Building A Boat

Inkus kept talking as he guided Minos, likely out of habit, even though he knew Minos didn't understand what he was saying.

But what Inkus didn't know was that as he spoke, Minos strung together more and more of the Salt Breathing Tribe's language, becoming more fluent with every passing second.

The two soon exited the sandy beaches and entered the forest range. Inkus began pointing at a tree as he made a chopping signal as he handed over an axe. Minos naturally understood what he meant, so he got to cutting.

With Minos's strength, he didn't even need the axe, a single punch could do the job, but since he decided to do things the Salt Breathing Tribe's way, he'd do it properly.

With patience and stability, Minos got to chopping. Each swing was exactly the same, using the same force and hitting the same location.

Even Inkus couldn't help but appreciate Minos's skill. He continued to watch on as Minos slowly chipped away at the tree, eventually causing it to collapse.

With a large boom, Minos and Inkus pulled back. Once the dust settled, Minos got to work getting rid of all the excess branches and foliages.

Once a long clean piece of lumber was left behind, under Inkus's signal, Minos dragged it slowly back towards the tribe.

With Minos's strength, this wasn't much of a challenge, so after only about 10 minutes, the two arrived at their destination.

The Salt Breathing Tribe had a large hut dedicated to ship building, and under Inkus's lead, Minos dragged his piece of lumber into the building.

Next was the slow and tedious job of cutting out the individual boards for the ship. Inkus kept talking and signaling, guiding Minos through the process of shaping each piece of wood.

Strength had no way of speeding up this process, so Minos could only take his time patiently, as he put his full effort into ensuring each piece of wood was perfect.

The sun began to set, and even though Minos wanted to continue working, under Inkus's repeated signaling, he could only stop.

Inkus couldn't help but get slightly excited as the sun began to set. Minos could see his exhilaration, but was naturally confused as to what had him so happy.

He continuously waved to Minos as if to tell him to come quickly. Minos listened and followed Inkus out of the ship building hut and towards the center of the tribe.

The sky had already gotten quite dark at this point, however a massive fire had been ignited in the middle of the tribe, illuminating the surroundings.

All the tribe's people were gathered around, dancing and cheering, as if they were celebrating something important.

The men were performing a dance near the flames, the women gathered around as they cheered the men on.

Occasionally, a man would clutch at a handful of sand, and blow it into the face of a girl he seemed to like. If the girl dodged the sand, then he would go back slightly depressed, continuing his dance, however if the girl let the sand blow over her, he would jump around in excitement, and tug her into the circle, the two dancing together.

A few tribesmen were sitting on the side as they beated away at leather drums, singing loudly in their language that Minos had yet to understand fully.

Inkus quickly abandoned Minos, and jumped next to the flames as he danced uproariously, joining the group.

Minos could only stand around looking lonely, not really sure what to do in this scenario. Fortunately, the tribe patriarch came at this time, and patted his shoulder as he spoke.

"You may be wondering what we are celebrating about, but the truth is, this is just a celebration of life, and we do it every night at day break. To us, life is the greatest gift, so one should celebrate it everyday."

"Is that so? Then what about the sand?" Minos couldn't help but ask curiously.

The patriarch didn't answer right away, instead bending over as he clutched a handful of sand. He released his grip slowly, and Minos watched as the sand slowly ran from between his fingers. Once his hand was empty, the patriarch spoke once more.

"We believe that sand is a physical representation of Endo."

"Endo?" Minos asked, never having heard that word before.

"Endo, the internal energy that gives things power. Not only human life, but also time, space, creation, all things…"

"Isn't that just Nux?" Minos questioned.

"Not quite. Man can still live without Nux, but without Endo, he is dead. You can consider it momentum, the energy that keeps everything in motion. Like wind through sails, or blood through veins." The patriarch answered before continuing.

"In that way, when one blows sand into another's face, it's as if they are asking that person to become their 'energy' , the person who keeps them going. In the simplest terms, it is a confession of love."

"If the sand is dodged, it's akin to declining, otherwise, one accepts, and they become each other's 'hearts,' promising to keep the other happy and healthy."

"I never expected such a simple act to contain such profundity in it." Minos couldn't help but say.

"Our Salt Breathing Tribe has a saying for this. From a distance, one sees a mountain, when they get closer, they can see the trees, the wildlife, and the meandering rivers, but once they've finished their journey, all they can see is the mountain once more…"

Minos didn't reply, instead he kept running that saying through his head over and over. The amateur can only see what is presented to them, the expert can see the nuances, whereas the master can see the truest essence.

The patriarch seemed to notice Minos was caught in a trance, and left him to figure things out on his own.

Minos quickly pulled out a sheet of paper and paint brush from his spatial ring. Far away from the crowd, he sat as he drew all that he saw.

The flames flickering, the tribesmen as they danced with passion, the shy glances that were shared between the tribe members who carried special affections, the slight blushes on their faces, even the sweat that ran down the bodies of the tribesmen as they danced.

Everything Minos saw, he painted. As he was doing so, he repeatedly went over the things the patriarch had told him, not only about the mountain, but also Endo itself.

As he was finishing up the painting, Minos noticed the party was reaching a high point. Suddenly, he noticed a young tribe girl glancing at him shyly, he was a bit stunned, not knowing what to do, but before he could do anything, she came over and grabbed him, tugging Minos into the dance circle.

Minos was completely dazed at this point, he had never danced before in his life, so he just stood awkwardly as the tribe members looked at him.

The young girl seemed to notice Minos's problem, so she quickly grabbed at his hands as she took the lead, teaching him how to perform the tribe's dance.

At this point, Minos could only follow along. Given his stoic personality, he never did things like this, so his body was quite stiff.

The young girl danced with him, the tribesmen hollering and cheering on the sides. Minos movement's were awkward, but the tribesmen didn't seem to care, screaming passionately.

The language kept hitting Minos's ears as he pieced together more and more parts. Eventually, like a jigsaw puzzle being completed, everything started to make sense.

"Dance boy, dance!"

"The boy dances like a chicken, but he's got the right spirit."

"Tinka, teach him how it's done!"

The language was no longer incomprehensible as it entered Minos's ears. Each word was quickly compared to its Alora alternative, giving the sounds meaning.

Minos was quickly caught up in the new language, paying attention to everything the tribesmen said as they danced around the fire.

As he was looking around, the young girl suddenly grabbed him by the chin, forcing him to look into her eyes.

"Don't look at them, pay attention to me. Watch my feet, follow my rhythm." The young girl said, as she pointed towards her feet, still thinking Minos didn't understand her.

"This dance is called the Sand Star Dance. Each step is like an exploding star impacting down onto the sand, causing it to disperse and spread everywhere."

"Every step has to be taken with power, you want the sand to spread as far as possible with every motion." She said as she stomped heavily into the sand, causing it to explode everywhere.

"But just like the sand, when together, you are strong like steel, when separated, you are light like a feather. Explode with power, but move with grace, this is the truest nature of the Sand Star Dance."

The girl seemed to notice that Minos was still a bit rigid, she came closer and began whispering into his ear, not caring whether he understood or not.

"Don't be shy or embarrassed. While the staff is strong for its firmness, the sword is stronger for its flexibility. A human's journey is in learning the balance between the two, so just dance with me, and forget the world, at least for now."

Minos was caught off guard by these words. He couldn't help but feel that everyone in the Salt Breathing Tribe had something wise to say, but I suppose any nation with a history that stretched so long would have its own wisdom to disperse.

Minos took her words seriously, he was never so arrogant as to believe he knew best. Instead, he could quickly acknowledge when someone else understood things better than he did.

Minos's true strength has always been his ability to learn, his flexible nature. He would never let his own arrogance confine him, for he always believed that all people, no matter how weak or strong, had their own insight, and a lifetime of experience to back it up.

One should always take what another person says seriously, because you never know when you may be told something that could change your life.