[IC] Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

[Mogtaki]

T’charrl felt like he had so much to do, but he was doing it with a variety of reasons in his mind. He was still completely stressed out, his future seeming to be the scariest part of all this right now. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do, but if he could help everyone possible then maybe he wouldn’t feel so bad about his own problems. It hurt him to have to take so much from someone to give to another, as if he had to cause them discomfort for his own use. T’charrl really wanted to help Takeshi for all that he did; the guy was willing to fight for him, he nearly got killed for him and was even willing to search the forest for him when he was under heavy stress despite being injured. Looking up at Vegeta and seeing his eyes on his orbs he ended up quickly looking away, raising his hands up to his chest and rubbing them together timidly.

Kai had no doubt that they might find some use for T’charrl on the field, even if it meant giving him some energy until he possibly gained more for himself or became more powerful. That would be odd, seeing T’charrl become stronger when the General was in peak condition and that was just plain scary. Looking to T’charrl before his eyes moved to Vegeta with the snatch from Yumi, he pulled at Choi’s arm and followed them in as well, giving one last look towards Takeshi and Shu. Takeshi needed good luck to keep that kid from flying off the walls while he was still recovering. With all things considered, right now they could do with relaxing themselves and cooking, something that had never really been all that relaxing until they were taken in by Takeshi’s group.

Shu felt pretty happy, he was glad that he was able to move even if his head still felt heavy and sore. T’charrl had done the best he could have done and that was very relieving, but there were of course a couple of issues that should be attended to. He seemed a lot more stressed than what he had been before, probably because of this new body of his. He was very big but still skinny with stocky shoulders, but most of their race had stocky shoulders anyway. His colouration was strange, changing every so often too while the gems remained the same yet almost pulsed a strange energy. He couldn’t say he wasn’t a little worried, especially when an appearance change couldn’t be the only reason he was so nervous now.

Looking between Takeshi and T’charrl curiously, he tilted his head a little before giving it a rub, still feeling the ache. It wasn’t as if he was low on energy, he was just a bit sore and a little hungry but his energy was plentiful. Slowly moving closer to T’charrl as if to give him a hint, he looked to the Queen as she suddenly spoke up, giving a little smile to her before looking between her and Takeshi, eventually opting to speak up, “I-I can give some energy for Takeshi now or later if he wants…” he muttered, giving a little smile, “Don’t want him to work too much, but Takeshi’s still hurt and that’s not a very nice feeling to be hurt”.

T’charrl looked up to his mother and frowned a little, lowering his head when he was giving a head rub. He didn’t want to make his mother feel bad for him having to do so much work, but it was the only thing keeping absolutely everything else off his mind and preventing him from crumbling into a pitiful state of worries and stresses, “Mother…I-“ he spoke, but soon Shu spoke up with the offer of some of his energy to help Takeshi. It was a very good offer, but whether his mother and Takeshi would want to do that was up to them, “Shu…that would be lovely, but I don’t want to disappoint Mother or Takeshi, so…if you two are okay with that I can heal your wounds? Besides, your friends ran off and forgot about something only you can attend to right now…”

[GambolMuse]

Yumi triumphantly led her little band of helpers right into the kitchen, only releasing Vegeta and Choi when they were all in the room. Between the five of them they'd have a big meal prepared in no time, with minimal effort really. Truth be told, she mused, it'd like be mostly the twins and Vegeta cooking, as she and Kabocha weren't that good at it. Chances were they had to go get more food in town, and considering the likely uproar the fight and tree had caused it'd be a headache to get any goods. A lot of what they were going to make depended on what they had right now too, and if they were to go out hunting. Taking it upon herself to delegate the duties Yumi gave everyone a task to do, since they'd need a fair amount of food to fill everyone's stomachs. In all they were bound to have at least two dozen different dishes by the time she was done, and in those would be several helpings of food. Considering everyone present was a fighter and could likely eat enough for three it meant they had to make way more than they normally might, and then some.

Takeshi had been reluctant to let Shu give up his own energy, especially seeing as his brother had only just recovered. Upon his own insistence though, and the reassurances that T'charrl could handle it he eventually relented. It was certainly nice being healed and no longer hindered by his injuries, albeit his energy was still fairly low and would be for a little while. The knowledge that a meal was coming their way made him rather excited in that case, and so he passed the time relaxing with everyone else not involved in the cooking. Garesh and Katas were still busy overseeing the General, and they politely refused to step away to join the others in eating when the food was finally prepared. Only once they had been relieved, Garesh argued, would they themselves have some food. Admirable to be sure, and it certainly didn't bother anyone in the group at the least, it meant more for them. Getting everyone around the table was a little tricky, it was made really for just four, not ten. After some careful moving of furniture everyone was settled down and seated comfortably, all raring to get their hands on some of the meal. The table was strewn with over a dozen platters, each piled high with various meats, fruits and vegetables cooking in a plethora of different ways. It all looked absolutely delicious, Takeshi was already drooling at the sight.

"Oh boy... This looks good...!" he said happily, grabbing a sliver of a purplish steak and plopping it onto his dish. It glistened from the light overhead with all the sauce poured over it, and it smelled incredible.

"I haven't had food that looks this delicious in ages," Kabocha remarked, wide eyed as he stared at his own plate, nearly hiding him behind the mountain of food. "Oh wow... Can we eat yet?"

"Not until everyone has been served," Eslaria chided strictly, throwing a disparaging look in Kabocha's direction. Her own stomach grumbled profusely, but it was only common manners to make sure everyone got their share.

Even with all of their massive appetites there was plenty of food to go around still on the table, at least enough for seconds. Sounds of appreciation and eagerness could be heard from nearly every person at the table. Finally, with everyone having gotten their fair share of the feast eating could begin, and it did so in earnest. Shockingly the Queen observed those around herself and T'charrl eating rather hastily, wasting little time on table manners or etiquette as they devoured their food. They were all hungry, but did they have to eat so sloppily? Eslaria didn't have it in her to chastise them further, as she herself was much too hungry to wait any longer. In a more refined manner she used her utensils to eat, chewing and swallowing each bite meticulously. Surrounded by all of these aliens was strange, yet they were her son's friends, and in essence the ones responsible for saving her people from ruin. Hard as she tried to be the Queen found herself smiling, bemused by everyone's behavior after a short while. So was this what children from other worlds were like? How interesting...

"This is so good!" Takeshi cried, grinning as he bit down and tore another chunk out of a fishy-meat. He didn't know what in the world it was, but it tasted wonderful. Holding the fish in one hand he grabbed for a reddish-brown fruit, taking a gracious bite out of it and chewing the two together happily. His stomach was welcoming the food as much as his taste buds were, and he wanted to just keep scarfing it down.

Yumi didn't say anything, only because she herself was too busy eating as well. She thought the fruit was just fine, but found herself gravitating far more towards the meats, particularly redder ones. It eventually got to the point where she was trying to get rid of her fruit in favor of more steaks, only to have herself stopped by Vegeta and made to eat her greens as well. A bit childishly she stuck out her tongue, pouting as she lifted up a round, yellow little fleshy fruit and sniffed at it before taking a nibble. The flavor wasn't something she recognized at all, and it was a bit tart. Not wanting to waste food, and certainly nowhere near picky enough to do so anyways she began to eat it in earnest, and in the course of doing so ate everything else on her plate as well.

Vegeta was right there with his friends and peers, scarfing down as much as he could fit into his cheeks as he ate. In any other circumstance he'd be eating as Eslaria was, trying to maintain a certain image. On this planet though, and with these people, he had no reason to put up that front. He was a Saiyan after all, even if only partly so, and had the appetite to prove it. Eating in such a refined manner took forever to sate his hunger, and often times after a company meal he'd have yet another just to fill himself up. Now he could indulge as much as he wanted to, eating every manner of food available to him. Thank goodness they had cloths on hand, because more than once he found fruit juice seeping out from his lips, threatening to dribble down his chin and onto his clothes. It was an incredible meal, he couldn't believe how well they had prepared the alien food here. Some of it was trial and error, as a fair amount of food was also sitting to the side on the counter, untouchable even by the native's standards. No one seemed to mind that too terribly much however, as what had worked had worked astoundingly well.

[Mogtaki]

T’charrl was fairly happy that Takeshi had eventually given up resisting and his mother had let him do his work, especially when it was probably the last person he needed to do for now. He wasn’t feeling too hurt, his legs were still weak but he had his hands to support himself if he ever nearly fell over so that was probably a good thing when they were even longer than before. The healing had gone pretty well, especially considering they weren’t too bad to begin with when there was nothing vital damaged; how, all he needed to do was wait for dinner to get ready.

Probably the biggest problem he had right now when it came to the table was sitting on the chairs. His knees went straight into the air and his lower abdomen just stuck out pretty bad if anyone was going to end up tripping up over it. If he was going to sit anywhere it was somewhere where he couldn’t be tripped up upon or he’d have to move pretty quickly if someone did want passed. Staring at the food with a determined glare as if it would jump right off the table, he looked to the others who began to take what they wanted, even Shu reaching over and grabbing some of the food. T’charrl was pretty polite like his mother as he waited for everyone to be served before beginning himself.

T’charrl grabbed everything he could, picking up whatever was in reach before shoving it in his mouth. He wasn’t caring what he was picking up or eating, everything was just food to him at this point and he really needed the energy. Eating meat was very strange, especially when it was something he had never done before so he could have easily ended up rejecting it for fruit instead; however, with his body changing his dietary requirements had changed too and meat just happened to suit his state of mind. He didn’t know what to think of it, all he knew was he was filling up his belly and quickly being changed into energy he could use himself. The more he ate the brighter the orbs on his body became, showing just how important good nutrition was for his energy levels.

Shu was eating too, he was enjoying eating all the fruit and some meat on the side, but he was very distracted at the same time. Everyone else apart from him and T’charrl had forgotten, it seemed, seeing as how everybody was in a rush to get in and get the food. While T’charrl had tried to overcome his nerves, Shu did try to give some comfort but everything was being fairly hard to accomplish. Munching his food quickly, he looked to Yumi before to Vegeta, tilting his head a little, “This is all very nice…but, umm…aren’t you forgetting something…?”

The twins were fairly quick to eating their meal as well, but Kai didn’t eat as fast as Choi was. Kai still had his manners and was eating at a reasonable speed, but he was still going to eat as much as he could when he knew they weren’t going to sit around here for too long and end up going off into space again once they retrieved their parents. He was still waiting and seeing if T’charrl really could do it, but seeing as how T’charrl knew how to do it before he mutated then it shouldn’t be something that wasn’t a possibility in the first place without having to sap someone’s energy. Looking to Shu when he spoke up, he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow and look towards the window, trying to see what he was referring to.

[GambolMuse]

Vegeta tore into a steak a bit sloppily, quickly covering his mouth with an open hand as he chewed it up, embarrassed by taking a much too large bite. One thing he was liking so far about traveling like this was the foods they were getting to try. Uuonoe had some interesting bits for him to try, and now this planet had even more to offer. He almost wondered if he'd be able to be satisfied by the simple foods back on Earth when they finally returned. Very few items if anything were comparable to some of what he was eating now, he reflected disappointingly. It could also just be his lack of regular meals that made this taste better, he wasn't sure. As swallowed back a helping he looked at Shu curiously when he spoke, not quite following the kid's line of questioning at first. Exchanging curious looks with Yumi he then followed T'charrl's glance towards the kitchen window. When it finally dawned on him his jaw hung loosely, dropping his utensils and blinking in surprise. They'd sorted out Viral before finally sitting down for dinner, making him comfortable, but no one had brought him inside. In the midst of their excitement to eat they'd left him lying in the sun.

"Oh damn it all!" Yumi exclaimed, smacking her hands on the table. "We're so stupid! How did we forget him?"

They had taken a few pillows out to the Beastman so he wasn't lying flat on the ground, and had figured a bit of sun before the meal would maybe warm him up to eating some. In their own desire to get food in their bellies though it had slipped their mind to get him inside with them. Mentally kicking herself for forgetting Yumi glanced down at her own plate, frowning as she pushed it away in disappointment. They were so staunch on having Viral eat and yet they completely left him out of this meal, some friends they were. Grabbing for another plate to bring to him she stopped when Takeshi grabbed one instead, looking up curiously to see him begin to pile food onto it himself.

"I got it, don't worry. You just sit down and eat," Takeshi said, smiling politely. His own plate was nearly empty anyways, he had enough to tide him over for a little while.

Once the plate was covered in meat and fruit he pushed his chair out, carefully balancing the plate in both hands while making his way to the back door. He could still eat a lot more, but someone really should try to get the Beastman to have a bit or two. Getting to the door Takeshi found himself at an impasse, already holding the stacked plate in both hands and having no means of opening the door. Frowning to himself he tried to knock the handle down with his hip, only managing to prod himself in the leg awkwardly with it. Taking a step back he then tried to push it down with his foot, nearly toppling backwards and losing the food in the process. Seeing his bumbling Yumi rose out of her seat, coming to his help and opening up the back door for him. Nodding gratefully he hurried on past her, right down the steps and into the yard where Viral was laying. Still laid out as he was, across a few pillows for comfort. It was pretty bad that he'd been left here, and if he was angry then it was justifiably so.

"Not interrupting anything am I?" Takeshi asked, smiling as he stood over Viral. With plate in hand he eased himself down onto the ground, sitting cross-legged besides his friend and placing the food down before him. "Just finished eating, figured I'd come out and say hello. And offer you some food, if you want it." he added, easing the tray closer to Viral. "It came out really good."

Kabocha was surprised to see Takeshi going out, never having known him to walk away from a meal. Glancing over at the Saiyan's plate he was even more surprised that it wasn't even cleaned off, as there was still a fair amount of food left. Definitely not like the same squad leader that they had known before, not by a long shot. Was this what he was really like, outside of the oppressive military? Or was this a new change? It was baffling, whatever the case, and he had to know what was going on. After hastily chewing up a piece of fruit he wiped his mouth on his hand, leaning forward over the table and staring at Shu curiously.

"Hey... What's the deal with your brother...?" Kabocha asked, intent on finally getting answers. "Why's he always so happy and... Weird like that? Did he go crazy?"

[Mogtaki]

Shu was a little curious by that, considering he had been sitting with them for ages at a time and now he wasn’t here when there was so much food to go around. He hadn’t seen him eat a thing since they got here and it was a little sad, he must had been really hungry by now and yet he was getting nothing when he was outside all by himself. Thinking about how lonely the guy must had been, the sudden realisation Vegeta and Yumi had over it was a little surprising as he almost jumped out of his skin. Looking to the window again he smiled a little, finding their concern to be a little encouraging when they hadn’t completely forgotten their friend.

Rubbing his head a little, Shu felt curious to who would be the first to actually go and do anything about it until Yumi looked like the one to be the first to go as she pushed her own food away in depression but was soon interrupted by Takeshi who insisted he’d go instead. Looking between them he smiled, bouncing a little on his chair until it got to be too much and he had to hold his head, “Ooohhh…dizzy dizzy…” he squeaked a giggle before watching Takeshi leave. It was nice that he offered, plus it meant Yumi didn’t have to feel awkward and have to forget about her food while Takeshi looked about finished.

Viral was definitely feeling fairly down at this point, opting to lay on his side now that he could turn around and not have to worry about his guts leaking out. While his wounds had healed up there was still the tender feeling and not to mention he didn’t have enough blood to support himself, making him feel even worse. While he wasn’t feeling as bad as before, it didn’t mean he wasn’t feeling utterly and completely useless still with his only comfort right now being some pillows to lie on. Everything was fairly quiet, even the aliens with the criminal General were fairly quiet and everyone else was inside.

Resting his eyes as he lay on his arm, the strange scent picking up around him soon ended up depositing itself right in front of him in the form of Takeshi with something in his hands. Opening his eyes and looking at him as he stood almost towering over him, he was a little taken back before watching him sit down, “What are you-“ he paused, catching the scent of the food as it was lowered and almost gagging as a result. Food still made him feel unwell now that he had been put off it for so long, causing him to turn away from Takeshi completely and lie facing the other way, “I don’t want food! I can’t eat it; take it away from me…”

Feeling pretty relaxed, Shu went back to eating his food in an undignified manner as usual. He was really enjoying the plethora of flavours, all of it so delightful to his senses and just making him feel good and warm inside. Continuing his happy munch, he looked up when Kabocha spoke up, presumably to him considering he was staring at him and asking about Takeshi. Swallowing what he had he looked to the window before back again, tilting his head, “Huh? Wha? No…is there something wrong with being happy?” he asked, giving his fingers a quick lick, “I got a lot happier when I realised I had family, maybe that’s why? Do you feel happy around family? Family is nice to have, makes me feel warm inside…”

[GambolMuse]

Yumi felt pretty bad for leaving Viral outside, even if she did figure that he wasn't going to eat were he in here. It was being left alone that must be bad, and it couldn't be helping his situation right now laying out there on his own. Having Takeshi go out on their part then made her feel guilty as well, but perhaps it was best someone else went. She and Vegeta went on and on how important Viral was to them and how much they cared, and a silly little mistake like this then became a big issue when they always claimed otherwise. Sighing to herself she picked up a small bit of meat, turning it over in between her fingers and studying it idly for a moment. As she opened her mouth to take a bite then of the savory food she paused seeing Shu bouncing about in his seat. Before she could even say a word edgewise on him doing that he had stopped, clutching his head with an adorable little giggle and smile plastered on his face. It was definitely nice to see him getting back to himself, but this was proof enough it was going to be hard keeping him down while he recovered.

"Shu, you've got to sit still, okay?" Yumi said, gently chastising the young Saiyan. "Your head still has to recover, and if you shake like that you might make it worse. So please don't do that?"

It felt a bit unusual, he had to admit. Takeshi wasn't normally the one to undertake helping someone out, certainly not Viral. Not that he didn't care, but with the way they got along, like fire and oil, it was often best he avoided the Beastman. Wanting to still contribute a bit, and perhaps working off guilt still he took it upon himself to see to his friend, and perhaps even get him to have a little something to eat. Considering that neither Yumi or Vegeta had managed to do that yet was a tad disheartening, but he'd give it a shot nonetheless. Planting himself down on the grass beside the Beastman he put the plate easily within his reach, wanting to make eating as easy a task as it could be. At first when the man acknowledged the food he was hopeful, until a look of disgust spread over Viral's face and he turned his back to the meal. So much for it being easy, Takeshi mused. Sighing softly to himself he lifted a hand, rubbing at his head as he tried to figure out a way to make the Beastman eat.

"But you need food... Every living thing does..." Takeshi remarked, smiling a little as he dropped his hand into his lap. "Plants use the sun too, but they need more than that to survive, don't they? And so do you. So uh... Eat up?" Hardly a convincing argument, but what could he say that hadn't been said before? Pondering that over for a moment he crossed his arms over his chest, cracking his neck as he tilted his head side to side. Then, getting an idea he smiled again, looking back down at Viral.

"Hey? If you eat then I'll train with you. Whenever you want, I swear. You're going to need to train to get your strength back too, right? And you'll need a partner. Well, I'm willing to do that. But first you've got to try eating something, that's my stipulation." Takeshi paused, reaching onto the plate and snatching up a whole seared fruit. It was a coarser piece of food and firm, but crisp and juicy when you bit into it. Kind of like a really hard pineapple, if he had to pin the taste on anything. Offering the fruit over he smiled hopefully, holding it in view of Viral. "Just try eating this, that's all. If you decide you don't want more after then fine, that's all you've got to eat. Then we can train when you're feeling better."

"Well... There's something wrong with him being happy..." Kabocha replied, leaning back in his seat and settling his hands across his lap. "Has he always been this... Happy around you though? I know when we knew him things were really bad, but... It's like he's a totally different person. It's just weird for us to see him this way." Looking for a second opinion on the matter he turned then to Yumi and Vegeta, giving them the same rundown. "You two have known him for a while, yeah? What's he like back on Earth?"

Yumi considered that question for a minute, chewing her food in thought. "Well... I mean he's always kind of been a pain, honestly..." she mumbled, swallowing before smiling a little. "But you can see he's got a good heart, when he's not being cocky or arrogant. And... I suppose he's always cared about Shu as long as I've known the two of them. But yeah... He does seem a lot more... I don't know, playful when he's around his brother..." Talking about the young Saiyan as if he weren't there made her flush slightly, and she looked over at the boy in question thoughtfully. "You are with him more than any of us. You don't think he's acting weird at all?"

[Mogtaki]

Viral just really didn’t want to eat right now and was now wishing he was left alone if only to be relieved from the smell of the food. He didn’t know if his stomach could handle it; it had been damaged and the recent past experiences had him tasting blood every time he looked at food. He was just too weak to handle food; he was too weak to do anything. Covering his face as if in shame of having eyes set upon him right now, he grumbled at Takeshi, “If I die in battle, then that’s it. Did you just compare me to a plant…” he muttered, looking up a little, “I can’t do it, just…eat the food yourself…”

He was such a coward, such a disgrace when he couldn’t even handle something as simple as food. Everything about food made him feel ill, the trauma of his previous experience had just drilled a hole in his mind and it couldn’t be repaired. Some warrior he had turned out to be, defeated by the simple basics of life that all living organisms needed. Feeling completely ashamed of himself, he only gave Takeshi a quick look before hiding his face again. He didn’t know how to feel about Takeshi training with him, all he’d do is fail and end up looking like a complete idiot just like before. Nothing was looking up for him, lying on the ground like this was his official low point and it didn’t help that he was feeling the chill in the air when there shouldn’t had been any.

Hearing Takeshi shift around something he uncovered his face and looked to see what he was doing, seeing him shift around a strange fruit. Letting out a groan Viral slowly shifted himself, trying to move away from the offer of fruit, “What…? Don’t you understand ‘no’…” He was on the verge of forcing it down with an offer of training to go along with the fruit, it wasn’t even worth it all that much considering how he felt about the stuff. Looking up at the fruit, Viral narrowed his gaze as it was simply being seen as a challenge now, even if it would most likely defeat him if he ever tried.

Slowly pushing himself up, he gave Takeshi a glaring at before looking down at the fruit. He didn’t exactly eat fruit when he could eat, he didn’t even feel sure whether he could stomach to look at meat either right now. He didn’t want to be defeated by this, he couldn’t be defeated by this and yet it was slowly getting to that point where even the most pathetic thing would take him down. Shakily reaching out for the fruit, he took hold of it for a second before dropping it again, pulling his hand away and wiping down his hand, “Ugh, damnit…I can’t! You go eat it yourself! Just leave me alone here like everyone else!”

Shu held his head, giving a little smile to Yumi when he was told off. He was fairly alright with trying to keep calm and not move around so much, especially when it made him dizzy and sore like that. Looking to Kabocha he smiled a little, tilting his head a little before sighing, “Uhhh…I guess sort of? Not all the time, just especially since we found each other again”, he nodded, rubbing his chest a little, “I don’t know why it’s important, though. It’s a bit weird to care about something like that…”

Looking to Yumi, he gave his head a brief scratch before reaching for a bit of food, giving T’charrl a quick look too. The guy was still wolfing down food; poor guy must had been desperate for it but it did make Shu wonder where it was all going. Tilting his head a little he gave a smile, eating the food as he watched Yumi talk to Kabocha just curious to what she was saying about Takeshi. He didn’t understand it, he didn’t really notice this kind of stuff so it was a little odd to say the least, “Huh? I didn’t notice anything, I mean…do I need to? He’s the first person I ever made friends with since I went into your world so I don’t see anything wrong with it…I mean, apart from him going to see Mister Viral…”

[GambolMuse]

"Yeah... I guess I kind of did, didn't I?" Takeshi admitted, smiling sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. "And I already ate, that's why I'm out here. There's not really any reason for me to go back inside now."

As expected Viral didn't take to the first offer, immediately shooting it down. Yumi and Vegeta must have tried a dozen times respectively to get the Beastman to eat only to be met with the same response every time. Well, if nothing else Takeshi was stubborn, and his keenness to help out a bit more only added to his insistence. Maybe he was being overbearing in how he was approaching things, pushing it on Viral and all. If they were going to get the guy to eat any time soon he felt that it was the only way, that or somehow bribe him with something he couldn't well resist. Simple requests didn't do it, that much was apparent. And so the older boy came up with a brilliant idea; appeal to Viral's love of fighting. He hadn't been training all that much as far as Takeshi knew, and what better way to work your strength up then by sparring with someone? Now that he was healed the Beastman ought to be raring to go, he just needed a little push to get on the path again. All that would start with his friend finally having something to eat.

The bribe of training was proposed, and for a moment it looked like it was going to pay off. Viral took the fruit from Takeshi, studying it for a silent moment as he contemplated eating. Then just as soon as he had taken it the Beastman dropped it, wiping his hands off as if he'd just touched something dirty. That was definitely an unusual response, and went beyond not just having an appetite. He could kind of understand not being in the mood to eat, he had been an awful lot when Shu was in captivity. He'd been terribly depressed then, only doing anything because he was asked, or rather ordered to. Come to think of it that was a great deal like what Viral was right now. Whatever PTSD was it seemed awfully familiar to someone who had never had it before. Takeshi glanced down at the fruit on the ground a bit disappointed, picking it back up before giving it a shining on his sleeve, placing it back on the plate. He knew something was bothering Viral, maybe if he could find out what he could be of some use.

"Viral... I'm not going to abandon you." Takeshi said plainly, turning somber as he looked at the Beastman steadily. "I already made the mistake of not being around once, I'm not going to do that again, not to one of my friends. I messed up, and now I want to try and make amends. So no, sorry, but I'm not going to just walk away that easily."

Something in what Viral had said brought back not only the guilt of his injury, but the guilt of having forgotten the Beastman before. There was an awful lot of things he had to make good on, and now was as good a point as any to begin doing that. It could be too late, the damage done may well be beyond anything that Takeshi could help. He'd try at least, that's all he could really do. Then in the off chance they made some headway perhaps Viral could finally get on the road to recovery instead of being stuck in this rut. Sighing softly he put his hands in his lap for a moment, staring down at them before he finally spoke.

"Will you tell me...? Why you're so averted to eating...? What's the reason you refuse to touch food? What about it makes you sick?"

None of what was being said helped anything out at all. Takeshi had changed, but apparently not enough to warrant notice. So then this was how he really was, and not the cold, calculating leader that they had while still a squad. Kabocha groaned in frustration as he pushed his plate to the side, laying his arms out on the table and resting his head on them. Somehow that was a total letdown from what he was expecting. The son's of the king, both total softies. In a way it was good, it meant they weren't liable to go berserk or become tyrants. But they were Saiyans, after all, and incredibly powerful in their own rights. The fact then that they behaved like that, so cheerful and non-violent, it seemed like they were limiting themselves in a way. It became apparent that he'd not get what he was looking for in an answer, or maybe what he had hoped for. Frankly at this point he wasn't too sure what he was trying to find out, probably just more curious about their former leader, as he'd never shared much about himself. Whatever the case he opted to let the conversation die there, not finding it worthwhile to pursue. Taking his head from the table he grabbed his plate again, beginning to eat hastily to get his mind off of things and back to the meal at hand.

Eslaria finished her food relatively quickly in spite of eating 'properly'. With a contented sigh she wiped her mouth clean with a cloth, setting it across her lap and glancing around the table. Everyone seemed to be happily eating still, her son included, so she may as well excuse herself. Now that she considered it she might as well send her husband and the captain in to have some food, take a turn at guarding the General herself. Dropping her napkin on the plate then she pushed herself back from the table, rising from her seat and smiling down at T'charrl.

"I'm going to let your father and Katas in T'charrl, alright? It's about time I take my turn at guard duty, and I know they must be hungry." Eslaria leaned down, not too much considering how tall the Prince now was, and placed a light kiss on his head, stroking his fur next. "Remember darling, he's your father, he's not going to think anything poorly of you regardless of how you look. And Katas adores you, he won't either. Be confident and you'll be fine." To the others she smiled politely, giving a small bow of her head. "The meal was delicious, thank you all for making it. I'll be outside."

With that she went to the front door, right on out and to the side where the General was being kept. Though the men were dutifully maintaining their posts the look of eagerness on their face was clear as day when they spotted Eslaria coming. Smiling in amusement she waved them off, giving her husband a small kiss before she stood at the tree where Yusef was restrained. There was a plate at his side, empty now, as they had fed the man enough to keep him going. He looked to be asleep at the moment, his head hanging off to one side and his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. Just as well, she would have loathed having to speak to him at all. This only made her job easier, she could pay minimal attention and complete her shift with no issues at all. Pleased with that she moved over to the nearest adjacent tree, leaning her back up against it and training her gaze on the General carefully.

Garesh could already smell the food as soon as they were at the door, and it smelled absolutely incredible. Once inside the wafts of flavor made him reel back on his heels. This smell alone was easily comparable to something their royal chefs would prepare for them... Better even. The aliens had prepared this, with ingredients found on their own world? He had to hand it to them, it was astounding. Katas looked to be sharing the sentiment, standing in the doorway with his mouth half-hung open and near drooling on himself. With a chuckle Garesh smacked the shoulder of his partner, motioning to follow as the two men went to the kitchen. Turning into the room he was greeted by the sight of all of the Saiyans and their friends gathered around a large table. The table in of itself looked like the forest canopy, an arrangement of colors of various shades, every item looking incredible in of itself. And there was a large Kaesstrian, sitting on the other side of the table from Yumi...

"T'charrl...?" Garesh muttered, blinking in surprise as he looked at who he thought to be his son. It looked like the Prince, albeit different coloration... And the increase in size. Not to mention the orbs protruding from his body, that was definitely a change. Instantly forgetting about the food the General moved across the room, looking awfully puzzled as he stopped at his son's side. "What happened to you...?"

[Mogtaki]

Viral felt like such a coward, running away from his problems and refusing to confront them like he should be doing. Everybody else had managed to confront their own problems, yet his lingered on under a strange name of an illness he had never heard of before. He shouldn’t had been scared, yet he was being completely irrational while being unable to turn himself around and actually try to rid himself of such problems. He might as well go and find his final fight just now, seeing as how he was doing absolutely nothing useful here other than lie around like a lazy pet that couldn’t even protect his masters.

Viral kept his eyes off Takeshi pretty well, his mind trying to refuse he even existed and was saying the things he was currently. He was too ashamed to take any of that, his anger at himself taking over quicker than any illness could ever manage. Moving his paw slowly over his head, he only gave Takeshi a little glance to see if he was still looking at him, not feeling terribly pleased that he was still, “Just-….why are you so stubborn…”

It was a little unbearable, especially when Takeshi wasn’t going away with that plate of food. He just wouldn’t give up unless Viral got up and threw him across the garden but even then he’d probably just come right back and demand even more off him. Slowly moving his paw way to rub at his stomach, he caught sight of Takeshi still staring down at him, demanding yet more from him this time in the form of seeking answers. Sighing lightly as he stared up at Takeshi, he slowly looked away again and huffed, looking like it was something he’d be made fun of at a later date, “…Everything tastes like blood. All I taste is blood, the flesh of others force-fed into me by myself…all of it, and when I changed I-…forget it! It’s just stupid psychology…it’s stupid I even have that problem! I know it’s not blood!”

While Shu had gone back to eating fairly merrily without so much as a second thought about it, T’charrl had stopped for a moment to look between them, curiously wondering what they were talking about. The food was so good, his hunger seemed endless and yet it had probably ended ages ago while now he was just being a glutton. Looking between everyone for a moment he looked up when he noticed a little flash out of the corner of his eye, seeing that his mother had finished up and was looking down at him.

T’charrl didn’t know how to take the next thing she announced, even though it was something he was planning on doing before food. Frowning a little bit, he looked away and nodded, looking back up just in time to get a little kiss and a comforting stroke to his fur. He hoped he would be okay, he knew his father didn’t like change too much but had seemed interested in his powers, but when it changed him this much it was probably a safe bet he wasn’t going to be okay with seeing him like this, “Uhhh, y-yes. I’ll try to be, Mother”, he nodded, watching her head on out to swap places in watching the General.

He was fairly nervous now, his claws tapping against each other as he waited for the inevitable questioning his father would give him over this. He only had a minute before they would come in and both question him probably, especially seeing how much had changed. At least he was well fed now and not in any danger of going berserk, probably the most important element right now.

Frowning a little when he heard the door open, he lowered his head and tried to keep to himself, hopefully diverting attention away for now as the food was the main focus. Everything seemed good so far, there wasn’t any fuss just yet and there was even a brief pause; however, when things remained silent T’charrl couldn’t help but feel eyes on him as he sat ever so quietly. Looking up a little, it was his father who was the first to spot his strangeness as his full attention was given to him alone; he even walked around the room just to get close to him.

Frowning, he raised his shoulders a little, giving a quick look up before flinching at the question, his hand going to his head immediately, “F-Father…” he muttered, slowly raising his hand again, “I-…I-I’m sorry, I let my power go to my head a-and in the fight I…absorbed a lot of energy and couldn’t get rid of it…” Finding it hard to talk about it to his father he let out a sigh, raising his hand to his head again as if trying to cover it again, “It mutated me…changed my body into something powerful and beyond my control. The General twisted me accidentally when he was trying to kill me; I find it surprising how I’m keeping control even now, but then again, I’ve ate a lot more food than I should had…”

[GambolMuse]

Takeshi couldn't believe it, he'd actually gotten through to Viral. It was definitely a first, and he was determined not to screw it up. So what exactly was it eating away at his friend then? The Saiyan smiled politely as he listened, not wanting to show any judgment until he'd heard the whole story. When the Beastman got into the matter however and told him what the case was it became a touch more difficult to smile. That must have been when they were back on the frozen planet, inside the base. The whole matter that Viral had been standing trial for, his killing of a few troops. Okay, so the issue was a little deeper than Takeshi had been banking on. He could sympathize to a small degree, albeit he wasn't nearly crippled mentally by killing anyone. The soldiers from before had been cut down without hesitation, but they'd deserved it, they were terrible. While that didn't absolve him of all guilt he was a little better off for knowing that. What may work for him wasn't bound to work for Viral though, so it was best he stay clear of "they were bad" for now.

"You're bothered by what you did... I get it," Takeshi replied, smiling sadly as he looked at Viral. "What you did isn't something that you'd normally do, and now it's bothering you. You know... I've killed people a few times now... Like, more than I really should have... And I'm not going to lie, it doesn't really go away." Sighing softly he lifted his head, glancing up at the sky and watching the clouds pass on by for a moment. He wasn't saying what he wanted, he really didn't know what to say.

"When things like that happen, it's like I become a totally different person. I just sort of lose it, I get not having any control over what happens when you're like that. Things just... They go crazy, and by the time you realize what's gone on it's too late to stop it. I try to ignore it all, and usually it works. But sometimes get thinking about it, about the people that I've killed, and... It sucks, you know? Being bothered by something like that, it's normal."

"But... You can't let it run your life. What happened, it wasn't you, not really. You shouldn't blame yourself for any of it, some things are just out of our control, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. We all know you're better than that, and that you have a dark side sometimes when you change. Again though, not your fault, it's the Saiyan's for subjecting you to torture and causing it. It's my father's, for allowing all of it." Takeshi smiled sheepishly again, reaching down and clasping Viral's shoulder for a second before placing his hands back in his lap again. "Having a problem isn't stupid, everyone has problems. It's what makes us alive, I guess? We're all imperfect, so things are going to happen like this. What we all have to do is learn to move on from things like this too, and not let it define who we are. Like I said, everyone knows you're not some monster, we know you better than that. And uh... Well... If you feel like you need help with this then you can always come to us, seriously. We're all comrades here, all friends, and we're even like a family I guess. Don't be afraid to reach out for support Viral, yeah? Because we're always happy to give it. We'll help you beat this thing, we promise."

Garesh didn't want to come across as rude in his surprise, and it was rather hard not to be surprised. It was certainly his son still, that much was discernible. The degree to which he had changed though, there were barely enough features to figure out who it was. Facial recognition aside he might not have known who the large Kaesstrian was, and he'd certainly not have guessed it to be his child. After making a remark on his appearance T'charrl instantly became defensive and worried, not something that the General wanted. Letting him finish his little bout Garesh smiled sadly, placing his own hand over the Prince's on his head.

"Why are you apologizing, T'charrl? You're a hero, you don't have to apologize for anything," Garesh said simply, giving his son's hand a patting. "So you over did things a little bit, and... So you may be a little different. Or... A lot different. My point is that you're still my son, I can tell that much hasn't changed. And I'm certainly not going to think any less of you due to what's happened."

So this was what his power was capable of then? The other day, asking for a demonstration, was this what he would have seen? T'charrl mentioned absorbing a great amount of energy, so possibly not. Garesh wasn't even sure what that meant in all honesty, he was lost as to how this energy of his worked at all. His son was different now, yes, and it would take some getting used to. Like Eslaria before him however the General was a fair bit open minded, and not so easily frightened off by his child's new look. He had become larger, and the orbs on his person were curious, but the word "monster" was certainly not what he'd use to describe the boy.

"This is going to take some getting used to, but it'll work out, I know it will." Smiling kindly Garesh eased himself into the Queen's seat, nonchalantly grabbing himself a plate and beginning to load it with food. Best to show he wasn't upset by things, that ought to help his son's nerves. "As far as I'm concerned you're still my son, and we're still going to practice. Just because you're a little bigger than your father doesn't excuse you from training, so don't think a few words are going to scare this grizzled warrior away."
Garesh chuckled to himself, placing a filled plate before him and looking up to Katas, speaking in a plain yet ordering manner. "Well? Sit down and eat man, before it goes cold."

Katas was busy looking at T'charrl, a bit captivated by him. It wasn't disgust or fear that had him entranced, but rather mystery. A warrior first and foremost he was also scientifically inclined second, and had a fair amount of knowledge at his disposal. What the Prince had become was well outside of his understanding, and that made him terribly eager to try and figure out what had happened. It might be a bit invasive to do so, yet he had to at least ask a few questions. Before a single word could slip out his superior told him to have some food. Rousing himself from thought Katas smiled apologetically, nodding his head. The only seat available was where Takeshi had been sitting, between Shu and Choi. Grabbing himself a plate then the Captain took a healthy helping of fruit, easing his large frame in between the two boys before beginning to eat.

[Mogtaki]

Viral was just at the point where he was completely fed up with it all, his stance on keeping it quiet when everyone seemed to know about it had really broken him to the point of giving up. If they didn’t act like he was ill or weak then he wouldn’t end up feeling so angry over it but as it stood they were apparently too concerned with everything about him and just didn’t want to leave him alone. Maybe if he was alone he wouldn’t have this problem, just complete isolation like he had planned back on the other planet. They would have to let him go sometime, even if it meant to his death in a battle no one could ever hope to survive from.

Looking to Takeshi when he spoke up, he soon simply sighed and looked elsewhere as he contemplated just rolling over and trying to rest again. He didn’t get it, no matter how much he tried to understand it the guy was just going to turn it back to himself every single time. It wasn’t that he killed people, that was something Vegeta had been trying to prevent him from doing all his life, but it was absolutely everything else leading from it and before that which was the problem. Maybe it was the fact that he was a natural killer that bothered him, but trying to eat his victims had just stepped over the line and his hidden past as to why he had such instincts implanted in the first place made him really confused and sorrowful over killing the two people who mattered most in his and Vegeta’s lives.

Slowly rubbing his forehead, Viral let Takeshi talk with a glance at him before letting out a huff. The guy never had to worry over what he was created for; he had plenty going on in his life and could change everything about being a Saiyan Prince, but being created with a set of abilities that could only cause absolute destruction and fear when you were meant to be a guardian created so much conflict in a one-track mind. Moving his paw when Takeshi took hold of his shoulder, he stared at it before watching as it was moved away, letting out a sigh when he offered support, “You think it’s that simple…? The only one who knew anything is dead…because of me! Not even Vegeta knows everything”, he spoke, trying to push himself up but not really getting far when things got dizzying, “None of you know me, not even I know myself! What’s to stop me from doing that to Vegeta…? What’s to stop me from killing all of you?”

Opting to lay down again he removed his arm, sliding back onto the pillow as he scratched his chest, “Killing is in your blood, you’re naturally good at it and no matter what your brother thinks he is too. What is supposed to be in my blood? Is it even blood? I’ve lost my marbles already over all that, I should have been able to control myself, but I couldn’t. Am I any different from your father? The man who tortured me and tested what I could survive from that would otherwise kill any normal creature? I’ve been frustrated over my past all my life, now all it’s doing is catching up with me and I can feel the end in sight, so why bother waiting for it to happen?”

T’charrl was a little afraid to how his father might react, whether he would be guilty for being curious about his abilities or if he would say he’d accept it but in reality he was heartbroken as their future plans were destroyed. He knew about those in the past who had the same ability as his, but whether they ever broke out of their shell and became something else was completely lost to him and there was no doubt that they never had to be in the public eye as a member of royalty. Lowering his head a little he let out a sigh, waiting for the inevitable tone of disappointment until he felt his hand being patted, his eyes looking up with concern. Frowning a little he listened to his father, lowering his head again, “You’ve not seen what my mother’s seen of me…or the Saiyans here…”

That was probably the biggest problem right now and when it might occur, even whether the night might bring it out like all those stories of night monsters he read when he was a kid; those stories had to have come from somewhere, after all. The good thing was T’charrl had managed to expel the energy in the end once his powers advanced his body, but the bad thing was whether people would accept him or if he would have to hide away for good.

Frowning, he watched his father take a seat and calmly began to take what food he wanted, his hunger coming first over concern it seemed. He didn’t mind that, he’d rather his father wasn’t put off from eating because of it all and made him feel a little better that he wasn’t stressing over it too much. Smiling a little at the talk of training, he lowered his head again before his eyes went to Katas who was having a good stare at him. Feeling a little embarrassed over that he scratched at his head, waiting until he had sat down before he let out a sigh, frowning a little, “I-I suppose I should explain the, umm, the tree too”, he spoke, feeling a little put off from mentioning that considering everyone in the city could now see it, “When I expelled the energy into the ground, I didn’t think there would be anything there…but I accidentally charged part of our sacred tree. I can feel it’s connected to our own…and it won’t stop yelling at me for doing that in such a nasty part of the city…”

[GambolMuse]

"None of us think or worry you're going to kill us, Viral. We know you wouldn't do it, and that you would stop yourself before you ever could." Takeshi replied, smiling sadly. "The fact that you're just yourself right now is proof that this creature inside of you, or the other you, whatever it is, you're stronger than it. You are the one in control, and we all recognize that. Maybe when against someone who means nothing to you it's easier to let it assume control. I know I could never hurt any of you intentionally, yet you saw what I did to the soldiers. We trust you, and we have faith in your ability to remain in control, even if you don't. And no matter what happens we're not going to doubt you, or shun you, or whatever you might think we'll do. Because at the end of the day you're our friend and we're not going to abandon you."

Viral had a fair point in that none of them were quite certain how he worked, and that did indeed include himself. The same could be said to some degree for Shu, and perhaps even the rest of them as well. Saiyans were curious creatures, and they were young. It was very possible there were talents or abilities not yet tapped into, ones that may be reminiscent of or even overshadow Viral's other form. At the end of the day there was a lot of mystery, and not all of it stemmed from the Beastman. Especially in the case of Takeshi and Shu, two people who had rather unusual upbringings. Had they been raised by their parents, the Saiyan reflected, they'd have far more of a grip on themselves. As it stood however Shu had a form that he had little to no control over, and it terrified him. Conversely, Takeshi had his blind rage, which while it had simmered down he was still perfectly prone to suffer from. What's more, it was possible that Yumi now possessed some kind of change as well, considering she was a Beastman too. It was a fair claim that Viral was making, but he certainly wasn't the only one not completely certain of themselves.

When Viral compared himself to the king Takeshi immediately tensed up. He didn't know where on earth his friend had drawn that comparison from, or how on earth he might think they were similar. The very suggestion of it made the Saiyan frown in displeasure, and he immediately shook his head dismissively.

"I know you're nothing like my father, and again, so does everyone else. You raised Vegeta and Yumi, and made them into great people. That alone is something my father never did, certainly not for us. You don't derive pleasure in causing others pain, you don't subject others to your rule just because you can. And you definitely don't torture your own kin or those close to you for personal gain. You're absolutely nothing like him, you're a thousand times better than he is, and you always will be."

Takeshi was a fair bit upset now, and earnestly distraught for Viral. Was that what he saw himself as? An equivalent to the Saiyan king? His father was a monster, a true monster, no doubt about it. Viral had some skeletons in his closet, and yet even with some rough edges was certainly a good man. No one was perfect after all, and that included each and every one of them.

"Look... We wouldn't be so keen on helping you if we thought you were a bad guy. We wouldn't have stuck up for you in front of Korian and the rebels, and we wouldn't be trying to help now. You're a good guy Viral, honestly. You hit a rough patch and are working through it, and with enough time you will recover. As for it being the end for you, it's not. Maybe it's the end of something else, I don't know, but you're going to keep on fighting with us, I just know you will." Takeshi smiled slightly as he drew up his knees, folding his arms across them as he looked down at the grass around his feet. "As lousy as life can get, everything has a tendency to work out. Things get better eventually, just sometimes not as quickly as we'd like. So that means that we've all got to hang in there, you know? Keep fighting until we don't have to anymore." He took pause again, lifting a hand to scratch at his cheek before looking back to Viral. "We've all got faith in you to come back from this, none of us have ever thought this was going to beat you. We've never given up on you, just think about that."

Garesh was fairly hungry, and figured eating would be a nice way to break the ice and settle things. There was definitely a little shock over T'charrl, but regardless of that he was still irrefutably the General's son. As such he wasn't going to shun the boy, no matter what may happen to him. They just weren't that kind of family, as after all it was family that one could always rely on. If he or Eslaria had turned there backs on T'charrl, who would he have then? Taking his first bite of food Garesh glanced sidelong at the Prince, his interest piqued at the mention of the tree. Sure, he'd seen it, as had everyone else. Quite a few people had passed by in fact while they were outside, all heading in to investigate the curious growth. He'd had no clue how it had gotten there, and now his son was offering the explanation. Surprised by the events that brought it about Garesh lowered his utensils, taking a moment to mull over what he was told.

"So that tree is the same as the sacred tree in our city then...?" he mumbled thoughtfully. "And it's not happy where it is now? That's what you're telling me?"

Curious, he hadn't thought something like that to be possible. So did that mean the two cities were now entwined with one another? In a way that was a good thing, it meant that Eslaria's dream of a unified Kaesstra had been realized. Perhaps not in the way she had envisioned but still, her dream had been met. Looking across to Katas for a moment the General then turned to his son, smiling as he reached over and patted his arm gently.

"Well, I suppose the only option is to make that spot nicer then? We'll have workers begin to level the buildings around where it sprouted, and we'll plant a massive garden around it in their stead. Anyone who lost their homes as a result will be built new ones, and everything then should be fine, no? Does that make the tree happy?"

[Mogtaki]

Viral just wanted to be left alone for now before he just ended up hurting himself, as usual. It was always the case since he got out that he was injured and couldn’t recover very well, if at all. Takeshi didn’t need to worry about that problem, he would eventually heal without so much as a scratch unless it was a terrific injury, but even then scars were something Saiyans gloated over and even humans went as far as to show off theirs. Viral had many scars, some he didn’t even know where they came from. Everything about his previous existence before Vegeta opened up his container was a complete mystery and it made him confused, his existence not opening up to him at all as he continued to search for it.

Humans were such cruel creatures for ever doing this to him, creating a creature and never giving any hint to what his true purpose was. Whether they had made him to destroy or to protect created a very fine line between two polar opposites. Looking to Takeshi as he spoke in total confidence about his ability to control himself, the guarantee that he believed that he would never hurt any of them. Just what did he know, he didn’t know whether he could and was simply assuming such a thing.

He didn’t know what to make of that, but all it managed to do was bring him back to when he nearly killed Vegeta when he first set sight on the very same form that killed his parents. There was another thing; he had killed his own creator out of cold blood. Just what was stopping him from killing the people who called him their friend? He could turn around and cleave them and that would be it, leaving them with one last living memory of him over their bloodied corpses as their belief in his control shattered. Images continued to flash in his mind of that, his eyes closing for a moment as he tried to make them disappear but they just wouldn’t leave him. Gasping a little he placed his paw on his chest, finding it hard to breathe as it felt like his windpipe was being crushed by false hope.

Letting out a choking cough he slowly pushed himself up and onto his forearms, his eyes staring up at Takeshi at his continued vote of confidence in his sanity. Good guys don’t kill out of cold blood, they don’t lose control of their abilities. It was all giving him a panic attack as it continued to attack his mind with horrible images, the screams never leaving him and the awful names he was given when truths over his existence were handed to him by those who tortured him, “Things get better?? Just how-…how do they??” he spoke, sounding as if he was struggling to breathe, “You’re better off placing your faith in someone else! Just what do you know what I’ve done…? Even I don’t know what I’ve done! Your belief in me is false…how many times have I been in control of myself??”

Slamming his fist into his sternum to try and get him breathing again he fell back, his paws raising themselves onto his head and pressed against his forehead. Just what control was Takeshi talking about, there was absolutely none there and it would only further delve into non-existence the further along the line he got. He could only beat himself up about it; his pitiful weakness shouldn’t even be visible to the public eye concerning that. Letting out a groan, he tried to control himself before muttering lowly, “I could easily become like your father when you’re all gone…and just what is there to stop me…”

What worried T’charrl the most about what he had managed to do to the tree was definitely the thought that it might end up being chopped down, all because it was a possible nuisance being where it was. It didn’t blot out the sun, its leaves and flowers definitely providing a little shelter but the sun’s rays shone through regardless and reflected off the shining leaves. He was scared over what he had done and how angry it seemed as a result, despite it flowering and awaiting pollination. Nodding a little when his father asked about it further, he gave him a quick look before his eyes were directed out the window, “I didn’t mean to upset it, I was just trying to get rid of the energy…” he sighed, his antennae lowering themselves, “I couldn’t send it into the air, it would had exploded and infected the city…”

T’charrl had done all that he could had done with that energy, but he should had really watched what he was doing and shouldn’t had been so hasty to release it. Whether the tree would get used to having part of itself sticking out like a sore claw could only be a case of waiting and seeing what the future held, if anything at all. Letting out a sigh he lowered his head, frowning a little until his father reached out and touched his arm, his eyes going to his claws before to his father.

Looking to his father, he stared at him curiously at his suggestion of touching up the area, he tilted his head a little before looking out to the window again, trying to imagine what that would be like. It would be similar to what they had done in their own home, possibly, the very thought of people losing their homes over it though made him a little scared. Rubbing the orb protruding from his chest thoughtfully, he looked down for a moment before turning to his father, smiling a little, “It…sounds great. I would feel a lot better about that, maybe the tree would too”, he spoke, lowering his head back down again, “You know, part of me makes me think that maybe…people like me…were supposed to look after the tree…”

[GambolMuse]

Takeshi wanted to help Viral out, and make him feel better about his situation in turn. What he hadn't been wanting to do was send the guy into a panic attack. Unfortunately, the latter seemed to be what was happening. This wasn't what he wanted, not at all. None of them wanted to see the Beastman suffering like this, and every single one of them had tried their hand at helping. The fact he still was this way made it seem like an inadequacy on their parts, or that's how the Saiyan felt about it anyways. For them to go and claim being friends then being unable to help anything seemed awfully hypocritical and an empty promise. It almost seemed like for a split second there they might be making some leeway though, in spite of clearly ruffling some feathers. If careful enough maybe they could finally make some headway in helping get Viral back to his old self. As to how precisely things got better Takeshi couldn't say. He just knew they did, that's all. His life had most certainly, and so had everyone else's around him. In his mind things had a way of working out after so long, just the period of time could vary from person to person. For Viral, that period seemed indefinite right now.

"The only thing stopping you is you..." Takeshi said, frowning to himself. "But... Like I said, we all believe you're in control. The only way you'd ever be like my father is if you let yourself become that. The problem is though you're not that person, we all know you're not. I... I don't know... You've got to see what we see in you, maybe. We don't see you as this monster, no matter what you believe. And I'm certain we're not the only ones that think that way. The reason we've all got confidence in you is because we know you're a good person, Viral. We know that you are the one in control, not your other form. We all believe that you can reign in that power if you believe you can, and that no one else can really command you to do anything. All my father did was exploit a weakness... He did that with all of us. There's no shame in an opponent taking advantage of something like that, and there's not even shame in hurting afterwards."

This was hard, playing doctor like this. Finding the right words was near impossible, and it just was starting to sound redundant. What were you supposed to tell someone with this kind of issue anyways? They had all already tried consoling Viral and arguing against his beliefs, that hadn't done anything. But if that wasn't the route to take then what was? The problems seemed obvious enough, and yet the solutions to them were as elusive as ever. All knowing the issue did was make them want to find the answer even more, and constantly falling short was a terribly infuriating thing.

"You're in control of yourself right now, you know." Takeshi pointed out, smiling faintly. "Think about it... Right now you're not that healthy, definitely not in your peak condition. And yet... Where is this monster...? If it's so violent and can emerge at any second, why isn't it doing that now, when it might be easier? I think... And this might just be me talking... The reason is because you're in control." Turning himself around the Saiyan faced Viral completely, leaning back and putting his arms out at his sides, again gazing up at the clouds. "Except for those rare moments when you get angry, like any of us, you're always in control. That's why we all put our faith in you, and why we're confident in you. It's why we all believe you will get better, and why we know you'll be among the strongest of us all. It's because no matter what, you always regain control. You have this... Inner strength, something that I don't even think any of us have. If we were in your position we would have given up long ago, I think. I know I would have. But, even if you don't know it, you're refusing to. You're still fighting, and you'll keep fighting until you get better. Because that's who you are, you're a fighter. And a good person, and someone that doesn't say quit. It's the reason that a lot of us kind of look up to you, because in some ways we envy you."

So that was how the tree came to be. Handling that much power, it seemed unreal. Garesh could almost understand in a way why Yusef had become so crazed over obtaining it. While he himself had no desire of it he could see the potential, and for a visionary man like the General it was the key. Clearly they had been playing with fire however, and had gotten burned quite badly as a result. He had to wonder what the people of the city were thinking about right at this moment. No doubt they were already nervous at having their supposed leader being taken down, and the emergence of a towering plant couldn't help their nerves much. If the people knew what kind of crisis had been averted, and what T'charrl had done in stopping the General, then they'd most certainly put aside any animosity. The Prince would be honored as the hero he was, not as a terrorist or enemy to the state.

"That could be T'charrl... I don't know..." Garesh remarked, pausing briefly as he took a bite of food. "I can't think of there ever being someone like you before. It could well be they were kept secret, precisely for the reason why you should have been. To prevent anyone from coming after you. But... Somehow I don't think that you are meant to just tend to a tree... Perhaps, you're meant to do much greater things?"

Smiling kindly to his son the General set his hands on the table, looking across at Yumi and Shu. "Perhaps... If you'd all be so kind, my son might join you? He may not be safe here for a while until things settle down, and I can't think of any better hands to leave him in than yours. Perhaps you can even help him in controlling this power of his a little better." To T'charrl again, still smiling, Garesh reached over and patted the boy's back. "Only if you're interested in it of course. We're not going to force you into leaving us, we'd never do that. But think about it, this could be a chance to see new things, and learn to deal with this new ability. Maybe, if you want it too, it could lead to getting you changed back."

[Mogtaki]

Viral could barely take it right now and just wanted Takeshi to take his food and go back in the house, seeing as how he was either going to hurt himself from thinking too much or end up harming him in return. His head was throbbing right now; a headache that could only come from the stress he was feeling over Takeshi’s little chat. The pain was getting to be a little overbearing to put it lightly, as if he had too many drinks the night before; speaking of, all he wanted to do was grab a drink and forget all of this. These aliens probably didn’t even know how to ferment the abundant fruit to make alcohol, definitely a disappointment on their part.

Slowly rolling over onto his front, he batted away the pillow and gave his head a rub as he looked to Takeshi who continued to talk about it. Even Takeshi sounded confused over what he was saying; he really had no clue what he was talking about by the sound of it. Takeshi sounded like he was in great doubt; he continued to raise a point only to contradict it in hopes that he was correct. Lowering his head he gave it a slow rub, trying to ease the pain through all the confusion before looking at his own paw. A monster was defined as a cruel creature that held no remorse for its current actions, he can’t remember feeling anything when he killed or caused great levels of destruction. He enjoyed it, the last time he remembered feeling the overwhelming pride and a true sense of dominance and everytime he had been called out as a monster.

All these false beliefs they held in him was ultimately ridiculous, it was all out of control and all reflected back to his own sense of control. They were trying so hard to deny everything they had seen from him, even Takeshi knew he was lying through his teeth when he had been so ready to think such things when he couldn’t see it was him. Vegeta had been so ready to kill him upon seeing his more monstrous form, he was even ready to kill him after he had changed back and during the trial. Vegeta was probably still broken over finding out such a thing; his entire life destroyed all because he couldn’t keep control and simply hiding it away for Yumi’s sake.

What did Takeshi know of control? All these lies being fed to him like he was some naïve child was just becoming too much to handle when he knew it was all lies. He had no self-control, he could barely breathe right now and that hardly was something he would call ‘control’. Just what a pathetic pile he was, a creature with no sense of belonging in a world and absolutely zero confidence in his own mind. Everything continued to rush back at him, slapping him mentally until it began to hurt just too much.

Keeping his paw pressed to his forehead, he looked up at Takeshi as he stumbled on the idea of inner strength. That didn’t make any sense, as if he was simply trying to deny any and all facts that he had lost the battle long ago and was just waiting for the inevitable death that would come soon after. He was just a disgrace, he couldn’t even live up to these lies and it was even worse when he couldn’t lie to himself to make him feel better. Growling lowly, he glared at Takeshi, moving his paw, “What control…? Any second?? I am too weak…” he muttered, holding his chest, “’Always in control’ is certainly a stretch when my very problem is I lack it!”

Takeshi knew nothing, he probably didn’t even know what inner strength was when he was simply insisting on using it to make him feel better. There was no such thing as inner strength, especially with someone like him, “I was created to fight…or was I? I don’t know, because all that is lost to me! Just what purpose is there to me?? I’ll fight with the hope to die in battle…like I’m supposed to! You better stop thinking there’s anything to envy or look up to before I get sick of your lies…”

T’charrl was feeling pretty confused, especially over his own existence and just why he was born with such abilities. It certainly didn’t help that there was either nobody else with these abilities or they were taking the hiding thing completely seriously, never wanting to show themselves for fear of being scrutinised because of what they were. He was the same until he met the aliens, it was definitely a desperation attempt incase it was something the General was trying to take from him and in the end that was the case. If he could find the reason why these abilities exist then he could feel some sort of relief, but that didn’t appear to be the case at all.

Looking to his father, it appeared he had some doubts over that possibility and saw something else in it instead, his mind going elsewhere in that regard. Scratching his neck a little he tilted his head, letting out a sigh, “Well, I tried to keep myself a secret, but I guess the General saw me do something or knew what to look for”, he sighed, looking to his father again, “Greater things? I-I don’t know, like what…?”

When his father’s attention shifted away from him, he looked to Yumi and Shu as well just wondering what he was going to say before gasping a little, his eyes quickly turning back to his father. That was some proposal; these guys were space travellers and that was an awfully big step to take for any Kaesstrian. Looking between them quickly he could only wait to see what was said as his mind tried to adjust to such a massive thought process being laid upon him, “I-uhh-woah-umm…that’s a lot to take in…” he said, rubbing his head at the thought of it. Going with them would be dangerous, he knew that, but he would also be with great warriors who he happened to consider his friends and held great power too. He was definitely scared of his new form, but whether they would want that as a burden themselves was something he wasn’t sure if they’d want to consider.

Shu had just finished his food when the General turned to them, the prospect of taking T’charrl along with them suddenly coming to light. Gasping a little at the question, he looked to Yumi quickly and bounced a little on his chair, getting all excited over the thought, “Ooh! Ooh! Should we? Will we? Maybe?? Friends! Many friends!” he squeaked, getting a little too bouncy before he sat back down in his chair, holding his head painfully, “Ooh ohh, ow ow ow…that hurts…”

[GambolMuse]

"Viral... You don't lack control... Really. You're in control now, aren't you? Despite your worries it's you that's here, not your other form. Doesn't that mean you're in control of it?"

Takeshi didn't know how to make the Beastman see things his way, he didn't know what else could be said. No one except for Viral thought of himself this way, yet no matter what was said none of them could change his mind. Perhaps everyone had to get together and try to reassure him? It could well be that one on one just wasn't working, maybe he had to hear it from all of them. Or it could be that nothing they were saying had any effect whatsoever. Everyone who had tried so far hadn't gotten anywhere productive, and it didn't seem like Takeshi was going to have much more luck either. If none of his friends could be of any use then who would?

"I don't know why you're asking me about purpose, honestly. I'm not trying to be rude about it, but that's not something we can tell you. Finding your purpose is something you have to do for yourself. We can only help so much really." Takeshi said, smiling apologetically. "And I'm not lying, honestly. I... Can't believe I'm saying it, but I do envy you." Taking pause he looked away for a second, and his cheeks flushed a soft pink. "All the way back to when we met. I couldn't beat you when we first fought, then fight after fight you seemed to do so much better than I had. You were more of an opponent to the Saiyans than I was, and before that, when we fought the Red Ribbon Army together, you were the one standing up to them. And I just know that once you get better you'll be right at the front of things again. I miss fighting alongside you, and so do the others. You're one hell of an ally to have during a battle and we all want that back."

Putting his pride aside for the time being to say all that made Takeshi feel rather silly. Not because of how he envied Viral, that wasn't the issue. Realizing how idiotic he had been before, thinking he had to beat his friend in terms of strength and be better. He'd been so obsessed with power and had treated the guy like just some obstacle, always trying to outdo him. Now that he could look back on it all he felt absolutely terrible, it was a selfish and arrogant thing to do.

"Look... I've never had a ton of people around me growing up, never like this... So I might not say it a lot, but I really appreciate having you all around me, and I don't want to go back to being alone." Takeshi sniffled softly, drawing his knees to his chest once again and hugging them tightly. Talking about things like this was... Different, but it felt relieving at the same time. He'd certainly never have thought it'd be with Viral either. "Before I met Shu there was no one else around to talk to. I left my master and had lived on my own for a long while, and I was so lonely. When I first met my brother I was a jerk to him to, but he didn't turn me away. Neither did Yumi, or Vegeta. And I owe them so much for that. And... That just leaves you. And I know I messed up with you. I was a jerk, I was rude and I even forgot about you. I'm sorry, okay? I'm so sorry for all of that... But I don't want to lose you either. You're... I don't know... Like a big brother, or something. I don't know how a family works, but I'd be very glad if I could count you as part of it. And to do that we've got to get you better."

Garesh didn't know how Yusef discovered his son's abilities. In fact he was fair certain none of them did, which raised a great many questions. Now was not the time to address those however, there was already plenty going on as it was. Thanks to Garesh's own questions a new issue was brought up, namely how T'charrl would learn to cope with his ability. There was most certainly not anything on Kaesstra to help him, no one they knew of shared in his power. There were others however to might be of assistance, others in the form of the Prince's friends. They had unique abilities that could well be like his, and who better then to train him in its use? Proposing that idea he wasn't at all surprised when Shu bought into the idea more than eagerly. One vote wasn't going to completely sway things however, they'd need a group consensus to let T'charrl join.

"I don't see why not, we're already bringing in more people. What's one more?" Yumi smiled across to T'charrl, folding her hands on the table. "I think it's a really good idea. You'd definitely be safe with us, and we'd be more than happy to bring our friend along! You can be the first one to travel in space too, isn't that something?"

"I'm all for it. It's a fair bet to say he won't be safe here for long, not when so many people have seen him." Vegeta spoke, folding his arms with a small smile. "He'll have to expect to pull his own weight from time to time, everyone does their part. But if everyone else is okay with it then I've got no complaints."

"I say he's coming too!" Kabocha declared, grinning as he gave T'charrl a thumbs up. "The more the merrier, or something like that. And we can always use someone who can heal in bad situations, it'd definitely be handy. Then we can gloat we've got something the king doesn't!"

[Mogtaki]

“Control is more than simply my ‘other form’, but what would you understand? You didn’t create me, what would you know…” Viral didn’t understand how Takeshi continued to think that with no real thought being put into it, but what did it matter, anyway. None of that should be a concern right now, his mind driven too far from those thoughts and now his mind had sunk into black hole that he couldn’t climb out of. They would probably put him back on Earth now that he was back with them but showing how incredibly useless he was if it wasn’t for the dangers he take with him, especially when instability of one’s natural abilities was definitely one of the most dangerous aspects of him being near simple humanoids.

Why wasn’t Takeshi leaving him alone, he had said all he needed to say, surely becoming bored and frustrated with being unable to get through to him like Vegeta desperately tried to do. Waiting for his final battle proved to be difficult when there was so many who were insistent on keeping him alive for whatever reason. Wanting to just walk off and go elsewhere, he couldn’t get the strength to push himself off the ground. Grumbling in defeat, he looked to Takeshi, hardly believing a word he was saying, “I lost to the Saiyans first! The Army wants me dead or alive…they don’t care about my fate and will come back for me again”, he spoke, looking away, “I was standing up to them because I was at risk…I had to defend myself…and they were humans!”

Just why was Takeshi bringing up all this when it was absolutely of no use, especially considering everything he had ever done had been an active loss. Even when he was trying to win in skirmishes he lost, trying to fight for his own pride was always a loss too. Slowly rubbing his head as his defeats could only circulate through his mind, feeling only further weakness before Takeshi spoke again, his tone changing somewhat as he decided to get emotional instead.

Viral couldn’t handle that kind of talk, Takeshi turning it to a confession session of his own with the point being awfully far away from his own. Slowly rolling over and facing the opposite way, he lay down again with his hand resting his head as opposed to having the pillow, letting Takeshi talk to see if he could get his point across for this little confiding session he insisted on going through. Looking briefly over his shoulder for a moment when his point was finally arriving, he sighed and rolled his head back around, closing his eyes briefly as if looking like he was trying to rest. Takeshi didn’t sound like he knew what he was saying, his words sounded unfocused and just something he was spurting out in hopes that it made sense, only proving to confuse him to what his point actually was.

“Yeah, you don’t know how family works. What I am is nothing like a big brother”, he spoke, scratching his claws through his hair, “A big brother protects the younger siblings, they have to…and just what protection have I provided? None. If you wanted me to be compared to anything, it’d be the family pet”. He had caused a lot of terrible situations with his constant failure, it all feeling like he would be better off on a leash and kept away from trouble, “You have family, you have no other reason to include me other than because you simply want to try and find the tiniest excuse to keep me around. You were fine when you had forgotten me because you had your brother, that is why it didn’t exist as a thought that I was still missing. You’re not lonely anymore and you weren’t lonely when you found your brother. I am something you don’t know; nobody knows, except those who wish to use me like an expensive toolkit”.

T’charrl was feeling fairly nervous all over again over the thought, especially when none of his species has ever left the planet. He would panic if it was something he feared, but quite frankly he didn’t. Not knowing where his powers would lead him was half the battle and he could only hope that he could come back stronger and in better control, his main worry being generally whether he could keep control of his monstrous form. It would probably come in handy in battle, but generally the pain aspect was his big worry and being consumed in its power was another.

Tapping his claws together with anticipation, he stared at Yumi as he waited for her decision, his antennae picking up when he was given a positive answer. Looking between Shu and Yumi, he smiled nervously before nodding, “Y-Yes! It is! Ohhh man, big steps…with people I know…” he spoke, lowering his head briefly before turning to Kabocha, smiling when he accepted it too, “Really…? Oh, yeah, the healing…I can do that…definitely…”

Kai and Choi looked between each other, the situation turning out to be pretty good seeing as how it was T’charrl’s own father that had come to suggest his going into space. It saved them a ton of trouble, but they still needed to confront the mother and when T’charrl was so close to her it might end up being a little awkward. There were methods of communication if the guy ever got homesick, so long as it was anything to keep him with them for as long as possible, “We can give you something to keep in touch with T’charrl, sir”, Kai spoke up, pushing his empty plate away, “We’re pretty technologically efficient and a radio signal should be easy to configure so it only takes in one signal instead of allowing the energy to mess it up, so long as it’s kept in one place on this planet which shouldn’t be a problem. The more movement the system goes through, the worse the signal becomes, so there’s that”.

[GambolMuse]

Okay, so everything he was saying was backfiring. Rather than making any sort of progress it looked like they were backtracking, and if anything making matters worse. Apparently the only thing he was capable of doing then was making things worse, was that it? Takeshi even opted to let out a little emotion for a change and that didn't do a whole lot. Regardless of what was said to Viral it either fell on deaf ears or was completely rejected. The Saiyan looked to his friend as he spoke, his mouth pulled down in a sorrowful frown the entire time as he listened. Having his episode of forgetting Viral being used as ammunition against him really hit him hard. It was something he hadn't been proud of since the moment he'd realized what had been done, and had only festered since. Being scrutinized and having his own words thrown back in his face made Takeshi feel awfully small all of a sudden. These attempts on his behalf were as earnest as could be, he wanted things to get better. With how things were going it didn't seem probable.

"Viral... I'm sorry... I'm sorry I forgot you when we were all captured by my father, I mean it. If I could change that so I hadn't then I would, believe me. And... I know it's selfish... But I'm not happy with just Shu..." Takeshi gave a frustrated shake of his head, rubbing at his face before looking at the ground dismally. "No... That's not right. I'm happy with him... There's always room for more though. I went from having no one to having a brother, and then Yumi gradually became like family, and even Vegeta. I want you in that too, and because of that I care about you... You know? Like I said... You're like an older brother or something... I don't know, an uncle maybe..."

The Saiyan chuckled bitterly, shaking his head as he sniffled again. What did he know about families other than second hand accounts? Viral was right, he was clueless. His own family was just his brother and father, and he scarcely counted the Saiyan king among that. The fact of the matter was he wanted to make every single person around him count, that included Viral.

"We know enough of you to understand we want to keep you around..." Takeshi continued, shifting about in his spot uncomfortably. "Not as a tool... Like I said... As a friend. Someone that we like to have around, and an ally for fighting. And seeing you like this... It sucks. We don't want you to hurt, we don't want you to feel bad or doubt yourself. And... Those things you did... Like I said, you can't blame yourself for them... It wasn't really you..." With a sad sigh the Saiyan got himself up to his feet, offering a meek smile as he dusted himself off. "The food's there if you want it... I'm going to go back inside. I hope you feel a little better soon."

The overwhelming support for T'charrl was touching, everyone seemed to agree with it. To have friends like this, there was no greater luxury in life. All of their social standing and royalty would never afford the Prince something like this, he was truly blessed. Garesh smiled gratefully as everyone made their thoughts known, finally nodding his head in thanks to them all. It would be a tough journey, both for T'charrl and his parents. They had never been separated before really, certainly not to a degree such as this. He would grow for it though, and see things that their people had only ever dreamed of before. In a small way he was envious of his son, yet certainly more happy for him. When he would finally return to them, and he would, his life would be enriched beyond what any of them could ever achieve. Or, maybe not. Who knows, they may even join him in the stars soon enough. All of these possibilities were bringing a new light into things, and a very bright future laid before the Prince, Garesh was certain of it.

"What if we created a relay system of sorts...?" Vegeta suggested, looking to Kai thoughtfully. "If we can find a means of tapping into Saiyan communication centers, like the one we took over with the rebels, we can extend communications infinitely. And all I would have to do is remove the communications from our ship and find somewhere to set it up here. Of course... Then we're without radio..."

"If I may... We may be able to replicate your systems, to some degree. I may be able to alter our own systems... If I can take a look at yours that is..." Katas tapped his chin in thought, humming softly as he mused things over. "And... It's an excuse to take a look at your technology! I've been trying to create a craft for some time now, and I've made a lot of progress with the resources available here. I'm still lacking something though, and perhaps I can find out what that is with your help!"

"I can't see any harm in indulging you," Vegeta answered, smiling amused. "I can certainly let someone else with a love for technology to give the ship a look over. We can do that once things are seen to here, and I'll see about leaving some instructions with you to get a radio established."

[Mogtaki]

It wasn’t that Viral was trying to make anybody feel bad, he was fairly against that unless they were his enemy; however, them all getting sad over him and trying to convince him that he shouldn’t be thinking this way was ultimately granting him the knowledge that everything was his fault. They wouldn’t be thinking that way or getting upset if they didn’t talk to him, but as it stood everyone was getting depressed around him. He just wanted to forget about all of it and got have to moan and groan about them bugging him, but if he silenced himself they’d only force it out of him and tell him not to keep things bottled up.

He would rather he kept it all bottled up and forget any of it existed, it would keep them happy when they had no knowledge that he had any problems at all. Having it being identified as an mental disorder just made him feel broken, his warrior pride crumbling pretty quickly everytime he was reminded of it. Keeping his eyes off Takeshi he frowned a little, not wanting to talk about family at all, “You should keep what you have and hope for more, just stop forcefully trying to include me”, he spoke, rolling over a little, “If I was created with the capability to have a family, then I would know what such a thing means…but I was not. It means NOTHING to me…”

Feeling ultimately fed up with being on the ground, there was only further lecturing from Takeshi before he bothered thinking about leaving. Looking to him quickly he let out a grumble, not feeling fully like he wanted to hang around here himself. They were all getting depressed because he wasn’t cut out to be a fully functioning warrior, that whole problem really complicated things, “If you don’t want those things to happen, then stop caring and upsetting yourselves”, he spoke, moving his legs a little, “Take the food with you. It’ll just go to waste…”

Kai didn’t want to use the phrase, but T’charrl was pretty much a mamma’s boy. It would probably affect his performance if he couldn’t see his mother once in a while and talk to her through some sort of communication, but so long as they could pinpoint a signal and keep a lock on it then it wouldn’t be so much of a problem. That was all he knew what to do during energy storms was to keep focused on that one signal and never change it, so long as the energy in the atmosphere never got worse.

Choi had no idea what they were talking about right now and just kept quiet, his eyes going to Yumi for a few moments as the others talked away. He hadn’t really managed to speak to Yumi much apart from when absolutely everyone was around him, it all making him a little anxious that he wasn’t going to get to talk to her when she was by herself once more. It was nice talking to her before, but everything on top of everything else was just proving to be too much and some quiet time with her proved hard to achieve. While he did get to talk to Kabocha, Takeshi or Kai, it was somewhat relieving to talk to a female warrior for once in his life.

T’charrl didn’t doubt that he wasn’t overwhelmed, but it was definitely a good kind of overwhelmed and wouldn’t have him losing control of his abilities anytime soon. He would probably have to give them details on what he knew he could do and how they might be able to help him with that, but he was still a little worried over everything too. Slowly rubbing the orb on his shoulder, he looked between Vegeta and Katas, smiling a little over their discussion. The very thought of going into space made him feel excited, his hands raising up to his face eventually before he let out a sigh at the thought of leaving the planet’s energy field. Other planets shouldn’t be too different and have their own energy sources, so long as the planet housed living creatures; they probably didn’t have as much life as his own, “This is all so much…I can’t wait for this, to fight like a warrior from the stars…I’ll get so strong…I’ll explore my powers to the fullest…”

[GambolMuse]

If it means nothing to you, Takeshi thought, then why was Viral always so upset over it? The guy always seemed so dreadfully lonely, and the solution to that, he had found, was to surround himself with family. In a way, he saw himself in the Beastman. By that they were both worse off when they had no one around them. He had very much been the same way before he met Shu, and never would have listened to a word that anyone said to the contrary. How things had changed though once he finally welcomed someone else into his life... Things had been rocky at first, sure, but over time he'd become better for it, that he was realizing now. All Viral had to do was take the same step in the right direction and recognize what he had around him. Maybe that wouldn't make him completely better, but Takeshi liked to think that perhaps it'd at least give himself something more to think about than his problems.

"You tell us to hope for more... And we do... We hope for you to be happy. That's all we want, and we're sorry if it comes across as trying to force things. We just want to help..." Takeshi shook his head again, sighing as he rubbed at his head, looking back at Viral sadly. "My life became a million times better when Shu came into it... He made me a lot happier. Everyone else has to, and that includes you. Just... Give it a little thought, if nothing else? You'd be amazed how much different your life can be if you let people into it."

Takeshi would leave the plate there, just in the off chance that Viral did choose to eat. Sending one last sad smile his friend's way the Saiyan went back to the house to relax. Since he'd already eaten a meal himself there wasn't much reason to go back to the kitchen. A conversation was being held in the room, and by the sounds of it there wasn't any particular need for him to be involved. Besides, they sounded happy, and he didn't want to bring anyone down by sharing how Viral was still struggling. Instead he opted to go to his and Shu's room, shutting the door silently behind him. So they'd be out of here pretty soon then, now that the General was captured. From here he wasn't too sure where they'd be heading next. Earth was still a long ways off, and they weren't exactly going to see the rebels any time soon. Chances were they'd be going to whatever world was next, wherever that might be. Somehow he doubted it was going to be quite as... Fun as this one had been. Then again maybe that was a good thing, they might actually get some time off for a change.

"And we'll help you do it T'charrl," Yumi said, smiling cheerfully across the table. "If you're going to be part of our group then you'll probably train with us. We'll figure out how your powers work and you'll be able to use them in no time! You'll be confident in your powers and you can fight with us even, if you want."

"Strength isn't everything, of course." Vegeta had to put his two cents in, giving Yumi a bit of an admonishing look before smiling at T'charrl. "Being able to fight is fine and all, but there's a lot more that you'll be able to do with your power. Healing is definitely a big one, you could do a lot of good with that. And, when you master it, you'll be able to confidently come back and lead your people. You'll grow in more than one way traveling around, trust us."

"Yeah, but he'll also be able to kick the butts of any jerks we come across!" Yumi exclaimed, grinning as she clenched her hands into fists. "It'll be great!"

Whatever T'charrl ended up doing with his abilities would ultimately be his decision and his alone. None of them would force him to become some kind of tool, or work for some power that he didn't believe in. Hell, the reason they were traveling as they were was precisely to oppose those kinds of things. They were a group, sure, but were here for their own reasons. Yumi smiled cheerfully at that, taking a glance around at everyone with her. With the exception of Katas and Garesh these people were going to be traveling with them, and they were going to become closer and closer as a team as a result. While the Saiyans were still going to take a little getting used to she even figured they'd warm up to her soon enough. And, given time, T'charrl would be considered as one of them, if he wasn't already.

Everyone finished eating not too long afterwards, and thankfully they had polished off nearly all of the food. That meant that cleaning was going to be a relatively quick job, and not nearly as many people would be needed as there had been with preparing it. On that note Yumi opted to clean up on her own, perfectly content with doing so while the others saw to their own matters. Chances were the General was going to be questioned now, which would take the boys away, as well as T'charrl, Katas and Garesh. Vegeta was opting to speak with Viral a little more, and see if there might be anything that could be done for him, like bringing him inside finally. That left the squad to essentially linger wherever they pleased, having earned their stay for helping bring the General down. Kabocha had opted to go to the family room, laying himself down on the couch in favor of taking a little nap. Yumi wasn't sure what the twins were going to do, she was already busy at washing away the grime on the dishes they had used. Really she wasn't sure why they should care about cleaning up, they'd be out of here soon enough. It just seemed like the polite thing to do, she supposed.