It was soft and peaceful, and that was mainly because it was still before the sun rose. Before the sun there were few about, and even the young ones were still asleep and so he could breath easily. Without fail at least one of them would nearly drown or fall down somewhere or eat something they weren't supposed to and blah blah blah. No wonder he was turning grey early.
Doran walked out from the shelters, moving slowly from the cold in his bones, and walked out underneath the moonlight. He could, if he wanted, go down the well worn track to where the sand met the water and heated through underground rivers, the hot springs as they were called by them and man.
This wasn't to say that he and his people weren't man. They were human of sorts, but many generations of living in such a place had started to change their looks to better suit their habitat.

Their arms were longer as well as their fingers, and their joints could turn a little more than what should be normal. Their bodies were taller as well, and their legs, with longer toes, all for climbing and reaching the food which hung high above their heads to keep it from spoiling on the humid ground.
To make more sense of this all, they lived in a tropical rainforest which sat in the heart of an island. The outer stretches of the rainforest were hot springs or gullies before they spilled out into the sea and although the seas held more fish than they could ever wish for, for some reason or another each and every single member of their group was allergic to seafood.
Each of them had dark, dark skin and smooth features. They had tufts of dark hair which they kept short with sharp shells fashioned into blades and most of them had dreadlocks from the lack of care and for the fact there wasn't much else they could do with their hair in those conditions. Besides, it suited them.
They wore worn cloth as clothes. A surprising amount of bags used for holding sand washed ashore and so they had more than enough for what they needed.

They lived a normal life without misery or conflict, and as the journals from 'long ago' said, they should feel blessed for their home. Which they did. Doran nodded wisely. They had no problem with their land, but the three who had visited, those white humans who spoke slowly and loudly, seemed as if they lived in a bad place. He didn't know why it was said they were living in a 'bad place' because the white people had of course been killed. They had no place in their home, and they would only cause trouble, the journals from 'long ago' read. If they can be helped home, so be it. But trust few, they will try to take home and change it into hell. Never let many leave freely. It will bring the downfall of our home and family.

Doran walked on, making his way slowly down to the hot springs. It was a little after five am and so he would only be able to soak for an hour or so before he had to get back to the others. He was the Healer and one of the older members of their small group and he was usually needed for one thing or another. Or everyone at least liked to know where he was just in case something went wrong. He was a great source of comfort to the family.
He made his way by moonlight, moving slow with thoughts and growing age. He very well could use his gifts on himself so he wouldn’t ache as much, but for a reason he couldn’t describe, he didn’t want to push the pain away. It was after all natural, and why should he fight it? He had lived a good, long life, and Marcus below him was growing to be a fantastic Healer. The other elders would cope without him, soon he wouldn’t be needed as much and then he would be able to pass on.
Doran sighed in comfort as his bare feet touched the hot water kissing the sand and he walked in evenly, not pausing to get used to the temperature. He didn’t have time and besides, his skin and muscles would welcome the prickly sensation afterwards.

He toyed with the cord of leather at his neck, which showed his proven relationship with Danåy. Together they had created five children who were growing up faster than he could keep up with. After all, Tothis was almost 20 now, and yet it seemed like yesterday he was still waddling around, unsteady on young feet. He sighed. He missed his children being children when he was young enough to keep up with them… He toyed more with the cord, it always helped him think. They didn't have much. They didn't need much. They heard tell from travellers, usually those smacked up on weeds and seeds that there were cities of pollution and noise and no stars or sweet waters to drink from.
He couldn’t imagine anything worse. That was why they had to keep the invaders away. He stretched out, digging his back into the sand to lie deeper in the hot water. It was simply what had to be done if he wanted his people to survive and be safe for generations to come.

Sometimes though, he wondered if what he did was right, or what they could be missing out on. He tried to be a good person, and from an un-biased point of view he was.
The important factor was that he was at peace with himself. He didn’t have any regrets and if he died here and now, he wouldn’t be sad. He had given all he could to the people he lived with and was sure they would carry on well without him. He had passed on his gifts and knowledge well to Marcus and his son Tothis knew enough to help anyone who needed it, as long as the problem wasn’t too complex. His partner would mourn him, but also know he was content, and that would be all that mattered.
Doran nodded to himself. Things would be alright, and he had led a good life. Because after all, 'A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.' And in his heart were good things, strong and full of good thought and well wishes. There wasn’t far wrong a man could go with that.

He fell asleep like he quite often did, lulled to sleep by the warmth and silence, and woke as the sun heated his lids and shone bright red through the skin over his eyes. He woke, knowing the young ones would be awake and noisy and several woman would be starting the fires and cooking. He got to his feet slowly and began to make his way back to camp, wondering what the day would bring. Hopefully not as many cuts and bruises as the day before, that was for certain. The young ones had taken to swinging out into the pools of one of the waterfalls again and most had hit rocks or scraped themselves while climbing or swimming. It wasn’t anything to make a fuss of, but he wished they wouldn’t play so rough and hurt their bodies so. He was a healer, yes, but after a long day of healing this and that, if someone had been seriously hurt later that night he wasn’t quite sure if he would have been able to help them to the best of his ability and that thought worried him. He would have had Marcus help him of course and the injury would be fine, but the fact was he didn’t want to be worthless to the group just yet.

He still wanted to live a little more, while he still could…

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This is a challenge for FictionNET ( http / sycotic . org / fnet ) If you're looking for a nifty (mostly based on Harry Potter) writing forum, join Fnet and say that Keladryie sent you. It's seriously worth it.

This is written for the challenge: Original Challenge 11 - t00 l33t 4 j00

Under these guidelines: Don't worry if you can't understand the title, because all will become clear.... now:

This challenge requires you to write a story in exactly 1337 words. It may be best to handcount in sections or to count via notepad or the Unforgivable wordcount, as this seems much more reliable than Word's wordcount system.

Any entries of more or less than 1337 words cannot place, though they can win participation points (we're not that harsh ) and we will try to be lenient with the wordcounts.

Write your l33t piece drawing inspiration from one or many of the following quotes:
And I chose: Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus wrote: ‘A man sees in the world what he carries in his heart.’

Also though, I wrote it for a livejournal challenge called 30randomkisses, where you are given 30 prompt words and you write a single piece for each. The prompt used here was “Moonlight”, and I hope you like it

This is all based on a …well…thing I’m calling Cascades and Waterfalls for now. I have no characters made and I start writing whatever comes into my head. I hope you like it so far, there are at least 29 more pieces staring this plot/setting and characters to come.