Tribal

11

Clover returned to her hut with tears in her eyes. She collapsed on her bed and cried until she had no tears left to cry. She wanted to lay there and waste away. In her eyes, a life without Reed was not worth living. He may have been a crossbreed, but she still loved him, and now he wanted nothing to do with her. She should have done better at keeping her thoughts to herself. She resigned herself to withering away in her hut. She stayed there all day, not leaving even to get food. She did not care; if Reed wasn't going to be with her, then she'd rather starve. She was too busy wallowing in the sadness and regret of her mistake that she hadn't even noticed Ash walk into her hut. He stood at the door for a moment before speaking.

"You need to eat. You won't be strong if you don't eat." Ash was disappointed in her, but her health mattered more than his disappointment.

"There's no point in eating if he hates me," Clover said with her face still buried in her bed.

"Look, what you said had to be one of the stupidest things you've ever done. If you want my opinion, Reed has a right to be angry with you. He trusted you, and you talk about how filthy he is when you think he is not around." Ash knew trying to soften the blow of his comment would have no effect. If he wanted her to change, he needed to be as harsh as possible. That is the only way that his message would get through.

"I still love him! His impurity does not concern me!" Clover sat up and looked at her cousin; her eyes were bloodshot from crying so much, and Ash could see tear marks running down the sides of her face.

"The problem is that you consider him impure. You think that he is less because he does not have the same purity that you do," Ash said, still being as harsh as before.

"But...I-I..." Clover could not figure out a retort to what Ash was saying.

"Would you love him more than you do now if he was a pureblooded mantis?" Ash was still hitting her with the hardest questions. Clover couldn't respond. She loved Reed more than anything; she would never give him up for a purebred mantis. But she couldn't lie to herself; she would prefer if he was a purebred.

"Yes... I would," Clover's voice was heavy with sadness.

"Then that is where your problem begins. Tomorrow I am taking you into town, and you will see how these other insects are just as strong as us, in their own ways. You will learn to love them as much as you love your mantis citizens. You will learn, or you will lose Reed forever. Eat and rest." With those final words, Ash stood and walked out. Clover was disgusted at the thought of spending any extended period of time with the filth of those weaklings outside, but the thought of losing Reed was enough to make her put up with it.

The next morning, she awoke and reached out in bed for Reed, still hoping it was all just a bad dream. It wasn't. She sat up and looked toward the door where Ash was standing. "Ready to go?" He asked.

"No, but for Reed, I will." Ash knew how much Reed meant to Clover, but she would lose him if she didn't learn. And that's what he intended for her; he would force her to learn. They stood and walked out. They walked for quite some time; Clover was curious. Where was he taking her? Soon she realized where they were going. "No. I will not go to that filthy pillbug's tent; it's her fault that Reed left." Clover kept her voice down as to not draw attention, but she had to make Ash aware that she would not go to the pillbug.

"It's not up to you. You must do this, or Reed will be gone." Ash had to hammer that into her skull; she had to do what he said or she would lose the one she loved. Clover clenched her fist in rage; she knew that he was right. And she hated it.

"Fine." They continued to Haley's tent, and Ash rung the bell outside the tent, a makeshift doorbell until they could get a hut of their own. Ash had heard how she wished her family to move into the village. He approved of the idea; it would be great to have outsiders move into the village. He knew that Haley would want an apology from Clover before she considered moving in permanently. Stan was the one to answer the door.