Hey, everyone! I'm back with a new fic, and this time it's one for a game on the PS4; The Last Guardian! Beware that it's sort of like a self insert (I changed the main character from a boy to a girl...please don't hate me) and I'll admit she's based on me a little, with how I learned about The Last Guardian and how I decided to buy a PS4. There are a few changes though, so she's not exactly me.

I think that like the boy in the game, she's going to remain anonymous and not have a name...at least for now. She's also supposed to be an exaggeration of gamers who think that Trico is downright adorable, but at the same time be super frustrated by the game's 'terrible' controls and camera (but I've finally played it myself and had no issues with any of these things, not even Trico.)

One last thing is that depending on the kind of reviews I get, I'll usually update fast or take my time. If I hardly get any feedback at all, I'll most likely just delete the story, so be sure to review if you want to see more!

I strongly suggest that you play the game as well, or watch a walkthrough of it if you haven't. There will be lots of spoilers!

xxxx

Be among the chosen ones...

In my dream, Trico was real. Trico—the giant cat-dog-bird creature created by none other than Fumito Ueda for The Last Guardian on the Playstation 4. It was huge, had talons and feathers, and while it was supposed to be intimidating...it was one of the cutest characters I had ever seen.

So cute in fact, that I just had to go and buy the game for myself, even though I didn't even have the console that was needed to play it. I wasn't really a gamer myself, either. The last console I had owned—that I still own, in fact—is a Nintendo 64 (that still works after all these years, surprisingly.)

I first heard about The Last Guardian itself through my best friend, and then I'd started out by watching gameplays on youtube. I thought that I would never actually be able to play the game myself since I didn't have a PS4, but then I thought...why don't I just buy one? I have a job, so I have enough money to live off of and some extra for fun things.

But buy an entire console just for one game? It was crazy, but I told myself that I wouldn't be buying it just for The Last Guardian; there were probably a ton of other games out there that I would play, as well. What they were exactly I didn't know, but I knew that I just had to try playing The Last Guardian for myself. I could also kill some time whenever I was bored at home since I didn't have much to do in my free time. Maybe this would end up changing my life for the better...

It was a game that had been in development for a very long time and had gotten canceled numerous other times. What was even crazier than buying a console for only one game was that I had never even played the ones before it—ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. I didn't even know what they were about, or if they were connected to The Last Guardian in some way!

I had been playing the game for the first time a month after its release on December 6th, 2016. I ordered both the PS4 and the game at once online. When they finally arrived, I was ecstatic, immediately setting everything up in my cozy little apartment. I even had to unplug my old Nintendo 64, which was actually really sad since I'd had it for so long.

But when I had the PS4 controller in my hands...I nearly started crying. A month after simply watching videos, looking at fanart and blogging screenshots and gifs...I was actually, really playing The Last Guardian for myself!

It was storming outside, the perfect time to be snuggled up on the couch playing a game. The title screen appeared with the glowing green shield that I always saw at the beginning of playthroughs. Glancing at the clock on the wall above the TV, it was six. I was in my pajamas and I could fall right asleep if I wanted, but sleep was the last thing on my mind.

I was ready for the greatest game of 2016...maybe even of all time!

The words "press any button" came up and I did so, my hands almost shaking in excitement.

xxxx

My excitement did not last long.

Go LEFT! I screamed quietly to myself at Trico. I wasn't even that far into the game and was already having trouble with the giant bird-dog. I had known about the finicky controls by watching videos of youtubers playing, but I never knew that they would be this bad! The stupid camera was all over the place, getting stuck in areas where it shouldn't have until the only thing I could do was throw my character over a cliff in order to restart and get un stuck.

What a waste...I'd thought that actually playing the game myself would be fun and different than simply watching others play it, but I was wrong. The bad reviews were right; I should have listened to them! I'd gone out of my way to get my own Playstation, but it wasn't even worth it!

Just goes to show that hype can either sell a game or ruin a game.

On the TV screen, Trico was sitting down in a grassy field with pillars on either side, trees blowing in the wind that whipped through his feathers and caused them to be blown this way and that. The boy—the main character who didn't even have a name—was standing directly in front of the giant animal, waiting for me to start moving the controls again.

"Are you going to listen to me this time?" I mumbled to Trico. As if he could hear me, the cat-dog-bird let out a groan and shook his head in response, moving from his sitting position so that he was lying down.

In less than seconds, he was sound asleep, leaving the boy to wander aimlessly around the field. I had to admit that the graphics were absolutely beautiful. The details on Trico and the surrounding areas were stunning! A pretty game did not make a great game, however. Not even Trico's cuteness could make up for that.

"Stupid dog thing," I grumbled in frustration. Trico snorted in his sleep as if he'd heard me through the screen.

I wondered if Trico's controls had to do with a buggy AI, or if the creators had made him stubborn on purpose to make it seem like he was a real animal that didn't always listen. I'd never owned a dog or a cat before (though my place actually allowed them as long as they were small) so I wouldn't know. It was just me by myself in a lonely little apartment complex, going about my normal routine every day until I had decided to try something new—something that ended up being just as boring and frustrating as my life itself.

I sighed, getting up from the couch to go and turn off the console.

What I didn't know then was that I probably should have waited for the storm outside to end before trying to touch anything. The moment my hand rested on the Playstation, lightning flashed from outside and before I knew what was happening, I felt a rush of intense energy surge right through me. I didn't even have time to scream!

Then everything went black.

xxxx

I jolted awake, my vision blurry. Rubbing my eyes until I could see clearly, it took a moment or two to realize that I was not in my apartment. It was cold and dark, and there was a hard surface beneath me that confirmed I wasn't where I was supposed to be. Blinking, I tried the best I could to make sense of my surroundings. I was in some kind of stupor, so it took a few moments for the blurriness to go away and for my head to clear itself of its drowsy confusion.

A cave...I was in a cave...?

Wait...the game! I was playing The Last Guardian! I'd gotten up to turn it off and then...then? I couldn't remember anything after that besides waking up in the cave.

Groaning, I began to move. My arm twitched and I turned my head in a sluggish motion.

You can imagine my shock when I was met with the sight of a certain gigantic creature resting right next to me.

...Trico?!

I shrieked, jumping backwards. How...how was this even possible?! There was the giant bird dog sleeping right in front of me, no longer on a TV screen! I was in the cave where the boy had first woken up in the game! I glanced wildly this way and that, assessing my surroundings. When I was able to get my thoughts in order (somewhat) the first thing I noticed was just how...life like everything looked.

The Last Guardian was a game. It was animated; it wasn't real.

How did I even get here? I thought as rationally as I could back to the last thing I remembered. I thought and thought until my brain finally recalled the scene I remembered last from the game—Trico's stubborn behavior in the field before I had given up and tried to turn off the TV.

Had lightning from the storm somehow...hit the PS4 as I tried to turn it off? That was impossible! This entire situation was impossible! I had to be dreaming!

I pinched myself, and I was surprised to find that I could actually feel the sharp sensation. In a dream, you weren't supposed to feel anything.

It had taken me awhile, but another realization struck me.

I was still myself, but...I was no longer in my pajamas that I'd been wearing before this whole situation happened. Instead, I was wearing black and white, robe-like clothing with a familiar orange t-shirt underneath.

I was still a girl, but another shock came along when I realized that I wasn't twenty five years old anymore. I was little, but at least I wasn't a little boy like the main character was. Looking at my arms, I could also see that along with being trapped in a video game, even the tattoos—or 'peculiar markings' as the boy had called them—were there, too. I was even barefoot, much to my dismay; my feet were freezing and there were no socks or shoes in sight.

Though I hadn't finished the game myself yet, I knew how it ended because of all the videos I'd watched.

It was awkward knowing that Trico had hacked me out of his stomach in a pile of green goo, and I shivered slightly in disgust.

The awkwardness was soon broken, however, when the giant animal suddenly jolted awake just as I had, its eyes wide and flashing pink.

This only made my shock worse. The game was playing itself out—me waking up in an unknown cave, Trico knocked out next to me and then the giant creature surging awake. The only thing that I realized was missing was the narration of the boy as an older man. I hadn't heard a voice in the background, much to my relief...maybe I wasn't so crazy after all.

Trico screeched directly into my face at such a loud volume that my ears started ringing, causing me to fall backwards and hit my head on the large chain that he was hooked up to.

"Arrgh!" I cried, reaching upward to protect myself from further harm.

"Okay, okay! I'm sorry I called you stupid!" I tried to reason, referring to when I was still in the real world and had called Trico stupid as I was playing.

I shook myself out of it as quick as I could, stumbling over the chain until I was a good distance away from the snarling animal.

He tried to stand but soon yelped in pain with what I knew was a spear stuck in his leg. Remembering the walkthroughs, the boy had to go and pull the spear out. My heart thudding, I knew that I had to do the same and what came after: I was going to get knocked out by Trico kicking me!

Maybe there was a way I could avoid it? I didn't want to find out, but I wondered if I could somehow change the course of events in my favor. Maybe I could possibly...avoid getting hit?

Slowly and carefully, I managed to stand back up from where I had fallen over the chain. Trico snorted and growled and I took a step back, raising my hands.

"Easy, easy..." I comforted, though I didn't sound very convincing; my voice was shaking like a leaf on the wind. Trico turned his head away from me and then back, his eyes flashing in pain and anger. For a second, I had to marvel at just how gigantic he was. I was just an ant compared to him! There was no way I was going to pull this off without getting crushed!

But I had to. If I didn't go forward, the game probably wouldn't, either. I would be stuck in the cave with a huge animal for possibly the rest of my life, and that didn't sound very appealing.

Taking a deep breath, I began to inch forward. Trico growled and I made sure to keep a good distance away from his face, moving towards his back leg where the arrow was stuck. Closing my eyes, I climbed on top of his wounded leg like the boy was supposed to do, hanging on for dear life as Trico squirmed to try and get me off.

"I just want to help," I assured him calmly, though I was anything but calm. My voice was still shaking and my heart was beating so fast that I feared it would burst out of my chest!

Trico seemed to understand, staying still and allowing me to grab hold of the spear with both of my hands.

I pulled with all the strength I had and the spear came free—

But with a cost. Like I had known he would, Trico yelped and kicked me right in the face, sending me flying backwards until the back of my head hit the cave wall.

I hit the ground with a thud, every bone in my body crying out in pain. I tried to get up, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't. My vision growing hazy, I fell limply back to the ground until everything faded away and I slipped into the peaceful bliss of unconsciousness.

I could only hope that when I woke again, I would be safe and sound back in my apartment where I would think it had only been a nightmare.