If you find any grammatical mistakes, I apologise for them. English is not my native language.
I hope you enjoy this story regardless of mistakes.
He felt his heart beating, his body shivering from fear, his lungs desperately catching as much air as they could. Exhausted from the intense chase, where the giant worm almost ate him in whole and killed the only hope left for Niwel. "That…was…too close!" The little spirit gasped. "Don´t worry, it is gone now." The orange glowing wisp Seir floated over him. "Can you stand Ori?" He cleared his eyes from the sand. "I´ll try." He brings his arms to his chest and tried to push himself up, but his strength was drained. "Do…you have some water?" "I´m afraid I don´t, but I can give you some of my light." The wisp circled rapidly around the little spirit while a soft orange light fell down on his body. He felt his strength coming back and got up from the warm sand. "Let´s go Ori, we need to get to the Spirit Willow."
As they walked past gigantic sandstones of the once beautiful city of the Gorlek, thousands of thoughts flooded Ori´s mind. He had a weird feeling in his stomach. "Seir? The stone tablets in the ancient temple said that light was eternal, but needs a living vessel to even make life possible. The vessel was the willow, so if we get you back to her she will be fine right?" The wisp hesitated to answer. "Yes, but a living being can´t live forever. In that case light needs a new vessel, a new spirit tree." "but…"
His sentence was interrupted when all of a sudden, the deformed giant owl Shriek landed with a loud thud right in front of them and screamed that the earth quaked. Ori needed to cover his ears thus his fine eardrum won´t get hurt. "It´s Shriek!" He said as his heart pounded intensely against his chest. But the wisp wasn´t afraid at all. "Don´t worry, I will protect you!" Seir summoned three forceful, yellow lightnings and threw them at the owl. Overwhelmed from this power she fell backwards and stumbled to the ground. "Don´t even dare to hurt him, you hear me!" The wisp shouted. But Ori felt the pain Shriek felt right now, he did not think it was right to use such a power against her. He gently grabbed the wisp and softly put it aside. "But…" Seir protested, but Ori slowly shook his head. "It´s enough Seir." He said with a soft voice. "Give her some rest."
The deformed owl was confused. After she tried to kill Ori so many times and even deadly hurt his little adoptive sister, he still offered his kind heart to her. She couldn´t stand this scene at all and with a forceful wing beat she flew away. As the sand whirled up, the little spirit covered his eyes to prevent it falling into his retina. "Wait!" He called out for her, but there was no sign for her coming back at all.
"It´s hopeless Ori. She lived through darkness her whole life. I´m afraid she can´t be taken back to the light. Not even from you Ori." As he heard these unfortunate true words from the wisp his ears drooped in grief and disappointment. "But I want to help her…She never saw light in her life." Seir flew very close to his eyes that the light almost dazzled him. "I´m also sad about that Ori, but there is no time to pout in the moment. We need to see the old willow." The little spirit merely nodded humbly and they both continued their way.
"You, the light, need a spirit tree as a vessel. Is there a seed that we can find and plant?" "No Ori, it´s not that simple, I´m afraid." "W-what do you mean?" The wisp hesitated. "Spirit trees are not reproducing like any other tree. They arise from a creature of light." Suddenly Ori stopped. He remembered now the words written on the stone tablets. After the worm chased him, his body was flooded with adrenaline. "Yes indeed, there was the talk of a creature of light. My species is made of light. But the spirit guardians left Niwel. There is no one left…" He sighed. "Except me."
"I´m sure the old willow knows what to do. We just need to get to the top of its trunk."
They both managed to get through the deadly labyrinth the old willow has become and eventually got to the top. There was only one thing to do.
"We made it Ori…the Spirit Willow!" The wisp was relieved, that Ori was able to climb up, without being harmed. "The light will be restored to the land. The damage will be undone!" With these words Seir flew up to the big vessel in the middle of the treetop and gently placed herself in it. Her light lit up like a giant candle as the willow came back to life. The land was covered in blue light and the decay healed, while life came back to the whole island. Her treetop began to glow in a soft bluish tone.
"Brave child, you have healed what was broken. Seir is now reborn." The little spirit heard the calming voice of the willow speaking to him. "See their memories gather to my branches. How the spirits have longed for this day." But as hope searched its way in this scene, she began to sound weak. "If I could carry this light once more…But it is no longer mine to hold." The look on Ori´s face turned darker. "My time has come and gone. A new age must begin." The little spirit listened attentive. He felt what the willow was about to say. "My child…I give the light to you. Though to bear it, you must grow." Ori felt anxiety coming. "One life you must now leave behind to save the lives of all." Depression came over and overwhelmed him like it was a big flood wave. A flood wave of tears he desperately tried to hold back. "Join with Seir. Embrace the light. Care for this land as I once did." It was a tough decision he had to make. For someone who risked his life to see his little sister again. Only a few hours ago, he was about to leave Niwel and head back home to finally live a life of a child he missed the whole time his light glowed. To watch Ku grow and learn about her beautiful home. To protect his father from dangers like a spirit guardian does. Now the willow ordered him to leave all this behind and become a new being. It was hard to bear. "Don´t be afraid my child, your soul will never be lost." With these words her life faded away and the orange wisp flew directly towards him to merge.
"Wait." Ori said. Seir stopped right away in confusion. But she knew what was wrong. He was afraid. "I just need to…say goodbye…" He began to sob. "I can´t go without them knowing it. After all my family did for me…Naru, Gumo, Ku…I can´t leave them behind like this." "Your sister. Ku. She won´t survive if you don´t embrace the light." "I know…" Now he reached the edge. He was no longer able to hold his sea of tears and finally let it go. His ears drooped. It was a tough charge that has been mustered to him. He knew he needed to sacrifice himself to save what he loves. Because he was the only creature of light left. But it costed a lot of overcoming. Without any words he shed his tears and let them sink deep in the glowing fur of his paws. "Please don´t cry Ori." Seir pleaded. "I hate to see you this sorrowful." Like a reflex the little spirit grabbed the wisp and hugged her tight. "Please watch over Ku Seir. And watch over my family." "We both will Ori. We will be one. Your soul will stay while your body falls." Eventually he let her go and looked up to her. His eyes were still glassy from his tears, coming directly from his heart. "I am ready." "Let´s do it Ori."
Suddenly this emotional moment was interrupted. They heard a loud scream in the air as the dead willow quaked from the powerful wing beats of Shriek. "Seir, watch out!" The deformed owl forcefully grabbed the wisp with pure violence and squeezed her light until it went out and threw it into the unknown. Then she wanted to smash to the ground to kill the spirit guardian but Ori dashed away in the last second. Upset about her failure she screamed as loud as she could. His body was filled with huge amounts of adrenaline. Should he fail, life would be gone in Niwel forever and his little sister Ku would never wake up again. As he tried to dodge fast and forceful attacks, he searched for words to get into Shrieks heart. He could not help it because it was his nature. "Listen. I know about your past. You are filled with pure hate because you have never been accepted." She summoned a large bright sting filled with pure darkness and let it charge at the spirit but he jumps in the air and hurled it in the sky. "…Not even from your own kind." She lost herself in rage as she didn´t managed to hit him as much as she tried and uttered another devastating scream that almost destroyed Ori´s eardrum. "But you had lovable parents. Even if you never knew them, they were there and watched over you. Think about it!" It was enough for Shriek. She could not stand the kind words of this child and zoomed into the air. Ori could saw her coming from a far distance, charging at him with rage. "Please, don´t make me hurt you!" But Shriek didn´t even think about listening to him. She came closer. The little spirit summoned a long, sharp blade made of light and got into a fight stance. "I won´t allow that." As she charged at him, he jumped and lapped in the air to land on her back and pierce his blade in her body. She shrieked in pain. "Let go of your hatred. I know you can! You are not the pure darkness!" But she spun like a tornado and shook him of her. When he fell, he zoomed in the air with a powerful ability to catapult up to her again. Then he let his blade disappear and summoned a bluish glowing bow. With a tremendous speed he shot multiple arrows of light at her which all hit her right in the face. "You think you will never be accepted in this world. But that´s not true!" She summoned several dangerous projectiles filled with her unbearable hatred and let them charge at him. He used them to catapult back up again and summoned his blade in his paws. "Whatever you have done, whatever you are going to do…" He took a swing.
"I will…"
And stroke her head.
"Always accept you!"
She screamed loud in pain from the precise hit. That was enough. She flew away from him. Since he didn't have the ability to fly, he could not do anything to prevent his fall. As the air still quaked, he felt a weird sensation in his stomach. She was coming back. Helpless in the air it was easy to hit him. She landed a forceful strike so powerful that he passed out. Motionless he fell into the abyss where he has been devoured by the darkness.
As he fell hundreds of meters, he wasn´t able to wake up from his faint. The strike he had to swallow was too heavy. If he eventually reaches the ground, he would die instantaneously from the impact. Memories of the strongest impressions in Niwel, the kindness of Kwolok, The curious looks of the mokis and pictures of Ku´s birth showed up in his mind. The deformed owl ripped his life apart. She prevented Niwel from salvation in the act to kill its only hope left.
Finally, Naru and Gumo arrived. Concerned about their children they headed right into the deep forest. Then they saw a bluish light, falling from a deadly height and feared the worst.
"When all hope seemed to be lost, the air quaked once again."
The owl headed straight to the dying light and gently picked the little unconscious spirit up from the air before he reached the ground. She knew exactly where she threw the wisp and she zoomed as fast as she could to that area.
Meanwhile Naru and Gumo found the motionless body of Ku, lying in a soft bed made of leaves and feathers. They saw a couple of mokis gathered together around her. They couldn´t believe what they saw and fell in deep sorrow. "Will she ever wake up again?" Naru asked to the mokis. "We don´t know. Ori is trying his best to save us." "Our child has been ripped from us again. Please my children, come back unscathed. This is my last request to you."
Eventually Shriek found the weak glowing wisp lying on the ground and she needed to hurry. She gently dropped Ori next to Seir. Then she flew away with a loud sound of wind. Awaken by the wing beat the little spirit got up and saw the silhouette of the deformed owl who just saved his life. He couldn´t believe it. "Thank you." He merely said. Then he turned his head to the glowing orb. As he knew what to do now, his eyes became glassy once again and tears rolled down his cheeks. He pulled out the last feather of Kuro. Looked at it. And left it to the wind. It was his last act of letting go. "Seir?" Then he picked up the weak wisp and looked at her. "It´s time Ori." Seir said with a soft voice. The little spirit nodded. "Let´s go home now." The light became brighter and lit up in a saturated orange. "Forgive me mama."
"When I felt the life of my child fade…"
As the light lit up, it healed the last piece of the decay left and revived Ori´s little sister.
Eventually the family found the place where Ori gave his life. They found nothing but a tiny, bright meadow. But in the moment of deep terrible sorrow a sapling sprout in front of them, holding Seir in a little vessel of wood.
"…I knew they fulfilled their destiny…"
"I embraced the light."
The family decided to stay forever at this place to see the tree grow up and gift life to the forest. They helped him growing taller and mightier.
"When my name was Ori"
They made this place their home side by side with their beloved Son and brother. The tree grew fast and stimulated the life like never before. Everything awoke to life around him, as if he had a magical aura. And he watched as his once little sister grew up and flew over his land with joy and proud. She became a tall, mighty owl cutting through the stillness of the night and watching over her family.
His trunk has become majestically massive, as he was the new guardian and father of the forest. His treetop was flooded with a bright orange tone when lightbulbs of life grew on his branches.
"Finally, I was able…"
Deep in his treetop…
"To fulfill the will of the wisps…"
A tiny bluish glowing leaf has grown.
"…To reignite the light…"
And got picked up from the wind gently.
"…Of the kind soul that once gifted me their life…"
And it landed within the deep forest softly. Transformed to a cute little bluish glowing spirit child.
"…And his name will always be…"
"…Ori…"
(There will be a direct connection to another story I made up. I will publish the first chapter, if the time has come. It´s title will be: Ori and the eternal vessel. It will be completely separate from this one.)