Ori and the decayed land

Chapter 24: Returning to Niwen

As they ate, Orin was thinking about what Ori had said to him before he left to collect the fruit "You seem distracted. Something on your mind, Orin?" he heard Lora ask "Yeah, there is something on my mind. It's something that Ori said to me before he left." Orin said, which caught the attention of Sein and Ori.

Ori knew what he had said to him as Sein soon asked Orin. "What did he tell you?" Orin looked to Sein "He said that he could see my and Lora's love growing into something special, but I don't understand what he meant by that." Orin told Lora and Sein while Solas listened in to the conversation. "Don't worry you'll understand it sooner or later. We were one being after all." Ori told Orin. Orin looked at Ori "But when you gave me my physical form, most of the memories I had while we were still connected were erased. I still remember curtain things, though." Orin explained to Ori.   

Solas thought at what her father had said to Orin before Ori left to get fruit "What does dad mean by that?" she mentally asked herself before coming to a conclusion. "Family is special. By 'grow into something special' did you mean that Orin and Lora might start a family?" Solas suddenly asked while she looked at her father.

The four spirits looked at Solas surprised "Yeah I did mean that, but I'm surprised that you managed to figure it out." Ori said, which quickly caused a blush to appear on both Orin's and Lora's cheeks. "Well if we were going to start a family, I would like to start it in Niwen, our true home." Orin said as he looked to Lora, who nodded.

Lora soon began to think about Niwen "Speaking of Niwen, I miss it dearly." She said before she felt the loving hold of Orin, her new and first lover "I miss Niwen too." He replied as Lora returned with her own hold. Ori just smiled as he looked to Sein and down to Solas "We still have the boat. Does anyone else want to return to Niwen?" he asked. Sein thought for a moment "I think it would be a great time for Solas to meet Seir now that she's whole again." She said as Solas nodded. "Then it's settled. All of us will be going back to Niwen." Ori said, which got the attention of Orin and Lora.

"Do we have a way to get there though?" Lora asked. Ori nodded "Yeah. We have a boat that Grom built for us after our old one got destroyed by a sudden storm." He told Lora. Solas heard that the boat that Gumo had built them broke and began to stress slightly, which both Ori and Sein noticed. "hey its ok. We were fine in the end." Sein told her, which made Solas calm down.

Ori looked back to Orin and Lora "We can take you two to the boat that we used to get back to Nibel." He told them. Orin and Lora agreed, and they all went to the spirit well. "The boat is east of Thornfelt swamp." Ori told Orin, Lora and Solas before they all vanished in a flash of light as they warped.

They appeared at the spirit well in Thornfelt swamp as Ori and Sein continued to lead the way.

Solas looked at her new surroundings with child-like wonder, which Orin and Lora liked to see "Maybe starting a family wouldn't be bad after all." Orin thought as they walked closer to their destination.

They soon made it to the boat "There's the boat." Ori said as he put the boat onto the surface of the water. They all managed to fit on the boat as Ori pushed the boat out to sea and began to row it towards Niwen.

A few hours passed as they reached Niwen's shore "We're here. Welcome back to Niwen Orin and Lora. And welcome Solas." Ori said as he pulled the boat onto the shoreline while the others got off the boat. Orin and Lora looked around "It feels nice to be home again." Lora said with a smile "Yeah. Especially when Seir was pieced back together to protect the land once more thanks to Ori and Sein and eventually me as well." Orin told Lora. Ori, Sein and Solas approached Orin and Lora "He's correct. If it wasn't for the three of us, Niwen would've been doomed." Sein told Lora as Sein heard Orin tell Lora about what had happened.

They all soon entered the forest "I can't wait to see all the inhabitants again after so long." Lora spoke happily, which made Ori feel a pang in his chest. "Well... You won't be able to see one of the inhabitants anymore..." Ori said as sadness began to rise within him with his ears drooping. Lora heard the rising sadness in Ori's voice "Did one of them pass?" she asked Ori with slight sadness. Ori nodded "During our journey to save Niwen, we lost Kwolok... He had one wish, and his wish was to give Niwen a second chance." Ori told her.

Lora felt sadness overtake her as her ears drooped "I see..." was the only thing she said as she began to weep before Orin wrapped an arm around her.

They walked into Inkwater marsh, where Ori and Sein's journey began "The Inkwater marsh. Glad to see it marshy as always." Orin slightly joked as they walked through the marsh.

As an hour passed, they made it to the Wellspring glades "The Wellspring glades, the homier part of Niwen." Lora spoke "Yeah. My and Sein's hut should be here." Ori referred to the hut that Grom built for them. The small group of spirits soon heard a familiar voice "Ori, Sein back already? And with three other spirits as well." Ori and Sein knew who it belonged to as they turned to the direction and saw Grom. "Hey Grom. Yeah, we're back. We returned to bring Orin and Lora back to their home, Niwen. They were reborn in Nibel." Ori explained to Grom, who looked at Orin and Lora "Well it is good to see them again." Grom said before he looked at Solas. "And who is this little spirit?" he politely asked. "This is Solas, the daughter of Ori and I." Sein told the gorlek. "Well it nice to meet you, Solas. I'm Grom, I helped your parents here and there." Grom introduced himself to Solas "It's nice to meet you too, Grom" Solas replied.

Ori and Sein soon told Grom that they were going to introduce Solas to Seir and bid their farewell as they began to head to where Seir now resided.

A few hours pass as they made it to the sprout that housed Seir. "Hey Seir I hope you can respond while you're in this state. We have someone that we want to introduce you to." Ori told Seir. "Hello, Ori. I can respond while I'm like this. Who would you like to introduce to me?" Seir responded. Ori and Sein signalled Solas to show herself to Seir, which she did "Well Seir, I would like to introduce you to your niece, Solas." Ori introduced Solas "Hi aunt Seir." Solas greeted. "Ah, Solas. I was waiting to meet you after Ori told me about you." Seir said.

Soon, Orin spoke up "They're not the only ones here." He said. "Wait Orin? But how? You merged with me." Seir spoke confused "Well let's say I was reborn again, but I wasn't the only one to be reborn though, Lora was also reborn." Orin told Seir "Hi Seir. It's good to see you whole again." Lora greeted "Well this was certainly a surprise." Seir said. "Orin and Lora are also together now." Sein told her sister, which made both Orin and Lora blush "Sein did you really have to tell her!" they both said with embarrassment. "I always Knew that Lora loved Orin." Seir told them. Lora was the only one surprised about this "You knew from the start." She spoke "Ever since you started showing signs, I knew you fell for Orin. It was only a matter of time until you expressed your love for him." Seir said to Lora.

Hours pass as they all talked with one another before they decided to head back to Wellspring glades "I think we should head back to Wellspring glades. What do you think?" Ori asked "Yeah. I might need some fruit. The trek here really made me hungry." Orin said as the others agreed. "Well, guess we should go then. Later Seir." Ori bid his farewell as the others followed suite "Farewell. It was a pleasure to meet you, Solas." Seir said "It was nice to meet you too, aunt Seir." Solas replied as the group of spirits began to make their way back to Wellspring glades and hung out for the rest of the day.