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Video; UN: Rubitsune

[ 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. ]

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That's okay. We'll find someone who is. [ She's very genuine on this - there is no disappointment. ]

Skills need not be unique or rare to be useful. I'm sure you'll have an easier time re-learning herbary [ just pretend that's a word - she is ] than someone else would learning it for scratch. And coming up with athletic training people can do would be helpful. I'm told I go too hard on such things, so someone who actually knows what normal limits are will be very helpful. [ It's not her fault she literally cannot stand still while she can be doing something of value! ] What is your magic type?

Oh. I forgot to introduce myself. Hello 'Nneth, it's nice to meet you. I'm Ruby.

Nice to meet you, Ruby.

As far as my magic type goes... Uh. It's supposed to be with elements, but I haven't really .. uh. Tried it yet.

Do you know, besides just living around here, really, what exactly are we training for? Usually, that kind of helps decide how training, even something like athletics, is meant to be.

There are trainers who can help you with getting started, and we also have someone else who is an elemental magic user who is trying to learn. I can help you find books, too, if you want to learn more from reading.

I wish they gave us more concrete information on why we're here. As far as I can tell, learning and using our magic helps to stabilize the worlds, but I don't fully understand how. When it comes to training for the kids though, it's going to depend a lot on each goal, but I know one thing I want to teach everyone is how to run away, and if you can help them to learn how to be fit enough to run long enough to possibly outrun an enemy, that will be a big help.

I- yeah. Training. Training is fine.

Well, you can't, uh, most can't outrun a horse. But I can teach them to survive pursuits, sure. How many young do we have here exactly?

I can show you to one of the trainers. I've mostly been reading from books, but the trainers can be really helpful to get started.

Hm. I really hope most people aren't being chased by people on horseback. That would pose some problems. [ But being pursued at all wouldn't..? ] The current number is unknown. So far we have three people who are interested in this group, myself excluded, but there hasn't been even a day since I suggested this, so I have no clue how many it will end up.

Yeah, that might be good. If it helps, I don't mind trying.

Oh, but. I don't, I don't know if they'd be chased like that. I mean, I hope they aren't. It was just an example. I guess I mean to say that, well. Maybe you can't outrun everything, but you can still learn to hide or how to use the environment around you to throw them off. If it's a forest or a city... or, well. I, um. Yeah. I don't really know what environment would be best to train for, but I can still demonstrate, uh, instincts? Instincts that would help anyone to put their situation to their advantage, I guess.

And not to... lessen your idea. Helping young by being an example is good, but. You kind of make it sound like it's us or them and... I'm not sure. Do you really want to do that?

I'm expecting company tonight, but I will be happy to show you in the morning.

Hiding is a part of staying alive, in my experience. But you have to be able to run long enough to get to a hiding spot. I'm going to be training hiding, too. Though I'll be more than happy for help there. I think that training in multiple environments will be good. This... Well this whole thing is not going to be a short thing. My goal is to keep this running as long as possible, and to make it so that if I die, others can take my place. It's going to mean training as many kids as are willing to learn, and it will mean asking those same kids to help teach when more kids come in. I'm just hoping that I can set up this system so that it works if parts go missing, or if we end up unable to contribute in the same way we used to.

Do you mean us or them like children or adults? That's not the intent. I'm just used to not relying on adults for more than I need to, and I think it's important to go forward knowing there will be some adults who are too busy pretending there's something morally wrong with children in a crisis learning how to be self-sufficient. I also know that adults have their own things to do, and even if some promise help, they may be unable to give it, or even change their mind for some reason or another. That's okay, of course, but if we rely on that help, then we could be left out in the cold - metaphorically speaking.

In the morning? Um, yeah. I guess that's fine.

How long are you thinking this will need to be kept going?

[What 'Nneth wants to ask is 'who hurt you' but that's probably not appropriate. They'll go for a more neutral, lack-luster response instead.] I think if you rely on one source of anything you could find yourself without. I mean. Better to request help from as many as we can, right? Ah, I guess just. Just let me know when you need me.

Do you know how to send me your location? Or would you rather define a meeting point ahead of time?

Probably for as long as we're here. Unless we suddenly stop getting kids. Or someone makes a better system. That said, I don't expect anyone who offers help to stay permanently with the group. That's why I need to learn everything that's being taught, so I can help pass what was learned on if someone stops teaching and we don't have someone to step in.

[ She'd be asked if she wanted an incomplete list. It's probably for the best. ] That's why the plan is to teach as many things to as many kids as possible. I certainly won't turn down adult aid though, so long as it doesn't come with a catch. I'm not going to accept help that comes with unacceptable demands. But people who are offering to help without expectation of things we can't give are more than welcome. I probably won't turn down any full-adults who want to learn, either, but I probably won't consider them a part of the group itself, just a visitor. I'm not going to be responsible for a full grown adult in an adult body.

[ And that, in part, was what some of this came down to. Stepping up and taking responsibility. Just like she did in the Forge. Only this time, there was a better chance of people staying in one piece if things went wrong. If she failed here, at least the kids would still be able to stay in the inns, and would have access to at least one meal a day. ]

No... I don't really know what you mean. I know what you're saying about a meeting point. Just not the sending part.

Um, well. It's all very ambitious. I hope it goes well.

We'll choose a meeting spot then. I can show you how to send your location when we're there. That should help if you're in an emergency! [ She seems fairly cheerful at this. ]

Hm. Is it really all that ambitious? [ Her question at least sounds genuine. ] It seems a lot less ambitious than how I do it back home. Sure I have to build the system here myself, where I was coming into the system as it was made in the Forge, but here there's a lot more of a safety net. And things won't be so strict. Not everyone will need to learn to fight, just to be able to get to safety, or at least out of immediate danger. As long as there are enough people willing to both teach and learn, it shouldn't be any harder than I'm used to.

[ Okay. The having to learn every skill enough to teach it is maybe a bit ambitious, but it should be fine. She'll just make more time in the day for it, and she'll take on better paying, more dangerous jobs in order to make up for what she's not making by working all day. ]

Right. Thank you. I am a well enough scout. If you tell me where I should go, I'm sure I could find it. I-It wouldn't be that quick, of course. I'm still getting used to the lands here. But it might help in that way. Getting used to the lands here, I mean.

Is the Forge home to you? I'm sorry, I don't really know what that is.

There is a bakery with a pink sign that has cupcakes on it on the main street that leads from the east-most gate. We'll meet there. I can help you find your way to various landmarks when we're on the way to one of the trainers.

[ She then pauses and smiles sadly at her phone - no one can see her, not even Leader Korei's cameras, so she lets herself have this. They'd been trained to talk about the Forge in ways that made people ask questions, every one of them. It was how the cult's doctrine spread to people in casual conversation.

When she replies her tone was cheerful, just as she'd practised so no one would have a clue how terrified she was. ]

It is! The Forge is both what we call our organization and our home. Home is, well, the adults sometimes use the word 'compound', but it's kind of like a town? But there's a fence around it to keep crazies and wild animals out. Town implies it's open to anyone to walk on in without permission, I'm told.

There's a bunch of us there, and we all work together. The adults are pretty busy, but each age range of kids is taught how to help the younger kids, so we're all able to pitch in, both with looking after younger kids, and with helping keep things running. There are fields, and there's a bunch of areas where we can play [ train ] and we even have a modest library. We also learn a whole bunch of things they don't really teach in the cities anymore, like how to survive in the woods, and foraging.

I'd appreciate that. Thank you again. Oh. Uh, what time in the morning?

My home is much the same. Although, I wouldn't say we have much in the way of a library or fields, really. It sounds nice. This must be pretty different for you. But at least you seem very prepared.

You're welcome. I do a lot of odd jobs around the city so it isn't a bother at all. Hm. Ten. I should be finishing one of my regular jobs in that area about half an hour before then.

[ Ruby certainly wasn't going to mention it, but after seeing the libraries in cities she didn't think the Forge had much in the way of a library either. ]

It's very nice. It's a lot better than where I was before! There are a lot more kids, and since I'm a hard worker I get recognised for my efforts. It's pretty different here, but I adapt. I'm just happy that I have animal magic. I can communicate with animals back home, too. I think I'd be a lot less prepared if I lost that. It would be like losing a sense!

Ten. Got it.

Have you always been capable of the same magic? Is that common where you're from?

I don't think it's magic in my world, so much as just something I can do. I didn't even know it was something no one else I knew could do until a year or two ago. Magic feels like something you would know is magic, you know? But, well, I've been able to communicate with animals for as long as I can remember. Since magic and a lot of other abilities in my world come from gods most of the time, such things aren't really common, though stories of them from the past are!

Gods? So one of your gods let you talk to animals even before you came here?

['Nneth doesn't fully understand the implications of the question but grasps that it should be a big deal. Right?]

Well, I don't know for sure... But probably. Someone in my bloodline probably had a boon that went through generations. I doubt I was personally chosen for a boon. I haven't really done anything to earn one, and I'm pretty sure I'd know by now if a god wanted something specific done with the power.

[ Considering the cult she had been kidnapped into... Well, it would be almost guaranteed she'd have found something out by now. ]

That's... um. A lot. It sounds like something monarchs might- er. Well, I'm glad you have magic you're familiar with?

['Nneth has no idea how to respond to any of this and can't make up their mind with what might be remotely appropriate to say.]

Oh. I'm not a monarch. [ Ruby shook her head after how quickly she replied. The last thing she was was royalty. ] While it's true some monarchs are gods or related to them, even commoners can have gods and their boons in their bloodline. Usually minor gods. Like the god of a local mountain or forest. There's also how other deities, - erm, all gods are deities but not all deities are gods - other deities might be in a bloodline and get a boon.

The odds are high that somewhere in my bloodline someone rescued or married a fox spirit. That might explain my familiar too...

[ She pauses a moment. ]

Are all people given boons by gods also monarchs in your world?

N-no. Not actually. We don't have anything like that. Maybe a monarch's ancestor was believed to be gifted in combat, or gifted in wisdom, but none of that is so literal that gods gave them such things. I mean, that doesn't stop some from saying it did and some believing that to be true. But it would be ridiculous if-

Er, wait. I'm not saying your situation is ridiculous, just from my own homeland it would be...

Hold on a minute. Are you saying your ancestor married a fox?

Oh, no, my situation is ridiculous, just not for that rea-

Oh. Well. I don't have any proof. But it would explain why my familiar is a fox spirit, especially one old enough to have three tails. I have no idea why else a fox spirit would have interest in me.

[ She pauses a moment. ]

For the record, in my world there are stories of fox spirits turning into humans to marry humans. If one of my ancestors married a fox, they didn't marry one that looked like a fox. Probably. I don't think anyone would have let another person marry a common animal, even back then. People did a lot of weird things in the past, but people in the past had limits too.

[This is not the rabbit hole of an explanation 'Nneth was prepared for.]

You're serious? You're serious. [Wow.]

I- yo- right. Right. Well. Um. So long as it's a happy family, I guess that's ... fine.

[Nice recovery there, buddy.]

[ Oh how Ruby places her face in her hands. The last thing she needs is someone thinking really, really weird things run in her family background. ]

I. Well. I think they'd probably be happy. I don't think a fox spirit would marry a mortal unless they both really liked each other. A fox has to live a long time to become supernatural, and in that time they get really wise. They probably wouldn't settle for a spouse that wouldn't be good for them and their kids.

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Video; UN: Rubitsune

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