Ori was astounded as he made his way through the Forlorn Ruins. Despite its sorry state, it was still a wonder to behold. Glowing runes, fractured structures floating in impossible ways, and the sheer size of it all helped Ori to forget the frozen Gumon that littered the ruins. Additionally, the Ruins were inhabited by those spiky slugs Ori had encountered earlier, though with a blue coloration and icy spines that they attempted to skewer the little spirit with. Most frustratingly, however, was that the only way higher and subsequently deeper into the Ruins was via vertical shafts. Ori could not climb them, however, as the walls of these shafts were as hot as the floating stones. Ori had to find a way up, as there was no sign of the Element of Wind on the ground floor.

     After a decent amount of exploration, Ori finally came upon something promising in an isolated room. The room appeared to be a shrine of sorts, with especially beautiful decorations and carvings that seemed to tell the story of the Gumon's relationship with the Spirit Tree. And at the very center of the shrine, resting upon a weave of beautiful floating stone plates, was a sphere of pure, white light. Or rather, a spherical vessel containing pure light. Several strands of orange energy attached to the orb, like veins.

     Sein floated up to be closer to the orb as she explained what it was. "The Gumon were crafty inventors. They had foreseen a bright future that never came," she said. Ori felt another pang of sadness as he was reminded of their brutal, icy fate. "Look at this light vessel, they were able to store the light of the Spirit Tree within, which they used to power their creations."

     "Should I... take it?" Ori asked cautiously. As much as he didn't want to potentially desecrate a Gumon shrine, it also seemed like it would be useful in searching the Ruins for the Element of Winds.

     "Yes. This shrine serves as storage for the light vessel. Removing it will not damage or desecrate these Ruins."

     Ori nodded, thankful for Sein's reassurance. He leapt up to the orb, and stuck to the stone slab next to it. As he placed his paws on the vessel, he felt the familiar feeling of the Spirit Tree's light warming him, and he relished the feeling as the cold was leeched from his muscles. He began to pull on the orb, the orange veins attached to it seeming to act as tethers as well. However, after a decent amount of effort, the tethers were severed and the vessel came free. Ori flew back and landed on the stone floor with a thud. He quickly got back up, realizing that the vessel was surprisingly heavy, too heavy to even run with for the little spirit.

     Ori looked over at Sein expectantly. As if on queue, the vessel was lifted out of Ori's paws and levitated around Sein. "So, uh... how exactly is that supposed to help?" Ori asked, tilting his head.

     "It controls the Gumon's creations, though I am not sure how," Sein answered. Ori groaned silently. For the heart of Nibel, Sein sure didn't know too much about its inhabitants. "Well... fine. We'll just figure it out."

     Ori turned, heading out of the shrine and back into the main chambers of the Ruins. The cold hit his body once more, and he began to shiver again. He already missed the light contained within the vessel. Ori made his way over to a floating, superheated rock, and prepared to leap over it. However, Sein interrupted him before he could jump. "Ori, look!"

     Ori looked back down at the rock and made a pleasant discovery. The light from the light vessel had somehow managed to cool down the rock to a safe temperature to walk on. "Oh! So that's what the vessel does!" Ori exclaimed in excitement. Now they could get up those shafts to the Element of Winds! Ori placed a hoof upon the rock, and found that it was now only warm to the touch, not scalding hot. He placed his full weight upon it with a big smile on his face. Finally, he could make more progress towards the Element of Winds. He eagerly made his way over to one of the vertical shafts. He took the vessel out of the air and held it closer to the wall. As he had suspected, when the scalding rock was illuminated by the vessel's light, it instantly cooled down to bearable levels. Now he could climb it.

     He took the vessel and leapt at the wall, before mentally punching himself in mid-air. He couldn't climb with the heavy vessel. No way this was how it ended. Ori, killed by a temporary lapse in judgement. What a disappoint—

     Ori suddenly felt as though gravity had shifted. He felt his organs suddenly pushed to the front of his body, a rather unpleasant feeling. His body slammed into the wall, and stuck to it. He groaned a little. What just happened? He opened his eyes, and found himself staring directly up the shaft. What? But it felt like he was laying on the ground. He soon realized he was not, in fact, on the ground, but rather laying flat on the wall.

     "Sein, what's happening?!" he asked in a panic, looking at Sein with fear, but mostly confusion, in his eyes.

     "It appears that the light vessel is reacting to this wall. The wall is made of a unique kind of metal, it seems," Sein responded, seemingly fascinated. "It appears it is able to attract whoever is holding it to the wall. Like a shift in gravity. I had no idea that the Gumon were capable of such a device."

     Ori's fear disappeared, replaced with wonder. He looked back at the wall he was stuck to. He saw that the material it was made out of was a strange silvery-blue color, and was almost completely smooth. Was this kind of technology how the Gumon created such gravity-defying structures? He slowly stood up, feeling incredibly disoriented from the shift in gravity. He felt like he wanted to throw up, but held it in. He grabbed the vessel and lifted it onto his back, carrying it as he walked up the wall.

     "This is so cool!" Ori exclaimed as he approached the far wall, which was really the top of the vertical shaft. For a few moments, his anxiety, fear, worry, and the fate of Nibel on his shoulders lifted. All that was left was child-like wonder.

     But that wonder only lasted a few moments. "Ori! Watch out!" Sein shouted urgently. Ori leapt aside at Sein's warning. Several icy spines impacted the wall, right where Ori was just standing. He squeaked and looked up. A pair of icy slugs had launched an attack, firing their spines at the small spirit. They slithered down the vertical shaft, as murderous as slugs could be. Ori released the vessel, bashing the slug's spines back into their bodies, eviscerating them in a shower of icy goo, before quickly catching the vessel, causing gravity to reorient in the direction of the wall. He gagged as the sudden, rapid shifting of gravity churned his innards and disoriented him, but he once again managed to stay steady. He took a deep breath, making his way back up the shaft.

     The shaft seemed to mimic the shape of a winding, zig-zagging tunnel, abruptly turning horizontally into a long hall, before returning to a vertical shaft. Along each shaft and hall were numerous doorways, though Ori could not tell where they led as they were all blocked off by frozen Gumon. The hallways were also adorned with numerous floating cubes, which Ori leapt onto as the walls of the hallways were covered in deadly icicles. He utilized the shifting gravity to leap down the halls as if they were vertical, which was disorienting but successful. He was making good time as he made his way through the Ruins.

~~~~~~~~~~

     Blitz sat outside the ruins, listening to the sounds of blowing winds. He was full of worry for Ori, and frustrated that their reunion was cut so short. He began imagining all the horrible things that could happen to Ori in those Ruins. He could be skewered by the icicles, or burned by the stones, or hunted by that thing that Blitz had encountered earlier. He tensed a little as he remembered the creature that had tried to kill him shortly after the escape from the Ginso Tree. He had wounded it, and fended it off, but had not killed it. For all he knew, it, Kuro, or something even worse was waiting, biding their time to strike at his or Ori's most vulnerable moment. 

     He shook his head. No. He shouldn't spend all this time worrying. He needed something to occupy his mind, and keep all this worrying away. He sighed a little. Maybe he should try that... "meditation" that Metaljacket did before battle. He tried to recall what Metaljacket had told and shown him. Slowly, he got down into a sitting position, remembering the form Metaljacket used. He closed his eyes, and took deep breaths.

     Then, just as Metaljacket did, he began to ponder and recall.