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| - Another day has begun. Another sad, exhausting day of life in the desert. Though it was early in the day, the sun was already high in the sky, a side effect of living in the desert. I haven't always lived in the desert. Once, I was fortunate to be homeless in a town. Much before that, I was even more fortunate, having two loving parents and a home to live in. But that time is done, no more. My parents died by the hands of an unknown marauder, leaving me orphaned. I was almost alone, but not totally alone. I had my older brother, Regyurābōi, Regyu for short. We lived on the streets after that, as our home was taken by our town's king to be demolished. We managed to live by stealing and begging for about eleven years. Yet our village succumbed to invaders, so we were forced to flee in order
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| - Another day has begun. Another sad, exhausting day of life in the desert. Though it was early in the day, the sun was already high in the sky, a side effect of living in the desert. I haven't always lived in the desert. Once, I was fortunate to be homeless in a town. Much before that, I was even more fortunate, having two loving parents and a home to live in. But that time is done, no more. My parents died by the hands of an unknown marauder, leaving me orphaned. I was almost alone, but not totally alone. I had my older brother, Regyurābōi, Regyu for short. We lived on the streets after that, as our home was taken by our town's king to be demolished. We managed to live by stealing and begging for about eleven years. Yet our village succumbed to invaders, so we were forced to flee in order to avoid being enslaved. I sat there, laying on my mat in my tent, trying to see how long I would be able to avoid the day's hike. If I was lucky, I could lay there for a few more hours, out of the insane heat outside. No such luck. "Kuron, you awake?" asked my brother. Kuron is my shortened name, like Regyu is for Regyurābōi. My full name is Kurōnbōi. "Yeah, Regyu. I'll be right out," I sighed. I stood up and brushed the sand from my clothes. My clothes are more like rags, though. They are littered with holes and have many stains. They smelled rancid. It's not surprising, considering this is my fifth pair of clothes in my lifetime. These were hand-me-downs from Regyu. I then proceeded to make my hair, or at least try to. My hair is always stiff and dirt coated. I was then ready. I stepped out and squinted in the bright, burning light of the sun. It would burn, but I had grown accustomed to it. This would mark the end of the third month in this desert. I reached my hand into my tent and yanked the main pole from the Earth. The tent collapsed, and I rolled it up and stuffed it in my backpack. "I'm ready, Regyu," I said. "Good, let's get going. I fell that we'll be out of this desert soon," he said. "Yeah right. We've been walking through here for months, and we haven't even caught sight of this so-called holy land. Do you think it even exists?" I asked my brother. "It has to. We've gotten so far, there has to be something at the other end of this desert." "Yeah, something like a giant mountain," I grumbled. "Let's just get moving," sighed Regyu. He obviously didn't like our chances, either. We continued walking across the desert for many hours, and just as we were about to pass out from exhaustion, I saw something deep in the distance. "Hey, Regyu. Is that a... tower?" I asked my brother. He squinted and saw what I was looking at. "Y-Yeah, but, how can a tower get that high?" he asked. The tower was long and lean, and reached way higher into the sky than we could see. "I don't know, but look at the area around the tower. Is that a forest?" I asked. "Wait, yeah! It is! Maybe that's the holy land!" exclaimed Regyu. "Well what are we waiting for, then? Let's hurry!" I rejoiced. Finally, something other than the scorching hot desert and blistering sun. There was a forest, a large one at that. I didn't know about the tower, but anything other than this looked inviting at this point. We ran as fast as our aching limbs could carry us, until we finally made it to the forest. Almost instantly, the heat dropped and we were greeted by a nice, cool breeze. "It's like paradise," I said. We kept walking until we came to the base of the tower-like structure. I looked up, but I still couldn't see the top. "How high up does it go?" asked Regyu. "I'm not sure. It could probably reach all the way up to the moon," I replied. "Well, we should set up camp. The sun is about to go down," said Regyu. We set back up our tents and fell asleep for the night.
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