Ori and the Stranger

Chapter 26

     Blitz groans slightly, raising his head and looking around. As the ringing in his ears clears, he hears nothing but the distant creaking and groaning of steel and the crackle of fire. He manages to get himself to his feet, shaking his head. What happened?

     He turns around towards the sound of the groaning and crackling. He gasps a little, remembering the crash as he sets his eyes upon the Minutemen's Hawk. Or at least what's left of it. He quickly begins limping his way over to the wreck, feeling increasing dread at what he may see. He stumbles into the ditch created by the crash, and immediately sees a disheartening sight.

     The inside of the Hawk's cargo bay was filled with destroyed metal and small fires. He limps into the cargo bay, searching for his brothers. Finding nothing but more destroyed crates and bent metal, he decides to test his luck with the cockpit. Entering the cockpit, he immediately sees the viewport covered in blood. He doesn't need to see the pilot to know that he's dead.

     Reentering the cargo bay, Blitz hears a muffled groan to his left. He immediately turns, and gasps as he sees Helm, impaled on the floor by a dislodged metal beam. "Shit, Helm!" Blitz exclaims, running over to Helm's side. Helm only responds with more groans.

     Blitz begins looking around for something, anything that could help. He then remembers his blade. He quickly draws it, and a low hum emanates from the blade as the edge glows a fierce orange. He holds it to the metal beam, and it quickly cuts through it as Blitz had hoped. He grabs onto Helm's arm as he slices the other end, getting Helm free. He puts his blade away and lifts Helm up and onto his shoulder. He doesn't remove the bar within Helm's chest, not wanting to cause further damage. After finding nothing of use on the destroyed Hawk, he walks out of the Hawk with Helm over his shoulder. He begins to worry about Metaljacket and Vice, hoping they're still alive.

     No time to worry, though. Who knows how long Helm has left? He needs medical attention now. He quickly begins walking in a random direction, knowing that waiting at the Hawk isn't going to solve anything. He's considerably slowed down due to his injured comrade, but he still goes as fast as he can through the fog of war that covers this whole damn planet. The MWSC and the Volkan Coalition had been fighting on the once beautiful planet of Granj for decades, and there wasn't a single inch of it that wasn't covered in blood, craters, trenches, and bodies, and one could hear the sounds of gunfire and artillery no matter where they went. Millions of marines had perished only to maintain the stalemate, and the clean, clear atmosphere had been permanently tainted and poisoned by constant shelling and combat. Even wandering aimlessly away from the frontline, Blitz frequently walks past clusters of bodies, occasionally coming across ancient trenches full of bodies, both Volk and marine. 

     After what seems like ages, Blitz finally finds something promising: a relatively small bunker that somehow isn't utterly destroyed. Blitz hops into the connected trench, ignoring the squishing of the countless bodies beneath his boots, and ducks into the bunker. The interior lights had burnt out a long time ago, but it seems stable enough that it won't randomly collapse. There are considerably less bodies here than in the trenches, which Blitz is grateful for. He gently sets Helm down against a wall, and begins rummaging around for any sort of supplies. Opening a small wood trapdoor reveals a large underground compartment. He flicks on his helmet's light, and hops in. The compartment is filled with a large amount of crates, a few with red crosses on them, which fills Blitz with hope. However, there is something else. Blitz hears a whimper from behind an opened, empty crate. He draws his pistol, and peaks around the crate.

     A pair of terrified eyes stare back at him. He finds himself staring at a man, pale and skinny, curled up against the corner behind the crate. He seems to have removed most of his armor, and is coated in mud and blood. Blitz feels sympathy for the soldier, who has been reduced to a sobbing mess. "Hey, soldier, it's alright."

     The soldier whimpers again, but eventually musters up enough courage to speak. "S-Salve? Visne me interficere?"

     Blitz is surprised for a moment. The soldier is speaking Latin, an ancient Motherworld language that had become the main language of the Volkan Coalition. This was a Volk. Blitz instinctively aims his pistol at the Volk, but the Volk, holds up his arms, pleading in a sobbing voice, "Non, quaeso! Noli mitterent!"

     "Hey! English!" Blitz barks, keeping his pistol raised, but feels a twinge of sympathy for the soldier.

     The soldier whimpers a little, and tries speaking English, though he's clearly very inexperienced. "Me... no... hurt," he chokes out.

     Blitz feels another twinge of sympathy. The Volks are supposed to be murderers and monsters, but this one is no more than a scared child. Blitz's mind struggles to decide what he should do. Eventually, he comes to a decision. He shuts his eyes tight. He has a duty to the Motherworld.

     He squeezes the trigger.

~~~~~~~~~~

     After a minute of walking down the ditch, Ori finally found something promising: a large cave that the ditch feeds into. Hoping it to be an exit, Ori walked through the mouth without hesitation. After a small drop, Ori found himself in the main chamber of the cave. At the far end lay a large pit filled with briars, but above the pit, carved into the ceiling of the chamber was an opening to the outside world. Easy enough, Ori thought, and stood at the edge of the pit, looking over at the far wall. He could simply leap his way up the wall.

     "Be careful, Ori," Sein warned from behind the little spirit. "If you fall into those briars, it could spell disaster."

     Ori nodded in understanding, responding in an upbeat voice: "Don't worry! I got this!" before leaping over the briars and onto the far wall. Then, he began leaping his way up the wall. But he quickly realized a problem: there was a sizable lip that blocked his way. Ori took a deep breath, and leapt backwards, trying to grab the ledge. However, he didn't leap nearly far enough, and began to plummet back down to the floor. He maneuvered his body to land, and quickly saw that he was falling towards the pit of briars. He squealed and double jumped, just barely managing to avoid falling into the pit. He gasped as he felt his tail get nicked on one of the dangerously pointy briars, and he pulls his tail out, holding it as it begins to bleed a little.

     "Ori! I told you to be careful!" Sein shouts, her voice scolding but also full of concern. "Are you alright?"

     "Yes, yes, I'm fine..." Ori responds, continuing to nurse his bleeding tail. Even that little nick hurt a lot; Ori could only imagine how much it would've hurt if his entire body fell into that pit of briars. He looks up at the far wall with frustration. "Guess we need to find another way out. Again."

     "Indeed," Sein responded. "Please be more careful, Ori. If you are lost, all of Nibel is doomed."

     Ori nodded, feeling slight shame that he had acted so rashly. Sein was right; if Ori dies, then there's nobody who can save Nibel, not even Blitz. Ori wondered for a moment where Blitz could be, and what he was doing. Afterwards, he released his hurt tail, and began to search the cave for any and all signs of an exit.

     After some searching, Ori found something promising: a small, narrow fissure in the rock. Strangely, there were several streaks of dried blood, which seemed to lead deeper into the fissure. Now a little worried at what he might find, Ori pressed his tiny body into the fissure, yet despite his small, skinny frame, he was barely able to fit. He pressed his way through, feeling the uncomfortable feeling of stone scraping against his fur.

     Emerging on the other side, Ori found himself looking at yet another Ancestral Tree. He looked back at the dried blood on the walls of the fissure, and shuddered. This one must have had a particularly painful end. Sein floated up to the tree, and spoke in a hushed tone. "Tatsu used to climb the mountains high atop Sorrow Pass... When her brother's torch faded, she fell to the woods, where she lost her path..."

     Ori took note of Sein's particularly quiet explanation, but didn't think much more of it. Ori shuddered again, feeling dread about having to experience what Tatsu must have gone through. However, if Tatsu was able to climb mountains, surely her ability would allow Ori to escape this cave.

     He stepped up to the tree, placing a paw on the bark.