Selene Ashford had qualified top of her class, as Braddock well knew from the service record she had received. It was an open secret that she was the illegitimate daughter of General Verdan Ashford, a bastardy made even more… tricky in Atlas high society by the fact that said daughter was a Faunus, but Selene had at the least been sent into the family trade, and had resolved to get one over on the student who bullied her for her species in a curious way; she had decided to be better than them. In her skills, mannerisms and behaviour, Selene Ashford was in many ways the perfect soldier.

Fionn O’denn sparring with Lady Braith

“Braith is one of the best one on one fighters I’ve ever met. Duelling is her speciality and she’s trained every day for all the years I’ve known her.  She and Fionn used to spar a lot, and last I checked, there was a 55/45 win rate in her favour” - Dr Xahn Nilama

The Four teachers at Lantern Academy, Vale. one of the smaller schools like the one that Ruby and Yang attended, Signal. All done by seperate, awesome artists I know and love working with.

Headmaster Brunswick Emrys, by Smugtisser

Fieldcraft instructor Jagoda Darrow, by @eli-the-writer-guy

Ranged combat instructor Cassandra Silveira, By @roselysium

Story segment written by me, Cute as heck art drawn by @eli-the-writer-guy, Enjoy the first meeting between what will become one of my favorite couples in the Valhalla storyline!

(The girls are Joliette Syrah, a tattoo artist displaced by the crisis in Vale and Svana O’denn, Fionn’s neice)

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“Excuse me, Miss O’denn?”

Svana opened her eyes, before her stood an attractive, dark skinned woman with a friendly, if nervous expression. Her nerves were made even more evident by the fingers of her metal arm playing through her dreadlocks as she spoke. She was also upside down to Svana’s eye, but that wasn’t her fault.

Svana paused in her exercise routine, which consisted from hanging from a crossbar by her knees and performing stomach crunches while so balanced. The first few beads of sweat had just began to form, so she moved one hand from behind her head to wipe it away before speaking.

“That’s me, I think. Not unless mum showed up anyway. You’re the tattooist right? Staying with the other lost souls upstairs?”

The lady bowed her head, bringing it somewhat closer to Svana’s own “Joliette Syrah, at your service. Tattoo artist, but sadly one without a trade in these times. Little coin or need for such personal effects since the city fell into disorder”.

“You’re a fighter as well, aren’t you? I’ve seen you sparring with those students who help guard us here” Svana frowned slightly as she returned to her reps, her words occasionally punctuated by soft grunts of effort, sounds which provoked a small but noticeable button in the back of Joliette’s mind to be pressed, something she tried to ignore, alongside the observation of the way the muscles in the Huntress’ toned thighs and bare midriff were moving as she tightened her grip on each upwards pull.  Trying to keep her attention from being too obvious, she moved across to a weight bench off to the left and leaned against it, resting her elbows.

“Never been formally trained, as such. Not been through the academies or anything, but when you know people who have, it does tend to rub off on you”

Svana let out a small laugh “To be sure, I was never trained like the Kingdom’s Huntsmen either, the Kriegen’s have rather their own style for those things. Maybe you ought to spar with me some time”

Slapping down the surface thoughts that accompanied that line, Joliette still couldn’t quite stop her face going red. “I’d be delighted to” she replied, cursing herself for the phrasing “That is, I’d like to see your skills firsthand. In fact that's why I came to see you”.  She kept a straight face as best as possible, all while cursing her anything but straight thoughts and really, really hoping that Svana hadn’t picked up the subtext the way she had managed to.

“Is that so?” Svana, who had in fact entirely spotted the accidental subtext and was enjoying herself greatly, turned her head enough to look the artist up and down “You don’t seem to be dressed for a fight, Or were you hoping that if you challenged me while I was exercising i’d be fatigued enough to even the field?”

“Oh!, no, no, I didn’t mean I came to spar with you. Not today. I was wondering if you could help me out heading back into the city”

The bar stopped it’s rhythmic creaking as Svana stopped exercising again to give her her full attention. “Into the unsafe streets? Why would we need to go in there? bit risky”

Joliette looked awkward again, though this time for more personal reasons “When the Grimm arrived, when everything went….wrong, I ended up fleeing here without most of my possessions, I thought i’d be evacuating along with everyone else. But I won’t be. I’m not much a fighter, and I don’t have a business anymore, But I looked around and I decided I can’t abandon you all. You, your uncle, the doctor, their students. You’re all staying and doing what you can for Vale. they’re saying that cleanup and repopulation could takes years, maybe even a decade. I’m not the best person to stay and help, But I want to anyway. I’ve had my name removed from the list of refugees awaiting evacuation and relocation. I’ve already spoken to Mr O’denn upstairs, he said he’s grateful for any pair of hands so it’s settled. ” Her voice shook somewhat as she drew in a breath, recomposing herself as if trying to understand what her gut feelings were compelling her to do, then she turned her eyes back on Svana’s  “But, if I am going to be staying long term, I need more than the clothes on my back. My flat was above my parlour and it’s not too deep into the dangerous zones, can you come with me so I can retrieve some essentials and part of my wardrobe? I won’t be getting enough to burden myself down much, and I figured a small group of two might be able to get in and out and draw less Grimm than a larger squad”.

Svana had listened to her little speech in silence, waiting for her to finish. When it was clear she had, she tucked her body up one last time and, swinging her whole body up and around the bar, dismounted the apparatus to land lightly on her feet, tucking her ponytail back in place.

“Ok Joliette, you’ve got me. If you really are here to stay, I feel like the least we owe you is some fresh underwear. When do you want to set off?”

“As soon as you’re willing to, really. I’ve got no other commitments at present”

Towelling off her face and neck, Svana smiled as she walked to the pile of gear besides her equipment, slipping her goggles back onto her head “Give me ten minutes to get dressed and warm up Kaldr and i’ll meet you upstairs. Best tell uncle Fionn too, just so he knows where we’re going”

The Senior officers of Operation Charlemange, an experimental Paladin taskforce based in Atlas

First image: Commander Violet Braddock and Lt. Kaimana Tyde 

Second image: Maj. Himura Hikori and 2nd Lt. Selene Ashford 

Awesome Chibi artwork of the main protagonist cast of Valhalla done by @tawaranotohta as a 2017 Birthday gift. from left to right;

Top row: Xura, Sura, Shui Wen, Fionn Odenn, Xahn Nilama Braith Rhwenaid