What I Wouldn't Sacrifice
A Shadow of the Colossus Fanfiction
This time when Faulklin awoke, it was with confusion. Had he gone and fought the fourth Colossus? If he had, he couldn't remember. Nor did he think he'd laid down and gone to sleep. He didn't think he'd simply passed out either.
He groaned as he lifted his head off the ground and slid his arms under him, pushing himself up slightly and noting as he did so that there were a pair of feathered horse legs in front of him. It was at that point he glanced up, realizing that Rebel was standing directly over him, and the teen crawled out from under the stallion so that he could stand properly.
He didn't ache quite so badly, but the adolescent was still very much sore. The pain was little more than a dull, lasting throb though, and whatever amount of sleep he'd managed had been at least slightly rejuvenating.
Which raised the question... how long had he been out?
The sun hadn't seemed to have moved at all, light still cast through the same place as before, but it couldn't possibly be the same time of day.
Or maybe it wasn't the same day at all. Maybe he'd slept all the way until the next.
It was at that point his gaze lingered on Daijoudan, the man appearing to be asleep with one knee propped up, where he rested his head. Some memory that was just out of reach pricked at the back of his mind, something having to do with Daijoudan... yet he couldn't quite place what it was.
And then it all came flooding back.
"Son of a bitch!" Of all the nerve! For that asshole to knock him out like that!
Just as he began to storm up to the man, those silver hues cracked open faintly, not entirely alert but awake enough to recognize the younger male and his advance.
"Problem?"
"What the Hell do you think?" Faulklin snarled, bristling. "Fuck yes there's a problem, you narcissistic, overinflated piece of shit! What right do you think you have to try knocking me out?"
"I didn't try anything, I just did." The silverette yawned, unaffected by Faulklin's anger. That didn't mean he let the brat grab him by the collar like the shorter boy intended, Daijoudan snatching his wrist firmly, looking entirely unapologetic. Maybe even so far as to say smug. Faulklin tried to hit him with the free hand, but Daijoudan caught that too.
"Let me go so I can hit you!"
Daijoudan snorted and rolled his eyes. "As if."
"Is that all you have to say?" Faulklin growled, narrowing his eye and trying to pull his wrists free.
"Well I could insult you," Daijoudan hummed, the epitome of indifference. "But it would probably just go over your head." He stood up and Faulklin could feel the smirk in Daijoudan's voice even though he couldn't see one. "Just like my sightline."
Faulklin growled and raised his leg back to kick, but Daijoudan merely knocked the other one out from under him, at the same moment that he twisted his arms to spin the boy around and let him fall flat on his back against the steps, hissing in pain. Daijoudan huffed something that might have been laughter and stepped past him, going to his horse.
"Now are you coming or not?" Faulklin blinked and glanced over at the older male as he mounted his horse, clutching the reigns and looking bored. "I imagine you still haven't given up on slaying the other Colossi."
"Of course not," Faulklin snapped, getting to his feet and walking over to Rebel, hopping on the stallion's back. He took a moment just to breathe, his single eye flitting over Komeko's still form on the alter, before they headed out. He was trying to recall Dormin's words, but they were lost to memory. It probably didn't matter, anyway. He could find it with the sword's light and worry about how to defeat the fourth Colossus on his own merit.
He was silently hoping that this one wasn't going to be twice as large as the last one, as had seemed the theme so far. Those had been hard enough, but if every new one just got bigger and bigger, he wasn't sure how he would be able to keep up. Even he, the borderline poster child of unyielding stubbornness to the point most would probably call stupidity, had to admit that there was only so much that was humanly possible, even though he felt as if he had already pulled off three impossibilities so far.
Their path took them into a narrow ravine within easy sight of the Temple's entrance, cloaked in shadow and the ground covered in too many lizards, the small reptiles dashing out of their way and up the walls as the two riders came through. It wasn't terribly long and soon opened up with sunlight reaching a grassy glen just beyond a trench that cut across their path. Strings of lichen hung from a rocky overhang a few stories above them, and small trees sat on the edges of the valley where the sun didn't quite reach. In the center looked to be a half-mound of dirt with a small stone doorway leading underground.
There was still no sign of the Colossus, but both men kept their guards up as they circled the far lip of the trench that separated them from the field, keeping their senses trained for any sight or sound of the monster.
There was a distinctive hum of tree leaves rustling with the wind as they entered the field and Faulklin gazed around warily, but saw nothing immediately worth his attention. He was sure that this was the right place, though, and they continued on further, between the half-mounds, of which there were four spaced facing completely separate directions in a uniformed square pattern.
It was after passing the furthest mound that Faulklin spied it, a shape just around the bend of the cliff. He could make out the features of its head sitting up and body laying against the ground like some sort of resting deer, and was thankful that the creature was comparatively smaller than the last two.
"At least it isn't quite so big."
"Just don't get cocky," Daijoudan cautioned. "Size doesn't mean anything."
Faulklin snorted. "Take your own advice."
The brunette nocked an arrow and let it fly from a distance, but the Colossus didn't budge, as if sleeping. Faulklin waited, remembering how he had assumed as much with the last one, but it didn't stir at all and its eyes remained unlit, black pits. "I guess I'm going to have to get closer before it'll even recognize me," he sighed, flicking Rebel's reigns.
Just as he thought, as soon as he drew near, suddenly its eyes glowed blue and it seemed to awaken, dragging its front legs out from under it to haul itself to full height on sharp, spike-like legs.
Well, I got its attention now.
Faulklin turned and signaled Rebel into a gallop away from it, the likewise horse-like Colossus lumbering after him at a considerably slow enough pace that he didn't have to worry too much, slowing next to Daijoudan as he tried to devise how he was going to tackle this one, raising his sword by the light. Once again, he was assured that one was atop the Colossus' head, and from the way the light angled, either on its back or shoulder, maybe even both shoulders.
The trick now was how he was going to get on top of it. This one didn't have any fur spots located within range, so he would have to find another way.
He didn't get more time to ponder as it came closer and they ran out of its path and into the trees, circling through the shadows of them and coming out on the far side, the Colossus skimming the edge of them to follow. What caught Faulklin's eye most were the stone danglies on the Colossus' head, like a string of huge hair beads. If he could grab onto them, perhaps he could climb straight up to its head.
He would need to get it to lower itself towards the ground though to reach them.
Then he remembered the mounds with doorways in them. If he went inside one, maybe it would stick its head down to find him again. He could use that moment to run back out and grab on.
"I think I have a plan, but first you need to get out of sight. Then when I get up onto the Colossus, distract it," he ordered Daijoudan, who frowned unpleasantly but didn't argue, steering his black-and-silver mare away into the shadow of the trees.
Faulklin rode past it towards the ravine and waited for the Colossus to come closer, pulling Rebel to a full stop until it was almost upon him and the animal, then kicked Rebel into a sprint around its legs, leaping off as they neared one of the tunnels. He nocked another arrow and fired it at the beast, waiting for it to turn and see him, and then disappeared into the darkness of the cave, satisfied to find that it went a fair distance deep and connected to the other tunnels in a small network.
He could still hear the crash of its sharp legs creating divots in the earth as it came closer, what light was pouring in starting to fade, up until he saw the danglies come into view as the Colossus lowered its head to peer in. Faulklin silently declared victory and went to run back out of the tunnel and grab onto them, but skidded to an abrupt halt as the Colossus' pillar of a leg appeared and jabbed inside. He cursed foully and threw himself further into the tunnel, instinctively flattening himself to the ground and feeling the very tip of the Colossus' stone leg just barely skim over his back and crash into the stone wall within, sending down a shower of dirt.
Somewhere he could hear the bray of a horse, and above him stone was splitting. Chunks raining down on top of him as the leg crashed inside, somewhere off to the other side now, clawing and trying to crush him. Then there was a whistling noise and the leg disappeared, dust choking the air too much to see almost anything at all.
Faulklin sucked in a few hard breaths and began to move, even as the Colossus' steps rattled directly above as it went to chase what was probably Daijoudan trying to save his scrawny ass. It took a great deal of effort to get back to his feet from beneath the rubble that had chunked off of the wall, leaving his back battered and aching, but there was nothing to be done about it now save for take a quick breather and continue with his task.
He could tell just by the noise and vibrations that the Colossus was away from this entrance and poked his head out, just to be sure, before walking back into the open and to the edge of the half-mound to see where the Colossus had gone.
Its back was to him now as it stomped in a circle over one of the mounds, as if searching or perhaps trying to crush something underneath it, then stood at the top of the mound, stabbing at the ground over and over in front of the other entrance. Maybe it had gotten Daijoudan, but somehow Faulklin doubted it.
Finally it splayed its legs out in all directions and lowered itself down to see into the hole, turning its head almost upside down, and leaving it blind to see anywhere else.
This was his chance.
He sprinted out of hiding and across the field, hoping as he did so that it would be distracted long enough for him to cross all that distance without being spotted. He wasn't sure whether or not the creatures had a learning curve, but he really didn't want to find out, because if they did, that could end in a very premature death.
Not that he truly believed he could pull off defeating all sixteen of these monsters, but he was going to try for as long as he could until he found his end.
It was only when he was within a yard or two of the Colossus that it finally noticed him, probably hearing his steps and hard breathing, and turned so that his face came almost into contact with its glassy blue eye, rising quickly. But not quickly enough, Faulklin managing to reach the hanging string of stone beads before they could rise from his reach.
As it rose, it snapped its head up, the beads and Faulklin flipping into the air and sending him soaring a good few feet. He crashed back down onto the crown rim of its stone-chiseled head, knocking the wind out of him, but he managed to hold on long enough to clamor over the edge and collapse into its fur as he tried to regain himself. Where he lay, a faint sigil began to glow to life, his sword likewise beginning to shine.
Just as he was drawing the sword from sheathe, it threw its head back and landed him in an undignified heap on its back, the teen ending up with a mouthful of coarse fur of which the only bath it had probably ever seen was the rain, of which had done nothing but further helped whatever foul organisms dwelled on it.
Spitting distastefully, he glanced off the beast's side and noted Daijoudan finding his horse and mounting to ride, before he was distracted himself by the Colossus shaking its entire body back and forth vigorously like a dog trying to shake off water. It was all he could do to hold on tightly and wait for it to cease, trying not to get flung or flipped straight off. A meeting with the dirt from this high up was beyond unappealing.
When it stopped, he swung his bow and quiver off, holding it ready to toss.
"Hey!" Daijoudan's head snapped up at his words, but there was no need to say anything else, the man riding closer until he was alongside the Colossus and just pausing long enough beside it to catch the arrows and bow, then dash away as the Colossus tried to turn for him and stomp one of its legs down into the soil and miss him.
Turning his attention away and trusting that Daijoudan wasn't likely to let himself get killed, Faulklin ran across the Colossus' back and tried to figure out where the other glyph not on its head was, the Colossus turning its head to look at him. He felt it bunch beneath his feet and he crouched down to grasp a fistful of fur as it rose onto its hind legs, swiveling around as it did so and trying to crush the smaller horses and Daijoudan as it crashed back down onto its front legs, rattling the earth and the boy on its back, just enough to wind him for a moment.
He leapt down onto one of the shoulders and a glyph glowed to life in the presence of the blade. Faulklin raised his sword to plunge into the Colossus' shoulder and earn a squeal of pain front it, the startled monstrosity staggering to one side and catching itself before it could fall. It shook itself and turned to glare red eyes at the offending petite on its shoulder, but an arrow quickly distracted it, bouncing off its stone face and making the Colossus jolt in surprise.
After three good stabs, the glyph disappeared, the Colossus switching its attention between the boy on its shoulder and man riding horseback firing arrows at it in obvious frustration, not sure which one of them to deal with first.
It turned and picked up its pace into a long-strided walk towards one of the stone walls, swiveling so that it could slam its side up against the rock wall and grind its shoulder as if trying to reach a pesky itch, but Faulklin was already off that shoulder and rolled down to the other one, stabbing the second glyph. The Colossus squealed again, bemoaning its irritation and pushed away from the wall.
It reared again and forced the small figure to hold on tightly, turning and its large head almost scraping the rock roof partially above the glade, a veil of hanging lichen and vines swinging as its head brushed through them.
Once he regained his footing, another deep jab to the shoulder sent the Colossus stumbling slightly. The third jab made it jolt and stumble sideways, nearly smashing Faulklin into the rock in a second attempt, but it missed its chance, if only just barely, as he climbed high enough to avoid such an outcome.
It was at this point that Faulklin went for a glowing crack at the base of the Colossus' neck, stabbing into it and making the entire beast spasm with a shrill screech, at the same moment that Daijoudan rode by and fired another volley of arrows at it to divert its attention. Shaking its head angrily, it bunched itself up to rear, and Faulklin stabbed the fissure in its neck again, another spasm traveling through the beast as it came crashing down and landed ungracefully, one spiked leg breaking through the earth bordering the glade's trench and sending it stumbling forward, its chin striking the other side hard and sending vibrations through Faulklin's bones as he held on tightly to keep from catching air.
The boy recovered faster than the Colossus did and ran down the length of its neck to its head where the last of the glyphs glowed brightly, beckoning for the blade to sheath within its center.
Falling to his knees, Faulklin hoisted the blade above his head and struck down with all of his might, the Colossus screaming and writhing as it tried to find its footing again, clawing open air beneath it instead. With the third stab, it found the side of the cliff and planted its dangling leg there, readjusting its footing on the other three and trying to rise out of the hole.
Two more stabs and it began to rise back up, trying to claw backward onto solid ground, but its single-digit foot slipped and it only fell further, becoming wedged between the two cliffs and flailing its legs against the earth with an alarmed bellow.
"Oi!" Faulklin didn't bother looking back, intent on finishing off the Colossus, and more than happy for how things had played out to make this a much easier kill than it would have been otherwise. "Move your ass out of there, before you fall and get crushed!"
Faulklin only scoffed and drove the blade down again, the battling giant losing fight and signaling that it was almost finished, and he had no intention of letting this fight become more difficult when he had the opportunity for such a quick, easy kill.
The Colossus tried to push itself up and out of the hole again, but the blade finally took what life it had left in it and it slipped further down abruptly, the entire beast going limp and slipping entirely over the side now and crashing to the bottom of the ravine with an echoing rumble, Faulklin holding on tightly to its fur and the sword lodged within it until it finally stopped at the bottom.
Dust filled the air as chunks of dirt and rock rained down from the cliff walls above where the Colossus slid down, though thankfully nothing large enough to worry over becoming a legitimate threat to his life. Finally a few stray clatters of settling soil was all that sounded in the following silence and shadows began to cloak the Colossus' corpse.
"You'd better hope you're faster than those damn tendrils at climbing, because I am not hauling your idiot self out of there, no matter how tiny you are!"
Faulklin coughed on the dust in the air as he dislodged his blade and sheathed it, glancing about the space, which, thankfully, at least looked as though it had some navigable pathways up its side.
"Fine, then don't!" Faulklin snapped back, leaping down off the dead Colossus to the ground a few feet down and running up the path. Sadly, he wasn't quite quick enough to outrun the tendrils, and he only remained conscious long enough to hear Daijoudan curse profanely from above in annoyance.
