Chapter 6

A/N: Hey everyone, this is the last chapter. Thanks for your support. I really appreciate it!

Enjoy the final chapter of Barriers!

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Tomi ran as fast as he could through the forest, following the path the hunters took. He could hear Trico's growls and the hunters' shouts in the distance. They were following him to the mountain.

Gritting his teeth, the boy sprinted through the trees for a while until he reached a clearing where the hunters seemed to have stopped. Tomi immediately went to hide behind a tree and watched them silently.

"I can't believe it got away. Where can a thing that huge hide?" One man said while another was searching the ground.

Tomi sighed. So they hadn't caught the beast yet? That put his mind a little at ease.

"Should we split up?"

"No, have you see the size of that monster? I-I don't want to be alone when facing that thing!" Someone stammered.

"Let's just keep should keep looking. I'm sure it hasn't gone far away." Tomi immediately recognized the voice as his dad's which complicated everything. The fact that he sounded so angry didn't help.

The boy gulped as the men walked away and he stepped from behind the tree, eyes widen in horror. So they didn't plan on just chasing him away? They were going to…..

No, he couldn't allow that. He had to stop them. He had to save to Trico!

Without a second thought, the child took a different direction. Luckily, he passed this place many times in the past and knew which path to take unlike the hunters, but he knew it wouldn't take them long until they tracked the beast down.

Tomi got hit by some branches and nearly tripped twice, but he refused to stop.

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Trico sprinted away from the village, hearing the panicked cries of the humans behind him. He should have known better, should have known the humans will react to him this way.

He suddenly stopped and looked back to see a group of humans coming after him. It would be easy to fight them, but that's not what the boy wanted him to do. Wasting no time, he dashed through the trees hoping to lose them there.

After a while, he had found himself growing tired and immediately sat down to rest. The beast couldn't fight the fear he was feeling. He never been here to this forest before and had no idea how where to go. The hunters could find him at any second.

"Trico?"

Trico's ears perked up and his eyes widen.

"Trico, where are you?"

Without thinking, he quickly sat up and followed the calls. He looked around frantically before hurrying down the forest trail and thrusting his head through of the trees, startling Tomi.

Trico made a happy noise and quickly pushed his face against the child, feeling safe now that his friend was now here. The boy will make everything better.

"I was so worried about you." Tomi rubbed Trico's face gently, glad that he wasn't hurt.

"We need to get you out of here now!" The child said in hushed whisper, looking around anxiously. If the hunters caught up to them then he had no idea how he'll defend the beast from them.

"You have to go back to the cave!" He muttered urgently, but the beast's ears fell in uncertainty. It took him a moment to realize what the problem was.

"Do…do you know how to get back? He asked even though he already knew the answer. If Trico had been leaving the mountain often then there was no way the villager wouldn't have spotted him at some point during the last ten years.

Biting his lip, he raked his head for a moment for a solution. Finally, an idea hit him. While the beast didn't know the way back, Tomi did. "Hold still," He said as he slowly approached him and grabbed on to the feathers on his leg. Trico remained still, wondering what the kid was planning to do until he felt him sitting on his back.

Feeling quite nervous, Tomi pointed to the left. "Go there!"

Blinking, Trico glanced at the child on his back before turning towards the direction he was pointing at. Not knowing what he wanted, he began walking that way. Tomi yelped and grabbed a handful of feathers as he tried to avoid falling off his back.

"Turn left!" He exclaimed again.

Trico made a confused noise and hesitated, not knowing what the boy wanted to accomplish from this.

"Come on, go left!" Tomi tried again, hoping he would understand.

Slowly, the beast began walking in that direction. After a couple of minutes of this, Trico finally seemed to catch on to what he was doing and there was less hesitation in his gait.

Tomi grinned in relief. He could see the mountain peak through the trees. It won't be long until they were out of danger.

Trico stopped walking altogether. Tomi blinked in confusion. "What's wrong?" he asked, but Trico didn't respond to his voice. He was busy staring at something in front of them, a low growl coming out of him. The boy frowned and carefully climbed down to see what was bothering him.

It was a piece of old metal. He stepped closer to it and touched it. It felt rusty and he assumed it had been left here a long time ago.

Strange. It almost looked like a piece of armor.

The boy turned and his breathing hitched under the intense violet gaze of the beast. Even though it wasn't directed at him, he could feel his glare cut right through him. Whatever this thing was, Trico was familiar with it and not in a good way.

Without a second thought, the boy tried pushing the source of his friend's distress out of the way. It was quite heavy, but he kept trying until he managed to push it into the bushes where it can't be seen.

Sighing in exhaustion, he turned to see Trico's eyes returning to normal.

"Alright, let's keep goin-"

"There it is!"

Tomi felt the blood drain from his face as the hunters stepped out of the trees. No, no. How did they catch up to them so quickly!?

Trico growled and his eyes flashed defensively as the humans charged at him. One man hurled his spear at the beast, missing his shoulder by an inch.

Tomi stood there, hidden from sight behind the beast. There was no way out of this. He had stop them before they killed him!

"STOP!" He yelled, running over and standing in front of Trico.

The men gasped in shock. "Tomi, what are you doing here!? Get away from that beast!" His father yelled in panic.

Tomi felt a lump rise in his throat. This was it. There was no turning back now. He had to tell them. "No, he's my friend!"

A deafening silence fell. Tomi felt a knot form in his stomach now that their secret was out. They knew. THEY KNEW!

"You're….you're friends with that beast!?"

"Have you lost your mind, kid!?"

"Son, what do you mean by that?" His father asked with a shocked expression as if he couldn't believe what was he was hearing.

Tomi gulped and spoke up. "W-when the Elder told us the story about the beast in the mountain, I got curious and went to the mountain to see if it's true." He said, wincing at their startled looks and knew he was deep trouble by admitting this. "When I first saw him, I ran away and fell into a hole. Then Trico got me out and let me go. That's how I got those injuries that day."

Bewilderment immediately flashed in his father's face. "Then….all those times you left the village…?"

"I was with Trico," Tomi concluded, avoiding the man's gaze. No one said anything for a while as they tried processing everything he said.

"So then….you're the reason why the beast attacked the village!" A man in a blue attire growled and Tomi flinched. "No one seen that monster for years until you went to the mountain. For all we know, he might have managed to find our village thanks to you!"

The thought seemed to cross everyone's minds and they turned to the boy for answers.

Tomi's hands shook, but he didn't know from what. Anger because the man called his friend a monster or fear of what he said being true.

"Trico isn't monster. I played with him almost every day. H-he saved me from a bear once. I even slept with him a few days ago and he didn't try to hurt me. There had to be a mistake!" The boy shouted.

When the hunters didn't look convinced, he felt his eyes mist over, fear and despair filling him.

"I think the boy is right."

Everyone turned to Akira in surprise who was staring at the beast thoughtfully.

"What are you talking about? You really believe anything he is saying!?" One of them muttered in disbelieve.

"This isn't the same beast that attacked the village." He said and everyone was taken aback by this. "That one was much bigger and its tail looked different. I think its face was also covered with a mask of some kind. I was there when it attacked and I'm pretty this was not the one."

Tomi blinked. The idea of another beast being around was both scary and also brought him relief. So Trico really is innocent!

"Even if that's true, that doesn't mean you're out of trouble, son." His dad stated firmly and the boy flinched.

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"Where are they? They still haven't returned yet!" Tomi's mom said as she paced in front of the village worriedly. The last time she had seen her boy he was running after the hunters and the beast. The thought of him being anywhere near that thing terrified her.

"I'm sure they are alright. Maybe Tomi just wanted to make sure his father was alright." One of her friends said reassuringly.

The woman stopped and sighed, knowing that she shouldn't be this worried. Her son will probably return at any moment with his father safe and sound.

"Look, they're back!" Someone suddenly shouted. She quickly looked at the edge of the forest to see the hunters slowly coming their way. She could see her husband with them, but then she noticed how uneasy he and the other men looked. Why would they act like that and where was her son-

Her thoughts came to an immediate halt when the beast stepped out of the trees behind them. Everyone around her gasped and screamed warnings at the men to watch out for the monster behind them, but the hunters barely reacted to their cries.

"Calm down, everyone. There is no need to afraid. The beast won't attack anyone." Her husband said, sounding unsure about his own words.

"Wha-what are you saying!?"

"That thing had kidnapped a kid from our village!"

"W-Where is Tomi?" She managed to ask her husband who flinched at her question.

"Uhh…"

"I'm up here!" Everyone looked up to see Tomi sitting on top of the beast's head, grinning widely as if nothing was wrong and he wasn't sitting on top of a giant bloodthirsty beast. "Hi, mom!" He said sheepishly when he spotted her.

The woman stared at her son speechless for a moment and then fainted.

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After leaving the beast to be guarded by the hunters, Tomi was taken to the chief's hut where he explained everything for him and the Elder. He reluctantly told them about his trip to the forbidden mountain, spending time with Trico and the conclusion they made that another beast had attacked their village that night.

However, even though Trico had proven not to be vicious, the chief wasn't willing to trust the beast. He wanted to send Trico back to mountain and make sure that nobody goes there ever again.

An idea came to the boy then. "What if more beasts attacked the village again? Sending Trico to the mountain isn't going to stop them from coming." He had stated. "What if I can train Trico to protect the village and drive them away? Would you let him stay?"

The chief blinked at the idea and rubbed his beard in thought. After sharing a glance with the Elder, he nodded.

"Very well. We'll give him a chance."

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Tomi sighed as he scrubbed the last stain from the wall. Despite everything, the chief still wanted to punish him for breaking the rules and heading to the forbidden place. Now he had to clean the walls and the floors of the boys' hut for a whole month. A punishment he took without any complaints. It could have been a lot worse.

Whipping the sweat from his forehead, he noticed a dog coming over to him and barking expectantly. Smiling a little, Tomi reached out and began petting it.

Just then, the dog pulled away from him and quickly ran away. Tomi blinked in confusion and then looked back to see Trico glaring at the fleeing dog.

It took Tomi a moment to realize what happened. Was he actually jealous!?

A huge grin split the boy's face as he dropped the rag in the bucket and headed over to the beast, petting his face and laughing. He then glanced over to see the some villagers watching them.

While the adults seemed wary, the children were staring at Trico with unconcealed curiosity and Tomi knew it was only a matter of time before they deemed the beast safe and swarmed around him.

There was still so much he didn't understand though. Where were the other beasts? Where did Trico come from? Why did he react with fear to the symbol he drew in the cave and the piece of armor in the forest?

A light nudge from his side caused him to look up at his friend and the boy found himself smiling.

Maybe someday they'll find all the answers.

The End

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A/N: And the story is finally done. Thank you so much for all the reviews! I'm really glad you all enjoyed this fic!

Now I would like to thank everyone who reviewed for Barriers!

Choclatesyrup.

Earthpatriot117.

And Cbassattack.

Until next time! :)