Title: Tamers of the Colossi
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 AUPre-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: Inspired by playing the game for three hours straight and questioning who Dormin and the Colossi are. 'Nuff said, methinks. Don't own Shadow of the Colossus.
Chapter Six
Shadow on the Wall
The Storm Echo, the Trail Drifter and the Sand Tiger Tamers made their way across the land the next day, their colossi behind them. Since both Velivolus and Recanto had previously faced Grandis, the two of them were slightly more alert than Harena. It was because of this heightened sense of their surroundings that they heard the distinct sound of falling water. Upon further examination, they found the mouth of a cave, with the supposed waterfall glittering in the sun's rays.
It was Recanto who suggested going into the cave and exploring it. "Let's not and say we did, alright?" Harena said. Recanto shook his head at his friend and entered the cave, watching the waterfall transfixed. "Do you have any possible idea of what could happen to us in there if we do?"
"At most, we find a cool new hiding spot," Recanto pointed out. "Besides, aren't I the one who has the bow and arrow?"
"Of which you can't aim to save your life," Velivolus sniggered. This earned her a glare from Recanto, who then turned around and started across the small land bridge to the other side. Both Harena and Velivolus held back, very uncertain of whether to actually follow him or not, and waited for him to come running back out there with his tail between his legs. It never happened.
"You think we should go in there after him?" Harena asked, turning to Velivolus. The female Tamer nodded resolutely, and started to walk.
"Even though he can't aim to save his life, he is still our friend, and I doubt we'd want anything to happen to him," she pointed out. Harena turned around to face Dirge, the massive Sand Dragon behind him before bowing and telling him to stay. All three of their Colossi stayed behind as they proceeded through the cave.
The Tamers of Phalanx and Dirge encountered Recanto within a massive room, with an island in the center of a large lake. A broad ray of sunshine shone on the small building in the middle of this island, and the water glinted like a jewel. Recanto was kneeling by the water's edge, scanning the lake. He obviously wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, and jumped a foot in the air when Velivolus merely tapped him on the shoulder. "You alright?"
"There's something in the water," Recanto replied shortly. "Help me look or something,"
Harena turned his eyes to the water and said, "How big is it?"
Recanto looked up at him, "You're joking, right? Like I really pay attention to how big the fish are when I get around to shooting at them,"
"You actually shoot at the fish?" Velivolus asked.
"Yeah… Although, I'll admit it doesn't work too well…"
Harena looked up from the water's surface and said, "Hm. I wonder why," before returning to his previous task.
There was a sudden splash from across the lake, causing all three of them to look up at the same time. "What… the hell?" Velivolus asked skeptically. Just as sudden as the splash had been, someone actually surfaced. It was a long, blonde-haired boy with a broad face and a languid expression, holding a fish in his mouth. "Marinus!" the female Tamer yelled. "Over here!"
Marinus looked up from the water and nodded before diving down below the surface once more. He was fairly fast underwater, since a few seconds later he popped up, closer this time. The fish was still clenched in his jaws, and he looked up at them with ice blue eyes innocently. "What the heck are you doing here?" Recanto asked. "I thought you couldn't get out of the water!"
Marinus held up one finger in a 'one second' gesture before tossing the fish into the air and swallowing it headfirst. The sight of this vaguely repulsed the three other Tamers, but they quickly recovered when he began to speak. "I can't get out of the water,"
"Then how are you here?" Velivolus said.
Marinus cocked his head, a wry expression on his face. "You really should spend more time underwater. If you had, you would've noticed a few underwater caves. Most are caved in, but there are some that aren't. This just happened to be one that wasn't. Avis and I are looking around in the ruins," He then puffed out his chest in pride and said, "I'm keeping watch,"
"Then what's Avis doing?" Harena asked.
Marinus shrugged. "I dunno. He said something about giving Umbra a proper burial. He said it wasn't right to leave his body lying there where the vultures could pick out his eyes and—"
"Alright, that's enough," Recanto said, holding up a hand. "Who's Umbra?"
Marinus cocked his head. "You don't… know him?" he said, sort of distantly.
"I know of him," Harena said. "But not personally. What was his Colossus?"
"Hold on. Gimme a minute…" Marinus said before diving under the surface.
"We're not getting anywhere, are we?" Velivolus said in a monotone after a few seconds. "If he keeps diving under for fish of all things,"
Marinus resurfaced, this time only the tail of a small silver fish sticking out of his mouth. "A lishard," he said around the fish before swallowing it. "His Colossus was a lizard called… I think it was Kuromori… Something like that. So, Avis is going to give him a proper burial type thing. Goody, you'll be here for the funeral,"
"We aren't here for any funeral of any type!" Recanto growled. "We're just exploring,"
Marinus' eyes widened slightly at Recanto's harshness, but nodded. "You can find Avis in the coliseum. At least, that's where he said he'd be," Marinus shrugged and dove into the water. He didn't come up.
Recanto fell backwards (he had been kneeling for the whole conversation) and thought for a second. "What's say we go and see Avis?" he said meditatively.
"No way in the nine realms," Velivolus said.
"Why not?" Recanto said. "Come on. Where's your sense of adventure?" He stood up, arms spread apart slightly.
"Listen, for once, I agree with Harena," Velivolus said. Recanto noticed that she was doing some sort of weird gesture with her hands. She only did this when she thought the exploration was going to take a turn for the worse. Maybe something for protection? "We should stay here and just see if Marinus can talk for a little while. I like talking with him,"
"You're just afraid, aren't you? Like there's gonna be anything really that harmful to us in there. What's the worst that they can throw at us? A puny lizard?" Recanto laughed. "I eat them for breakfast!"
"When you can aim straight," Harena snorted.
Recanto shot Harena a glare before turning around and starting to wade into the water. "Hold on a second, where're you going?" Velivolus yelled.
"Where does it look like I'm goin'?" Recanto yelled back, not even bothering to turn around this time. "I'm gonna go and check out the ruins. Looks like fun, yeah?"
"If you like being killed," Harena said. His usual monotone wasn't gone, but he did raise his voice. It took a lot to anger Harena, an ordinarily patient and placid Tamer. Recanto still went onwards towards the island, now paddling across the water, struggling to keep his head up above the surface. He heard Harena mutter something before hearing his friends start swimming across the lake.
Recanto clambered onto dry land and shook himself off, much like a dog. "Took you long enough," he said arrogantly. "Let's go and see what we can find, shall we?"
It was a long, quiet walk through the stone tunnel. The reason for its length was because the three Tamers were apprehensive of what might happen. Recanto held his bow in his one hand, an arrow in the other in case he had to fire it. Velivolus' small stone knife was clenched in one fist, and Harena held his spear in both hands, glaring at everything and anything that moved.
"Light!" Recanto barked excitedly. "There's a light!" He sprinted ahead of Velivolus and Harena, who stopped, looked at each other and shook their heads before continuing to follow Recanto. They found him standing in front of an iron-wrought window in the coliseum, looking around. "This is so cool," he said happily.
"This is so stupid," Velivolus said in an imitation of Harena.
They paused, listening. In fact, there were footsteps. "Oh crud," Harena said. At that, Velivolus and Recanto took off in a brisk run, Harena trailing behind them. Recanto's head switched from side to side, trying to find a spot big enough for all of them. His eyes happened to land on a massive block of stone, which he dove for and gestured frantically to the others to come and hide. They didn't need telling twice.
For a few seconds, it was complete silence except for their ragged breathing and their hearts pounding in their ears. The footsteps seemed to be coming closer to them until it was almost literally on top of them. They refused to breathe as the other person muttered to himself (it sounded like a him, so they naturally assumed this). In a few seconds, they were walking briskly away from the block. Harena let out a huge breathe before Recanto noticed the person. And instantly recognized him. "It's Avis!" Recanto yelled. "Hey, Avis!" He popped up like a demented jack-in-the-box, delighted at Avis' reaction: surprise.
"It's only you…" he panted.
"Well, it's actually me an' Velivolus an' Harena, but if you're looking for smarts, it's technically only me," He received a swift kick (most likely from Velivolus) in a particularly sensitive area. At this point, Velivolus clambered over the stone box and over to Avis.
"We met Marinus at the lake back there," she said. "Said something about a proper burial for Umbra?"
"Yes," Avis bobbed his head hurriedly. "But I can't find him,"
"What do you mean?" Harena asked. "If he's dead, like you said, he can't just get up and walk away,"
"That's the freaking problem! Grandis wouldn't drag a dead body anywhere with him, even to dispose of it. He'd leave it there as a reminder to others! And it was only one day ago I saw him kill Umbra!"
"Grandis…" Velivolus hissed. "That's who tried to kill Recanto,"
"Yeah. I've got a scab to prove it," Recanto said, standing up unsteadily and pointing at the center of his forehead. The blood had fully hardened into a disgustingly crusty scab, like he had said. Avis winced slightly before recovering.
"So, what do you think happened?" Harena asked after a second.
"I don't know! Obviously someone moved him, but I just don't know who or what," Avis said.
"We'll help," Velivolus offered. "The three of us,"
Avis nodded tersely and then stalked off in another direction. "Check the lower levels. I haven't been down there yet," he yelled over his shoulder. The other three Tamers nodded, and started down the stairs.
"Harena, you look on this floor. I'll look on the next one down and Recanto, you look at the one below mine, alright?" she said. Harena nodded and Recanto gave a noncommittal shrug. "Good. Let's go,"
Twenty minutes later, Recanto was still scouring the floor he had been assigned. He was silent, the only sound was his footsteps on the stone. Across the coliseum was a part of the wall that had been completely torn off, exposing the interior of the place to the bright sunlight. Interested, he started across over to that part of the wall, apprehensive all the same.
He stopped, looking out across the coliseum. He could see Velivolus walking around in the floor above before she disappeared entirely. The tortoise Tamer sat down on the edge of the part where the wall had been ripped out and looked around disinterestedly. Stupid Avis, he thought. I'm hungry… I want a lizard or a fruit or something that looks remotely like food…
He was staring into the amber eyes of a colossal stone lizard as he thought this. He froze, eyes widening in panic as the lizard focused in on him. Recanto slowly got up, never taking his eyes off of the lizard. Crap. I will never eat another lizard again, as long as I live. I swear. He thought, backing up. A yellow ball of what looked like energy built up in the lizard's mouth, and suddenly shot out at Recanto.
The ball missed him by about three inches, but it exploded, sending cascades of noxious-smelling gas all over the area he was in. Recanto coughed, burying his nose in his sleeve and took off running. Once he was sure he could breath without the fear of that stuff burning his lungs, he screamed, "Velivolus! Harena! Avis!"
Velivolus came down the stairs first, and nearly crashed into him. "What the heck are you doing!"
"You don't want to know! Just get the heck out of here!" Recanto yelled. Suddenly, another blast told Recanto that the lizard had fired another orb of poisonous gas and he grabbed his friend and dragged her up the stairs. Harena and Avis were on their way down, but with a quick gesture from Recanto, they ran towards the tunnel.
"Maybe we can actually fight this thing?" Velivolus suggested.
"Fight it!" Recanto squeaked. "Are you freaking serious!"
"Very. Or at least, buy us some time!"
Recanto turned to face Avis and Harena, to Velivolus and back to the other two. "Avis, you get out of here and we'll fight the lizard!"
Avis nodded resolutely and took off towards the ruins and the lake where Marinus was. "Alright, let's figure out a strategy,"
"Good plan. What do you have in mind?" Velivolus yelled over the din of the lizard colossus.
"I have no plans as of now, but I'll keep you posted!"
Finally, they had somehow managed to ditch Kuromori (at least, that's what Marinus called him…) at one of the top levels, still looking for them. They were all huddled in a small circle, trying to level out their breathing. "Alright. We can't just sit here and wait for him to come," Velivolus said. "Obviously. How about we try and find a weak spot while he's up there?"
"Sounds good," Harena said. He turned to Recanto and said, "I know your aim really sucks, but try and hit it in the eye,"
"I think if we can knock it down, we can actually get a stab at it, you know?" Velivolus said.
"Yeah," Recanto nodded. "Good thinking. You guys wait at the top of the stairs and if I manage to get him to fall, let him have it any place concievable!" He took another arrow out of his quiver (he had dropped the first in fright and wasn't about to go up there to get it too soon) and strung it as he ran into the grassy center of the coliseum. It didn't take long for the lizard to figure out he was aiming for his legs. Another ball of energy accumulated in his mouth as Recanto tried desperately to line up his shot as quickly as he could. Of course, it was a bigger target, so he might have a shot.
He let the arrow go, and it sailed through the air, the white feather end of it twirling in the air as it flew. He saw it sink into the lizard's left leg and the creature faltered, causing the blast to disappear from sight. "Do that again!" Velivolus screamed. "The other leg, this time!"
Recanto nodded, and quickly strung his bow. "Nighty night!" he yelled, and felt intense satisfaction as the arrow sank into the other leg.
It was soon replaced by a dread as the lizard fell from its perch, the grip it had on the wall loose enough to dislodge it. He twisted around, trying to sprint away before it fell. Kuromori crashed into the ground, sending him flying into the air and smashing back down to earth in a disoriented heap. When he finally recovered from the shock of the creature falling, he turned around to look at the lizard. Velivolus and Harena were standing on the underbelly, both of them stabbing at the glowing light blue markings visible on Kuromori. All the Colossi (and the Tamers) had them. They were their weak spots.
Suddenly, Harena yelled out in pain as one of Recanto's handmade arrows pierced his shoulder, going clean through the other end and lodging into his flesh. I didn't… Recanto thought, but his thoughts were cut off. He saw a mere sliver of darkness, and he looked up. Visible in one of the massive windows was a shadow in the shape of a human. Distinct features weren't clear, but it was about the right height of the boy Recanto had tried to fight out on the plains.
"Umbra!" he yelled. The shadow boy turned to face him, staring at him curiously. Then he pounced. He landed smoothly, like a cat, as if the impact hadn't affected him. He stood up, wisps of shadow twisting off of the main body like smoke off a fire. A black, pulsating, gelatinous blob was in the center of what would have been its chest. Aw, snap… he thought, officially frightened. A colossal lizard was one thing. A shadow was another. A very big difference.
At that instant, the lizard managed to buck itself back onto its feet, black blood splattering all over the walls, Velivolus and Harena sent flying across the coliseum. The shadow turned its head to face the lizard before leaping high into the air and landing on its back. It pointed a long finger at the three tamers, and the lizard charged up another explosion. They scattered, each of them sprinting up a different staircase so as to confuse the lizard. "That worked nicely, didn't it?" Recanto yelled over the din.
"Shut up! We at least did some damage!" Velivolus hissed.
"Only to piss off a shadow version of Umbra!" he yelled back.
"C'mon, let's try this routine again," Harena yelled. The other two nodded and they set up their trap once more.
Just as they were going to strike, Velivolus was caught from behind around the neck and dragged backwards. She tried to scream out for her friends, but a hand forced itself to her mouth, forcing a glass vial into her mouth. She could feel liquid dripping into her mouth and down her throat; she tried to bring something up to discourage this person from further harming her.
Almost instantly, she ceased movement. Not because she had finally given in; because of whatever the liquid was. She felt herself go dead to the world, looking up at an oddly-shaped mask, covering the person's head and shoulders entirely. She finally stopped trying to comprehend what was happened and fell into a dreamless sleep.
Recanto realigned his bow, trying to shoot out the other leg to get it to fall. He was unaware of what had happened to Velivolus. Just as he finally got the shot and was going to let the arrow go, he felt a spike of pain in the center of his back. He whirled around in a fit of rage. He was covered in black colossus blood and he was getting a headache from straining himself (it was a warm day), so he had every reason to be pissed off. Standing at the bottom of the staircase behind him was someone wearing a mask. Said mask was quite distorted, to be putting it nicely. Probably so they couldn't tell who it was. Recanto restrung his bow as the person ran forwards, the strands of grass switching back and forth in time with the movements. As Recanto tried to fire the string, the person leapt on him, throwing him off balance and pinning him down to the ground.
Recanto struggled as a thin tube of some sort was forced into his mouth. He bit down on the fragile tube, feeling it crack and the liquid flowing into his mouth. He choked and spluttered, but the person clasped a hand over his mouth so he couldn't spit it out. Almost on accident, Recanto swallowed it, shards of the tube and all. His movement soon ceased as well. Harena had been given this treatment as well. With the three tamers knocked out, they grabbed them, and (with a nod from the leader in a mask) ran out of the coliseum.
Avis stopped, coughing and massaging his raw throat. He hadn't run so fast in his entire life, and he didn't think he'd want to be acquainted with water any time soon unless to drink. He was hiding in the entrance of the cave, waiting for Avion to come and get him out of there. He was glancing around nervously, aware of his surroundings and waiting for the familiar sound of Avion's wings.
Instead, there was a clatter of feet on stone as he turned around again. A person wearing a crude mask was right behind him, a long knife raised high. He yelped in surprise, got up and began running as fast as his legs could carry him. The person behind was much faster and easily overtook him. He knocked Avis down by smashing the hilt of the knife on his head and pinned him down. Avis didn't try to resist; his world was spinning. His mouth was wrenched open and he felt cool liquid trickle down his throat. "Sorry, Avis," the person muttered before everything went black.
Author's Notes:
Characters So Far
Quadratus (bull): Magnus (female)
Gaius (knight): Veritas (male)
Phaedra (horse): Bellator (male)
Avion (bird): Avis (male)
Hydrus (eel): Marinus (male)
Kuromori (lizard): Umbra (male)
Dirge (sand snake): Harena (male)
Phalanx (dragon): Velivolus (female)
Cenobia (lion): Candor (male)
Malus (sorcerer): Grandis (male)
Alright. First things first.
I am sorry that I didn't get to write this chapter when I said I would. I thought Inspiration had bit me, but it turned out to be some other generic pit bull. It was actually… um, hold on… seven or eight weeks later that Inspiration felt compelled to get off his butt and bite me. So, I blame the pit bull.
Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter. I hope it got slightly more interesting this time 'round. This is actually the longest chapter I've written: not including the author's notes, it's seven pages long. I'm quite proud of myself; I couldn't do that three years ago. I'd usually have one or two page chapters, and it used to really piss me off. Then I started looking at Stephen King, and his chapters are usually a paragraph or so long. So, go fig.
A'ight, peeps. Time for the part you've been waiting for: review thank-you note corner.
Mr. Grae: Hee… About the character list, I aim to please! XD Trust me; the war is going to be epic. I mean Odyssey-size. (Alright, well, maybe not that big, but it'll be close!) Yep-yep, Umbra 'died'. Poor lizards. They're always the first ones to go, aren't they? Especially with me. I see a lizard, out comes the sword or bow. Keep readin', my friend!
Crepusculum Flos: I'd agree about the easier-to-write-reviews thing. It's easier to write author's notes, too. I hope that Inspiration will bite you too; I'm sorry you're havin' so much trouble on the stories! Both of them are really good. (School really screws with your system, doesn't it? XD) So, you're starting to like Grandis a bit more? It's fun writing about psychopathic maniacs, isn't it?
jjaxis: Yay! A new reader! It makes me happy to get reviews, especially when they say my story is compelling. Seriously, I was having a really bad day until I got your review. About the character development thing, this is kind of the rough draft, so it's going to be kinda sucky the first time. But thank you for the constrictive criticism! As for the pawns and the characters who make you wonder… Let's just say… you're gonna be surprised…
Alright. That's pretty much it. And I just have a quick trivia question for my faithful readers:
What is your favorite Colossus and/or Tamer and why?
I like to hear what people like about my characters… So, yah. You know my favorites. (hugs Avion, Hydrus and Phaedra)
Once again, thanks ever so much for the reviews and for reading my story. (bows respectfully to my readers) UltimatePalmTree, out!