GambolMuse

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"Hey... I screwed up there, okay? Not you. At least you tried to help the guy," Takeshi argued, sighing before shaking his head in disgust with himself, "And you're still faster than me buddy, you know that. Hell, you're apparently braver than I am too." All over a stupid bug, of all the things for him to be afraid of. Shu had done something he hadn't been able to and arguably Viral was able to fight today because of the little guy's help, that was huge. It was a good thing he'd have his brother with him today too for that reason, even if he was more comfortable fighting these creatures. "I think he's fine on his own, he's the only guy without a partner, you know? And hey you kept Viral from getting really hurt yesterday so I know I'm safe with you. And I won't screw up like yesterday either, I've got your back." And anyone else during this fight, he wasn't going to screw up and let someone get hurt because of him again. Vegeta would probably be fine on his own, he was strong and smarter than any of them, he could handle himself. T'charrl had Haku with him too for whatever that was worth, they should be fine which left his place with Shu.

"I feel a little stronger too, I guess. A little bit of training helps," Haku said with a meek smile, "But a worm's still a worm, no matter how strong the worm gets." He couldn't shake that even now that he was thousands of miles away from the instructors, from all of the other troops who treated him like such. If he ended up playing second seat or backup to T'charrl then that was fine, he'd gotten to the point where he'd accepted that as his lot in life. He'd never be one of the Princes, really strong or respected, and he'd never be some high ranking soldier either. "Oh, well we should be fine still, you don't need to do any of that. Besides... Maybe when they close the rift the monsters will go too, we won't even have to worry about killing them all." That was if that worked, no one knew what was going to happen when the rift was closed. Haku was just happy he didn't have to go over to the other side himself and do it, the whole fighting these monsters was stressful enough without that.

Making Viral fight in this state wasn't right but they had little choice. They needed him for this, and even if he was weakened he was still perhaps their best chance at sealing the rift for good. If he stumbled during the fight because of his wounds she would try to be right there to help him, and if he needed to take a break because of his injuries she'd step in his place. Yumi was more than prepared for this, and even if she didn't have access to so many Beastmen powers like the others did she'd pull her weight still. Nodding at Viral's take on the creatures she smiled confidently, "Right, if we mix it up and keep them guessing I doubt they'll know what to do. Still need to be careful though, even dumb things are able to hurt you." Like some of the big lugs at a few dojos, mountains of men who couldn't dress themselves likely but sure packed a wallop. Just because something wasn't as smart as you didn't mean you should take it easy, there was always a chance to make a mistake. She was confident they would be fine and this would work, but she was expecting plenty of trouble along the way. "I want to figure out where these damn things are coming from already, know what we're really up against," Yumi muttered, pushing herself along and picking up speed, "I'm sick of them attacking people, it's time we start attacking them."

The scouts signaled for everyone to slow their pace as they neared the village, or where the village had once been. Up ahead was nothing but open land, a noticeable barren patch of dirt among the otherwise sprawling fields. Following the lead of the scouts everyone would stop several hundred meters away, too uncertain about whether or not they should approach. Among themselves the scouts discussed what their move should be before deferring it to the ones who would actually be fighting, figuring their part was done for the time being.

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

Alright, closing the thread, Mog just won it!

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"They're of a hive mind it seems, so yes, individually they are simple creatures," Vegeta reiterated, watching the scouts as they prepared for departure. "I'm simply stating from experience that the drones aren't too terribly difficult to deal with on their own. Of course we'll be approaching a rift and we have no idea what to expect there, so we'll still be cautious. And don't worry, we'll handle our end just fine." Provided no bugs appeared and scared Takeshi or Shu didn't unexpectedly transform, or T'charrl either for that matter. There was plenty that could go awry during this mission yet very little had to do with the beasts themselves and more their own number, or the rift behaving unexpectedly. Worrying about potential outcomes wasn't going to help them any though and they could only forge ahead and take whatever came their way in stride. With the scouts now ready to depart Viral's group took the lead, Vegeta and his team taking up the rear. Sending the Beastmen ahead simply made most sense to the Saiyan as they could easily dispatch the creatures, something that they as Ki users didn't have the luxury of.

Clearly something was bothering Shu and Takeshi's first thought was he was afraid of the fight ahead. Yet he thought back to what Viral and Vegeta had told him before and second guessed himself, becoming lost as he tried to find an alternative. The little guy did his nervous habits while they talked, pulling at his fingers and stammering a bit, so what was bothering him? Without a clue he smiled slightly, watching the others begin moving and patting Shu on the back to get him along as well. "Hey buddy? Uh... Thanks for yesterday, by the way... You were pretty awesome, you know?" Takeshi let out a sigh before smiling again, giving Shu a thumbs up and a nod of approval, "I kinda messed up huge but you helped and saved Viral, so uh... Nice job." He should give credit to his brother for that one, Viral had already gotten pretty cut up before Shu had gone and slammed the thing for the kill. Being afraid of their enemy shouldn't be an issue today, he was used to these things by now and had no problem fighting them, he wouldn't let himself freak out again over anything. More importantly too he'd do whatever he could to make sure no one ended up hurt, though given those in his group he doubted he'd be needed much.

"I mean, the l-last one we fought was that big one... And I haven't really fought any before. F-First experience was really lousy," Haku stammered with an uneasy laugh, rubbing at one of his arms, "I'm sure it will work out okay th-though..." It had to, they had plenty of strong people and this fight shouldn't be anywhere near as bad as the last time. Heck he probably wouldn't even have to do much fighting since he was paired with T'charrl, his friend was very strong and could easily handle the monsters himself. He would be there to help still, for whatever it was worth, and he'd protect the scouts too if he had to. "Uh... Your power by the way... I mean not the Ki stuff, is that good for killing these things?" Haku asked curiously, "Because uh... Ki doesn't do much to them right? S-So... I mean that makes you pretty lucky right?"

Yumi was keeping her head on a swivel as they ran, looking back and forth to make sure nothing was trying to get a jump on them. She doubted the rift would be so close to the village but better to be safe, didn't want to go running blindly into an ambush. With her ears turning to keep alert she looked to her side and to Viral, wondering what his thoughts on this was. "You're feeling okay after yesterday? Not too sore?" she asked in obvious concern, her eyes going to a few spots on his body where he had been struck. Now was hardly the time to be asking anyways, it wasn't like Viral would double back and not fight if he was still in pain. Glancing briefly back at everyone else she refocused her eyes on the space ahead, still not seeing anything that might suggest they were anywhere close. "When we do get through... We should probably stick together, huh? Until we know what we're facing over there. Just an idea, you're the one in charge here."

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

Game over man, GAME OVER! D:

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"We'll be right behind you to back you up if need be, don't worry. Just because I said you'll be point doesn't mean you're going in alone," Vegeta pointed out, watching as their scouts were outfitted with armor and weapons. They were prepared for battle though it was doubtful they would be fighting: still better to be ready to defend themselves if one of the monsters broke through their ranks. "To be fair we've battled these beasts. They're difficult to kill but we've not seen much that makes them a difficult opponent, that aside," Vegeta continued as he adjusted his battle armor, pulling at his right glove to get it to fit better, "You don't need to worry about my being arrogant, I know the risks and the potential trouble Eris and Orion may have. That being said these are relatively simple beasts, and unless we encounter a new variant like the plant on Namek I don't imagine it will take them too long to get into the pace of things." Come to think of it though Eris seemed to have a penchant for arrogance that rivaled Takeshi's, she may prove to be an issue. Unlike Takeshi however she appeared to have the competence in terms of combat to back up said arrogance, albeit she was still as prone to make a mistake as anyone regardless. "Everyone will have to be on their toes for this, especially your group. We'll do everything we can once you're on the other side, here's to hoping it all goes well."

Should he say something to Shu? He wanted to but he wouldn't even know where to begin with all of that, what he should say or what he even should apologize for. Aw who was he kidding, he had a load of things he ought to be apologizing for: doubting Shu's ability to fight and protect himself, and his brother being an outright coward were just the tip of the iceberg. Feeling Shu's eyes on him he glanced over at his brother, missing his gaze as well and seeing the younger boy looking awfully downtrodden. What was he so upset about now? Frowning to himself Takeshi rubbed the back of his neck before sighing, placing his hands on his hips and glancing up at the sky. "Won't be long now before we get moving, probably going to be one hell of a fight with these things, you know?" he asked as he glanced about at nothing in particular before finally setting his eyes on Shu. He probably should apologize but he couldn't bring himself to do it, not when he didn't know what to say. He'd just try being better then and see where that took them, and maybe after they finished kicking some monster ass he could say sorry. Reaching out he prodded Shu's forehead teasingly, smirking as he folded his hands behind his head. "You and I are going to fight together, right buddy? I mean almost everyone else is going to have a partner, so you'll be mine yeah? I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have."

It won't be that bad, everyone else is here too! You're with the Princes, and a commander, they'll handle it! Haku kept telling himself that but it wasn't doing much good to settle his nerves as he stood beside T'charrl, hands clenched and shaking at his waist. Funny thing too was once he got into the fighting he usually calmed down, or at least he was too focused on the fighting to notice how scared he was, but right now there was nothing keeping him distracted. Clicking his tongue a couple of times he looked up at T'charrl, not terribly relieved to see his friend appeared almost as uneasy about this as he felt. "S-S-So... These things, uh... Think we'll beat them?" he asked timidly, rubbing his hands together as he cast a look down at his feet, "I mean I d-doubt we'll lose, but... It's kinda... Oh I don't know... Scary? Saiyans are strong but, you know what you get with them... And other people too... But these things are just, wrong..." They did come from another world, another universe even, probably would explain why it was so strange and why the creatures just felt wrong being here. All the more reason to kill them, he guessed.

Preparations were finally completed as the scouts were armed, and nerves aside everyone else was ready to go as well. As it had been decided Viral's group would take point, the scouts directly behind him to act as guides and Vegeta's group bringing up the rear. With little combat capability of their own the scouts being in the middle served as much as protection for them, part of the agreement reached with the Chieftain; pride did not exist among these people, or if it did then they weren't so prideful as to be complete fools. Circling around the plateau they began to cut out across the fields again, the grasses shorter than before and broken up by occasional trees or other large fauna. The next village wasn't too far according to the scouts though their distances were unlike anything anyone was familiar with, so judging distance for themselves was impossible. They would simply have to follow the lead of the natives and hope they knew where they were going, otherwise they would be in for a very long day of travel.

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

By the time the sun was just stretching over the horizon and the village was coated in the soft glow of its rays everyone was gathered up, preparing to set out for the rift. No one knew for certain if it was truly out there or not, all they had to work off of was the disappearance of an entire village; they may be new to this world but vanishing villages couldn't possibly be a regular thing, something clearly was amiss here. A rift appearing seemed like the only plausible explanation and they would find if their assumptions were right nor not before long, the village wasn't too far. Along with their own number four scouts would be accompanying them, people who knew the lay of the land and, more importantly, the best way to approach the village without being seen. If the so called "Dark Ones" were indeed around still then it was in their interest to sneak up and try to remain unseen, at least until they were sure this was where they wanted to be.

"Everyone knows the plan then? Take things slowly at first, wait until we have a proper appraisal of the situation before going all in. We need to know for certain this is where the rift is, otherwise we're wasting our time." Of course rift or no rift they would eliminate the beasts regardless, but no one wanted to waste time on a handful when the source might be just a mile away. Looking at his group he frowned seeing Takeshi was still playing the silent game despite his usually obnoxious self, and though they hadn't even left the village yet Haku appeared nervous already. Sighing to himself he rubbed his forehead and wondered how in the world he'd gotten stuck with this group. "It makes the most sense to send Viral and his team ahead, in case we do encounter the rift. We don't know the nature of it but we'll want to reach it as soon as possible once we do find it, and having them at the front makes that easier." It wouldn't do for his group to stumble through, they had no means of sealing it. Or that wasn't correct, they simply weren't as adept at it as the Beastmen were. A lot of unknowns surrounded the area beyond their own plane and for all they knew they could be on equal footing there, or perhaps the Beastmen might be even worse off, no one would know until they went through.

Takeshi just wanted to get moving at this point, standing around idling was killing him. Since his "conversation" with Viral and Vegeta last night he had been feeling more or less like a pile of crap and, even now standing with Shu he remained silent. No matter how things turned out here he was going to have to try not to treat Shu like a baby and take Viral's words to heart, though the idea of letting his brother fight those monsters was awfully unsettling. He'd seen Shu kill the bug of course but then he had Viral helping him too, so was he really convinced Shu was okay to fight? Sighing to himself he pulled at the handwraps he'd gotten from the locals, really just some taught bandages that he'd managed to turn into some, feeling more comfortable having them on to fight like he used to. Helped with the abrasions or something like that, Takeshi couldn't even remember now why he always used to wear them growing up, he just had. Glancing at Shu he managed a slight smile, looking away when his brother glanced back and watching Vegeta or Viral for some direction. He'd do his best not to screw things up today even if he still wasn't sure what he should be doing; protecting Shu the way he had been was wrong, and trying to do the majority of the fighting himself reflected badly, though he shouldn't care how he looked either. What was he supposed to do?

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"Really, no one trains with you?" Yumi asked in disbelief, unable to understand why that was. Come to think of it though there was a reason wasn't there? It was why T'charrl had trouble in fights sometime, he seemed to pick up on energy left over from the fighting. There had to be a way to not do that though, some way to just... Block it out. If that wasn't possible then she would fight without the use of energy, simple as that, and never give him a chance to use any. "Plus you can use a sword, can't you? I learned how but I'm not very good, it's why I don't use weapons when I fight," Yumi admitted with a sheepish smile, "Plus you can heal people, and you help us speak to the departed, and you can heal worlds. There's a lot you're good at even if you can't name it off of the top of your head!" She might know of other things too but she hadn't had the chance to spend much time around T'charrl and, as a result, she didn't learn too much more about him. It was a shameful thing to admit about one of her friends but she had to hang out with him more, if given the chance. "Well... Now you have friends and you're done with learning about being a prince! So now you can focus on having fun with us!"

Having to talk over Yumi was kind of frustrating, even more when she looked to be making T'charrl awfully happy. Why couldn't he be doing that for his friend too? He should try it, maybe he could get T'charrl to laugh too. "Well I don't think you'll change into a monster... You're not doing those kinds of things, I think you're safe," Haku muttered, putting on a smile as he tried to sound a little more positive on it, "Sure you changed a bit before, but... You haven't in a long time, since we met. So you must be getting better right? And... You have all these people around to help if you need it, so... You won't be one of those people." Just because someone of your kind did something before didn't mean you were destined to repeat it. If that were the case then he'd be a powerful warrior right now! Bringing up his parents didn't appear to be having the effect he'd hoped in trying to make T'charrl happier, in fact it seemed to have the opposite effect completely. Lowering his gaze for a moment Haku shifted his weight uneasily, biting his lip before looking up at his friend. "Well when we visit you can find out! I'm uh... I'm sure they would tell you if you ask," he answered, though he was hardly sure himself. He didn't exactly come from a place where you expected much of your parents, being really close to them was rare, so how should he know?

It was bad enough to have Viral berating him and calling him out, but now Vegeta was doing it too? It was only made worse by the fact that everything he was hearing he knew to be true and yet he couldn't accept that, any of it, for one very important reason. "He hasn't had to fight like this though, I have. I'm better at it, he can rely on me," the Saiyan argued weakly, smiling as he tried to push his case, "And I know what it is... He's afraid of changing! If I fight for him then he doesn't have to worry, he won't change. I don't mind fighting, and I can do it so he doesn't need to, it's simple!"

"You're not fixing the problem then, you're avoiding it. He could still change, especially if something happens to you," Vegeta pointed out, frowning as Takeshi seemed to be verbally slapped by that obvious truth, "His changes are due to emotional triggers, under times of great duress. This could be while under stress in battle, or when faced with a towering decision that he may not be ready to handle... Or watching his brother take a fall on his behalf. Your priorities are completely backwards, stop being a child and face reality and help your brother. What you're doing now is only hurting him." They probably should have told him this before, far sooner given how long it has been going on for. Vegeta had expected his father to but then he had a way of dancing about issues sometimes, wanting to try and get someone to reach a conclusion on their own. Admirable, but if they were too dense to do so then you'd be stuck waiting a very long time.

Damn it... He knew what Shu's problems were, he didn't know how to fix them though! Why were they waiting for him to fix it, he obviously didn't know how! "If it's so easy to fix him then you do it! You're the smart one, you or your dad. Why don't one of you two fix him?!" Takeshi demanded an answer but didn't get one, watching in defeat as Vegeta simply went back to eating his food. Looking across the way at Shu he felt himself deflate slightly, looking away ashamed before walking from the group. Rather than go back to his seat he went towards the edge of the village, feeling too embarrassed and shameful to be with anyone at the moment. A small part of him hoped Shu would come running after him and yet the same part also hoped not, he didn't know what he would tell his brother right now if they had to talk.

"Sooner or later he'll pull his head out of his rear, I just didn't think it would take so long," Vegeta commented, chewing through a terse piece of meat before spitting it out in the dirt, "Hm... I get the impression he did genuinely feel bad for what he had done, to you and Shu, but he's too egotistical to let it be about anyone other than himself. Ah well, no sense in wasting our energy over it, it's his problem." There had been a fair point raised though, he could try putting a little effort into Shu's situation as well. Viral's own condition was in large under control save for his new transformation and then there was T'charrl, the matter of his education and of his own powers being unwieldy still. Still a lot of work to do yet all of it important, and Vegeta had yet to find an answer to all of it. "I meant to ask, come tomorrow, do you have a plan in mind for how we tackle this? Aside from our two groups we haven't much discussed our tactics. I figured as the respective leaders we probably should think of something, hm?"

Legend of Zelda: Templar Ascension

Hax! D:

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"See? It's all about making what you have work. I'm only human but I can fight with someone like Vegeta, or Viral, who are much stronger than humans," Yumi continued on, sounding just a little bit proud at that statement, "Just like you should never feel any less because you're not like us, and we never should feel bad because we're different from you. No one can do everything but some people can do some things very well, and that's what we should be proud of." She swore she was talking to T'charrl on this matter yet that sounded oddly like something she should say to Viral as well; he didn't have Ki, he couldn't do what they could and he made a point of it often enough. Yet what about everything he could do that they couldn't? Surely there was some pride in that. Just like she took pride in having learned how to fly like the others, even if initially it had been far from flawless. Thank goodness they had been at the ocean when practicing, otherwise some of those crashes would have likely hurt. "Things were fun too though, don't you think? Life is so... Simple as a kid," Yumi spoke in a dreamy tone, smiling as she glanced up at the night sky, "Nothing mattered and you got to have fun all the time. I miss it sometimes, but then I wasn't friends with all of you, so I'm okay with having grown up, it was worth it."

Haku didn't know what to expect from T'charrl's parents other than maybe being slapped by his mother and chewed out by his father. Was it fortunate for him that wouldn't be anything new for him? He was used to Saiyan commanders being terrible to him, surely these people weren't anything worse than they were. "Why? Your powers are awesome... And I mean, look what you've done with them. Plus uh... You're gonna be helping to kill these monsters, you're saving worlds. They can't be mad about that can they?" He was going to be a hero, traveling around to other planets and saving its people from these things; as if being the first of his kind to travel through space wasn't enough he was going to be doing all of that too, what wasn't there to be proud of? To Haku it seemed awfully obvious yet he didn't know the people, T'charrl could be right and they would only be angry with him. He really didn't get it but he hoped T'charrl might be wrong, everyone else had been nice enough so far and it would be a lousy return to form to be yelled at and smacked around again. Picking silently at his food he wondered if the world was even fit for them to visit too, thinking about how his friend had mentioned there had been a war. There was war everywhere wasn't there?

His original point of coming over to Viral was long gone by now, at this point Takeshi was trying to save face in front of Viral. He was just looking out for Shu, wasn't that admirable? He kept his brother from fighting because he didn't want Shu to get hurt, so he didn't have to fight when he really didn't want to, why wasn't the Beastman getting that? "No, I think because he's always scared of fighting that he needs it! I don't mind fighting, I've done it a lot, but he hasn't! That's what I'm here for, to do things he doesn't want to!" He was so sure of himself and that he was doing what he was supposed to do; he'd never had family until Shu showed up and he'd tried to protect the little guy since then, no one had ever said anything before. How could it be wrong? Again Viral turned on him and started attacking him instead, causing Takeshi's irritation to only grow as he was again called out. Letting out something between a frustrated growl and a huff he ran a hand through his hair before gesturing towards Viral angrily. "I've been fine aside from today, one mistake! If it wasn't for me you two would probably be dead on Kaesstra, but no, I'm just a screw up huh? And I helped you get back from having that collar, and I helped Shu too, but whatever, I'm just a coward and I run from things, right? I've done --"

"Takeshi, that's enough." Vegeta couldn't listen to them bickering anymore, it was exhausting having to endure. Frankly he was tired of listening to Takeshi whine like an impudent child that wasn't getting his way and it was high time to set him straight. "Viral's right, whether you want to acknowledge that fact or not," he continued in a steady voice, picking away at his meal in a casual manner that frustrated the younger Saiyan, "Shu seems helpless because you've made him think he is, that he has to rely on you. If you treat someone as inept they will come to believe it, dependency forms. He is perfectly capable of standing on his own two feet though and your coddling him isn't doing him any favors." Finally looking up at Takeshi he met the angry glare with an uninterested one, coming across himself more as an adult exasperated with a fitful child. "And Viral is right, you're concerned too much with your own appearance. You came over here to apologize didn't you? So why then has this devolved into an argument of your character? Why should it matter?"