Ori and the light of Nibel

Chapter 14: Heading to the Forlorn ruins

Sein tilted her head to the side with a curious look "What do you need to tell me?" she asked. "Well, it's about a strange dream I had or at least I think it was a dream." Ori replied with a hint of uncertainty "A strange dream?" Sein replied. "Yeah, but it felt so real. It was in a place I didn't recognise. There was clean water, a bright blue sky, and both of us cleaning up a cave that was apparently Mum's old home." Ori explained the surroundings he saw to her. Sein imminently knew where Ori was describing "That's the Lost Grove, underneath the Black root burrows. Naru used to live there with her father, until his passing. She left and never returned." she told him.

"Well, that's not the most interesting thing that caught my attention though. My other self said that Mum told me about her old home, and I had golden fur in the same places as your blue fur." Ori continued to explain "Interesting... Anything else?" Sein asked. Ori nodded "In fact yeah, there was an unfamiliar small feminine spirit with two different coloured pupils. Her left was blue like yours and her right was gold like the colour of my new abilities. She had royal green fur in the same areas as our fur. And you called her Solas. But the thing that got me was that she referred to us as her mother and father." he stopped to catch his breath. Ori then continued "And right before you woke up, I came to the realisation that this Solas could've been our child." he said.

When Sein heard what Ori had to say, she was speechless at his recollection of his strange dream "You were able to recollect your dream with great detail. Are you sure it was just a dream and not a future vision?" she asked. "I really don't know." Ori spoke before continuing "A part of me tells me it was a vision because of the golden fur I had matching the golden colour of my new abilities, but another part tells me it was a dream because Mum was still alive, and you were with me." He spoke with almost a conflicted tone. "Well, if it helps, I had a thought yesterday about how would it be like to start a family and be a parent." Sein said, surprising Ori "I suppose that's more proof to it being a vision." he said. "Well, anyway. We should get going to the Forlorn ruins, now." Ori soon added "Yeah, we should. It's down there." Sein said while looking down from the broken bridge. "Alright, let's head down there." Ori spoke before jumping off the side "WAIT FOR ME, ORI!!" Sein shouted and jumped down after him.

Ori soon began to use stomp while focusing the Spirit tree's light as he sensed four dark presences below him. Ori's body became a golden fire ball as he was plummeting rapidly before hitting the ground, leaving a big circle of golden flames around him. Ori looked at the flames around him and felt that same odd familiarly with the colour of the flames "This odd feeling again... I shouldn't let it distract me, though." He thought. All the creatures of decay were incinerated into ashes as the flames died down before dissipating. Sein was dumbfounded "Wow..." was all that left her mouth while she began gliding. Ori then began to dust himself off from the landing.

This is when Ori noticed that the fur on his paw was slightly gold before reverting to white "Maybe that dream was a vision after all." he thought while Sein landed. "That was impressive, Ori." Sein complemented Ori "Thanks. We can continue to the Forlorn ruins since we're down here now." he replied. Sein nodded confirming Ori's words "Yes, I'll show you the way. Follow me." she said and began walking with Ori following.

They were now heading south towards the Forlorn ruins. Ori couldn't get the dream he had out his head as he was still thinking about it "Why won't it go away?" he thought. Soon Ori heard the voice of the Spirit tree "I do find your dream interesting. I will agree that it did look real." Ori mentally sighed "I don't know  if it was a dream or a vision." Ori replied to the tree "Well, I suppose time will only tell. I'll leave you for now, Ori." the great tree replied and vanished from Ori's mind.

The spirits came to an area with three Darkwings "We need to head down." Sein said to Ori "Understood." was the only thing he said before shooting golden flames at the Darkwings, allowing both Ori and Sein to safely descend. They soon descended and noticed the temperature was beginning to drop "Why is it getting colder?" Ori asked "It must be the cause of Nibel losing its warmth. But our fur should keep us warm for the time being." Sein spoke as they walked.

They were still heading south to the Forlorn ruins; the temperature was continuing to decline the more they approached the ruins. It was getting so cold that both spirits formed a flame in their paws as well as snuggling with each other to keep warm "Wow... It's so cold here." Ori spoke while they were walking "Agreed. But we must keep moving." Sein replied.

They were soon beginning to see ice as well as their breath in the air "Ok. We're almost there." Sein informed Ori as they came to an opening with a blocked path "The path is blocked by a log that might retract into the wall. There might be something that could retract it around here." Ori spoke. Soon a Rammer charged them which made Ori and Sein separate from each other as they dodged. Ori bashed upward and saw a switch "Ah ha! There's a switch up there!" he said and bashed the Rammer again, this time in the switch's direction. Once Ori reached the switch, he flipped it which retracted the log that was blocking their path "The path is now clear. We can now continue!" Sein told Ori.

Ori stomped, breaking the Rammer's armour and killed it with the golden flame sword before they continued. When the two spirits passed, the log fell behind them making them turn around "It closed on us. How are we going to get out of here?" Ori asked "I don't know. We'll think of something when the time comes to leave." Sein replied. The spirits continued heading to the Forlorn ruins soon after.

As they were walking until they were on the end of a branch of a tree. "The entrance should just be down there." Sein told Ori while looking down at a path with blue Crawlers "There are also Forlorn Crawlers here too." Sein added. "Forlorn Crawlers?" Ori said in a questioning tone "They're just Crawlers but icy blue." she told him. "Ah, I understand. Well, should we get going?" Ori asked. Sein nodded "Yes. We should." she said, and they both took the path with the Forlorn Crawlers.

There were only two so killing them was no problem "It should be just up ahead." Sein spoke. But unbeknownst to the spirits Gumo had been following them from a distance, making sure that they were alright.

Theyreached a big stone door with a crystal shape in it "So, I need to put the gumon seal in the crystal slot?" Ori asked "Yes. It's the only way to open thedoor to the Forlorn ruins." Sein answered. Ori put the yellow crystal in theslot as the door began to glow a bright yellow before opening, letting out achilling breeze "Wow... That was cold!" Ori spoke as he began to shiver a little."Agreed. But with the Forlorn ruins now open, we can enter and cleanse theelement of winds." Sein replied. Ori nodded and they both entered the ruins.