Chapter 1

A/N: Hey everyone, I'm back with another TLG fic. I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Last Guardian.

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At the boy's sleeping hut, the children were running around and chatting among each other, too energetic to go to sleep just yet.

"Children, quiet down!" their caretaker said as she stepped into the room with an old man. "The Elder is here."

The children cheered and hurried to greet him. The old man smiled kindly at them before sitting down on the floor. The children sat in a circle around the man, ready to hear the story he had for them this night.

The Elder soon began telling them the story of an ancient beast. The creature was bigger than a bear with large wings, horns and sharp talons that were said to be able to cut through stone with ease. There used to be seen a lot in the past soaring the sky, spreading fear and terrorizing villagers.

Among the kids, Tomiheanchu listened to the story with wide eyes. The description for the creature was odd yet almost scary to imagine. Did something like that really exist?

"The last time I've seen a Trico was about ten years ago at the bottom of the mountain. No one has been there since then in fear that the beast still resides there somewhere. That it is why it is strictly forbidden to venture anywhere near it." The Elder said, his tone firm and serious. Tomi heard some kids audibly gulp at that.

Once the story was over, their caretaker decided it was time for the children to sleep. They thanked the old man for coming by and made their way to their beds.

Tomi sighed as he rolled on his bed for what felt like the hundredth time. He couldn't stop thinking about the story the Elder told them. Was it true? Did a beast really live somewhere in the mountain? Was it as scary as the Elder said or was he just making things up?

The boy groaned quietly and lay on his back, staring at the celling with many question swirling in his mind.

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"Tomi, wake up!"

Tomi winced and slowly opened his eyes to see his friend looking down at him.

"Come on, you'll miss breakfast!" the boy muttered.

"Alright," Tomi said and sat up.

"Are you okay? You look tired?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night." Tomi stated, rubbing the exhaustion from his eyes. He had no idea when exactly did he manage to fall asleep yesterday.

The other boy shrugged. "Well, you better hurry or there won't be anything left for you." He said before walking away.

Tomi let out a heavy yawn and hurried after him.

Later that morning, the children left the village to play in the forest. They weren't allowed to go too far from the village or they will get into trouble with the adults.

It took them a few minutes until they finally decided to play hide and seek which was one of Tomi's favorite games.

Wasting no time, Tomi ran off through the forest looking around for a place to hide in. He soon found a huge tree which made the perfect hiding spot for him. He sat there for a while, listening attentively for the sound of footsteps.

It wasn't long until something else got the boy's attention.

The mountain.

Tomi bit his lip, feeling his curiosity from last night burning once again. He glanced behind the tree and then at the mountain again. No, I shouldn't. The Elder warned us not go there. I'll get into trouble if someone found out!

But there was nothing wrong if he went to check, right? After all, the beast was last seen a decade ago. There might not be nothing there for all they knew. It'll be just for a couple of minutes and then he'll quickly head back home. No harm done. And if anyone asks about where he was he'll just say he found a really good hiding spot and lost track of time. Having made up his mind, Tomi glanced around once more before running off towards the mountain.

The journey had been laborious to see the least. The forest was thick and he kept losing sight of the mountain peak. He had to climb a tree every time he got lost.

After jumping over logs and tripping over rocks more times than he liked, the boy finally made it to the base of the mountain. The first thing he saw was a large cave and just for a split-second the boy mistook it for a monster's maw. Sighing in relief and feeling embarrassed for his jumpiness, he began searching the clearing for any sign that someone or something lived here, but he found nothing.

All that was left was the cave.

Curiosity getting the best of him, Tomi slowly made his way inside. He couldn't see much. The light from the entrance didn't reach very far. Stealing himself, the child began heading deeper into the cave, ready to run at any sign of danger.

Tomi blinked when he thought he saw something moving far ahead. Taking a few cautious steps forward, the boy squinted and tried to get a glimpse of what was hiding in the dark.

Suddenly, a pair of bright yellow eyes appeared making the child's breathing hitch. The two stared at each for a while unmoving.

Finally, the creature in the dark stood up and Tomi's blood ran cold when he realized the thing was three times bigger than him!

As soon as the shock wore off, Tomi quickly turned around and ran towards the exit as fast possible, stumbling through the dark in his panic.

The boy made it out of the cave, the light blinding his eyes for a moment. He dared to looked and gasped when the creature burst out of the cave too. It matched the description the Elder gave them. It was a Trico for sure.

The beast let out a growl that sent a shiver down the boy's spine before coming after him. Tomi yelped and ran as fast as his feet could carry him towards his village, but then he realized something. He would be leading the beast to his village where it can hurt people. The children were still playing in the forest near it!

Not knowing what else to do, the boy took a different direction. Despite running as fast as he could, the beast seemed to be catching up to the boy really fast. Tomi knew he had no chance of outrunning it so he tried running through some trees hoping to lose his chaser.

Just then, the boy cried out when he tripped over a tree root and fell forward. His shoulder hit the ground hard and he found himself rolling down a slope. The earth then disappeared from beneath the boy and the next thing he knew he was falling down.

He soon hit the ground and lost consciousness.

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"Ugh," Tomi opened his eyes and groaned. His body ached and his head was throbbing. He tried to stand up and winced at the pain in his leg. He glanced down at the leg to see a long cut.

He finally looked up to see he fell down a hole. Panicking, Tomi tried to climb out of the hole, but the rocks crumbled under his touch causing him to fall down on his back. The boy winced at the pain coursing through his limps, but still managed to stand up again. He gulped once the realization finally sunk in.

He was stuck.

Dread and fear filling his heart, Tomi screamed as loud as he could hoping someone would hear him. He waited for several minutes, but only silence answered his call.

Nobody was there, but then again why would they be? The mountain was a forbidden place. No one would set foot anywhere near it and no one knew that Tomi was here.

The boy felt tears well up in his eyes and he curled up on the ground. What will he do now? How will he get out of here? Why didn't he listen to the Elder's warnings? If only he just listened then none of this would have happened and he'll be back home with his family right now.

The boy didn't know how much time has passed until he finally heard the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Is anybody there?" he called at the top of his lungs. "Help, I can't get out!" The footsteps grew closer and the boy felt relief wash over him, but then he noticed how the footsteps sounded a lot heavier than they should be.

Just then, a shadow blocked the sunlight, but instead of another human like he expected he was greeted by the sight of the beast's face causing him to yelp and fall backwards.

The creature growled and tried to squeeze its head through the hole. When that didn't work it reached out its paw towards him, but its arm was too short to reach the child. Tomi felt slightly relieved knowing that it couldn't get to him.

The beast finally moved away from the hole and for a moment Tomi thought it gave up and left, but then he yelped when something fell into the hole. The beast's tail.

Tomi stared at the tail in confusion. The beast didn't try to draw it out and seemed to be waiting for something. It would be easy for the boy to use it to climb up-

Tomi's thoughts came to a screeching half. No, it couldn't possibly be trying to help him. Certainly not. He shook the silly notion away. This was just a trick. The beast was probably trying to get him out of the hole so it can eat him.

The gears in the boy's mind then began turning. Maybe he can take advantage of this to escape.

Tomi grabbed onto the tail and carefully began climbing up. Once he deemed it safe enough, Tomi quickly jumped off and landed on the ground. He winced at the pain shooting in his legs, but he managed to ignore it as he began to run again.

Tomi expected the beast to start chasing him once again, but when he looked back he was surprised to see the beast hadn't moved from its spot at all. It simply stood there and watched him run in silence. It then let out a low bark that held no aggression before turning around and leaving.

Tomi stopped running and watched it walk away in stunned silence.

What…what happened?

He brought a hand to his head as he tried to process what he saw. Why? Why did the beast just let him go like that? Why spare him? Nothing made sense right now.

Deciding not wait any longer in case it comes back, Tomi hesitantly ran down the forest path.

Once he made it back to the village, the boy's parents freaked out at the sight of his injury. When they asked him about it, he told them that he tripped over a tree root while playing with his friends. They didn't seem all that convinced, but his mother treated his wound anyway.

Later that night while everyone was sleeping, Tomi quietly snuck out of his bed and made his way to the window. It was dark outside, but he payed that no mind. He leaned over and stared at the distant mountain, thinking over everything that happened today.

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A/N: Thanks for reading and please review!