.
The girl's discomfort at the man's words did not seem to bother Pripyat. At one time he would have felt sorry for such harsh speech, at one time he would have gone out of his way to put the girl at ease and make her journey easier. The boy who had been so courteous had burned up on the shores of Ichika with Arye, the ashes carrying away whatever warmth was left in the boy. And yet he was not outright unkind, merely matter of fact. She did stink.
At the woman's next words Pripyat titled his head, the hard stare averting it's self as he thought how to answer the question. Somehow thoughts of Ichika softened the brute, even to the sea lady. "Pack, clan, group, tribe… the word you call us doesn't matter. Only thing that matters is that we are family here." All Ichikans had to believe that, had to love their brothers and sisters as they loved themselves. "We strive for peace, both internal and external peace. Other groups might engage in war or make trouble with one another but we wish to provide a place of sanctuary for those who seek it. Brothers and sisters are not allowed to fight within these borders, only in order to defend these borders, or one another." Truly they wanted to walk with a light step, but that did not mean they would let themselves get walked all over.
"Many of us are rather spiritual, many of us are not. It does not matter, because ultimately it's all the same. Those in Ichika work together toward whatever goal we each hold individually, and to better the group as a whole." Was that what she had meant? Was that what she wished to know of his home? The knowledge was free for any who inquired, and yet there was so much more he could not express to her. The traditions and customs and holidays of which there were too many to recount on the border just then. The relations between the members, how some left and new ones came but that was alright too, because Ichika was life and life was change and surely it would go through many more transformations until it's ultimate death, which Pripyat preyed was decades away.
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