Valatrix "Vala" Of the Hornless Clan

Name: Valatrix “Vala” Of The Hornless Clan
Age: 22
True age: 40
Sex: female
Personality: Valatrix, more commonly called Vala by her friends and Demon, Bitch or both by her victims, is for the most part an average Heanta. However a few things sets Vala apart from even the Elites of heanta society. She is the daughter of Celaena, and granddaughter of Ren the Hornless. Because of her prestigious family line much is expected from Vala. Like her mother and grandfather before her, she has no horns, but unlike them, she has something that makes her weak. She has the capacity for kindness.

Kindness is a trait heanta do not boast about, and while Vala is still a heanta with the natural bloodlust and desire to fight, feed and kill that all heanta feel, she does not always follow this instinct. Vala tries to hide this kindness behind a wall of cold, never letting herself get close to other heanta, to let them see her weakness. Her first act of kindness was to not rip out the throat of Fayla Shor. Instead she saved the Eldari’s life, an act that would make most heanta try flay her alive if they found out about it. However saving the life of Dalrodir shor’s granddaughter felt like more than coincidence. Although it took some time, she slowly became friends with Fayla, and now they are inseparable.

Vala’s friendship with Fayla is not complicated. At Least not for Vala. Other heanta might not take so kindly to her consorting with their mortal enemies, Vala has never feared the repercussions of the decisions she made that led to their friendship. Fayla is part of Vala. Separate they are strong, together they are a nightmare. Of course, they do not always see eye to eye, and fights have broken out between them over the simplest of things.

Vala is more than just a kind heanta. She is passionate, feisty, and loves the thrill of a fight. She does not share the same overwhelming bloodlust of her mother and grandfather, but that does not stop Vala from enjoying every second of a battle. Her true colors shine on the battlefield, and if she is cold to most when not fighting, she is the opposite when she is. Even her opponents get a glimpse of the the real Vala before she kills them. Vala will only kill enemies, she does not go after anyone too weak to defend themselves, and tends to let those who flee from her go. While this is an act of kindness on her part, she likes to make it seem like they’re not worth the effort.

Vala takes great pride in her looks, and can be a bit obsessive over her hair and teeth. She keeps her claws pristine, often filing and shaping them to be perfectly sharp. She hates getting mud, blood or dirt in her hair. And by Na’Kora’s forge she will kill anyone who touches it. Being a heanta, she has suffered a tough upbringing, made worse by her heritage. A weaker person would be broken by the trials she’s had to endure, but she is the Granddaughter of Ren The Hornless. Like her mother before her, Vala has very big boots to fill. She is often compared to her mother and grandfather, and to many she does not quite measure up. But that does not stop Vala, and she has been quick to challenge anyone who thinks her unworthy of her heritage.

Vala shares a special bond with her mother that most other heanta do not get to experience. Celaena trained her, disciplined her, tended her wounds, thought her to kill cleanly or gruesomely. She has been in Vala’s life from birth until she forged her demon matrix. Celaena is the only one besides Fayla who has seen the kindness in Vala, and never tried to snuff it out. But she helped Vala to be strong, to love a good fight, and stick up for herself so her kindness does not become a weakness. Because Vala is Hornless, and The Hornless do not take shit from anyone.

Likes/dislikes: She likes Fayla, her mother, and good fights. She dislikes killing weaklings, being looked down on for over her size and getting her hair dirty.
Fears: Fayla or Celaena dying, being caged, the heanta destroying themselves.




height: 5’5”
weight: 116lbs
Appearance: Vala is slender and compact, with a toned but not overly muscular body. She resembles her mother, sharing her eye color, but where Celaena’s face is all hard angles, Vala is a little softer. She has almond shaped eyes, with deep purple pupils, and long red hair she keeps loose, framing her striking face. Her ears are pointed and just barely stick through her hair. Her skin is pale white. Scars lace her arms and legs, although they’re hard to spot on her pale skin. Her claws are white like her skin, and about half an inch long. She keeps them razor sharp. She is beautiful, but rather unimposing for a heanta, and since she lacks horns she is often mistaken for a human, or overlooked because of her size. Vala’s Demon Matrix is a small flat diamond shaped violet crystal, and it is embedded into the skin just below her throat.

clothing: Vala wears black fighting leathers that consist of form fitting pants, tough black boots, leather vambraces, and a light surcoat. They provide little protection, however they also do not restrict her agile movements and speedy attacks. She occasionally dresses up, and actually isn’t beyond wearing dresses, granted they’re more practical than the average ladies gown.



General Fighting Tactics:  Vala is an exceptional close range fighter, using her body as a weapon to strike rapidly, viciously and with precision. She has an excellent grasp of hand to hand combat and uses the vicious Heanta martial arts some of her kind practice. She is also trained with a shortbow, and though she is far from a master archer she has good accuracy at short range. She is also capable of running and loosing without sacrificing too much accuracy. However she is basically wasting arrows after 100ft.

Though she is no expert at it, she is decent at fighting hand to hand with her bow in hand, however she tries to avoid doing so, mostly because she prefers to use her fists and claws to fight up close anyway. Vala likes to strike with precision, aiming for vitals and crippling points. Against armored foes she takes a more evasive approach and can be a pain to pin down because of her agility and flexibility. She has on occasion taken hits to create openings in her opponent's defenses because of her natural regeneration and pain resistance.

-Combat Stats-

Strength || Average(Good)
Speed || Good(Very Good)
Agility || Very Good(Excellent)
Durability || Fair(Average)
Stamina || Average
Magical power || Poor

Strengths:

Hand to Hand: A Heanta’s claws, and teeth, are some of their best weapons. Vala is well trained in the vicious fighting practices of Heanta martial artists.

Flexibility: Vala’s body is small and limber, and very flexible from all her training. This is very beneficial since she’s such a fast agile fighter, and being able to contort and bend her way out of the path deadly attacks has saved her skin more than once

Pain Resistance: Vala has been through alot in her short time on Asmir. Countless beating, vicious fights for survival, severe injuries and near death experiences has left her with a high pain threshold.

Weaknesses:

Perceived invincibility: Because of her pain resistance and healing, she has a bad habit of taking hits to create openings on her foes. However this can lead to trouble, especially if she’s hit worse than she realises.

Ranged accuracy: Vala’s fighting style relies on her being close. Though she does use a bow and can be a deadly shot up to 50ft, and then she gets gradually worse. After 100ft she’s just wasting arrows.

Reach: fighting hand to hand means getting closer to opponents than they have to get to her, and while being in close makes her harder to hit, getting past the enemy’s weapon can be a problem.



Primary Weapon: Drakna - A specialised gauntlet wielded by Heanta Martial artists. The Drakna provides protection to the knuckles, back of the hands and wrists, while leaving the heanta’s fingers and claws free to be used. They also have  thick leather palms to protect the wearers hands from their own claws. Drakna are often also spiked or bladed, acting as weapons as well as protection, but even the metal knuckle guards can deliver a nasty blow. Vala’s Drakna are simple yet effective. There is no spikes or blades, the knuckle guards have thick diamond shaped ridges and the protective plates only cover the back of her hands to cut down on weight.

Deflection: Vala’s Drakna can project a bubble of energy around her body, creating a temporary shield that can deflect most projectiles and magical attacks up to average damage. Cooldown is 1 plus the cooldown of the attack blocked.

secondary weapon: Shara- A simple short bow that is easy to maneuver with. Vala prefers close range, but when push comes to shove she is willing to use this weapon. Shara is 3ft long, made of twilight wood and is dyed pure black. She’s trained to move fast and shoot at the same time, and is fairly lethal with Shara at close to mid range. But between the bow’s small size and Vala’s fighting style, hitting anything at 100 ft or more is a difficult task.


Demon Matrix Appearance: A small flat diamond shaped violet crystal set into her chest just above her collar bone.

Name: Power Rise
Type: Support
Damage Category: N/A
Description: Using a battlefield concentration technique learned from her master,  Vala enters a state of mind that causes her magical power to rise and forces her body to go into a state of magical overdrive, increasing the amount of magical power she is normally capable of outputting during her next post. This gives her two additional power points to use in the post after she activates Power Rise. The effect only lasts for one post.
Cooldown: 2 post cooldown.

Name: Wrath
Type: Support
Damage Category: N/A
Description: Vala directs her magical power into her muscles and reinforces and strengthens them, while also increasing the speed at which she can react. This gives her +2 to strength and +1 to Agility for 2 posts.
Cooldown: 2 post duration followed by a 5 post cooldown.

Name: Explosive Strike
Type: Offensive
Damage Category: Average
Description: Vala charges magical energy and concentrates it into her fists and feet which begin to glow purple and exuding energy. With the next strike she lands, she expels all of that energy into her opponent. It passes between them with explosive force, dealing average damage on top of the force of her strike, as well as delivering a powerful knockback effect from the point of contact. The energy stays built up until she strikes a person, shield or barrier, or two posts have passed.
Cooldown: 3 post cooldown.

Name: Assault Burst
Type: Offensive
Damage Category: Weak
Description: Vala builds up energy and releases it into her legs resulting in a burst of speed that allows her to move up to 5ft so fast it's hard to keep track of her, and then strikes at the opponent with a physical Martial attack.
Cooldown: 1 post cooldown



Name: Hardened Claws
Type: Support
Damage Category: N/A
Description: A powerful magical infusion increases the strength of Vala’s claws and the bones in her hands to the point that they can strike metal without breaking. This means that, should a claw attack be intercepted by a shield or blade, her claws will not crack and her fingers can handle the impact. It also increases the sharpness of her claws and light armor provides less protection against her claws. Her hands can still be cut, and a powerful enough blow can still sever or crush her bones.
Cooldown: Passive

Name: Rending Strike
Type: Offensive
Damage Category: Strong
Description: Concentrating magical power into her hand and claws, Vala delivers a single fluid strike that can cut flesh and rend light armor open like a hot knife through butter. It has the potential to cut through or damage medium armor depending on the location struck, and is generally ineffective against heavy armor since steel plate is designed to defend against blades. She starts to release the energy as she swings, increasing the range of the strike by a foot, but this also means that if she misses she loses the energy and doesn’t get a second try.
Cooldown: 4 post cooldown


Name: Long Strike
Type: Assault
Damage Category: Average
Description: Very similar to Vala’s explosive strike, She strikes forward with both fists and fires out a burst of explosive energy that explodes on impact. It has a ten foot range.
Cooldown: 2 post cooldown.

Name: Null Aura
Type: Defensive
Damage Category: Strong
Description: Vala builds up energy around her body and attunes it to the energy of an incoming magical attack. Upon coming in contact with that attack, the Null Aura will disperse it harmlessly. If the attack is stronger than her Null Aura, it is still dispersed but she is hit with energy feedback damage equal to the remaining damage. This means that she can completely nullify a dangerous attack that could hit multiple people, but at the cost of taking the remaining damage and not being able to avoid it as it’s her own energy that hurts her.
Cooldown: 5 post cooldown.


Transformation method:
New appearance: Vala’s hair turns completely white, matching that of her mother’s or grand fathers. Her purple eyes begin to glow as they emit magic. There is an evident change in her personality as she displays far more aggression and ferocity, and takes on a ruthlessness not normally displayed by her.


Name:
Type:
Damage Category:
Description:
Cooldown:

Name:
Type:
Damage Category:
Description:
Cooldown:

Name:
Type:
Damage Category:
Description:
Cooldown:

Name:
Type:
Damage Category:
Description:
Cooldown:

New Boosts: Agility +1 Speed +1 stamina +1 magical power +1



History:

Childhood

Valatrix “Vala” Of The Hornless clan is the Daughter of Celaena The Hornless, and grandDaughter of the legendary heanta hero Ren the Hornless.. Vala was born almost 400 years after her Grandfather died. Her father was unknown to her, and she was raised solely by her mother. They are heanta Elites, members of the elite Caste and Celaena is respected, and hated, by many. Celaena was known for being one of the most bloodthirsty heanta around, and has earned many enemies. Because of this renown, Vala’s life has been very simple, but not easy. From a young age, she was targeted by her mother's Rivals. And so, form a young age, she has learned to defend herself, to always be ready to fight for her life.

Threats came for her. When she was six, an assassin came for her mother. However, they found Vala first, and would have killed her, only her mother happened to come looking for her. Vala had heard stories of her mother’s brutality, and she witnessed it first hand that night. It was also the only time she ever saw her mother cry, but she never knew why. As Vala grew, she began to favor her hands in combat more and more. It was common for her to discard her weapon to take opponents on with her bare hands, a very heanta like trait. When it became clear she was adept at hand to hand combat, her mother sent her to be trained by a heanta Master who specialised in the heanta’s vicious unarmed fighting practices.

At the age of ten she could fight off children twice her size. Her skills were complemented by her small size, speed and agility. Despite her skill, she was always very tame, less bloodthirsty than most. One day, she came across several heanta young beating up a human slave boy. Vala demanded they stop. They laughed as if she had told a funny joke. When she insisted they listen to her, they turned on her. She knew she could hurt them, if she wanted to, but instead of fighting back she kept her defenses up until they grew bored and left.

However, the three younglings did not let Vala’s intervention go unpunished. They ambushed her several times after that, on one occasion they managed to catch her completely off guard. They beat her mercilessly. She returned home beaten, bruised and broken. She was instantly confronted by her mother. While it was common for her to be hurt, she’d never been injured to such an extent during training. It was clear something had happened.. “Who did this to you?” Her mother demanded to know. Vala began to explain about the human and the heanta who bullied her. She let the weakness of her kindness show. She expected her mother to be furious. And she was, but not at Vala. “Helping a slave is beneath you, but I know why you did it. However, kind or not, you are Vala of the Hornless Clan. The blood of the greatest hero in heanta history flows through your veins. You will not allow yourself to be bullied by anyone.”

Vala thanked her mother. She knew that most heanta would not be so accepting of her weakness. She understood that it was that weakness that had started the whole mess to begin with, and had she faught back the first time she would have stopped it all. The next time Vala encountered the trio, they attacked her like usual. However she did not hold back. She thrashed them rightly, forgetting about kindness. They never bothered her again.

Life Is Not Kind

Another assassin came for her the night of her 12th birthday. This time though, her mother was away, and there was no one around to save her. Vala fought for her life at the hands of the assassin, and no amount of her quick strikes could take the assassin down. Only her evasive skill saved her. She disarmed her attacker in the end, and thought she had knocked him out. Hesitating to kill her attack, she tried to call for help. She quickly realised her mistake as the assassin suddenly lunged at her, stabbing her in the side. She kicked him in the face and ran.

Vala fled through the streets of Av’Eden, wounded and terrified. Her wound still bled, and there was far blood than she’d ever seen. She knew a single wound to vital areas could kill heanta despite their regenerative abilities. She felt she was dying. She headed for her master’s home, hoping to find sanctuary. However she collapsed somewhere near the gates of the city.

Things became very blurry for Vala, as she tried to drag herself along the streets of the city. She didn’t make it far when a foot pressed into the small of her back, pinning her down. She looked back over her shoulder to see the assassin had caught up to her. Vala tried to roll and managed to slash her claws into her attacker’s leg, forcing her attacker back. As she kicked, and clawed and faught, she realised it was futile. She was going to die. Or she thought she was, until a pair of tanned arms wrapped around the heanta’s neck, and with a quick twist and a loud snap, the heanta went still.

The body was hoisted to the side, and and a strange looking man appeared at her side. His green eyes were full of concern, and he wore the clothes of a slave. She tried to say he was the oddest looking heanta she’d ever seen, but he shushed her told her to be still. She felt herself fall in and out of consciousness and at one point she slashed at her savior, as her body still taught it was under attack. He spoke calmly to her. “If you keep struggling, i won't be able to heal  you.” He said, as he placed a hand over her wound.

She felt the magic mix with her own regeneration, and the powers merged, healing her body, and the relief that she might not die flooded her. She passed out. And when she came back too, the stranger, who looked flustered. Stood to leave. “I hope you make it. I have a daughter of my own to get back up. Maybe we’ll meet again, little heanta.” He said, before shouts and warcries pierced the night. She seen him escape through the gates before she passed back out.

When Vala came too, she found her mother looming over her. For a moment, the look of intense rage in Celaena's eyes scared Vala, until she realised it was not directed at her. Her mother asked how she’d been saved, and she remembered the man. She told Celaena he was an escaped slave. She implored her mother to save the man from the heanta she knew must be pursuing him. Celaena told her she would do what she could to help the man who’d saved her daughter, and left to do just that.

Day’s passed before her mother returned covered in blood. She was unsuccessful. By the time she’d caught up with the heanta hunting party they had already killed him. She told Vala the man was an Eldross, and she gave her daughter the necklace he carried. Something in vala broke. She had cost the man his life. He had no reason to stop and help her, he could have been long gone while the heanta hunting him stopped to deal with her body. But he had stayed. Somehow, his kindness destroyed hers.

Vala became dark and cold after that.  The only person who did not receive an icy reaction form the heanta was her mother. She put all of her time into training. She swore she would never be weak again, that she would never need to be saved again at the expense of another’s life. She honed her skills, became brutal and efficient, learned where and how to strike to incapacitate enemies. She understood how kindness had held her back from really learning to fight. From learning to kill.

The Quest

When Vala was 18, she took the Trail of Na’Kora. Before the trail, her mother gifted Vala a pair of Drakna and told her she would be waiting at the other end. There was no doubt in her mother’s words. She believed Vala would survive. Vala wasn’t so sure. The trial consisted of ten heanta being sent into the magma Chasms with the single goal of surviving. Work together or alone, it didn’t matter. However, failure meant death. If a heanta refused to take the trial or fled from it, they were  enslaved. Vala did not hesitate, as she made her way into the chasms with her fellow initiates. Halfway through, only one heanta had perished after slipping and falling into the molten hot blood of the earth.

Vala didn’t bat an eye at his screams, her entire attention was on surviving the heat and making it out the other end. In the final  few minutes of the trial, they encountered a magma mauler. The beasts were known for their shere size and ability to survive in the heart of volcanoes, and being very difficult to kill. The magma mauler burst from the magma and ripped the closest heanta in half, its tail swinging around to cut Vala and the other’s escape off.

They were driven back, and the only option was to fight. It charged at the closest heanta, who swung her mighty sword at its face. The blade bounced off and the heanta was trampled. Vala was next, and as it raised its mighty arm to flatten her she dived under and out the other side. Her path was clear. She could leave. But leaving would mean the others would probably die. Vala didn’t care about that, if they were to weak to survive it was their own fault. But there was valor in fighting a magma mauler.

She grabbed a bow from the body of one of the dead heanta and begins to pepper the Magma mauler with arrows, drawing its attention, giving the others a chance to rally and attack. The heanta work together, and when its distracted, Vala leaps upon the magma mauler’s face and claws its right eye out. With a roar of pain she is thrown from the beast, and it turns and escapes into the lava.

The remaining seven continue in silence, and they emerged into the world as Adults. Time passed after her victory at the trails, and Vala set out to begin her journey for her demon matrix. It took her two months to reach Na’Kora’s forge at the peak of the dormant volcano, During her journey into the caves below the forge, she thought she spotted a one eyed magma maular. However the creature did not approach, or attack. She continued, claimed her crystal and began the arduous process of forging her demon matrix which took an entire week to imbue with her magic.

After she returned home, she spent 5 years training with her mother to develop and master her demon matrix’s powers. She also took up the bow after it had proven so useful against the magma mauler. After her training with her mother, she understood just how ruthless her mother could be. But she also got to see just how deep their bond ran, because no matter how many times she failed or was deafed or beaten by her mother, Celaena was always there to patch her up and care for her.

The Hornless and The Girl

When her training ended, she was sent off to join a heanta raiding party. The first few months was training and initiation, until one day they actually struck out for their first raid. The leader pushed the party hard and crossed the wastes into Endaron, where they attacked a quiet village named Mirallas. It was far from what Vala expected. The raid happened near dusk, the heanta rushing in from several sides, striking down the closest victims. Vala rushed forward to fight the closest man, who screamed and ran from her. She slowed and let him go. Another heanta rushed passed and dived on the man, ripping his throat out with his claws.

Vala was about to question why they were just killing humans, when the door to the house flew open and a young brown haired girl with a sword almost the same size as her rushed out. She fearlessly cut down the heanta attacking the innocent man as he raised his head to see who was there, then turned her gaze on Vala. Grinning at the challenge in her eyes, Vala raised her fists.

The girl took up an aggressive stance and surged forward with purpose. She swung her blade across, attempting to take Vala’s head off. Vala ducked the slash and closed the distance driving a fist forward towards the girls gut. The girl’s breath was knocked out of her as the blow connected, sliding backwards a couple of feet. Reacting quickly the girl kicked off the ground suddenly, lunging forward with a vertical slash downwards. However, the initial attack was a feint as she swiftly dropped to her knees and slid low, attempting to sweep Vala’s legs out from underneath her. She caught Vala’s leg, sending her over. Vala let her body drop into a roll and sprang back onto her feet in a lithe movement.

A rapid exchange of attacks followed, with each party holding their ground. Vala began to push the girl back a bit, when their attention was dragged from the fight by the horrified screams of a woman. Vala stopped her attack, as her opponent became distracted by the screams. A mother and child were cowering by a low wall as a pair of Heanta stalked them, preparing to go for the kill. The girl disengaged from the fight immediately and charged the two Heanta, roaring at them to draw their attention. Vala let her go, because as she looked around, she truly began to see the horror that the heanta wraught here.

The girl met the heanta sword on sword and cut through the two of them in quick succession. She begged the family to run to safety, when she was blindsided by Arasik, the war party’s second in command. Wielding his might hammer, he smashed the girl aside like a rag doll. She managed to block the blow, but was still sent flying, smashing through the wooden wall of the house. Arasik ripped away parts of the ruined wall to reach the girl and raised the hammer to finish the job. Vala shouted his name to stop. “She is my opponent!” Vala roared at him, closing the distance as Arisik hesitated. He turned to looked at Vala. “Back off, Hornless bitch!” He said, and turned back to finish the job, and as he did the house collapsed. The girl slipped out as it come down and ran off into the forest..

Arisik roared in anger and lunged at Vala. She blocked a heavy fist that knocked her backwards over the wall. Arisik grabbed her by the throat and growled down into her face. “Do not interfere with me again, welp!” he shouted, then he turned and called for a few others to follow him. Vala kicked up onto her feet, her blood boiling. She jumped over the low wall and followed Arisik and his hunting party, not entirely sure what she was going to do. However the girl was Vala’s opponent. Arisik would not take that away from her.

She caught the trail of Arisik pretty easily and followed a good distance behind. She moved much more quietly than the larger heanta, and they were not being quiet. They would catch the girl, and no amount of noise they made would help her escape them. The group stopped and began to look around, searching for the girl. After a bit, Arisik called for them to move, and they began the hunt again. However, one of them straggled behind, and looked up. He opened his mouth to call out, when a small form dropped from the tree, impaling him with a large sword.

Vala began to run as Arisik and his group turned back to the girl. They got to the girl first and Vala stopped just out of sight. The five heanta surrounded the young girl. They began to toy with her jumping in to strike and backing away. She watched as the girl slashed wildly, as the panic of her situation began to set in. As Vala watched, she was reminded of the day she almost died. The panic that had consumed her as she fought tooth and claw to escape her assassin.

There was a sudden scream as the girl’s blade lashed across the throat of one of the heanta. He was to slow retreating, and got his throat slit. He tumbled back into the grass, and quickly fell still. The other heantas toying mood suddenly changed wary. They began to advance, with every intent to kill the girl. Vala burst from the trees, moving as fast as she possibly could. As the heanta moved in, the girl had no idea where to look, and was distracted from Arisik and his mighty hammer. He raised it to crush her in one fell swoop. Vala hit the back of one of the heanta, the force knocking him over as she used him to leap high into the air. She soared over the girl and straight into Arisik with a flying knee that crumpled his face.

The impact sent him tumbling back, and Vala was also knocked prone. As she tried to regain her feet, one of the heanta jumped on her. He lashed at her with his claws. Vala brought her fist up driving her drakna into the side of his head in a savage punch. The blow allowed her to roll the heanta off and she was then on him. With three violent punches she ended his life. And then a hand grabbed her by the hair and she was thrown bodily across the clearing. Arisik had regained his feet. “I told you to stay out of my way!” he roared at her. Vala stood up and snarled back. “I am Valatrix of the Hornless Clan. I might be small, but i am not to be fucked with!”

Arisik roared back his challenge and charged her. As he thundered towards her, his hammer raised to smash, she dodged around him. She lashed out with her claws, tearing at the back of his knee. Arisik snarled and staggered, then spun around, swinging his hammer. She ducked under it and slashed for the tendons in his elbow as he swung wild. His gripped slipped, but he held onto the hammer, trying to bring it down over head to crush her. She moved out of its ways easily and kicked at the back of his wounded knee. His leg buckled, and he lost his grip on the weapon. Vala came at him behind, going for the throat.

However as she jumped on his back he slammed his head back into her face and she was thrown prone. He spun around and regained his feet. With a kick to the side Vala was sent sprawling. Another vicious kick hit the same side, and then another. Winded she tried to curl up for protection. Arisik raised his foot to stomp on her but as he raised his leg sword burst through the back of his wounded knee, dropping him down onto it. Screaming in pain he tried to stand back up. When Vala realised another attack wasn't coming for her she rolled away and onto her feet. Before he could do anything else, Vala lunged, and slammed into him, knocking him backwards. She began to slash wildly with her claws, tearing at his throat and face. Blood splattered and Arisik screamed. His screams turned to gurgles and then nothing. Vala didn’t stop slashing until her arms grew tired.

When she was absolutely positive Arisik was dead she got to her feet and pulled free the sword that had saved her. She ignored the pain in her side that suggested broken ribs and began walking towards the girl who had slumped down at the base of a tree. Vala approached slowly, watching the girl carefully. With time to actually look at her, without fighting and screaming and the stench of burning, Vala realised she was an Eldari. Vala had saved an Eldari from her own people. Fitting, since she was once saved from her own people by an Eldross. Vala put the Eldari’s sword down between them, and sat down in the grass. The girl spoke “What do you want?”, she asked, “Why did you kill your own people?”

Vala shrugged. “I told him you were my opponent, and he didn’t listen.” She said in response. “So I killed him.” The girl did not take her eyes off Vala. “So what happens now? Am I your prisoner now? Or are you just going to kill me instead?” She involuntarily curled up defensively, even though she knew she was at Vala’s mercy. Before she answered, Vala asked the girl her name. “My name is Fayla.” Fayla picked up her sword and cradled it tightly.

Vala pretended to think about it. “Well Fayla, I suppose I could take you as a slave, but you will probably be more trouble than your worth. Besides I’m not really into the whole slavery thing. As for killing you.. Well I won't get much of a fight out of you in your current state. The only real option is to let you go.” Fayla was immediately filled with distrust and her eyes narrowed. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t just take you at your word. What’s your real agenda here?”

Vala sighed. It made sense that Fayla wouldn’t just trust her. “Would you rather I just killed you? Because I seen your face when they had you surrounded, and you didn’t look ready to die.” She said. Fayla studied her for a moment, then posed the final question she had. “But why fight each other over me? Am I not just another Eldari to you people? I just don’t understand why you would go through that much bloodshed for the right to fight a single person.” Fayla shifted uncomfortably in her tree-seat.

Vala thought for a second before responding. “Because I wanted to help you. I followed him because he lay a hand on me. I don't think I actually intended to attack him, but i was angry. My mother would have took that hand from him if he dared touch her. Then I seen them preparing to kill you…” Vala Paused. “That was me once. About to die at the hands of another. The only reason I survived was because an Eldross sacrificed himself to kill my assailant and heal me. Instead of leaving me to die he stopped to help. He had no reason to. We’re enemies, right? Why shouldn’t he have just escaped and left a child to die?”

Fayla considered her words for a while, measuring her response. “Because that’s not the way we do things.” Fayla managed to get herself to her feet and wiped her sword on some grass before sheathing it. She looked at Vala again. “Alright then. Despite that bad blood between our people throughout history, and despite what I’m supposed to think, I actually believe you now.” Vala smiled slightly at this response. Fayla was about to move, but a thought occurred to her that she had to investigate, no matter how remote the chance. “This Eldross, what did he look like? Did he have a name?”  Vala shook her head slightly. “It was kind of dark, and I was half dead. So I didn’t get a good look at him.” She paused and looked at Fayla. “He had green eyes, almost like your own, and black hair. He never told me his name.”

Fayla nodded glumly. She realised that it could have literally been any Eldross, even though there were not many left. “I just wondered is all. My father was Eldross, and he disappeared about eleven years ago. He’s presumed dead, but they never found his body. I just thought maybe...” Fayla shook her head, bringing herself back to the present moment. “But probably not I suppose.” Vala nodded. “It happened 11 years ago.. But it was probably just coincidence.” If he wasn’t enslaved though, Vala didn’t want to tell the girl why they wouldn’t have found the body. Vala went to leave. “Head west. The raiding party won’t be going that direction.” Vala said. And then she sprinted off into the night.

After Arisik and his cronies did not return, the raiding party began its journey home. No one questioned where they were and there was no time to stop and look. Eldari would hear of the attack soon enough and the party would be hunted. Taking their slaves and their spoils, they returned to Kyrias and home to Av’Eden. It became known that Vala was seen chasing Arisik into the forest, and when she was questioned she refused to explain herself. The raid leader let her be, but warned that she would have to answer to her mother.

Vala dreaded telling her mother what had happened. She worried she had crossed a line, saving an Eldari from her own kind. And Celaena did question her. There was no lying to Celaena, so Vala told her everything. Celaena, to her surprise, was not mad. She was proud that she had stood up to Arisik, and that she had defeated a warrior twice her size. She also told Vala about the day she Dalrodir shor Died fighting to save her from a dragon because of a promise he had made to Vala’s Grandfather.

Skirmishes

Time passed, and Vala was placed in charge of a scouting unit within her mother’s forces. She spent much of her time away from Av’eden, scouting the outer regions of Kyrias, mainly along the borders between Kyrias and Endaron. The heanta scouts she led were much more refined than the brutes in the war party, and when they happened upon a trading caravan they didn’t object when she decided they wouldn’t attack. During her time leading her scouting party, she got into several scraps but they were just small skirmishes with eldari and human scouting parties they found wandering Kyrias. Whether by mistake or not, Vala wasn’t sure, but they attacked nonetheless. Casualties on both sides were usually limited, and though Vala did not hold back on killing, anyone who fled from her was spared.

They avoided attacking anyone unable to defend themselves, and returned to Av’eden every few months to report anything of note. During that time, she thought often of the young Eldari who she had helped, and wondered if she’d made it. She half expected to end up facing her in a border clash, but never did. Vala’s time as a scout lasted for eight years, and she grew close to most of the heanta she worked with, particularly her second in command, Taris, a female a few years older than Vala. Taris liked to speak as if she knew their gods will and often claimed Vala was blessed by Na’Kora. However, it all came to a violent end, when they strayed across the path of a Mercenary band from the freelands. Vala’s team encountered their scouts, and after a short fight she made the mistake of letting them escape. A few hours later, they found themselves hunted by the mercenary band.

Vala’s scouting party was eventually cornered, and unable to escape, they were given no choice but fight. Vala and her heanta company faught hard, but they were outnumbered. Vala was tripped and almost speared, but Taris took the blow for her. Vala watched her friend begin to die. Vala thought she was next except it seemed Na’Kora had other plans for her. With the last of her life Taris used her powers to portal Vala away from the fight, not far enough that she wasn’t able to witness the last of her friends die.

Vala fled and they hunted her, chasing her west into Endaron. The farther she got from Kyrias, the more she began to fear she would never make it back. However when they made it far enough into Endaron, the mercenary band stopped chasing her. She didn’t know what happened to them, however she began to head north east to cross the border back into Kyrias to get home. She never made it to the border as she crossed paths with eldari scouting parties and was driven farther into Endaron and away from safety.

Vala eventually caught sight of an Eldari scout party following her.  At that point, she realised she was in trouble. Turning back to circle by them would mean they would more than likely catch her, but if she kept going west she would run into a bigger party or village. She had no other option but to try and go east and somehow slip past them. She set tracks to hopefully lead them astray and travelled south and then south east. For a time, she almost thought she had lost them. However when she finally stopped to rest and eat she found herself surrounded by 10 Eldari scouts. Not Eldross, so not part of the watch, but in her current state they would eventually overpower her.

The Hornless and the Girl Part II

The scouts began by ordering her to give up her weapons and to surrender. Vala however, was not about to be killed or taken captive without a fight. She took her stance and prepared to defend herself, when someone else showed up. Vala assumed it was another member of the squad when the leader questioned the girl, and called her Miss Shor. Vala took a good look at the girl and realised it was Fayla, albeit a bit more grown up.

“Miss Shor? I didn’t expect the Eternal Watch to be here. How can I be of service?” Fayla examined the party and then put a question to the scout leader. “Just a question. What is your party doing with this Heanta?” The scout looked confused. “We’re trying to apprehend her for interrogation. Once we find out what she is doing here, we will execute her.” Fayla knew what Vala was capable of, and even in her weakened state she could still do considerable damage to the party before being subdued. She turned to Vala. “Are you alone here?” Vala nodded in response, unsure what else to do. Fayla turned back to the scout.

“If this Heanta wasn’t alone, chances are you would have been jumped by now. I will take it from here. Resume your original patrol route.” The scout give Fayla a puzzled look. “Um, are you sure ma’am?” Fayla glowered. “You don’t think I can handle a single tired Heanta? Get moving, that’s an order.” The scout leader bowed his head. “As you wish. Move out!” The party formed up and began to leave. Fayla waited until they were a good distance away before turning to Vala. “So, how did you end up in this neck of the woods again?”

“A Mercenary band killed my entire scout party and chased me into Endaron. I tried to go back but I picked up an Eldari scout party and got forced to go west. And now I’m here.” Fayla nodded solemnly. “I see. I’m sorry about your friends. Losing people like that is hard. If you still want to go home, I’ll help you get to the border. It’s the least I can do for saving me back in Mirallas. What do you say?”

Vala looked away momentarily, “It’s life. People die. I’m not going to lie down and cry about it…” She said. She shrugged. “Sure. Though i think I owe you one now. Saving me and escorting me home.” Fayla nodded. “Don’t worry about it. Are you able to go now? Or do you wanna rest up first? The border is at least a day’s travel from here.”
“I’ve been running for two. I need to rest. And eat. I was about to catch a rabbit when those bumbling idiots caught up to me and scared it away.” Fayla considered that for a moment.
“Alright then. There’s plenty of other wildlife around to hunt. We should lay low though, and try not attract any unnecessary attention.”

After catching some rabbits, they ate, rested and began their journey towards the border. While Vala kept a cold demeanor for much of the journey, Fayla asked countless questions, unable to stall her curiosity. Vala slowly warmed to Fayla’s chirpy demeanor, but before they knew it they had reached the border. Fayla spotted watchposts in the distance either side of them, indicating that they were about to hit the buffer zone between Endaron and the Kyrias Outskirts.

Stopping to survey their surroundings, Fayla and Vala became aware of a commotion happening in the woods a bit deeper into the buffer zone. Scanning quickly for the source, they came across some armored soldiers surrounding a person who was lying prone on the ground. Blood covered his face. There appeared to be four of the soldiers, and they were shouting at the prone man. It was clear they were trying to get information of some sort out of him. Fayla took cover behind a tree and looked at Vala inquiringly.
“Who are these guys? Do you think we should help?” Vala answered by pulling out her bow. “Mercenaries. The same that attacked me before.” She did not wait to explain, and broke from cover, firing an arrow into the back of the closest man.

Fayla decided to try out a new technique she had been working on alongside her sword training, the Wild Step. She channeled herself into the tree beside her, and in a flash was stepping out of a tree behind another of the men. He turned in time to see Fayla wave innocently at him before severing his head from his shoulders. They viciously and effectively beat the mercenaries down and began questioning the leader of the band. “Where are the rest of the people who killed my scout party?” Vala demanded.

“T-t-they returned to the camp! That way! About a mile, in the old fort!”  Vala thanked him and snapped his neck. She looked at Fayla. “I’m going to take care of them. You should head home.” Fayla returned Vala’s glance as she cleaned the blood from her blade.
“If these are the people who killed your friends, then I will help you take care of them. If you want.” Fayla sheathed her blade and stretched a bit. “In fact, I don’t care what you want. I’ll help anyway. Let’s go then.” They ran off in the direction the mercenary told them to go.

Arriving soon after at the correct place, Fayla turned to Vala inquiringly.
“So how many was in this mercenary band that attacked you? We’ve killed 4 so far...”
“Thirty. I took out at least three when they attacked, and my friends didn’t go down easy. There can’t be more than fifteen left. I say we draw them out and pick off as many as we can with our bows first.” Fayla nodded.
“Alright. I’ll get some height then and keep an eye out for any archers they have.” She used her Wild Step to get up into a tall tree that concealed her from view, but had a good vantage point over the front gate. Vala took up position in front of the door, while Fayla picked off a sentry standing on the wall and watched as the garrison inside went on alert.

Vala called out to the mercenary band. “Dying Suns, You killed my friends!” She shouted. “Why don't you come out and tell me why?” The front gate opened and 3 men in mercenary armor walked out, weapons raised. Vala was down on one knee, looking like she was exhausted and wounded. The men approached Vala warily and surrounded her like jackals. The lead merc put his boot under Vala’s chin and raised her head up to look at him and he sneered.

“It’s simple. We did it because we were paid to do it. Now we can finish the contract and get our money. Do you have any last words, you little bitch?” That would be the merc’s last utterance, as an arrow struck him between the shoulder blades. Vala suddenly sprung up, uppercutting the other two mercs upside the face. She turned and looked the first merc in the eye as he fell to his knees.

“Do you?” The merc collapsed onto his face, and the other two did too with broken faces. “Apparently not.” Vala heard a grunt of pain as an archer fell off the wall with an arrow in their neck. Fayla dropped down from her tree and nocked another arrow.
“I thought that went alright. Let’s get this over with.” Vala nodded, and the two warriors advanced through the gate. The remaining mercs surrounded them immediately, but a female’s voice boomed over the noise.

“Hold. I want to see who is making such a mess of my company.” Vala and Fayla looked to the source of the voice as a tall and imposing woman marched across the camp towards them. The woman wielded a large blade, and her armor was covered in wear from many battles. She glared at them with nothing but pure contempt, though her expression turned to a sadistic grin when she looked at Vala. “Ah, young Valatrix. We’ve been looking for you. Someone’s put a lot of gold on your head.” The woman raised her blade into a combat stance. “I know you’ve nixed some of my minions, but that just means less ways to split the payment. Prepare yourselves, for no-one has bested Captain Thassa!”

“I’ve fought bigger.” Vala said as she began to circle Thassa. Fayla simply loosed her arrow at the Captain, but Thassa simply swept the arrow away with a flick of her blade. Vala used the distraction to rush at Thassa from behind and received a reverse elbow to the face, knocking her backwards. Fayla used the opportunity and charged forward at top speed, drawing Grace and attempting to run Thassa through.

The Captain simply glanced the blade away with her forearm, and struck Fayla between the shoulder blades with the pommel of her weapon. Fayla hit the ground hard and rolled past Vala as she charged in to deliver a powerful right hook. Thassa planted a boot squarely in Vala’s chest and sent her falling back onto Fayla. Fayla shoved Vala off her and charged again angrily. She attacked with a downward slash and then used Strike-Slash to leave an afterimage and come down on Thassa from above with another slash.

Thassa swung at the image in front of her, but Fayla came down too fast and struck her on the shoulder, but the her heavy armor protected her from harm. As Thassa turned to slash at Fayla, Vala rushed her back, her body exuding purple energy and struck Thassa in the back with her Explosive Strike. The armor crushed and Thassa was knocked onto her face. Fayla tried to take her head from her shoulders while she was prone, but Thassa rolled away and slashed her blade upwards, catching Fayla mid-swing and knocking her backwards off her feet.

Fayla did a kip-up and faced Thassa, weapon ready for the next round. Vala stood on Thassa’s other side. They shared a look and nodded, then launched simultaneous attack on thassa as she got to her feet. The flurry of slashes, strikes and punches, while unable to get through Thassa’s armor none the less overwhelmed her defenses and she began to tire. Before either could strike a fatal blow Thassa ordered her men to attack, and escaped the fight while Vala and Fayla were forced to retreat and defend themselves from multiple angles.

After a few more seconds of fighting, the rest of the band followed suit and left Fayla and Vala triumphant on the battlefield. Collapsing to the ground in exhaustion, Fayla and Vala looked at each other, sweat dripping from their foreheads and breathing heavily. Fayla was the first to break the fatigue-enforced silence.
“Well, that was a thing. Shame that nasty piece of work got away.” Fayla said. Vala nodded in reply. “Indeed, I was looking forward to ripping out her heart. So, what now?” Fayla sheathed her sword and stood up.

Despite their vastly different backgrounds and the fact that their races traditionally hated each other, Fayla and Vala felt a mutual respect for each other, not just for each other’s fighting skills, but also for their willingness to stand up for others. Fayla shrugged. “We make a good team.”
Vala smiled at this. “I know, right? But you know… Thassa’s going to come after me again, and I want to find out who sent her to kill me. I’d also rather not involve my own people.. I think it could be a heanta who sent her.. So I could use a partner... Someone who has my back.” Fayla thought about it for a second. She kind of liked the idea of roaming the land with someone else, and she knew they could get even better at beating up bad guys. The decision was simple.
“Sounds like fun. Alright then, I’ve got your back.”
“Then I have yours.” With that, their paths were set, and a bond was formed.

Leaving Home

Vala and Fayla went their separate ways for the time being, and planned to meet once more when things calmed down. Vala returned home, to the relief of her mother and explained what had happened. Celaena was enraged to the point that it took a lot of convincing to stop her from going after Thassa and the Dying Suns, but Vala insisted that it was her fight. Celaena understood this. Having seen how strong Vala had become, Celaena finally offered her a place in the Sanguine Dominium. Her first mission, upon completion of her additional training, was to hunt down Thassa and the Dying Suns.

Five years passed before Vala finished her Sanguine dominion Training and met back up with Fayla, also meeting her mother in the process. She was hostile to Vala until she realised who she was related to. Vala and Fayla set off to hunt the Suns, and use the Eldrich moon Inn as their base of operations, on the condition that they put an end to the bar fights Vala sometimes accidentally starts.

Side notes:
Rp example: The Rp Sample is Written into the History. See the Hornless and the Girl Parts 1 and 2

This app reeks of awesomeness. Comfortably an A-5 rank.

Approve Beam, HAH!

As mentioned, the RP sample is written inside the history.

Seconded.

Changed Assault burst and added her second set of powers.

Looks good to me. Approved A-1

second