Blitz grunted with effort as he hauled himself up over the dirt ledge. The sun shone high in the sky, though its light was blocked by the gloomy clouds overhead, the little light that did shine through being gray and somber. It was as if the sun itself was decaying.

     Ori helped Blitz up over the ledge and onto the path. Blitz got to his feet and looked up the trail, which snaked up the side of the plateau. Dead, rotting trunks lined both sides of the trail, looking like bony claws desperately reaching for the sky. It was unnerving, to say the least. Worse still, something seemed to be stalking them. It rustled through the rotten foliage, just barely out of sight. As long as it kept its distance, though, Blitz would have no problem with it.

     They walked up the path at a steady pace, quickly eating away at the distance from the top of the plateau. Within twenty or so minutes, they had reached the caprock. Ahead of them sat the Ginso Tree; a tree that was about as tall as the Spirit Tree, though was far more slender, and the trunk was entirely straight, lacking the elegant curves of the Spirit Tree. At the base of the north side of its trunk was a large semicircle gateway etched into the wood, with spirals etched into it, and a spherical cavity about the size of Ori's head in the center. In front of the closed gateway was a stone platform, and sitting in the middle was a spherical orb of milky-white water, tendrils of water snaking around the orb. It looked like it would fit perfectly into the cavity.

     "That is the water vein," Sein piped up, answering Blitz and Ori's unspoken questions. "It's what unlocks the gateway into the Ginso Tree. Without it, there's no way to get inside."

     "Well, lucky us," Blitz said. "It's sitting right there, waiting for us."

     But just as Blitz said that, a creature leapt from the branches of a nearby, rotten tree. It was covered in shadowy fur, and it had unnaturally long, gankly limbs that connected at the bottom of its spherical torso. It had no head to speak of, its face plastered on the front of its torso. Its eyes were a warm amber, and its teeth were jagged and dirty. It cradled the water vein in its arms, rubbing the orb up and down with a look of bliss on its face.

     "A... Gumon?" Sein asked.

     "A Gumon? What's a Gumon?" Ori asked Sein, eyeing the strange creature with curious eyes.

     But the Gumon had heard Ori speak, as it turned its gaze to look at the young spirit. Its eyes suddenly widened, and it let out a guttural yelp of surprise. It leapt to its feet, still holding the water vein, and bolted off into the trees.

     "Hey! That's not yours!" Blitz shouted at the Gumon, before running after it. Ori followed closely behind, determined to get that water vein back.

     They chased the slender creature as it bolted through the trees, before suddenly dipping down into a tunnel. The pair followed close behind.

     "Be careful! The Gumon were cunning inventors," Sein warned, floating above Ori as they ran down the tunnel after the Gumon and the water vein. The tunnel opened up into a small cavern, with another hole at the bottom, which the Gumon quickly hopped down. Blitz and Ori were close behind, hopping down a few seconds later. The Gumon let out a deep laugh as it fled from the pair, causing Ori to feel annoyed, as well as Blitz.

     As they chased the Gumon, they eventually came upon another series of tunnels. The ground had a sudden drop a few feet, and an ominous stone carving sat at one end of the tunnel, right before a drop into the next tunnel. As the Gumon hopped down the hole, there was a sound of a lever being pulled, and the gaping hole in the stone carving started to glow with an ominous purple light. As Blitz hopped down the small drop, and found himself staring down the stone carving. It began to hum. An all too familiar hum to Blitz.

     "Get back!" Blitz shouted, shoving Ori back onto the higher portion of the ground. He then clambered up himself, just as a powerful purple beam blasted out of the carving and licked at his toes. The beam blasted the wall of the drop, but not the higher ground that Blitz and Ori were on. Eventually, the beam stopped for a moment, before firing again.

     "Alright, then. This thing isn't playing around," Blitz said. "I think it genuinely wants to kill us."

     "Strange," Sein spoke in response. "The Gumon are usually friendly, and always wanted to help the spirits before the days of Decay."

     "Well, this one clearly doesn't," Blitz observed. "How do we get past this? We need that water vein."

     "Wait, watch! I think the lasers are timed," Ori piped up. They all went silent as Ori stared at the laser cannon. As soon as it fired, Ori counted the seconds on his paws.

     1... 2... 3...

     After three seconds, the laser stopped firing. Ori counted the seconds again.

     1... 2... 3... 4...

     After four seconds, the laser fired again, once more for three seconds before stopping, and firing again after a four second pause.

     Ori looked back at Blitz and Sein, point proven. Blitz nodded in thought. "Alright, smarty pants. Let's hope we can move fast enough then."

     Ori and Blitz sat at the ledge of the small drop, waiting for the laser to cease. As soon as it stopped, they leapt down onto the ground, sprinting towards the hole that led to the lower tunnel.

     1... 2... 3...

     They were so close! Just a little further...

     4!

     The laser fired, barely creasing the top of Blitz's helmet as he and Ori dived down the tunnel. The fall was short, and they didn't have time to reorient themselves. They landed hard on their backs. They lay still for a moment, hurt but very much alive.

     But there was another hum. Blitz lifted his head, and saw another one of the rock carvings, starting to glow purple. "Shit! Go! Go!" Blitz shouted, shoving Ori down the tunnel. There was a small rise where they would be safe, but Blitz didn't know if they would make it. But just then, he spotted a small stone ledge, big enough to hold onto, and high enough to be out of the danger zone. Blitz grabbed Ori firmly by the arm, earning himself a yelp of displeasure from the spirit. He hauled Ori onto his shoulder. "Don't let go!" he yelled. Ori obeyed, digging his claws into Blitz's shoulder tightly.

     Blitz leapt upwards, and his damaged jetpack fired in a small burst, giving him just enough propulsion to reach the ledge. He tightly gripped the ledge, holding his legs up as high as he could muster. The laser beam fired, then stopped. Blitz dropped from the ledge and rushed over to the end of the tunnel, hopping up the small rise and to safety from the laser beam.

     Ori clung to Blitz's shoulder tightly, shaking. "That was close," Ori spoke shakily. "I thought your jetpack was broken?"

     "It was. But last night, I managed to partially fix it. Though I can't fly with it anymore, it can give me a mid-air boost," Blitz explained. He felt quite proud for making his jetpack work again, if barely; it was no easy task. "Oh, and it's safe to get off my shoulder now."

     Ori didn't budge. "I think I'll stay here," Ori replied. "It's quite comfortable."

     Blitz sighed a little, but didn't really mind. He started back down the cave, Ori perched on his shoulder.

     The tunnel eventually opened up to a ledge at the top of a massive cavern. At the end of the ledge was a bridge, and at the other side of the bridge, the Gumon and the water vein. Blitz ran over the bridge to the Gumon.

     "Blitz, wait!" Sein shouted, but it was too late. The Gumon had his hands on a lever, and he wrenched it backwards. The bridge suddenly separated into two different halves, dropping down to their respective walls. Blitz lost his footing as the bridge fell from under his feet, and Ori yelped as they began to fall through the air. The Gumon watched the pair fall, a cruel smile on his face.

     The fall was quite long, as the cavern was incredibly deep. As they fell, Blitz grabbed Ori from his shoulder, and hugged the little spirit tight to his chest. He oriented himself so that he was between Ori and the ground, hopefully cushioning the fall and saving Ori from harm.

     "Blitz?! What are you doing?!" Ori shouted, eyes full of panic as they fell.

     "Trust me," Blitz responded, seeming almost too calm for the current situation.

     They plummeted down the cavern, the ground rushing up rapidly to meet them.