Chapter 5

A/N: Hey everyone! Heads up, there is a lot of angst in this chapter so be prepared.

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Tomi stared blankly at the massive hole in the wall in stunned silence. It was huge, almost as if something burst out of the girls' hut. There were men already working on closing it.

Apparently, a flying beast had entered the village while everyone was asleep and snatched a girl from inside one of the huts.

A Trico.

Tomi gulped nervously and took a step back feeling nauseous by the thought. He quickly turned around and slowly walked away, not wanting to look at it anymore.

Sleeping last night had been near impossible after the incident. Everyone was shaken by the incident and on edge. No one was allowed to leave the village or go to the forest except the hunters of course. All adults who witnessed the attack were not allowed to discuss it with children.

Tomi sighed and glanced around. There were people whispering among each other while others seemed to be trying to go on with their day as if nothing happened, but they were clearly just as shaken as everybody else.

Unease was hanging over the village like a dark cloud and it's all because of-

The boy stopped and shook the horrible thought away. No, it can't be possible. Trico would never do something like that. Maybe the Elder was wrong. After all, no one had seen a Trico in a decade. It could have been another kind of beast. That had to be it!

"Out of the way!"

Tomi quickly moved out way as two men passed by him carrying a wooden pole.

Sighing, the child then noticed two of his friends sitting by the doctor's hut looking rather bored. "What are you doing here?" Usually they would be playing around this time of the day. In fact, Tomi looked around and realized there weren't a lot of the kids around. "Where is everybody?"

"Playing inside," one of them answered with a shrug, gesturing to their hut. Tomi raised an eyebrow at that.

"Why don't they play out here?" he asked and the two tensed up. They exchanged nervous glances before turning to him.

"Well….we're not allowed to go near the forest." He answered. Tomi understood what he meant. Games like tag or playing with a ball needed an open area and they can't play in the middle of the village without getting in everyone's way.

The other boy gulped. "B-Besides, what if the T-Trico comes back?" he stuttered and the other seemed to share the same thought.

Tomi grimaced and wanted to tell them that no, it couldn't be a Trico. There was only one around and he wasn't evil nor dangerous. Trico was nothing like the legends made him out to be and Tomi had seen it with his own eyes.

There had to be a way to prove this to them.

Tomi said goodbye and hurried over to the men's hut. He looked around frantically until he saw his father's friend sharpening his spear.

"Akira!"

"Oh hello, Tomi. What can I do for you?" he asked with a smile.

Tomi bit his lip hesitating for a moment before asking. "Um…can you tell me about what happen last night?"

Akira stiffened and his smile immediately dropped. "Uh…Tomi, you know we're not supposed to discuss that with children, right?" he said, clearly uncomfortable talking about this.

"But I really want to know!" Tomi insisted.

"Sorry boy, but these are the chief's orders." He replied.

"Can you at least tell me what the beast looked like?" he asked, hoping his desperation wouldn't show. "I just want to see if it matches the ones from the story."

The man looked conflicted for a moment before sighing in defeat. "Fine, I'll tell you."

Tomi smiled. "Thanks, Akira!"

"Alright, let me remember…" He said rubbing his beard in thought. "Well, the thing was huge, bigger than any animal I've seen in my life." He spread his arms wide to demonstrate.

Okay, that can be said to a lot of legendary creatures which makes the beast from last night less likely to be a Trico.

"I couldn't tell what kind of animal it was supposed to be though. I mean it looked almost like a dog, but also like a cat."

Tomi stiffened and his breathing hitched.

No.

"And it had two big wings and sharp claws. Oh and I think it had horns too. A strange combination if you ask me."

NO!

The boy's heart was pounding in his chest as his blood ran cold. His stomach churned and he felt sick all of a sudden.

This can't be happening. There had to be a mistake. No, no, no, no-

"Tomi?"

The boy didn't know what kind of expression was on his face, but it was enough to get the man to stop talking and look at him in concern. "Are you alright?" he asked and seemed to regret telling him all of this.

"I…" It took the boy a moment to get his mouth to move. "I-I'm fine. It's just sounds really scary. You must be really brave to have fought it off with the others," he said hoping to change the subject. Akira was kind of person who enjoyed showing off and gloating about his achievements.

And luckily, that's exactly what happened. Akira immediately perked up and grinned proudly. "Well, it was nothing I couldn't handle. I even managed to land a hit on that beast when we surrounded it and….."

The man continued talking, but the boy could barely hear what he was saying. His mind having gone blank as he let everything he was told sink in.

Why? Nothing made sense anymore. Trico wasn't a vicious monster. He never tried hurting him before even when he had the chance to. This was the same creature that saved his life twice, that he had fallen asleep against, that he played with all this time!

Tomi's lip quivered as thanked Akira and turned around before the man could see his eyes welling up with tears.

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Trico slowly woke up, letting out a soft yawn and stretched. He then stared at the cave entrance expectantly. He waited like that for several minutes until he finally gave up and laid down in defeat.

It's been four days since the last time he had seen the boy and he was starting to get anxious. Where was he? Why didn't come back yet? He never took this long before.

Trico looked over to the ball the boy left for him. Being more careful this time, he reached out and began pushing it around in boredom. For a while that was the only sound in the cave until the ball slipped out of his grasp and rolled several feet away from him.

Trico couldn't bring himself to go get it and instead lay there dejectedly. He didn't know what do right now. The boy's visits were the only thing he had looked forward to in years.

When escaped from his home long ago and came to this place, the sense of freedom had overwhelmed him at first. There was just so much to do and nothing could hold him back as he explored the caves and forests, but over time everything around him became less and less interesting.

Days blended together and his loneliness grew more and more unbearable, but there was nothing he could do about it because this was the only place he felt safe in, where they can never find him.

When the tiny human was around, the beast felt a little less lonely. The boy would always offer him food, pets and play with him whenever he asked while looking at him with so much adoration.

It was only time when Trico felt cared for.

He stood by the cave entrance, staring at the distance tiredly. It was then another thought entered his mind. What if….what if something happened to the boy? What if he didn't return because he was hurt or worse?

Trico never thought of that and worry filled his chest. He had to leave. If the boy really was in danger then he had to find him.

He went over and picked up the ball carefully in his mouth. He then stepped outside the cave only to hesitate and step back inside. He didn't know what to do. He had never left this mountain in years and didn't know what to expect if he does now. A sense of apprehension washed over him at the thought of what could be waiting for him out there.

It was then he caught a glimpse of the painting on the wall that the boy made, the one of the human and the beast.

Seeing it gave him the resolve he needed.

Steeling himself, Trico headed out.

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"Dear, what's wrong?" Tomi's dad asked his wife, noticing the concerned look on her face.

She sighed and ran a hand through hair. "It's our son. I don't know what happened, but he's been acting strange for a while now."

Their son had always been a cheerful energetic child, but she could see none of that in him right now. He spends a lot of his time alone and his caretaker had told her he hadn't been eating much during meal time.

What happened? What caused this change? Whenever she tried to ask him, he would close up and tell her he was tired or something like that.

"Maybe he's still shaken by the beast's attack. We can't really blame him if he was. I mean, that creature could have taken anybody." He said, his words hanging in the air and they both knew the implications behind them. Their son could have been taken that night and the thought never ceased to plague them both.

The fact that the beast was still out there and could come back again didn't help put their minds at ease either.

Seeing her face fall, he tried to assure her. "I could go talk to him. Maybe he would tell me what's upsetting him."

She nodded gratefully at her husband. "Please do."

The man spent several minutes searching for the boy until he found him sitting on a barrel looking at the people going about their day.

"Hello, son."

"Hi," Tomi replied quietly. He immediately took notice of the dark circles around his eyes and frowned, kneeling down next to him. "Tomi, you haven't been acting like yourself for quite some time now. Is there something the matter?"

"I'll be fine," the boy answered without looking at him. The man blinked. He said "I'll be fine," instead of his usual "I'm fine," so there was something wrong. He gently placed his hand over Tomi's back.

"Son, if it's the return of the beast that's bothering you then don't worry. There will be men guarding the huts at night to stop it if it attacks again." He said reassuringly.

That's not it. Tomi wanted to say, wanted to scream it out!

The beast had been living in the forbidden mountain for years and never came near their village, not until Tomi went to the mountain, but he couldn't say that. He couldn't let them know that this might be all his fault. They'll be furious with him, they might hate him because he should have listened and everyone was in danger and there was nothing he could do or say to change what happened and-

Tomi blinked away his misty eyes and nodded at his dad.

The man smiled and gave him a pat on the back. "Now how about you go play with your friends?"

"Okay," he said quietly and made his way to the group of children playing the near the edge of the forest. Apparently they were no longer afraid like they once were of going anywhere outside the village.

Tomi stood there for a while unsure of what do before someone suddenly touched his shoulder. He looked over to see one of his friends running away from him.

"You're it!" he called out to Tomi.

The boy blinked and then felt a smile slowly spread across his face. Wasting no time, he began chasing after him. For several minutes the boy ran across the clearing paying with his friends and laughing in delight. He was having fun for the time in days after feeling nothing but guilt and sadness that kept him up during some nights. Just for a moment everything felt almost normal again.

But that peace didn't last long.

Suddenly, Tomi froze up when a loud cry cut through the air. He turned around to see what was wrong and what he saw made him go pale.

Far at the edge of the forest, Trico's head was poking out of the trees. Everything went still for a second almost as if time froze before a terrified scream filled the air followed by many others. The children quickly scrambled to get away as the huge beast stepped out of the trees looking down searchingly at them.

A boy much younger than Tomi suddenly tripped in his panic and fell on the ground. He began crying in pain. Trico ears fell a little and made his way over to the kid.

"No, stop!" Without thinking, Tomi ran towards the two and stood in front of the kid, staring up at the beast for the first time since the incident and he couldn't help the dread he felt at that moment.

Trico made an excited noise as he thrust his face into the child, startling him for a moment before he realized the beast was nuzzling against him. Trico then pulled away and dropped something in front of him.

Tomi blinked when he saw it was his ball. He looked up at the beast in confusion. "Trico?"

The beast tilted his head, looking at him curiously.

He doesn't want to hurt me. Tomi thought in surprise and felt his heart swell as he slowly reached his hand out to him.

"There it is!"

Tomi glanced back and gasped in horror when the village warriors came running towards them with their weapons and dogs that were barking viciously at their direction. He quickly turned to the beast.

"Trico, don't stay here. Run!" He exclaimed. The beast hesitated almost as if he didn't want to leave him before finally turning around and dashing into the forest.

"Don't let it escape!" Tomi's father shouted as the warriors ran past the boy and he watched as they disappeared in the trees with the beast.

Tomi's mind was racing frantically. What was he supposed to do!? A part of him wanted to run after him while another cynical one wanted him to do nothing and leave him. After all, the beast still had kidnapped one of their own.

He could hear people calling out for him from behind him, one of them he was sure was his mom, but the boy's gaze remained fixed on the path the men taken.

He thought back on everything that happened over the last two weeks. Him meeting the beast for the first time, getting saved by him, playing with him and growing to care about him.

And a big part of the child knew Trico felt the same way.

All of the doubts he previous had vanished and without hesitation, Tomi ran into the forest.

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A/N: Thanks for reading. I'm sure Trico's backstory is probably clear at this point. I also think the next one will be last chapter for this story.

Please review!