petting, but with swords

Lo'kha didn't really have high expectations at this point.

He'd been looking for the better part of two weeks now - a security escort for a retrieval job in Kugane (never mind that the cargo was less of cargo and more of a person), who was light-footed enough to help with the stealth part of the operation, but strong enough to take on a full squad of samurai. Also someone who he got along with, a trifecta that seemed impossible to find.

Someone at the office finally took pity on him and passed him a report from an old job - the merc's report consisted little else of a scribble and some stick figures that suggested half of them were missing limbs - and cautioned him to use the contact as a last resort. Anthill Tiger was known for being very good with putting sharp things in soft parts, but the look on his coworker's face as he said the mercenary's name was a very off-putting combination of disgust and fear.

He chewed on a peanut thoughtfully and bullied his way into the gladiators' guild, his white mages' robes parting the sea of fans and patrons like a shark through fish. He only caught a glimpse of the tail-end of the fight, and not a very good view either, but he figured it would be a highlander or something under the full-body costume.

"Lady Mylla?" Lo'kha called, squinting for a glimpse of... the merc. "May I speak to the fighter who won the last round?"