Shadow Of The Colossus- Taming The Beasts

Chapter Three- Valus

The girl awoke to hawks screeching nearby, startling her. She jumped up from the altar, knocking her noggin on the slab above. The sun shone brightly, warming her past a comforting point. Rubbing her aching forehead, she tossed the blanket off, got up, stretched, and put the blanket away. Grabbing the bag, she trotted down the stairs to explore the vast land. Bees and blue, almost glowing butterflies flew around, getting her attention for a couple of seconds. Aside from birds screeching at one another from time to time...It was calm. Peaceful, quiet.

A growl escaped her stomach, reminding her of her hunger with a stab of pain in the abdomen as a warning. She let out a soft hiss of pain, digging into her bag for any remaining bread. None. She had already eaten all of it. The girl huffed in frustration. But...surely, there must be some sort of food here. Some fruits, maybe. There were trees everywhere, even a nearby forest. Some must have some food.

She started walking south, towards the nearest pillar of light. A small, distant ledge covered in plants and vines, a small area behind it, surrounded by cliffs. Something inside was creating the pillar of light, but it was covered by rock and shadows. Before the ledge were worn out, crumbly stairs that hadn't had a foot on them in centuries. The girl thought that even her weight would cause major damage with each step...and near the stairs was a tree. A fruit tree.

The girl rushed over to the tree, a big smile on her face. "That was quick", she thought. The side of the tree was covered in moss and plants, making it easily climbable. Large, orange-yellow, melon-like fruit hung in bunches. Drooling, she snagged a fruit and tore it in half with her bare hands. The inside was like a peach, even with a pit. She tossed the pit away and immediately started devouring it messily. Juice and small pieces of fruit flung everywhere, getting all over the tree and her face. Even though the fruit was bigger than her head, she finished in less than a minute. 

With her hunger being satisfied, she heaved a sigh and leaned back on a branch, wiping her mouth. She was sticky due to the juice, but she didn't care. At all. She gathered another fruit and put it in her bag, for later use.

...The ground was shaking somewhere...just not where the girl was. Alerted, she jumped out of the tree and looked towards the direction of movement...the ledge. The pillar of light stabbing the sky began to glow harshly, the cyan circle in the middle disappearing in white. She covered her eyes, the light was almost blinding. And then...It dimmed as black tendrils shot into the pillar. Allowing her to witness the cyan circle shoot down and into the hidden source, sending dust everywhere in that area.

Curiousness settled in. The girl grabbed her bag and began running to the ledge. It took her a bit, but she reached the stairs. As she predicted, the stairs shattered with each step. She climbed up the moss-covered platforms with the speed and energy of an acrobat. She made it to the area to see a statue on the ground covered in sand and plants. It looked worn, but...the overgrowth surrounding it began to glow with cyan cracks...Causing the land to shake once again. The girl backed up, shielding her face as the glow flashed white, the sand and plants flying everywhere. A heavy branch hit her in the stomach, knocking her on her back. All the wind was knocked out of her, making her desperately gasp for air.

She sat up, only to be knocked back down by a crash onto the ground...The dust settled, revealing the statue...Except, it was different now. Dirty fur and rough skin, as well as small platforms attached to its body...It was alive. It shakily stood up, only for it's pained left leg to slide back down, the beast yelping in pain. Its face was odd; it mostly resembled a monkey. Some nose rings hung off of its snout. It also had four nostrils, only adding to its oddities. Its arms were large in proportion to its body, the hands almost human-like.

The girl stared in disbelief, almost dropping her bag. The poor giant was whining in pain, barely able to lift its head or leg. Seeing it in pain...it was awful. She hated it. So, she decided to help.

"H...Hello?" She called out softly. The beast whipped its head towards her and started crawling backward out of fear. Its teal eyes switching to bold orange, digging its fingers into the dirt. Despite its intimidating size and strength...it was in pain, it could barely move without squealing. The girl understood, but she was still a little scared. Just yesterday, she was in a similar situation...She thought for a second. What would've calmed her down?

The girl sat up, tying the bag's laces around her. Spreading her arms out to try and show that she had no weapons. She took a couple of steps forward, earning a growl from the beast. It was scared of her...She needed to rethink.

She sat down, pretending not to mind the creature. It was still a considerable distance away, so it was still safe to be still. While it was still scared, it seemed to have calmed down at least a little bit. It wasn't as noisy as before, letting silence overcome the area. The beast turned to look at the girl again. She noticed but pretended not to be afraid. Slowly, as to not spook it, she sat up and began calmly making her way to it. 

"Shh...Don't worry, I won't hurt you..."

Her voice was soft and gentle, trying to ease the beast's nerves. It seemed to work, seeing the eyes turn blue again. The giant seemed more curious than anything else, so, she stopped, and sat down again next to it. She observed it, as it observed her, even coming close to peer at the details in her clothing. It saw that she had scars and markings on her body, while she saw that it had cracks on its hind legs and a blood-stained head. The poor thing must've been killed in the past by a human. 

The giant made a soft noise, a curious rocky purr. She chuckled at it...it was kind of cute. She sat up again, making her way to the left leg to see what's up. All of a sudden, the creature began whining and weakly thrashing about, terrified. The girl understood, however. There were bloodstains here, too.

"I know, I know, you're scared..."

She began rubbing and massaging the crack, especially near the blood. This caused the beast to shriek at first..but then calmed it down. It realized she wasn't going to stab it in the leg. In fact, it felt better. Not wanting to upset it anymore, she hopped off and ran in front of it. 

It shifted its left foot, staring down at it as it began to stand. The girl smiled brightly. 

"Does that feel better?" She asked sweetly.

The creature responded with a curious, guttural rumble, looking down to gaze at her. She froze up, still intimidated by the sheer size of this thing. It tilted its head like a wondered animal, but...it clearly had higher thought. It kneeled down, its face right in front of her.

...She reached out, petting it on the nose. It didn't move, it just purred softly. The girl giggled, scratching the sides of its head. Without any warning, the giant gently scooped her up in its hands and held her. It made a weird noise, almost as if it was trying to speak.

"...Are you trying to say something?"

The beast nodded, looking down in thought for a second, before trailing its finger in the sand. Once done, it pointed downwards to get the girl's attention.

"Valus", it wrote.

"...Valus? Is that your name?"

He nodded again, pointing to her and rumbling. Almost as if to ask her something.

"...I'm Aiko."