Ori and the Stranger

Chapter 25

     A stick snapped nearby, the sudden noise cutting through the intense silence making Ori nearly jump out of his fur. As he quickly followed the sound, he found nothing, not even a broken twig. He sighed and continued to wander. This mist was playing tricks on him.

     After a while, Ori heard another sound, this time a barely discernible whisper. He couldn't quite tell what it said, but was intrigued. He turned around to look for the source, but saw nothing except the glowing, taunting grins in the trees. He groaned. Nothing again.

     Then came the whisper again, from a completely different direction this time. This time, the voice was loud and clear enough to tell what it was saying.

     Ori...

     Ori's ears perked up at the sound of his name, and his head swiveled to point in the direction of the new whisper.

     Ori...

     Ori squinted his eyes to try and peer through the fog, in vain.

     Come, little child...

     The command caught Ori slightly off-guard, but he nonetheless felt a strong compulsion to obey the whispering. After a moment's hesitation, he began to creep towards the source of the whispering.

     Ori...

     Ori continued his slow approach, his eyes constantly squinted and searching for any sort of shape in the mists. As the whispering grew louder, Ori could slowly make out a large shape through the fog. As he continued to creep closer, he could hear Sein's voice suddenly speak up, though it was considerably muffled. "Ori, are you alright?" she asked, but Ori ignored her, his curiosity overtaking his caution.

     Ori slowly began to make out the shape before him. It was clearly some sort of creature, and was considerably wide and chubby, its back turned to the little spirit. As Ori got even closer, he slowly recognized the shape. Was it... Naru? His eyes widened. How? He had seen Naru die! How was Naru here?! Slowly, Naru began to turn around. Her movements were groggy and unnatural.

     Ori suddenly felt a massive surge of dread and fear as Naru turned around. He caught sight of torn, scarred flesh on her side, and he quickly turned away and shut his eyes tight, not wanting to see what Naru's face looked like.

     Look at me, Ori. Look at what you've done.

     The voice whispered once more, and Ori finally recognized it as his mother's voice. But something about the voice was just... wrong. Like something was trying to impersonate her, but failing to completely replicate her voice. This time, the voice had a commanding tone. Ori remained firmly in place, refusing to turn around and look.

     You left me behind, Ori. Look at me. Look at what you've done.

     Ori knew what she was talking about. "But, mom, it wasn't my fault! I'm sorry!" he shouted desperately at the twisted perversion of his mother, still refusing to turn around. The voice responded, this time in an angry, almost demonic shout.

     Sorry isn't enough, you brat! I should have left you to die. You're useless, and always have been. Look at what you did to me! LOOK AT ME!

     Ori held his paws over his ears, squeezing his eyes shut even harder to try and block out the voice that sounded so much like his mother, but also not quite his mother. "No! No! Go away! Go away!" he shouted, tears beginning to pour down his cheeks. He didn't want to look. He didn't want to see what he had done. The voice had risen to a demonic screech now, losing all resemblance it had to his mother's voice.