starfishbucks | (no subject)

Entry tags:

c: ico

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Character: Ico
Fandom: Ico
Player Name: JeniOctavia

Being in Vatheon, away from the castle, the shadows and even Yorda had taken a lot of getting used to for young Ico. He had been pretty upset at first, being yanked away from Yorda and dropped in the underwater city without so much as a by-your-leave. But it had been explained to him that time didn't pass back in his world, so should he ever return he would be right back where he was, standing at those doors just moments after the Queen had stopped them from leaving.

That, unfortunately, was what kept him from being completely alright with it. What if they were wrong and time did move? Would he return only to find that Yorda had been taken prisoner again? To find that she no longer wanted to leave and that his only options were to stay in the Castle in the Mist with her forever, trapped in time, or to leave without her and have no home to return to?

It bothered him daily, even if he rarely let it show. He dealt with it by making a solemn promise to himself that he would become strong during his time in Vatheon. Even if he remembered nothing when he returned, he knew some how he would take the inner strength with him needed to defeat the Queen and bring Yorda's imprisonment to an end.

Today was no different. He could be found out in the park, swinging the heavy, much too large rusted iron sword around at trees, letting out cries and grunts as he sweated and ached all over. He refused to quit, though. He would be at it for hours before he even thought to take a break.

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Wander had been adjusting too. After sleeping for what felt like an eternity, he did feel better. Learning that the coral drained the energy of its denizens to fuel the barrier made sense...he felt more like his old self now because of it. Less weighted by the energy of sixteen colossi. Sixteen fragments of the Dormin.

He would have gone straight past the boy in the park on his way to his favorite spot except for one detail.

The glimpse of bull's horns growing from the boy's head.

He stopped and watched. He didn't know why, but he felt a strange sort of kinship towards the strange boy. The fact that he wore clothes so similar to his own (now washed and mended) made him wonder. For once, he wished that this place didn't automatically enable everyone to understand each other. If he was from a neighboring village, he should be able to understand.

But the fact remained that this boy was going to hurt himself by swinging a sword like that. Wander wasn't the greatest swordsman either, but he was far less clumsy than this boy. He wielded the sword like a shepherd wielded a stick.

Wander drew closer. "You should rest. Don't pull your shoulder."

He had been doing the same routine for some time, and no one had approached him yet, so to have a voice so suddenly come near made him swing the sword around almost defensively. It came within inches of Wander's nose, the tiny boy behind the blade staring up at the much older adult.

At first his dark eyed gaze was narrowed, but then went wide as he looked closer at Wander. His appearance was so strange, dark like a shadow creature but still very much human, save for his own set of horns. They were small, though, like how Ico's had been when he was but an infant.

Who was this strange man, and why did Ico get such an uneasy feeling of familiarity from him?

The sword lowered, but only a bit, a surprisingly suspicious look on the face of some one so young.

"Who are you?"

Wander forced a smile. He didn't blame the boy. For almost striking him or the suspicion in his eyes. He'd seen his face in the mirror. Even he hardly recognized himself.

"My name is Wander, from a village called Reim. I bear the hawk totem." Or he did, anyway. Would his guardian creature still want anything to do with him?

"What's your name?"

The sword lowered more, though if it was because his suspicon ebbed or simply from the weight of his sword finally getting the better of him, it was difficult to tell.

¨... Ico, from the village Toksa.¨

He didn't speak of a totem because he had never been granted one.

He attributed it to suspicion. And that was well enough for him. "I'm not the best with a sword, Ico...but I can show you how to hold it so you don't hurt yourself swinging it."

Ico had just enough stubborness in him to almost decline, but he knew ne was doing little more than flailing about with a sword that was nearly twice his size. Not only that, but his adoptive mother and father had taught him to respect his elders, which Wander clearly was.

After an uncertain pause, he finally nodded.

"Alright..."

Edited 2012-08-19 00:35 (UTC)

Wander stepped closer to the boy, readjusting his hands to allow for a better grip. The sword was enormous...how could a boy so small wield it in the first place? Not only that, but touching him directly...something of Dormin resonates within him the second he does. But he ignores it, preferring to simply get it over with and step back again.

"...Now try."

Whatever Wander felt, Ico only got a sliver of it. Like a chill, but not exactly. It was difficult to explain, and just as soon as he felt it, it was gone.

He glanced at Wander curiously after, but shrugged it off and let his hands be moved. He took in a breath and swung again, finding it easier to get the momentum needed to actually put some power behind it. Unfortunately he was still hefting it around like he was trying to throw it rather than swing it. It was a wonder he didn't lose his grip entirely, the method he was using.

It struck the ground hard, earning a grunt from him. The impact caused a dent in the ground, and made his arms ache from vibrations sent back through the blade, but he still grinned up at Wander.

"Better?"

Watching the boy fling that sword around makes him stop for a minute. It's just so ridiculous to watch that he can't help laughing.

"If you were throwing a spear, maybe. Unless you're stabbing something, a sword is for slicing."

Was he... laughing? Ico actually pouts at that, tired shoulders slumping heavily.

"I am slicing," he muttered, sounding surprisingly defensive about it. Really, he knew better. He had never been given the chance to train with any sort of weapon. All he had to go on was instinct, and instinct said when something dangerous was near, swing at it with all your might.

"...That sword is meant to be held by a warrior twice your size."

Quite possibly one of the eastern barbarians, as well. "Besides, you're tired. You'll probably be sore tomorrow if you keep going now. Or worse, hurt your shoulder."

He takes another step back. Whoever Ico is, he's making him uncomfortable. Why? He's only a boy. And here, Dormin's presence is silent. "Rest. And eat." He gives the boy a reassuring smile, tiny and short-lived as it is. "It will give you time to find a better teacher, besides. Someone who has used a sword far longer than I have."

"... I found it," Ico started, but for some reason had a feeling the explanation would be lost on Wander. How could he explain the Castle in the Mist to anyone in Vatheon? Even the idea that he came from such a small, underdeveloped village seemed to baffle many. The castle would seem to be nothing more than the stuff of children's tales to them.

The smile, however reassuring, is still met with that determined, stubborn pout. No. He couldn't stop. Even if his entire body ached, he would ignore it. That's what he did in the castle, and he was just fine there. Why was this place any different?

"... what if no one else will teach me?" he asked, straightening to his full height, which was still dwarfed even under Wander's slender build.

"I'll find someone." And he meant it. This boy needed a far better teacher than he was. "If you ever want to learn how to use a bow as well, I could teach you that. I'm also a hunter...I know how to track and make quick kills."

A hunter. That explained... something. Though it certainly didn't explain away the odd familiarity he couldn't place, there had been something about Wander himself that was more familiar of Ico's memories of the village. He had often watched the young hunters in training from the trees with Toto as they pulled back the strings on their bows, so tight it looked as though they should have for all the world snapped in two. And then the arrows would fly, letting out high pitched whistles that ended with a thwack! when the arrowheads had struck their target.

Had Ico been anyone else, any other child that would have lived to fifteen and beyond, he likely would have been trained in the ways of the hunter. Instead he held a sword far too big for his arms, and worried about a strange girl he only knew the name of, and may never see again.

Yet that was all he had been focused on. Getting proper training hadn't even crossed his mind until Wander approached. And he was tired. For the first time in his life, he felt as though his boundless energy had finally left him.

He hefted the sword up, moving it so he could lean against the hilt, finally letting his exhaustion show through. He didn't know what to say to that, aside from bowing his head tiredly.

For a moment, Wander can see something of himself in this boy. Determined to be the best rider, the best hunter, excel at everything he put his mind to, obsessed with getting every movement right. Determined to win Mono's approval. Even when they were younger he always looked for her face in the crowd of girls that gathered to watch the hunters practice.

The hint of sadness in Ico's expression puzzles him. He disregards his own discomfort and lays his hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's all right to be tired. Tomorrow you will be able to practice for a bit longer. And every day after that."

He hesitated. "...Is there no one looking after you?"

He shook his head, answering with a quiet "no" after a moment. In fact he hadn't even taken to finding housing. Or rather, he had, but the strange tenements in the city frightened him. He'd heard about how everything was "free" (which in his mind meant he didn't have to trade, which was an odd concept indeed) and gathered little more than some bedding and some of the odd packaged food and a few other items to sustain himself for a while and simply slept in the park instead.

His belongings weren't too far from where he'd been practicing even - a bed roll, a lantern, what was left of the food and his shoes were lying under some trees about twenty feet from where they stood currently.

"Even if some one from Toksa was here, they wouldn't take me in."

...What kind of village leave an orphaned boy to fend for himself? Here, he understood. Their world was so different from this. Wander had to adjust to the concept of instantaneous light without any flame. The strange devices that they were given to communicate with others. Everything, more or less. At least others had helped him.

He frowns at the idea of a village turning their backs on a child in need, however. Wherever this "Toksa" was, they seemed a cruel people. The horns, though... Even in Reim they removed horns from cattle and goats. Bad luck to keep them intact. And going into the forbidden land, he had an idea why.

"...The horns?"

A nod this time, and a somber answer.

"I'm the Sacrifice."

The words come easily, though. There is no anger in them, or even regret. Just a calm understanding that this has been his life since the day he was born.

Sacrifice?

What kind of barbarian sacrificed a child?

Wander takes both of Ico's shoulders firmly. "You're not the Sacrifice. You're Ico." He doesn't know what goes on in that backwards village, but he is determined that Ico not think of himself that way. Ever. And whatever Wander is determined to do, he does.

No compromise.

His voice softens with his expression. "I'll look after you myself, if you would like."

Ico almost argues. Almost. In his mind, he thinks it: But I am. I always have been.

It's Wander that derails any disagreement with his offer, and at it he actually perks up a little. Even if the houses in Vatheon are frightening to him, maybe it will be better with some one else there.

"Really?"

He nodded. "The people of Toksa may turn their back on you, but...well. We both have horns, don't we."

At that, Ico actually let out a laugh of his own. It seemed like a silly reason to stick together at first blush, but there was truth to what Wander said.

"Uhuh!"

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