Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Orange peeked through the trees as Tomi led Trico back to the village. They had been practicing commands in a nearby field (so as not to disrupt village activities) for an hour or so. Now, as the sun set, stretching their shadows and turning Trico’s gray feathers a light brown, they headed back to the village for a well-deserved rest. It had been decided that Trico would sleep in the village so he could react to attacking tricunos as quickly as possible. (Tomi had pointed out that it would take too long for him to be woken up, wake Trico, and bring him back to the village in the case of an attack.)

As they entered the village, Tomi waved to passing villagers as they prepared for the night. “I can hardly believe it's been a month since you've joined us, Trico!” he said to his companion as they reached the center of the village field. Trico roared shortly in response, as if to say, “Me neither!” Tomi grinned, but his smile quickly faded as he caught sight of something in the sky. He squinted and shaded his eyes to see better and gasped. Sailing through the air towards the village was another tricuno!

Tomi heard warriors shouting and grabbing weapons behind him, and knew there was no need to alert them. He and Trico, the latter with raised feathers, scrambled to the side of the field as the unknown tricuno passed the center of the trees lining the end of the field. The tricuno came to a clumsy stop by digging its feet into the ground and flapping its wings..

...and promptly collapsed in an exhausted manner.

Almost immediately, warriors swarmed the breast, threateningly jabbing spears at it. In response, its eyes glowed orchid and it screech-roared fiercely at them. However, it made no attempt to get to its feet.

Tomi stared at it, furrowing his brows in concentration. He had seen that same orchid color before, he was sure of it!
“..Aha!” he exclaimed, snapping his fingers. He'd seen it in Trico's eyes, when he accidentally scared the beast by drawing the symbol in the cave!

With that in mind, he rushed through the warriors’ ranks and stood defensively between them and the tricuno. “Stop, please! Put your spears away, they're scaring it!” he cried.
And because Tomi had the most knowledge about tricuno behavior, the men put away their spears. The tricuno visibly relaxed a bit, only to begin convulsing as the village dogs did when they were about to vomit. It convulsed a total of five times, and on the fifth, what appeared to be a village child (judging by its attire), slid wetly out of its mouth. Everyone stared, frozen with a mixture of horror and disgust, until the wounded beast nudged the child towards the warriors, rolling them onto their back and revealing their face. The child coughed and panted, as though just regaining their breath. Those close enough to see gasped. “That's the girl that was taken from the village!” one of the men gasped. "Is she still alive..?" another whispered. "Yes, she's still breathing!" Tomi replied hurriedly, since he was one of the few close enough to see that the girl was indeed alive and breathing. The tricuno roared expectantly at them, so one of the warriors cautiously approached the beast, carefully scooped her up, and rushed her to the healers' building.

“So what now?” Akira asked Tomi.
“Wh--with the tricuno..?” Tomi stammered, tearing his gaze away from the strange beast in question.
“Yes.” Akira confirmed.
Tomi turned back towards the tricuno. His eyes wandered over its feathers, littered with bloody, ruffled patches, as though many beings had torn at it at once. His gaze came to rest on its face. It turned one tired eye towards him, and he felt something tug painfully in his heart.

He turned back towards the warriors, and his chest swelled with a sense of responsibility. Everyone was waiting on him to make the decision. “I think we should let it stay.” he said, and paused to let the men murmur amongst themselves . “It's ob--clearly too injured and tired to stand, let alone attack. And even if it DID attack, Trico would fend it off.” he finished, and let his arms stand by his sides, nervousness thrumming through his chest as he waited for them to fetch the village elder and make their decision with him.

After a minute of discussion, the warriors parted to let the elder step forward and in front of them. “We will let the beast stay,” the elder said, then continued in a grave tone: “but if it so much as lays a claw on the villagers..the warriors will not hesitate to slay it. Do you understand, Tomiheanchu?”
“Yes, sir.” Tomi responded.
“Good.” the elder nodded, and turned to shuffle back to his house.

Out of sympathy, Tomi decided to sleep outside with the two tricuno that night.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Tomi and the tricunos were jarred awake by shouts. Tomi raised his face from Trico’s feathery belly (which he'd been using as a pillow) and blearily rubbed his eyes. His gaze drifted towards the source of the shouts, the healers’ building. Any remaining dregs of sleep were chased out of his head as he realized the contents the shouts contained.

“Where is my friend!?” a girl's voice shouted, cracking on the last word.

“Kaida, you can visit your friend later, now you need to re--”

“What I NEED is to find Hotaru!! Now WHERE IS SHE!?” Kaida bellowed, cutting off the adult voice attempting to calm her.

At the name ‘Hotaru’, the tricuno immediately responded with a desperate-sounding roar and made a valiant attempt to drag itself closer to the source of the girl's voice. There was silence from the medicine building, then: the door to the healers’ building slammed open, and a girl, presumably Kaida, began clumsily rushing forward. She stumbled about every five steps, but this did not deter her: instead, she settled for speed-crawling on her hands and knees towards the injured tricuno. As soon as she reached the left side of the tricuno’s face, she immediately began rubbing it just in front of its ear while tearfully murmuring to it. Tomi watched this, astonished, as the injured beast leaned into the touch and let out a series of high squeaks and low rumbles in response.

A spark of excitement bloomed into a steady flame in his chest. Was the inured tricuno the ‘Hotaru’ Kaida had referred to? If so, that would mean that..the two were friends! Tomi found himself starting to grin. Someone else had befriended a tricuno! This could mean so much for Trico, no, for any other tricunos that might be out in the world! Perhaps the species wasn't so bad after all!

Suddenly, Kaida’s voice interrupted his thoughts: “Who let Hotaru stay here, alive?”

“Huh?” he questioned, dropping his smile and directing his gaze to the girl.

“Who convinced the village warriors to not harm her and let her stay here?” She asked, her expression one of serious determination.

“Oh! Um, I did, with the help of Akira.” He responded.

“I see..” she began, nodding her head.

“Then..Thank you so, so, so much for saving Hotaru from certain death at the hands of the warriors.” She continued in a slightly trembling voice and absentmindedly began to gently stroke the beast behind her. She smiled, tears brimming in her eyes. “It means a lot to me. To us.” she finished.

“You're welcome,” Tomi replied kindly and sincerely, for he knew the feeling she was talking about.

They sat there in silence for a moment.

“I have to clean Hotaru's feathers.” Kaida announced suddenly, and got up to do just that.

While she cleaned the tricuno's feathers, Tomi took in the details of the beast’s appearance. It--no, she, he corrected himself--was all black, including the velvety backs of her ears, except for a white patch that wrapped around her neck and two stripes on her tail. Her face was a pale yellow-orange, split down the middle with a black stripe, and the insides of her ears were a deep dark pinkish red.

She was similar to his tricuno friend, he mused, but also very different. He wondered how many varieties of tricuno patterns and colors there were. He glanced up to see if Kaida was done yet, and suddenly she was sitting in front of him, as though she had never left.

As soon as she noticed that she had his attention, she spoke. “Hey, Hotaru needs barrels. Can you get some while I keep her company?”

“Barrels?” Tomi asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow. “Barrels of what?”

The girl huffed in frustration. “You know, barrels! They've got blue sticky stuff on them, they're glowy, there's these glowy blue butterflies that like them, and tricunos eat them!” She explained irritatedly, using her hands to draw a small barrel in the air.

“T-Trico doesn't eat barrels,” Tomi stammered, a bit taken aback. “I've never even heard of that kind of barrels you described.”

Kaida's face immediately grew stony and she began twisting the edge of her tunic vigorously. Behind her, a long, low gurgle sounded and Hotaru made a low whimper.

Suddenly, Trico stood. Tomi glanced at him, confused. The beast was standing purposefully. He turned and 'Raaar’ed at Tomi, than began plodding a few tricuno-steps away. He soon stopped when he realized Tomi wasn't following him, and 'raaar’ed again, more insistently this time.

Tomi realized that Trico was trying to get the boy to follow him, and scrambled to his feet. “I um--guess we'll be back in a bit!” he hastily called to Kaida, and jogged to catch up with Trico.

“Okay!” Kaida called back, but he'd already reached the edge of the clearing and couldn't hear her. She sighed, letting some of the tension out of her shoulders. Just as she did so, she heard someone call her name. “Kaida!” With a shudder, she recognized it as the same annoying healer who'd been uncooperative in her search for Hotaru, and sure enough, as she looked towards the sound, she could see him standing a little ways outside the healers’ building.

“What do you want!?” She called back ill-temperedly.

“I have food and water for you.” The man replied. He walked halfway to the tricuno and stopped, seemingly unwilling to go further.

“Oh,” she said quietly. Kaida stood up, patted Hotaru to reassure her that she wasn't being abandoned, and jogged to the healer.

“Thank you,” she said, taking the tray from him, and swiftly turned to go back to Hotaru.

She'd only taken one or two steps before he interrupted her: “Kaida, wait!”

She turned around with the most obvious look of displeasure she could manage on her face.

“How are you feeling, other than being hungry?” he asked with a concerned look on his face.

She blinked, and her expression cleared away. She'd been expecting him to ask her to rest more or something else annoying. She shook her thoughts away and responded: “Um, fine. Especially now that I've gotten to see Hotaru is okay!”

“Alright. The healer nodded. “You can call for me if you ever feel ill, okay? Just ask for healer Daisuke.”

“Okay, thanks.” she said a bit awkwardly, then walked back to her tricuno.

“Hey, buddy,” she greeted fondly, plopping down next to the beast's snout. Hotaru gave a purry huff in response, then proceeded to sniff curiously at the food in the tray Kaida held.

An idea sprang into her head. “Do you want some?” She asked encouragingly, moving the tray so that it was in range of the tricuno's mouth. Hotaru let out a ‘rawr’ of approval and nosed at the plum, and Kaida picked it up and held it out to Hotaru, fingers splayed so the hungry beast wouldn't accidentally eat them. Hotaru eagerly but carefully ‘nomf’ed it from her girl's hand, chewed once, and swallowed. She tensed, her ears shivered briefly, and then she relaxed her head back down to the ground, letting out a disappointed 'hhrh’.

“Aw,” Kaida said sympathetically. “Not as good as you expected, huh, buddy?” She reached over to the tricuno and stroked her face. “I'm sorry.” She sighed. The tricuno relaxed and rumbled softly, letting her friend know it was alright.

Kaida hoped that boy and his tricuno would come back with some some barrels soon.

Chapter Text

Sorry I forgot her markings/tattoos

Chapter Text

Tomi perched carefully on Trico's head as the beast retraced the path, made by broken tree branches and semi-crushed bushes, of his desperate journey to make sure the boy was still alright. Occasionally Trico would stop, unsure of where to go next, and Tomi would point him on the right direction.

“There it is!” Tomi suddenly shouted excitedly, pointing over Trico's head, and his friend’s ears perked up. The beast crouched, and, and Tomi, sensing the tensing in the beast's legs, held on tighter. The boy was right to do so, as the beast then took off with a mighty leap, bounding towards the entrance of the cave. Once they were near, he leaned back and dug his feet into the ground, skidding to a stop at the entrance of the cave (and showering Tomi with dirt).

Tomi brushed the dirt off his face and out of his hair fastidiously, and after doing so, he was quite surprised to see that they'd gotten so far into the cave that hardly any light was visible from outside. The boy tensed and his hands flew back to gripping Trico's feathers. He may or may not have been scared of the dark. “Trico--” he whispered nervously, needing to hear his friend was still there, only to cut himself off in surprise as two bright green lights from somewhere in front of Trico's face illuminated the area in front of them. Trico paused and tilted his head back slightly to peer at Tomi, and the boy was nearly blinded. The lights were coming from Trico's eyes!

“Amazing!” he whispered in awe, and then gently petted Trico to reassure the tricuno that yes, he was okay and yes, it was alright to continue forward.

As they continued down the cave, they came in view of a pile of dirt, strangely populated with about three turquoise butterflies (which flitted away at Trico's approach). As his friend stepped closer, Tomi wondered what the butterflies were doing so deep in a cave devoid of flowers.

Suddenly, Tomi had to tighten his grip as the tricuno began digging vigorously into the cave dirt. The beast finished with a short, proud roar, and bent down to pick something up. Tomi climbed closer to the top of Trico’s head to see what it was. It was a barrel, if the shape was anything to judge by, glowing dimly through the layer of dirt covering it.

“This is what we were looking for, isn't it?” Tomi said to Trico. The beast gave an affirmative huff through his nose and started back towards the cave entrance.

When they entered the village, the first thing Tomi looked for was Hotaru. The tricuno was still in the same place it had been earlier, looking no less exhausted. Almost immediately, her nostrils flared, and her eyes alit with yellow. The tricuno gave a hungry, breathy 'rrraar’ as Trico drew closer. As soon as he gently dropped the barrel in front of her, she lunged forward (faster than Tomi had ever seen her move) and snapped it up in one bite. The tricuno gave a purry rumble and shivered, feathers raising from head to tail.

“Thank you so much!!” Kaida cried. “She should be feeling better now,” she continued, and turned to her tricuno friend. “Can you stand up?” the girl asked Hotaru. The beast got all four feet flat against the ground, but as soon as she attempted to use them to push herself up, she winced and immediately sat back down.
“I-it’s okay!” Kaida said shakily, petting the tricuno's snout. “You don’t have to push yourself yet.”

The tricuno relaxed and pushed into Kaida's hand. A grin grew across the girl's face, and her mood shifted. “She's a little better already!” she half-whispered to Tomi.

Kaida was right. The beast was still on the ground, but now it looked as though it had just taken a moment to rest, rather than being exhausted. Tomi smiled a little, glad the tricuno's condition had improved.

“Tomi!” his dad's voice called from across the field.

“What is it?” the boy asked. The man merely beckoned him closer.

It must be too important to discuss out in the open, Tomi thought. He shrugged and made his way over to his dad.

Once the boy was within earshot, his dad spoke: “The Chief and the Elder would like to speak with you and Kaida as soon as possible.”
Tomi gulped. This was likely about the new tricuno in town. “Okay, I'll tell Kaida.” he said calmly despite his inner anxiousness.

“Kaida,” he called, but the girl didn't respond. He turned to look at her, confused, only to see her leaning against Hotaru's snout with her arms crossed, dozing. Tomi walked closer and awkwardly nudged her shoulder with his hand. (He barely knew the girl, and people could be pretty scary if you woke them up the wrong way.)

“What.” she mumbled, not even opening her eyes.

“The elder wants to talk to us in the chief’s hut.” he replied.

Immediately, Kaida's eyes snapped open. They were filled with the same determination they'd held when she'd speed-crawled from the healers’ hut to Hotaru.

“Let's go.” she said, and pushed herself to her feet before Tomi could give her a hand up. She gave Hotaru a few pets and words of comfort before setting off across the field with Tomi.

Tomi noticed two things as they neared the entrance to the hut. One, there was a guard holding a spear on each side of the door. Two, Kaida was no longer with him. Confused, he stopped and turned around. A quick scan of the field revealed her to be halfway between Hotaru and the chief's hut. She was standing tensely, with her hands clenched into fists and up by her shoulders as though to fight off anything that dared to approach her.

Concerned, Tomi rushed over to her. “What's wrong?” he asked.

Fear and anger warred on her face. “I..” she started, her voice breaking as though she were about to cry, and Tomi's heart panged with sympathy.

“What’s wrong?” he asked again as gently as possible, carefully placing a hand on her shoulder. Kaida brought up one of her own to rest it on top of his, and relaxed slightly, letting out a small, trembling sigh.

“It’s the spears. It means they’ll try to catch me and hurt Hotaru.” she said, her voice trembling. She stared at the human guards with a faraway gaze, as though she was seeing something terrible in their places.

Tomi observed the trembling that had spread from her voice to her body and decided the best option would be to ask if they could have the guards removed. “Do you want me to ask if they can move them?”

“Yes.” Kaida said firmly, and then added a shaky “Thank you,” with an equally shaky grateful grin.

“Anytime!” Tomi replied, happy to have helped a little.

He discussed the matter with the guards, who agreed to put their spears on the ground and stand a few feet away from the door, “but only to make the girl feel safer.”

The two passed through the doorway. Kaida rushed her way through and ended up bumping into Tomi. “Sorry,” she apologized nervously.

“It's okay,” Tomi replied honestly.

Inside were Tomi’s father, a few of the warriors (including Akira), a healer Tomi didn't know the name of but recognized by clothing, the caretaker for the village girls, and, of course, the Elder. Tomi's father directed them to their square seating pads in the center of the room. Kaida glanced at Tomi and opened her mouth as though about to say something, but just then, the chief spoke:

“Now that everyone is here, we shall begin the meeting.” he announced.

“Healer Daisuke, Caretaker Tsubaki, Warrior Akira, and others have all told us everything they know about the night you were taken away and the evening you returned. All that is left is to ask you, Kaida, some questions.” the chief continued.

“Okay,” Kaida affirmed.

“The first question is this: Healer Daisuke said that you were very eager to reunite with the tricuno that is now in the village field. Is this true?”

“Yes,” Kaida said with conviction.

“Is it the same tricuno that took you away from the village?”

“..Yes.” Kaida answered stiffly. The chief and Elder leaned back with looks of astonishment on their faces. Murmurs of shock and surprise traveled around the room until the Elder rapped his stick against the ground for silence.

“Then why are you so attached to it?” the Elder asked.

“Because,” Kaida began in a strong voice, "she..” the girl paused to gather her thoughts. “..did her best to defend me against the enemies and danger throughout the Nest.” she looked to the ground as if seeing a memory there. “I just..helped her, and the next thing I knew, she was following me everywhere, trying to help me back.” she smiled fondly at the memory and looked back to the Elder and chief. The two older men turned to each other, about to talk, when they were interrupted by unsettled shouts from outside.

“What's going on out there!?” the chief called commandingly as everyone in the meeting turned concerned eyes to the door.

“The tricuno is approaching the building!!"

Chapter Text

At the word “tricuno” the room erupted into flutters of concerned voices. The chief's rose over the rest, asking the warrior who'd peeked through the door and given the announcement: “Well, which one?”

“It matters?” said the warrior--a man with gray-and-black-hair--before correcting himself: “I mean, it's the new one, the mostly black-feathered one!”

“But it's doing so very slowly,” reassured the other warrior at the door, a man with black hair and beard.

The chief turned to Kaida. “Will this be a threat?” he asked.

“No!" Kaida answered indignantly, then added after a moment's hesitation "Unless they jab their spears at her..”

"Why? Will the tricuno react aggressively to that?” The chief probed.

Wouldn't you!? Kaida wanted to shout at them. Wouldn't you react that way if someone was trying to hurt you or take your friend away!? Instead, she gritted her teeth and answered: “Because.. the guards back at the Nest would try to hurt her with them! And their swords.” A jolt of fear shot through her at the thought of the stone soldiers. She clenched her fists in an attempt to suppress it.

“Put your spears away,” the chief ordered the warriors, and suddenly there was a worried howl behind them. Kaida knew that Hotaru and her would feel better if they were with each other, and so, ignoring the grown-ups' shouts, she dashed outside, weaving around the other tricuno’s front leg, scooting to a stop on her heels in front of Hotaru's snout. She and the tricuno petted and nuzzled each other until both of them become calm. Hotaru sighed and plopped her head on the ground, and Kaida was worried until she realized the tricuno was just tired. The girl sighed as well and plopped down next to the tricuno. They were just as they had been earlier that day, except for Hotaru getting a little bit better--and Kaida was grateful for Tomi & Trico’s help, really she was!--and she couldn’t help but wonder how long it’d take her friend to heal without barrels. She shoved the worry to the back of her mind and focused on counting and identifying the people outside with her, instead. There’s Tomi. That’s one. There’s Tsubaki, that’s two. Daisuke, four. The Elder, five. The chief, six. The other, gray-and-white, tricuno, seven. Akira, eight.

Tomi walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Are you okay now?” he asked, his eyebrows knitted in concern.

“Yeah,” she answered, despite the anxiety insistently gnawing at her back.

“Kaida.” the chief’s voice, deep and authoritative, reached her ears. She looked at him, and he continued on: “So, from what we have gathered, ‘your’ tricuno will not attack unless provoked?”

“Yes,” she answered, disguising her gritted teeth as a grin.

“Then it shall be allowed to stay.” the chief said tersely.

The grin on Kaida’s face quickly turned genuine, and then wobbly, as tears filled her eyes. “Thank you!” she cried. “I promise you won’t regret it.”
The chief simply nodded in response, and with a “meeting dismissed!” the group of people was dispersed.

She once again laid her own hand on top of Tomi’s supporting one. She appreciated the gesture, and decided to show it with a stiff hug (she didn’t trust her voice at the moment). Carefully, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and he did the same. They stayed like that for a moment before pulling away.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“Anytime,” he whispered back.

“I, um. Think I'll take a nap now.” she whispered shakily.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Tomi replied awkwardly, at normal volume. His expression once again became one of concern. “Do you need anything?”

Kaida thought for a moment, then glanced at Hotaru and smiled. “No thanks.” she answered. She had everything--no, everyone--she could ever need right besides her.

“Okay,” Tomi affirmed amiably, and walked back to his own tricuno.

Kaida nestled into Hotaru's side for a long nap.

Chapter Text

Tags i might put said 'updates' in:

tricobicofriend.tumblr.com/tagged/rambling-abt-bonds
tricobicofriend.tumblr.com/tagged/tlg-fanfic-sequel-bonds
tricobicofriend.tumblr.com/tagged/actual-bonds-updates

Place to find my art related to this fanfic:

tricobicofriend.tumblr.com/tagged/bonds-art
tricobicofriend.tumblr.com/tagged/my-bonds-drawings

There probs won't be any actual art there until later today, tho.

Chapter Text

Tomi was shaken awake from a pleasant sleep by his dad. He groggily glanced at him, slightly annoyed about his rest being cut short, until he realized it was too dark to be morning and his dad had a serious expression on his face.

The man rushed him outside, hastily filling him in on the way. Tomi learned that another tricuno, an armored one, had flown into the village, and that they weren't sure of its intentions, so the chief requested Tomi's assistance so that they could be sure.

Once they got outside the first thing Tomi saw was Trico's concerned face. The tricuno nuzzled him, whining worriedly, and the boy laughed, happy to see his friend but still nervous about the circumstances, and petted the beast in return. Trico, satisfied that his friend was okay, pulled away, and Tomi was able to see beyond him.

There was a semi-circle of warriors, and in front of them, Hotaru stood on unsteady legs to meet another tricuno, this one wearing armor, just as his dad had told him. The new tricuno, lit by the torches some of the warriors held, wasn't wearing a mask, and had all black feathers, similar to Hotaru. It may have just been the firelight, but he could swear that where he'd normally see yellow on Trico's face or yellow-orange on Hotaru's, he saw orange on this one's.

His dad led him to the chief, who, upon seeing Tomi, put his hands on the boy's shoulders and met his eyes with an intense, serious gaze.
“Tomi,” he said, “you know the most of anyone in this village about tricuno behavior. Tell us: will this new tricuno hurt or kidnap anyone?”

Tomi looked at the beast in question and observed the color of its eyes. They were dark, not glowing at all.

“No.” Tomi answered, and saw in the chief’s eyes that he was uncertain, and added: “Whenever Trico's eyes are dark, it means he feels peaceful. It's the same for Hotaru, and every other tricuno.” He wasn't completely sure about the last part, but the chief didn't need to know that.

“Alright.” the chief said quickly and turned back to the warriors. Tomi felt his dad's hand rest comfortably on his shoulder. The boy looked up and his dad smiled grimly at him, the way adults do when they can't guarantee that a situation will have a happy ending, but can guarantee that they'll protect and support you. The chief ordered the warriors to sheath their weapons. They did so, and then everyone turned to watch the new arrival carefully.

The armored tricuno regurgitated three barrels. Hotaru gently roared in gratefulness and proceeded to snap up each barrel.

The two had a short conversation of roars, murmurs, and rumbles, then the armored tricuno turned to the edge of the village field. It gave Hotaru one last parting roar and, seemingly eager to get away from the unfamiliar humans, leapt into the air and flew away.

Immediately, a wave of relief swept through the crowd. Still, nobody moved until the sound of the armored tricuno's wingbeats were no longer audible. The warriors began to disperse and head back to their respective buildings. “I'll be right back!” Tomi tells his dad before he can protest, and runs over to Kaida.

“I saw you trembling. Are you gonna be okay?” he asked in a quiet voice.

Kaida didn't respond. Tomi realized that she was still trembling. Her eyes were foggy, as though stuck in another terrible memory, and her breathing was shallow and rapid. Tears welled up in her eyes, and Tomi snapped into action, placing his hand on her shoulder before things got worse.

With a shudder, Kaida’s eyes refocused. She took deeper breaths and glanced behind herself anxiously as though making sure Hotaru was still there, unharmed.

She placed her hand atop Tomi's and took a deep breath. Her grip tightened suddenly.

“You..,” she began, her voice slightly stifled from tears. “You didn't leave after the chief got the information he wanted from you?”

“Yeah. I-I wanted to make sure you and Hotaru were okay..” he responds unsurely.

“Th--thank you..” she whispered, voice shaking just barely. She opened her arms as if asking permission to hug. He nodded and she practically dived forward, causing him to flinch--except instead of delivering a crushing bear hug like he expected, she wrapped her arms around him gently. There was just enough pressure for him to tell that her arms are on him, almost as though she was holding herself back. Tomi reciprocated the hug, and in the back of his mind he noticed that she was being careful not to dribble snot and tears onto his shoulder. They stayed like that for a few seconds and then drew back from each other.

“Y-we should go back to sleep now,” Kaida said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, you're right. Goodnight!” Tomi responded slightly awkwardly.

“Goodnight!” Kaida finished the conversation, and then Tomi's dad started walking him back to the hut.

Tomi heard a deep, rumbly purr behind him and guessed that Hotaru was nuzzling Kaida. He smiled when he heard a happy sigh--just like the one she made the first day they'd reunited in the village--confirming his guess.

The younger boys at the building tried to question him incessantly about the armored tricuno while the older boys listened silently, until Caretaker Suzume witnessed this and ordered them to “leave Tomi alone”, “ask him questions tomorrow” and “let him sleep!”

As soon as the chatter stopped, Tomi fell unconscious almost immediately. He was so exhausted that his sleep only had the vaguest hints of dreams.

Chapter Text

Since Ch 6 of "Bonds" is taking so long, do you guys want me to post what i have for it so far, then add the rest when i've finished it?

Chapter Text

When Hotaru woke up with the morning light, the first thing she did was raise her head and check for Kaida by her side. The girl was sleeping soundly, safely tucked beneath her wing. Fondness warmed the she-tricuno's heart and she relaxed, content to rest with her friend in the early-morning silence.

She dozed off for a bit but was soon awoken by the sound of footsteps. Her eyes snapped open and scanned the field, only to see..a human. Not the Nest’s guards, no. They wouldn't be here. It was a woman.

Curious, Hotaru decided to watch her activities. The woman went into the building that Hotaru remembered taking Kaida from, and guilt swirled in the she-tricuno’s stomach. Although she never would've been able to meet her friend if she hadn't done so, she still wished she could make up for the horror in the caretaker's and children's faces as they watched her swallow Kaida under the Master's control. She flicked her ears and brushed the troublesome thoughts away, focusing on listening as the caretaker began to awaken the children of Kaida's building. Hotaru observed the same happening in the hut adjacent to Kaida's, and ignored the warriors guarding all the buildings with cold-fearful stares directed her way.

Eventually, as other adult humans came out of their houses to greet each other, the caretaker from the girls’ building called her friend's name. In response, Kaida stirred, stretched, and immediately looked to Hotaru. The beast gave the most reassuring look she could manage and was rewarded with a smile and a friendly ruffle to the feathers on her side.

“I’ll be right back,” she said with absolute certainty, and began to make her way to the caretaker. Hotaru watched her carefully as she conversed with the woman. The she-tricuno couldn't understand most of what they were saying, aside from a couple mentions of her girl's name--they used far too much vocabulary and at a much greater speed than her dear considerate Kaida did with her--but the tones of their voices were mainly relaxed and only slightly nervous. After a bit, her friend called her over.

Hotaru yawned and stretched her back, right foot pointing out for extra stretchiness. When she brought her foot back in to get up, however, it slid across something metal, and she tripped--heard Kaida worriedly gasp her name from across the field--and awkwardly flapped her wings to regain her balance.

“Are you okay??” asked her girl (who'd rushed to her front), eyes brimming with concern.

Hotaru answered with a reassuring rumble and a nuzzle to the top of Kaida's head.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Kaida sighed in relief.

Hotaru silently agreed, and stepped back to examine the thing she slipped on. A familiar blue-green glint shone from under dislodged grass and dirt (from her initial landing), and she recognized it with a 'snrrf’ sound. She lowered her head, blew the debris off, and nudged it towards Kaida with her foot. Her girl saw it and gasped.

“Oh! Good find, Hotaru! Thank you!” she said happy-excitedly, briefly rubbing the she-tricuno's snout.

She scooped up the mirror, and this time both of them were prepared for the shivering sync of shield, Kaida, and Hotaru. When it ended her girl tucked it onto her back.

“What were we doing..?” she muttered.

“BREAKFAST!!” Tsubaki shouted to any sleepy stragglers in the girls’ building.

“Oh! Right!” Kaida said, and began backwards-jogging over to the caretaker, with Hotaru instinctively following her.

Kaida bumped into Tsubaki--who let out a sound of surprise, as she was still facing the girls’ building--in trying to keep track of Hotaru's precious face.

“Oh! I'm really sorry, Miss Tsubaki!” she embarrassedly apologized with a sorrowful pinch in her chest.

Tsubaki sighed “It's okay, Kaida,” she began as she turned around. “I'm just glad you're--!!” she suddenly went silent and clutched at her heart.

“Wh-what’s wrong!?” Kaida cried.

“Oh, I just..” Tsubaki started, mind racing for an answer because she knew Kaida likely wouldn't accept 'Nothing' as one. “..didn’t expect the--your beast to be so close.” she finishes, trying to keep her eyes off the gigantic creature.

To her surprise, Kaida responds with a sad-sounding “Oh.” and a sour glance at Tsubaki, rather than the usual fury that'd result whenever someone insulted something she loved(like exploring the forest on her own).

Tsubaki was surprised and a little bit confused. Does she really care that much about what I think? she questioned herself as she waved the child to the cafeteria. Maybe I should pay more attention to the ‘problem child’..

When she got to the cafeteria, Kaida fidgeted nervously with her middle skirt. She wasn't looking forward to leaving Hotaru, even if it was only for a little bit.

“I've gotta go in there,” she said, pointing to herself and then the cafeteria doors, “but I'll be back as soon as I can! Okay?”

Hotaru 'hrrf’ed in acknowledgement.

Kaida hesitated to turn away from her best friend, and came to a decision. “You want nuzzles?” She asked sweetly, holding her hands out.

Hotaru immediately purred and lowered herself into her ‘petting stance’, pushing her head into her girl's waiting hands. The two finished off nuzzles by rubbing head to head, and drew away, dizzy with happiness. Kaida headed into the building.

It was subtly noisy inside; the background was a constant low murmuring between the friend- groups of awake people. As she entered the line for getting food, she found herself forgetting that there were supposed to be people here (and that their voices weren't hallucinations, and their bodies weren't malevolent armors). It felt strangely unfamiliar, to the point where she had to rely on the actions of the other children (who were clearly used to the routine) rather than her own memories. It's a good thing the lights are so dim, she thought. Don't want the sunlight reflecting off my shield and grabbing everyone's attention. Luckily, most of the people around her were too sleepy to notice or question her shield, and so she got out of the cafeteria with no incident.

Hotaru greeted her with a friendly nuzzle, and Kaida giggled softly, briefly petting the tricuno's nose with her spare hand. She sat down giddily and ate her breakfast with hungry enthusiasm. When she finished, she had to leave Hotaru again “to wash the plate & cups I used--”she explained “--but I'll be back soon, I promise!”

Washing dishes was going nice and quietly (with no one bothering Kaida), until..

“Hey, what's on your back?” a curious boy asked.

“Um--I'll tell you about it later!” she stammered, pulling her now-clean plate out of the soapy water from the communal sink. She turned on the rinsing spout and ran water over the dish. “Maybe,” she added quietly before turning it off, hurriedly placing it on the drying rack and jogging to the cafeteria entrance.

She knew that Hotaru would be staring right at the doors when she came out (she always managed to pinpoint her location somehow), and smiled softly when she saw her intuition was right.

Something large shuffled audibly, and it wasn't Hotaru because she was right there busy sniffing the dishwashing smells on Kaida. Kaida glanced in the direction of the sound and sighed in relief when she saw the soft grays of the other tricuno.

Curiosity flared in Kaida, and she could tell Hotaru was curious too as the beast turned with her to look at the fellow feathered giant. She suddenly had to stifle a smile when she saw the gray tricuno was craning their neck to peer into one of the cafeteria windows. There was a faint chatter from inside, and then several hands reached out and clumsily patted the beast's nose. Kaida raised her brows in surprise. They aren't afraid of them..? ..Oh! This means that Hotaru can be accepted too!

Hotaru then proceeded to emit the quietest attention-calling roar Kaida had ever heard her make at the gray tricuno. Their ears flickered, but they didn't turn their head, preferring to focus on movement within the cafeteria.

Hotaru roared again, at a normal volume this time, and the gray tricuno turned to her, gave a short ‘hey!’ roar, turned back to the window, and roared indicatively at it. Hotaru and Kaida realized the gray tricuno must have been trying to look out for the safety of their human. Hotaru rumble-sniffed guiltily, and Kaida gave a reassuring pet to her face. “You didn't mean to.” the girl mumbled comfortingly.