GambolMuse

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

D: Well then take some time and recuperate, don't force it!

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"You and Viral killed the bug thing pretty quick too, didn't you? And you're plenty strong buddy, I know you are. Wouldn't be asking to fight with you otherwise, you know?" Crap, now the little guy was going to be thinking he was useless wasn't he? That was Takeshi's own fault and he knew it, treating his brother like he had to rely on him for everything. How else was he supposed to keep Shu from changing though? If his brother didn't fight then he wouldn't risk changing, yet keeping him from battling seemed to cause even more problems. There had to be a way for him to do both here and he'd try finding it, so long as his trying didn't result in Shu going all ape and crazy. Stopping with the rest of the group Takeshi rubbed at the back of his neck again as he tried to find words for his brother, figuring he ought to try and build Shu's confidence a bit before the fight. "Hey, remember when we fought that big thing on Namek? How we flew around together and you blasted it?" he asked with a smile, "How about we try that again? I mean I don't think blasting will kill them, but it's something we can do together, yeah? Or... We can just smack 'em around."

Haku didn't know what to say about the creatures as it was far from his expertise. They had no souls? That sounded... Creepy. If that was true as T'charrl said then it kind of made sense they couldn't kill the things yet it also made him wonder how they even existed in the first place. "So... What? Are they just... Puppets?" Living, breathing puppets with big sharp teeth and claws but puppets nonetheless. Up ahead the scouts called everyone to come to a halt and Haku's nervousness returned as they did so, wondering if they had managed to find the rift so soon. While no one could see from the looks of it he didn't notice the unmistakably empty land before them, much of it discolored like something had recently been on it, smothering the grass. Had there seriously been a village here just before? How did an entire village just up and disappear like that? He'd seen villages vanish before sure but there was always rubble left over, they had never just up and vanished like this. Feeling awfully nervous again he looked around the area as he rubbed his hands together, almost paranoid now they might be attacked. "Uh... You feel anything... Weird?"

"Fair point, I won't underestimate them." Viral wasn't wrong there, plenty of idiots managed to somehow fight purely because you never knew what they were going to do; some people always tried the same thing when fighting however, some people you knew exactly what they would try if 'A' didn't work, or if 'B' didn't work, she'd fought enough to notice some had certain ways of going about things. Maybe it was impossible to apply that to these creatures but it went to show dumber fighters were usually predictable. With the group having stopped at the arrival of the village she kept close to Viral, her ears twitching at every little sound in anticipation. It certainly looked like something had been here until recently, all the patches of dirt among the grass suggested as much. After Viral's warning to the scouts they began to slowly advance on the area and, with luck, were on their way to find the creatures as well. On a whim she took a whiff of the air around them to try and find some kind of trail, frowning when there was nothing whatsoever from the village. So if there really was a village here then there wasn't a single trace of it left, meaning it had either been wiped out entirely or, more eerily, no longer existed on the world. A small part of Yumi had hoped the rift wasn't a real thing but now she wasn't so sure.

Adelon: Steeling the Faith [Open!]

"Who knows, perhaps she didn't think of it. No use in questioning it now, won't change our situation," Nymira pointed out, "At least we know the general direction, now it's simply a matter of tracing his steps." If the old woman had seen the man then someone else was bound to have as well, providing them with a trail to follow. Cecil's suggestion for an explanation didn't do much to help with Zander's question but as she'd said there was little use in pondering that now. Ethan had once again begun to move off on his own and with a resigned sigh the Dimuran followed behind him, though perhaps in better judgment letting the directionally challenged one lead was a mistake. How was she to have known she would be beset with so many issues on her travels? Nymira hadn't anticipated the easiest of travels, not after how it had started, but this was beginning to become tedious. These men would be made to pay two fold for their transgressions then: once for taking Amuné and again for delaying her mission. It was as though every place she traveled to there were morons determined to get in her way. Surprised when Geoffrey offered over her daggers she nodded in silent thanks, slipping them into her belt for safe keeping.

No warehouses meant Ethan didn't have a clue where to look, given his very limited experience with criminals. They had to have some kind of place they were working out of, no way could they just be in the middle of some street stashing away kidnapped children. "We'll find her still, just going to be a little tougher, that's all." Approaching the alleyway mentioned by the woman they spotted a man at the entrance on the ground, picking up his merchandise from the ground. A quick inquiry told them a large man sporting a beard and carrying a girl had come rushing through, knocking his stall over as he tried to get down the alleyway. Thanking the man Ethan continued on ahead, coming out onto a now emptier street with only a handful of shops lining its edges. So where to from here? Both ways didn't seem to hold any obvious clues and he couldn't see anyone that particularly stood out. Approaching a pair of men he tried to question them if they had seen anything, moving onto one of the stall owners when that line came up empty.

"We can't be asking every single person, it will take far too long. There must be another way to do this..." Nymira muttered, watching Ethan go about asking anyone who would speak with him. The man wasn't being terribly careful if he'd knocked over that stall so there should be more signs of his flight if they only looked. Leaving Ethan to his questionnaire she wandered a bit from the group, looking for anything that seemed recently disturbed: with the street far less crowded it wasn't too difficult to get a look at their surroundings and yet nothing stood out, no signs that anyone had come bursting through in a hurry. A bit disconcerted she began to double back when something caught her attention, movement out of the corner of her eye. Glancing back she caught sight of a cloaked figure disappearing into an alleyway, having the distinct feeling they had just been watching her. Chalk it up to paranoia perhaps but she swore they had been staring at her, did they know something? Unwilling to let a potential lead go she hurried in the direction of the figure, entering the alleyway and pulling free her daggers. No one in sight, yet she was certain she had seen someone. Where could they have gone?

"I see, thank you sir!" Finally, something that sounded like a lead. After asking a handful of people there was a picture at last of a large man running down the road, cradling something in his arms. No one had gotten a clear look at what he was holding but it fit the bill, that had to be the man they were after. Relieved Ethan clasped his hands together and turned back to the group, his grin wavering slightly when he noticed a particularly short member of their ensemble missing. "Er... Where did Nymira go?" he asked as he glanced around, unable to spot the Dimuran anywhere. Scratching at his head he let out a long sigh before groaning, not sure now if they should look for Nymira or keep searching for Amuné; Amuné was not a trained fighter and she was only a child, she needed someone to look after her. While he hated to think Nymira may have found herself in some trouble as well Ethan was sure she'd just chased her own lead, she could handle her own business for the moment. That being said... "We really shouldn't split up, but we can't make Amuné wait either... I'm going ahead, you guys can wait around for Nymira or come with me." Right call or not he wasn't going to stand around and wait, and so he turned and began his way down the street again, head on a swivel as he looked for more clues.

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?