[Open] Walking In the Footsteps of Our Ancestors (Kouzai and River)

Malfurion had left the Spirit World a week ago.  He travelled in secret, in silence, in the cover of shadows.  The humans could not see him.  Hard for someone with purple skin, wings, big pointy antlers, long ears and was also seven and a half feet tall, but he managed it nonetheless.  Hard as it was.  He had traveled from the point where he exited the Spirit World, somewhere in the middle of a giant desert.

Since then Malfurion had been using nature and the spirits around him to guide himself to the World Tree at the heart of the swamp.  The tree called to him, spoke to him.  Its roots went far and reached deep into the soil.  They spanned oceans and sunk themselves into the core of the planet.  Humans did not realize how old and powerful this tree was.  It was the origin of humanity.

The first humans had been created there.  They had lived there are the base of this mighty tree.  The tree that anchored the human and Spirit Worlds.  This tree once housed the first of humanity.  It gave them power.  Spirit Bending was what they called it now.  It was not so in the language of the Spiritborne, the language of the first humans.  But times change.  Languages change.  Such was life.

Even the language spoken by the Spiritborne now was not the same language spoken by them 10,000 years ago.  It had evolved.  Only Tyrandé and Malfurion remained of those days.  Only they knew the ancient form of the language.  Their mother tongue.  Many youth thought they spoke with odd accents.  It was the difference in pronunciation.  That was why.

Much had changed here.  Where a great forest once stood was now a swamp.  Changed, Malfurion was not sure how, but it had changed.  Perhaps the roots were dying, rotting.  Or maybe they had destroyed the land and turned it into a swamp.  Either way.  It was not the same land Malfurion had grown up in.  He was part of the second generation of the first set of human test subjects.  Tests to see how life would be like on this Earth.  Tests by the Great Spirits, Galamoth and his siblings.

Imperfection.  That's what Galamoth wanted.  Aside from the perfect Ancients their father wanted.  The Great Spirits and Gods derive much of their power from belief and worship, while minor spirits use the power of the earth and life around them.  The Ancients, as advanced as they were, would not have prayed to the Gods or Spirits as humans do.  They would've lost much of their power.  Galamoth felt this was wrong.

What happened next was none of Malfurion's business.  He had fled to the Spirit World long before this split happened.  But clearly the humans, or Galamoth, had won.  Humans were everywhere now.  Could they be trusted?  Did they just destroy nature and burn it down for their own needs?  Did they respect the spirits?

Malfurion wished to know this.  He would examine humans in their own habitat and decide whether or not they were worth helping or saving from themselves.  That would be his job.  He would protect the forests of the world, and those who stood in his way would be destroyed.  The Spirits and nature were the world.  No one had any right to deny them that.  Malfurion paused as he heard a branch snap behind him.

"Who is there?" he called out in his deep, powerful voice, "What do you want?  If you wish to kill me I warn you, I am not alone."  Malfurion wasn't.  His allies were nature.  His allies were the trees and the rocks and the vines.  The World Tree.  The Spirits that lived beneath its roots.  The Elemental Spirits that lived in the Physical World and hid from all humanity.  Malfurion was far from alone.  Very far.

Light flooded the room as the sun poured from several windows lining the room. A gentle breeze tossed and turned the silk drapes hanging from the soft gold rods above each window. Footsteps could be heard shuffling about the pale marble floor, as voices bounced back and forth among the walls. Soft chirping could be heard as well, mixed with the rustling of the leaves.

The year was 718 AO, in the spring at high noon. Laughter chuckled from a child as it ran from one end of the hall and turned the corner. Leiah stood in the hall, watching the small child run. It was dressed in a finely-made, white silk Dress with ribbons weaved into it's hair. Leiah, herself, was dressed in a similar dress. It was White but flowed a bit more in the breeze. Traces of gold could be found weaved into the lining and sleeves of the outfit. Leiah's hair was pulled back into a french braid, ribbons wrapped in and out. Then Upon her head sat a crown of gold, reflecting the light with a sense of elegance.

The young women smiled, beginning to run after the small child. She looked completely at peace and happy. After taking a few step, A knock came from the tall wooden door behind her, grabbing her attention. Leiah paused, looking the door deciding whether or not to go and answer it. Her head turned back and forth until she had made up her mind.

Turned completely around now, she started towards the door. "Hello?" She called out, unsure why she did not just pop the door ajar. There was no answer. The girl paused a few moments more after reaching the door.

Footsteps knocked against the marble as Leiah glanced to her left. Her brother stood in the doorway, smiling at her before turning around and walking away. "Keii..chi?" A horse noise escaped her lips. She just about ran after him before another knock echoed through the hall, this time a companied with a second, more sturdier knock. A hand reached for the door as she felt compelled to open it, like it was meant to be. Yet as she kept reaching for the gold plated handle, she seemed to shrink, not just in size but apparently in age as well.

Leiah stood on her tippy-toes to pull the door open, yet the door cracked and then splintered. "LEIAH!" A blood curtling scretch caused Leiah's head to snap back. "Mom...mmy?"
It was her mother, covered in blood and laying on the floor. She was just looking at her daughter with tears in her eyes, reaching desperately towards Leiah.

The child stood frozen in fear as she wanted to run to her mother, But before she could, Keiichi ran in between them, grasping the child's hand and dragging her away. Leiah wanted to kick and scream and yell but she didn't, or rather couldn't.

It was becoming blurry as she heard her fathers voice yell out as he fell to his death. The child was crying but still no sound escaped. "Hide Leiah. Survive!" Keiichi urged her as he lifted her into a tree. Then he was gone. Leiah's hand out stretch towards her brother as silent screams called out to him.

Until there was nothing...


The Girl's eyes opened, tears trailing down her cheeks. Sitting up, she looked down at herself, 'A dream..' She thought as she wiped away the tears. Focusing her eyes to her surroundings, the young women looked around. Nothing but swamp. She Left out a sigh. "Get going already, Yumi" Yumi Sato was the name she went by now. Ever since she was separated from her family, Yumi was Adopted by an elderly women who raised her as her own until her unfortunately passed. That was 8 years ago. Ever since then, She has been on her own, using her skills the old women taught her to help and heal people. At the age of 12 she discovered her Spirit bending and tried to use it to help her heal people when ever she could but she was really good at it and really only knew how to use it to talk to spirits.

Yumi stood up, patting her clothes to knock off the dirt and moss she had been sleeping upon. After packing her blanket, Yumi carried on wards. She really didn't have a destination as she had become a wanderer about two years ago, and kinda just when where ever it felt right to go.

Walking on wards, she noticed a shadow in the corner of her eye. Her stormy blue eyes darted towards it only to see Keiichi. Not changed, and the sames as he was when she last saw him. Yumi shoke her head and and rubbed her eyes, wandering if she was still asleep. If she was it wasn't funny. Keiichi was still there.

Her walking pace became a jog, and then soon developed into a running Sprint. She began to chase him through the swamp, Following him over and under tree roots, through mud, Until finally he stopped in a small clearing. Slowing her pace, she walked towards the clearing - attempting to caught her breath.

"Who is there?" a deep, powerful voice called out to her. The was definitely not keiichi's voice at all. "What do you want?  If you wish to kill me I warn you, I am not alone." It spoke again.

Yumi blinked few more times before seeing the form of a giant man, but not a man. 'A Spirit? is this an hallucination, too?' She thought, still panting. He was a bit frightening and honestly made Yumi a bit scared. He seemed very strong. "A-..." Yumi choked as she was still catching her breath.  "I-I'm sorry..." She trailed off, not knowing what else to say. It was obvious that this was not a hallucination.

Malfurion examined the child that stepped forward.  But a girl.  A young girl.  An infant in his eyes.  Malfurion was over ten thousand years old.  Ten thousand, seven hundred and thirty-seven to be exact.  That's how old he was.  Malfurion could judged age very well for it.  Just a harmless child from what Malfurion could see.  He lowered his guard, he calmed the spirits he aimed to call upon.  This child's spiritual energy was stronger than most humans.

"She'rah manna Qael'Thalas?" asked Malfurion in the language of the first humans, the language of the Spiritborne.  He asked her if she was a Spirit Bender in Thalassian.  She looked blankly at him.  "Thaladorei nom karu?"  Did she speak the language of the Spiritborne, of the first humans, the language of Thalassian, the language of the Qael'Thalas.  No.  She did not.  The Qael'Thalas, the Spirit Benders of this world had abandoned their language in the past thousand years since Malfurion last visited this world.

"Forgive me..." replied Malfurion calmly, realized she did not understand him.  He spoke in the language of the modern humans.  His voice had a thick accent to it from speaking Thalassian as a first language.  Ten thousand years of it.  More than.  "I did not realize...no matter.  You are a Spirit Bender correct?" asked Malfurion, rephrasing his question in Common, "I have come to visit Nordrassil--the World Tree.  Have you come here for that reason as well?  Do the Spirit Benders and humans of this world still revere the World Tree?  The giver of all life?"

Malfurion turned to the great tree and prayed to it.  He thanked it for all it did, for all it had done through the tens of thousands of years it had been there.  The World Tree, Nordrassil, had been the first tree planted by the Gods.  It was the oldest tree in this world, back even when this world and the last were one.  Were two worlds living on the same plane.  The World Tree was the anchor to the Spirit World, and the twin of Nordrassil, Teldrassil, sat in the middle of Ashenvale, the city of the Spiritborne.

The Spiritborne's capital of Ashenvale was located around Teldrassil.  It had protected them and the Spirits they lived near.  It was the Life Giver.  The All Father.  The World Tree was the centre of the world for the Spirits and the Spiritborne.  Did humans still feel this way?  They had when Malfurion had left ten thousand years ago.  They had when he last visited this decrepit and dying world ten thousand years ago.  Did these foolish humans still feel that way now?  Or had they abandoned tradition for profit?  Had they abandoned nature for war?

These humans were hard to placate.  Had he the strength and the fortitude he would wipe them all out.  But Malfurion did not have the bloodlust.  He did not have the right to destroy men who were once his kin.  Children.  Women.  He did not have the right to destroy what he did not create.  Not unless his survival or the survival of nature depended on it.  Such was his prerogative.  Malfurion would not start what he could not end.

He looked back at the girl and waited for her to do the same. He frowned a bit when she didn't, then stepped down from the roots of the great tree. He pointed to small cavern located under the roots of the great tree. "Come with me child," said Malfurion as he pointed to the cavern, "Have you eaten? Shall I cook something?" Malfurion did not like humans, but this girl was a child, and a Spirit Bender.

She was as close to his kin as these humans would get. He wasn't going to harm a child either. It also felt wrong to harm a Spirit Bender, human though she may be. Besides, she had not attacked him, and he would not attack her until she gave him reason. Hopefully she would not. It would not end well for her. That was what Malfurion's final thought was before he entered the tunnel with the girl behind him.

He raised a hand, and a green flame appeared in it. Spirit Fire. Used by channeling the powers of Fire Spirits. The flame in his hand lit up the cavern tunnel. It was a deep tunnel that went on for ages. They would be in this tunnel for a while. Best not to say that though, lest the girl was scared of closed spaces.

"She'rah manna Qael'Thalas?"

"Thaladorei nom karu?"

These words were strange and foreign to Yumi. It was like nothing she had ever heard before now and yet she felt like she was meant to understand them. She know not why she felt that way, but maybe it had to do with her connection to the spirits? As a spirit bender.

"Forgive me..." He spoke once more, this time in a language she understood. "I did not realize...no matter.  You are a Spirit Bender correct?" His words were thick but translatable. Yumi Nodded at him, watching his movements as he spoke. Her eyes caught by the horns that revealed themselves from under his hair and the long feathers that sprouted from his arms. He was unlike any spirit she had ever seen before. He was more like a ma than any other spirit she had come across. "I have come to visit Nordrassil--the World Tree.  Have you come here for that reason as well?  Do the Spirit Benders and humans of this world still revere the World Tree?  The giver of all life?"

There were many questions he asked. Yumi hesitated a moment then began to answer them, "I.. I was on my way to the earth kingdom city... I am a healer and I wanted to help. I'm afraid I am only taking a shortcut. Not very many humans come through these swamps....." Trailing off to let her words sink in. She tried to avoid the question about the world tree. Yumi could tell that this spirit didn't come in contact with very many humans; and she didn't want to be the one to tell him that spirit benders and humans alike didn't come here for the tree. She had watched as he turned and looked as if he was praying to the tree. 'How old is this spirit?' The girl wondered.

The man spirit looked back at her, disappointingly. Yumi tensed as she didn't know what she had done wrong. He pointed to a cavern not far from them and spoke once more. "Come with me child." He stated, "Have you eaten? Shall I cook something?"

Yumi's stomach growled at that exact moment. A blush flushed her face red as she then nodded. The young Girl came to realize she ran out of food before entering the swamp as she had given the remainder of it to a child and it mother on the road. She had been eating shrubs and herbs to keep up her strength.

Upon entering the mouth of the cavern, Yumi's eyes started to adjust right before the spirit produced a weird type of fire to light the way. The girl gazed in amazement. She had never seen anything like it. She was not a very well trained Spirit Bender and honestly knew very little about her bending. In fact she only knew what she had discovered in her own.

Yumi began to tug on her clothes, twirling her finger around a strap of cloth that hung from her shirt. The tunnel kept going on and on.. There was a point were she thought it would never end and a point were the thought of this being a trap, crossed her mind. She new there were spirits that lured human in, like 'Koh The face stealer'.

"Are.. we almost there?" Yumi dared to ask, waiting to see what this spirit was going to do next..

Malfurion said nothing most of the trip. Even when the young girl asked a question. It took a while for him to respond, but finally he said simply, "Almost." The remainder of the trip was spent in silence, in the dark, cold tunnels that led beneath the massive roots of the ancient World Tree. The anchor between the worlds. Well, one of the many, but the oldest and original anchor. From what Malfurion had studied, the World Tree was anchor along with the Spirit King's Palace, the Palace of the Gods in the Spirit World and the other World Tree in Ashenvale.

The light of the flame provided a small bit of warmth in these tunnels, but the cold did not bug Malfurion. He was used to these tunnels. He had been born here, after all, and lived here for many years before he and a few others decided to pick up stakes and move to the Spirit World and be closer to the spirits they worked with and worshiped. Malfurion smiled as he remembered his youth, but frowned as those thoughts led to his brother. His brother...who wanted nothing more than the girl of his dreams, the girl who had chosen Malfurion instead.

Illidan never recovered from the rejection. Malfurion believed this fully. Illidan claimed he had done what he did to protect his people from Magmaros and the Burning Legion, who sought to burn the world to ash and destroy all life in both worlds. He had turned the demons against their masters, and used the powers of the Legion against them for the greater good. But his recklessness also killed many allies in the process, and there was that one time Illidan, driven mad by the Well of the Old Gods, attacked and nearly destroyed the city of Ashenvale.

Malfurion shook his head, his beard and hair swaying as he did. He removed the thoughts from his mind, and froze as he realized where they were. The two Spirit Benders had left the tunnels for a massive open cavern, where light filtered down from above and massive crystals in the floor, walls and ceiling illuminated everything else. "I am home..." said Malfurion calmly to himself. He could see, in the middle of the cavern, the remains of a medium-sized settlement, a city. The first city. Where he and the other first humans, the first creations of Galamoth, King of Spirits, had lived for years.

"Come child," said Malfurion in a voice like the swaying of trees in the summer wind, "We shall set up camp in one of these homes. I am glad they are well preserved." As Malfurion entered the city, his hands glowed with spiritual power, and he called upon several woodland spirits to help aide him and the girl. A few spirit birds, a spirit raven, two budding Tree Spirits barely four feet tall, and a spirit panther came to his aide through a portal created by Malfurion. He had been a Spirit Caller in his youth, his ability to use the Spirits was natural. It should be so for all Spirit Benders, but that was not always the case, as Malfurion noted when he saw Yumi's face.

"Almost." The one word repeated in her mind as they kept onward through the cavern. Yumi stayed silent, not daring to say a word.

Yumi discovered the further they walked, the colder it became. She knew the earth under the surface was cool, but she had never been so far down that she could fill the difference. Yumi covered her arms with her hands, rubbing then slowly up and down her arms. It was enough to keep the goosebumps from forming.

Eventually, Yumi found herself staring off into the darkness ahead, letting her mind wonder freely. She daydreamed of her adopted mother and how they would plant herbs in the garden, discussing the uses. The had been really close and Yumi learned everything she knew about healing from her. She had almost forgotten that she was following a large strange spirit of a man into the darkness.

The tunnel extended a bit further before opening into a large cavern. Breaking from the mouth of the tunnel, Yumi blinked, focusing and allowing her eyes to adjust to the illuminating light from above. Her eyes widened as she was surprised to see a whole city, just sitting under the swamps! It was beautiful, but ancient. Yet, Yumi felt a very slight familiarity, live as if it was once her home in a past life.

"I am home..." Yumi heard him say."Come child," He vocally motioned her forward, "We shall set up camp in one of these homes. I am glad they are well preserved." Yumi nodded, too star struck to speak.

Upon entering the city, The man Spirit seemed to conjure other spirits from the spirit world. Yumi's jaw dropped slightly, 'Is he.. a Spirit bending... Spirit?' The curiosity clouded her movements as she stood and watched the spirits flutter and emerge from what seemed like thin air. There was so many! Yumi was a spirit bender herself but she had no knowledge on how to bend the spirits like this - Much less in any way. Dazed, Yumi didn't even notice the man looking at her.

Soon enough, her eye matched his and she shook herself from the trance. Opening her mouth to speak, she couldn't find words to even say a word. Who was he? Rather, What was he? Was he really a Spirit? Or Was he really a man? Was there even such a thing as a half Man-spirit?

Yumi's eyes dropped as she tried to wrap her head around the questions. "I... I will go find some sort of wood..." She almost whispered, turning away and starting to walk into the abandoned city as it gently glowed from the light from over head.

Malfurion nodded to the girl as she decided to go look for firewood. In truth she would probably find some odd branches growing from the roots of the Bayon Grove Tree. The Bayon Grove...Nordrassil. The World Tree. The first tree. Tree of life. If only humans knew the secret of the tree's sap. If drunk, it would grant a human incredibly long life. You would not be completely immortal--weapons could still take you, as well as other physical means of death. But sickness and old age would not harm you.

The downside was that it took from you much before it gave. The sapphire blue sap of the World Tree was highly volatile. If someone of a weak constitution were to drink from the tree's veins, they would find themselves destroyed from the inside out. It was recommended, in the olden days, that only Spirit Benders drink from the sap, and even then only those proclaimed to be most worthy were allowed. For their strength came not from their own chi--not alone--it came from the world around them. From their surroundings and the Spirits.

While the sap extracted the necessary toll for long life from your chi pools, others could channel their chi into you to prevent you from dying. On top of that, and a strong Spirit Benders already large chi reserve, a Spirit Bender could draw power from the living beings around it. Plants. Rocks. Trees. Animals. Bugs. Anything that lived. Spirit Benders already lived longer than most humans, and their strength grew with age, but imagine what could be done by drinking from the sap of the World Tree. Malfurion knew.

His people, the Spiritborn, the Thala'dorei, they had once eaten the fruit from Nordrassil's cousin, Teldrassil. The tree in the Spirit World. Another Tree of Life. The fruit acted much the same way as the sap, but did not require as big a price for long life. Malfurion's age, 10,737 years, was due in part to eating the fruit, and other food of the Spirit World, as well as living there for ten centuries, soaking up the spiritual energies. It had also changed Malfurion, and all of his people.

Most simply grew incredibly tall, their skin turned from hues of purple, to blue. And their hair turned green, purple, and a variety of other colours. Their eyes were no longer eyes so much as glowing orbs of pure white or amber. Strange markings covered their skin. But Malfurion...he had become one with nature. Part of being a Spirit Warden in his youth. He had grown large antlers, furred and clawed legs, and winged arms. Malfurion had not yet attempted to fly with them, but he was sure it was possible.

"Before you go," added Malfurion, "Take one of my friends with you. For protection. I have not been here in over ten thousand years, I am not sure what else has moved in during my people's absence." Malfurion motioned to his left a small little tree spirit, about three feet tall, walked towards Yumi. It looked like a regular tree, only it had a face. Two branches formed gnarled arms with long, spindly wooden fingers. Instead of roots, it had two stumpy legs that seemed to made of many roots twisted together. For hair, the tree spirit had a golden canopy of leaves and branches.

"Do not stray to far, and return as soon as you have found sufficient firewood," warned Malfurion, "Shalah. Ka'ran arthun nae Yumi." Malfurion spoke in his ancient tongue and told the tree spirit to watch over Yumi, no matter what, and to call if it required assistance. With that, Malfurion turned, and walked towards the center of the ancient settlement, looking for his home.