Ori and the Spirits Within

Chapter 1: Regret

2 Months Later

A new day comes to Niwen, as a very sleepy owl awakens to the sounds of little birds chirping outside their cave. With Naru and Gumo nowhere to be found, she yawns, and starts to make way outside the cave towards the Wellspring Glades. The town is bustling as it always is. The Moki are out running around, with the nice village atmosphere soothing any worries in her head. Well, most of her worries. She sees small windmills in the distance, operating as normal, and few other creatures living among the Moki.

Looking towards the Spirit Well, she notices the imposing Gorlek, standing beside it a makeshift hammer and pickaxe, watching the Moki bustle about. She stretches her wings and back, begins to walk up to him, and he notices her presence.

"Ah, Ku. You sleep well?" he said in his slightly gritty voice.

"I slept fine, Grom. I just hope you've been sleeping well, considering all the work you've been doing here in the glades."

"Ah, don't worry about me. I've been doing this long enough to not get overworked by some measly tasks." He chuckles slightly, leading Ku to smile back at him. "So, anything going on today?"

"Yeah, going to see... him. Finally ready to confront him." Ku says, slight tension in her voice. Grom catches on to what she's saying, and specifically, who she's referring to.

"I understand you miss him very much. You loved him more than anything else in the world. But, he's still there. He's still alive, just in a different for-"

"It's not the same, Grom..." Ku cuts him off. "He's not the same. He's changed, forever. He's not Ori anymore. Now it's some guy named Seir, who supposedly had guided him to save the land." She sighed, and turned away from Grom. "I have to go," she said as she took off.

"Ok." Grom said. I just hope she can forgive herself. A lot has happened since those days...

She ascended above the trees, before maintaining a constant flight altitude across the sky. She still wasn't entirely used to flying, but her wing definitely wasn't as bad as it was before, and she could control her flight much more efficiently. She remembered one time last month where her left wing got caught on a small tree branch when she tried to fly straight up into the sky, and it flung her backwards into a small bush. The Moki laughed at her mishap, and Ku laughed along with them.

The Moki were a surprise to Ku entirely. They were a far cry from the spirits of Nibel. Most of them were mean to her, although most not to the level of bullying and harassing. They just ignored her, and moved away when she got close. They rejected her as a person, and saw her as some... thing. Some spirits saw through that though, and tried to become acquainted with her, like Ori did. It was probably because of her mother. She did know exactly what her mother did to the land, how she murdered all the spirits, blinded the forest, and how Ori went on his journey to repair it all, eventually ending in her mother's sacrifice. Still, after everything they told her, she couldn't hate her mother for what she did. After all, in the end, she sacrificed herself to protect her remaining child. She would have done the same for Ori, if she got the chance.

I... did get the chance. Ku thought. She immediately got the thought out of her head, and kept flying.

But, the Moki were different to her. They were so... welcoming. Maybe it was because of Ori and how he saved the land. Nonetheless, the Moki were friendly to Ku, even after she told them her story. After she told about her mother's rampage, they still saw Ku as a joy and a delight to be around. That, honestly, was Ku's first experience with friends. Well, unless you count Ori, but they were family more than anything else.

As she continued to fly, she saw it. The Spirit Willow. Still small, only harboring a small amount of radiant light, with little green leaves and a light brown bark and branches, but still standing tall over her. Imposing, yet young. As she landed on the ground next to it, she could feel a gaze coming from the tree, like something was piercing through her soul. It wasn't a angry look, but one of... resolve.