Ori and the Spirits Within

Chapter 5: Thoughts

So, today I looked myself in the mirror again, and thought to myself, "I feel like I should publish more often than one chapter a week." Call it an addiction if you will, but the responses given on the previous chapters really inspired me to write this story to its completion. So first of all, thank you for the interest in my story!

And with that being said... I have a confession to make.

I actually had a lot more written in advanced for this story. Like, a lot more. Actually, I technically finished the story just recently (with a few exceptions and quirks). So, I have decided to speed up the publishing of the story. However, I'm not going to try to stick to a publish schedule. What it'll probably be is that 2 chapters will be uploaded in the course of a week, maybe three. Since I'm in editing mode, it'll be a lot easier to do this.

Anyways, hope you enjoy!

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It was a bright new day for Niwen, as the flowers moved slightly in the comforting breeze that filled the air. The young Spirit Guardian woke up early in the nest, with Ku still sleeping peacefully, her wings still wrapped around her beloved brother. He gently lifted one of the wings off of himself, and slowly got out of the nest, not wanting to wake up Ku. After an... emotional day yesterday, it's no wonder she would sleep for so long.

He yawned silently, and made his way outside the cave, looking at the bright new day that approached him. He saw a few Moki out playing in the fields across the glades, a couple of birds flying off towards the Luma Pools, and Naru standing outside the cave, taking in the breeze. A calm and peaceful day, like any other. He moved closer to Naru, and she noticed him approaching.

"Good morning, honey! How did you sleep?" Naru asked.

"Out like a light," Ori said cheerfully. "How are you doing?"

"I'm feeling fine. Actually, I'm better than ever before!"

"Oh really? And why's that?"

"Because today's the first day in a long time that I get to do... this!" She exclaimed, as he grabbed Ori under his arms, and tossed him into the air. Ori couldn't help but laugh at her parental tendencies. He definitely felt something inside his mind reach out, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it. But, he definitely knows he's felt like this before, meaning maybe his memories are finally starting to come back to him. She kept tossing him into the air a few more times, before setting her giggling child back down on the ground.

"Thank you, Naru." Ori said with a bright smile on his face.

"For what?" Naru asked.

"For being such a good guardian to us. To me, to Ku, to everyone." Ori stated emotionally.

"Oh honey..." she said, gently patting Ori on the head. "If anything, you're my Guardian. My Spirit Guardian, who has shown nothing but kindness and joy ever since I found you that day back in Nibel."

Nibel? Is that my original home? "Umm... sorry. My memories are still kinda fuzzy. Can you remind me what that was like?"

He noticed her face go numb, with just a plain stare. What should she say? He doesn't know anything about Nibel, and what happened there all those years ago. The Spirit Tree, the spirits... Kuro... and especially herself. It was a rough time for both of them, especially at the start. It's probably best to not mention it for now.

"We can talk about that later, honey. You probably have somewhere to be, right?"

Hmm... something's up. But, considering my supposed "track record", I probably shouldn't push this on her. "Yeah, I'm going to go see Seir, and hopefully, he can teach me how to use the rest of my Spirit Abilities."