Title: Tamers of the Colossus
Song:The Mystic's Dream, by Loreena McKennitt
Author: UltimatePalmTree
Pairing: Possible OC/OC. Don't know yet for sure.
Fandom: Shadow of the Colossus
Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy
Warnings: Violence, death/dying/killing, possible torture, but nothing graphic.
Distribution: No. Nothing. You cannot distribute it without my say-so. I'm sorry, but I like to know where my crap ends up.
Summary: Possible AU Pre-Game Before Wander, there were sixteen others who came and went to the Cursed and Forbidden Lands. Not to kill them, mind you, but to tame the beasts.
Authoress' Notes: Most of the time, this will be centered on Phaedra, Hydrus and Avion's tamers (my three favorite Colossi ever). Inspired by playing the game for three hours straight and questioning who Dormin and the Colossi are. 'Nuff said, methinks. Most of the time, this will be centered on Phaedra, Hydrus and Avion's tamers (my three favorite Colossi ever). Don't own Shadow of the Colossus.
Chapter Three
The Sky Dragon, the Tortoise and the Sorcerer
The sky clouded over that night. Thunder rumbled off in the distance and flashes of lightning danced across the surface of the gray clouds. Down below, wind howled and buffeted the trees. It definitely looked like rain. An unconcerned lizard crawled over the bark of the tree, its silver tail shimmering even in the dim light of an evening storm.
Thwack! An arrow sank into the bark of the tree, missing the lizard's flank by a few inches. It scampered up towards the fruit-laden branches and disappeared amidst the leaves. Clutching a bow and arrow, an teenager (in his late teen years) with short, slightly spiked black hair ran out from behind the massive boulder in which he had been hiding, stalking the lizard with the silver-scaled tail. He ran up to the tree and cursed when he saw it had failed to pin the lizard to the tree. He took the arrow out of the trunk, examined the arrowhead, shrugged, and restrung his bow with the same arrow. He aimed upwards at one of the tree's fruits and let the arrow fly. It sailed through the air and into the fruit, knocking the fruit off the tree branch.
"Looks like fruit tonight," he said, grabbing it and picking it off the ground. He examined it, shrugged and took the arrow out before taking a bite. It was sweet, yet tart. A perfectly ripe fruit. He turned around and sat down, watching a stone turtle plodding around in the distance. "Stupid thing; why didn't I get that bird thing?" he muttered angrily. He stood up, placed the half-eaten fruit in a small bag he had made out of lizard skins and took off across the plains.
Breathing hard through his nose and out through his mouth in short little gasps, he was fast for the tamer of the Storm Echo colossus Basaran. That is, if you could manage to get him up in the morning. If he finally decided to take a break from running around all day, hunting lizards, he wouldn't get back up until he damn well felt like it.
"Stupid turtle!" he yelled as soon as he had reached the massive creature. "Absolutely stupid creature," The turtle stopped to allow him to make his way onto its back; he did so with a bit of difficulty. He just wasn't as adept at climbing up his colossus as some of the others. Once he managed to situate himself on the top of the creature's head, he crossed his legs and pulled the fruit back out and began munching on it.
As the rain slowly began falling, a prickling sensation erupted on the back of his neck, causing his eyes to widen and he looked up to the sky. Soaring high above him was a thin tannish line, odd fin-like protrusions coming from its sides. Great, he thought, it's the show-off. As if on cue, the line began to fall from the sky in a controlled descent. It finally leveled out a few feet next to Recanto's tortoise; a blonde-haired, seventeen-year-old female sitting on the tip of its pointed nose. She waved amiably as Recanto ordered Basaran to stop.
The second flying Colossus's 'fins' kept moving so as to keep it aloft. The fact it had a sac full of air helped, as well, using the same principle as a zeppelin. "It's a wonderful evening, isn't it?" she asked. Recanto nodded vaguely, unsure of what to say if she kept up the conversation. In truth, Velivolus was one of his better friends, but she tended to talk a bit too much as well as show off.
"If you like the rain," Recanto said bitterly.
"It's alright," she shrugged. "I can tell you one thing, though; Harena hates it,"
"More than me? I doubt it,"
"Makes the sand wet," Velivolus said sardonically. "He can't breathe; which do you prefer: breathing or putting up with rain?" Recanto refused to answer.
"Having fun?" a voice said from down below. Almost at that exact moment, the sky seemed to rip open, drenching the land in a torrent of rain. It was almost impossible to see through, but they could both easily see a pair of icy blue glowing circles, glaring up at both of them from in front of them. They both instantly knew who it was: Grandis. The Sixteenth Tamer.
They knew what he looked like. He was rather imposing at six-foot-eight (he was only seventeen, too), and his shoulder length black hair was cut jaggedly, as if he had asked an alligator to chop it off for him. His eyes were slightly different from everyone else's; his literally glowed. It was, to put it nicely, daunting to see those eyes in the dark, especially if they were right next to you. Even in the dim and rainy conditions, they could see his trademarks: sorcerer's bracelets. Criss-crossing over his palms and arms, they practically covered every inch of skin like monochromatic beaded arm warmers. His right forearm was covered in navy blue ones, while the left was covered in blood red. They were made out of thin, transparent strings, stiff reeds, and beads of the same colors as the dyed stalks.
"What're you doing here?" Recanto said. Crap. Think first, then say it. He always forgot to do that…
"I was just going to ask you the exact same question," Grandis said in a low growl-like tone. Recanto crawled back down Basaran's leg so as to face the Sixteenth Tamer. Again, he had the problem of doing things before he thought it through. He was gonna end up dead one of these days… "You know where your limits are," Grandis continued. "If you value your life, I suggest you stay in them,"
"We never set out limits," Recanto said mildly, shrugging slightly. "We never said 'you have to stay here, and that's that'. I don't remember anything about that,"
"I suggest you shut up, as well," Grandis snarled. The uncomforting feeling of said tamer's breath on Recanto's skin made him positive Grandis was moving closer to him.
That's a very short temper, you have, huh? Recanto thought blandly as he stepped backwards. "Get away from me," he said, raising his hands. The next action was both uncalled for and totally random. There was a shhk as something shiny and silver was pulled out of a small sheathe on Grandis' belt and, two second later, Grandis thrust the blade into Recanto's forehead, the effect much like a unicorn's. The dagger didn't seem to go as far as the tamer wanted it to, but it would have to do. He held onto the hilt of it for a few seconds, watching as Recanto's eyes widened, and then shoved him backwards onto the rain-soaked ground.
"In all the nine realms!" yelled Velivolus, struggling to get off Phalanx's head. "You just killed him!" She yelled, and kept repeating this, examining Recanto, his face still in an expression of shock and pain.
"Your point?" Grandis growled, eyes narrowing. He turned away from her and said as he walked, "Well, that's how it is. If I want to gain more power, I need to make sacrifices. Some figuratively, and…" Grandis turned, and looked down at the twin trails of thick chocolate-black blood slowly trickling down Recanto's face. "Some quite literally…" He smiled a grim smile.
"You idiot!" the girl continued, "Why did you have to do that!"
"Again. Sacrifices." Grandis shrugged, and he began to walk away, leaving Velivolus with the body of Recanto.
"How stereotypical,"
The startled blonde looked down to see Recanto actually getting up, the dagger still stuck in his forehead. He blinked the blood out of his eyes, and licked one of the two metallic-scented trails. "You're just gonna leave me for dead. Without taking the dagger out," Recanto laughed shortly, taking the dagger's hilt and pulling it out.
"How the heck are you still alive!" Grandis howled in rage. "I shoved that into your forehead, and yet you still live!"
"A tortoise has almost impeccable armor, especially one made out of stone… This is one of the benefits!" Recanto laughed. "I get the slow, stupid colossus, yet I get the best protection out of all of you. I say it kind of evens out in the end,"
Grandis didn't know what to say; he kept looking back and forth from Recanto to the dagger and vice-versa, making a slight hissing noise in his throat. Finally, he turned and (with one final glance back to Recanto) tore across the plains. The tortoise and the sky dragon tamers watched as he disappeared into the pouring rain. Somehow, they knew it wasn't going to end here. Grandis was not the type of person who just said 'screw you and the horse you rode in on' and took off. Probably five million other assassination attempts being planned in his head as they stood there.
"I'm gonna give him a really good fight one of these days. And I'm gonna enjoy every single freaking second of it," hissed Recanto. He aimed the dagger at a lizard skittering across the plains in front of them, and threw it. The bloodied knife landed three feet away from it with a wet thunk, putting the period on his last statement.
Author's Notes
I just received four more reviews. I never expected any reviews, let alone two additions to people's favorite's lists. So, this is where I shall reply to said reviews. In the mean time, I hope you enjoyed this (short) chapter of Tamers.
Mr. Grae: Wow, I got on your favorites list. I am really in shock. And honored, don't get me wrong. I'm glad you're gonna be in the first seats to see the war between the Colossi, along with (hopefully) many more people. You got your wish in this chapter: you got to see the tamer for the second flying colossus. The sand dragon one ought to be in another chapter or two; I'm still figuring out his looks.
Runemeister: As a matter of fact, there are female tamers! So far, there are only two of them (Quadratus—the second one, and Velivolus), but as I work on it and develop it, I'm sure there'll be more. Initially, Velivolus was going to be male, but I decided against it after asking a friend of mine.
Todd B. James: I'm quite happy you like the idea of my story. Yeah, the Colossi really are bad news. At least, that's what I got from the game. I'm certain this fic is gonna keep moving, and I hope you'll be along for the ride. Also, thank you for adding me to your favorites list! I really am honored.
And, to everyone, thank you all for reading. Chapter four should be up soon, but I don't know when. Sometime by this weekend, I hope. Well, keep watching and have a good day!