577
The silver boy did not have to wait long, but the man who greeted him appeared different than the man he had been use to seeing lurking in Ichika no Ho-en. This man was in lupus form and though Pripyat Soul had seen Noah Sawtooth as such before, it was strange to be greeted at the borders by the most primal form of their shapes. Instinctively he rose from his sitting position to greet the man properly, though the greeting Noah gave Pripyat was also one he had grown unaccustomed to, though that too was not completely unfamiliar. The pet name that the tattered man had given Jefferson's son had been used widely in Phoenix Valley, but less so as they fell into their own niches within Ichika no Ho-en. And now? Still the name embarrassed the boy but he was less awkward about it, less obvious—his stony face gave away nothing. He wasn't the same child he had once been.
Pulling his hands together he bowed low to his elder, his voice low but warm. "Namaste brother." Coming up from his bow Pripyat found he was still looking down at the man and suddenly felt uncomfortable to be in different forms. Easily Pripyat could shift down to his lupus, or even the halfling form would be better, but the lad had come to detest four legs. On his hip was the small pouch ever filled with flint and other fire making tools and what use was that to him without hands? His purpose—he knew now—was to be the fire keeper in Ichika. Even when not actively performing the duties, he felt uneasy if he were to be unable to use dexterous fingers and opposable thumbs.
Noah seated himself back from the boy, presumably so he could look up into his face and the Soul male made it easier by seating himself once more. Now they were on closer of the same level and Pripyat said nothing for a long moment after Noah commented on the boy's eye. It had been scarred since before Samhain, since Arye had passed into the next world. Three months at least and surely Noah and the others had seen Pripyat's face since then, but none had approached him about it. The boy hadn't made it easy, keeping to the Abbey and only rushing past the others when they happened to pass one another in Ichika. Eventually they stopped wondering when they saw him and merely accepted the new look.
"Nice lands." His voice wasn't sarcastic, but almost. If they were to talk of new things, why not speak of something actually new? Noah's move. The boy's ear twitched, uncertain if it were proper to so swiftly turn the attention away from his face and onto Noah's action, but the once side stepping child had turned into a more direct man. He felt at ease with Noah, and so he made no qualms about the purpose of his visit. "You happy here Noah?" Pripyat's eyes were curious as he looked into the face of one of the few he could call a friend, but a friend he feared he was losing too. Perhaps he had neglected the older man when they both were Ichikans, too wrapped up in Arye, too wrapped up in fire and soot. And now? Now Noah too was skittering away like the other Valley members had and Pripyat had no choice but to stay behind.
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