Water & Fire: The Opposite Ends of A Spectrum

Prologue: The Odd Sheep

The sun had set earlier than what the community of Ashamadon had expected. It was a quite odd scenery to be honest, considering that most of the people would have been in their homes and slurping on a bowl or two of warm porridge for supper with their families. It wasn't their thing really; all the people cared about was getting enough rest and waking up early to travel to the mainland, which is over miles away across the seas, for their jobs.

As a part of a daily routine, adult members of the family had to wake up at two in the morning just to travel against the currents for over three hours accompanied by the continuous rowing they'd have to do simultaneously. Being in the mainland wasn't pleasant either, the mainlanders discriminated the Ashamadonian community for their "absurd way of living". They didn't believe in what the mainlanders had to worship. They believed in independence where the path of a person is not through fate or whatsoever but of the choices they made. On the other hand, the mainlanders believed that there was a superior being, a "god" as they mentioned, that had written down the fate of each and every believer "he" has. It was a very impractical belief for the Ashamadonians, it just never made sense. How can these mainlanders believe in a "superior being" if it never really showed itself? If it weren't only for the fact that the Ashamadonian islands were just too small to have establishments built for jobs then they wouldn't even bother going to the mainland. Both communities were just at the opposite ends of the spectrum.

Children of the Ashamadonian community would usually wake up early not to play, but to get ready for school. Every family considers education as a very important factor to be able to succeed yet these kids took it to another level. First graders were taught with a more advance level of Maths, Science, and History; the first graders probably can beat the fourth graders when it comes to knowledge and what not. Another good thing is that they never really complained about it, they matured real early due to the fact that their own parents treated them like young adults. Of course, they still had time for play but majority of the children preferred resting during their breaks or studying in the library. As though mainlanders hated to admit defeat, this was one of the reasons why mainland children are often sent to the Ashamadonian schools; the mainlanders want their children to excel in a higher level, to be at least looked upon on. Though this usually fails due to the varying attitudes of the mainland children towards education but one mainland kid took the spotlight.

A kid who had spiky fiery red hair and bright jade cat-like eyes was just too odd for the Ashamadonians, not only that but this kid loved being there rather in the mainland. It seemed like he was born to be an Ashamadonian, just born in the wrong place. He was well-known right after he transferred to the Ashamadon Lower Year Center (A.L.Y.C.) and delivered a speech about his passion for the community at the age of 9. Everybody knew him right after that, the kids looked up to him and wanted to be his friend and everybody knew his name: Quinten Scariot.

Quinten was known to be one of the smartest and friendliest in his class. Even though he preferred socializing than studying, he still manages to ace his exams. Quite weird, really. No one ever catches the kid studying, he'd usually be watching the sun set rather than returning to the mainlands early. He considered Ashamadon as his new home that he had even decided that he wanted to take his higher years of education in the Ashamadon Upper Education Center (A.U.E.C.) after he had graduated with honors in the lower year and live in a dorm. No one had an issue with Quinten. Not a single person in Ashamadon had a complaint about him. Not until a certain rumor had spread like a wildfire, which caused people to doubt and most certainly dislike him. A rumor about how he had aced all his tests without studying. A rumor of Quinten cheating and falsifying documents to get his honors.

Whatever that happened just never seemed to be fair, not for Quinten. What did he do wrong? All he did was to do what he does and now, he's stuck in suspension for a whole year! He had to delay his upper year education plans and even his own parents can't take him out. 'He's Guilty to have committed a Major Offense' is usually reasoned out - apparently Ashamadon had their own flaws when it comes to investigations but it was just too late to retaliate, the decisions were already made. His parents promised that they'd be there, which is a quite odd response considering that parents should be freaking out but it was a good thing they remained calm - hopefully they still are even though everything seemed to be just a drama produced by some jealous kid.

Everyone had mixed feelings, some thought he deserved it, due to the overwhelming rumors that had brainwashed other people, and some thought that it was rather biased. 'The kid's obviously a mainlander! Of course the authority would stand up for the Ashamadonian student' is what most would say but what can Quinten do? He was just a 17-year old stuck in suspension with a blonde, blue-eyed local female around the same age as he is. Quinten was suspended for an unproven rumor and apparently the blonde had been flunking all of her classes, thus delaying both students for upper year education. It's pretty weird considering that the female is a local, even rumors say that she was an outcast, but hey, it wouldn't hurt to get to know her, right? Plus, it'd be ironic if he did believe in those rumors. And surely, Quinten started talking to the other individual, who stared at him blankly and replied with either a 'hnn..' or a 'yeah..' in a monotonous manner. Who knew making friends would have been harder? Quinten obviously didn't know that it was going to be tough.