Welcome to Gaia! ::

Tangled's claws tapped out a rhythm as she waited for her ship to land. Even if this wasn't a mission, there was still much at stake. Next to her the worst of her suffering soldiers twitched and muttered. They tapped their own random patterns with numberless clawed toes and finger tips. There wasn't much room in her heart for sentiment in the sense that most knew but... she loved her soldiers. They fought by her. Faced death with her. They were family. And they needed care that she could not provide.

"Running Waters," she called softly, not wanting to shock anyone too violently from the terrors in their minds. "Ready the soldiers for landing. I will go a head... scout the fabled healer out before you enter. Give me ten minutes." Tangled's right hand nodded briefly before moving about the others touching shoulders and muttering quietly. Tangled was out the second the bay hatch was open. She ignored the curious looks from the people of the planet, no doubt having never seen a creature with legs like hers; knees bent the wrong way with talons signaling each step with a pronounced click. Not to mention that she looked even more wild the higher up their eyes went. She was wearing the nicest clothing that she owned, but they were still crudely sewn together skins and pelts, and her hair was still wild and tangled.

She would have to rely on the severity of her men to sell the healer on her cause, and not on her appearance.

When she arrived at the healer, she stopped short. A... a child? Not that Tangled had any room to criticize age, being the youngest general of her time but...

"This is healer?" Her voice was rough, untrained, and tinged with the primal accent of her people.

Tangled blushed deeply at her lack of manners and quickly bowed back, talons still clicking nervously on the tiles. The healer was a child... it took a moment for Tangled to parse through her emotions to figure out why that made her uncomfortable. For a child to take on the burdens of a soldier -- of a killer... could she ask something so important of someone so young? Her people were trained to fight when they learned to walk. Pain and death were as common as food and air but here... Tangled looked around her, maybe to distract herself, maybe to discern something about the child before her. Finally she sighed and held out her hand in greeting.

"I forget manners. Forgive." She waited a long moment before continuing. Maybe before she asked for any favor, Tangled should let the girl know what she was about. "I am Tangled in Weeds, general of the Acuben Mercenaries. I come to seek solace for my fighters... for my killers." She paused, letting the silence hang long and heavy between the two of them before she took a step forward and paid a hand on the girl's shoulder, taking a knee and lowering her head to meet her eyes.

"You understand what I ask? Take away the horror of taking a life? Make my soldiers into better killers." If she sounded harsh it was only because the task she needed accomplished was harsh itself. Making it any softer would only make the child hurt more if she agreed. As if on cue, Tangled's right hand entered the room, trailing a skittering soldier behind her. Tangled reached out a hand for the wounded mercenary and he took it, kneeling beside her. His eyes sifted from wall to wall, searching for something only he knew to look for.

"This Windswept Desert. Has nightmares about family of the diplomat he killed. Since the start of nightmares, he is no longer effective in field. Missed shots, hesitation, sudden panic." Tangled absently stroked the soldier's hair, keeping his calm as she watched the pulse in his neck quicken and his breathing grow ragged. "Take his pain. Make him into killer again." He pushed the man forward, causing him to shuffle to meet the healer. "If he regains killer mind, Acubens will give pelts, flora, extracts... whatever you need, it will be yours. Fix my killers." Her voice grew desperate at the end, forgetting to maintain herself in the moment.

Tangled was impressed. The girl didn't even flinch when she learned about what her soldier really did. The two underlings were still while Tangled evaluated this remarkable little girl. Her slitted eyes narrowed in consideration for a long moment before she spoke again.

"Before I leave, you tell how you work. As much for your safety as his." The girl had already proven herself to be most impressive, but it would be a dark day before Tangled allowed a child to suffer. That was her rule. No children. They would kill as many men, women, and armies as needed, but she would sooner die herself than endanger a child. "Do you take his pain or... just eliminate it?"

Behind her, Running shifted uncomfortably, clearly as uncertain about condemning a child as Tangled was. Next to her, the solder twitched a muttered, growing louder and more erratic by the second. They had to act fast before he went mad again, bit first Tangled had to be sure. If this was going to hurt the child then she would find another way.

A warrior in her own right. Tangled smiled in satisfaction and straightened, signalling her for right hand to move with her. "We will leave then." But Tangled hand't taken two steps before her soldier's arm shot out and he grabbed onto her leg. He had broken. Sobs tore from his throat and he rambled on and on in their native tongue.

All Tangled did -- all she could do -- was pry his fingers from her leg and turn him back around. He was a soldier, after all, not a child. Her affection was already apparent in how far she was willing to go for them to keep them in a good mind.

"We are outside. If this proves well... count on my people for trade. And protection."