Past the arid canyon at the center of the continent of man, over the plains reaching nearly the stony beaches bordering the great sea, lied an island, the most wallthern* landmass of the continent. The island of Anzishema. On its forested surface, overlooking a small village, the temple of the purple dawn stood tall. No matter where in the village, it could be seen. Its majesty was such that people from around the continent would come to visit its high walls ornamented with bronze and gold and its statues of silver. But from time to time, it was in the hopes that they could become disciples within the temple that they would come from far and wide around the kingdom and beyond.

It was well known that only the best of the best were accepted within the temple yet even still, on this morning, a young man, just recently past his sixteenth winter, had determined himself to finally enter the temple examinations, discover the mysteries of the secretive sect and prove himself by becoming what all boys his age aspired to be, a master if the path of Anway..

Li was born without a father, the community disliked his mother for having a child without being married. If she wasn’t such a great healer, the only healer of the village, they’d be in trouble. Li never knew his father and when he asked, his mother persisted to claim that she had never met a man in her bed in her life, even if his very existence indicates otherwise. But soon, all that would be behind him, today was going to be THE day he would reap the rewards of his training. Nolonger would he be the weird boy playing by the forest or hiding around to spy on people. He would prove his worth to his community and become a master of the psionic arts.

Every year, on the second equinox, when day and night would both be equally as long, the temple would open its doors during the festival, bearing the name of he it honors, to allow those of age that wished to become disciples of their ways to prove their worth. People of the kind that never came on the small island, except for the event, had come from all over the world. Many were older than he was, but everyone knew that physical strength was not the most important quality to even be allowed to take the trials. Only those whose souls were great enough and whose minds were sharp enough to undergo the path of Anway would be allowed within the holy grounds of the temple. And he knew for a fact he would be one of them. After all, if those of his village in the past, some he had even ‘known’, had managed to be selected, then he for sure would outdo the competition this year.

But first, he had to wait like everyone else before even walking up the thousand stairs to the temple since the festival would only start on the 12th hour of the day. In the meantime, he had a few things to do. First, he promised himself to help one last time the only people that treated him like a person on this island since, assuming he passed the tests, would not see them again for a long time. And so, from the tree on whose branches he was sitting, Li jumped down to his feet and took from it as he did a small fruit the size of his fist.

“Mother?” He walked inside their home through the back door. “I am going to the port, is there anything I can buy for you?” Her name was Xina. Even in her forties, her skin was as smooth as that of a 20 years old woman, a thing that brought about jealousy. Her black hair was cut short and in a bun, she was barely smaller than her son, looking through the drawers in the kitchen area. “It's alright.” she answered as she turned to look at him, holding a bag of herbs in her hands. “But make sure to be careful!” She had often made it known to her son that she wasn’t very fond of Li’s desire to become a follower of the Anwayvan, the path of Anway, but as he was now sixteen, he could make his own choices, he was an adult. She knew that she could not stop him. Every day since two years ago, Li had told her how much he had trained for this day but still, doubt plagued her mind. But all that could be done had been done. She had spoken to him and he had argued until she simply gave up on the matter. She couldn’t keep him in her arms forever. “I'll be back before noon to say goodbye!” Li shouted at her with a smile on his face. He took from the nearby table a larger, purple fruit, shaped like a cloud and its skin covered in scales, after he was done with the one he had picked up earlier.

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As he walked through the stone brick streets, people were passing by. Many were putting up decorations in the form of purple and blue flags and paper lanterns. Lavender flowers were thrown upon the streets as children of all ages ran around playing at being martial artists with their fists and feet or with sticks, as if they were spears or swords. The smells of all kinds of foods made for the festivities filled the air, giving the village an even warmer atmosphere. Of course those people from outside the island that had come for the festival or even for the trials could also be seen, some taking part in the festivities and others staying more isolated and looking annoyed or even bored.

Whenever Li would pass by one of the groups of children, the kids would just stop whatever they were doing and look at him with worry. He had gotten used to the reaction induced by the nonsense the parents of the kids told them. He was quite recognizable, which would explain how they would notice him before he would, being too occupied to look at the newcomers and visitors he had already seen in the past. His hair was longer than what was considered ‘proper’, even in contrast to the foreigners. At least most of the adults were not as bad as they used to be with him when he was younger. In truth, it still hurt a little but there was nothing that could be done about it. And its not like Li was expecting this to last, once he was a renowned martial artist, who would dare look down on him again?

It only took a few minutes of light walking to get to the port and before he had arrived, the smell of the sea and of gutted fish could be perceived in the air, something that had taken Li some getting used to until the smell stopped bothering him. And when he arrived, as promised, the crew he’d been waiting for for hours had finally arrived. From afar, he could see them as they were struggling with something he couldn’t identify, which prompted him to start jogging to get to them faster and one of the men saw him as he arrived, a middle aged male who wore a worn out head bandana to cover most of his brown, curly hair.

“Well if it isn’t little Li!” He said with a smile on his face. “Would you care to come and give us a hand?” Seeing this man’s face again warmed Li’s heart and brought a smile to his face.