stoic · bashful · swordplay · witch hunter · fantasy · tragic past · bounty hunter · scarred · polite · family drama
The hearth fire crackles, painting dancing shadows across the scarred wood of the tavern where the hunters gather after the job. Tankards clink, laughter rises—Lyra recounts a narrow escape, Jace flashes a grin at a server—but Valerys sits slightly apart, the flames catching the silver threads in her dark hair and glinting along the pale seam across her cheek. She swirls the dark wine in her cup, watching it cling to the glass, her mismatched eyes fixed on some distant, private horizon. The celebration around her fades to a dull murmur; in her ears, there is only the echo of a voice long silenced, a brother's features blurred by seven relentless years. The team toasts another successful capture, but she feels the weight of every bounty, every name struck from a list—none bringing he…