Ori and the Stranger

Chapter 13

     "Ready?" Blitz asked, standing in a throwing position. Ori gave him a nod, and Blitz hurled Ori up towards the sill of the opening again. Ori hurtled through the air, with a similar trajectory as last time. However, just as he was about to miss the sill, he used Leru's power.

     He felt energy surge to his feet, and a brief burst of energy shot out from under him. Unlike Ano's power, however, it didn't consume any of his energy. The burst gave Ori a little boost, and Ori flipped gracefully to the sill, using Fil's wall jump to hop over the sill and into the tunnel. He stared down the tunnel, and was about to travel down when he heard Blitz's voice.

     "Good job!" Blitz congratulated, but his voice became more skeptical. "How am I supposed to get up there?"

     Ori turned around, gazing down at Blitz from the tunnel entrance in thought. "Um... I don't know," Ori admitted, turning his attention to Sein, who was floating by his shoulder. "Do you have any ideas, Sein?"

     Sein hovered for a beat or two, thinking deeply. "I... don't see anything we could use," Sein said. "But we'll find something, I'm sure. For now, we need to catch that Gumon as soon as possible. Wait here, Blitz." Sein floated off down the tunnel. "Come, Ori!"

     Ori hesitated. "I... don't want to leave Blitz all alone, though," Ori admitted sheepishly, ears drooping at the thought of leaving Blitz behind. "I... feel safer with him around." Also, Ori wasn't sure if Blitz could defend himself in his injured state. During the throw, Ori had heard Blitz grunt in pain as he put strain and stress on his injured body.

     "Aw... thank you," Blitz said reassuringly. "You can go, Ori. I'm pretty sure you aren't gonna forget to come get me."

     Blitz's words did their job, causing Ori to nod as well. "Okay," Ori said, still seeming quite hesitant but far less so. "But I promise that I will come back for you!" With these words, Ori followed Sein down the tunnel, but still cast glances back in Blitz's direction.

     The tunnel led upwards in a roundabout, windy fashion. It was uncomfortably barren, devoid of plantlife of any kind. The only sounds Ori heard were his hooves on the stone floor, and the quiet rushing of water echoing up the tunnel from the main cavern.

     Eventually, the tunnel opened back up into the main cavern. Ori found himself far higher than he thought the tunnel had taken him, a good hundred and fifty feet above the underground lake. He stood on a fat ledge, about fifteen feet from the lip to the tunnel where Ori had come. Ori looked over the edge, his stomach lurching at seeing just how high he really was. Ori spotted the pontoon, upon which Blitz sat. He seemed to be resting, likely in pain from his injury. Ori felt a pang of sorrow for Blitz, but quickly shook it off. There was no time for distractions.

     He looked across to the other side of the cavern, which had narrowed considerably, now a ravine instead of a cavern. At the opposite wall sat yet another ledge, with another cave entrance. The tunnel within was pitch black, but Ori could definitely make out the amber eyes of the Gumon staring back at him. Upon being noticed, the Gumon disappeared into the darkness. Ori didn't hesitate, leaping across the ravine and landing on the ledge, using Leru's power to close the gap. Then, he dashed down the tunnel after the Gumon, the light emanating from his body and Sein just barely illuminating the tunnel enough to not run into the walls.

     The tunnel wound and twisted in a confusing, offsetting manner. Ori had no idea which direction he was moving after the first few turns, but luckily the tunnel did not branch out into several smaller paths, making it easy to stay behind the fleeing Gumon. The tunnel suddenly had a steep, vertical incline upwards into a tall shaft. Ori peeked up the shaft just to see a small glimpse of the Gumon as it dashed into an opening at the side of the top part of the shaft. Just as Ori was about to follow, he heard the sound of a lever being pulled. There was a click as the lever seemed to get stuck, and a grunt of annoyance from the Gumon. Then, a snap as the lever suddenly gave way, a sound of wood splintering, then rock tumbling to the ground and a yelp of pain from the Gumon.

     Then, there was the sound of a mechanism firing. "Ori! Watch out!" Sein shouted. Ori looked up just in time to see a new hole in the top of the shaft, boulders tumbling out of it.

     Ori leapt out of the way as the boulders crashed to the ground, rattling the tunnel and cracking the ground near the impact, before rolling down the tunnel and into the darkness with echoing rumbles. Then, after a beat, another bunch of boulders tumbled down.

     Ori curled inside of a small crevice, fearful that he would be crushed if he dared even poke his head out. Sein sat in front of his nose. "Ori, are you all right?" Sein asked urgently. "You weren't hurt, were you?"

     "N-No..." Ori replied shakily. "But, I was so close to being crushed..." Ori was visibly shivering. If he had just been a millisecond late, he would have been crushed to death by the boulders. The thought sent shivers down Ori's spine. "What do we do-"

     Ori was cut off by the loud crashing of another batch of boulders, far too close to the crevice where Ori was hiding. Though it was impossible for the boulders to actually harm Ori in his hiding spot, that fact didn't stop Ori from flinching violently and yelping in fear before covering his eyes with his hands. He felt the impact of the boulder reverberate through his body, as small bits of dust were shaken loose from the ceiling and landed on his fur.

     "Ori, calm down," Sein said in a gentle but authoritative tone. "Look at me."

     After a moment's hesitation, Ori opened his teary, frightened eyes and stared at Sein. "We must move, child," Sein commanded, maintaining her calm authority. "I do not know how, but I do know that we cannot simply hide. We cannot be stopped by some rocks, when the forest of Nibel is at stake! What happened to the brave, determined spirit that had promised to his fallen siblings that he would save their home?!"

     Sein's words and reminders did their job. Ori remembered the promises he had made to Fil, and Ano, and Leru. This reminder filled him with courage, yet as he was about to emerge from his crevice, another crash of boulders sent him back into his curled up position, though he was considerably less shaky. "How do we get out?" Ori questioned Sein.

     But Sein didn't have to say anything, as a beat of delay before the next boulders came crashing down answered Ori's question. It would be just like the lasers. All Ori needed to do was time it correctly.

     So, Ori held still, waiting for another bunch of boulders to tumble down. As soon as they tumbled, Ori dashed out of the crevice, immediately leaping onto the nearest wall. He knew that he didn't have much time, and that fact filled him with adrenaline. Thankfully, Leru's and Fil's powers combined allowed Ori to quickly scale about halfway up the shaft. Just as he saw another bunch of boulders fall towards him, he hauled himself into yet another crevice, tall enough for him to stand. As soon as the boulders passed,  Ori leapt back onto the wall.

     Finally, with one last double jump, Ori landed in the tunnel the Gumon had entered, just as a particularly large boulder just barely missed him, brushing along his fur. As Ori's hooves landed on solid stone, he fell to his knees, panting. The adrenaline left his body, and he felt exhausted from the effort it took to scale the shaft so quickly.

     The little spirit heard a groan of pain ahead of him. He raised his head and stared down the tunnel as his vision cleared. A large stone came into focus, which seemed to be the source of the pained groaning. Ori's curiosity peaked, and he slowly got back to his hooves and walked over to the boulder. But as he got closer, he soon realized that the groaning was coming from behind the boulder. Or rather, under it.

     Ori walked around the boulder to the other side, and gasped in surprise. The Gumon's limbs were pinned under the boulder, and the Gumon had a face of pain. The Gumon let out another pained groan, seemingly in too much agony to notice Ori standing over him. Ori felt his hatred start to simmer inside of him. That thing had almost killed them several times, and had really hurt Ori's friend. But, Ori also felt pity begin to battle his anger. The Gumon seemed scared, and he was hurt and needed help.

     Ori stood over the Gumon, debating what to do in his mind. But then, the Gumon finally seemed to notice Ori. He turned to face Ori, and Ori saw the pain and pleading in his eyes. This struck deeply in Ori's heart, and his kind nature quickly won the mental battle. He placed his paws on the stone, and with a massive effort hauled it off of the Gumon's trapped limbs. The Gumon burst free, letting out a relieved sigh and rubbing his injured limbs. Then, he cast Ori a frightful, yet seemingly thankful glance before dashing off into the darkness.