Video; UN: Rubitsune

[rutilance]

[ The video starts and the girl on the other side of the camera looks... Concerned. ]

Just how many of us are there? [ She starts, almost tripping over her words to elaborate. ] Kids, I mean. Just how many of us here are kids?

Are we all staying at the inns?

[ She pauses, biting her lip for a moment before speaking up again, her voice a little more sure this time. ]

I think we should look out for each other. [ Because adults can't be trusted to. Even the ones who mean well. ] A lot of us are small, I'd bet. And a lot of the other kids I've seen don't really seem like fighters. Those of us that are, we should help them.

Those of us who don't know how to fight can learn from those of us who do know, and those of us who don't want to know how to fight can be taught how to keep a better eye out for themselves and the rest of us.

The more of us that know how to defend ourselves, and the more of us that can keep an eye out for each other, the better chance of survival we have in a situation where we are at a noticeable disadvantage.

[ She wasn't quite suggesting a gang of feral children, but close enough. ]

Comments

[birdflipping]

That's fine, but adults can help too. And the city is safe, so there's no reason everyone needs to learn to fight.

[rutilance]

Did I say everyone? No. I expressly said that those who don't want to learn to fight can learn how to keep an eye on things. Sometimes all you need to survive is a good lookout who can let you know if someone who wants to hurt you is nearby so you can hide.

Adults may be able to help, but we can't just rely on the idea that they will, or that they'll be able to. Can you say you'll always be able to be there for every child if something goes wrong? Can you promise that? Unless you can be in multiple places at once, I doubt you can.

Last month in the orc attack I saw a bunch of others around my age. A lot clearly didn't even know how to hide, let alone fight. And several of those who seemed to know how to fight could have benefited from a good lookout. I'm not trying to get all the other kids to be as ready to shed blood as I am if it comes to it, just to give them the tools to survive.

We were brought here to help save basically every world ever. That's going to mean being in danger sometimes. Sometimes the adults are going to be too busy keeping themselves alive to make sure we don't get crushed.

[birdflipping]

You know if you'd just stayed in the city, orc bandits wouldn't have been a problem, right? Adults have a responsibility to protect kids, but kids also shouldn't throw themselves into danger. Especially not around here.

[rutilance]

And are you going to personally stop them? Because they're already doing it whether you like it or not. The least that should be done is to give them the skills they need to survive when they decide to take chances, be that fighting, hiding, running, or all three.

You do realise that we were sent here to save all the worlds just as much as you were, right? That it would be irresponsible for us to not lend our help where we can? And the city isn't as safe as you seem to think it is. Remember what set us off on the quest anyway? Even the locals had no idea what caused it, and I don't doubt this is just one of many times where chaos comes to the city. I doubt it has every crack covered so kids won't fall through them the next time something happens.

[birdflipping]

[ugggh. He hates to admit it, but she actually has a point.]

Just don't do anything that'll get anyone hurt. But you're right -- there's a lot of kids here, so we should all be doing more to look out for you all. You don't have to take it all on yourself.

[rutilance]

Then help us learn to do what we can. Teach us better ways to run. Teach those who want to help but don't know how to fight how they can be of use. Teach us how to avoid fights, and to force enemies to disengage with us so we can get to shelter. That's the goal of what I'm suggesting anyway. I'm not trying to turn my fellow kids into soldiers. [ This time. ] I'm just trying to give us some consistency and the tools we need to survive, maybe even thrive if it all goes well.

We're not going to sit here and wait around for people to help us without asking, Mr. Nero. And most of us have no idea where to even begin to ask. So why don't we just create our own system? One that helps us look out for each other, and helps us to keep track of which adults can and can't be trusted.