Ori and the light of Nibel

Chapter 5: The Gumon chase

The two spirits were resting. Ori was looking at his paw as the small lightning bolts from yesterday began to show again, but they were a bit bigger this time "What is this exactly?" he thought. Sein, on the other hand, was in thought about how and when to tell Ori how she feels "When should I tell him? How should I tell him? But... after we cleanse the three elements, I'll be back on the mantle of the Spirit tree and helping him keep balance to the elements." she didn't know what to do. Sein soon looked over to Ori only to see the little golden lightning bolts from his paw "Why is there golden lightning coming from your paw?" she asked, Ori shrugged "I'm not quite sure myself. It happened yesterday as well." he said while Sein moved closer to inspect his paw. Unbeknownst to both the spirits though, Sein's tail began to intertwine with Ori's as if it had a mind of its own. "Interesting... it's like you have the Spirit tree's light flowing through you." she spoke with an interested tone. Something soon clicked in Ori's head "That's it!" he said like a light bulb lit up in his head "The Spirit tree must've used his energy and infused it into my body when he revived me." he explained as the lightning soon vanished from his paw "But if that's the case. I'll need to learn how to fully use it." Ori added. Ori soon noticed that Sein's tail was intertwined with his "Uhh... have you noticed our tails?" he asked which made Sein confused and turned to look. Once she saw their tails were intertwined, her cheeks went a deep blue out of embarrassment "I-I d-didn't m-mean to d-do th-that." she stammered as she untwined her tail from his and averting her gaze from Ori "Hey, don't worry about it." Ori said as he released a small laugh. He continued to speak "Actually, Naru told me. Before I was born. That she saw some spirits together as partners in a relationship, she would also tell me that they would always intertwine their tails to show their... feelings..." Ori's voice trailed off as something clicked in his head. Ori's cheeks began to show that same deep blue that Sein had. Her extreme worry at times. Her hugging him when he awoke. And her tail intertwining with his. It all made sense now. "You love me, don't you?" he asked, looking away as he felt awkward. Sein remained silent "He knows!" she thought.

There was awkward silence for a few minutes, until Ori broke the silence "We should get back to cleansing the Ginso tree." he said as he got up and offered a paw to Sein. She took it without saying a word but gave him a thankful smile.

Ori began to push the boulder which soon covered the spikes allowing the duo to wall jump up a wall. Once up however, there was a Crawler on the side of a wall, which soon shot its projectiles. Ori dodged the projectiles as Sein killed it and they continued. Ori noticed how quiet Sein was. Usually, they would talk with one another as they walked "Hey, Sein? You're awfully quiet. Is everything ok?" Ori asked her but she didn't answer.

They soon saw a male grey coloured being with a round shaped body. Two long legs and arms. And two orange eyes with slight darker orange pupils. He seemed to be holding a spherical shaped gemstone that was blue in colour. As the duo approached, the male being jumped when he spotted them and began to flee. "A Gumon from the Forlorn ruins! We must follow his steps, we must get what he stole!" Sein finally spoke "There's the voice I know and love." Ori thought as they began chasing the Gumon. They soon came across a Crawler colony, which Sein destroyed every piece of it. The duo continued to give chase only to see the Gumon jump off a ledge into the Thornfelt swamp. They soon jumped down, landing in the swamp "Come on. We must keep up or we'll lose him!" Sein said, determined to get the light blue gemstone back.

The two spirits followed the Gumon, destroying a Crawler colony along the way to an opening. They saw him continue through a path while a door with a purple colour coming from some of the cracks closed behind him. "Well, great. Just great." Ori said out of annoyance. Then something came down from above, breaking a piece of wood revealing a hole in the ground. A purple worm-like creature popped out soon after "A Mortar worm, they will shoot a projectile towards us. Their shots are highly accurate, be careful around them Ori." Sein warned him. Ori soon had an idea. He began to focus as he felt his movement increase in speed, but only a little bit. With his new speed ability, he jumped to the next piece of wood and waited for the Mortar to shoot a projectile at him. The Mortar soon shot a projectile only for Ori to dodge and repeat the process.