On the day that we first heard him speak, he recounted his story to us. Come close now and listen, brothers and sisters, to the tale of our father. The tale of our great Spirit Tree.

In a land far across the sea, named Nibel, another spirit tree lived, and from him our father fell. His leaf was lost to a great storm, where it would land before a lightless creature named Naru. This creature, though alien to his very being, would raise him like a child of her own with love and kindness. It was thanks to her that when disaster struck, he was ready.

His father, in an effort to call out to him, in an effort to find him, lit the skies ablaze with his power, unknowingly killing three innocent owlets in a distant cave upon Mount Forlorn. Their mother, Kuro, enraged by the tree's irresponsible act, assaulted the light ceremony, killing thousands of our father's siblings. In her final act of revenge, she ripped away Sein, the tree's light and eyes, flying her far away where she would crush her and toss her away, leaving our father's civilization in ruins.

This period of time in Nibel is known simply as: the blindness, not just because the old Spirit Tree lost his eyes, but because both he and Kuro were blinded by their love for their children.

The ensuing decay would starve Naru to death, leaving our father weak and alone. As he stumbled and fell through the dying forest, he was the last spirit alive. Lost in grief for his mother and having never known any of his now deceased siblings, he passed away on a log in front of his father at just three months of age. The very being who only wanted his son back, now watched helplessly as his child died before him; so it was, in a final act of atonement, the tree gave the last of his strength and energy to revive our father, inspiriting him and endowing him with soul link: the power to come back from death.

With his new life and newfound power, our father found Sein and restored the three elements of Nibel: water, winds, and warmth. The journey was perilous, and he perished many, many times, but in the end he did all the legwork necessary to bring Nibel back from the brink!

The final step however, would not be his to complete. As he floated back to his father, ready to replace Sein in her rightful place atop his father's trunk, Kuro struck one final time. The baby spirit was mortally injured, and the great owl, massive and enraged, wanted nothing more than to end his journey right then and there! But just as all hope seemed lost, Naru arrived just in time to cradle her adopted son. This very act of affection awakened Kuro from her fury, and for the first time, she saw that her actions weren't just killing the forest, but her final, unhatched owlet child as well.

In the end, it was a creature devoid of light who would put Sein back, in fact the very same creature who had first ripped her away, proving that all creatures have the capacity for good, if given the chance.

Forever indebted to her sacrifice, our father, Naru, and a befriended Gumon would raise Kuro's last child, giving her the home she otherwise would've never had, but the damage had already been done. They named her Ku, and she grew up with a defective wing because of what grandfather did. Through the brilliance of the Gumon, they were able to work around it, using one of Kuro's feathers to allow Ku's wing to work, and when she flew, she soared! With our father on her back, she flew so much farther than any of them ever thought she could go.

In fact, she flew him all the way across the water to a new land, a land where an ancient spirit willow had died, leaving its light broken and scattered. The resulting decay had brought a violent storm that night, one that would separate Ku from our father and their feather, leaving her to fend for herself in a dangerous wilderness! Through more deadly trials, father was able to reunite with Ku, but was unable to stop a terribly deformed owl from hurting her! That owl's name was Shriek, and she had left Ku mortally wounded.

Father, so distraught by his failure to keep her safe, would lash out at innocent, lightless creatures that only meant to help him. But so determined was he to save his sister's life, he pieced the ancient willow's light back together, and after unfortunately having to kill Shriek at the end of his journey, our father merged with the light, saving his sister's life, giving her a new wing, and restoring the forest by becoming a Spirit Tree himself.

Yes, the light he'd pieced together was indeed Seir...and the forest he'd saved was indeed Niwen, your home. Through fear, failure, and unimaginable pain...our father persevered.

Never forget, my siblings, never forget: though he was born of light, he sacrificed his old life for a creature with none. He did it so that all creatures could live together in harmony. We spirits protect the balance of nature, but it was the beings of the dark who got us here. We must work and train so that no creature ever has to suffer in decay ever again! For his legacy...when his name was Ori...

. . .

The party had gone on well into the night.

The festival took place beneath the Spirit Tree as he watched from high above, and the whole rest of the day had been spent setting up for it. Spirits sang, danced to music, and ate the most gourmet fruits and vegetables that could be served, but ironically, the one spirit for whom it was all for was the saddest of them all. She sat alone at her table, refusing to get up and join the others...and no one could blame her.

Her life was never going to be the same, and they were all quietly aware.

Wearing a ceremonial wreath atop her head, one adorned with every color of flower that could be found, she aimlessly traced lines on the table until she became aware of approaching hoofsteps. She looked up from her untouched food, half-hoping that it was Fir, but instead seeing that it was the one-eyed spirit once more.

"This is the fifth time, Zar," she said dejectedly. "You don't have to say sorry again."

"I know," he replied. "And it's not that...I...I came to let you know that I'll be going away for a while."

The young spirit was shocked, but also unsurprised.

"What?! Why?!" she said, even though she knew the answer. "You-you don't have to-!"

"Yes I do," he interrupted. "I need...I need to find myself again...figure things out…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I...I can't just...forgive myself right away...not after everything I've done..."

Mint could only silently stare back, meeting his sorrowful gaze with her own.

"I just need to be alone for a little while," he finished. "...Just thought I'd let you know…"

With that, he went around the table and past Mint, walking away from the party, to which Mint reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Wait! Zar!" she said as she stopped him. "You-you can't go! Niwen needs you! I-I need you!"

"Mint, it's my decision," said Zar. "Please...at least let me start making the right ones!"

She shook her head in dismay, but he was right: he had to start rewiring his brain somehow, and at the very least he was conscientious enough to want to take the first step. Though Niwen needed him, he knew he wouldn't be of good service until he'd served himself. The young spirit then wordlessly released his arm and listened as his hoofsteps grew softer and softer.

"Hey, Zar!" Mint called, turning around in her chair.

Her Elder stopped momentarily to look back at her.

"Good luck," she said.

Zar then did something she rarely ever saw him do: he smiled...then gave a quick nod before turning and disappearing into the night. Mint then turned back around and stared blankly at the food in front of her; it was a large leaf with dozens of plump, ripe fruit and crispy veggies: something that would normally be quite mouth-watering, but even though she hadn't eaten all day, she wasn't hungry. Mint slowly pushed the leaf away from herself before slumping in her chair and staring up at the stars.

Darling, you really should dance with someone.

The voice sounded like it was coming from all directions, much like it had when she'd spoken to Seir. It was deep as well, sounding large and in-charge.

Perhaps that will take your mind off of things?

"How, dad?" she moaned, still staring at the night sky. "How could anything ever take my mind off of things at this point?"

Well, my special little girl certainly can't spend her own party like this!

"I know...but...I don't really feel like dancing anyway...not since he's gone…"

Are you sure about that?

"Sure about what?"

Suddenly, a very familiar voice could be heard in the crowd.

"Hello?"

Mint instantly tore her eyes away from the stars, frantically scanning the large gathering of spirits.

"Excuse me, but...what's going on?" the voice continued.

"Fir!" Mint breathed.

She practically stumbled out of her chair and ran towards the center of the festival, but before she could even get halfway between the crowd and her table, the spirits parted, revealing his very confused form.

Confused...but alive!

It didn't take long before his eyes met hers, and for a moment they just stared at each other, speechless for different reasons.

"Mint?" he said finally.

Slowly, they began to approach each other as though entranced.

"Are we?..." he went on. "Are we both...dead?"

With tears of joy beginning to trickle from her eyes and a grin starting to extend across her face, Mint simply shook her head.

"No," she half-sobbed, taking the wreath off her head and dropping it behind her. "We're both very much alive!"

Then, the two of them spinted into each other's arms. Fir swung her around once before kissing her in front of everybody; Mint lifted one of her legs as she kissed back, and in response, everyone cheered! Finally, they opted to simply place their foreheads together while shedding merry tears.

"I thought I'd lost you!" Mint breathed.

"I thought I'd lost me, too!" Fir replied. "Zar...I just didn't want him to hurt you!...did...did he?"

"No...I mean, yes! But-oh there's so much that you haven't been told! So much that you missed!"

"Are you alright? And how am I alive?! I'm glad that I am, but how?!"

Patience my son. Soon, you will understand.

Fir whipped his head around and donned a look of fear.

"Who said that?" he asked out loud.

Mint pointed up at the Spirit Tree.

"Dad?!" said Fir. "You can talk?!"

Always could have.

"...You did this?..."

Yes. It was difficult, given how far away you were, but not impossible.

"How come you didn't tell me earlier?" asked Mint.

I just wanted it to be a surprise.

"...Why is there a...a party right now?..." asked Fir.

Well...it's for her coronation!

"Coronation?"

"Hey everyone!" called Yaiger from the crowd. "Let's hear it for Fir and the Spirit Willow!"

As everyone cheered, Fir's instructor walked over to the two of them.

"Didn't know you had such good taste, Fir!" whispered Hito into his ear as he passed by.

It took Fir a moment to process what he'd just heard, but eventually he was able to articulate what he was thinking.

"I...bonded with a Spirit Willow?!"

Mint could only giggle.

"You look so cute when you're surprised!" she said. "But...yeah...Look, we'll go sit someplace and I'll tell you everything! Just know that everything's gunna be okay."

Fir kept to his stunned silence, but she could tell that he couldn't be happier.

"For now, let's just enjoy the party, you silly goose!" she said as she pulled him towards the buffet. "C'mon! You must be starving!"

THE END

. . .

Theoretical Voice-Acting Cast (in order of appearance):

Mint: Rachell Hofstetter

Fir: Dave Franco

Keo: Dylan O'Brien

Shard Merchants: Jay Preston

Gorlek Builder: Patrick Seitz

Hito: Scott Adkins (American accent)

Zar: Dermot Mulroney

Issen: Mireille Enos

Yaiger: Jason Bateman

Quito: Ginnifer Goodwin

Seir and Sein: Aeralie Brighton

Taeguk: Karl Urban (American accent)

Shikun: Florence Kasumba

Moki: Tiana Camacho

Timo: Robin Atkin Downes

Ori: Nolan North

Ori (Spirit Tree): Erik Braa