Ico

V : Innocence

Ico woke up to the beginning of the new day, skin damp with thin dew. Yawning and stretching out, he found himself to be missing a companion. Looking around and not seeing her, he cupped his hands over his mouth and called: "Yorda!"

The sounds of birds flying away were the only response, as he rose up and began looking about the courtyard. Once again he called her name, not getting a response. Becoming more and more uneasy, he started walking around the columns that led to the gates; suddenly his eyes locked onto Yorda's figure.

"Yorda, are you..." He paused, watching her.

Silently, she was slowly creeping up to a small, white bird. The bird occasionally hopped around, plucking small bugs off the pavement. It barely seemed to notice Yorda's bare feet slide up to it, but when she moved to grab it, it took off with a flap.

Jumping at it once or twice, Yorda continued to stare at it as it flew away. Silently, she reached her hand out and caught the feather it left behind. Bringing it close to her face to examine it, she almost went cross-eyed when it touched her nose. Against her skin, it felt very soft, so she took her free hand and began to run it across the feather.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

With a slight flinch, Yorda looked over her shoulder. Finding it to be 'just' Ico, she quickly looked back at her feather, running it through her hands.

"You've got a feather?" He pointed at it, "Feather."

"Pelu'gia."

"Pelu'gia?" He tilted his head, looking at her. Instantly he was wearing the plume on his head. Giving a strange look to Yorda, he then broke into a grin, "Why did you put that on my head?"

Suddenly he stepped aside as she grabbed the feather and chased after a flock of birds. With her arms out wide, she leapt to the feathered creatures, who all took off at once. Coming to a halt, she watched them take skyward for a minute, then stuck the quill of her feather in her mouth, looking back at Ico.

"Don't eat that, it's not good for you, and it might be dirty!" Walking over, he tried to pull it from her mouth, but she turned her head away. With a sigh, he decided having her happy was more important at the moment. "Okay... just don't eat it. Are you paying attention to me?"

She had turned and walked to one of the columns, staring at it. At the top, and unlit torch stood, looking hopeless. Looking back down, she noticed it was resting in a groove. Looking up, and still chewing on the quill of her feather, she pointed, then stared at Ico.

Walking to it, Ico tried to pluck the feather away from Yorda as they both gazed at the column; she merely turned her head, intent on keeping her treasure held securely.

"Well, let's give it a push." Leaning against it, he pushed the column close to the path. After that, he began to do the same to every other column. Meanwhile, Yorda began to chase after the birds again, still with her feather in her mouth. She came to a halt when the columns were in place, for the torches atop suddenly lit.

Walking to the front gate, Ico turned around and observed his work. Just then, he noticed a ledge running across the side of the castle's main doors, where the end was crumbling into fine dust. Running over, he began to work out a solution.

Meanwhile, Yorda was sneaking up on another bird, slowly sliding to it. Suddenly diving at it, she got both hands around the bird and stood upright. The bird, panicked, tried to get away, but the girl's hand was holding it securely and comfortably. With her free hand, she began to stroke the bird's head.

The bird calmed down and seemed content to be stroked. At this point, Yorda rested her head against it, still holding on with just enough force. She barely heard the path behind her crumble as she cooed along with the bird.

"Come here!"

Yorda suddenly held her arms out, and opened her hands, granting the bird freedom. It took off, leaving behind a second feather. Catching it, Yorda stuck it in her mouth, then turned and ran to Ico. He was standing up on the ledge, kneeling down, ready to pull her up.

Taking his arm, Yorda was up with some help and quickly being dragged along.

They crawled around the side of the building and found themselves overlooking a cemetary. Climbing down to the main path, both stood, overlooking the area. A strange silence surrounded them; who could the people in the graves possibly be? They gazed about the area, unmoving.

With a yelp, Yorda was suddenly whipped from Ico's hand.

"Hey!" Whipping around, swinging the stick, he brought it across the body of a shadowy creature hard enough that it dropped Yorda, who hit the path. Stumbling upright, she ran around behind him, eyes darting about the dark figures that circled them. Another pair of dark arms suddenly wrapped around her, causing her to gasp. Unable to fight back, she was hauled over a shoulder.

"Yorda!" Ico looked back and suddenly was hit across the face. Falling to the ground with a bit of a bounce, he caught glimpse of the shadow. It spread out wings and suddenly took off through the air, Yorda over it's shoulder. Scrambling back upright, and not seeing his friend, Ico called, "Yorda!"

She responded with a weak whimper- upon it's landing, the shadow dove headfirst into the dark pool, bringing her along feet-first. The darkness was bitterly cold, as she weakly reached out at the path. Sinking within it's chilling confines, her body became numb as the darkness welled up before her eyes. Soon, her hand was the only thing left in the sunlight; ready to pass out, she let her head hang in the cold.

Suddenly her wrist was caught by a warm pair of hands. Being pulled out of the icy mists headfirst, she found herself pulled upright and ran at high speed to safety. Being tucked in a corner, she watched Ico stand in front of her and defend her to his best ability. Though they came close various times to pulling her back, Ico kept the monsters at bay, finally destroying them. At the end, he slipped onto his knees, about ready to collapse from exhaustion.

"You're... you're okay..." He panted, leaning against his stick. He grew a faint smile when Yorda's hand rested against the back of his head. After taking a minute, he stood up. "Let's go!"

Down in the lowest level of the cemetary, a wall blocked their path; however, an iron door gave slight promise. It seemed to be triggered by some form of switch- quite luckily some raised, square-shaped switches looked to be the answers. There was only one box, which, when brought onto the first switch, did nothing but make a click.

Walking to the other one, Ico stepped on it and watched as the door raised up. "Easy enough."

As soon as he ran off, though, the door came up. With much hesitance, he pushed Yorda to the switch. When stepping on it, she was slightly uneasy for it moved under her feet. Turning, she stared quizically at Ico.

"Stay here and DON'T move." He quickly ran through the door, of out eyesight.

Yorda silently stared at the doorway for some time, but was interrupted when a bird landed behind her. It chirped, which was enough to grab her attention. Stepping off the switch, she inadvertantly locked Ico in.

"Oh... Yorda..." He grumbled, looking over his shoulder.

Walking slowly, she took a lunge for the bird- it suddenly flapped away, leaving her lying on the ground. Slightly dismayed, her attention was then aqquired by a hole in the stone pavement. Crawling on her knees, she stuck her finger in it, then tried to look down it. Prying her hand into it, she began to pull some of the bricks loose. Off in a far corner, a pool of shadow began to spread, just as the bird came back into Yorda's sights. Crawling to it, cat-like, she reached for it...

With a weak yelp, she was taken into cold arms, which flung her harshly over a shoulder. Being hauled to the pool, she couldn't fight back; she was dragged in feet-first, quickly slipping into the icy black. It was so cold that her body became numb, rendering her hands useless. Still trying to grasp the outside, Yorda's breathing became shallow and her eyes glazed, with her vision being nothing but black. By this point, her hand was the only thing still in the light; ready to breathe her last, she let her eyes slide closed.

Her wrist was caught, and with steady pulls, she was again retrieved from the darkness. Stumbling upright, she was pushed into a corner and defended.

"You can't have her!" Ico swung his stick at the foes, "Stay back!"

After the last shadow fell, Ico looked back at Yorda with a slight look of disgust. "I told you to stay..."

"Eou...?"

"..." He let out a sigh. "I'm sorry. I forgot... you don't understand me, do you?"

"..."

He left her momentarily, shoving a newfound box onto the free pressure switch. The door swung open, whereupon Ico grabbed Yorda's hand and led her through. Running down some paths, he stopped before some statues, allowing Yorda to step ahead. With a flash of light, the statues slid apart, revealing a sun-drenched yard. Without a second thought, Yorda was through the door, staring up at the marvelous structure in the center of it all.

Beyond the door stood a windmill, turning carelessly in the breezes. Near it's base was a medium-sized pond; the whole side-yard was covered in thin grass, and one could see, off the edge, the sea meet the sky. Ico ran in after Yorda, who in turn was quickly dashing about to look at everything. Eventually they both ended near the clear-water pond, staring at it's surface.

Yorda was startled to see a face staring back at her from the water. Taking a step back, she looked very unsure about the two lavender eyes looking fearfully back at her.

"Oh, don't be scared, it's only your reflection." Ico walked to the edge and made a face, his reflection doing the same, "See?"

Slowly stepping back to the water, she got down on her knees and slowly reached to the image. Upon touching it, it disappeared with a thousand ripples, again surprising the girl. After a moment, the image came back, enough to hold her curiousity. Soon she was reaching at it just to make it fade, pleased to see it return again and again. After a minute, she looked at her companion, who was taking a drink of the clear water. Slightly confused, she stared.

After finishing a handful, he glanced at Yorda. "Are you thirsty? This water is nice and clear... here."

Taking her hands, he moved them together so they formed a cup. Very slowly, he dipped her hands in the water and brought them back up, the sun reflecting off the liquid. She looked absolutely fascinated by the whole process, and kept her hands together even after he removed his own. Yorda became slightly dismayed after all the water disappeared, looking back at Ico.

"Like this." He dipped his hands into the water and came back up with a handful. Slowly, she did the same, staring at him for further instruction. Carefully, Ico drank what he had out of his hands, then looked at Yorda with a wet smile, "You try."

Again they both did the motions together. Right before he took a drink out of his hand, he encouraged Yorda to do it as well.

She leaned over, ignoring the handful she had, and drank what Ico had.

"...Hey. Hey!" He suddenly threw his hands over his head as Yorda poured her handful onto his hair. "Don't do that!"
For a minute she stared- a very faint grin appeared on her pale features. Looking back at the water, she began to play with her reflection again.

Smiling, he got up, starting to look around. Keeping an eye on Yorda, he gazed about the yard. Way up above, a switch was planted in a platform; the only way to reach it was to scale the windmill. Taking a second glance at Yorda, and finding her to be happily occupied, Ico then walked up to the windmill. Climbing the surface, he made it to a platform just before the rotating blades.

"I could probably hang on and get up that way..." Waiting until the next blade came up, he took a flying leap- missing it entirely, he crashed into the pond below, sending water flying all over the place.

Startled, Yorda had stood up, staring at him in the pond. He swam to the surface and crawled back onshore, dripping.

"Sorry..." He began to wring out his shirt, "Didn't mean to get you wet."

Trying to copy him, Yorda began wringing out her dress.

"You stay here and get dry just like that. I'll be back." He ran back around and went to conquer the windmill once more.

Watching him leave, Yorda gave her dress a few more wrings until she noticed something moving a little father off. Instantly identifying it as those wonderful little creatures that could fly, she took off in a run, scaring the whole flock off. Coming to a halt, she looked around, finding herself to be missing Ico. Running around to the pond, she checked to see if he was within- then she looked up.

He was way above her on the top of the windmill. Though he was very high, he looked fine. That was enough for Yorda, who went back to teasing her reflection. She stared at that face, not recognizing it at all, until she realized it kept doing the same things as she- that was her in the water. Stumbling back with a gasp, she looked at the ghostly figure.

"Yorda!"

Snapping to attention, she looked around.

"Yorda!" The name was called again.

Heading in it's direction, she found it to be coming from a half-bridge near the edge of the side-yard. Below, seas awaited them if they were to fall. Ico held his arm out, waiting for Yorda to leap. Moving into position, she made her best effort on a leap- both of the kids fell momentarily, but Yorda jolted to a halt. Swinging in the air, she reached her other arm up to him, the both climbing up.

"Hi again. Come on!" Taking her arm, he led her across the bridge. Through a door, they found themselves in what could've been described as a large pit. "This is pleasant, huh?"

A yelp emitted from Yorda, who was grabbed up into dark arms.