"O Guardian," Kai said in a slightly trembling voice, but trying to sound firm amidst the dragon's roar.
"I come with a sincere heart, not to hurt you."
Before the Guardian who stretched out like a black mountain breathing fire, Kai stood like a speck of dust daring to challenge the storm.
"You... little human... how dare you stand before me after what you have done," the Guardian's voice echoed in Kai's mind.
The suffocating scent of sulfur mixed with the charred smell of the forest that was languishing, filled the air that vibrated with the dragon's low roar.
"We did not come to challenge you, O Guardian," Kai replied in a voice that, although small, was clearly audible.
"You are the guardian of our ancestral land. We have come to beg for your forgiveness."
The purplish red light that burned from the Guardian's eyes illuminated Kai's face, an ancient gaze that held centuries of pent-up anger.
"Forgiveness you say? After you've ruined the peace I've guarded for centuries?" the dragon's voice echoed again, full of rage.
With his heart pounding but determination burning within him, Kai
lifted the ancient bamboo flute. The touch of his fingers on the bamboo felt like touching the last vein of hope on this island.
'Do not be afraid, Kai… do what you must,' Kai thought. He remembered Luka's words. He felt Luka's spirit with him.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm the fear that was churning in his chest, and played the first note of "Song of Harmony."
The sound that came from the flute was soft and trembling, a choked apology, representing the sorrow that gripped the island and the regret for the wounds caused by human hands.
"That weak voice... what do you mean, human? Is that what you call a plea?" the Guardian asked, his roar slightly lessening but still threatening.
'Forgive us...', Kai whispered to himself, the regretful tone like a faint gust of wind in the midst of a storm.
However, it was immediately met by the Guardian's echoing roar, a powerful wave of sound that hit Kai like a physical blow, sending him staggering back several steps.
The echo of the Guardian's anger ripped through the air.
Thick black smoke erupted from the dragon's nostrils,
like the overflow of a burning hell. His eyes radiated wild anger, burning red like bubbling lava.
'He doesn't listen…', Kai thought desperately, cold sweat dripping down his temples.
The roar seemed to say "Go away! You're all the same! Bringers of destruction!"
Kai didn't give up. He focused, playing the water melody he had learned on the bamboo island.
"Refreshing water… that heals… it washes the wounded earth… re-fertilizes the parched. May you feel it too… may it touch your wounds…" Kai murmured softly.
He hoped that the wounded Guardian could feel the calm he was trying to convey through the soft flowing notes, imagining the clear rivers that once divided this island, a hope for freshness and cleansing of nature's wounds.
However, the Guardian only growled in frustration, the low voice in his large throat trembling with anger.
One of his tree-sized claws slammed into the ground with terrifying force.
Creating a gaping crack in the wounded earth, like a new wound carved into the body of the island.
The red light in his eyes flickered uncontrollably, reflecting burning anger and unbearable pain.
"You destroyers! You have polluted everything! You have poisoned my land and water!" roared the Guardian, though without words spoken, Kai could feel the waves of anger and accusations crashing into his mind.
Desperately but with the remaining conviction, Kai played the resonance of the crystal stones.
"I feel... your pain... your loss... like the earth losing its green..." Kai whispered, trying to reach the core of the Guardian's suffering."
"You have endured this alone… for too long… just as I… lost them…"
The notes that came out this time were more quivering and deeper, trying to reawaken the power and balance of the disturbed earth's core. The ground around them shook more strongly.
But the Guardian instead raised his great head high, roaring a heart-piercing rage and sorrow, an ancient voice that echoed across the devastated forest, as if mourning the loss of eternal harmony.
'This… is not just burning rage… but also a deep wound', Kai muttered to himself, a realization slowly creeping into his mind.
A thick black liquid, resembling lava tears, seemed to flow from the corners of his burning eyes, evidence that his anger was rooted in deep suffering.
The scent of the bamboo flowers he carried, a symbol of hope and restoration, felt wasted, swallowed by the suffocating smell of sulfur.
Kai played a melody of natural beauty, imagining the green of the forest that once towered, the chirping of birds cheerfully responding to each other.
"O Guardian, remember the beauty that once was…" Kai whispered.
But the Guardian growled again, louder and more defiant this time.
It lashed out with a force that tore down the remaining trees like matchsticks, as if rejecting the illusion of past happiness that had been snatched away.
"You have defiled the beauty you speak of! Never mention it in my presence again!" it roared, and Kai felt despair almost take his hope.
In that tense moment, Kai realized that the "Song of Harmony" could not be a mere shallow apology or a depiction of lost beauty.
'This isn't about words… this is about heart to heart,' Kai thought, his eyes fixed on the furious dragon.
"I understand now," Kai whispered over the soft notes of his flute.
"It's not just about apologizing on behalf of others. It's about feeling what they feel."
Realizing that the melody of pleas and the vision of lost beauty failed to reach the core of the Guardian's anger, Kai changed the direction of "Song of Harmony."
He closed his eyes, trying to fathom the depths of the ancient dragon's emotions.
'Such deep pain… there must be an unhealed wound in his heart,' Kai thought, feeling the weight of grief suddenly crushing his chest.
"What have they done to you?" Kai whispered softly, as if asking the dragon directly.
He imagined himself as part of the wounded island, feeling every crack in the ground, every fallen tree as a cut on his own body.
'I feel this destruction too…'
He tried to understand the sense of loss that the great being might feel at the betrayal of the long-standing harmony.
'You must feel the same emptiness,' Kai thought, imagining the Guardian's loneliness.
The notes coming from the ancient bamboo flute now turned deeper and more melancholic. No longer a shallow apology, but a sincere lamentation for the destruction that had occurred.
"We know… we know we were wrong," Kai whispered softly, hoping his voice could reach the dragon's inner ear.
'We have failed to protect you… to protect our home,' Kai thought, his voice trembling with regret.
'Please forgive us… O Great Guardian.'