mitesh approached him, standing a good head and a half above the man. "Name."

Huh...There were quite a few folks. Was this one of those 'cults' he had heard about? Nah...Couldn't be. Folks weren't offering up a virgin or a goat...Or maybe they were doing that in the back room. Lewis' casual glancing stopped as he noticed the mountain of a man. A feral grin pulled at his face as he came closer.

"The name's Lewis...I'm a boxer. A fighter of sorts...."

The man raised an eyebrow at his response, staring him down for a moment. He let out a small affirmative grunt, before turning back the other way. "Out in the back. She's with Kashvi on the training grounds."

"Was that really necessary to take up so much time?!?" Ava looked genuinely exasperated at wasting even a moment, especially with how much she was looking forward to the reaction.

"Yes." Clearly a man of few words. Ava only let out an exaggerated sigh, before she took Lewis's hand and started nearly dragging him in another direction. "Cmon, we've got places to be!"

Safiya scootched in next to him to whisper. "You're probably going to need to leave an impression. Just be yourself. And don't think about the fact that person you're going to speak to is actual divinity. That'll just make it harder, trust me."

As Lewis was dragged, he glanced back for a moment at that Mitesh person, grinning. A fight would be glorious.... At Safiya's words, he rose an eyebrow. "An impression, eh...? If there's a training ground, I can probably get away with quite a bit of combat...After all, I did well in our fight, if memory serves."

"Well, not quite. Y-You'll see what I mean. She probably won't care how strong you are, despite what Ava's focused on." She kept that last bit quiet so Ava didn't hear. "She listens to people. And a lot of what she does is people-oriented. Just be honest. She's good at picking out lies...aaand we're here."

The back of the cathedral opened up to a large open space, with a view of the desert behind them that went on for miles and miles. Two figures were sitting under shade, one in comfortable clothes with a blade strapped to her back, and the other with long, flowing robes and white hair. Something about the latter one evoked emotions just at a glance, with a posture and grace to them. It emanated something, power, one beyond physical capabilities. "Goddess!"

Ava's voice caused both of them to slowly turn to face her, the other's bright red eyes giving her a piercing gaze. "Ava. Returned so soon. I take it you did not run into any complications?"

"We did! But they were good complications!" Letting Lewis go, she ran over next to the woman. "I met a person that showed interest in joining us, Goddess! What are you doing out here, anywa-"

The rest of that statement was lost as a shockwave rocked the area, everyone but the two woman shaking on their feet from a sound that was scarily close to an explosion. "Kashvi wanted to train. This is her most recent attempt at convincing me she needs more work."

"Ooh! Can I watch?!?" The Ava around this woman was like an entirely different person compared to the haughty, full of herself brat that Lewis had met earlier, with her tail swishing back and forth like an excited puppy.

"Of course." She scootched back into her chair and the little girl plopped herself into her lap, her tail curling around the woman's leg as she nuzzled into her spot. She turned her attention to Lewis, that gaze trained onto him. "Come, yes, you. Step forward."

"...." Huh. Something about this woman...He could feel his hand twitch slightly, as if in anticipation. Those red eyes were powerful...It was though everything he thought, everything he was, was laid bare before her...

Shaking it off, he began to walk towards them, interested. That shockwave...this was a fight he had to see for himself!

The woman could instantly see his excitement at the sound. Clearly, she wasn't going to get the chance to speak with him just yet. Just one look and she could already see what his type was like.

"Well? Won't you kneel before the goddess, boy? This is your chance to-" The woman's hand gently scratched the top of Ava's head, silencing her as she let out a pleasant coo at the touch.

"Now, now, none of that...why don't you take this chance to see what we are capable of beyond first impressions?" She gestured him towards the open field, to see what was taking place...

One single woman, with dark skin, a streak of blond running through her black hair, and numerous draconic features, the least of which being the gauntlet of a hand that formed her right arm. At least 50 other men and women, all even more well built that Lewis...and not a single one was even slowing her down, as she fought each of them off in a never ending flurry that looked like a type of dance, each limb batting away any would be assaulters, hands reaching out to grab those that got too close and slamming them into the ground hard enough to crack the earth underneath. The moves were like blurs, and the few hits that the mob of people got in did little to even phase her, as if their fists had connected with brick walls. The group was sent flying, no one genuinely hurt but their pride more than tarnished. The display lasted for a solid two minutes before every single one of them was too exhausted to keep going. The woman in the middle, however, looked no worse for wear, aside from some sweat beads.

"Is that it?!? I need more if I'm going to get actual training!" Her voice boomed, proud and boastful at the beaten crowd of other acolytes. "I'm going to have to get a personal lesson to each and every one of you, and it's gonna be rough!" She looked like she could have kept doing that same, powerful back and forth for hours on end without stopping, not even anything larger than a tiny bruise or two to show for it. A true master of her craft.

For a moment, he actually considered kneeling. Though that was washed away as he watched the fight.

Poetry. Pure poetry. That was it, that was what he was aspiring to be. Such power, such force. Granted, a lot of it seemed rather...aggressive. No real direction for the combat? She seemed to be doing a lot of damage, which he could respect. She was cutting huge swathes through those standing before her.

Before he could stop himself, he ran towards the field, his hands flashing for a moment. Where they had been pink during his fight with Safiya, for a moment, they flashed in shades of blue and yellow. This was it..This was his chance to show what he could really do. To see how far he had really come...!

Any attempts at a shout to stop his mad dash towards the woman were met on deaf ears, likely blocked out from the raw adrenaline. He put everything he had into that lunge forward, most everything blurring around him as he felt that rush of excitement. This was what he was looking for...someone far beyond that "mortal limit" Ava had spoke of...!

Kashvi was aware of his presence as he rushed forward, and in a split second, moved fast enough to intercept, her clawed arm clasping around his right hand while his other fist collided with her face...and she took it, not even budging. If anything, she seemed a little disappointed.

"A new face! Good! But that...that was way too weak. Lemme show you how it's done!" The iron grip she had around his hand was all she needed, as she lifted his entire body from that one arm completely over her head, holding him up in the air...before crashing it down into the ground behind her, creating that same shockwave he had heard earlier, this time at the epicenter. It was a strong enough blow to rattle his entire body, sinking him into the hard ground underneath as it cracked around him (and likely cracked a few bones in the process).

She was fast....! And powerful...His punch hadn't even made a dent. As he slammed into the ground, his body was wracked with pain, blood and spittle erupting as he impacted. Shakily getting up, he jumped backwards slightly, before launching into another punch.

"Weak, eh? Maybe, but I'm...pretty persistent!" He was going to keep trying, to at least get *some* kind of a response from her with his strikes!

There was some surprise in her face as he sprang back up from that. Wow, he was durable! Way more than a lot of the people under her, at least. He couldn't actually hurt her worth a damn, but she could commend that, at least!

The sudden reaction was enough to make Ava sweat. This was not the best first impression. Sure, Kashvi was strong even among the fellbloods, but he had expected the boy to do at least something! Hopefully the goddess wouldn't think she was wasting her time with someone like this. However, those thoughts of hers were shushed as the goddess gently pet the top of her head. "Most wouldn't get back up after a blow like that. My, he's certainly persistent." Persistent! That was a compliment! Maybe the goddess was pleased after all. At the very least, Safiya was enjoying the show Ava was putting on, namely flipping back and forth between confident and nervous back to back in rapid succession. And the figure next to the goddess only watched silently, with an unreadable expression on her face.

Kashvi took the next hit as well, only flinching ever so slightly as it connected with her gut. It felt like his fist had collided with a hunk of iron, and it definitely hadn't left any lasting impact on her. "Hrmmm...you've got guts! I respect that! But you're still...too...weak!" She rushed forward herself, wrapping her massive claw around his entire head and slamming it to the ground, once again rattling his entire body from the impact. This time, though, she let him go and took a few springy steps back. "Hey! Cmon, give me another! I wanna see how many times you can get up from it! One more and you'll officially impress me!" The woman next to the goddess had already seen that she was going too far, but this was what the goddess had willed. Best thing she could do is wait and see what would happen.

Pain.

Painpainpainsomuchpain.

Every part of his body screamed as he attempted to stand up. Every pain receptor was flaring. He was running on adrenaline and fumes. Would anyone blame him if he simply laid there and gave up?

And yet.... He began to stand up once more. His hand giving off a dark pink glow as he moved forward. At this rate, this punch would probably be his trademark...Might as well give it a good name, eh?

"Let's see..How you handle a Heartbreak Shot, eh?" With that, he dashed forward, putting his all into...what might just be his final strike. One last blow before his body gives out. Time to make it count.

As he very shakily pulled himself to his feet, Kashvi at least gave him a few claps for the display. "Nice, nice! Made of some tough stuff! Good work!" She didn't make any attempt to move out of the way of the hit, once again taking the brunt of the hit across her face. Unlike the other two, she actually felt that one, with a slight tingle running through her as the fist connected with her cheek. Wasn't enough to get her to flinch, but she was able to feel it, at the very least.

"Hmm...neat! Smart, too!" She took her draconic hand and placed it on his head, patting him like a puppy. "You've earned my respect! Welcome aboard! But you should probably stop now." Even her tone was very playful and none the worse for wear from his big final hit. The woman next to the goddess let out a sigh. There was some part of her that thought Kashvi might not consider his physical state, but perhaps that was a bit presumptuous of her. She might have destructive power, but there was a heart buried underneath that muscle.

For a brief moment, his body instinctively flinched as that claw approached. However, as she placed it on his head, a small smile formed. "I...did what I could."

At that, all the adrenaline evaporated like steam, before he collapsed. His body wracked in enough pain to cause him to almost black out.

Lewis collapsed right in front of her, completely spent. Safiya simply leaned down to look over him with a smile. "Mmm...good potential on this one. Right!" Safiya reached her claw down, grabbing him by the leg, and flipped Lewis over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, with not even a hint of hesitation in her actions, or struggle in her motions. It really was as if she was grasping air as she walked over to the balcony that the others were situated in.

"Well? What do you think, Kashvi?" The goddess looked at the woman, with Ava in her lap who desperately wanted an answer.

"Really fun! Tougher than pretty much all of them! Definitely rough around the edges, though. Needs some polishing." She flashed her a toothy grin, and Ava let out a sigh of relief. "I'm gonna go get Chandresh and get him to a bed, then!" She wasted no time in running off back into the cathedral, leaving the others to their business.

"...he is foolhardy, brash, arrogant, and borderline suicidal." The dark-haired woman next to the goddess's tone was as sharp as the blade on her back.

"All of those statements are correct, yes. However, he is driven. And that is what I look for." A smile crept up on her face as she spoke, a finger going to her lips. "Yes, he's perfect. Just the kind of person we need...easily moldable, at that..."

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An undeterminable amount of time later, Lewis awakens to find himself in a stretcher in an unknown place. The sun is out, just as it had been before he went out. His body was incredibly sore, but it wasn't in as much screaming pain as it had been what felt like a moment before. Had it only been a moment before? It was impossible to tell, but the only thing going through him now was that everything hurt. And he was alone, in a room with many beds just like his.

A groan escaped the boxer as he began to sit up, stopping and falling back when his body let out a particularly painful objection.Slowly, his gaze began to travel, taking in the sights. As he looked about, the memories of what had transpired surged forth. And with it, a groan as he closed his eyes. Was it pain, or disgust at his performance? Not even he knew.

"Well now. It seems you are finally awake." A voice came down the walkway in front of the beds, two sets footsteps following along as a figure came in to see him. The familiar, diminutive form of Ava, and the being she had described as the goddess.

Ava stomped up to him and poked him in the nose, looking peeved. "I didn't think you'd just run up and actually fight Kashvi! Are you insane?!? Suicidal?!? You're lucky she's actually nice, or she would've killed you! Do you have any sense of self-preservation in that empty, stupid head of yours?!? Well?!? DO YOU?!?"

"Now, now...in the end, things worked themselves out." Her voice did little to placate the tiny little ball of fury. "Welcome back to the land of the living. You have been out for over three days. What are your thoughts, now?"

"....Well. In order....I figured someone that stromg would make for an excellent challenge. And I was right...As for my thoughts...."

A sigh escaped the boxer. "Aside from wondering if this person yelling at me is your child....I can see that I have a long way to go, before I have that level of strength...."

Ava let out a small "hmph" at his remark. "Child? I'll have you know that I am much more than blood related to the goddess! She has chosen me, among others, to bear a part of her and be formed by it into something more than human, or midara! And how dare you call me a child! Why, I should...I..."

All at once, her body started to slump where it stop, her arms drooping to their sides as her gaze went up to the hand that was gently petting the top of her head, ceasing all of her motion as she was completely absorbed by the simple action. It was as if the woman had flicked an off switch on the girl, her gaze growing empty and distant.

"You'll have to forgive her. Ava is very passionate about the covenant and what it does. It tends to make her very...overzealous." Certainly a nice way of describing her, if Lewis's past encounter was any indication. The woman moved in front of her and sat on the end of the bed, her hand never leaving the girl's forehead.

"What you did earlier was...admittedly, very overzealous as well. You are quite lucky we have an excellent healer within the Grimleal. Otherwise, that could have gone very, very badly. And that Kashvi is good at heart, even if she has a tendency to occasionally lose control. Many things went well for you that day, even if you were at death's door. I hope you realize that." Keeping her hand on the smaller girl's head, the woman guided her to sit on the bed with her, before leaning her head to the side to rest on the woman's lap, almost purring like a kitten.

A small chuckle left the boxer as he watched the smaller girl become putty in the hands of the woman...petting her. At the goddess' words, a frown formed once more.

"Aye....You're not wrong. I'm...kinda single minded. I want to get stronger. To prove that the body has so much potential..that it's better than simple weapons. But....I've learned that I have limits. If I had kept pushing, I might have died. Sorry for any trouble I caused you."

"I don't think there is anything wrong with being single-minded, as long as they are directed at the right places...but, seeing the bigger picture is important, as well." The woman gently pet Ava's head, who was at this point completely mindless as she laid her head on her lap. Moving in a way not to disturb her, she reached into her cloak's pocket and pulled out a little wrapped candy, bright orange and round, placing it in Lewis's hand and closing it with her own. "When she wakes up, try this. It might help with her outbursts."

Letting him retract his hand, the goddess brought her gaze onto him, her red, reptilian eyes flickering in the light. He had nothing to muffle the presence of her gaze this time, and it was full bore into his. "Your name is Lewis, correct? Ava told me about some of the details, but I would like to hear them directly from you, instead: What is it that you have sought us out, for?"