Ori and the Outlander

Chapter 12: A Night in the woods

'So this is what it is like being possessed by a ghost...' Aaron thought as he journeys through the woods with Ori and Sein by his side.

After agreeing to help Tatsu find a better place to live as an ancestral tree, Aaron felt what could only be described as pressure or 'weight' in his head due to Tatsu's light. Aaron was fairly sure that there weren't any when Tatsu first transferred herself to him, though he can only guess that is because Tatsu is hiding from Sein by camouflaging her light.

"Any idea of how close we are to the torch Sein?" Aaron asks Sein.

"If my understanding of the workings of the woods is correct, it shouldn't be long now. Just down this passage and we should be there."

"Whew! I'm glad it's almost over! The woods is very creepy with all this mist around." Ori commented with a shiver, bothered by the sinister atmosphere of the woods.

Aaron couldn't agree more with Ori. The Misty Woods may have a similar feeling as one would when playing a horror game such as the old classic legend Slenderman.

'Oh god imagine that F***ing happening' Aaron thought with a shiver. Despite this fantasy-like world, despite the wonders and magic (If anyone here would remotely call it that) that exists in this world...it never comes without a few drawbacks.

There are still monsters in this world that seek to ruin the perfect image of what could be equivalent to 'The garden of Eden'. Not to mention some morally questionable standards that the residents of this world may have. Tatsu is very proof of that. Aaron is not one to judge traditions these Spirit Guardians may have, though there are still flaws to their beliefs such as having very little say WHERE you want to rest as a tree for god knows how many years.

What is it like being a tree anyways? Besides not being able to move obviously. How do they see? Is their light their 'eyes' perhaps? Then again, Sein claimed herself to be the 'eyes' of that Spirit Tree hundreds of miles away. But if that is the case...

'...then the forest literally went blind the moment the spirit tree lost Sein AKA his 'eyes'! HAHAHA!' Aaron quietly laughed at the absurdity of the thought. Sein would not be amused by the childish humour Aaron thought of.

He did strangely felt a warm feeling in his head. Tatsu must have agreed with Aaron's humour despite it being poor.

Up ahead, the trio stops before a ledge with a pit before them that is filled with even more wooden thorns that might as well be a pit of spikes with how sharp and deadly they are. One wrong step would lead to a rather unfortunate end.

Luckily though, there is a numerous amount of large blue tulip-like flowers sprouted above the pit below them. These plants seem to be perfect to serve as platforms for them, and perhaps even for Aaron.

Although they may need to jump from platform to platform, it is not a very daunting task as it is not too far of a jump. Aaron tested the waters by taking a cautious step onto a flower while slowly adding more weight to it. Surprisingly, it held Aaron's weight without any indication that it will collapse.

"Ok, so we can use these as platforms to get across. Oddly convenient...but I'll take it." Aaron comments while pulling back from the flowery platform.

"Ori?" Aaron said as he crouched down, signaling her to climb onto his back.

"Ok Aaron!" Ori said without skipping a beat as she happily hops onto Aaron's backpack while holding onto his head for support just like she always does.

After Ori climbed on, Aaron slowly steps onto the flowery platform while Sein floats closely behind them as they trend through carefully as more flowers sprout open as if to offer more support for them, almost as if the forest is offering help to their last hope for survival.