"Alright then, if it will help, I will tell you a story."
She closed her eyes and spoke softly.
"Once there was a young man from a distant land. He wandered, knowing no home, no land, no family of his own. No one knew why he wandered, but all knew him simply as a wanderer from a distant land."
"As he traveled, he learned, speaking the tongues of all he met," she continued, translating on the fly. It was one of the stories the students like to tell to imagine how the island began. The Master never confirmed or denied any of the stories. Aqua privately believed they amused him.
"He could speak to any he met after a time, and he did. He collected stories from everywhere he went, and learned how the people in each place lived, how they loved, who they were."
"And for a time, he was happy. Then one day he found a child who was starving. A small girl who had no family. He tried to find her a home, but no one in the town would take her in, and for the first time in years, doors would close on him. He knew not why."
"So he took the child traveling with him. But wherever they went, the doors closed to them, and he knew not why. Families he had supped with no longer would break bread. Finally one day, another child, a little boy, explained to him. The child said that the families were afraid of the girl because her hair was purple."
"This made no sense to the man. He had seen people with yellow hair, brown hair, red hair, white hair, grey hair, no hair even. The child who explained it said that people were scared of those who were different sometimes. The wanderer was different, but they accepted him. Still, he did not doubt the child's words. The small boy showed off how he was different, by making a small fire in his hands. Someone saw this and was alarmed. The wanderer and the little girl were chased from the village."
"When he returned, some several months later, to the village, the child who had helped him found him again and begged to be allowed to travel with him. The child had wounds and signs of neglect, and was starving. The wanderer left town at once, vowing never to return to such a place. Two children came with him."
"It was hard, traveling with two children, but there was no where he could trust that would take them in. Maybe he needed to widen his search. So he bartered and traded until he owned a boat. And the children took cabins and they lived on the boat. And the boy who made fires could practice when they found small islands where no one was, and the girl turned out to be able to talk to dolphins. They ate well, a feast of fish, as the dolphins helped the odd wandering member of their various pods in her human ship."
"As he came to more and more ports, instead of finding homes for these children, he found instead more children who needed homes, because they were different. He found a child who could make portals into time, and one who could shield a place so that none could enter or leave. He found water cleansers and floaters..."
"Soon he had ore children than the boat could easily care for, even with the fish. He kept trying to find them homes until one day, the purple haired girl - a young woman now - begged him to stop. None of the children wanted to be placed with another family. They had a family now, one that had grown around him."
"With all their various talents, they found an island, large, with all they needed for habitation. No one else was there, or had been for some time. So they set up camp and built their homes there. And the wanderer, was a wanderer no longer. He built the island with plans that those who lived there would move on, go out and do good in the world, and that there would always be space for those children from other lands who could not stay in their homes. He named it the Isle of Departure, to remind us that when we were of age, we were expected to go out into the world and do good. To use what we had learned to help others."
"At least, that is one of the stories we tell. We are pretty sure there are some reasons that could not be possible, but... it makes a nice story all the same."
no subject
She closed her eyes and spoke softly.
"Once there was a young man from a distant land. He wandered, knowing no home, no land, no family of his own. No one knew why he wandered, but all knew him simply as a wanderer from a distant land."
"As he traveled, he learned, speaking the tongues of all he met," she continued, translating on the fly. It was one of the stories the students like to tell to imagine how the island began. The Master never confirmed or denied any of the stories. Aqua privately believed they amused him.
"He could speak to any he met after a time, and he did. He collected stories from everywhere he went, and learned how the people in each place lived, how they loved, who they were."
"And for a time, he was happy. Then one day he found a child who was starving. A small girl who had no family. He tried to find her a home, but no one in the town would take her in, and for the first time in years, doors would close on him. He knew not why."
"So he took the child traveling with him. But wherever they went, the doors closed to them, and he knew not why. Families he had supped with no longer would break bread. Finally one day, another child, a little boy, explained to him. The child said that the families were afraid of the girl because her hair was purple."
"This made no sense to the man. He had seen people with yellow hair, brown hair, red hair, white hair, grey hair, no hair even. The child who explained it said that people were scared of those who were different sometimes. The wanderer was different, but they accepted him. Still, he did not doubt the child's words. The small boy showed off how he was different, by making a small fire in his hands. Someone saw this and was alarmed. The wanderer and the little girl were chased from the village."
"When he returned, some several months later, to the village, the child who had helped him found him again and begged to be allowed to travel with him. The child had wounds and signs of neglect, and was starving. The wanderer left town at once, vowing never to return to such a place. Two children came with him."
"It was hard, traveling with two children, but there was no where he could trust that would take them in. Maybe he needed to widen his search. So he bartered and traded until he owned a boat. And the children took cabins and they lived on the boat. And the boy who made fires could practice when they found small islands where no one was, and the girl turned out to be able to talk to dolphins. They ate well, a feast of fish, as the dolphins helped the odd wandering member of their various pods in her human ship."
"As he came to more and more ports, instead of finding homes for these children, he found instead more children who needed homes, because they were different. He found a child who could make portals into time, and one who could shield a place so that none could enter or leave. He found water cleansers and floaters..."
"Soon he had ore children than the boat could easily care for, even with the fish. He kept trying to find them homes until one day, the purple haired girl - a young woman now - begged him to stop. None of the children wanted to be placed with another family. They had a family now, one that had grown around him."
"With all their various talents, they found an island, large, with all they needed for habitation. No one else was there, or had been for some time. So they set up camp and built their homes there. And the wanderer, was a wanderer no longer. He built the island with plans that those who lived there would move on, go out and do good in the world, and that there would always be space for those children from other lands who could not stay in their homes. He named it the Isle of Departure, to remind us that when we were of age, we were expected to go out into the world and do good. To use what we had learned to help others."
"At least, that is one of the stories we tell. We are pretty sure there are some reasons that could not be possible, but... it makes a nice story all the same."