The Relentless Soul Chapter 7: That's a lot of people, an ori and the blind forest fanfic

A/N: This chapter is a little heavy. prepare yourselves.

Just to refresh, I own only my own OC and no other characters

I breathed a sigh of relief as I slowed down to a walk, and I saw that the other spirits had stayed behind. I smiled as I In the distance I saw Tatsu running through the meadow of grass and flowers to catch up. She had fallen behind when we reached the grove and got swarmed by a whole crowd of curious spirits. It was heartwarming at first and I know they meant well, but after a little while of barely moving an inch, it started to get on my nerves. So, when I noticed a break in the crowd, I took my chance and booked it out of there.

As I had reached far enough away from the bustling crowd of spirits, I spotted a sort of altar thing glowing with the same energy as the giant tree that towered over the clearing. It was carved from stone. It was circular with a hole for something spherical at the side facing away from the tree. As I approached the altar, something tickled the edges of my mind. It wasn't bad…though it wasn't inherently good either. It felt like nature incarnate… if that makes any sense.

It lit up brighter as I walked onto it and I felt the energy reach out to me. I cautiously brought my energy out, like I had last night, and it latched onto the spark that was generated. I could feel it pumping wave after wave of energy into me. It flowed through my entire body, making it tingle with excitement. Eyes widening as I felt my hooves leave the ground. I looked down and saw the energy lifting me up into the air. "Whoa!" I said as the energy disconnected from me, and I was instantly at the mercy of gravity again. I dropped down, landing straight on my ass. Standing up and rubbing the pain away, I could see Tatsu looking down at me curiously. I arched an eyebrow in return.

"What did it feel like?" she asked. "Everyone describes it a bit differently."

"You mean the floating thing or the falling on my ass thing? Because the ass thing didn't feel too good." I snarked back.

"No silly! The spirit well!" She laughed. "Though it is a little funny."

"Ha. Ha. Laugh it up." I pouted. "Though, it was weird. I got all tingly. Though I feel more energized after doing it. What is it supposed to do?"

"Well, the spirit wells have been in place for a while. Definitely longer than I have been alive. Two of the main ways we use them is to heal our wounds and travel to other places across Nibel…"

"Wait up a second… You are telling me that these are teleporters!"

"pretty much… they do more than that…"

"Why the hell didn't we use them to get back here faster!" I angrily said. "We could have saved days of walking!"

"Hey! The teleporting part of these shrines are not meant to be travelled by young spirits. It could have killed you!" She yelled back at me.

"Oh." I said as my ears drooped, "I didn't realize… Sorry…"

She sighed, "It's fine… at least we got here in the end."

"Yeah I guess so."

"Ok, come on let's go and visit with my brother. He always hides out near the base of the Spirit Tree. I just have a feeling that he would love to meet you." She said as she took my arm and lead me away from the Spirit Well.

As we got to the base of the Spirit Tree, we started searching around for this elusive brother of hers. It didn't take long until Tatsu let out a squeal of excitement and bounded forward towards a hole in the ground where a spirit's head was poking out from. I saw the spirit jump out and hug her.

"You're back! I've missed you!" They spoke.

"Yes, and I brought someone you might want to meet" She said before beckoning me over.

As I approached the pair, I could feel the new spirit's eyes scanning my features. They soon fell upon my face, and there they lingered before trailing up. Now I know what Harry Potter feels like. "Hi."

Tatsu smiled, "Meet my brother, Atsu!"

"Hey kid." Atsu greeted me as he walked over. "Ahh, yes, you were the one that recharged my torch! I must give my thanks for the help. It is a day away from any well. So thank you. Speaking of which I should go back to monitoring its condition. It has been acting weird. I'll see you guys later!" And so he went back down into where he popped out from.

"You're welcome?"

"Yeah, he is an acquired taste." Tatsu explained as she started to climb the tree," anyways, Let's go! You need to meet Sein!"

"Wait a second!" I called as I started the trek upwards after her.

As we neared the top of the tree, I felt my fur stand on end. Energy lancing through the air, not unlike being near a tesla coil. Pure white bolts of energy were lancing through the air. Colliding with branches with tiny pops. As I heaved myself over the edge, I looked around and saw myself perched upon what looked like the sacred grounds in the movie avatar (The one with the blue people, not the element bending). Giant rings of wood and bark encircle a blinding light. Jeez, what is that? I shielded my eyes from the mini sun or whatever It was.

It certainly had a presence to it. It's energy washed over me as I stood there in awe. It didn't feel malicious, in fact it felt quite the opposite.

"You know, it's considered rude to stare."

My eyes widened as I took a small step back because the light somehow Talked. Caught with my metaphorical pants down I smartly replied with,"Uhhh…" I heart It giggle after that so I smartly started to snark back at It. "You thought that was funny huh? I'd like to see you look at the sun and hear that talk at you!"

"Alright!" It laughed, "I see your point. That's why I found you and brought you here, you have the 'Spirit'. Hehe!"

"Did you just…pun? And wait a second. You Brought me here?"

"Well yeah, and let me tell you, it certainly wasn't easy. Even with near godlike powers it took a lot out of me. Bringing the dead back isn't my forte."

I touched my scar.

"Before you say anything, that was there before I found you."

I lowered my hand, "Ok…ok I think I got it. So, I died, you found me in that Void. You brought me back to life. Why?"

"I would tell you, but I have consulted with the tree and we think that it would be better to wait until after the Light Ceremony. Better kept in ignorance than to worry constantly. That's what my… they say." It continued morosely. "Also… you had not been consumed yet, and we are going to need that will of yours in the time to come."

I noticed the slip but I decided not to comment on it. "I've also noticed a distinct lack of cities, or any sign of humans."

"Ah yes… the humans… I'm not sure how to tell you this so I'm just going to be blunt about it. The human race, they have been gone for approximately 4300 years. The Bombs were just the start. I'm sorry."

I sat down, my eyes starting to water. Even if there was no one left for me… Fucking hell. Everyone is dead. EVERYONE IS DEAD! My breathing quickened as the beginning of a panic attack set in. "They're all DEAD?!" I broke down into sobs.

Tatsu's eyes widened as I started to glow brighter. She took a step back as Sein released a beam of energy that arced through the air and hit me square in the chest. A wave of tiredness rushed over me. My glow diminishing with my energy. I felt a pair of arms wrap around my chest as my tears ran down my face.

I could hear talking but it was far away. I silently cried as my eyelids drooped. I cried until I knew no more.

"What the hell Sein?! You can't just knock him out!"

"What do you suppose I do? Let him go and have a panic attack!?" Sein argued.

Tatsu scrunched her face "We could have at least tried to calm him down the normal way!"

"Did you see what was about to happen?!"

"Yes but I could have.."

"No." Sein said quietly, "He almost went critical. I had to do it. This is why I wanted to wait, so he could have better control."

"Fine! Fine. You're right... What's all this about these huemans?"

Sein sighed, "Oh… They existed ages ago. Their way of life was as destructive as it was beautiful, and in the end, it was the cause of their destruction."

"Then why does he care so much about them?" Tatsu asked as she tilted her head in confusion.

"Weren't you listening to our conversation?" Sein said.

"Yeah, but I tuned out when you pulled your little attempt on a pun."

"ouch… ok it was pretty bad but anyway, back to your question. He used to be one of them. That's why he cares. Imagine for a moment that you died, forced back into living in a body that you aren't familiar with, and finding out that your entire life and everyone that you knew died thousands of years ago." Sein explained. "I know I would freak out, at least a little."

Tatsu's face morphed from one of mild confusion to horror as Sein kept talking. She went over to where the young spirit lay and looked upon him with a whole new light. "That's why you acted more mature." Her eyes fell upon the jagged scar that traced from their missing ear to their chest. "Sein? What happened to their body for this massive scar to be there?"

"The scar was there when I found him. I don't know how it happened, but I have a few theories…"

A few moments passed before Tatsu spoke up, "And? Are you going to share them or not?"

"No. Like I said, they are just theories."

"Fine. If you're not going to tell me, at least tell him. He deserves to know"

She got a faint feeling of a smile from Sein. "I'll be sure to. Just, after the ceremony."

"Fine. I'll watch over him. You can go back to whatever it is that you do." She said flippantly.

Reluctantly, Sein returned to the tree's interface, monitoring the forest's energy readings and adjusting them accordingly. The decay outside their influence has been acting up, testing their defenses more and more frequently. They are worried. Something is wrong, that is why they took him from the void. Those theories, lies, they know where the scar came from. They just don't know how to mend it.

Sein focused her attention back on the spirits that they had conversed with earlier. Tatsu had gotten the younger spirit onto her shoulder before going over to the ledge to begin the climb down. She looked back over at them and frowned before heading down the tree.

Something has changed, and that human… that spirit will do something about it.

Blooper:

It certainly had a presence to it. It's energy washed over me as I stood there in awe. It didn't feel malicious. It just felt artificial, like a computer.

I watched as the light dimmed down and a metal ball flew out of some sort of pyramid type structure. It had blue outlines and a massive blue eyeball.

"Hello! My name is 343 Guilty Spark! Monitor of this here installation! Oh my! What a curious body you have reclaimer! I was beginning to worry; containment procedures have been followed. Although the Flood outbreak has grown quite severe, activation of this installation is required..."