World Tree MUSH

    Travelling between worlds, Talia had gone far and wide in search of knowledge, gaining the histories of other worlds and learning of their cultures, their people...and also their cuisine!

    She sat at a ramen shop in the middle of some backwater world, 'Japan' was the country she was currently in at the moment, apparently. Hungrily, she dug into her bowl and began shoveling delicious spicy noodles into her maw, eagerly sating her hunger. They said Jedi could feed off the living Force, but that didn't mean Talia particularly enjoyed it.

    The noodle chef was observing the strange but polite and interesting green lady eat, expecting critique. "How is it so far?" He asked.

    "Mmmmf, so far very zesty!"

    The chef grinned at that.

    This Japan is... different, from what some people are used to, for certain. Different for one Shirou Emiya, at the very least. He was still not qutie caught up on the exact mechanics of the World Tree, or even how travel worked... But the people who were providing him lodging for the time being were helpful enough to give some basic explanations and lead him to accessing vines for worlds that can be easily traversed back and forth. You know, just in case he wants to explore, without getting completely lost away from Tonbokiri's people's base.

    The Japan the red-haired boy is in now is... just different enough for him to notice while he roams through the streets of this town, with his hands stuck in the pockets of the borrowed dark-blue hoodie jacket meant to replace his damaged clothes.

    Just walking around eventually felt pointless and tiring-- but fortunately, little hole-in-the-wall ramen shops are still a thing here, and he moves on to take full and prompt advantage of it.

    And stepping inside... The boy almost immediately stops for a few seconds when his eyes land on the... green-skinned lady sitting at the counter?! That's... new.

    Shirou shakes it off quickly, though, and moves further in, to come sitting on one of the free stools there. Trying very hard not to be rude and stare. "Uh... Medium bowl of Tonkatsu, please," he requests of the chef, while digging through his pocket for some money. Thankfully the yen he had on him when he fell through his homeworld are acceptable tender here.

    Slurping some of the broth in her bowl, Talia eyed the redhead that arrived. THe chef nodded eagerly and began to get making something. "You got it, kid. Should try what she's having, she loves it." He said, grinning over at Talia as she nodded in agreement. "It's quite zesty, the spices aren't too extreme and it does wonders for the sinuses."

    "Ah... Well, sure, why not, I'll give it a shot if you don't mind the order-change," Shirou offers in response to that particular thought, nodding his head slowly in the wake of Talia's own nod. It... couldn't be *too* spicy, right? He turns a look to Talia while the chef is taking care of the order, however-- considering her for a bit. This place seemed to be a common area for extra-world travellers to stop by in, so...? "You're... not from around here either, are you?" Well, guess he's just going to ask her straight up then.

    Talia shook her head softly. "No, I'm from space." She said with a little grin as she took a mouthful of noodle. Aumf. "I'm Talia. You look lost, friend." She said. THe chef wasted little time in making Shirou a bowl. "Aye, lots of strangers come about this town. ANd this lady's strangest of all I've ever met! Still, she helped deal with some ruffians earlier this week, so she dines at a discount!"

    Talia waves a hand absently. "I was very happy to help with those bandits regardless of reward. I won't turn down a meal, however." Slurrrrp.

    Shirou ends up... giving a kind of a blank look right back at Talia over her response. Slooow blink. "... I mean, I guess I should have guessed...?" He mutters -- without really fully realizing for himself just *what* exactly he said.

    "'Lost' is... just about right, honestly," he admits while turning his hands to pulling the offered bowl a bit closer, catching a pair of chopsticks after. "I'm... way less used to this sort of thing. I kind of... 'fell out' from home two days ago, and I'm still... trying to come to terms with it."

    Talia chuckled softly. "It's alright, a lot of people here tend to be lost. I know I was." She said softly, and leaned against the bar. "In any case, I suppose I'm mostly here to learn about the people and culture here. I figure I'll let the Force carry me along for a time."

    Shirou nods along with Talia's words... at first, anyway. Her latter sentence leaves him with... quite the sharp hit of curiousity, and it shows with a subtle cock of his head to the side. "The... Force?" He repeats, sounding very much confused. "You mean like... physics? The force of gravity or something...?" Oh, Shirou, Shirou.

    "Not that kind of Force, I'm sorry I should've explained." She nods as the boy gives his name. "A pleasure to meet you." Then explaination time! "The Force is...it's a cosmic entity, it gives all life forms the energy that binds and connects us, and gives us life. It also grants some people powers...powers I possess. I suppose I trust in it to guide my way."

    "That sounds... like some kind of divine being?" Shirou speaks out his own hypothetical observation drawn from Talia's explanation -- though he still frowns visibly in thought from the effort of trying to process that. That's two whole new complicated concepts he's been presented with in the span of a few days, now! "I've never heard of anything like that... Is it like magic?" That's the only thing he can compare it to internally, himself, so it's what he ends up grasping at now.

    Talia shrugged. "I suppose." She began to levitate a bowl. "Some call it that, but it's...not quite. THere's no incantations, no spells. Just...feelings."

    "Oooh..." Talia's little display does urge Shirou to shuffling just a little closer to try and get a closer look, forgetting about his own bowlful of noodles for the time being. "Levitation, huh... But no incantations, no focus items, nothing...? I mean, levitation was always beyond me in the first place, but even ignoring that, I've never seen anything like that..." Oh, so he knows about *magic* then.

    Talia chuckled as the bowl was gently set down. "Some call it telekinesis and telepathy. I think it's more...sensing the auras of people, feeling emotions. I can't read your mind but I can get a good sense of how you feel." She smiled. "In any case, I reach out and...lift things, move them through the Force."

    "I take it you have experience with magic, then?"

    The red-haired boy leans back away again, sitting upright on his stool once the lifted-up bowl finds its way back on the counter. He nods a bit more eagerly... even if he probably doesn't quite fully understand it. "So it's... almost like being in tune with the World, maybe...?" He suggests. It almost sounded similiar to the idea of drawing mana from the surrounding area instead of yourself that he heard once before from his adoptive father, but... maybe not quite the same?

    And he can't help but chuckle with some faint akwardness at the question, eyes closing briefly. "Welllll... By some definition, sure. I only know one type of magic, really, and I've only just recently gotten any decent with it..."

    "Oh? WHat sort of magic is that, might I ask?" Talia wondered, curiosity in her eyes. The chef was also curious too, leaning in. "You a wizard or summat like Miss Talia then, boyo?"

    "I-I think 'wizard' is overestimating quite a bit..." Shirou points out with an akward chuckle. "Back where I came from, that was usually kept as a secret, but... I guess it's not as big of a deal here." He does purposefully pause so that he can finally get at least a mouthful of noodles devoured -- guiding them up with the chopsticks to be *sluuuurp*'d up before he continues.

    "I can... 'reinforce' things with magic. You know, make things harder and more durable so they don't break as easy. In theory improve their 'conceptual' use too, like... make a tool better at it's job, a knife cut more sharply, things like that... Though that kind of thing is a bit beyond me with most things, honestly."

    The chef nodded slowly. "I see...well," He produced a knife, and with great strength the man JAMMED his blade into the countertop with a loud chunk sound. Talia's eyes momentarily widened, before she went back to slurping noodles. "Can ye reinforce this?"

    The knife getting struck into the counter right in front of Shirou brings out a little yelp of surprise from the red-headed teen, staring wide-eyed at the tool first and then at the chef. "That's kind of putting me on the spot, isn't it?!" he protests. "But, uh... I can try, though. Is this an old knife, were you looking to improve it...? It seemed sharp enough to get right in there!"

    The Chef shrugged. His knife bore signs of wear and tear, it could definitely use an improvement. He grunted as he pulled the blade out of the counter table, before presenting it. "Nah, just kiddin'. I wanted to see ye do it, I got plenty others." He grinned and laughed. Talia just sighed and smiled crookedly. "Well, keep it as a gift!"

    "I... don't know if I can just take one like that," Shirou murmurs with a vaguely-nervous gulp. Still, he does reach to take the knife, turning it over in his hand in a momentary study. "...But I can at least see if I can..." His grip tightens on the hilt of the knife, and his eyes narrow...

    "--Trace, on."

    A tight look of focus overrides his expression. There's no outward change-- but maybe Talia might be able to change some flow of a different kind of element in the boy. A subtle, faint cyan light briefly crossing over the knife, while a bead of sweat gathers to drip down his forehead...

    And then... he lets out a breath he was holding back. Seeming satisfied. "O-okay... It didn't break." Wait, what? Turning the knife over in his hand, he holds it back towards the chef. "Try cutting something with it and let me know how it feels?"

    The chef took the knife in his hands, before he began to start cutting vegetables. Where it once took several messy cuts, the blade now sliced through onions and celery and other vegetables with absolute ease. Talia was enraptured at the cook's skill, effortlessly. "Heeeey...I might keep this knife! You got a talent, boy! Might make y'self a fine smith sometime."

    "I don't know if I would call my skills really aligned with a blacksmith's, honestly," Shirou points out -- but still, he does smile a little over the compliment, at the very least. "But, thank you. I don't manage to pull that off that often, truth be told, but... it's nice when I do manage it." Shoveling some more noodles into his mouth, he empties up his bowl. Clapping his hands together, he dips his head subtly and murmurs, "THank you for the meal," before rising up from the stool. "I should head back. Before people start wondering if I actually got lost."

    He does pause once he's up, to nod to Talia, too. "It was interesting meeting you, too. Maybe you can tell me more about The Force if I ever happen to run into you again?" Having said that much, the redhead draws his hand up to tap his fingers to his brow in a faux-salute, making his way for the door after...

    There is a non-zero chance that he gets lost on his way back.