Tala Ambrosia

—Roman Torchwick

* Vale
* Mistral

**Tala Krystabelle Ambrosia** is an Original Character in *RWBY: Evernight's Eternal Reign*. She is a thief that currently works under Roman Torchwick, alongside Neopolitan, Chase Slugger, and Kōyō Yūga. Her weapons of choice is a spadroon and parrying dagger called Aletheia and Styx respectively.

She is the twin sister of Neoma Ambrosia.

## Appearance

Tala’s most notable feature is her violet eyes, which seem to glow when she becomes angry or upset, usually an indication that she’s about to use her semblance. While over ⅓ of her body is marred by burn and combat scars, the parts of her that weren’t touched by the fire are tan and flawless. She has long, black, straight hair she often keeps tied back into a ponytail that hangs to the middle of her back, with her bangs swept to the right.

### Original Outfit (Vale)

The tips of her bangs are dyed white, while the tips of her ponytail is dyed red. Her right ear has multiple piercings along the ridge, although it is typically hidden by her hair. Her left ear has a single piercing on the lobe, where she usually wears a pentagram with a purple tanzanite gem in the center. She also wears a pendant, which is a purple fluorite carved into a claw-like structure.

Tala’s go-to outfit is simple: she wears a sleeveless, fireproof catsuit, which unzips at the back, with a keyhole in the form of a flame. Underneath this is a mesh long sleeve top. She wears black gloves and ankle boots.

### Pajamas

Tala's pajamas consist of a violet racerback tank top, and long black pants.

### Post-Attack Outfit (Mistral-Current)

After running away from Vale with her sister after nearly being dragged into a human trafficking ring, Tala underwent a change in appearance.

She redyed her hair, changing the white bangs into a lavender color, and the red tips a deeper purple. Her hair is shorter, coming to her shoulder blades, but is still kept in a ponytail. She also stops wearing the purple necklace.

Her outfit of choice also went through some changes. She now wears a sleeveless bodysuit that transitions from purple at the top to black at the bottom. Over this, she wears a bright purple tank top with a darker purple version of her emblem on her left breast, with a padded black top over that. The padded top has a zipper at the base of her neck for easier removal.

A dark purple band is wrapped around her waist, which holds her sword to her side. Clipped to this band is a black hip cape, with her emblem embroidered on each side. The inside of the cape is gray, and the pins holding the cape in place also contain her emblem.

Attached to the tank top is a pair of detachable sleeves, which exposes her shoulders and gradually fades from a light purple to a dark-almost black- purple. Over these, she wears a pair of black gloves.

Around her left thigh is a holster for her dagger, Styx, in the same dark purple as her belt. She wears black knee-high boots with dark purple heels.

### Gallery

Tala's ScarsOriginal OutfitCurrent OutfitCurrent Outfit-Without hip capesCurrent Outfit- Top RemovedCurrent Outfit- Bodysuit
## Personality

Tala’s fiery and short temper is her most notable personality trait. She’s notoriously aggressive and eager for a fight. She’s in a near-constant state of anger, but refuses to share exactly why. If she feels she’s being pushed or harassed, which happens quite often, she becomes hostile and will explode into a fit of rage on the spot. She’s shown a habit of being very vindictive, but knows how to hold back. Although she doesn’t share with others why she’s like this, her past has resulted in a young woman physically and emotionally isolated from others, creating a person who has a strong aversion to being touched, even in places as harmless as her arm. Any form of physical contact has her panicking, which is hidden behind a mask and anger and threats. She’s very impulsive, responding without thinking.

She appears to be quite prideful and confident in her semblance’s power as well as her ability in combat. She can come off as arrogant at times, but is capable of recognizing when she’s outmatched. However, this won’t stop her competitiveness, a drive that pushes her to be the best in as many things as possible. This leads her to be strong-willed, stubbornly pushing on even when advised to stop. She can be quite assertive at times, especially during heists. Behind her arrogant facade, however, Tala is extremely insecure, always aware of her scars and how ugly they look. She is very hard on herself, beating or starving herself as punishment for any screw-ups that may occur.

She shows an indifference and disregard for most others, save for children, whom she’s quite protective of. She holds a very negative and nihilistic view on life, believing her own life is meaningless and worthless. She is a firm believer that life is predetermined, and one does not have any way to change it.

Tala is a very private person, using her anger and sarcasm as walls to prevent others from seeing how broken she truly is. She has severe trust issues, resulting in her cold and asocial demeanor. She prefers to be alone, including when working heists, as she works better independently instead of worrying about another person(s). She is skeptical of others and the words they say, holding a very negative mindset about humanity and those within it. As such, she is cautious about letting others get close.

During heists, her anger appears to turn off, as she becomes calm and alert. She seems to work well under pressure, able to adapt in the event that a plan falls through. She’s known to be very stubborn during these missions, determined to complete her goals regardless of the circumstances. She depends heavily on her instincts, as they have helped her escape unfavorable situations before.

Just as the name of her primary weapon, Aletheia- which means ‘truth’- suggests, Tala values honesty, and will avoid lying whenever possible. To her, this includes withholding information or allowing someone to believe a lie. As such, she is outspoken, all too willing to call someone out on their bullshit, while respecting if they do the same to her.

The same value is placed on promises and oaths, as her parrying dagger is named after the mythical river of oaths. She believes that a broken promise is equivalent to a lie, and despises having promises made to her broken.

She is very tomboyish and sporty, with a dry, dark sense of humor. She’s very sarcastic and mischievous, usually teasing or pranking her coworkers and associates. However, if someone ever manages to get past her walls, they’d find a loyal and protective friend who is secretly a romantic.

Tala’s childhood has left her traumatized and scarred, both physically and mentally. She believes her semblance is a direct result of said childhood, granting her the ability to protect herself and burn away the sin that taints her body. While she tries to forget and leave behind her past, the deaths directly and indirectly caused by her haunt her dreams, resulting in severe nightmares and insomnia. Even after killing her father, she still fears letting others get close, afraid that they’ll end up like Erebus. Her surivivor’s guilt has her constantly throwing herself into dangerous situations, believing that she should be dead after causing her best friend’s murder and failing to save her twin. After Neoma’s death, Tala was left feeling as if a part of her soul had died with her sister. Due to her childhood, she’s chosen to hide her identity as a Faunus, seeing it as more trouble than it's worth.

## Powers and Abilities

Tala has repeatedly showed to have high agility and endurance, such as when combating 3 men in an alley, and climbing up and down buildings.

As a Faunus, Tala possesses the ability of night vision, granting her the ability to see proficiently in the dark.

She is efficient with both her weapons and her semblance.

She has a strong sense of direction, making it difficult to get lost, even in a hurry.

### Weapon

Main article: Alethia and Styx

Her weapons of of choice is a spadroon and parrying dagger called Aletheia and Styx respectively. The pommel on both weapons can be opened and loaded with Dust.

### Semblance

Main article: Ultraviolet Flames
Tala’s semblance is the ability to create and control purple flames. These flames are easy to control. More so, it is able to be combined with Dust to create hotter or more disastrous results. Tala’s semblance does not require much focus, mainly because she unlocked it at a young age and has worked on mastering it. This means she’s able to move or divert her focus away from the fire and it will continue to burn as long as it has fuel. Tala’s fire can burn without fuel by using her Aura.

Her body's immune to the flames, but normal clothes are not, hence why she wears an outfit capable of withstanding her flames (as long as they are not boosted by Dust).  When using her semblance, her veins and eyes appear to glow violet.

### Stats

**Aura: 304**

**Close Combat:** 59

**Ranged Combat:** 16

**Defense:** 25

**Strength:** 45

**Agility:** 62

**Dexterity:** 50

**Perception:** 33

**Intelligence:** 36

**Wisdom:** 34

**Charisma:** 37

**Endurance:** 45

Stat Changes:

* Semblance: +15 Strength (+25 when using Dust in conjunction), +15 Close Combat

### Weaknesses

Tala is known to have a short and explosive temper, leading her to pick unnessecary fights at the drop of a hat. She is overly confident in herself, which can leave her in dangerous situations.

She heavily depends on her semblance for intimidation and combat, leaving her at a disadvantage if she is unable to use it. Her semblance is not subtle, making it diffuclt for her to use it while attempting to be stealthy. She struggles with ranged combat.

## History

### Relationships

Affiliation

* Roman’s Faction
* Criminal Underworld

Family

* Neoma Ambrosia

Boss

* Roman Torchwick

Acquaintances

* Chase Slugger
* Neopolitan

Enemies

* Huntmen/Huntresses
* Police
* Salem
* Salem’s Faction
* Grimm
* Mutated Grimm
* Felwinter
* Human Traffickers (Her father’s ‘friends’)

### Backstory

> **(WARNING: Potentially Sensitive topics ahead)**
>
>

Tala and her sister, Neoma, were born as a set of twins after a one night stand gone wrong. Their mother was a Cat Faunus who hid her Faunus traits, while their father was a human. The two parents spent 2 years together, but the mother ultimately ran away due to her lover’s racist, abusive and controlling behavior, leaving her children in the ‘care’ of their father.

Their father’s behavior only grew worse. His personality appeared to fluctuate between loving and abusive, often beating his daughters in an attempt to keep them in line before apologizing and promising it wouldn’t happen anymore. He told them that their mother left because she hated them and thought they were worthless, and swearing that he would always love them. Tala would attempt to take the brunt of their father’s abuse, shielding her twin sister the best she could.

He’d trained them in combat, often forcing them to fight each other, before beating the loser, which was usually Neoma, who favored ranged combat, and thus couldn’t handle fighting against her stronger sibling. They suffered several broken bones and other severe injuries during their time living with their father.

During this time, Tala met another victim of abuse, Erebus, with whom she quickly became close friends with. She would often meet with him in the middle of the night. These secret meetings became an escape from her hellish life, and she began taking Neoma with her when she visited him. She promised the two of them that once they turned 18, they’d escape their respective abusive homes and move to Mistral.

Shortly after her 16th birthday, Tala’s father followed them and discovered this friend. He flew into a fit of rage, accusing her of sleeping with him and ‘tainting herself’. Despite her attempts to stop him, Tala’s father ended Erebus’s life. All of the rage that built up over the years led to Tala attempting to take her father’s life in a fit of blind vengeance. This attempt failed, and she received a severe beating for her troubles, which nearly killed her.

The abuse continued for several more months, until it accumulated one night in the dead of winter shortly before Tala and Neoma’s 17th birthday. Tala couldn’t find her sister, and in a panic, demanded her father tell her where she is. Her father claimed she had killed herself and he had tossed her body in the nearby forest for the animals. Losing herself in guilt, heartbreak, and rage, she grabbed a kitchen knife and blindly stabbed at her father, managing to inflict several serious, although non-lethal, injuries before he eventually disarmed her, fracturing her arm in the process. He dragged her outside and threw her in the snow, before going back inside. He returned with a fire staff, which he stabbed into her torso and used to set her on fire.

She burned for several minutes, resulting in the permanent scars that now covered a large portion of her body. While her father stood back and watched, the flames slowly turned violet, and the daughter he tried to kill picked herself up off the ground. Her Semblance had been unlocked, and the first thing she did with it was turn it on her abuser. The resulting fire continued to burn until her Aura was drained.

She gathered what essentials she could carry, including the pendant her sister often wore, before using her father’s Fire Dust to set her own house of horrors ablaze, leaving behind her old life as she headed for the City of Vale.

She soon began working for Roman Torchwick, and spent the next three years under him. She began stowing away money from heists, with the intent on buying an actual building for the group, rather than living in the warehouses. However, when she went to purchase the property, she was found by her father’s former friends, whom had promised his daughters to the human trafficking ring to pay off a debt owed. They intended on collecting, but Tala set the building on fire and fled. She was pursued by both the group hunting her, as well as misunderstanding bystanders. During this chase, she was shot and subsequently fell from a building, breaking her arm and sustaining other serious injuries. Still she continued to flee, until cornered by the lady intending on collecting the debt owed by her father. Refusing to go back to that life, Tala held her dagger to her throat, intending on killing herself. The lady moved to stop her, but was shot in the back by Neoma and killed. Once Neoma revealed who she was and gave Tala some healing water to help with the pain, Tala was taken to a nearby airship dock, where they then traveled to Mistral.

## Trivia

### Color Naming Rule

The name Tala has multiple meanings:

* Tagalog name meaning *Bright Star*; the name of the goddess of the morning star
	+ Alludes to colors of red, orange, yellow, white, and blue, the color of stars in the night sky, leading to the original colors in her hair: red and white.
* Tamazight name meaning *Fountain*
* Arabic name meaning *Palm Tree* or *gold*
* Native American name of Seneca (Iroqouis) of Lakota origin meaning *Stalking Wolf*

Krystabelle comes from the greek word krystallos, meaning *sparkling* or *ice*.

Ambrosia is the food of the greek gods, often depicted as gold in color.