It was a common sight to see most of the regular villagers practicing with the sunrise. From the nonessential elders all the way to children freshly walking. They would practice a slow dance-like kata designed to help with their movement and wellbeing. Elder Gin would usually watch over the larger group in the square, of course he was usually lazing around on a roof. But today he had his eyes on an eight year old boy.

Mareus had long memorized the forms, you were supposed to focus on your awareness and match your breath with each movement. Though, his mind was focused on the same things that always invaded it during this time. Three years ago he was told that he could never truly step foot into the cultivation world. And that if he did his own body would turn against him. Since then, his daily life consisted of morning practice followed by a light breakfast and the rest of his time spent running errands.

A gong rang out across the entire village and everyone dispersed to go about their own routines. Mareus stood behind, watching as children only a few years older gathered around and received instructions on their cultivation techniques. Perhaps if he was born under different stars then, one day, he would be with them.

“Have you already had breakfast?” A young woman’s voice shocked him back to reality.

Mareus stared at the dumpling in her outstretched hand. “Not yet, Big Sister.” He replied as he plucked the warm bun from her.

“Still so proper.” Mai gently shoved his shoulder.

“I could be more proper if you’d like. Elder Sister Wei Gin Mai” He huffed before swallowing his food.

“Does this brat think he can’t be disciplined by a pregnant woman?”

“No, no. I learned from watching Brother Ganju.” He pleaded.

Mai blurted out a short laugh before saying. “Careful what you learn from that fool.”

“He should really fix that head before his child is born.”

She rubbed her slight bump with a content smile. The birth of any child always meant a celebration almost as grand and chaotic as a marriage, especially for the first child of a big family.

“So, what has you in a daze little brother?” Mai asked.

He hesitated for several breaths. “Sister, what do you do if there was something you wanted to do, something that would help others and make them happy. But, no matter what you did. You couldn’t do it, and if you tried it would hurt you.” Mareus’ choked up at the end of his words.

“That’s a difficult question to answer.” She chose her words carefully. “Did you know that when I was younger, I wanted to be an explorer?”

He shook his head.

“I did, I wanted to see the world. Discover things our people have only heard about in stories. I wanted to learn about other people and their cultures. But, then I lost my parents in a hunting accident. I was the only other family my grandfather had and I didn’t want him to feel like he lost all of his family.”

“How did you deal with giving up your dream?”

“I struggled for a time, but Ganju knew and he comforted me. We got closer while I was working, mending his scrapes and bruises from sparring and what-have-you.” She laughed. “It was obvious he had feelings for me from the beginning. But, before I knew it my dreams had changed. And I just wanted to look after him and make sure he was always properly bandaged.”

“Do you still dream about exploring?”

“From time to time, that probably won’t ever change. But, my point is that there are ten thousand paths in this world. And none of them are predetermined.”

“Thank you Sister.” He bowed his head. “You gave me some things to think about.”

Mai pulled him into a tight embrace. “Stop that, we are family. Now go, I won’t take up anymore of your day.”

As Mareus was heading towards the announcement hall to get his daily task. Gong’s rang out across the valley.

One.

Three.

Five. Five gong’s before pausing and repeating without end.

Everyone froze in place as they stared off in the direction of the hunting grounds. Regardless of if they had a clear view or not, they remained in silent prayer.

A distant voice shouted.

“One injured.” A scout repeated. “No beast in sight.”

“Can you see who it is?”

“It’s not clear, it looks like someone in Elder Hua’s trainee squad.”

More indistinct shouting came before the scout turned as white as rice.

“Well what did they say?”

“Who is it?”

He stammered. “I-It’s… It is…”

Another scout attacked the warning drum as they screamed. “The Elder is injured, all physicians prepare and any available warriors help bring her in. I repeat! Elder Hua is injured.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

A short shadow sprinted past several people before anyone could recognize who it was.

“Stop, little brat. What do you think you can do?” Grandpa Gin gripped Mareus firmly by his wrist.

It didn’t hurt but he couldn’t get away no matter how hard he struggled. “Let me go! Granny is hurt, I need to get to her. I need to help her.”

Tears ran down his face, his voice trembling as he fought to not look the old man in the face.

“MAREUS!” He shouted. Grandpa Gin never used anyone’s name, not unless he didn’t like you or you were in a lot of trouble. “Boy! What will you do once you get there?”

His emotions welled up in his chest and he turned to yell back with everything he had. To tell him that he didn’t have a plan. Tell him that he would figure something out. And that if he couldn’t he would do whatever they told him. He had to do something, anything.

Something wet was dripping from Grandpa Gin’s beard, looking up at the old man Mareus saw the dam that had broken behind his eyes. This wrinkled old man almost twenty times his age kept a firm face while failing to hold back even a single tear. He didn’t use any force when he held Mareus, at least that wasn’t what was holding him in place now.

“You’re not going to be of any help down there.” He said, before Mareus could say anything. “Go to the medical hall, help them get ready and do whatever they ask you. You’ll be of more help to her that way.”

They stared at each other for several breaths before Grandpa Gin finally released him. Mareus turned towards the direction of the warriors, for a moment his weight shifted forward. And then he spun on the ball of his foot and ran the whole way to the medicine hall with his head down.

By the time the physicians stepped out into the waiting room the light from Heaven’s Scar had started to dim as it was replaced by the sunrise peaking over the mountain’s ridge. The golden color that washed over everything revealed how cramped the waiting room had become, and not a single sound crept through the crowd.

They looked as if they were trying to find the right words. Or they were afraid to break the silence in a room full of warriors and worried villagers.

Mareus did that for him. “How is she? How is my grandmother?”

They turned around to see a small boy sitting with his arms around his knees. One of them sat down, this would be easier than addressing the whole room. Easier, but still impossibly hard.

“She wasn’t injured during the hunt, from what her subordinates told us and from our own examination. She is suffering from Qi Dissension.” He said.

“What does that mean?” Mareus asked before mumbling. “Why does everyone keep using words I can’t understand?”

“It means that her internal energy is at odds with itself.”

“Stop, I’ll handle this. You physicians are only good at handling the body and not the person or their family.” Elder Wei brushed the physician aside after stepping out of the sick room. “Little one, Sister Zhǔ received an injury from fighting a crazed Shou when you were born. Because of that she was exposed to an evil energy, and it looks like it never fully dispersed like we hoped it would.”

The physician tried again, “You can look at it as a parasite that has been damaging her qi and her heart has been weakening because of it.”

“Is she going to die?” He asked.

“Not if we can give her the right treatment, for now we gave her some medicinal herbs to soothe her. And we sent some people to get the materials so that we can purify her energy and help her heal.”

“Really?” Mareus wiped his nose on his sleeve. “She’ll be okay?”

Elder Wei gave him a soft smile and brushed his head. “Of course, I’ll do everything for my elder sister.”

Several days later Mareus was dusting his blankets outside when he heard something crash inside. He rushed to the kitchen and watched as his grandmother was cleaning up the pieces of a broken kettle.

“Granny! You’re supposed to be resting.” He complained.

“I am resting you fretful child. I was just making some tea and the kettle slipped off of the counter.”

She did look like she was doing better at least. Her stance was solid and her breathing stable. Granny’s brow was a little wet but that could because she had been standing over the stove.

“If you say so. I’ll grab a broom.”

Granny looked like she wanted to protest before relenting, “Thank you, little one.”

Mareus stepped outside when he heard another shatter. With a sigh he went to fetch the broom, he hoped that she would get better soon since he didn’t know where to begin when taking care of someone. Not to mention that at this rate they would be out of dishes by this time next week.

The broom was resting on a stump he would often sit on to watch the village when he was taking a break from chores. He took advantage of the moment to clear his head, not looking at anything in particular. Day after day he had looked at the only home he had known, often trying to spot a new detail he’s never noticed. Now it all looked so far away, like a painting that had faded so much that all of the buildings came together into one out of focus shape.

One building seemed to bleed through the canvas, he realized it was the Medicine Hall. A place filled with people who focused on cultivating medicinal plants instead of their own qi. Maybe, even someone who couldn’t use internal energy could medicine. Then he could help Granny Zhu get better too.

He laid back on the stump, taking in the upside view of his home. What stood out in that moment was that he left the front door open, of course he did. Normally, he would get a small earful for overlooking something like that.

Mareus imitated his grandmother, “Integrity and discipline are important for both warriors and normal people.”

Then he’d switch back to his own voice, “Yes, Granny. But, it’s just closing the door.”

“It’s all the same. These are things that start with the little things and become who we are as people.” Mareus slipped back into his own voice as he finished.

Mareus picked up the broom and raced back inside, “Sorry Granny, I left the door open. But, I have the broom so you can sit down.”

Maybe she didn’t hear him, because there was no response. It was strangely quiet though, not even the muffled clinking of her picking up the broken pieces. He knew she wouldn’t be done yet though, she was breaking more than she was cleaning up.

Tossing the broom aside, he sprinted to the kitchen, falling over their ornate rug before turning the corner.

Granny Zhu had collapsed in the same section of the kitchen he left her in before going outside. She laid motionless surrounded by jagged pieces of ceramic with her back facing him.

“Granny!” Mareus cried as he stumbled on top of her. “Granny, are you hurt? What’s wrong?”

He nudged her repeatedly while calling out. Since nothing was working he grabbed onto her arm with both hands and braced his feet as he pulled. She was so much bigger than him and he was still only a child.

It didn’t take much longer for him to give up and desperately hug her. “Granny, please. Please Granny, wake up. You’re scaring me.”

Mareus squeezed so hard that his hands felt hot and wet. That didn’t seem right to him. Blinking through the tears he looked again and saw a pool of crimson slowly spread out from under her.

“S-stay still, I’ll… I’ll go get somebody. Don’t worry, I’ll be right back.”

By the time his mind caught up with his body, Mareus’ voice was horse and he was dragging back a small army of adults, including an elder and the head physician.

“I-I-I don’t know what happened. She knocked over the kettle. I got the broom. When I got back, she… she…”

The elder listened carefully as Mareus tried to explain what happened. “It’s okay, young one. You did your best, and you were right to run for help right away. The physician is here now and they’ll take care of her.”

As the elder was reassuring him, they noticed the red staining one of his hands. “Did you get hurt?” The elder held out his hand, gesturing urgently, “quickly, let me see.”

Mareus limply stretched out his hand for the elder to clean and examine. They turned his hand over and over while the blood washed away, trying to find any wound. Relief mixed with a guilty sympathy washed over their face as they realized who the blood belonged to.

“Elder.” The physician called out. “Can I speak with you?”