Chapter 1 – The Stranger

A/N: Hello everyone, this idea won't leave me alone so I had to write it.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Last Guardian.

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It was fall and the trees had long changed color. A group of men were wandering through the forest with their weapons, eyes searching the trees for any sign of movement.

It was their job to hunt in the forest and bring meat back to the village. However, there hadn't been many successful hunts over the last few weeks and it was causing a lot of concern since winter was approaching.

"Let's head back. There is nothing here." Their leader finally said with a sigh, frustration clear on his face. Some men sighed while others groaned, knowing they had to return to everyone empty-handed now.

As they began making their way back to the village, one of them suddenly shouted. "Hey, come see!" The others immediately perked up and hurried over to him expecting it to be an animal, but when they got there they were shocked.

It was a man lying on the ground, unconscious.

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"Tomi, catch!"

The boy, Tomi, grinned as he caught the ball successfully and then tossed him it back to his friend. The child had been running around in the field in front of the village gate with his friend when he saw the hunters coming out of the forest and was surprised when he saw them an actual person with them.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and watched in confusion as the hunters walked through the village with the unconscious man. Tomi couldn't get a good look at him, but he could see that he was wearing attire like theirs except his were grey and wore a black pants. Quiet murmurs filled the air as the man was carried into the healer's tent.

"Who was that? I never seen him in our village before." His friend stated.

"Me neither," Tomi said, watching the tent curiously and frowned when people blocked his view of what was happening inside. Who was that? Was he from another village? What happened to him?

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Wake up!

His eyes immediately snapped open and he found himself lying on a bed on the ground. He sat up and looked around in confusion.

"Oh, you're awake!" He turned to see an old woman sitting next him.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"Don't worry, our hunters found you passed out in the forest and brought you here to me. I am the village healer." The old lady said as he stepped closer and knelt down in front of him. "Here, drink this. It should help you feel better."

He took the bowl from her and stared at the liquid in it warily before slowly drinking it.

"How do you feel? You were out the whole day you know," she told him.

The man paused. "Was I?" He asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "Well, I'm alright I guess." He said, rubbing the back of his head as if he didn't know what to tell her.

The healer blinked at the odd response, but decided not press for more. "Wait here, I'll be right back." She said carefully and left the tent. She soon returned with an old man with white hair.

"Hello, I'm glad you to see you're awake. I am the elder of this village." He stated firmly and the man greeted back. "I'm sure you probably have questions of your own, but would you mind answering a few things for us."

The man shrugged.

"Good, now tell us. What were you doing in the forest? Where did you come from?"

"Things had been quite terrible in my village so I left. I spent many days wandering the land looking for a new home." He said.

"And what happened to you? Did you get attacked?" He asked.

"Well, no. I've been walking for a while looking for a place to rest in, but the mountains aren't exactly safe so I kept going without any sleep. I must have passed out at some point." He answered offhandedly.

The Elder and the healer shared confused looks.

His story was probably true considering how far the other villages were from theirs so it will be a rough journey for anyone who wasn't well prepared, but for someone who just woke up in a tent surrounded by strangers, this man seemed to be….oddly at ease.

"What is your name?" The Elder asked.

The man stared at him for a moment and smiled. "Taiko."

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The Elder had spoken with the chief after he left them who decided to let the man stay for a while, but he will have to help out in the village in change for that.

But over the next few days, everyone were taken aback by the man's feats. He turned out to be really strong and an excellent hunter, managing to hunt down a deer by himself and carrying it all the back to the village on his shoulders, much to the other hunters' disbelieve.

Where he found it and how was something he never explained.

It didn't take long for the news about the stranger to spread through the village and everyone wouldn't stop talking about him including Tomi and his friends.

The more the child heard about that man, the more he amazed he became by him. The boy had also never left the village before in his life so he really wanted to meet him and ask him about his travels and the places he has been to.

But all of that changed in one night.

Tomi had been staring through the window to pass the time until felt tired enough to sleep when he suddenly noticed something near the village gate. There was someone down there, looking around before heading into the forest.

Tomi blinked and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things. He knew those grew clothes anywhere. That was Taiko, but why was he leaving the village in the middle of the night? Where was going?

He considered waking someone to tell them about this, but decided against that. It might not be anything bad. Maybe he was just going for a walk, but something about the strange way he saw him acting led him to think otherwise.

Curiosity getting the best of him, the boy slowly closed the window and made his way out of boys' hut as quietly as he could. Wasting no time, he hurried towards the forest after the man.

Luckily, it was a moonlit night so it wasn't too dark for him to see his way around. The boy glanced around in confusion, wondering where the man went when he suddenly heard something.

Something was moving in the trees.

For a moment he thought it was Taiko, but the sound of twigs and branches snapping harshly made him realize it wasn't. His ears then picked up on another sound, footsteps, but there was something weird about it.

They sounded so heavy, so loud. Whatever animal they belonged too, it was big. Could it be a bear? Panicking, the boy ran over and hid in the bushes, hoping the animal won't find him.

The sound of the steps grew closer and closer. Tomi felt his heart beating violently against his chest. He peeked through the tiny space between the bushes and he felt his blood run cold.

The animal…..the creature was huge! It was bigger than anything the boy had seen. It had blue horns on its head and he could make out a pair of wings on its back too. The beast's eyes were glowing in the dark making its appearance even more terrifying.

Saying that the boy was scared was an understatement. He had never been more terrified in his entire life. What…what was this thing? Where did it come from? What will it do if it see him?

Tomi wasn't sure he wanted to find out.

The beast let out a tired yawn then began scratching its neck with its hind leg and shook its body, some feathers falling out its body. It suddenly stopped what it was doing and began sniffing the air.

It finally glanced in his direction making the boy's heart skipped a beat. It slowly began following the scent, getting closer and closer to where he was hiding.

Tomi's mind was racing. He had no idea what do. He could barely think in his panic. Should he get up and run away? Could he outrun that monster? Would it follow him to the village?

The beast was now a few feet away from the bushes and lowered its head suspiciously. It took all of the child's willpower not to scream and give away his presence to the monster right then and there. This was it. He was done for. The beast was going to find him and eat him!

Why did have to come here? Why didn't he just stay in his village? He was so stupid-

The beast suddenly perked up and moved away from the bushes, much to the boy's confusion. For a few moments it stood there stiffly almost as if it was listening for something. Finally, it seemed to snap out of whatever came over it and grunted almost in annoyance.

Tomi watched in confusion and slight horror as strange blackness slowly seemed to come out of nowhere and cover the creature's body until it looked like a giant walking shadow. The dark mass then began to morph and shrink until it became the same shape and size of a human.

The dark figure stood there for a few seconds until blackness finally dispersed and in the place of the beast was….Taiko.

What!? Tomi thought, his thoughts coming to a screeching halt.

The man looked down at himself and his hands in annoyance before sighing and walking away towards the village.

For a while there was nothing but the sounds of the forest creatures in the air. Tomi lay there on the grass, his mind failing to process any of what just transpired. Once he was sure the man was really gone, the boy shakily stepped out of the bushes staring at the direction the man went with wide eyes.

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A/N: Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of my Shapeshifter AU. Also, the name "Taiko" pronounced "Tai-ko" is based on the name. "Trico". :)