Shadow Of The Colossus- Taming The Beasts

Chapter 16- Celosia

An exhausted groan escaped the colossus as she came to. Her back was sore and her limbs were tight from laying on her spine for so long. With a tight snap and a pained squeal, Celosia rolled herself over and onto her feet. She shook like a dog, swaying off the dirt that was stuck to her soft fur. The pain was still there, but it felt more at ease now that she was standing. The bull looked around. The fire that she was tasked with keeping alive was long snuffed out. The sticks and coals weren't even warm. How long was she gone?

Celosia managed to jump down from her temple. It stung to move, but there was work to be done. She examined her surroundings, and immediately noticed some differences. Patches of greenery in certain sunlit areas, the lake was bigger and full of life, and trees lined the area instead of dead, twig-like growths. Celosia, happy with this change, ran up to the nearest tree and got to work. She scrambled up the trunk and onto the base, ignoring the stings. Tangling her tusks with twigs and weak vines. She hadn't seen plant life like this since Dormin was sealed away, for when Dormin's power was stripped from the land, so was the life. It used to be teeming with life and humans, who would regularly visit the colossi for rituals and care. Celosia missed those days. It made the task of fire keeper look useless since the humans weren't there to dance with it, but it was sentimental, so Celosia didn't mind. She carried the twigs to the ashes and coals, placing them on top of them. Now, she just needed a spark. Hesitantly, she scraped her tusk against the side of the metal bowl, creating dozens of sparks. Once it ignited, Celosia tossed herself away to the opposite side. She repeated it three more times for the remaining bowls. That was the one thing she absolutely hated about her task; the flames themselves. Such an elegant yet horrible thing. The scars on her body reminded her every moment not to touch it. Her back still ached horribly, but she smelled no trace of a wanderer...So it was good to rest.

"CELOSIA!"

Dormin dammit.

Avion jumped down from the surrounding cliffs and into the cold pond below, shooting up once his legs made contact with a screech. Celosia lazily scooted towards the source of the obnoxious noise, stopping once she made it at the ledge's end. Valus and Basaran stayed behind to trot back to their arenas. Avion flew to Celosia, barely fitting in the small room. 

"Celosia!"

"Yeah?" She sounded tired, which made things a bit offputting.

"Well...One, we're all getting revived in rapid succession, and two, we found a little human girl!" He chirped, allowing Aiko to slide down his wing and clumsily get her footing.

Something about this kid...didn't sit right with her. Not the kid herself, but...the aura. Her markings, they told her to stay back. Was she born with these? They were like the markings that the little Tricos made when infusing someone with life. Yet these markings...they were not of life. Nor death, which was strange. Celosia couldn't tell what they were, but she knew it wasn't good. But not for the colossi. For the poor little girl. It would be best to discuss it later with Gaius. He had a good head on his shoulders.

"Oh...um...It's nice to meet her?" Celosia awkwardly spouted.

"You're being strangely underwhelming for both responses, Celosia."

"I had faith our lords Dormin would find a way to revive us, bird."

"Well...uh...What about Aiko?"

Celosia turned towards Aiko, who was kicking around stones with boredom in her eyes. Might as well approach. After all, there's no fire. 

"Um...Hi!" Aiko squeaked, spooked by Celosia's fast nature and muscular figure. She didn't want to touch her, just to observe. Celosia didn't seem very interested in meeting her after all. It's not like her last experience with a human was pleasant, so no one could blame her.

"That's it?" Celosia said, half-joking.

"...Something's bothering you, I can tell." Avion muttered. "I may be an idiot but I'm not ignorant."

Other than the markings, something else did upset Celosia. Cenobia, her sister. She was killed. How badly was she hurt during her encounter with the Wanderer? When she's revived, will she be okay? Did she suffer?

"...Yeah. It's Cenobia."

Avion didn't really know how to respond. He wasn't good at comforting, and as a pretty shy and reserved individual, he didn't like to get himself involved with things like these. He did give Celosia a small pat on the head with his wing, though. 

"I am sure she's alright." He reassured, but he was lying to himself. "She's as stubborn as a mule, anyway." 

That made Celosia feel a bit better. She huffed, beginning to dwell in her thoughts again. But they were interrupted by a loud boom, familiar to Avion. But Celosia knew what it meant from Avion's look.

"Pelagia." They both said in unison. They didn't need to say anything more. Pelagia was a sturdy creature and could put up a vicious fight, but she was damaged from multiple attacks from foreign colossi, and they didn't want the risk of anything happening to her. Quickly, Avion let Celosia and Aiko onto his back, and off they went to aid Pelagia.