A/N: A rather small short story of about 5 chapters' length, taking place after the events of the main storyline of 'Horizon Zero Dawn'. Hope you enjoy it, and please leave a comment if you feel like it. It will help my writing skills become better.

Disclaimer: I don't own 'Horizon Zero Dawn', this honour's reserved to Guerrilla Games, and them alone. The same goes for its characters, I'm merely leasing them for this story. The used image of this story is a fan poster, and not my own either. This is a story by a fan for fans. I'm not making money with it, it's a fun project only.


Night of the Rising Sun

Chapter 1

Clutching the package firmly in her right hand, she moved past the busy travelers, merchants and hunters, barely sticking out of the buzzing in the streets. The only feature pointing her out was her bright, flaming hair. And the evidently strengthening pieces of metal to her hunter's armor, for a Nora adding remnants of the Old Ones to her lifestyle was still a thing unheard of. But she didn't mind the occasional looks in her direction. She had a task to finish.

At the central mesa and marketplace of Meridian, she kept a lookout for the person she was supposed to meet here. It would have been a challenge to the human eye to gain an overlook of the dozens of people running errands, making their ways past each other and covering other faces in the process. But not to Aloy, who switched on her Focus device at her right ear with a soft touch of her fingertips and performed a look around. Only to her own eyes, she was enclosed now in a thin, electronic hemisphere, which was able to provide her with information to whatever thing she concentrated on.

"Name's Aleyna", she muttered silently to herself, her green eyes trying to remain at the vague centre of the marketplace. "Slender figure; long, black hair; brown skin; female."

At her voice command she could see the Focus calculate in the outer corners of her sight, rendering some people purple and blurry for a second before the progress completed and a single person was now highlighted in the colour of lilac. Aloy knew immediately that this was the woman she was looking for and headed towards her location at the right-handed edge of the marketplace, maneuvering her way around the traders and costumers in swerving lines. The closer she drew to her target, the better she could see her without the highlight of her Focus. She wore a black skirt, combined with a sleeveless blouse that was made of grey cloth and ornamented with a few golden stitches. Her clothing made her appear modest and awkwardly colourless, though it was also evident that she enjoyed at least a humble stage of prosperity. Even her name and origin appeared above her head, visible only for the huntress of the Nora: 'Aleyna Tamne, Sundom'

As the woman noticed her friendly but determined stare and her movement in her direction, she met her with subtle, but cold interest: "What is it, you want? As you can see, I have nothing to offer."

"That's fine with me, I'm not here to trade. Are you Aleyna?"

Her dark, brown eyes under the carefully shaped eyebrows narrowed in mistrust and she crossed her arms, a few golden and silver bangles clinging lovely in the process. "Yeah, I am. And you are...?"

"My friends call me Aloy. I've been sent to see you by an Oseram soldier. His name's Iskandar. Sounds familiar?"

Obviously, it did. Her expression changed from suspicion into honest interest and finally eager curiosity. "Iskandar? How does he look like?"

Aloy suppressed the urge to grin. Who was this woman intending to fool? But she handed out a little more information nonetheless, it made things easier for both of them: "He's a little taller than I am, well-trained, fights with a spear. His hair is short and a little curly, he has a significant scar on his left cheek. Enough for a summary?"

"Yes, that's definitely him", Aleyna nodded, evidently more willing to hear her out now. "Why did he send you? We were supposed to meet here today. In person."

The Nora performed a gesture of agreement. "I know. We met in the central desert north-east from here, as I was on my way back. When he found out that I was heading towards Meridian, he asked me to look out for you and give you his... best wishes. Also, I am to deliver this little package." She held out her hand and the Carja woman took the bundle without hesitation, wrapping it open most carefully. "He said you'd know what's inside it."

"Indeed, I do."

The leather packaging got parted from its treasure within seconds and revealed it to be a tiny, beautifully made resemblance of a fox. It looked as if the forest animal was carved out of dark, tropical wood, captured in a weary, sneaking movement. Both women appreciated the craftmanswork for a second and Aleyna showed a loving, affectionate smile.

"He made it himself, you know?", she told Aloy, holding the figure in her left hand and stroking its head in a caressing manner. "He's really talented, and so I pursued him to show me one of his pieces. A shame that he's not here, really... He called me 'desert fox' once, you know?"

Aloy smiled in return, she really liked the wooden fox. And Aleyna didn't seem an uneasy person, after all. She pocketed the figure carefully and pulled out a small bag instead. "Though you said you were on your way here already, you assisted him nevertheless. Thank you for bringing his message and the bundle to me. I hope this counts as a decent reward."

Aloy was impressed by the hundred metal shards she found in her hands only a second later; she'd been rewarded way lower in the past for far more extensive deeds than playing the mailman - or woman. But she definitely wasn't a person to complain, so she took the shards with a grateful smile and bid goodbye to the Carja: "Thank you, Aleyna. A good day to you."

"The same to you, kind huntress!"

This quest off her list, Aloy started to scan the marketplace all over again, this time looking for stalls where she could restock her supplies. She'd run out of Sparkers recently and wanted to search for new available modification recipes as well. Strolling around the place, looking at the diverse offerings and trying out the latest weapons models, the Sun rose to its zenith above her head. Time lost its meaning for her over the haggle with picky-headed merchants and blacksmiths, when, all of a sudden, a familiar voice reached her ear and she looked up:

"... wouldn't believe you even if you showed me ten of those stupid files. They're counterfeit, anyways! Come on, guys, I think this smart-head needs a decent break."

Grinning to herself, she bade the trader she'd kept company farewell and approached the source of the voice. It had come from a tall, broad-shouldered soldier in well-kept armor, who had placed his hands at his hips and saw off two guardsmen at the moment. Said men were flanking a nervous-looking guy in suspiciously fine trousers. Taking advantage of her noisy environment, Aloy sneaked up on the soldier and tapped him on the right shoulder, quickly sliding to his left side. As she'd expected, he turned to his right, bewildered, and she raised her voice in a bypassing manner: "Not filling up the empty jail cells, are we?"

He faced her in an instant, his brown eyes glowing with joyful surprise. "Aloy!"

It seemed at first as if he was about to hug her, but settled with firmly grasping her shoulder; a gesture she could return easily. "Haha! You stand around, think nothing bad by it, and all of a sudden a fiery huntress appears out of nowhere! So good to see you! It has been too long."

"Yeah, it really was. But you know how things are: you start out on a quest, think nothing bad by it, and before blinking twice you are caught up in a whole bunch of a mess you have to sort out."

"Too bad for you, but who could deny someone such a pleasant helping hand like you? What was it?"

She was glad to talk to Erend again. His corny, straight-away manner of speaking easily fitted hers and she dedicated herself to a summary of the latest happenings: "A fragment society of the Banuk tribe had some problems with her machine-friends. Like another one I've seen before, just the other way around: the machines were behaving oddly and aggressively towards humans until a corrupter, hidden in a buried tunnel, was put right. Took another while to convince them that their 'friends' were friendly again, though."

Erend subconsciously nodded in appreciation. "Well, busy girl, as usual." Another thought seemed to interrupt his speak, though, and he changed the subject. "Have you been to the great desert too, by chance?"

Aloy agreed, curious why he'd ask such a thing: "Yes, I had to pass through on my way back from the Banuk."

"But that's perfect! See, we've had a few incommodities with the remnants of those cultist Shadow Carja. Those who escaped law or justice have scattered into the north and east, and in those hot winds we lost track of them. Maybe you've spotted something related?"

A little overwhelmed by the new information, Aloy couldn't immediately work out whether she'd crossed certain hints or traces. "I don't know for sure. Can you be a little more precise?"

"Hardly, it's the Sun-King who's putting all the hints together."

Clapping his hands fiercely, he got struck by a sudden idea. "Holy mother, what are we standing here, chatting like chamber maids? Come with me and see the him yourself. I'm sure he wants to see you as well, before all others."

Now this was happening a little too fast for Aloy and she raised both hands in a calming gesture. "Wait up, Erend. It's midday, he's probably busy with thousands of errands to run. Back during the infiltration, things were a little different, but now I can't just walk in there and demand a meeting. As if I were important enough to do so."

But the well-trained soldier shook off her concerns and briefly touched her shoulder to make her follow, leading the way with quick steps. "Rubbish! You're probably the farthest travelled person alive, if you're ignoring that you saved Meridian from an ancient threat. I bet everything that he wants to meet you the rare times you find your way inside the city boundaries. Besides, after this business with the Shadow Carja, he wants to be informed about everything that's going on. Told me so himself."

Letting out a good-natured sigh, she easily held his speed with her slightly shorter step. "Talking about ambition."

"Yeah, but you can't blame him, can you? Folk needs a grounded and firm ruler at the moment, you see it everywhere."

"Where, exactly?"

"Seen the idiot my men showed to the door? He tried to fool me with forged merchant-papers, but I bet his hands are dirtier than they seem. I've seen some of his stuff when we confiscated it. Trinkets, branded with the symbol of the cult."