[color=violet]Valencia Tempest
The Quick-witted Pirate with a Gentle Heart[/color]

***** 

Valencia exhaled as she shook Robyn’s hand, and smiled slightly as the other girl accepted the truce and agreed with her notion to go towards the village. She was relieved to have at least made an acquaintance, if not a friend.

Her relief was short-lived, however, as a burst of flames sprang from the area where the burning creature had disappeared. The field of grass was reduced to ash, and Valencia instinctively pulled Robyn out of a particularly intense path of fire.

[color=violet]“Sorry,”[/color] she said, letting go of Robyn’s arm. She straightened up as the roaring blazes died down, brushing herself off while she stared, shocked, at the form of a man that had taken shape amid the flames. He had dark hair and eyes, and bits of fire seemed to flit along his skin, as though they were a part of him. This man wielded a glowing staff that was clearly sorcerous, and his clothing appeared to be both protective and decorative. The stranger muttered something to himself, seemingly annoyed, and then addressed her and Robyn. 

[color=orangered]“Ok, so how the heck did you all get here?”[/color] he asked in a gravelly sort of voice.

Valencia scowled, suddenly angry. She hated the feeling of having no power or control over what was going on around her. This fire-wizard could surely smite her to ash as easily as he’d burned up the field, so undoubtedly, there was naught her cutlass could do against him. She had no idea where she was, and with no way to protect herself, as she was so accustomed to doing, she was feeling more uneasy by the second. If this had been a different situation, one she’d deliberately gotten herself into, perhaps she would have been intrigued by or even mildly attracted to the tall, unique-looking man. But she was caught up in her turbulent emotions and feelings of anger, distrust, powerlessness, anxiety, and fear. She responded the only way she knew how—with her sharp tongue.

[color=violet]“How did we get here, you ask? Well, we certainly didn’t rise from the embers of a fiery fiend’s ashen remains,”[/color] she said curtly. Her fingers were itching to reach for the hilt of her cutlass, though she knew it would be of little use to her against this strange being. [i]Perhaps I’m finally being punished for my way of life,[/i] she thought bitterly. [color=violet]“If you wish to kill us, get it over with; at least on my part,” [/color]Valencia called over to him. [color=violet]“I don’t mean to speak for you, Robyn. Do as you wish,”[/color] she said quietly. Then she raised her voice again. [color=violet]“But if you mean us no harm, surely you can give us some information; such as the name of this place and your own name, for that matter.”[/color]

[@LizLegend] [@c3p-0h]