Ori and the Stranger

Chapter 23

     Blitz walked carefully down the canyon, being sure to keep himself alert and ready. The canyon was as barren and quiet as everywhere else in this ungodly forest, save for the sounds of the harsh winds and the sloshing river. Blitz was glad he didn't have to fight anything, but also anxious that something was waiting for him to let his guard down.

     A loud screech suddenly tore through the canyon, nearly making Blitz's heart stop. His head instantly tilted upwards to see the silhouette of Kuro flying overhead, before landing on an outcrop above the canyon. The entire canyon shook as she landed. Luckily, her gaze was pointing towards the opposite side of the canyon, and not down into it. Still, Blitz fled behind a boulder, not wanting to have another encounter with the monster.

     Ten or so minutes passed, and neither Kuro nor Blitz had moved from their spots. Blitz was beginning to grow impatient, wanting the owl to just leave already. However, his fear of another encounter kept him firmly rooted behind the boulder. However, over the sound of Kuro's heavy breathing, Blitz heard another sound: some kind of burst immediately followed by the sound of falling rocks. Then, the rocks impacted on something, and Kuro let out another screech, this one of pain and rage. Blitz peeked from behind the boulder to see that a cluster of rocks had fallen onto Kuro's head, causing the owl to fly away, screeching in annoyance and confusion.

     Blitz was grateful that he could keep moving, but also quite confused. Perhaps the massive owl landing had loosened the rock? However, he didn't dwell on it.

     As his eyes scanned the canyon walls for a way out, he spotted something promising: a huge dead tree at the edge of the canyon, its roots twisting down incredibly far into the rock, providing the perfect footholds for climbing.

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     Ori's hooves landed lightly on the loose rock, and Ori let out a sigh of relief. The way there had been difficult and quite dangerous, with Ori nearly falling to his death several times. But he had made it. Now for the easy part.

     Ori shut his eyes, concentrating his energy within him. After he had charged up enough energy, he released it. The blue shockwave shot out of his body, blasting the rock loose. Ori's heart sank as he realized he would have no time to leap to safety. The rocks fell and crumbled, and Ori fell with them. The rocks landed square on Kuro's head, and Kuro let out a screech. She beat her massive wings, sending Ori's body flying across the canyon and landing on the other side once more. She fell off her perch, struggling to fly in her confusion. She beat her wings again, sending her down the canyon and ramming into the other side of the canyon. Then, she got her bearings and flew away.

     Ori lay on the other side of the canyon, dazed from the sudden series of events. His ears rang and his vision was blurry as his brain struggled to process what just happened. However, he did manage to shake off his daze. He slowly lifted his head, and felt something tickle his nose. The little spirit sneezed and fully opened his eyes to look around. In front of him was a massive, purple feather almost the size of Ori himself. It was Kuro's feather. His eyes widened as he stared at it, awed by just how large it was. Then, a powerful gust of wind blew threw his body.

     The wind caught in the feather, and began to lift it up and take it away. Ori immediately shot up, chasing after the feather with great speed until he managed to catch up to it. He grabbed the shaft with one paw and the tip with the other and held on tight. However, instead of the feather stopping, the wind caught in it and Ori felt himself suddenly lifted off his feet. He squealed in fear, but couldn't make himself let go. Within moments, he was high in the air over the canyon, lifted by the powerful wind blowing through it. Though the view would have been breathtaking, Ori was far too scared to notice. His tail was tucked tightly between his legs as he tried to control where he was going, but the wind was far too powerful. Then, one of his paws slipped, and the feather shot straight up. Now with nothing to catch the powerful winds, Ori was sent into a free-fall. He screeched in fear as he fell, desperately grabbing at Kuro's feather to try and catch the wind again.

     The ground was quickly rushing up to meet him, and Ori still could not get a hold of the tip of the feather. He thought he was going to die. But then, his paws finally grasped the tip, and the feather returned to its arched shape above Ori's head. The wind caught in the feather, and Ori's descent was slowed to a crawl. Ori let out a shaky sigh of relief, before looking down and realizing where he was going to land: straight in the center of the Misty Woods. He felt a mild panic spring up inside of him, but not nearly as strong as the panic he had felt when he almost fell to his death. He managed to catch his breath, and he cast a worried glance at Sein.

     Slowly, the thick purple mist engulfed the little spirit's body, and visibility was instantly reduced to only a few feet. Ori looked around, squinting his eyes to try and see anything, but it was a fruitless endeavor. The haze was far too thick to see anything. The sun itself could not hope to pierce the thick fog, casting the entirety of the woods into darkness, the only visible light being a strange orange glow that leaked from cracks in the nearby tree trunks. But this light was barely visible through the fog, and Ori instantly knew that he was already lost. As soon as he breathed in the strange fog, his sense of direction was immediately thrown off balance. Ori turned around and around and around again, and the woods seemed to change every time he looked at them. Confused and lost, Ori began to wander, hoping to find something, anything.

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     The very instant Blitz hauled himself up and over the ledge, he knew something was wrong. Before him lay an impossibly heavy blanket of purple fog, so thick that he could not make out any shapes within, only scattered, orange-gold lights. Slowly and hesitantly, he took a step inside. He didn't know what this fog did, but it was most certainly bad. Although, his suit should have protected him.

     However, as soon as he stepped inside, a message blared on his visor: WARNING: FOREIGN CONTAMINANT. He immediately turned around and sprinted backwards in the direction he had come. However, no matter how long he ran, he never seemed to emerge from the fog, even though he had only taken a single step into it. The hell? Blitz thought to himself, stopping and looking around to see if he had gone the wrong way. He checked his compass, and was immediately baffled to see that all the labels were gone. Blitz looked around again, and saw that the woods seemed to have changed their layout, even though Blitz had not turned at all. On top of everything, he felt slightly light-headed. Blitz shook away the feeling, and began running in a random direction. He didn't know where he was going, or if he was going in a straight line. He was confused and lost, and could have sworn that he heard whispers from the nearby trees, whose glowing cracks seemed to have turned into malicious faces, taunting him as he ran.

     Had he run for seconds? Minutes? Hours? Days? He didn't know. He thought he was tired, yet he felt full of energy. He knew he was going the right way, yet knew he was lost. He felt a presence all around him, yet felt entirely alone. He had a clear head, yet it was full of haze and confusion. Was he running? Walking? Breathing? What was happening?

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     Ori had never been so lost in his life. He had no clue where he was, or where he was going. It was scary, seeing the cracks in the trees turn into cruel, grinning faces that seemed to laugh at the little spirit as he walked by.

     He walked for what seemed like an eternity, brain struggling to even think straight, let alone navigate these cursed woods. He felt a presence watching him through his confusion, sending a shiver down his spine every time he felt its gaze.

     However, at long last, Ori saw something that wasn't purple fog or a taunting face: blue light in the distance, beckoning to him. The little spirit didn't waste a moment, immediately running towards the light. Unlike the rest of the woods, this light stayed in place, and for the first time since entering these woods, Ori felt certain about something. As he approached the light, he began to make out what was producing it: a stone pedestal, with a massive, eerie face on the top with its mouth wide open. Within the mouth was a seemingly endless void of blue light, out of which mist bellowed. The blue mist quickly turned to purple as it entered the surrounding environment, and Ori quickly realized that he had found the source of the mist. Sein hovered above the pedestal, and it was just then that Ori realized he had forgotten Sein even existed. This purple mist was doing things to his mind that he did not like.

     "The Shrouded Lantern... This mysterious haze bellows out of its stem. If we can find a way to light it, the path might clear up once again!" Sein said in her echoing, ethereal voice. Ori's ears perked up hopefully.

     "But, how do we light it?" Ori asked.

     After a moment of silence, Sein responded. "I... I do not remember."