- Islander Beyonders

***

On a cloudy moonlight night, me and my fellow cultist were collecting ashes, i.e. night soil and packing them in ceramic pots.

"Another bountiful harvest! Truly, we must be the protagonist of our generation! With all the night soil we stockpiled including tonight's, I'm guessing we have enough for at least eight seasons!" A tall, thin to the point of almost sickly, pimpled girl exclaimed. Her oversized hooded robe actually made her look even thinner.

I preened, "You're right Elen! This village would be suffering so much without us! Can't believe they used to only produce about two seasons worth of night soil every year. Go go team Sunshine!"

"Go go team Sunshine!" the group chorused. Some non night dweller villagers nearby even joined in our cheer.

A brown haired boy, equally as thin as Elen, squinted his eyes and spoke out, "You know, I don't agree with the 'Sunshine' name. And we actually do our rituals at night! It should be team 'Don and his Night Stalkers'!"

Multiple slaps could be heard as we ganged up on him and slapped his head. Elen even twisted his ears. We harassed him until he finally called uncle.

"Nice try Don. As the leader and most talented amongst the group, I came up with the name Sunshine so you silly fools will have to accept it no matter what!" I argued.

Shit. Night Stalkers sounds so much cooler. Why didn't I think of it? Argh! Sunshine is so lame...

Elen defended my choice, "I think Sunshine is perfect for us. What we are is like the rays of sunshine, bringing light and hope to everyone!"

My skin crawled with cringe. Elen was newer than me at being a night dweller. She had not even witnessed the cleansing rituals yet and still had a very naive and bright view of the msytical world.

The villagers, especially the older ones with more experience, actually had twinkles in their eyes, showing both pity and desire to protect, clapped at her speech. Elen shyed away at the attention and pulled her robe tight to hide her face.

Don, the ever resilient rascal, had immediately forgotten his recent beatdown and elbowed me in the chest, before looking left and right like a cartoon villain. He covered his mouth and whispered, "Psst Arthur. I've heard that the prison warden is stepping down. There's talk all over the village on who will replace him."

I leaned closer to him, "Oh, do tell!"

Looking even more suspicious to everyone as he steepled his fingers, Don's whispers were unfortunately loud so nearby peers could actually hear him, "I think the initial choice was Muriel. But apparently it was a mistake? Muriel isn't able to hear the whispers of the true creator. I do not understand how the village could have made such a blunder and initially made her a candidate. Everyone is now scrambling to find a Listener that is ready to be promoted."

I asked, "Does this village have lots of Listners?"

Don gestured with his hands in a so-so motion, "Eh, not that many, most chose to stay as Secrets Supplicants. Being a Listner tends to make one go mad quite easily. Only Muriel is able to endure the whispers... Wait.. She isn't a Listner... Why did I think that... Er.. Anyways! Most will only choose to promote when they believe the prison warden is retiring soon. For some reason, even though the village does not have the potion recipe for 'Shadow Ascetic', if the prison warden retires, there is a ritual to pass on his higher sequence to another? Not really sure how it works."

Hmmm. I have a suspicion...

Elen interrupted, "Hmm? Secrets Supplicants? Listener? Are those beyonder terms? My mentor says I'm not qualified to be a beyonder, tell me more! I've got to prove him wrong with my knowledge!"

Chuckles could be heards amongst the group. Don sighed, "Elen, our group are basically loosers. Either we suck at memorizing our lessons, are too weak physically or mentally or just unsuitable in some mysterious ways. Basically the group in charge of night soil will almost never be beyonders."

Except awesome old me!

Don continued to complain, "My mentor keeps telling me I'm lucky! Bah! What's so lucky about this? I wanna fight monsters and save damsels in distress!"

I gave Don an unamused stare, "Eh, you've seen what happens in a cleansing ritual right?"

Don's face went green, then gave me an offended stare. "I'm not gonna choose the secret supplicant pathway! I'll be a Prisoner. They're strong and can fight well! I'll defend the village from wild beasts and go hunt for monsters in expeditions!"

I tilted my head and pondered aloud, "Eh... Don't they usually end up in the root cellars?"

Don slapped my chest with the back of his hand, "Bah! Those are for the weak willed warriors about to lose control! If you're capable, you actually get promoted!

I'm still trying to get the name of the next sequence out, but I've already learned that it provides you with resistance against mystical power. Also they can go into a state of increased strength and enhancements. It's like a barbarian berserker in those campfire stories!

Did you know? This village used to be terrorised by a werewolf! The beyonders of this village grouped up and managed to drive it away to the forest. One day, when I am strong enough, I'll gather a party and hunt it down for good!"

Elen scrunched up her face and asked, "Prisoner? Secrets supplicants? Those sound really evil. Do you know of any other pathways? I wanna be a princess! Summoning unicorns and rainbows to banish the evil beings!"

I could only gave her a disgusted look.

Don did the same and rebutted, "What rainbows. I'll shove the rainbow up where the sun don't shine! Anyway, the only other beyonder type I know off are those criminals. Immediately report them if you find out about someone on that pathway. They're trouble and should be locked up! Despite the potion recipe being banned, somehow they always appear."

***

As we continued chatting, soon our topic meandered about our favorite food. Surprise surprise. It was all various kinds of seafood.

We packed up the final pot and soon went back to the village and soon into lala land...