Chapter 2

A/N: Hey everyone, I'm back with a new chapter. I forgot to mention this before, but someone who played TLG had pointed out that the villagers say "Tomiheanchu" or something similar whenever the boy was around so I decided to use that as his name.

Enjoy!

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Once Trico came out of the river, Ico had to shield himself as the giant beast began shaking the water out of his…fur? Feathers? The boy wasn't sure yet.

"C'mon, we have to take this back to the camping spot!" Tomi stated and knelt down to collect a fish, holding it from its tail.

Yorda watched Ico walk over to help him and looked down to see one in front of her. Deciding to help out too, the princess slowly knelt down and tried grabbing it, but she yelped when it wiggled right out of her hand and bounced on the ground before falling back into the river.

A soft snicker caught the girl's attention and she looked over to see Tomi covering his mouth with his hand, trying to hold back his laughter while Ico looked not far behind, making her blush slightly and look away in embarrassment.

Once they had enough fish for tonight, they placed the remaining ones back into the river and made their way back to the camping spot.

Ico gulped and his shoulders tensed since the beast was walking right behind them. He could almost feel the creature's breaths on his neck and his black eyes trailing their every move. Tomi on the other hand seemed completely at ease by this and Ico wondered again how he could do that with such a terrifyingly huge creature following them.

The fact that the beast also had horns didn't help Ico feel any better.

Tomi suddenly caught Ico's gaze on him and smiled, causing Ico to look away sheepishly. Ico wasn't sure what to think of the boy either. The fact that this kid who they knew for less than an hour was being this friendly to him was….weird to say the least.

Ico had always been an outcast. Nobody wanted him around and he wasn't allowed near festivals no matter how much he wanted to join everyone. He recalled spending many nights alone at home and doing chores just to pass the time while the rest of the village were having fun without him.

He couldn't even make any friends since most parents told their children to stay away from "the creepy kid with horns". The children who did approach Ico just wanted to tease him about his appearances.

This was why he had a hard time trusting other people.

So to actually meet another boy nearly his age who doesn't judge or hate him immediately was something Ico didn't think would ever happen or was even possible to begin with.

The sun had set by the time they made it back and the sky was darkening. Ico hurriedly dropped the fish on the grass and walked over to the fire wood, ready to start the fire when suddenly he remembered something.

He didn't know how.

Nervously holding two sticks in his hand, Ico turned Tomi who was petting Trico. "Hey, uh, Tomi. Do you know how to start a fire?"

Tomi blinked at him. "Uhhh..…"

Ico groaned and threw his hands in the air in defeat. Suddenly, climbing towers and jumping onto watermills felt like the easiest thing in the world when compared to what was happening to them right now.

Ico never learned how to start a fire and never really needed to. Even back at the queen's castle, whenever he needed to light something up there were already lit torches for him to use. He couldn't believe he had forgotten about that and collected these twigs for nothing!

Tomi frowned and went to look around for a minute before coming back with two rocks. "I've never done this before, but I've seen men in my village do it." He explained and began hitting the two rocks together, hoping to create a spark.

He kept trying for a few minutes, but when nothing happened he let out a tired sigh and glanced at them. Ico was sitting cross-legged, glaring at the ground in frustration. Yorda was hugging her knees and obviously bothered by the cold. The fact their clothes were wet didn't help at all.

Sighing, Tomi scratched his head and desperately tried to think of something when the weight on his back suddenly reminded him of the item he got from the Nest. He took out the shield and stared at it, an idea forming in his mind.

Ico meanwhile watched the other boy as he pulled out the strange shield he was carrying and hold it in his hand with a raised an eyebrow.

"What are you going to do with that?" Ico asked in confusion. How would a shield help them start a fire?

"You'll see!" Tomi grinned and held the shield in his hand. Ico gasped when the shield began to glow, shining an eerie green light in the dark clearing. Strange symbols appeared on the front of the shield and a bright beam of light shoot from it.

Ico stared at the glowing weapon in awe. He recalled seeing magic in the castle like with those statues they came across, but this seemed to be something entirely different. "Whoa, where did you get that thing?" Ico asked curiously.

"I…..I borrowed it." Tomi said nervously before directing the beam at the pile of kindling.

Ico waited, expecting the pile to burst into flames all of a sudden, but then frowned when nothing happened. "Hey, I don't think it's….." Whatever the boy was going to say next died in his throat the moment he looked up to see the beast's eyes flashing violet and his tail rising to the air much like a scorpion's.

Ico and Yorda cried out in surprise when a spark of real actual lightning came out of Trico's tail and set the pile of kindling on fire.

Trico's eyes then returned to normal and lowered his tail, letting out a low bark as Tomi patted his side proudly.

Ico stared at the fire shell-shocked. Okay, forget about poking him in the eye if he attacked them. This creature turned out to be a lot more powerful and deadly than Ico previously thought. They should avoid getting into a fight against him at all cost.

"Alright, we have the fire. Now let's cook the fish!" Tomi grinned, oblivious to their internal distress.

"R-Right," Ico stammered nervously.

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The next few minutes were spent in awkward silence. Ico skewered the fish with sticks and pinned them to the ground by the fire to roast them.

While they waited for them to be ready, Tomi took some of the fish and held out for Trico. "Here, Trico. Try them."

The giant beast tilted his head at the meal presented to him and sniffed it for a moment before accepting it.

And that's when the weirdest thing Ico had seen happened. Trico's head jerked back and his eyes began flashing between yellow and violet rapidly. "W-What's wrong with him?" Ico stammered at the sight.

"I don't think he likes it." Tomi sighed and rubbed Trico's nose gently. "Sorry Trico, but I don't have any barrels for you right now."

"Wait, he eats barrels!?" Ico muttered in disbelieve.

Tomi turned to him and scratched his head. "Well, not really. There were these strange barrels I kept finding everywhere and he seemed to like the blue goo inside them. I'm not sure what it's made of though." He then made his way back to the fire and sat down cross-legged.

After a while, Ico took one stick and blew on the fish to cool it off before taking an experimental bite. It wasn't the best thing he ate, but it was still good and he was glad to finally fill his stomach with something. The last thing they ate was a watermelon he found on the beach. He gave the other two kids a satisfied nod. "Okay, I think they're ready,"

"Finally!" Tomi cheered and wasted no time munching on one hungrily.

Ico picked one up and made sure it wasn't too hot before holding it out for his companion. "Here, Yorda."

The princess hesitantly took it and gave him a puzzled look, unsure of what to do.

"You supposed to eat it, Yorda. Like this!" Ico demonstrated to her by taking a bite of his fish and then gestured for her to do the same.

The princess stared at hers for a moment before slowly taking a small bite. Her eyes widen and she placed a hand on her mouth in surprise. She never had anything like this before.

Ico laughed slightly at her expression before noticing Tomi had stopped eating and was staring at him with a raised brow.

"What?" Ico asked in confusion.

"You're awfully protective of her," Tomi noted.

Ico's cheeks burned red and huffed. "W-Well, you're pretty protective of your pet too!"

Tomi frowned at that. "Trico isn't my pet. He's my best friend," He stated, glancing back at the beast. The child never felt that he owned Trico and referring to him as so felt wrong in a way.

The three children and the beast stayed quiet for a while, simply enjoying their meal. Ico watched embers rise from the fire and let out a sigh of contentment.

He then glanced back at the trees and couldn't help shuddering at the darkness surrounding them. He shouldn't be afraid. They were out of the castle and the queen was gone. No shadows will appear and attack them. There is no need to be afraid.

Gulping, Ico turned his attention to the fire and focused on finishing his food instead.

"Hey, Ico?"

The boy looked to see Tomi staring at him curiously. "What is it?"

"I've been meaning to ask you something. What's with those things on your….?" he gestured to the side of his head, referring to the weird stomps on the sides of Ico's head.

Ico felt his heart skip a beat and his mouth went dry. The stick nearly slipped out of his hands and he could almost feel his hands shaking. No, no. Why did he have to ask about them!?

Ico had been meekly hoping they would go unnoticed by the other boy since they were shorter than before, hoping he'd be safe from another person's judgement this time, but he had been wrong.

What will he do now? He can't tell him the truth about his horns. He will think Ico was a freak! But if doesn't tell him then the boy might try to figure it out on his own and come up with his own conclusion about him.

That might lead to something so much worse.

"I….they're…." Ico swallowed, feeling his heart hammering in his chest. His mind was a chaotic mess and he struggled to come up with an excuse or a distraction or anything that would help him avoid this subject all together.

Tomi and Yorda were both giving him concerned looks now. Sensing his growing discomfort, Yorda reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. He stared at the girl's worried face for a moment before letting out a sigh of defeat.

"They're….they're broken horns." He murmured, his voice barely audible.

"Wait, you have horns?" Tomi asked baffled. "How!?"

Reluctantly, Ico began explaining how in every generation a child was born with horns and how villagers saw it as a bad sign so they sent them to a faraway castle where they are locked away in there forever. He then explained how he managed to escape confinement by a stroke of luck and came across Yorda and all the things they went through to leave the terrible place.

By the end of the end of his story, Tomi was looking at them with wide eyes. "Whoa, I wasn't expecting all of that."

"So, what do you think now?" Ico said, prepared for the worst.

Tomi blinked. "About what?"

"About my horns. Aren't they bothering you now?" he huffed in annoyance. The kid knew the truth behind him and his horns so why wasn't he reacting like everybody else?

"What? No, not really. So you have horns. I don't see how that changes anything." Tomi muttered.

Ico stared at the boy in disbelieve and stood up. "I just told I'm cursed! Do you really feel safe being around me while knowing that!?" Ico shouted. He didn't mean to yell like that. He just couldn't understand why this boy wasn't looking at him in disgust or fear like the people in his village did.

Yorda was looking back between the two boys, startled by the yelling, but not knowing what was being said.

Taken aback by this, Tomi frowned and looked at the ground. "But…we spent the entire evening together and nothing bad happened." He replied, his voice suddenly growing more confident in his own words. "Besides, just because you have horns doesn't mean we can't be friends."

Ico's froze and his anger faded immediately. "You….you want me to be your friend?"

"Sure, why not?" Tomi said, flashing him a sincere grin.

Ico's chest grew heavy. Was he serious? But why would he even want to be friends with a horned child? "You're not joking about this, are you?"

Tomi snorted. "C'mon, do you really think I'd care about them? Didn't I just tell you who my best friend was?"

Ico couldn't help it. He started laughing along with the boy, but he could also feel his eyes mist over and looked away quickly so the other won't see it. There was so much he wanted to say at the moment, but he didn't know how to voice them out.

The peace that settled between them didn't last long though when Yorda suddenly let a startled yelp. The two boys looked over to see Trico crouching in front of the girl who backed away from him fearfully.

"Yorda, no!" Ico exclaimed. The two boy quickly sprinted towards them as fast as possible. Ico stood protectively in front of the girl, shielding her from the beast and glaring at him. "Stay away from her!"

"Trico, what are you doing?" Tomi asked frantically as he stood in front of the beast, hoping for a clue on why he was behaving this way. Trico wouldn't hurt anybody for no reason and the girl behind him wasn't doing anything that would provoke his anger. Trico barked and directed his attention to Yorda again, making an expecting noise.

Raising an eyebrow at this, Tomi looked between the girl and the beast for a moment until it finally dawned him. "He wants her to pet him!"

"What!?" Ico looked at him, confused and baffled at the same time. Trico made another noise and moved his head closer to the girl.

"Here," Tomi held his hand out to Yorda. The girl glanced at his hand and then at Ico unsure of what to do before taking it. The moment their hands touched Tomi felt something like energy surge from his hand and through his body. It wasn't unpleasant though. The feeling it left was warm and almost soothing somehow.

He stared at the girl in in front of him in wonder before suddenly remembering where he was and quickly led her hand to Trico's face.

He could feel her tense up, but he kept a firm hold on her hand and placed it on Trico's muzzle gently. He instantly noticed how Trico stiffened for a moment from her touch. So it wasn't just him who felt that.

Deciding to think about it later, Tomi quickly began rubbing the side of his large friend's face while smiling encouragingly at her. "C'mon, you try now!"

Yorda watched him curiously for a while and then began rubbing her hand against Trico's muzzle cautiously, receiving an appreciating noise from the beast. Tomi giggled and moved over to pet him by his ear causing Trico to mewl softly.

Yorda seemed intrigued and carefully reached down to rub below his chin. The beast's purring redoubled in sound at this. Slowly, a small smile graced Yorda's lips and she reached out her other hand to continue petting him.

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Once it has gotten late, the children felt exhausted and decided to rest for the night. It took several minutes for Tomi before he managed to convince them to sleep against Trico since sleeping on the ground wasn't exactly comfortable. Ico left Yorda with Tomi and then walked away.

"Hey, aren't you going to sleep with us?" Tomi asked confused.

Ico shook his head. "No, someone has to keep watch in case something happens. You guys can go ahead and sleep."

"Are you sure?"

Ico nodded and sat in front of the fire, keeping the branch close to his side. The forest was quiet and he could almost heard the sound of the river nearby. After a few minutes, he heard shallow breathing and he looked over to see the two had fallen asleep.

The only ones remained awake were he and Trico. The beast would glance at him every now and then for some reason which made Ico uneasy. It wasn't that he was sure that the beast would change his mind and attack them all of a sudden.

It's just that something bad always happens every time Ico let his guard down back in the castle and he didn't want to put Yorda in danger because of his own mistakes again.

He tried to ignore the beast's presence and focus on his surroundings instead in case there was danger nearby, but that was easier said than done when he felt his eye lids grow heavier with each passing minute. The fatigue from his journey and today's events was catching up to him.

"No!" Ico shook his head and pinched his cheek to stop himself from falling asleep. No, he can't. He had to stay awake!

But soon it became hard for him to keep his eyes open and the boy found him unconsciously curling up and lying on the grass.

Unaware of everything around him, the boy suddenly felt something lift him up and then he was enveloped in something soft and warm. His sore muscles relaxed and tension slowly seeped from his body. It wasn't long until Ico found himself falling into deep sleep.

Trico meanwhile had watched the boy as he struggle to stay awake near the fire until finally he gave in and curled up on the grass. The beast slowly leaned his head towards him and bit a piece of the boy's shirt, carrying him and placing him with the other two.

Trico wrapped his tail around the three children and rested his head on his forepaws. Fire shone in his eyes for a moment before he closed them and drifted off as well.

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A/N: I just had to the end the chapter with a sleep pile. This turned out to be much longer than the first one, but I hope you enjoyed it.