Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had not been much longer than a day or two since Ro’ery had arrived at the lands and been informed that his acceptance in to it would requir him to not only duel a member, but tie or best them. Didn’t sound too bad. He was certainly not the weakest of lions, but these lions had grown up training to fight. Ro shrugged it off. No big deal. He was sure he could beat whoever it was he would fight.

Shortly before mid day he made his way back to the borders of the land, chest puffed out slightly. “I got this. Beat up any lion they throw at me, maybe their best. They’ll be beggin’ me to join them.” Ro was ready for this. Completely. He slowed his pace as he neared the southern outpost once more, eying every lion he saw, not completely sure how this was gonna play out.

A lioness came towards him, a rather small thing at that. “I had expected someone..” He paused, quirking a brow at her. “bigger.” Compared to most he saw she was pretty small. He watched her for a moment, unsure of exactly what do to. Ro supposed it was not too surprising to face a lioness, in this pride even they must be pretty tough, but it was her size he couldn’t get past.

“Well if beatin’ you will get me in, then fine.” A cocky grin spread across his face as he crouched, pausing only for a moment before charging towards her. “Best be ready!” The distance between them melted quickly beneath his paws, and with only a few feat left he lunged, one paw striking out at the female’s front legs.

A grin spread across Ro'ery's face as his attack struck. "This is going to be easy." He mumbled to himself. Before he could toss out another attack the lioness sent one of her own. Ro'ery just managed to hiss, claws passing harmlessly through the tip of his mane as he pulled himself backwards. "Almost got me there." He said, his previous cocky grin once more across his face. She was a tough little lady, that was for sure. He thought he had her with that first attack, was sort of hoping to floor her and maybe she'd give up, but he wasn't going to be so lucky.

"That all you got?" Ro'ery taunted, taking a few more steps back to put some distance between them. "And here I thought this was going to be a challenge." He continued, head cocking to the side as he smirked at the female.

The cocky grin was quickly replaced by a look of surprise as the female lunged at him. Even with the extra distance he had put between them she was still on him far too fast for him to dodge. He tried to brace himself for the impact, though despite her smaller size she still slammed into him with a surprising amount of force. Ro'ery hit the ground hard, the sudden impact knocking the wind out of him.

Before he could fully regain his breath he struck out, swinging a paw blindly. Even if he missed it may have been enough to at least get her to back off enough for him to get back on his feet, at at the moment that was really all he was aiming for.

All his blind attacks had missed, however he had also managed to roll back onto his own paws without getting hit by Zara's own attacks. Luck perhaps, as he had not been very careful though his movements to right himself. He didn't care, he just didn't want to be on the ground any longer. Even for being so small she was still one tough lady, and Ro'ery's cockiness had temporarily left him as he concentrated on the battle at hand.

With a loud snarl he charged forward. Somehow, despite a bit of slipping in his attempts to gain traction on the sand, he still managed to get into a good run. As he came closer he leapt forward, body twisting slightly as he threw himself bodily at her. He was beyond caring how stupid his tactics were, he just wanted to win.

The attack had worked and the female was now pinned under him. However it didn't last long. His attempts to keep her pinned were quickly thwarted as the female managed to get her hind paws up under him and kick up. Another surprising show of strength as he found himself going upwards.He managed to keep his back paws on the ground as the rest of his body arched backwards, before he came crashing back down on to the ground. The air left his lungs in a rush as he hit the sand.

Ro'ery didn't let that last long though. Even as he gasped for air he pulled himself back up and with all the strength he could muster he spun on the female. One paw swung out, aiming for the female, anywhere he could manage to hit.

After his paw had connected Ro'ery took a few quick, though unsteady, steps backwards. He readied himself for her next move while attempting to steady his breathing, however none came. Instead she spoke. He waited for a moment, somewhat skeptical, before deciding it was not some ruse to let his guard down.

"Over already? And here I was just getting started." Ro let out a shaky laugh. He was glad the duel had ended when it did, he didn't know how much longer he could have actually lasted. "I'm Ro'ery." He said, forcing himself to stand up straight despite any protests from his aching body. He was eager to see the inside of the pride as he followed Zara.