Chapter 1: Deceiving Chase.
This is a tale now told in the forest of Nibel.
It began seasons after the forest's awakening.
Life had slowly crept back into the forest that was left so desolate. As the forest healed, spirit guardians had been reborn. At swallows nest, Ori's new family had grown yet closer together, even gaining a new member.
On the surface, Nibel seemed to be thriving, but evil had a habit of creeping up on them, even in times of joy. If one were to look a little deeper, they might have noticed that tensions had formed and that cracks were starting to spread once again…
This story starts east of Swallows Nest, past Gumo's hideout and even the Ginso tree. At the edges of Thornfelt swamp, a long tunnel leads to a small autumn clearing. Don't be shy, please enter it with me.
From the above, it would appear calm. Young and supple maple trees dot the clearing. Within the interwoven branches, lanterns competed with the setting sun to cast their light on the clearing. Below, squirrels squabbled with each other for the last of the summer's bounty of acorns.
If only life were that simple...
Upon entering this sunset meadow from ground level, you would become witness to a different, horrifying sight. The squirrels ran back into their hollows in fear and surprise as...
A lithe form of pure white dashed from lantern to lantern in a blur of blazing light. This was a spirit guardian, daughter of the spirit tree. She was in flight from a diving figure shrouded in darkness. The great owl slowly gained on the guardian and let out a shriek at the prospect of finally catching his quarry.
Ori, as that was the guardian's name, suddenly changed direction in a last-ditch attempt to throw her pursuer off. It worked, and unable to slow down in time, the owl soared past her in a purple and black blaze of energy. Ori was out and away!
Two more mid-air jumps secured her the second orb that Sien had scattered around the field for her to retrieve. It floated behind her as she ran, beside the first she had pilfered from a treetop. She made a grounded dash for the third and final orb, weaving through the treeline as cover. Oddly enough, the owl seemed to still be looping back around from her earlier faint, his wings were night against the cheerful sky.
Ori pondered this briefly as she ran, looking back again. The owl was still yards behind her but gaining.
Regardless, Ori looked like she was home free. She made a heroic final jump and soared… straight into Coryn's talons. The bird had intercepted her from the side!
Ori let out a shriek as they tumbled onto the ground. After a brief and futile scuffle during which Ori tried to escape, Coryn towered over her and laughed. "I win! Ori was trapped under his talons, still dazed from the impact.
Ori groaned. "Ouch"
It's too easy! I can't believe you fell for that." gloated Kuro's last son.
Ori looked up and gave her adopted brother a bewildered look.
"Whaddya mean," she mewled. She shuffled out from under his talons, still wondering about how she had gotten caught.
"What do you think I mean? I mean you lost again!" replied Coryn, excitement and pride filling his amber eyes. Ori sighed: Her adopted brother could be impossible sometimes.
"But how? One second you were there, and the next…"
Coryn put two and two together and laughed again. "You really don't know? I was never back there, that was all a trick. I was here the whole time, waiting for you."
"That was a decoy?" Ori gasped "But brother, we said no magic!" She gave him a disappointed look.
Coryn gave her the third orb and grinned. "But half of your agility comes from magic, you barely follow your own rules. "
Ori gasped, faking insult. "How could you!? " she got to her feet. "Ya know I could just bash you back whenever you came close if I wanted to right?"
"You could try" Coryn bluffed, but he knew Ori had the upper hand. "Umm.."He tried to think of a way out. "Besides, isn't the whole point of the exercise practice. How are we going to get better if we don't use our magic?"
"Rules are rules, but no matter," Ori said letting it go. "I wonder though," as they walked back to the center of the clearing, how did you even learn that trick in the first place? From some monster in the depths of the forest?"
Coryn cleared his throat and whispered "Quite the opposite, I learned it from Sien."
Ori blinked in surprise. This had not been what she was expecting. She was intrigued, but now was not the time for questions, she had spotted storm clouds rolling in. She nudged Coryn and pointed to the skies. He got the unspoken message and began taking down the course of lanterns they had set up just hours ago.
Unbeknownst to them, someone watched from the nearby bushes, shocked by the duo's unlikely friendship.
Ch1 of my first fanfic, hope you enjoyed my take on the post-game story. Sorry to leave you with the generic "watcher from the shadows" troupe, but I will make better on that soon.
Also, Coryn's name is a reference to GofGH, but it is not the same character. This is not a crossover, that owl is Kuro's son, not Nyra's. Reuploaded with some minor edits.
The game that Ori and Coryn were playing was what I picture to be a childlike reenactment of the events of the blind forest (The three elements), that they played as Ori tried to reclaim her stolen childhood and Coryn tried to learn his powers and his unique place in the world.
Please R&R and thank you for your time.
Edit: Updated into and added a temporary cover. If anyone reading this is an artist or has an image I could use, please pm me.