Ori and the light of Nibel

Chapter 4: Traversing the Spider coves

Ori opened his eyes to see nothing but darkness "Where am I?" he thought out loud. Soon a deep, echoey voice reached his ears "This is in your mind, Ori." Ori had a feeling who this voice belonged to "Spirit tree?" he called out "Yes. I am the Spirit tree. And you, Ori. Are my son." the Spirit tree said, making Ori shocked. The tree continued "I called out to you years ago. but you never came." Ori soon felt the guilt return soon after the Spirit trees speech "I am truly sorry for all this, for not following your light when you called out to me on that fateful night." Ori's ears drooped, showing that he was upset. "Do not worry, Ori. You didn't want to make Naru worry about your disappearance." hearing this, Ori became both shocked and confused "How did you...?" he said as the Spirit tree soon told him about how he could oversee the events that surrounded Ori and told him that he was the one who revived Ori. "I see. Not that I'm complaining but why?" Ori asked out of curiosity "I needed a spirit to find Sein. You were the closest one and you weren't an ancestral tree yet." the Spirit tree explained.

The Spirit tree then continued "I would like to show you the tale of Kuro's misguided will." Ori was confused, tilting his head to the side before Ori's surroundings changed to the Spirit tree all those years ago. The light was in the mantle on the top of the tree producing the wall of light tasked of finding Ori as different spirits from all shapes and sizes were around the great tree. Soon a gigantic owl with purple feathers and a pale face with white glowing eyes full of hatred entered the scene. This was Kuro. She swooped down to where some spirits could be seen fleeing the scene, but Kuro quickly killed them without mercy. She then looked at the light in the Spirit tree, narrowing her hate filled eyes before she flew up to it and began to tug on it. After three tugs, the light separated from the tree and Kuro flew off with the light in her talon. She soon landed on a tree and crushed the light, revealing that it was the orb that Ori had found in the Sunken glades. Then Kuro dropped it and flew off "Kuro stole Sein, it was the end of our days." the Spirit tree said as Ori's surroundings faded to black.

Ori didn't know what to say "Oh my..." was the only thing that escaped the spirits mouth "You will need to rekindle the three elements of Light to restore Nibel. The element of waters, high atop the Ginso tree. The winds, deep within the Forlorn ruins. The warmth, beneath the fires of Mount horu. Then return to me so I can provide balance to Nibel once more." the tree informed Ori. The spirit gave an understood nod "Ok. Got it." he said as the darkness began to light up "Seems like you are waking up now. Farewell for now, Ori." the Spirit tree said as Ori slowly woke up.

Ori slowly opened his eyes to see the morning sky. He soon noticed a pair of white and blue furred arms hugging him. Ori instantly knew whose arms these were, they were Sein's arms. Ori's cheeks went blue as a blush appeared "Why is she hugging me? Did she have a nightmare or something?" he thought. Ori soon felt movement coming from Sein, telling him that she was beginning to wake up. When Sein opened her eyes, she saw that she was hugging Ori "Oh, I-I'm s-so s-sorry, Ori!" she stammered while a deep blue blush appeared on her cheeks out of embarrassment. Ori turned to face her, "Hey, it's fine. It felt kind of nice." Ori said without thinking.

Ori soon realised what he had just said, making his blush deepen, which got Sein to release a small giggle "You weren't thinking about your words, were you?" she asked. Ori shook his head "Nope, I wasn't." he admitted then remembering what the Spirit tree told him. "Oh, the Spirit tree also spoke to me while I was asleep. He showed me what happened and how the forest became... this. And told me that he was the one that revived me. He also said that we need to rekindle the three elements of light." Ori explained to Sein as both their blushes faded. Sein was a little confused when Ori mentioned that the Spirit tree revived him "The Spirit tree revived you? Did you die before?" she asked "Well, yes but that's a long story." Ori answered "I understand. Let's start with the element of waters, in the Ginso tree." she spoke with Ori giving a nod. The duo began heading to the Ginso tree, with Sein leading the way.