avalononline | 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. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

Video; UN: Rubitsune

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