Respite (Closed)

Well, it seemed there were more than a few things Taori was expected to deal with upon his return, and he'd have to take them in all at once. First, that Saiyan with the strange ears whom he'd saved from a few stray attacks back at the battle approached him, with something of an indignant attitude. Taori frowned at him, though he supposed he could understand the sentiment at not being able to do much in the face of power that was simply overwhelming. The soldier probably hardly even got a chance to feel like he was contributing against the real threats back at Hatchi.

Though, just because he could sympathize with him didn't mean Taori was going to sugarcoat things for him. "You want to face down an Arcosian?" Taori asked him, crossing his arms and taking a step towards cat ears. "Toughen up. The harsh reality is you are quite literally not ready. But what you are is able-bodied and unhurt, which is more than most of our other soldiers can say. So take that anger bubbling up inside you and store it away for now. You'll need it later - it's of no use to anyone right now."

Though Taori had his doubts about whether or not he'd get through to the other man, he couldn't spend too much of his time giving pep talks when there were injured people and damaged areas that actually would need direct help.

Speaking of which, a blue person in Saiyan armor who certainly had not been at the battle at Hatchi appeared, and began to inform Taori of the situation more thoroughly. Taori was a bit surprised to be getting all of this from someone who was, by all appearances, not a Saiyan, but he appreciated the info. She had some neat tricks with a bottle and water, too, or whatever it was she was doing. Taori was clueless when it came to magical stuff. "I uh, I see," Taori slowly replied after the barrage of statistics. He was going to have trouble remembering all that off the top of his head, but he'd probably get it in writing later.

"Well, thank you," he stated with a smile. "And with all your expertise, where do you suggest we start building back, first? Have to start somewhere." Maybe the military district? Or the industrial one? It sounded like those were the two that had taken the brunt of the attack...

Before they could move along with that, though, another presence appeared. And, unlike the previous two, this was an unwelcome one. Taori stepped in front of Alpinia as Blizzard approached, and Alpinia looked taken aback at the sight of Blizzard. "That voice..." she mumbled. It certainly sounded a lot like the voice that had boomed through all of Hatchi as the attack commenced. Alpinia had swiftly been hidden away by Azuki as the battle began, but she'd been there as the barrage began. Though, even without Alpinia's urging, Taori was more than just a little wary of Blizzard's presence.

He didn't say anything as Blizzard spoke, only silently watching him with a stern, unflinching gaze and a crossed pair of arms. One thing was for certain: a lot of what was coming out of his smashed-to-shit mouth was probably also full of shit. Taori was done dealing with Arcosians, and Blizzard had already gone back on his word by siding with the Tuffles after previously bending a knee to Taori, so why should he trust him? In fact, he'd been awfully friendly with Zuqetta during those brief moments before the fighting began, now that Taori thought back to the battle. And then he'd disappeared...

Before anything could leave Taori's mouth, though, someone else arrived to point fingers at people. “Hey, fuckface!” Taori and Alpinia both turned their heads at once to see a familiar face approaching. It was... "Zerori?" Alpinia innocently and surprisedly asked. And then the girl went off. She stopped right in front of Taori and Blizzard and let loose with quite a few choice words - the word most often chosen being 'fuck' - with claims that it was Blizzard, not Azoth who had orchestrated the attack.

After she had finished, a silence hung in the air for a few moments, provided the others present did not immediately interrupt it, but regardless, Taori stepped forward. He glanced at Zerori with a sort of knowing look, then proceeded past her and halted in front of Blizzard. Despite the Arcosian's massive stature and frankly overwhelming power level, Taori showed not a hint of fear as he peered up into the lifeless, yellow eyes of the beast. Much had been said by others, and Taori would have words with them afterwards, but he had only one thing to say to Blizzard for now.

"Get the fuck out of my city."