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He was here.

Mkhai had managed to make the rest of the way to the Myrsky Syntynyt on his own. It was a small miracle that he did not use his abilities to propel himself forward through space. But, the god had convinced himself that if he were to investigate the pride, he would do it as a mortal. No longer could he use his awe-inspiring presence to get his way. Releasing the illusion of mortality had been enough to convince one lion to take him most of the way to the pride.

He had already forgotten the lion's name, even his features. None of it mattered to Mkhai. Mortals had rarely interested him enough, and rather it was the idea of this pride here that had drawn him in.

In reality, Mkhai had no idea what he was getting himself into. That alone was exiting, but he knew little of the pride and its customs, only that it housed strong, fearless warriors. As the God of Warriors, it was easy to see why Mkhai had decided to check in. Perhaps his previous incarnations had been involved with the pride, but he had no idea.

The pride was situated perfectly with sheer cliffs at its back. A strategic location that Mkhai could appreciate. He stood now too far away to see the rock edge crumble off. No, he didn't dare enter the pride until he had earned the right. The idea was a little distasteful. He was a god, he should not have to exclude himself from any place.

But, he was convinced to follow mortal rules.

So, he roared his challenge, a deep, bellowing rumble of his voice. It was a little larger than life. Everything about Mkhai was just off. His mortal illusion was still too big, and every now and then hints of his godhood would slip free. He was terrible at hiding at who he was, but for now he was holding the illusion masterfully together.

"Always." It could seem as a vague answer, but it spoke magnitudes of what Mkhai was about. He was always pushing forward from one challenge to the next, from one indulgence to another. Mkhai was a lion unaccustomed to rest, and that was just one of many reasons why he found himself at this pride's borders.

He matched his gaze to the lioness' own, emerald eyes against amber. She clearly had to be wearing trophies of past victories, but he had to wonder if they had any practical use besides showing off her achievements. It was impressive, however. The way the skull was fastened to her face was a minor marvel and the pelt draped across her pelt clearly had belong to some unfortunate soul. "You must be strong." Mkhai seemed pleased by this. Strength saw no gender - either one was strong or one was weak.

Mortals were inherently weak in comparison to gods, but on a level playing field he was intrigued to see how far these creatures could go. "I would have you receive my challenge. I am interested in this pride, and I will not be turned away." He was trying to be polite, showing her that he was interested in her strength and skill.

But... he also came off as very demanding. His manners were, quite frankly, ******** terrible.

The black and blue lion took a step towards her, keeping his posture low to the ground. The lower his center of gravity was, the better he would be at taking hits and holding his ground. He could not rely on his godhood here.

Mkhai evaluated his opponent in silence for just a few seconds longer. It wasn't like he had ignored her the moment she had shown up. Rather, he watched her approach with purpose. Once one knew their opponent, it was easier to defeat them. She seemed to be a cunning lioness, and perhaps relied on her wits just as much as her strength. His best bet in this circumstance was just to overwhelm her with brute force. He was a much larger lion, and few others could compare to him in size. The illusion reflected this, even if he was confined to more realistic measurements. Every inch of him was solid muscle. Physically, he had the edge on Sabia.

He just hoped she could prove that brute strength wasn't all that it would take to defeat her. He needed to draw it out of her, all of her potential. He wanted to fight her at her best.

The large lion charged forward with a burst of energy to engage in a head-on clash with the lioness. There was no subtlety about his actions, no cunning machinations. It was just pure strength. If she could not even handle this, he wasn't sure the pride was worth it. He attempted then to collide into her, to use all of his weight and force to push her back and throw her down.

He hoped she could stop him.

Excellent!

For a moment Mkhai allowed his concentration to slip, but it wasn't when Sabia dodged him. Rather it was the moment after she had dodged him. He allowed himself to be mildly impressed by the little show of skill. It was the best course of action she could have taken. She was smaller, and far more nimble than he. There was no way she could withstand a charge especially with his momentum carrying him. The fight could have been over instantly if she hadn't reacted appropriately.

Sabia could very well prove that there was hope for this pride.

For Mkhai, this wasn't so much a test of his own prowess, as it was a test of her's. In this moment, she was the symbol of the pride. Only if she was worthy then could he prove himself the same.

She would be coming at him now, and Mkhai snapped back into focus in time to receive her charge. He could have done anything to dodge it, but instead braced himself for her blow because he could take it. The closer she was to him, the better. His strength would inevitably outlast her own. If she was foolish enough to challenge his strength, he would consider his victory swift.

He twisted to face her in time, outstretching a paw that if she finished her charge, would claw into her shoulder and grab onto her.

A smug smirk almost appeared to be a blemish across his normally stern face. The look didn't suit him, but it conveyed everything he felt in the moment he had sunk his claws into Sabia. She was trapped - struggle too hard to escape and her shoulder would be turn. Give in now and it would almost be a shameful loss, a battle ended too soon between two warriors. Mkhai wanted to have more faith in her, that she would make the right decision. Fight on, despite what pain one endured, despite all the losses burdening one's shoulder.

It was the philosophy he wanted to live by, though he had experienced no true loss yet. Mkhai thought he was just too good to lose anything valuable to him. He really possessed nothing of value, and as of now had no attachments to anyone.

He did, however, have a lioness in his grasp who had a decision to make. It was a decision that he hadn't predicted. "Don't let me break you," he had purred confidently, and then the psycopath had knocked her head into his.

He may be a god, but that didn't mean he was impervious to pain. He didn't experience it to the same degree, simply because he was made of tougher stuff. But he was shocked enough to loosen his grip on her, and it hurt enough to make his head bounce back from the impact and leave a headache.

What was that?

He winced a little bit, and seemed more inconvenienced by her blow than actually hurt. "That was smart," he muttered, and shook his head to help alleviate the discomfort. Mkhai took a step forward then, refusing to back down to her, but he had to admit he was curious now to how she would follow up such an attack.

She had achieved her goal of breaking free, but would she dare to tangle with him again?

The question stopped his approach, and the large lion halted mid-step to cast a briefly curious look at Sabia. Crap. He hadn't thought that far ahead. Mkhai could continue to dodge questions like these, but it wouldn't take long before someone was determined enough to get a definitive answer. The silence between them lasted too long, and he somewhat hoped she just chalked it up to him being sensitive about where he had come from.

Lying wasn't his strong suit, and so he stuck as close to the truth as possible for his own sanity. "A small land we commonly refer to as the Haven." Belief in gods was never universal, or even widespread. So he hoped no one could make proper connections to figure out who he actually was. He genuinely wanted to try and play this out as a mortal.

Belatedly, he realized that it didn't sound like a place that a strong lion would be from. Damn.

Even more belatedly, in the time it took to come up with a lie, the fight was over. He felt a little disappointed it had ended so soon, but he was sure there were more battles to win. He wanted to tell her that it hadn't been enough, that he hadn't nearly proven himself yet. But really, he just wanted to see what else she could do. He wanted to keep his adrenaline pumping. "I see." He did sound disappointed. It was as if Sabia had snatched away his only joy and told him he couldn't play with it anymore.

Oh no, she didn't believe him. Mkhai tried not to let the worry slip into his expression. If she didn't believe him now, then looking like he was concerned over his explanation would definitely ensure she called him out on his lie. "Yes?" he replied, as if he was curious why she would even have to ask for clarification.

When she decided to take him to the Warlord, he really was convinced she didn't believe him. He barely managed to keep the stoic expression up. He had to play along, no matter what, and since she hadn't questioned him more closely he had to assume she didn't truthfully care about where he was from. What was more important now for him was to focus on this upcoming meeting. Mkhai had to be absolutely sure of himself so that he wouldn't make stupid mistakes in front of his new pride.

"Okay," he consented to the meeting, though he wasn't really sure he had much of a choice. Sabia was already leading the way even without Mkhai immediately behind her. He hesitated for a moment, and then followed after the red lioness. After all, she had promised him that more fights were on the way. He couldn't say no to her now.

(( fin ))