Continuing our venture, with our bags all packed up, we headed out of the camp. Walking through the plains of grass, it was a sunny day with the cool wind breezing through us, it looked like another peaceful day was upon us.
"We should be arriving upon Azuma no taiyō by tomorrow!"
"Thanks for the reassurance Asaka!"
"Can't wait to arrive there!"
As we continued our journey, a couple of hours passed by real quick, we entertained ourselves with idle chats, and now it's dusk once more. We're now back in some sort of forest, the trees looked out of the ordinary, its pink flowers glowed lightly in the dark night.
"These are the sakura trees! This is a sign that we've entered the territory of Azuma no taiyō! This area is called the forest of dreams!"
"Sakura trees, I didn't know that my homeland had these beautiful trees growing all over..."
"Nanako, your homeland is nothing compared to the floating cities that we've come from...how spectacular this place is!"
"Sellainor...this is also my first time here..."
"I'm very sorry for the misunderstanding!"
"D-don't be..."
"If we head straight, we should be entering the eastern gate! But be wary, Azuma no taiyō is a hermit country, they don't really fancy outsiders and the shogun commanded the sentinel to place four guardians on all four gates in the cardinal directions. Each guardian is based on the four elements, fire, water, earth, and fire. The guardian in the eastern gate or where we're headed is based on the fire element, it's currently the strongest one...this could get a tad bit tricky..."
"Thanks for the information Asaka, we'll manage to get through it somehow..."
"Oh yeah, one more thing, Tarus show it your pendant, I'm sure it'll recognize it.."
"I'll keep that in mind!"
"Let's set camp for the night shall we?"
"Ok!"
As usual, I started a campfire as the others set up their sleeping bags made out of cloth. We ate fish this time, no complaints from me as long as I can eat. After we all finished eating, everyone was getting ready for bed as I volunteered to be the guard.
"Have a goodnight!"
"Goodnight!"
"Tarus, I'll be on a volunteer with you!"
"Jade?! You don't have to!
"I don't want what happened last time to happen again..."
"O-oh you mean when I and Sellainor went somewhere during the night?"
"Not only that...but you kept on coughing up blood...and you looked pale as a ghost..."
"H-how?!"
"I know you used something to reverse time...for some reason, I retained my memories of that moment...I don't really know what happened but...please stop carrying all that burden by yourself..."
"Let's have a walk shall we? Might as well scout the area!"
"H-hey, you're going to leave again?"
"You can stay behind if you want..."
"I'm coming with you!"
"Then who'll stand guard?"
"I could say the same thing to you when you left with Sellainor!"
"S-sorry..."
"So, where would you like to scout?"
"The eastern gate, I want to meet this guardian for myself!"
"It's going to be dangerous and risky!"
"We need all the info we can get!"
"Fine..."
"Let's get going!"
"You sure are enthusiastic with scouting..."
"I want to know more about Azuma no taiyō, their country is interesting, like Asaka and Nanako look a lot like each other and their names are almost similar!"
"Well it is interesting, I'll give it that..."
"C'mon let's take a quick peek!"
"Hey!"
I grabbed Jade's slender arms and made a run for the gate, the pink lights illuminating from the sakura trees were the landmark. We stopped by a hill and looked at our current surroundings, Jade was huffing from all the running...my bad
"S-sorry...I just can't keep my excitement!"
"I didn't come with you because I was that interested! I came with you because I'm worried you'll get yourself hurt again! I'm worried here! I don't wanna see you at death's door!"
"W-why do you care about me so much?!"
"My father...he told you to take care of me right?"
"That's the only reason?"
"No...your someone dear to me..."
"Why are you red? Are you sick?"
"Don't ruin the mood by teasing me! Dummy!"
I'm special to someone? Was I blinded by my desire for peace to not perceive what the others felt about me? I'm at a loss for words...I don't know what to say...but all I can do now is be more observant of the others and accept their feelings...thank you Jade for letting me know...your also someone special to me...
"What's with the long face?! Stop staring! Your embarrassing me!"
"I guess you could say that I'm dense...sorry I just realized something important...why you guys are worried about me..."
"You're always going head on to fight your enemies while not giving a crap about your own life!"
"Thanks for making me realize that...by the way...when we first met...you were so cold and I would've never imagined that I'll see this side of you..."
"No more teasing me!"
"Haha!"
"No battles okay?"
"F-fine..."
"I knew it! You were planning on fighting it from the start!"
"S-sorry..."
"What would it take for you to rely on us sometimes?"
"I don't know..."
"Don't just stand there! Let's get going and get some info!"
"Alright!"
We headed for the sakura trees and as we got near loud rumbling footsteps can be heard...it's most likely that guardian! Asaka claimed that the eastern guardian is a fire type...I have the ice crown fragment and good thing that Jade has a water crown fragment...we need to think of a plan to subdue this guardian to be able to enter...It's a backup plan if things don't go smoothly...they could get hostile with us right away...
"Tarus! There it is!"
Jade pointed in the direction of the gate as we hid by the trunks of the sakura trees. There it was, walking in circles, its bulky body looked like wood and it had no face, just a body and arms, and legs. In its body, there was a cavity in where I could see something glowing a radiant orange...that had to be its core...a weak point!
"That glowing ball of orange which you can barely see is most likely its weakness!"
"I can barely get a gist..."
"Those heavy-looking wooden arms...those could be fatal...and from the looks of it...that thing must be so heavy!"
"That thing is dangerous...let's go back quickly and tell the others in the morning!"
"Ok!"
We ran for the fields as quickly as we can...good thing it didn't notice us at all...we got back to camp and prepared to wake up Nanako and Asaka to keep watch.
"Nanakoooo, wake up!"
"Tarus...?"
"It's your turn...I'm so sleepy..."
"Have a good rest and thanks for always keeping watch!"
"I'll have a sleep now..."
As Nanako was now awake while Jade was still in the process of waking up Asaka, I slipped in my own sleeping bag. I dozed off...hopefully, we don't have to use brute force to make our way into Azuma no taiyō...