"Of course it is," she said. "It's human nature." A pause for consideration. "The nature of people, in general. To fear what's new, what's different; I've seen parents turn on their children for little more."
Raine sighed, quietly, and turned their footsteps along a quieter street, bordering a park. Erskine's explanation, rather than setting her at ease, was so far hitting warning bell after warning bell. It wasn't fear that made her heart heavy, really, but perhaps resignation.
"Revolution requires sacrifice," she said aloud, letting it hang in the air, and for a few seconds her mouth curled in distaste. It was, occasionally, true, and she misliked it all the more for that. "Hm. It's true that restructuring an entire world is difficult, and nearly impossible to do without some kind of price paid. However, it's one thing to be the one willing to pay that price, and another entirely to be the one who sacrifices others for it."
Some kind of context on her own side of things really was going to be necessary, wasn't it. Raine watched the path, the stone ahead of them, debated briefly about what to share. "I know both sides," she said, finally. "My friends and I set out to save our own world, when it was fading. The Chosen One -- my student, a girl of sixteen -- had known it was her duty to give up her life for that since she was very young. I, too, knew her fate since agreeing to tutor her; I guided her willingly to what would have been her death." She shook her head again, frowning a little. "One of my other students disagreed, when he discovered it. Forcefully. It was a profoundly selfish act, to save one life valuable to him at the cost of condemning the entire world. However-- there was another way. One generations had missed in blind obedience. And it required that naive selfishness, the determination to save everyone, no matter what, in order to see it."
Now she turned her gaze to Erskine again, despite that he refused to look at her, and the way she watched him was thoughtful. Not quite wary. "I wonder. You say there was no other way; you say you couldn't help it. Is that true? Or is it something you tell yourself to avoid facing the choice you made?"
no subject
Raine sighed, quietly, and turned their footsteps along a quieter street, bordering a park. Erskine's explanation, rather than setting her at ease, was so far hitting warning bell after warning bell. It wasn't fear that made her heart heavy, really, but perhaps resignation.
"Revolution requires sacrifice," she said aloud, letting it hang in the air, and for a few seconds her mouth curled in distaste. It was, occasionally, true, and she misliked it all the more for that. "Hm. It's true that restructuring an entire world is difficult, and nearly impossible to do without some kind of price paid. However, it's one thing to be the one willing to pay that price, and another entirely to be the one who sacrifices others for it."
Some kind of context on her own side of things really was going to be necessary, wasn't it. Raine watched the path, the stone ahead of them, debated briefly about what to share. "I know both sides," she said, finally. "My friends and I set out to save our own world, when it was fading. The Chosen One -- my student, a girl of sixteen -- had known it was her duty to give up her life for that since she was very young. I, too, knew her fate since agreeing to tutor her; I guided her willingly to what would have been her death." She shook her head again, frowning a little. "One of my other students disagreed, when he discovered it. Forcefully. It was a profoundly selfish act, to save one life valuable to him at the cost of condemning the entire world. However-- there was another way. One generations had missed in blind obedience. And it required that naive selfishness, the determination to save everyone, no matter what, in order to see it."
Now she turned her gaze to Erskine again, despite that he refused to look at her, and the way she watched him was thoughtful. Not quite wary. "I wonder. You say there was no other way; you say you couldn't help it. Is that true? Or is it something you tell yourself to avoid facing the choice you made?"