"Cries of dismay I hear deep inside this Ancestral Tree. Reem was agile, he dashed through the air. Listen to his voice, the wisdom he shared."—Sein
Reem sat under a far-stretching branch of the Spirit Tree. Tremors shot from his tail to the tips of his ears. Images flashed though his mind. His friends, his family, all murdered. The great, dark owl had just descended from the sky, and snuffed them all out with a single wing beat.
Screams ricochetted through his mind as Reem continued to stare at the branch above him in horror. He didn't blink away his tears as they watered the stagnant grass. His breath came out in quick rasps. His chest pounded inside.
He blacked out.
It wasn't long until he felt a paw shake him. Reem's eyes flashed open. A bright Spirit was towering over him.
"Are you unharmed, little one?" the Spirit asked.
Reem's upper jaw seemed tied to his lower one. He couldn't manage even the tiniest squeak.
The Spirit picked Reem up and carried him to the fields set before the Spirit Tree.
"It's all right now. The owl is gone," the Spirit said. "See? Now, are you unharmed?"
Reem still couldn't pry his mouth open, but he nodded.
"Good. What's your name?"
"R-r-re-e-em."
"Occupation?"
"None. I…I hadn't st-started training."
The bright Spirit nodded. "I am Ilo, Captain of the Spirit Guardians. It seems you and I may be the only Spirits left, Reem—"
The only ones left? Reem had seen the massacre, but half of himself still refused to believe that such a thing had ever happened. He was so completely stunned that even the attentions of the Captain of the Spirit Guardians hardly registered.
"—and so it is vital that we stick together. Do you understand?" Ilo asked.
"Yes," Reem answered softly, his eyes straying towards the grassy ground. He picked himself up and looked to Ilo. The Spirit's face was hard, brave even. It looked as if he hadn't even seen what had happened to the Spirits.
"Therefore, I claim you, Reem, as my apprentice. You shall be until we have restored Nibel completely, and then I shall make you my second in command." Ilo punctuated this last sentence with a sharp nod.
Reem's eyes widened. "What?"
"Don't worry," Ilo said to Reem. "I'll protect you. If we die, we'll die with the greatest honor for we tried to restore this dying land." Ilo's face remained the same. No flicker of burden, no sense of sorrow, not even a hint of anger at their loss.
Reem simply nodded before two Lights, two Spirits, came bounding towards the two. Maybe we're not alone after all! Reem thought hopefully. Maybe I won't be stuck with this captain forever…
Reem was once again crying. The bodies of the spiders had long turned to dust, and so had Ano's Light. Another Light destroyed. He had only been alive for just two months and had seen the deaths of hundreds unfold before his eyes.
Friend after friend. Sibling after sibling. Death after death, until the hope that had welled up in his soul had been sucked dry and turned into tears of mourning.
I'm too weak for a job like this, he thought to himself. It should have been me who died. Not Ano, not Fil! They would have made better heroes alongside Ilo. They were all great at fighting. They were all great at setting aside the deaths of hundreds.
"Get up," Ilo commanded.
Reem ignored him. Ilo could let him mourn for a few more minutes, couldn't he?
"I said 'get up,' Reem!" Ilo shouted.
"No," Reem argued softly.
"Reem, we have to move. The water is growing more and more unclean, and we're the only ones who can stop the Decay now!"
Reem stood up. "I know. You keep telling me over and over. Don't you realize Ano just died! He just sacrificed himself for us and you're just going to move on like nothing has happened?"
Ilo still had that horrid, stone-cold expression. Always the same face. No matter if they had won a battle or lost a friend. He always wore the same heartless expression. "You will not talk to your mentor that way."
"Mentor? You only became my mentor because you thought I was the only Spirit left! I didn't even have time to respond before you started saying all these things about mentors and saving Nibel!"
"Just because I thought you were the only one left doesn't make you an inadequate apprentice." Ilo's eyes were sharp with anger now. At least he wasn't being apathetic anymore.
"You sure seem to think so. I guess I don't fit well into your little 'plan' do I? You'd rather have a radiant Spirit who can watch his friends be murdered and not so much as blink!"
"Oh, so that's what this is about, wallowing in your grief." Ilo grunted. "You're upset because I don't break down when something goes wrong."
"Don't break down?" Reem was yelling now. "I think what I really mean is I'm not heartless. I can't stand by and watch all my friends murdered without feeling at least a tear of pity! I don't know why you're fighting at all for Nibel if you don't care about any of the Spirits!"
"I do—"
"You're second in command is dead! All your soldiers are dead! All your friends are dead! Fil and Ano died trying to carry out this ridiculous plan. And you, you haven't done anything except order everyone available around and remind us all how we're the only ones left to care."
"I care," Ilo spoke softly, his voice trembling. "Yes, everyone I knew and loved is dead. But I have a duty, and if I don't fulfill it, I can never avenge those Spirits. You wouldn't understand. You don't have what it takes to be a Spirit Guardian. You'd be better as a Gatherer, collecting food and chattering away about the little things in life that make you happy."
Ilo wiped at it fast, but Reem could have sworn he saw a tear slide down Ilo's nose.
"Come on," Ilo said. "We've got to be moving out."
"Yes, sir," Reem said quietly, slinking past Ilo into the dark caverns of the Spider Nest.
The two managed to travel through the rest of the Spider Nest without event. At the entrance of Thornfelt swamp, emerald trees towered over them, while sunshine dappled the swampy floor.
A trickle of a stream fed a pool of water. The water sparkled in the sunlight, reflecting its glassy, blue surface.
"Look!" Reem shouted, overjoyed. "The water here is clear!"
"Only for now," Ilo said grumpily. "But as it is we should take a drink."
Reem dashed ahead to the water. He drank so quickly he was afraid he may spit all he swallowed back up. Ilo took calm, controlled laps at the water, his eyes closed hard in concentration. The water was refreshing; they hadn't had any since the owl had attacked. But even as they drank, Reem spotted some tints in the bottom of the water he didn't like.
Ilo stopped drinking and stepped away, looking at the swamp surrounding them. "We must act quickly. If we aren't fast enough the Decay will have come, and retrieving the Water Vein will prove difficult."
"Where's it hidden?" Reem asked.
"In a pool," Ilo replied. "A very deep pool. The Decay may have already reached the bottom, so we must hurry." He started sprinting deeper into the swamp.
Reem jumped up and followed Ilo as best he could. Ilo ran at the speed of a falling boulder, while Reem felt more like the slug that would be squashed by a boulder. And Ilo's "Hurry up!" calls didn't make Reem go any faster.
In fact, the thought of being anywhere near Ilo right now made Reem move much slower.
Finally, they reached their destination. Deep in the swamp, a large pond encircled by blooming flowers spread out below a thick canopy of trees. The noise within this small clearing was rapturous, with chirps, clicks, and caws.
"Okay," Ilo said as his eyes bore into Reem. "I will retrieve the Water Vein. You will also come and stand guard. If any Decay shows itself, alert me."
"How?" Reem asked indignantly.
"No one ever taught you how to send up a flare?" Ilo sniffed as if disgusted by something. "I suppose your Light would be too untrained anyway… Very well, just kick and swish in the water if you must. There are air pockets where we may rest for a time. The deeper we get, the harder it will be to see and the more difficulties we'll encounter. Let's go."
Ilo sprang off the pond's edge and dove into the depths that awaited below. Reem followed, stubbornly flipping in the air as Ilo couldn't see him at the moment.
The water was very clear at first. Except for the appearance of bubbles as Reem moved, he couldn't really perceive a difference between being under the water or above it. Ilo was already pushing the water behind him and making a slip stream that easily caught Reem.
Reem was dragged deeper downwards. After they had swam for a quite awhile he found it hard to hold his breath. But Ilo was waving a few feet below Reem and darted under a passage of stone. Reem flailed about as he made his way, slowly, to the stone awning. He dove under it and emerged inside an air pocket.
He flopped on the shore, breathing heavily. He hadn't ever been so thankful for air or missed the Element of Winds that always blew so gently so much. All the air above was now as stagnant as the air pocket they currently occupied.
"It took you nearly as long to get here as it took me to reach the pond," Ilo said. He was resting on a small rock.
Reem didn't respond. After a few more minutes of waiting, Ilo stood up and without word dove back into the waters. Reem scampered after him.
Now that they were deeper, the water looked blue-ish as the sunlight had trouble reaching so far down. Plant life began to appear as Ilo and Reem dove downwards. Occasionally a small fish, no bigger than Reem's paw, would swim by.
This time Reem had an extremely difficult time holding his breath. Unwanted bubbles of released air kept popping out of his nose. Ilo swimming far ahead, of course, was having no such problems.
Then, Reem's foot got tangled in seaweed. That wouldn't have been a huge problem if Reem hadn't tried to gasp in surprise and instead let out all his air and swallowed a mouthful of water.
He kicked and struggled his foot out of the seaweed, then swam as fast as he could towards the stone alcove that Ilo had just dived under.
He flopped yet again onto the shore, this time spitting up water from his mouth and blowing water out from his nose.
"Are you alright?" Ilo asked.
Reem nodded. "Enough."
"The first rule of diving is to keep your mouth closed at all times, no matter what. I don't want to see you lose your breath again. Do you understand?"
Like I'd want to, Reem thought to himself. "Yeah, I understand."
"I will allow you some more rest, but then we must proceed." Ilo crawled away to a bank of sand.
This air pocket was muggy and gloomy. It was almost pitch-dark. Vines hung from the ceiling and moss clung to the walls. The ripples of the remaining sunlight on the water projected themselves onto the stone above.
It felt like a long while till Ilo finally stood up and said, "Let's go! The longer we wait the more the forest Decays."
"I know that already," Reem said, diving back into the pool before Ilo could yell at him.
Ilo quickly shot past Reem as they descended even deeper. The water was almost completely black, and seaweed abounded. Fish swam to-and-fro in the dark water. Reem had the feeling they were being watched.
As they were about to reach the next air pocket, Reem looked behind him. A dozen yellow lights seemed to flicker behind them in the darkness.
But as soon as Reem and Ilo emerged into the last pocket of air, the lights were out of sight and out of mind.
"No more air pockets beyond this," Ilo said. "The Water Vein isn't far away now. A few more yards, and we'll have reached our objective."
This air pocket was lit by plants that glowed in the dark. That was probably what I saw, Reem thought to himself.
When they submerged and started to swim again, they saw glowing plants not far along the way. Cyans, pinks, purples…no yellow. Reem looked behind them. There behind them were the yellow dots. As the glow strengthen, Reem could see the glittery scales and teeth accompanying the lights—eyes.
Reem waved his arms and legs hoping to catch Ilo's attention. But Ilo was far ahead, grabbing a great, glowing gemstone that must have been as big as Reem or larger. Reem banged his tail on the side of a rock, but muted by the water it made no effect.
Then, one of the fish bit down hard on Reem's tail. Ilo looked up at Reem and noticed his struggle. He let the Water Vein fall to the floor, darted up to the fish, and killed it with one strong kick. He gestured to the Water Vein. More fish were bearing down on them.
Ilo and Reem grabbed the ends of the Water Vein and pushed off. They zoomed upwards past the fish. Reem could feel that Ilo was bearing most of the weight. As they swam away from the snapping fish, Reem could also feel his breath weaken. Luckily, Ilo pointed with his tail to the middle air pocket. They could now see again without the help of glowing plants.
Ilo and Reem rolled the Water Vein inside the air pocket. They breathed heavily as they both collapsed.
"That was a close one," Reem managed to speak.
"Too close," Ilo said. "I wish I could teach you how to send up a flare."
"Why can't you?"
"It would be training your Light. Your light is still so raw and young that it can probably manage to activate the Element of Waters on its own. But the moment we start training it, it will lose the freshness of the Spirit Tree's life."
Reem remained silent.
"Ready?" Ilo asked after a few minutes. "I think the Snappers are probably gone."
"Yeah," Reem agreed. Again, they grabbed the Water Vein. They pushed and kicked, closer and closer to the sunlight until they broke the surface and rolled the Water Vein to the shore. It became heavier as they lifted it out of the water. Night, had now fallen on Nibel.
They camped that night, the first night ever since the attack, in a dry cave. The Water Vein had been poorly disguised under a pile of leaves and twigs. Ilo appeared to take to the rest of sleep quickly, calm as always.
But Reem couldn't fall asleep. He first observed the cave they had chosen. Moss covered the walls. Ilo was curled up on a ledge. Reem had chosen a slight pit, where he rested in a soft pile of leaves.
A long time passed, but Reem still couldn't sleep. They now had the Water Vein. Tomorrow, he would climb the Ginso Tree and attempt to activate the Element of Waters. All by himself…
Reem stood up and walked outside. He gazed up through the canopy at the stars. There they twinkled, far above, watching the horrors that happened down below. What were the stars, exactly? And if they really watched, what did they think of all this?
Reem eventually fell asleep under the stars.
Hours later, he woke to Ilo's shouts. Reem's eyelids shot open. He looked towards the cave where Ilo was standing with a tense position. The Water Vein had rolled out behind him.
"Let's go," Ilo said sternly. "We've already lost enough time. The leaves are drying." Sure enough, the canopy had changed from emerald green to lime green in just the few short hours of night that had passed.
Reem trailed behind Ilo as they hiked up to the Ginso Tree. When they reached the base, Reem noticed the intricate carvings on the door. The tree seemed to reach upwards forever, taller than even the massive Spirit Tree.
I have to climb that? Reem thought.
"Here we are," Ilo said softly. "I suppose we separate here for a little while. You, restore the Element of Waters. I desperately need to collect Life and Energy. We have gone a day without any, and our lack is wearing on us. I have no idea what state you will be in after you use your light to restore the Element of Waters."
"Why can't you come with me?" Reem asked desperately. For once, he wanted Ilo to stick by his side forever. "You're stronger than me. And braver, and you're better at handling missions! Why do you have to send me?"
"Reem, I have already explained this. Your Light is younger; it will be easier for you to restart the Element of Waters. And I must prepare the base."
"Do you really think I can do this? You're always gripping about how lazy and cowardly I am. Why do you think I can do this?" Reem looked up at Ilo expectantly.
"Because I think by now you understand what duty is. This mission, if the Ginso Tree has not been infected by Decay, should be easy. This is something I do truly think you can do, Reem.
"And, I apologize if I have been…harsh before. It is not my intent to hurt you, but I didn't want to shield you from responsibility."
"I understand," Reem said, looking down. "Thank you. I'm sorry too." You're right. I am a coward.
Ilo lifted the Water Vein up to the Ginso Tree. It clicked into place within the etchings on the bark, lighting the designs up. The door of the tree shook, and then slid open, revealing a leafy inside, flowing with water.
Reem looked behind him, one last time, at Ilo.
Ilo nodded confidently. "Do well my apprentice."
"I'll try." Reem stepped in. The door shut.
Reem had climbed and pulled himself over stream and branch for the first few floors. But after that, after his mind slipped slightly away from the daunting task ahead of him, he started to enjoy himself.
Reem bounded up the branches. He flew, swinging off vines, hopping off mushrooms, and climbing up the walls. He had never felt like this before, especially not when he was with Ilo. But now alone, he was free.
After a time, Reem found the scaling to grow heavy. He was taking a break on a ledge when he saw a Lightcatcher hanging from the ceiling. Reem tilted his head. A few falling leaves passed by the flower momentarily on their way down. They seemed pulled almost, by its presence.
When Reem was ready, he bolted towards the flower. It swung him completely past it, throwing him high into the air. He changed direction to another, and it too swung him. As he was high in the air, for a moment, he forgot all his sorrows and losses.
But he reached the top soon enough.
A sphere of vines and wood hung in the air, as if waiting for something. There was, if Reem wasn't mistaken, a slight glow to the vines. That must be where the Element of Waters is supposed to be rekindled, Reem thought.
He didn't quite know what to do. He stepped forward. He focused as much as an untrained Spirit could, even though the element casing bore a strong Light signature.
Reem squeezed his eyes shut and released his Light. It came out in pulsing waves. The casing started to sparkle with Light.
But then the Light bounced back, the waves throwing Reem back down through the caverns. He was pushed through branches and bark alike, his Light being drained by the awakened Element of Waters.
Reem's thoughts were a panicked jumble as he fell, Light draining out of him, pain filling him, a heavy rain of reflected Light bounding against him. He thought of his friends, the dead ones, the ones he would soon reunite with. He thought of soaring through the air, and wondered if he would ever feel that way again.
Lastly, before he hit the ground with a brief scream and burst of Light, he thought of Ilo. He thought of the Spirit who had tried to mentor him, to teach him, whom Reem had completely ignored. Yet Ilo had ignored him too. But this was still no excuse.
The last worry Reem ever thought was: What will happen to my master?
"Heed my words, Ori. Remember that there is untapped power inside of you, just like each one of us. In my time as the Spirit Reem, however, I learned more than the ability to soar through the air. My journey was understanding the importance of apprentice and mentor. I never fully understood until my death. If I had grasped the truth earlier, perhaps you would not have needed to endure these hardships you face now. I never truly understood what hardships Ilo had faced, and why he was able to separate his emotions. Remember this knowledge, Ori, and do what I could not accomplish. First, restore the Element of Waters, then restore Nibel."