Ori and the Stranger

Chapter 16

     Ori felt strong arms catch his physical body as he was launched away from the Ancestral Tree. As his consciousness fully returned, he heard Blitz speaking. "Are you all right? That hasn't happened before. What happened?"

     Ori shook away the fuzziness in his mind. "Reem... attacked me!" Ori said, still finding it a little hard to believe. He looked at the Ancestral Tree, and saw the orb of light at the top still present.

     "That happens when a spirit rejects you," Sein explained. "Reem was a stubborn thing. If you want his power, you'll have to earn his respect."

     "Well, I suppose he's not the only spirit that's stubborn!" Ori proclaimed, stomping back up to the Ancestral Tree with an angry look. He brushed his paw against the bark, and the Ancestral Tree absorbed his consciousness again.

~~~~~~~~~~

     Ori quickly sprung to his feet, finding himself back in Reem's cave.

     "Come to try again?" asked Reem's hoarse voice mockingly. Ori turned to see Reem, with a couple of rocks in his hands.

     Ori's confidence waned a little, but he kept on a brave face. "Yeah!"

     Reem shrugged, and started attacking again. It was incredible how he would fling the rocks at lethal speeds. Ori narrowly dodged the first barrage. "Please, Reem, calm down!" Ori pleaded with Reem. Reem glared at him and laughed a little. "Come on, child! Prove yourself worthy of bashing!" Reem flung another barrage of rocks. One nicked Ori's shoulder, and Ori yelped in pain. He looked at his shoulder, but saw no blood. Instead, it was as if Ori's flesh was merely a void of light, which shone through the broken skin. It didn't hurt any less, though.

     "Don't get distracted, you fool!" Reem shouted, flinging another barrage of rocks. This time, Ori had no time to react and one of the rocks pierced straight through his head. Everything went black, and Ori's consciousness was once again expelled from the Ancestral Tree.

~~~~~~~~~~

     Ori stood up once more, back inside Reem's cave. He was starting to get frustrated. He dodged the predicted barrage of rocks. "How long can you keep this up, child?" Reem asked mockingly, letting out a hoarse laugh.

     "As long as it takes to reason with you!" Ori yelled. All he got in response was another laugh.

     "Talking ain't gonna get you anywhere, child," Reem sneered. "If you want to bash, you'll have to earn it."

     Again and again and again Ori tried to reason with Reem, and each attempt was met with failure. Now growing increasingly frustrated, Ori decided that reasoning was not an option.

     Now on his fifth attempt, Ori stood up and dodged the rocks that quickly followed. "Fine. If you want to fight, I'll fight," Ori declared with a determined look.

     "Finally," Reem said, before flinging more rocks.

     Ori dodged the rocks and moved forward to attack. He hadn't really fought anything before. With the spiders, he defeated them with one burst, which didn't really count as a fight, and he had completely exhausted himself in the process and nearly died. And he only killed the beetleram by accident. Now, he was fighting an old, experienced spirit completely on his own.

     Reem was far too agile for his size and body, easily dodging Ori's clumsy attacks. It didn't help that Ori had absolutely no idea how to fight, and was practically flinging his limbs around in a vain attempt to land a hit. Reem continuously mocked Ori, calling him pathetic and unworthy as Ori angrily flailed about. But Ori's determination was still running high. He kept trying to land a hit, to no avail. Eventually, Reem hit him dead in the head with a rock.