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Valenthia Ve'Kyna (Huntress)
When his first wife passed away without leaving him an heir, many men across Greece sought to expand their own wealth by offering their female relatives to be his second wife. Daughters, sisters, nieces, even a couple of granddaughters and grandnieces... hundreds of girls were paraded before him. Girls who weaved, girls who danced, girls whose refinement and beauty were said to rival the stars in heaven. He found nearly all of them beautiful, but was only captivated by one: Karinna, eldest daughter of a noble family in Athens. Even beside the most beautiful youths in all the land, she was a diamond among stones, with smooth dark hair, deep brown eyes that seemed at once vulnerable and mysterious, and a voice as gentle as the wind against the sea. She was sensible and well-mannered, prudent yet clever. But for all of her enviable qualities, the choice was frowned upon by those closest to Aletus. For one thing, Karinna was nineteen, which at the time made her something of a spinster. And then... there were the rumors that she was possessed by evil spirits. The family guards sometimes spoke about it in hushed whispers, how in the darkest hours of the night, she would rise slowly from her bed and pace the corridors of her home as if in a deep trance. How she would speak and sing softly through the walls of her bedchamber. How she whispered darkly of things that were monstrous and true, that she couldn’t possibly know, only have no memory of doing so the next morning. But Aletus was a man who went after what he wanted, and he wasn’t a man who feared much. So he proceeded with the customary rites of courtship: inspected her for deformities, negotiated a dowry, shook hands with her father, and married her within the fortnight. A short time into their marriage, when a physician revealed that Karinna was pregnant, Aletus was happy to finally be a father. Happy, that is, until he did the math. They’d known each other for three months… and the child was due in another four. Karinna swore vehemently that she’d been an unsoiled bride. But despite all her pleas, she was removed forcibly from his estate and her family’s name was dragged through the mud. She pawned off her finery for a ride back to Athens, only to be disowned by her father. Several months later, Valenthia was born in the back room of a brothel, delivered by a drunk butcher and swaddled by a kindly prostitute. The labor was complicated. Karinna died cursing Aletus’ name. Taking pity on them both, the prostitute begged the brothel madam to let her take care of the baby. Though she had a good heart, the madam was much more pragmatic. When business was slow, they could hardly afford to feed themselves. What would they do with one more mouth to feed? It took some convincing, but finally they agreed to take her in, on several conditions. She’d eat leftovers on the good days and scavenge for scraps on the bad. And once she was past her early childhood, they’d expect her to bring in earnings of her own. And so Valenthia spent her early childhood on the less reputable streets of Athens. The alleyways were her playground. The bawdy tavern songs, her lullabies. The brothel employees doted on her like a gaggle of aunts and uncles. Even the madam was more bark than bite, even giving Valenthia a little share of her food on the days they had to ration. As far as childhoods go, Valen’s was surprisingly decent. She never wore the finest of clothes, never played an instrument or learned to read as she might have had she been Aletus’ daughter, but her life was nonetheless filled with laughter and love. As for contributing to their earnings, the madam needn’t have worried. Valenthia proved to be an especially talented thief, and had no lack of ambition. She was quick and light on her feet, and her narrow fingers were nimble and precise. With some training, she became a successful burglar and pickpocket and, through repetition and necessity, also mastered the art of haggling. Those who knew the story of her mother liked to… speculate. Talents like hers, they said, were not entirely natural. She could see in the dark, move as silently as a shadow, and match the pace of grown men who were trained sprinters, even as a child. And just who was her father, really? Even Valenthia herself wondered this. But the only person who could have shed light on this was gone. The first time Valenthia shifted from hunting valuables to hunting people, it was almost by accident. She was thirteen summers old, and one of the workers at the brothel, a girl named Efimia, had been seriously injured. It wasn’t the first time a client was violent, but for as long as Valenthia had been around, no other time had been as bad at this. They found a physician and helped him tend to her all morning, but despite their best efforts, she passed away in the afternoon. When the city guards weren’t particularly concerned about finding the murderer, Valenthia took it upon herself. She was there when Efimia went off with her very last client, and had seen his face and attire in passing. He turned out to be the second in command of a warlord whose army was celebrating a successful campaign against some defenseless villages in the countryside. Drunk on power and with sword-wielding bodyguards surrounding him, he had ridden into Athens to continue indulging his bloodlust. It was a foolhardy move: the Council of Athens had put out a bounty on him a few years ago… not that it would have changed his fate either way. It took Valenthia a few days to catch up to him, and by then, he had rendezvoused with the rest of the army. No one noticed anything amiss that night. It wasn’t until one of his bodyguards went into his tent to wake him that they discovered his headless body. By then, Valenthia and the brothel madam were both two thousand dinars richer, and the avenged spirit of Efimia was peacefully laid to rest. By the time the brothel shut down eight years later, Valenthia was a full-fledged bounty hunter. Some jobs she took for the money, some she took out of principle, and others… others she took for the challenge. From her fourteenth summer to her twenty-fifth, she claimed forty-nine bounties and amassed a decent stack of wealth. Through this success, she had also developed a reputation, earned a few enemies, and made it onto her own share of wanted lists. It was bounty number fifty that finally got the best of her. For the head of the Amazon Ling Li-Zhen, someone was offering an astonishing amount of money, more than Valenthia had ever seen at one time. All things considered, the price tag made sense: the legendary warrior women lived deep within the forest. Hunting an Amazon meant wandering close to their territory, into thick wilderness that they knew every inch of. And their fighting prowess was nothing to scoff at. There was a difference between a challenge and a fool’s errand, and this fell squarely into the latter category. But Valenthia had gotten a little bored of the routine, a little too confident in her abilities. First she learned all she could about this warrior of Chin with the fearsome reputation. This was something she did with every target, gaining insight into their strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly, she was looking for a way to lure her out of the woods and into the open. She dictated a missive to Li-Zhen pretending to be a mercenary she used to work with, requested to meet her, and waited at the edge of the forest on the way to the small town where the meeting was to take place. Her efforts paid off: Li-Zhen took the bait - or so it seemed. By now, Valenthia had assassination down to a science. In spite of her many victims, she was not a strong combatant. Her method was to strike quickly and fatally, preferably while her target lay sleeping. It was a little disconcerting, the way Li-Zhen slept - cross-legged with her back ramrod straight - but her eyes were closed, and there was no movement to her pupils. Valenthia made her move. Out went the blade of her throwing knife into… well, into the space where Li-Zhen’s neck was just a half-second ago. Somehow, she’d sensed the imminent danger, smoothly dodged the strike, and caught the throwing knife… which Valenthia very nearly failed to dodge herself. The edge of the blade made the tiniest of cuts on the edge of Valenthia’s ear, severing a lock of hair in its passing. The small burst of pain shocked Valenthia into stillness for a moment, and in that span of time, Li-Zhen sized her up and made a calculated decision. Instead of destroying her with a single, devastating attack, she ran. Unwilling to cut her losses just yet, Valenthia pursued her. It didn’t take long for Valenthia to recover her confidence. This was her, in her element. The shadows of the trees protected her, and her preternatural speed gave her the advantage. She had every expectation of a swift victory, but every time she gained on Li-Zhen, the Amazon thwarted her effortlessly. Try as she might, she could not catch her off guard. For three days and three nights, she pursued her. Her energy had long since started to wane, but sheer pride kept her going. In the end, when exhaustion finally caught up to her, it was Valenthia herself who was caught off guard. With Li-Zhen standing over her, holding her jian to her neck, she stared death in the eye and felt nothing but respect. She understood then that for all her supernatural ability, she never did have the advantage. Through sheer training and discipline, Li-Zhen maintained control of the situation the whole time. She was a worthy enemy to die at the hands of. But it wasn’t death she found that day. For where Valenthia saw defeat, Li-Zhen saw potential. Valenthia became Themiscyra’s newest recruit that day, and two years later, she is still a huntress. Just, generally not of people these days. She stands at 5’ 8’’ with wavy, dark-brown hair, a challenge in her eyes, and a laugh upon her lips. She has youthful features and eyes that appear grey or brown depending on her mood and the lighting. Her totem animal is the asp.
Tae'Nah athelfi arche: 6 October 2008 |
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Xena Warrior Princess is © Studios USA, Universal City Studios, Inc. Webset design and content ©2010 Crescent Designs for Themiscyra Amazon Nation. Many thanks to Mike's Xena Page for most of the captures. |
