Okay, here is draft 2... I got a lot of really good comments and suggestions for alterations - many of them I used, but some of them I did not (sorry!) - but I considered all of them, and may use the ones I didn't use here on other pieces later on - Most of the suggestions I didn't use would have required a full re-draw. I like her movement a lot better now, and the background wall area I feel works a lot better as well. The trick now will be to get the depth really going through the color =).

Try flipping back and forth between the two images to see the differences. The angle of the roof of the wall in the background is much more in line, now.. and I noticed part of the building was actually missing, so I fit that in. The 'straight' walkway got on my nerves so I let the stones round themselves out a little. I added a wooden man fighting dummy and some heavy ceramic jars in the background, lightened the blade of the sword so that it more closely resembles a tai chi sword than a broadsword, and put more 'swoosh' into her clothing. I also moved her tail so its sweeping back with her motion, and the fur on it is sweeping forward, probably fairly wet.

I'm really glad that I decided to post this for comments, because I think it looks much better now =).