Ori and the light of Nibel

Chapter 2: Following the path to the Spirit tree

The duo was walking on the path that Ori had trekked earlier. They came across two purple oozing blobs that weren't there prior to Ori's first trek through "Crawlers, they are an oozing blob that can fire several small needle-like projectiles. You must be careful when they shoot their projectiles." Sein warned Ori. Ori nodded in understanding "Got it. And you can shoot them with your..." Ori didn't know what Sein's flame ability was called "Spirit flame." Sein finished his sentence. Ori soon spoke "Spirit flame. Got it." They began to cross the purple lake since that's where they came across the Crawlers being careful not to get hit by their projectiles. Sein was shooting them with her spirit flame, protecting both her and Ori.

Once across, Sein killed the other Crawler "It should be a bit safer now." Sein said. She turned to face Ori and spoke again "Are you ok? Did any of their projectile hit you?" Ori shook his head "Nope. I'm fine thanks to you." he said as he gave Sein a friendly smile. But Ori couldn't help but feel a bit useless, sure he found the light of the Spirit tree but what if Sein needed to rest after using a lot of her energy in her spirit flame. It would render both of them vulnerable. Ori was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Sein call his name "Ori? Are you there?" Sein spoke while waving a paw in front of his face "Yeah. Just zoned out." he said then continued walking.

They came across thorns covering a light blue plant. Sein shot the thorns, freeing the plant "What is that?" Ori asked tilting his head in confusion "This is a Spring plant; they can launch things upward into the air." Sein explained before shooting another set of thorns revealing a stone well-like structure with a bright blue light almost looking white at times. They walked to the well "What is this? It has the light that was flowing from that giant tree many years prior." Ori spoke which made Sein realise what he was talking about "The light ceremony." she thought as Ori examined the stone structure.

Sein soon spoke "This is a spirit well. Spirit wells are ancient structures that were used to quickly traverse all of Nibel." Ori looked at her "So we can use this to get to the Spirit tree?" Sein shook her head at Ori's question "If only it was that simple. For us to use the warping capabilities of the spirit well we must first activate them." a disappointed expression soon appeared on Ori's face "I see. How do we activate them?" Ori asked. Sein soon approached the spirit well "All we need to do is just use the light. It will recover any lost energy and wash away any injuries." Ori nodded at Sein's explanation and stood on the wells centre with Sein.

Soon the light from the well flew into their bodies refreshing them in the process "Wow. I feel much better." Ori said, amazed. This made Sein think "Does he even know about his own kind?" she soon decided to ask Ori about this "Hey, Ori. May I ask you a question?" Ori turned to her "Sure. What is it?" he replied with his head tilted to the side "Do you know about the spirits?" Ori had a confused expression "Spirits? Nope sorry, Sein." Sein froze in disbelief "Ori truly doesn't know?!" she thought.

Ori saw her expression of disbelief "Yeah, I really don't. I lived with a being named Naru all my life. She took care of me like I was her biological child. Even giving up everything just so I could be happy, but her selflessness is what killed her..." he explained but his voice became saddened with grief when he said the last few words as his ears drooped and began to weep.

Sein couldn't help but feel sorry for Ori. She didn't know that he was taken care by Naru, who took care of the Spirit tree when he was just a sprout "I'm sorry for your loss, Ori. I didn't know..." Sein spoke with a sad tone as her ears drooped as well "I-It's f-fine." Ori said while sniffling. Ori jumped when he felt Sein suddenly hug him, her fur was soft to the touch reminding him of Naru's motherly hugs that she would give Ori when he was sad about something. Slight blue appearing on his cheeks once more as he accepted the hug as he wrapped both his arms around Sein to return the jester. They were hugging for a few minutes while Ori's tears fell on Sein's fur "It's ok. Let it all out, Ori." she said in a soothing voice as she ran her paw up and down his back trying to soothe and comfort Ori.