World Tree MUSH

Early evening, the prairies of the American Midwest, a small town saloon. Right outside the horses are scared of the bird hitched up besides them. Inside, the patrons are leaving two tables in between them and the short knight whose black armour is stained crimson. The knight doesn't seem to mind, eating her dinner casually while her blade rests against the wall.

    Now and then, Yumi likes to get out of her world, even if it's just a quick jaunt to check out somewhere interesting. Sometimes she has a reason, sometimes she doesn't. In this particular case, it's pretty much irrelevant what brought her to a small town in the midwest; what matters is that a familiar bird is hitched up right beside the horses.

    The swinging doors of the saloon swing wide, allowing the night's second not-very-tall outsider to walk in. And perhaps to no one's surprise, after a moment to look the common area over, her eyes fall on the knight, and steps take her right across that no-man's-land to park in a chair on the opposite side of the table. She speaks not a word; her expression is best described as 'guarded', and she seems content to let Temulin open the conversation. The only thing that can be read of her body language is a sort of vague, 'Well, here we are.'

Temulin looks up from her food when someone takes a seat. She pauses and looks up, "Tachibana." She greets, taking off her helmet and letting her relatively short white hair flow free. "Long time no see. How have you been?" Unlike Yumi, she's not remotely guarded. In fact, she looks relaxed and comfortable and calls over someone of the serving staff, "What do you want for dinner? My treat."

    There's a faint furrow to Yumi's brow; she's not good at hiding her emotions, and seeing Temulin greet her that casually after their last meeting... she's not at all sure what to make of it. "...I'm alright. Things have been quiet back home." And an offer of food on top of it. Her first reflex is to turn it down, but teenage magical girl's appetite very quickly wins out over that, and she offers a soft, "Something light. Chicken, if they have any." There's a pause, and the orange-haired girl shifts in her seat, settling back a little. "...Feels a little weird. Last time we were in a place like this, the only thing you wanted to serve me was a helping of forged steel." Her voice isn't quite reproachful or accusatory, more... sad? It's hard to say.

Temulin passes the order on to the server. "Quiet's good. I like quiet, even if it means I need to travel more for work." Temulin answers, though her brow furrows as she notices Yumi's mood. She sighs. "I'd like to say it was just business. ... I'm a mercenary, it's inevitable we would've ended up on opposite sides at one pint..."

The dark knight downs her drink, "But I'd be lying to say that. That kind of thing might still happen, and I won't hold back. But this was more than just business." She leans back, "I was trying to be a bloody hero, getting all caught up in the feeling of righteousness, and I forgot I'm not cut out to be a hero. I make mistakes and trust people I shouldn't, and end up making things worse because I get invested."

Temulin leans forwards and extends her hand, "Thank you for reminding me of that. If you hadn't, I'd probably be back on track to my destiny by now."

    There's a long pause, both while Temulin is speaking, and after she's done. Yumi looks pensive, thoughtful. Mulling over what the dark knight's said, and what she remembers of the fight. It's tempting to just take Temulin's hand, just let things be smoothed over, let it go back the way it was... but the paladin in her keeps raising too many concerns. And that wouldn't actually solve the problem, anyway. "...I'd like to unpack that 'destiny' thing you just said, but that can wait."

    Yumi folds her arms on the table, leans a little. Her tone is still soft, but now it's a mix of 'observational' and 'worried', and not at all fitting of the mid-teen she looks like. "That was more than just hotheadedness. Believe me, I've done the hotheaded hero thing. You were... you were different. I'd go so far as to say bloodthirsty. I'd resigned myself to the fact we might meet in battle, but your movements were different, and you were just straight-up going for the kill, no preamble, no warning. I've never seen you like that. And your eyes were glowing red, and towards the end you were almost... I want to say 'arguing with yourself'?" She shakes her head. "I hate to dredge up trite old sayings, but I'm not so much worried about you as I am worried for you."

Temulin listens, and it's not so much disbelief as outright confusion in her voice when she answers. "You must be misremembering things." She seems to be entirely confident about that, and not at all worried. "I was definitely worried about how things were going for you, but I was never like that. Are you sure you didn't mix me up with someone else?" She doesn't lower her hand.

    Now it's Yumi's turn to look confused - and, if anything, the worry deepens. "...I've got witnesses I could track down. Emily Nyx, if no one else. It was definitely you. You greeted me by name, then swung to split me in half." She bites her lip. "I'm... I'm gonna shake your hand now, because I'm glad you're alright, and after getting to talk to you a little, I'm not angry at you. But will you indulge me some questions?" the girl adds, reaching out to take Temulin's hand. "About that power you use, and what you meant about 'being on track for your destiny'."

Temulin looks no less confused, but she shakes the hand. "Sure, ask away." She leans back some, clearly pleased that they're on good terms again, even if she's still confused. "Let's start with the power I use, it's fairly straightforward, really." She takes a bite out of her food as she considers how to best put it.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." She begins her explanation, "And so society was built in order for good men to be unable to act without losing their status, their reputation and even their position." She smiles, "A Dark Knight willingly casts aside status, reputation and position. Acting either alone or in small groups, taking on every insult to their honour, every spit on their name, so that we can act with freedom. Every insult, every injury, it gives us strength. And so, dark knight becomes an unyielding bastion." A pause, "I'm still learning, though. My mentor could explain it much better. He's probably wasting his time, teaching me."

    "That's... an awfully cynical view of the world," Yumi admits, though now there's a soft smile on her face. She's teasing as much as anything. "But even an optimist like me has to admit that sometimes the system protects the wrong people. It's not a path I could walk, but I can understand why you do, I guess." Then, as her plate arrives - a simple chicken dish, something pan-fried and lightly seasoned - she continues. "You didn't quite answer my question, though. I'm more interested in that power itself. It felt... almost hostile, I guess. Is it some kind of curse magic you draw on, or...?"

Temulin considers that for some time, "I admit I'm not great at magic theory, I mostly do this on instinct." She begins, "But roughly speaking, there's six elements. Fire, Earth, Ice, Water, Wind and Lightning. Each of those comes aspected to Light or Darkness." She begins to explain, "A Dark Knight cares less about element and more about aspect. Darkness is chaos, and someone whose power is so steeped in umbral aether is no doubt scary to those who trust in the status quo, but I don't think it's fair to call it hostile."

    "No, it's not that," Yumi replies, shaking her head. "I'm not worried about light or dark, things like that. It's more..." She trails off for a second, staring absently at her food (and, at the same time, still shoveling.

    After a few seconds, she picks back up, taking a different tack. "...The kind of magic I use, that all magical girls from my world use. Each girl's magic is different, different armor, different weapon, different abilities... but it's all powered the same way. It draws off our emotions. We can either power it with positive emotions, negative emotions, or push all that aside and move it by pure will. I'm obviously a positive type," she adds, staring at her hand and flexing her fingers a little. "But I'm technically capable of all three. I tried practicing with the negative emotions once. It didn't work very well, but aside from that, it felt... different somehow. It's hard to describe. And the monsters we fight, they draw off those too. A negative-emotion youma... it feels like the world itself hates you, in their lair."

Temulin listens, and kind of shrugs. "I don't know all the details. I do this on instinct, but maybe we put a little bit of our anger into it, especially when we really get into it." There's a faint smirk, "After all, a good dark knight is so scary that people think twice before taking action, just because they don't want to end up in their sight. So maybe it's a bit like that, but you'd have to ask my mentor."

Temulin shrugs, "As for my destiny..." There's a hesitation. "When a member of the Dotharl tribe, or their close allies die, they will eventually be reborn into the tribe. We're the undying ones, we do not fear death, and so despite our small number we're one of the most powerful tribes of my homeland." There's an edge to her tone. "But they do fear me. For I have been Khan, and as Khan my rule was ruthless, cruel. I led them to greatness, but they suffered under my rule. I will do the same this life, one day. I don't much like the idea, but I am who I am, and running away from my home to become an adventurer in a distant land won't change that. You can't run from yourself."

    "No, you can't run from yourself," Yumi agrees. "I don't even know who I am, but within a month of waking up with no memories, I was taking bullets for people I'd never met who later turned out to be almost as bad as the person doing the shooting." There's a soft grimace, there. Still a little grumpy, still a little embarrassed. "...but you can choose who that self is, at least. I don't know if you have memories of your past life, but... maybe think of your time out here as training. Training on how to lead a warrior tribe to greatness without the suffering. I'm not saying to find a path other than war," she adds, holding up a hand. "That's part of who you, who your people are. Just see if you can find a way to 'do it right' this time, I guess is the best way I can put it. Accept that it's going to happen, and find a way to make it a good thing."

"You've gotta give people a chance. Unlike me, you're cut out to be a hero, so take bullets when it seems like the right thing to do. Trust your instincts, I know they will guide you right." Temulin's jealousy shines through in that attempt to be encouraging. "Someone once told me that there's three things a hero really needs to do before they act. Three simple things. Hear, Feel, Think." There's a smile, "I can't trust my feelings, and I'm an idiot, so I'm not good for it. But you're different."

The rest of the encouragement simply gets a wan smile. "I'll try. Maybe after this life, they'll remember me as a good leader, not just as a great one." She sounds skeptical of it, "Would be nice."

    Good job, Temulin. You found a way to make Yumi bashful. "I-I'm not that..." Fidget. "A-anyway, don't beat yourself up over that, alright? No one person can do everything. That's what friends are for. I'm awful at subterfuge, I'm pretty sure I'd be lost at a political table. You've got people who can cover the areas you're weak in, me included if you need it. And one of these days I'll be asking you to cover for me, somehow. Or paying, I guess. Depends on what I need your help for. But you get what I mean." She goes to take another forkful of food... only to find that she's already shoveled away all of it into her mouth. Oops.

"Alright. I'll try." Temulin puts her helmet back on, "And don't hesitate to get in touch if you need help. I owe you one, so it'll even be free. The first time, anyway." She smiles and gets up, "But I need to take a bath and clean this bison blood off my armour, and it looks like we're both done eating. Catch you later?"

    The grin is returned, and Yumi slides her chair back to stand up as well. "Careful, offering me freebies. I might drag you along for a reality-warping monster or two." She hasn't forgotten Temulin's explanation of Primals; if anyone's equipped to deal with walking into a youma's lair for the first time, it's the dark knight. "But seriously, take care of yourself, alright? And if you ever visit Natsuto again, let me know. There's a few restaurants I think you'd like."