“Sit down, and i’ll brew some tea on the stove while you think of a questions to ask me after I finish telling you some basic history. Although no doubt you already got plenty!” Hermit instructed me, whilst powering up the stove with a wooden crank.

He was right obviously! I had tons of questions, and I was already prioritising the questions in my head!

“I want to know about my paintbrush the most, especially why it’s so precious! And if he knows something about my mother, I want to know too! Maybe since he knows about the paintbrush, he knows about the curious thing that I see in the water while holding it? And what’s up with the queer looking statues on that shelf? He also mentioned something called “colours”? What’s that about? And definitely, how in the world was he able to carve out this wood cave? Not to mention all the furniture! And the electrical generator, wow!” I chuckled, satisfied. I was finally going to get some answers!

Hermit sat down on the stool directly across from me, and started to pour steaming tea from the large tin can into two wooden cups. He passed one to me. Still thinking about the questions, I mindlessly took a sip from the cup, and burned my lip! I almost spilled the tea! Hermit let out a hearty laugh at my display.

“Hah! Got a lot on your mind eh? Well I can’t blame you! I might answer some of your questions from what I’m going to tell you right now, so let’s get started!” He took a last careful sip from his cup, took no notice (thankfully) of my beet-red face, and started.

“So, In the beginning there was a painter. A painter is someone who paints with a paintbrush, and painting is the art of applying colour into the world to create or repair something, or someone. The painter crafted two powerful paintbrushes, one named Tsara, and the other named Motnja. He used these two paintbrushes to paint the earth. Tsara started painting at the north pole, and Motnja at the south. They both started painting barren lands of just white as a warm-up. Then they started painting what they were made to; Motnja in charge of land and land creatures, and Tsara in charge of water and marine creatures. 

Unfortunately, the painter didn’t prepare for one scenario; when paintbrushes touched. Near the equator, when the paintbrushes touched, all the coloured power didn’t know where to go. So naturally, they went to the more powerful paint brush, Tsara. Motnja had painted more of the globe, since he had rushed the designs of some land creatures like mosquitoes, so he had less power left in him.

-sips from cup-

Motnja became the very first devoid of colour. The creator lost control of Motnja, and he sent Tsara to control him. The lands of the south broke up, and the waters of the north flooded through the cracks, thus creating the continents. As the paintbrushes fought on the world they created, they grew weary. So they both decided to seek hosts to empower them. Motnja was found by an unfortunate human, and the human was corrupted. Tsara decided to spread the art of painting and the knowledge of colour. She mainly taught painting in forests, for the abundance of colour and life gave her cover from motnja. Eventually, a 5 animals excelled in the skill of painting; a grizzly bear, a great-horned owl, a snake, a monkey, and a praying mantis. They were each given a paintbrush painted by Tsara herself. Tsara was sure that one of them was worthy of her. But one day, she was picked up by a sweet little girl named Alice Gray. Alice did not understand much, but because of her natural born creativity, and her special way of art caused by her brain-aneurysm, Tsara instantly took a liking to her.

-finishes cup of tea-

Knowing that Alice was Tsara’s true host, the 5 animals decided to form a group called the “Chromagarde”, and they vowed to protect Tsara, as well as her host. It is rumoured that to this day, the spirits of the 5 animals are still guarding Tsara. From that day on, Tsara has been handed down generation to generation to those with the last name of Gray."

-pours another cup of tea-

"Any questions?" Hermit asked.

Dumbfounded, I pinched myself a couple of times to bring myself back to reality. 

"Uh-Umm... Oh yeah, so-what exactly are colours?"