World Tree MUSH

    No one within the tribe the group had come to negotiate with had the kind of healers that could fix... what Shirou Emiya suffered, amidst the chaos of the interrupted honor duel. Such magic might not be easily found in most places, really. The boy only *narrowly* avoided getting outright bisected at the waist, and such a thing comes, unfortunately, with various other... graphic complications. All things told, he should be dead.

    But he isn't.

    The only reason he was brought to the infirmary tent instead of getting his corpse prepared for burial rites was the very visible self-healing that his body went through-- as utterly *bizarre* as it might have been, with the blade-like pieces of metal forming within the enormous wound to knit the teen's body back together. At least no one within the tribe here had heard of any healing magic that functioned in such a manner.

    Come the next day, and the infirmary tent is mostly quiet. Save perhaps for the snoring of a certain Very Exhausted berserker princess whom was *finally* given a place at a free cot after some other issues. And next to where Anna Primrose has bene left sleeping, then? Sits Shirou Emiya on a stool.

    Gee, this sure seems like a setup where the roles should be reversed, doesn't it?

    Shirou himself seems... perfectly alright, despite the state he was in the day before. The only real casualty seems to have been his jacket and shirt, replaced now by some worn-down tunic provided by the tribe's healer as a spare until he can get something better figured out. And while he sits there at the side of the rage-coma'd Anna, he's quietly studying a very-much broken silver sword laid upon his lap with a frown.

    Yumi probably spent a couple hours the previous evening watching over Shirou as his body knit itself back together; not upset or tense, really, but definitely keeping vigil over the wounded young man. Once she was sure he wasn't going to die, the senshi had stepped out of the tent, promising the tribe's healers that she'd be back the next day. And so she is; the entry flap is pulled slightly to one side, allowing a golden eye to peek in, shortly followed by the rest of the magical girl pushing her way through. "Hey, you woke up." Her voice is soft, in deference to the girl sleeping on the cot. "That was the last big worry, but I figured if your body fixed itself up that fast, you'd be fine."

    Once she's fully inside the tent, it's easy to see that Yumi's carrying a backpack that she hadn't had the previous day. "Brought you some stuff. Thought you might be hungry," she explains, swinging it off her shoulder and setting it right down nearby. "I'm not much of a cook, so I hope store-bought is okay."

    "Oh-- Tachibana." Shirou's eyes lift up from the broken sword, and he sets it aside for the time being, now that he's getting company. He, too, keeps his voice low, though honestly? With the way Anna is right now, he wouldn't be too surprised if she slept through a miniature concert.

    ...Not that he's going to *test* that theory.

    "It's fine, honestly," he assures her, with a look given to the backpack-- though he does shuffle a bit uncertainly along the stool now. What she said struck a bit of a chord. One that sees him running his hand over his abdomen, covered by an unfamiliar garment. "...Anna said my body healed on it's own, too," he says, with a faintly confused furrowing-together of his russet brows. "But it was still kind of... hard to believe. I don't know any magic like that, you know? You didn't... see anyone do anything back then, did you?"

    "Even if you don't feel hungry, I'd wager your body used up a lot of nutrients patching you up. Don't worry about it." Already, Yumi is unpacking. A store-bought bento, wrapped together with some ice to keep it chilled. A carton of Pocky. A bag of beef jerky. Even a bottle of iced coffee. "Maybe not the most well-balanced meal, but it's carbs, sugars and protein. Raw basics." She does glance up at Shirou as he's examining himself and thinking out loud; as soon as she's finished unpacking her care package, she turns and seats herself on the ground, against the nearest piece of furniture.

    "No, I don't believe anyone did," she replies to the question, shaking her head. "You took that hit, and I was over there pretty quickly. No one had time to do anything, your body was just... patching itself up. With what looked like lots of sword-tips. Somehow." Yumi can't hid the bafflement in her voice. "It's possible you have some manner of power you didn't know about. Any soreness? Any feeling like there's dozens of sword tips under your skin?"

    Well. This is... kind of an unusual feeling. Usually Shirou is the one ferrying food to other people. He's not *entirely* sure how to take this now-- and it sure shows on his face, too! "Ah... Really, you didn't need to go out of your way for me, but... thank you, I do appreciate it," he offers, with a low, akward bit of laughter, complete with the sight of his hand rubbing at the back of his neck.

    While Yumi talks about... what happened, he's scooting a bit closer, to study the boons she has brought for him. But the thoughts on it all - and his own state - linger closely in his mind still, and his lips purse with some deep contemplation. "No... I mean, soreness ,yeah, and nausea when I first woke up, but..." A hand goes to snatch that carto nof Pocky. "Nothing like... *that*. I mean, just thinking my body healed on it's own was crazy enough -- as far as I remember my old man explaining things, that kind of magic is rare to begin with, but-- sword tips? You're sure?"

    Yumi nods her head once. "Sword tips. I got a pretty close look while I was assessing the wound." There's a little grimace. "It wasn't pretty. People have died quickly of much less. I thought you were done for sure." She shakes her head, sitting back a little bit, and rests her hands loosely in her lap. "But I'm not gonna question good fortune. Best you can do now is figure it out." She looks at the remains of the sword he'd been contemplating over, looking thoughtful herself. "You seem to favor melee weapons in general, from what little we've worked together. Some kind of formal training, or just a natural affinity?"

    The fact that Yumi sounds so sure... doesn't really leave Shirou feeling much better, honestly. If she'd said something like 'I am not sure', or even 'I am just messing with you', he could have just pushed those thoughts away andn ot given it a second thought. But instead... she sounds sure it was what she saw. "I'm... not really sure what to make of that. Magic like that is definitely beyond my ability."

    At least she has the decency to provide a different topic to distract him with. While he fiddles with the carton of pocky to work it open, he throws a quick glance to the sword again, and rolls his shoulders slowly. "I don't know about 'formal'... I practiced some kendo with my old man way back when, and Saber trained me some more before... everything happened back home. Best swordfighter I ever knew, but I think I might have frustrated her most of the time."

    The carton finally gives way, enough for him to snatch two of the sticks from within and slip between his teeth. Chewing thoughtfully for a moment, before continuing further: "I was in the Archery club at my school for a good year, too, but... yeah, I guess I kind of just... like swords more than anything else. Even if I'm not any good with them at all."

    As Shirou explains his training with the blade, Yumi listens, thoughtful. His near-miss mention of things happening back home draws a curious look, but for the moment she doesn't ask after it. Instead, she opts to listen, drawing up her knees so she can rest her arms atop them. "So, informal training, then. And some school-of-hard-knocks experience." She watches her fellow redhead curiously, considering. "You know, kyujutsu was a battlefield art. You might consider investing in a yumi for times when your opponent physically outclasses you. There's a reason samurai carried both melee and ranged options."

    Letting her gaze drift away from Shirou, she adds, "I'd offer to give you more sword training, but I don't think I'd be well-suited. All my skill seems tailored towards zweihander types, so I don't think my instruction would do much for you, and to handle them the way I want to, I have to transform, so I don't think 'teaching by beating' is a safe option either." There's a curious choice of words in there. "I mean, we could try it if you really want, but I hit kinda hard when I'm transformed."

    Yumi's advice is... considered. Though truth be told, Shirou probably mostly just finds the image of him carrying a bow and quiver on him to be mostly amusing, even if her suggestion makes sense on a certain level. "Mmmmaybe? My archery experience is strictly on the range, though. I didn't so much train to shoot to hunt or kill. More zen archery, you know?"

    There's an akward smile that follows the rest of Yumi's musing -- particularly the option of her providing training herself, and why that would mostly be... a not great idea. "Aheh... To be fair, most of the training I got from Saber was pretty much me getting whacked over and over with a shinai, too, for what it's worth. ...But I guess you mean yours would be too dangerous to try that. Uh... Actually, Tachibana?" His head cocks slightly to one side, with his brows lifting upwards slowly. "Where's... all this coming from now, exactly? Not that I don't appreciate you looking out for me and all, but..."

    'Where's all this coming from?'

    Yumi arches an eyebrow, looking straight at Shirou. "I watched you get cut nearly in half yesterday. I can keep a cool head in a crisis, I can deal with bad stuff happening and not break my stride, but that doesn't mean it doesn't affect me. I'm..."

    Here the girl falters, seeming to consider her words for a moment. "...You remind me of me, except... inexperienced. Which is a weird thing to say." She shakes her head. "Emiya, I don't know who I am. I woke up about two years ago in the bottom of a crater, with no memories of anything about myself except my name. But I know I'm the kind of person who willingly took a bullet for someone she'd just met, even though I thought I was a completely normal human being at the time. And I'd do it again. And it feels really weird being on the other side of that, for once, I have to admit."

    She chuckles softly, a little shake of her head. "I've got a gut instinct to help people. To protect people. Especially people with good hearts. I don't want to see you get yourself killed protecting someone, but I know I wouldn't be able to stop you, because if it were the other way around, you wouldn't be able to stop me either. So at least I can try and make sure you go in well-equipped to survive."

    The way Yumi talks now, it brings recognition into Shirou's eyes. He didn't really think about it the other times he saw her, but hearing her say all this now, and putting it all into context?

    For just a brief moment, he feels almost like he is looking into a mirror. But only for that brief moment before he realizes there are still some very choice differences. There's nothing terribly special about him, for one, but... there's something else. Something he can't quite put his finger on, but he can tell it's there. Just...what is it?

    Instead of questioning any of that, he ends up asking of her, instead: "...You haven't gotten any of your memories back since then at all?" With a frown of visible concern. "I mean, you seem to be doing... fairly okay all things considered, at least, but still. I can't imagine what that's like."

    Try as he might, though, he can't quite ignore the point she's trying to make, either. Anna was complaining at him before, too, about how recklessly he was putting someone else's well-being ahead of his own. And his eyes drift downwards, thus, and his hand briefly pressses it's palm against his stomach again. As if feeling for the phantom remnants of the wound that should have killed him.

    "...I did know at the time I could easily die, too," he admits, quietly. "But I think when it comes down to it, I think I still would do it all over again. I don't... think there is anything wrong with that, either." Fingers press tighter against his stomach through the layer of the borrowed tunic, for a few seconds, before his hand falls down onto his lap, and his head lifts back up to look to Yumi. For an instant, there's a... kind of an off look in those amber eyes. Like something is missing. Something very, very important. But after that instant, it's gone, pushed away by an only partially-forced, sheepish laughter from Shirou. "For what it's worth, though? Getting better enough to actually have a decent success rate is part of my goals, aheh..."

    Yumi shakes her head. "Not a one. It's all a big blank before that one morning. And there's no records of a 'Yumi Tachibana' existing anywhere in Japan. At least, not one that's a school-age girl. I have a few clues I've dug up. I'll find out eventually. But for now..." There's a little shrug. "It's not in my nature to let that hold me back. Keep walking forward, no matter what. That's what I feel."

    She finally feels a desire to lower her legs back down, now seated more or less cross-legged; while Shirou talks, she watches him again, a deep scrutiny... and a certain maturity that's entirely out of place on a girl her apparent age. A girl who looks younger than Shirou. Her brow furrows briefly, and then her arms cross, eyes closed. She didn't miss that certain look in his eyes. There's something buried deep, there. But something like that is best not pried loose by someone who barely knows him.

    Instead, she offers a thoughtful, "I'd be the world's biggest hypocrite if I chewed you out for doing something so reckless. 'Controlled, tactical recklessness' is basically my playstyle, and it has been since before I figured my powers out. And trust me when I say, I get you. Your body just moves before you even think about it, right? Saving people's not just a desire. It's like it's hard-wired into you."

    Gold eyes open, and Yumi smiles, somewhat self-effacing. "Seems like my trick was to just get the skills and combat experience to make that look like decisiveness from the outside. We'll find you something, I'm sure. Kenjutsu teacher, someone you can spar against until the bruises teach you, there's lots of options. Until then, uh..." She stops, not entirely sure what to suggest from there. "...Just try not to lean on that regeneration thing too hard, I guess. For all you know, it could have a limited battery, or one day it could be taken away, or... something. Fight like you don't have it, so that if you ever do lose it, your fighting style and success rate won't change."

    'At least not a school-age girl'

    That one makes Shirou's brows lift upwards slowly. How curious. There is a certain possibility that statement leaves -- but perhaps Shirou assumes Yumi has already taken the strange chance of there being an adult Yumi Tachibana to be found somewhere in the records instead into consideration, so he doesn't bring it up himself.

    "I'm... not entirely sure how to feel about you describing it like that when you're also making a comparison to me..." Another akward little laugh from the red-haired boy, before his expression takes on a more serious edge to it. "...But yeah. I don't think I could do it any differently in any other circumstance, either. If it's to help someone else... there's not really anything wrong with it, is there?" He *probably* realizes he's preaching to the choir here, in all fairness.

    A little huff of air comes then, with all the options for improvement presented, his feet lifting just enough to wryly tap his heels together once, twice. "Yeeeah... I kind of lost my go-to means of improvement with fighting after I got spat out of my world. Even if I can find my way back--" He hesitates to finish that sentence. Does he dare to say delve into his own doubts on wether anyone in Fuyuki is still alive? Or anyone in that whole world, period? "...Yeah. Guess I'll need to figure out something new."

    As far as the matter of his newly-discovered self-healing ability goes, though? He offers an uncertain smile to Yumi, before shaking his head. "Nah... I didn't know about that even being a possibility until today, and for all I know, I don't have any control of it. It might not even work at all next time. So... no ,I don't think anything will change, for me."

    Unfortunately with *him* that probably isn't such a good thing.

    "There's something to be said for self-awareness," Yumi replies to Shirou with a cheeky sort of smile. "Face your flaws head-on, and either fix them, or plan around them. I know I'm reckless, I can't help myself, so I plan for ways to make it work. Or at least keep it from getting other people hurt trying to cover for my mistakes." She finally pushes herself up to her feet, brushing off her pants, then glances over at the sleeping Anna. It's here that her own face truly hardens; the face Yumi wears on the battlefield. The face of a knight's conviction. It probably looks eerily familiar to Shirou, in a way. "No, I don't think it's wrong. If we can keep just one person from going through what she went through, then it was worth it."

    A kid could see the worries on Shirou's face about his home world; even if she doesn't know the details, it's plainly bothering him. The shorter redhead has only a sympathetic smile to offer, but she offers it nonetheless. There is an approving nod, however, in regards to his sentiments on the regeneration. "Good. Good. We'll make a hero out of you yet, grasshopper." She once again shoots the broken sword a brief look, thoughtful, then heads over to pick up her backpack. "I do think it's kinda weird that your body specifically pulls itself together by generating swords. Magic is weird, but there's... there's usually a logic to it. Even if it's a very strange logic. I know I'm kind of being an armchair expert here, but it still might be worth looking into."

    It *definitely* looks eerily familiar to Shirou. Between the suggestion of training-through-beating-up and the knightly air the girl suddenly has about her? She suddenly brings to mind that knightly heroic spirit that had teame dup with her. It's... a stupid thought, but he can't help but ask of her: "...You wouldn't happen to think you'd have any european knights in your ancestry, would you?" On a more serious note, his head does turn to track towards the asleep Anna, and his expression twists to something sadder for a moment. "...Yeah. I don't want anyone to have to go through what we've gone through again." Wait. 'We'?

    He coughs akwardly then -- both over the further talk of getting him all trained up in the gentle art of heroism, and the matter of his... very unique healing magic. "I honestly wish I could say something enlightening on that, but I have just as much of an idea on that as you do. I'm not... exactly an accomplished magus by the standards of the world I come from. I only know the basics, but... even I know enough to be able to tell that's not... normal? At least as normal as magic could be."

    Does she think she may have knights in her ancestry?

    Yumi blinks once. Twice. Then starts to laugh softly.

    "That sure would explain some things. You've seen my transformation and my powers. I'm basically a paladin. I even get this weird urge to be deferential towards royalty. Anyone in a position of respect, really, but particularly royalty. I really wonder about my past, sometimes."

    She looks back at Anna's sleeping form one last time, then at Shirou again. "Wish there was anything I could offer, but my magic is kinda... built-in, I guess. Automatic. And the only being from my world that might have the knowledge, I have strong doubts he'd offer any help. He's not exactly reliable." Swinging her backpack up onto her shoulder, Yumi points a thumb towards the tent flap. "I probably oughta get going. But if you find any leads on your world or your magic, and you need help following them up, I'm there. Just let me know when and where."