Guardian: The Awakening

True Fellowship

-Yunlan-

The next morning, the sun shined brightly in a clear sky, deprived of the usual and almost perpetual gray clouds that reign for generations over the dark lands. The brand new forest inside the previously snow valley was greenish and healthy, as it should normally anywhere else and the air fresh and pure, deprived of the heaviness of the tainted lands.

The rain had stopped a few hours ago and as they go out of their shelter, they saw grass in were the floor had been flooded with rainwater. It was such a magical occurrence that as they walked through the clean forest, it was like been guided to into another world. There was a clear path wide enough for them to walk in a single line, that leaded to the Volcano at the other side of the enchanted forest.

They walked in wonder for hours, glad they didn't have to fight their way to their last destination. The red stone was the source of all that poison and dark energy, so destroying it was not going to be easy even with the enhancement of their powers.

Midway to their destination, another cloud of fireflies showed up, flying around the forest like a protective shield from the goddess. Yunlan looked back at Shen Wei and smiled widely, seen him quite fascinated with the little glowing insects, that for some reason, despite the day light, they shined as brightly as if it was the darkest night. Many surrounded his Fire Prince, making Wei look like an exited child once again, even when he was a full grown man, one that he loved quite deeply.

"Hey, are we in some kind of danger? Wasn't that the reason this things showed up last time?" Chu asked as he shoo them away with his hand.

"There are not here to protect us this time, they will form another stone when we go out of the forest. The red stone is not unprotected, so just like we did yesterday, we need to get close to it and throw the goddess stone over it. Then the whole land will be clean up by the power of the gods and we can go back home. I have a wedding to plan..." Yunlan said, as Shen Wei blushed madly.

"Yunlan!" He protested.

"Ah, but you look so good in red, which is coincidently the color of your Clan." Yunlan merrily said.

"Aren't you going to abolish the Clans? Isn't that your ultimate goal, so you can marry your fated man?" Lin asked a bit bitterly and Yunlan looked back at him, quite seriously now.

"And what the hell does that matters to you? It's not like you are bringing home someone your Clan will not approve off." Chu cut in, before Yunlan could speak.

"I didn't ask you." Lin retorted back.

"Lin Jing... I care not about your prejudice, but please keep it to yourself. The Clans were establish for a purpose and will remain as they are mostly, to keep the people safe and give stability to the lands. At the beginning, there were no rules forbidding interaction or unions of any kind between them. It was only after two Clan Leaders fought for trivial matters that the rule begin, but that only create rifts between the Clans and their people, almost leading to a war. Back then Lord Shi intervened, allowing the restriction, so the Wind and Earth will not try to war using the excuse, but in order to keep the relationship between Clans strong, the gatherings hosted in a different lands each year were mandatory."

"I had no intention to abolish any Clan nor to interfere with how it's govern as long is not tyrannical, but useless rules based in unfounded hatred will be removed. People will have the right to go in or out as they pleased, following the respective Clan's laws if they decided to move and stay there. There will be open interactions, trading's, festivals and unions of any kind. I want for the people to feel free, to be part of something bigger than just one piece of land, but be part of a whole continent. Nuwa never wished for people to be separate by rules... she created humans to gather and live in communities sharing their lives and burdens... and that's what will get, that's the will of the gods." Yunlan said in a final tone, as his eyes slightly glowed gold for a few seconds.