-constructive criticism is always welcome-

Chapter Four

Secrets to unravel

Tenebris led Trico down to the place he had found the barrel at. Trico looked around curiously before turning her attention back to Tenebris, wondering why he had brought her here.

Tenebris pranced over to a few shrubs and pawed out two barrels that he wasn't able to bring to Trico. He had found them along with the other barrel but had no way of bringing them to her since he couldn't fit all three of them in his mouth.

Trico squeaked as she sniffed the barrels, grabbing the one closest to her and eating it. She quickly grabbed the other one before pausing as she watched Tenebris. He was staring at the barrel with his ears pinned and his head lowered.

Trico dropped the barrel before nudging it over to Tenebris, causing the male to snort with happiness. He grabbed the barrel and wolfed it down, eyes glowing blue before changing back to their original color.

Trico stretched with a yawn before lying down in the sunny area. Her ears swivled around as she tried to pick up any sounds, but she heard nothing at all. Everything was quiet.

Trico shifted in discomfort as she realised that the world around her was more quiet than she remembered. Before her freedom she spent most of her time conserving her energy for sacrificing a human in return for a barrel. And even after breaking away from the master's grasp she was preoccupied with watching the boy, scurrying around to find away to the tower, or keeping an eye out for a way to keep the once dangerous Tenebris at bay.

She never noticed how calm everything was around her, how peaceful the world could be if she'd just take some time to rest without worry. But now she didn't really have anything to worry about, right?

Hmm, perhaps not just yet.

But for now the young beast ignored the thought of the past and the future to come and lightly focused on the present. Tenebris sat next to Trico as he viewed the world around him. After a minute of watching birds that were flying in flocks, most moving away from the valley, Tenebris lied down next to Trico.

He stared at her longingly before scooting closer. Hesitating, the darker beast place his head on Trico's side letting out a sigh. Trico peered back at Tenebris before reaching her head over to his side. She was unable to rest her head on his side but her head was close enough to where she could press her face against his feathers. That's all she really needed, a way to ensure that he was within reach.

The two stayed together, listening to the hushed range around them. The wind shook the trees giving a soft whooshing sound and the bird flapped their wings softly as they sang for the world to hear. The world had it's own definition of quiet. It was unexplainable, it was extraordinary, it was beautiful.

A loud roar of distress made Trico snap her head up. Tenebris looked around with his feather sticking up, a light purple hue tinting his eyes. The world seemed even quieter than before. No birds singing, no wings flapping, even the wind seemed to be uninterested in shaking the trees.

Trico stood up with a slight growl, her bottom lip quivering with fear. Her eyes trailed to Tenebris as he gave her a comforting nudge before he gazed over at the direction of the cave. He seemed to want to head back, it was a saftey spot for them.

Trico only snorted in protest, creeping towards the noise with great interest. Tenebris whimpered as he quickly trotted infront of her, using his one good horn to push her gently towards the cave. Trico took a step back, debating on listening to Tenebris or following the roar. A loud whine caught Trico's attention as she growled at Tenebris and pushed past him.

The male stumbled back but quickly followed the stubborn Trico as she pranced towards the noise. She pounced onto a pillar, the weight of her body causing it to crumble. Quickly, Trico leaped to the side of a nearby tower, her back legs slipping off the edge.

With a determined huff, the beast flapped her wings, pulling herself to the top. The pillar tumbled to the ground as Trico and Tenebris both watched. Tenebris looked around as the way across had been destroyed. Trico waited momentarily before a shriek followed by the sound of clawing was heard.

She stalked towards the sound, knowing that her friend was in no danger. She'd be back soon enough, she was just a bit curious. Tenebris howled in protest as he realised Trico was leaving. He stared at the space the pillar use to be. Where he was and where the tower Trico had gone to wasn't too far away he supposed.

With a grunt, Tenebris backed away from the gap, small wings flapping eagerly as he galloped towards the opening and jumped. He made it past the crumbled pillar but was short of the tower. He slammed into the tower's side, just bellow the top. Clawing for the edge of the tower, the young male started to slide down.

The loose bricks of the tower's side started to crumble and dig into Tenebris's talons, but the beast was too panicked to notice. He flapped his wings as he let out a series of whimpers and whines of panic.

Trico made her way to the noise, each growl, snarl, or whimper getting louder and louder with each step. She made her way down to the top of a rather short building. A hole was seen on the roof, Trico leaped onto it and peered inside.

A figure sat croutched in the corner, part of its armor hanging off. It's horns seemed to be broken, only part of the blue pieces sticking out from its head. The rest were somewhere beneath the roofs crumbled surface, never to be seen again.

One of the creatures wings were broken while the other seemed to be fine, just a bit bloody. The mask of armor suddenly slipped off the beast as it jolted it's head forward to roar at Trico. The clanging of the mask distracted the hurt beast for a brief moment before it glared back at the female.

It's feathers were jet black with a creamy tan neck, chest, and chin. Its face was tan with black tear marking and a black beak. The black feathers continued to the face until the fur was a jet black and only then did it stop at the middle of its face.

Chestnut outlined the creamy tan color and even gave the beast two eyebrow like markings that furrowed in anger. It's tail was striped with jet black and the creamy tan and its broken horns were a bright blue. It's ears was neither black nor bluish-purple but pure black.

It's eyes flashed a dangerous purple as it snarled with a huff following behind. Trico reconized this beast, or at least she thought she did. It was hard to see the Tricos at the tower but she did remember seeing it before.

Perhaps she knew it before the attack? When she was still imprisoned by the master. Trico tilted her head slightly before stepping away from the hole.

This had to be one of the tricos that fell from the tower, she had remembered their shrieks of terror as they plummeted towards certain doom. But this one had survived, well... not that it wasn't possible. Trico had faced death throughout the journey with the boy many times.

Perhaps this trico wasn't the only one to survive. Trico didn't know where the rest fell, but maybe they had something break their fall or maybe they landed safely. If not then surely the trico species was doomed.

Trico heard more clawing but a thud following afterwards. Trico returned to the hole to see the trico jumping onto the wall and desperately trying to claw out. It soon fell back to where it started, causing it to let out a frustrated roar. It was simply stuck in this building and it couldn't get out.

Trico pondered about the situation as she continued to watch the jet black beast. It was clearly stressed, it would be unwise to approach it. Not like Trico could without getting herself stuck as well, but maybe she could find a way to help.

Trico roared at the jet black trico softly, causing it to glared up and let out a louder roar. Trico cooed out to the agitated beast as it watched her carefully. The trico stared at Trico with its ears pinned before letting out a warble in return.

Trico sighed before looking around for a way out, everything seemed to be closed off. It was rather hard to see at this angle, maybe if she could jump down somehow.

Tenebris looked behind him quickly as he caught sight of a structure of stone. It seemed sturdy enough and at the moment he really didn't have the time to stop and calculate. With a huff, Tenebris leaped off the tower edge and gripped onto the stone structure. Scrambling, Tenebris pounced back to the tower he was on but finally made it to the edge.

Tenebris quickly pulled himself to the top, sitting down in exhaustion. He panted as fear still course through his body, it was foolish of him to try to make that jump. How desprate was he? Tenebris shook his feathers before looking around for Trico. He sniffed around quickly as he followed the females scent trail.

He found his way back to Trico, jumping to the roof top to greet her. But Trico didn't even seem to acknowledge his presence. Tenebris pinned his ears with an annoyed snort as he peered down the hole. The two beasts locked eyes as they stood still for a moment.

Tenebris snarled at the beast as his feathers stood on end again. His eyes flashed a bright purple as the jet black beast did the same. The two dark beast had a stare down before the jet black beast roared at Tenebris. The dark beast drew in his breath before roaring at the unwelcome beast, glarring at it intensely with each roar.

The jet black trico finally gave in and scurried back to the corner of the building, it's lip quivering again. Tenebris perked his ears and gazed at Trico happily. He had just fended off an unknown beast and protected his friend. But the dark beast was only met with a glare.

Trico glanced down at the stressed beast before letting out a sigh. Just as she was getting it's trust Tenebris had to scare it away. It wasn't his fault but still. The only thing to do next was to start over, and learn from their mistakes.

Oh yeah! Another chapter! I don't really know if all of the tricos die at the end but I don't necessarily think they all did. Because then Trico's generation would be messed up! But anyways, I based this jet black trico after the one that gives the boy a shadow of the colossus point of view of the valley. I always admire the tricos at the end of the game even though most people seem to dislike them for whatever reason.