GambolMuse

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"Hey, it's not easy T'charrl, but don't give up. I know you'll be able to find it!" Takeshi urged, smiling hopefully, "Just try to feel it out, that's all." Seeing as that was the best explanation he could give the rest fell to the Kaesstrian to do. He might ask Shu for some help if he wasn't a touch skeptical with how his brother might explain things. The little guy struggled sometimes with normal talk, let alone trying to explain a concept of Ki control. Since his sibling had it down now they only had to help their friend achieve it, and they could take as long as need be. Takeshi had figured it would take all day at least for them to find it, and yet Shu had it within fifteen minutes. Granted he did have training before, but it had been a while and was still a nice feat on his part. T'charrl on the other hand as he said himself was completely new to the entire deal. Nonetheless there was plenty of confidence he'd find what he was looking for, it was only a matter of searching. Letting a comfortable silence envelop the group while T'charrl worked a couple moments passed, and a few more, and there was no visible progress. Then a faint but discernible sign that something was happening caught the Saiyan's eye, and he watched curiously as the orb in T'charrl's chest began to pulse.

Hm, but was that the right thing? If the energy was pulsing then surely something had to be going on. Takeshi smiled cheerfully for his friend, nodding his head, "I think you do. Hang on, let me see." The only way he could really check was compare the feeling of T'charrl's energy to what his friend was feeling himself. Closing his eyes the older boy focused on the Kaesstrian, feeling out for the energy within him. Finding it was easy enough, and what's more he noticed it was fluctuating slightly. Hm, maybe it had to be raised for T'charrl to sense it himself, nothing wrong with that. Unlike their energy T'charrl's was a little more... How to put it, primal. It certainly wasn't Saiyan or human Ki, but it was close enough that he could recognize it. Opening his eyes and beaming Takeshi inched closer to his friend, chuckling as he reached out and poked T'charrl in the forehead with his fore and middle fingers. "You got it! See, that wasn't so hard now was it?"

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"Good job Shu! And as long as you're careful you won't go flying. At least not yet." Awesome, his younger brother was getting it pretty quickly. Takeshi would hope so, they had done this before after all, albeit quite a while ago. Considering Shu still did use energy attacks in spite of hardly understand it he hoped that gave the little guy something of an idea what he was looking for. T'charrl on the other hand, unfortunately, looked to be struggling a bit more. Takeshi might have overreacted a bit when he saw the Kaesstrian staring at Shu, thinking he wasn't even trying himself and this throwing a twig at him. When he heard his friend's retort the Saiyan grinned sheepishly, rubbing at his neck. "Ah... Right, my bad. Well you want to look in your center, that's where most of your Ki is. When we get to moving Ki around that's where you'll draw from, but we're getting ahead of ourselves. Look for it there, and when you find it there it will be easy to follow it elsewhere." It was kind of like a map in a way, only you had to find the starting point to even begin getting anywhere. Once you had that map filled it was a simple task to follow Ki routes, at least he thought so. Tilting his head a bit Takeshi considered T'charrl's words, trying to think how best to answer.

"Let's see... Well you're probably finding new energy because you've got more now, that would be my guess. And I don't know if you're picking up on my energy or not. Everyone's energy has a distinct feeling, it's kind of like... Their face, or their voice. You see or hear that and you know it's them, right? Well same thing with energy. I don't know how else to say it other than everyone has a unique energy." Takeshi could feel Shu's right now, and to a lesser extent T'charrl's, and both were quite different. That didn't apply just because of the species gap though, it held true for everyone. Even his own and Shu's, despite both being half-Saiyans and brothers were different. Smiling apologetically at T'charrl he bowed his head a bit, "Sorry I'm not being very clear, this is tricky to teach. Just try to focus on yourself, yeah? Meditating is kind of like ignoring things around you and focusing in on yourself. If you notice something in you, something that feels... Well, like energy. Alive, moving, warm, then that's Ki. Or whatever we should call your energy." Probably safe to just call it Ki, from what he'd seen and understood it was basically just the same thing, only in a different form.

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"Glad you like flying buddy, but we're going to wait to do that. You've got to learn the basics before anything else." Albeit flying was pretty basic, but would be intense to master for someone who didn't know how to properly channel their Ki in the first place. After all, flying was all about channeling and extended your Ki in small amounts to move yourself along, simple in theory but hard to actually do. Eh, at least Shu had the enthusiasm to learn, that was good. T'charrl looked like he was pretty nervous even though he shouldn't be. Sure, his energy wasn't exactly Ki, but it was close enough. Takeshi figured the same principles applied here as it did with their friend's power, the same basic ideas should work either way. Alright then, now to focus on the first step. Since that involved just feeling your own energy the Saiyan opted for meditation, hoping doing that would help block out distractions and let them get a good idea of where their Ki was. Really not his style, it was too lazy as far as training was concerned, but it would have to do.

"As long as you don't force Ki out you'll be fine," Takeshi remarked, closing his eyes with a faint smile, "If you find it just sit there, I'll stop both of you after a bit." Breathing in through his nose and exhaling through his mouth he began to settle himself down, trying to meditate himself to give proof of concept. Albeit it was pretty hard for either of them to know if he was actually meditating or just falling asleep on the spot, the latter perfectly viable because of lack of sleep. They seemed to be getting it, nothing was said for a short while and no one moved from their spot. Then T'charrl had a question, and when Takeshi looked over to answer he was staring at Shu, possibly trying to figure out what to do. Sighing softly he reached down and grabbed a small stick, tossing it at the Kaesstrian's leg to get him to stop staring. "We're not worried about pulling it to the surface yet, right?" he mused, smiling as he folded his arms over his chest, "To feel your energy you need to focus in on yourself, nothing else. When you do it you'll be able to find it without a second thought." Finding it made you perfectly aware of your own Ki, and it let you see how much you had left and enabled you to be a little smarter about use. Funny thing coming from someone who blasted attacks erratically in most fights. Placing a hand on his chest Takeshi continued, "Pay attention to right here, that's where the mass of your Ki will be. Like I said, it's kind of a tingling feeling, and warm. And I guess... You can just tell it's energy. It feels... Alive in a way."

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

Takeshi smiled exasperatedly, neither T'charrl or Shu being able to make up their minds. Drat, he wasn't sure where they should begin either, that was a bummer. "Well... I guess it's all important. You'll need them for all sorts of things, not just for fighting even." Flight especially had plenty of benefits outside of combat, as did sensing energy. Ki control and using that for attacks was kind of only a combat oriented skill, but certainly nice to be able to use. Lifting a finger he tapped at his chin thoughtfully, humming as he mulled over where to begin. After a moment's contemplation Takeshi smiled, smacking his fist into an open hand, "Aha! So we'll start with flying, since that takes a lot of control! Everything else will fall in place after we get that down." The discipline that it took to fly, initially anyways, made doing the other stuff much easier. What wasn't going to be easy, however, was explaining everything to these two. Man, if he had his copy of Gohan's book on hand he could teach right from that, but right now he didn't even know where it had gotten off to.

"Ki control is... Well it's kind of a combination I guess. There's sort of three points you need to focus on when trying to use your Ki," Takeshi explained, holding up three fingers. "First, you need to be able to feel your own energy. If you pay close enough attention you can actually notice your Ki inside of you, that would be the first step. After that you need to recognize how it flows and how to direct the flow, channeling it to do what you want. And the final step is bringing it out to use for things like flight or attacks. That's pretty much the gist of it anyways." Yeah, that book would definitely help them some. While he knew perfectly well how to do it he wasn't so good at explaining it at all. He just knew how to do it, but Takeshi wasn't exactly certain how to explain the sensations he was talking about. "When you use your Ki you'll be able to feel it... You know? It gives you this kind of tingling feeling when it moves around. After a while you don't notice when you do it, but I guess that's the best way to describe it."

So then, to begin training they might as well start with the very basics. Just because they wanted to focus on flight didn't mean they would be going right into it, they needed to be able to sense their own energy after all. Great, that meant he had to figure out a way to explain the process to them, easier said than done. Takeshi folded his arms over his chest as his brow furrowed, looking down at the ground as he mulled it over a bit. Even now he could feel his own Ki, it was just... There. But saying that wasn't going to teach them a thing, they needed more than just that to go off of. "Okay... So feeling your own Ki. If you focus on yourself enough you can sort of notice it's there, inside of you. To find it you're really going to need to pay attention. Sort of... Drown everything else out and focus just on you and you'll notice it's there." Ah, but how were they supposed to focus, he asked himself. Sniffling he looked around, scratching at his head before sighing. There was one way to concentrate like that, but it was so silly. Given no other option however they should try it. At least no one was around to watch them being dorks doing this. Takeshi sat himself down on the ground, flushing slightly as he crossed his legs. "We're going to... Meditate I guess? Just sit down, relax and close your eyes, focus on yourself. I'll watch to see if you two notice anything, okay?"

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

Ikura put his hands up defensively, offering an apologetic smile as he nodded his head. "A poor suggestion, please pardon me. It's just one of the ways we can address PTSD, though certainly not the only one. We'll skip over that option." They still had other viable routes to take, the others didn't involve re-exposing Viral either. Regardless of what path they did ultimately choose he was going to at the very least have to speak about it. That was the one constant in any case, they couldn't escape that fact. However they went about this the fact of the matter was counseling was desperately needed. Viral was quite depressed, borderline major depressive disorder even. Things would only get worse the longer they sat, Ikura knew they had to fix it here and now, if at all possible. Or at the very least begin the process of recovery. "Put up with you? That suggests they're reluctant, and that's not the case. They care about you Viral, and they always will. True, they may not know how to help you, but that doesn't diminish their concern. If anything it makes them even more concerned. And having others care about you is nothing to feel guilty for or be ashamed of. It's a sign that others love you."

Now for the part Ikura would much rather avoid altogether; Prescribing medication to Viral. It was the option he nearly always avoided, yet given their limited time and number of sessions there was no escaping it. The pills would not be an instant fix, therapy would still be required to an extent, but it was better than nothing. This was all provided too of course that there were no adverse side effects. "The food does not have to be solid, if that's your issue. Apple sauce or something of the likes will suffice," the doctor replied, smiling kindly. "Or even some kind of nutritious beverage. Really you just need something else in your stomach to help the medicine dissolve and spread. Talk with Vegeta about it when we're done here, I'm certain he'll know what to give you." This meeting had been far too short, but there was no helping other arrangements. Ikura couldn't in good conscience put off other patients for Viral no matter how much he wanted to stay and talk. "And that is why I intend on hearing them all before we're through. I'll do as much as I can for you, Viral. We'll make some headway, I'm certain of it."

Ah, there! A nice stomach full of food had served to pep Takeshi up pretty well. No doubt after they finished with training he'd be sprawled out on the couch fast asleep, but for the time being he was geared and ready to go. At last having some time to themselves the older boy figured it was good an opportunity as any to train Shu a bit, and T'charrl as well. Both of them needed to learn some energy control, and they could do a little sparring as well. Just because it was downtime didn't mean they weren't going to stay active, he'd probably go nuts if they didn't do at least a little bit. Considering they were going to be using Ki attacks, and Shu's illustrious history with them, Takeshi had taken the precaution of leading both his brother and the Kaesstrian a fair ways from his home, though still on his property. Out by the forest now he smiled at the others, standing with his back to the trees.

"Alright guys, here's where we'll do our lessons! Now, I figure there's three areas we can go over to practice on," he began, raising a finger for each point, "We can do energy attacks, flight, or sensing energy. I figure we can do one or all of them, whatever you two want to do." Kind of a shame that no one else was out here, it would be nice to have a variety in training. Really aside from the regular basic attacks he'd picked up Takeshi only had one move of his own, and it was hardly worth passing on to someone. Then again they were here to learn basics anyways so there wasn't a whole ton of need for variety. "Why don't you two vote on what you want to start with? If it's a tie I'll be the tie breaker, fair enough?"

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

Ikura gave a shake of his head, smiling sadly as he looked at Viral. "No, that wasn't the case back then. You were completely healthy, the only way you would have triggered a change unknowingly in that case was someone with the knowledge forced it. Seeing as myself and Aito hadn't done such a thing it only points to our other... Associate. But that is even more reason to not be at fault for what happened, you had absolutely no control over the situation. Matters were out of your hand at that point." Not a very solid counter-argument, but it was the truth. Regrettably he had still yet to find the means in which Viral had been controlled, meaning the method was still out there. The only subsequent way to steel him against it would be to either develop a counter-measure or deactivate the genes responsible, which would rob Viral of his transformations. "We'll consult my notes together and we'll find out what happened, but just remember, none of it is your fault. That traitorous snake is the only one to blame here, you had no part in it aside from being a means to an end."

"Perhaps wonder and cheer was an... Exaggeration, but your mood was certainly more chipper than this. Skipping and singing you were not, but you enjoyed yourself and the company of those around you. It will take time, but we'll bring you back to that point." It would not be simple, not in the slightest. The more they spoke the more issues mounted and the more dire Viral's situation seemed. Much as Ikura loathed to say it medication would most certainly help in this situation. While not a complete remedy it would help soothe the Beastman and, side effects withholding, would calm him enough to be more open to therapy and perhaps even eating. "Should you change then we'll simply keep you from harming yourself or others. I don't imagine your friends will be terribly indisposed to helping this process along, they'd be more than happy to help in fact."

Right, on to the topic of medication then. A disgusting idea frankly, but there was no denying the potential benefits. And were it to not work they would hurriedly back off of the pills and move back to straight therapy. "If you'd be willing to do it I can give you medication here and now to use. Mind you it's not an instant fix, but it'll help regulate your anger and stress to more manageable levels. Depending on how you feel while taking them we can either continue the regiment or stop it altogether, but it might do you some good." Reaching over to his desk Ikura grabbed a sheet of paper, a sheet specifically for prescribing medicines. Beginning to fill it out he sighed, not very thrilled at doing this, "I really do wish we could continue this session, but there's something that requires my attention this evening. Here's your prescription, if you decide to take it though," he added, handing it over. "Bring it to the nurse downstairs at the front and someone will fetch it for you. You'll want to take one in the morning and one in the evening, each with water followed by a meal. We can meet here tomorrow, same time and place if you wish to continue our sessions."

Smiling kindly Ikura reached out, patting Viral's shoulder again. "You will get better Viral, it's just a matter of time and effort. I swear to you that you'll be happy before we're done here."

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"Viral, you're more human than you give yourself credit for. Not to correct you, but the majority of your being is in fact based on human genealogy and cells." Now the genetic composition, that was something Ikura was rather familiar with. Viral didn't think he was human, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Smiling the old man held out a finger, folding his other arm across his chest. "True, you are not a 'pure' human, to put it that way, but you are human. All of your cells, the mixture of the animals that make you, they couldn't be combined on their own. We needed a catalyst, something to bind them all together and make it work. As it happened it turned out that, with some adjustments human cells were actually quite susceptible to altering, and through those we had managed to create you." Human DNA was the glue that essentially bound together a Beastman, so in a sense they were in fact humans. More so than even chimpanzees were if you were to look at similar genes. Simply put Beastmen were humans with added features, and indeed every bit as human as a regular one. "I figured you might like to know where your cells come from as well. Getting a donor had proven to be tricky after a while, because there was no guarantee of success. But we had one woman graciously give us enough to work with, and it resulted in your 'birth', if you will. That woman was June, Vegeta's mother and Aito's husband. For all intents and purposes she's your mother as well, biologically even."

In light of that revelation perhaps Viral would finally understand Vegeta and Yumi's claims that he had family. True, he had not been born in a conventional manner, but he was as genetically close to Vegeta as a regular sibling would be. Frankly they could have probably grown a human in the exact same manner, but that hadn't been their end goal. Digressing a bit Ikura smiled sadly as Viral opened up about his feelings a bit more. "But that was not your fault. As I said, your forms will override your reasoning when in extreme duress or when a need isn't being sated. In this event you experienced both, and thus carried out the act. But hating yourself for that would be akin to Vegeta changing and performing a deed. In the strictest sense yes, it was you, but it was not consciously carried out by you. I know you as well as anyone, Viral, even after all these years. You were tempered to be a warrior, yes, and to be strong. But you were not made to be heartless or attack like that. It's not in you to do that, you're far too compassionate when in control of yourself." The smile widened slightly, the corners of Ikura's eyes wrinkling as he reached out, patting Viral's paw. "Upon your birth you were like a child, full of wonder and cheer. That is the kind of man you are, believe it or not. And we will regain that, to some extent."

After all, Viral's childish behavior had something to do with his naivety of the world. Much as they had endowed him upon his creation there was no substituting first hand experience. Being aware of something and knowing how something works were two entirely different concepts. "You mentioned eating before, yes? You felt ill, though I would imagine it did feel nice too, having some sustenance after so long. While your body can go without nutrition it will have noticeable effects. Part of the reason you lose control of yourself when experiencing hunger is your human part, or to put it in another way, your rationale can't sustain itself before the more primal forms. That's why they assume control, to get the nutrition you've otherwise denied yourself. We'll work on your eating, but I'm positive that when you're back to comfortable habits you'll assume control as well."

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"I know, I know. It's not a very pleasant idea to re-experience that kind of thing. But please understand where I'm coming from. By going through the event, or something similar, we can build up a tolerance and proper coping method. We'd be able to better temper you against things like that, so in the event it ever happens again you won't be as severely crippled by it." That was one of a few ways they could help Viral, though Ikura favored it above the others. By addressing the issue as directly as possible they had the greatest chance of success. "I won't try to make it sound pleasant, because the process will be anything but. In order to make progress however we must do some things that may not necessarily be easy for you. If you're not fond of that suggestion we may certainly try another." A handful of treatments were available to them, after all, the least of which included medication. Aside from developing coping methods with the event, for example, they could take on stress in a general sense and find means of reducing that. There was a little skepticism as to how that would help a more defined problem though, Ikura would rather be direct and attack it at the source. The means in which they would go about this however all depended on Viral.

So the Saiyan dilemma would be their priority, since once a healthy eating habit was re-established getting Viral to cooperate and relax would be far easier. How to go about it though... "We need to reacquaint you with food, since a good diet will lead to good well being overall. In the absence of medication we'll need to use some kind of therapy to address this, I'll only prescribe pills if deemed need be, I hope you understand." Viral was definitely appalled at repeating the event, understandably so. Perhaps the actual motions shouldn't be of concern, but rather his feelings towards them. Yes, if they could somehow ease his guilt, fear or even anger then the problem may work itself out, ideally. "I'm speaking solely of this problem because it seems a good stepping stone to the rest. It will be a process, Viral, and we need to work through it together. If I can ask... What words would you use to describe your emotional state towards the event? Tell me precisely how you feel about it, or do your best to."

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

This issue was far deeper than Ikura had originally thought. The initial problem wasn't attacking the Elite Saiyan, at least he didn't believe it to be. Something else had to have started it off, and everything since had only been a snowball effect. Difficulties after the fact, lack of nutrition, lack of proper rest, other stressors, they only served to amplify the problem. A week certainly was not going to suffice in this case, not without medicinal aid. He rather loathed prescribing pills and the likes, but given their time frame, and even the few days extra he might be able to get they hardly had the chance to make proper headway. An explanation of Viral's forms served to shed light on the mystery, though it didn't appear to ease his thoughts at all. If anything he was more uneasy now, perhaps over his lack of knowledge and subsequent control over his powers. That was an issue that could be resolved with training, and that would have to be left in the hands of someone like Vegeta, or even Yumi. Before they parted ways again he would have to divulge all of his information to Vegeta, the boy would know how to make use of it. Plus that way too it would be safe from prying eyes, eyes that had been dogging him quite often as of late.

"So the starvation is because food triggers the memory of what you did, thus rendering you unable to eat... Seems we would have to address that issue first and foremost. Without a proper diet it's quite difficult to improve much else, I'm afraid. You'll need it for your training as well, we can't have you doing that on an empty stomach." To resolve his trauma on eating the Saiyan... Now this was a first. Ikura had never treated someone for eating another person, and for a moment he was rather beside himself. Collecting his thoughts for a few moments the older man sighed softly, lifting a hand to rub at his head. "Viral... A means of addressing events like these is re-exposure to the event. We can try that, and through that we can build a defense against it so you're not as adversely effected. Now I don't mean recreating it exactly, but a similar scenario. If you think you'd be able to partake in such a treatment I can arrange something for next meeting as well. I'm sorry to say I've not very much on me right now to help anything."

Dragon Ball: Legacy (Mogtaki and Vena Sera)

"Don't feel discouraged if you're uncertain. Really you're still young, regardless of how you might appear physically. It's perfectly normal for someone your age to be uncertain. I can understand too the increased stress given your situation as well. I assure you though, there's no pressure to decide what it is you want to do with yourself." Ikura did question the viability of Viral doing anything but being a combatant. He had plenty of other skills for certain, but his primary design had been to fight. All of his transformations, his healing, his abilities, all of it was aimed solely at being a warrior. If he could perhaps find a fulfilling way to use those then that might make his outlook a bit better. Smiling sympathetically the doctor shook his head, not wanting the Beastman to get the wrong idea. "Let me rephrase that. It's not that you shouldn't be using them, it's that they were designed with a purpose in mind. Being your power they're used to your discretion, no one can tell you otherwise. I was merely explaining the intent when we gave you those abilities, but we had every desire for you to find uses on your own."

Perhaps now they should move on to another topic, albeit not one any easier to discuss. Viral wasn't eating, and psychological implications aside that was obviously a problem. Admittedly the explanation behind it had taken Ikura aback, but only for a second. After letting that process for a moment he nodded his head understandingly, looking back at Viral. "And because of that you feel any food reminds you of the event... Yes? And the very act of eating is unnerving." Giving a shake of his head the doctor reached out once more, gently placing his hand on Viral's shoulder. "I doubt they were yelling at you with hatred, they were likely frightened and wanted you to stop. Viral... What you did does not go away easily, but we can help it. We'll work on it, but you must remind yourself of this; The food is not the same thing. You ate countless times prior to the event, that is proof enough you can eat these things without inhibition. My conjecture would be you had been starving yourself already, and while assuming one of your beast forms it sought to sate your hunger the only way it knew how. What happened then, assuming you lost control, is by no degree your fault. You cannot and will not be held accountable for what was done, understand?"