Ori and the light of Nibel

Chapter 6: Acquiring the water vein

The duo thought on how to get up to where the Gumon was standing. Ori was the first to notice a nearby wall they could reach using double jump "What if we use double jump to reach that wall?" he suggested. This made Sein turn to look at the wall Ori was looking at, "It could work. There are also those logs that are hanging from what I assume is a broken bridge." she pointed out. They soon made up their mind and decided to double jump onto the wall and continue to scale it with wall jump.

They reached the ledge that the Gumon was by using the logs that were hanging from the broken bridge and continued to chase him.

The duo double jumped over a purple lake and encountered a red and green toad-like creature "Careful, Ori. These are Spitter's, they can spit a large red projectile." Sein warned and used charge flame, killing it in seconds before they continued to chase the Gumon using wall jump and double jump.

They saw the Gumon climb some walls while dodging spikes "Oh boy. That's quite a lot of spikes." Ori said while gulping out of fear that he might get impaled "We should be careful. Follow my lead, Ori." Sein told him. "O-Ok." was the only thing that Ori said, and he did what Sein had told him to do, they soon made it on safe ground without harm. "Phew. I don't want to do that again." he said with relief, "Well, hate to burst your bubble. But we're not done with the spikes yet." Sein said which made Ori have a 'are you serious' face. Sein saw his expression and nodded confirming her words, this made Ori release a deep sigh "Ok. Let's just get it over with." Ori said as he looked at the next challenge. It was three moving rocks coming from the ceiling while the floor was covered in spikes. Without thinking, Ori jumped to the first one, wall jumping to stay on the rock which was going up, he soon jumped off and double jumped to the next and did the same as the first one. worry began to swell up as Sein watched at what he was doing "He's risking his life again!" she thought. When Sein saw that Ori made it safely across, her worry went away as she did what he did.

Once Sein made it across, she told Ori that he could've died and that she was worried with his only reply was a nod of understanding. They saw the Gumon and began chasing him to the broken bridge. The spirits double jumped over it and continued before beginning to use wall jump to scale up a few walls.

It was then that they heard him struggling with something, it was a lever, he managed to pull it, but the recoil knocked him into a support log which caused a boulder to land on both his arms and legs causing him to release a cry of pain.

Soon rocks began to fall, landing just in front of the two spirits "It sounds like he's in pain. We need to help him." Ori said while Sein just looked at him "Even when he tried to stop our mission, hinder our progress, and flat out right tried to kill us. You want to save him?" Sein was confused by Ori's words. "Well, yeah. He may have embraced the darkness, but we could bring him back to the light." Ori told her "Even if we could, it's too dangerous to go up there while those rocks are falling." Sein pointed out. She soon continued "Plus, you could get hurt." Sein told Ori. Ori soon released a little laugh "Like I haven't been getting hurt throughout this journey. You say I could get hurt when I literally protected you from a fall that extremely hurt, I took all the force of the impact. Not to mention also getting my paw impaled before I even found you." Ori spoke while looking at his left paw. Sein didn't know what to say "So I'm going to help him. Everyone deserves a second chance, right?" he said before beginning to wall jump and double jump up the walls while dodging the rocks as Sein just stood there at a loss for words. 

Ori soon reached the Gumon as the rocks stopped falling "Hey, looks like you need some help." Ori said to him, the Gumon nodded without saying anything. "Don't worry I'll free you." Ori said and soon began pulling the boulder off the Gumon's limbs, freeing him "Th-thank you. Ori; was it?" the Gumon's voice was deep. Ori nodded "Yep." He spoke. The Gumon soon felt something he hasn't felt in years these were kindness and hope. "Well, I'm Gumo and as an apology for my actions, I'll give you this gemstone back." Gumo introduced and gave the water vein to Ori "Thanks, Gumo." Ori said with a kind smile "I should be the one thanking you." Gumo said as he left the scene.

Sein soon caught up with Ori "Did you just let him leave with the water vein!" she quickly assumed, this made Ori turn around "What, no. He gave it to me, see." he told her and showed Sein the water vein. "Also, his name is Gumo." Ori told Sein Gumo's name, this made Sein give an understood nod "I see. Well, we can now enter the Ginso tree. Although I would like to rest at the spirit well along the way back." she said, a bit of exhaustion evident on her face from all the chasing. "Come to think of it, I do need the rest." Ori said. The duo soon began their way back to the spirit well they came across while chasing Gumo for the water vein, they reached it soon after. They used the light to recover their spirit light as well relieve the little bit of pain that Ori still felt thanks to the fall. "Since we used the spirit well in the swamp, should we warp to that one?" Ori asked "Well, it would save us the trouble of going through the lasers again. Let's do that then rest." Sein spoke which Ori replied with a nod. They both used the light from the well to warp as they began to float and soon spin around before appearing in the centre of the Thornfelt swamp spirit well before they sat down to rest.

While they were resting, Ori soon began thinking on how to cleanse the elements using the Spirit trees light "How do I cleanse the elements using the Spirit trees light?" he thought "Focus my light, let it interact with the elements." the Spirit tree said. Ori jumped at the sudden appearance of his voice "Please don't do that!" Ori mentally yelled "I do apologize. I see that you got the water vein back from Gumo." the tree replied, this made Ori confused "How did..." was the only thing that he said, "You are connected to me through my light. That is how I know where you two are and what you two have been through. As well as being able to speak to you despite my current condition." the Spirit tree explained "And also your thoughts. So, I know about your crush on Sein." he added. This made Ori blush deeply "Oh..." was the only thing he said.

While Ori was having his conversation with the Spirit tree, Sein felt a bit tired thanks to the chase Gumo had put them through "Maybe a small nap won't hurt." she thought as she closed her eyes. Her body soon began to lean against Ori's, who was still having his conversation with the Spirit tree. "Oh, seems like Sein has decided to take a nap. She is currently leaning on you." the Spirit tree told Ori as his voice soon vanished as Ori looked. Once he saw Sein leaning on him, he couldn't help but wrap an arm around her. He soon felt their tails begin to intertwine again. Ori began to intertwine his tail with hers "If only you knew that I love you too." He thought, now knowing that the Spirit tree could hear his thoughts. Then Ori did something that he didn't see himself doing, he placed a small kiss on her forehead. Ori soon realised what he just did as his cheeks became blue "I can't believe I just did that." he thought. He mentally shrugged it off so he wouldn't accidently wake up Sein.

A few minutes have passed since Sein had begun her nap. Ori was in his thoughts "When should I tell her?" he thought. He was taken out of his thoughts when he felt movement from Sein "I needed that." she said with a hint of sleep in her voice, "Enjoyed your nap?" Ori asked which made Sein jump a little "Yes. But please don't scare me like that." she told him. Sein soon noticed that she was leaning on Ori, and their tails were intertwined again. Her cheeks went blue as a blush appeared. Ori knew why she was blushing "Hey, I didn't mind. Don't worry." he said before she could say anything. Sein nodded "Well, if you were ok with it." she said. "We should return to the Ginso tree and cleanse the element of waters." she added with Ori giving a nod in agreement.