Welcome to Gaia! ::

Gehenna had his doubts, upon first seeing the planet, whether or not this was really the place he had heard so much about. For some reason he just didn't connect a planet over run with jungle to the renowned armories recommended by so many travelers. But then he saw where their path was headed and his attitude changed entirely.

As they approached on their mounts, the volcano loomed higher and higher above them, until they fell into the shadow. In that shadow the city lay, built on and into the mountainside, as well as sprawling around as the people began to outgrow the confines of the volcano itself. How they managed to live so close to a poisonous source was beyond him - no doubt magic, but what kind and how was not his expertise. It was impressive to be so close, even if he lived in a place centered in a lake of fire.

Once close enough to the market, where smiths and crafters displayed their wares, he dismounted and began to meander in and out of stalls and booths. They had a while yet before they had to meet with their particular smithy and begin the business talk and his guards seemed just as keen on exploring the new world as he did. He led his mount, an unusual dinosaur-looking creature he'd paid to keep for the day once he arrived, by its tethers. It was at peace trailing along behind him and seemed not to mind the bustle of the marketplace.

He stopped next to a stall where a dark-skinned girl with thick, red-gold hair was displaying some of the most intricate metal work jewelry he'd ever seen. She was wearing what looked like a single sheet of cloth, wound just-so around her torso, enough to cover up the essentials but small enough that she didn't die in the heat of day. He understood the sentiment - he was beginning to regret that he had to stay in uniform during business trips. He was almost used to such heat, by now, and paid little heed to the heat of his armor.

"How much for this?" He asked calmly, picking up a silver necklace looped through a large, beautiful ruby charm.

His head whipped to the side at the surprise voice next to his ear and the fingers of his gauntlet curled just barely with the reflex. He had enough self control not to actually strike out, but it didn't mean he was very fond of surprises.

At least before he realized they were attached to pretty, wild-haired Vulcanites.

"Ah, Lady.. Vulcan." Mentally he kicked himself for not remembering that she was the Senshi of this planet, even after she'd gone on so assuredly about their skill with armor! Sometimes little things slipped his mind in favor of the greater good and it had been, after all, months since he'd threatened to seal her away for life in the bowels of the Martian prison.

His eyes danced over each trinket as she denied him sell, the dark brows arching over his red eyes raising with each little jab. Though the seller laughed at a joke that he didn't understand, she still pointed out what each was worth, and he noted that Vulcan had influence - but not outright control. Interesting.

"That's a shame," he said softly, brushing his fingers over the ruby but eventually letting it rest back on the table, "this matched your fiery hair." Then he picked up one of the copper earrings before setting it down again beside its mate, "those your eyes." With a shrug he fished out fifteen shells, the currency he had traded his own for, and set them out on the table. He picked up the bracelet and gave the shop owner a nod of thanks. He didn't say anything more on the subject, or what it was for, he simply leveled his gaze on the Lady that came to taunt him.

"Though I do wonder how one actually manages half of a kiss." His smirk was knowing as he tugged at the reigns of his mount, tugging it along and away from the table to peruse another shop next door - hides of very interesting textures and colors.

Gehenna browsed the merchandise as Alethes followed him, running his fingers over reptilian pelts and then the items crafted from them in whole or part. His fingers lingered on a blade made of some form of reptile talon, with a handle bound in sturdy leather.

"No, there are no prisons, but you deal in items precious to those who have them." He knocked a hand against his armor. "I have enchanted armor that never needs replacing or mending, but my men don't. I have to fit them with the best that I can find and I've heard good things about Vulcan armories. The best, if I remember right?" He threw her a sidelong glance and a knowing smile.

He picked up the dagger he had been eyeing and made a gesture at the shopkeeper, waving it slightly in his direction. He wanted to know the price, but his words were reserved solely for the nosy Senshi that was all but falling over herself to find out what he wanted on her planet.

"I have a meeting arranged with a blacksmith later, but I have some time to waste, and money to spend." He shrugged his shoulders and turned to face her, settling his bright, fiery eyes on her golden ones.

Gehenna glanced down with a frown as Alethes began to speak to a child that he hadn't noticed - a child that had, apparently, stolen his waist pouch without even the faintest brush. Gehenna knew his fair share about child pickpockets in the marketplace, having spent much of his youth stealing to feed his younger brother, but he must have been.. more distracted with the young lady than he thought.

That and it was hard to feel the weight of a coin bag removed when he was sporting so much armor. In his civilian garb, he would have noticed instantly. Or so he thought. Maybe he was getting rusty from a job removed from the mill of society.

He reached out and took the pouch from the kid, though almost instantly squatted down to eye level with the boy. He pulled the strings open and fished out a coin - not from Vulcan, or even from Mars. It was from Earth. A flat copper piece, worn around the edges and probably worthless so far from his home planet except for the weight in copper (which he didn't imagine counted for much on Vulcan, being so close to forges). The peculiar thing about it was that there was a hole in the center. The metal peeled back around it on one side, as if it had been shot through, with an arrow or a bullet.

"Here, kid," he offered it up, holding it out flat in his palm. When he spoke again, it was low, for the boy's ears, though not quite too low to hear. "It's lucky. Maybe if you hang onto it you'll have a better chance of not being caught, eh?" His smile was genuine, knowing, and amused. For what it was worth, he saw a tiny version of himself in the kid and couldn't find it in him to be upset.

Especially since the majority of his valuables were stashed elsewhere.

He remained in his squat as the boy examined the coin, pleased that the peace offering had gone over so well. He didn't need to speak Vulcanese to know that the kid understood, but he was glad that the Lady Vulcan was there to translate for him regardless.

"As it should," he said with a laugh, at both the words and the memory playing through his head, "it stopped an arrow from piercing my femoral artery." He patted his thigh as he pushed himself back up from the ground, mentally recalling the way his own coin purse had been some of the best armor he'd invested in. Not that it had been filled with much in those days.

He reached out a hand and patted the kid on the head once, then reached up and tied his coin purse around his neck, so that it hung like an awkward medallion against the armor of his chest. He merely smirked down at the boy as he did so, then made a simple motion of pointing his finger at his own eyes, then down at the kid. He was watching.

"Thank you," he said finally, looking up at Vulcan. "It wouldn't have been such a big deal to lose this, but I appreciate it. I forget sometimes that foreign worlds aren't all fancy trinkets and pretty landscapes."

He nodded thoughtfully as she stood up for the kid's honor, watching the speeding blur as it darted in and out of traffic, until the boy was lost in the crowd. The look on his face was thoughtful, if distant, remembering some long past memory.

"I was that kid once," he added, rolling his shoulders in what could have been a shrug, but looked more like he was attempting to shake something off of himself. He managed to produce a small, honest smile, tight though is was, then simply shook his head at the vendor as he tugged his mount away from the stand. "You don't have to tell me."

He stopped to pat the reptilian mount softly on the side of its neck, staring up at the eyes instead of looking at Vulcan. He was in a new place and one of the best resources he had was telling him that not all was what it seemed. He didn't need to be told any plainer than that. He whistled, high and shrill, and seemed unphased as a pair of men bustled out of the nearby crowd. They were in civilian clothes, but they stuck out like a sore thumb, almost more obvious than Gehenna in his armor - Martians.

"Tell the boys to be wary of the tourist traps," was all he said to them, though he watched as they both nodded and then dipped back into the crowd. When they were gone he leveled his gaze on Vulcan, smile intact, and dipped his head to her in turn. "I don't suppose you'd like to be my ambassador on this deal later?"

Before Gehenna could say anything else to the Lady Vulcan, he suddenly found himself swarmed with tiny hands and chattering voices speaking words he only half understood. His deep, rich laughter joined hers and he made patting motions at the air in an attempt to get them all to calm down just a fraction.

"One at a time, one at a time," but he was amused. Whatever he saw in them, it gave him an endless patience for their behavior. He supposed that he should have expected it - he knew first hand that for every street urchin found, there were five more in the shadows waiting for an opportunity.

"I was born on Earth," then he banged his un-gauntleted fist against his chest plate, "but I'm a Knight of Mars." That fist curled around his coin purse then, pulling at the strings and looking inside of it. He made a show of looking into it and frowning, rolling his shoulders as he did so in a shrugging motion. "I'm afraid I'm all out of lucky coins, but," he plucked out a few of the Vulcan shells he had traded for. "I'll give these to the first one that can tell me Lady Vulcan's real name."

He held them up over the children's head, smiling in that devilish, playful way he had when he'd conned her into a kiss.

Gehenna could only be fair - he'd said first got the reward, and they had all called out in unison, like they were planning it. Each waving hand was stuffed with a shell, but the tiny voice that rang out pulled on his heart strings. In the end he really was a good man with a big heart. He fished into his coin purse and found a gold coin, this time Martian in make. It wasn't Vulcan currency, but gold was gold no matter what mold it was cast from.

He stooped down to eye level with the carrier of the tiny voice, much like he had the boy from earlier, and pressed it into the tiny hand along with the shell he had earned from the rest.

"I don't have much left for you guys," he said with a sad smile, turning his fiery eyes on the pleading ones that surrounded him, "but next time I come I promise I'll bring you all something, alright?" He counted six, though with his promise he expected that to double, if not triple by the time he came back. The children of Vulcan were going to rob him blind. "Right now Lady Alethes and I have some business to attend to."

He stood again and tugged at the reigns of his mount, pulling it into a trot around the horde of children. He knew if he stayed, he'd end up giving away every last shell and coin he had. It wasn't hard to find the spending money, with all of his meals and beds provided for by the courts, but he had to cut his bleeding heart habits somewhere. He seemed content with his choice, however, and only offered Alethes a smile.

"Nevermind your merchants, your children are going to rob me blind."