Several months after the battle against Hades, Aloy is left struggling to find her next step forward. The sub-functions of Gaia are scattered throughout the world, and to make things even more complicated, the Derangement is accelerating, making road travel almost impossible. But a battle outside the gates of the Embrace aided by a single mercenary sets her on a clear path, and the events that follow will change her life forever…
A Mercenary at the Gates Pt. 1
-Several months after the battle at the Spire, Aloy remains indecisive and confused about her next step forward. Varl offers her a distraction…
The sounds of nature playing in the background are a familiar tune that could be heard throughout the Embrace. Birds tweet their songs of the early afternoon to each other from high atop the trees as small mammals rummage in the grasses. A soft breeze is billowing in from the east, bringing down a slight chill from the mountains that surround the valley, even though summer is just around the corner. The warmer weather brings out the colour of the Embrace and makes it all look so vibrant and peaceful.
Yet Aloy still feels restless.
She lays on her belly on top of a hill in a far corner of the valley, where almost practically nobody could bother her. She ran her hands through her hair and exhaled slowly, before tugging at the blades of grass in front of her in bitter boredom.
It had been three months since the battle at the Spire and the termination of Hades. There was half a city to clean up and repair afterwards, but Aloy hadn't stuck around. Despite knowing that the attack was ultimately because of her, she left Meridian behind and prepared to travel far.
Because her mission wasn't done. Not yet.
In her journey to stop the AI Hades, Aloy discovered that several other AIs of similar nature and design had been let loose and escaped into the vast unknown. The subordinate functions that all contributed to the 'reconstruction' of the planet were now independent entities with their own agendas. Hades was just the first of many problems to deal with.
And that was where her dilemma began. Aloy didn't have a clue as to where to begin her search. It wasn't like hunting a machine in the wilds, following an unsuspecting target through the brush of a thick jungle or tracking footprints made visible by the Focus, cutting through the snow covered mountains. She had spent years training and honing her skills to fight a materialistic animate object. She didn't know how to track a thinking program.
The discovery of CYAN and the Epsilon Cauldron was her best lead. Hephaestus didn't leave a traceable signal when it tried to take control of Cyan's systems, but Aloy had gained a valuable insight to its plans. New machines, designed to attack humans. It was the prelude to something big, she knew it. It had to be. But at this point in time Aloy didn't know where to start searching, or how. Locating an artificial intelligence system wasn't her field of expertise.
All she could do for now was prepare and keep an eye on the local machines. She gathered parts from her kills and upgraded her weapons with to the best of her crafting abilities and keep her skills sharp by training at the local hunting grounds. She also kept herself busy by helping the Nora tribe rebuild their home.
She sort of did it out of obligation. It was Rost's wish that she join the tribe and stand for them for when they needed her, even when she didn't need them. And it wasn't fair to the few people she did like. Teersa, Varl, Teb… being revered as the Anointed of the tribe frustrated her immensely, especially after treating her like a curse for most of her life, but they needed help. Their numbers were dwindling after the vicious attack by the Eclipse. They needed someone to look up to, a source of hope after everything they had gone through. A lesson that, ironically, a Carja priest had taught her. Aloy fitted that role begrudgingly.
But today she finds herself at a stalemate. She's itching to begin this new quest, but torn as to where to begin. The Cradle facility that was worshipped by the Nora as All Mother might hold some clues – if she searches it thoroughly. She had been in and out of the bunker multiple times to 'confer' with the goddess – or at least that's what she told the matriarchs every time she went into the bunker. But it was more specifically just trying to learn more about the ancient technology that could give birth to human beings and search for clues as to where Eleuthia could be. That search quickly came up fruitless.
She could also make the trip to the Cut and talk to CYAN again, ask it more questions regarding its purpose. The AI wasn't part of the terraforming system, but it was another AI built by the Old Ones, designed to maintain the volcanic activity underneath the Cut. A super volcano, right under their feet. The Epsilon Cauldron was built right on top of it to turn all that energy into smelting power and forging for the cauldron. It was all so fascinating, but it had nothing to do with her quest.
So until Aloy learns what her next move is, here she lopes around.
"If only I knew where to start," she mumbles to herself. "Tracking an AI seems a lot more complicated than I thought."
She turns her gaze to the left to the metal mass beside her.
"Do you have any ideas?"
The Sawtooth does not respond.
"I didn't think so…"
The machine had been under her control for several days now. It would follow her everywhere unless commanded just like a Strider. It's bulk meant it couldn't enter the Cradle with her, or much less get past the small entrance at the mouth of the cave, so it usually sat still outside the village gates, perfectly still. The Nora never appeared the docile machine, in fact they usually always kept at least a ten-foot distance whenever they passed by on the road. Aloy appreciated the distance, and grew so fond of it that she marked it as hers by tying a long length of fabric around its neck, the same colour as her small scarf, just so that the Nora knew not to shoot at it.
But the repellent machine didn't work on everyone.
The sound of dirt kicking up to her right, Aloy finds a particular Nora brave scramble up the cliff to meet her. He regards the Sawtooth hesitantly for a moment before his eyes land on her.
"This is a poor place for sentry duty," Varl greets.
"Who said I was on sentry duty? I thought I was picking berries," Aloy snips, reaching for a plant in front of her and pulling a few berries from it. They were small and overripe, poor pickings for any sort of recipe. Varl chuckles and sits down cross-legged beside her.
"You know solidarity doesn't do you any good."
"Solidarity helps me think, Varl. I can't listen to All Mother's wishes with all the Nora worshipping me," Aloy replies with heavy sarcasm.
"Still performing tasks for the one goddess?" he asks.
"The goddess' work is never done, even with the great Metal Devil slain," she responds quickly.
"What exactly are you tasked with doing that involves sitting on top of the cliffs by yourself?" Varl says and glances over at the bigger machine again. "With a Sawtooth on guard?"
Aloy sighs in exaggeration. This was just the kind of thing she was hoping to avoid. But because this is Varl, she feels more inclined to explain. He had already expressed once that maybe someday, he wished to learn the truth behind the goddess and what the lands beyond their Sacred Lands held. She desired so much to share her secrets with someone, but it was hard to work around everyone's stable faith.
"If you must know, All Mother was kind of… vague, when she said she wanted me to help her. Stopping Hades at the Spire was clear, but she hasn't given me any direction since," Aloy explains. There's a few seconds of silence as Varl thinks silently over her dilemma before speaking .
"Have you ever thought that this is what she wanted you to do? To help the tribe heal?"
"But Varl, it's been three months! The tribe can survive without me, now," Aloy decides to stand up, finding that the impatient energy inside her – growing within her for the past few weeks – is almost too much. "The gates are rebuilt, the braves are well-trained. I know there's more danger out there, but I don't know where to start or what signs to look for," she hisses with frustration. Her arms are right at her sides and her hands balled into fists. She waves her arm towards the dead titan machine looming on the mountains, towards Mother's Watch, where the Cradle facility is buried. "I could try and ask her for a little help, but I'm afraid she isn't going to say much."
"Why would you think that? What did she say last time?" Varl asks, joining her in standing up.
Aloy sighs and says, "In you, all things are possible." She turns towards Varl, who has a comically puzzled look on his face. "Those were her last words. And she hasn't spoken to me since."
He gives her a shrug. "Well at least she's encouraging, and she's right. You saved the whole tribe from extinction and saved the world right after that without missing a step. Nobody here can claim to have done something like that."
Aloy huffs and smiles only a little. "Are you trying to flatter me or encourage me?"
Varl laughs nervously. "Look, I think you've been thinking a little too hard about these tasks. Maybe you need to take your mind off them for a while. Come join me on guard duty for a bit. It might jog your thoughts around and help you figure it out."
The huntress rests her hands on her hips and sighs. "I guess you're right. A little wayward footing might help."
"That's the spirit. Come, I'll show you where you'll be posted."
… … …
Being stationed on guard duty has the opposite affect that Aloy was hoping for.
Her station is on top of one of the new towers constructed by the braves near the cliffs of the northern gate, with her loyal machine companion sitting patiently at the bottom for her. There were four towers in total, and she was in the outer most tower, meaning if there was danger approaching, she would see it first.
Her vantage is great. She can see all the way to the ruins of Devils Thirst in one direction and all the way to the southern gate the other way. The path below circles around her tower the long way around, so she has plenty of time to warn the braves stationed at the gates if there was ever a threat approaching. All she has to do is light the pit in the middle of the platform and climb down to join the others. The only downside to this is that Aloy is the only one there, and she can't go anywhere until the sun touches the mountains when her shift is over. She can't do anything but watch and think.
She plays around with her Focus to keep herself busy, going through all the files she has stored in the little device. Those she received from the Zero Dawn facility and those she found in the wild around ruins. She notices several subjects tended to repeat themselves across different recordings or text. While half of it she doesn't understand – like what was Metallurgic? She understood that it was responsible for a poison of some sort. And what exactly was Far Zenith? Some group of rich people building a flying machine in space, from what she can understand. Piecing together these unique fragments of information serves as a good pass time and provides a little satisfaction, her knowledge about the Old Ones' world growing little by little.
A loud boom echoes in the distance, prompting Aloy to lift her head.
A plume of smoke starts rising in the distance but she doesn't see the cause of it. She remains still and waits for something to happen. She's suspicious of the reason; smoke like that doesn't arise out of the blue.
Sure enough a few screams echo shortly after. She spots two braves as they run into view, and even though they were far away, she can tell they are running from something. She waits a little longer so she can see if their assailant would appear after them.
It does. A machine, big and fast, jumps onto the road and chases after the braves. Within two pounces it's upon them and tears them down. Literally. Aloy can't see the blood, but she can tell by the way the machine takes one of the braves in its jaws and throws them aside like a doll, and then swats the other one into a boulder with a massive, armed claw, that neither of them had survived.
Aloy comes to her senses and turns to the pit. There is a piece of flint sitting on the edge of the large bowl where the kindling and wood logs sat. She picked it up and scrapes it against one of her metal braces, the sparks flying into the kindling. Instantly, the dry kindling lights and a small growing flame starts to spread.
With that job done, she grabs her rope and rappels down from the tower to join the braves at the gate.
So HOLY CRAP it's good to be writing again! I am excited and nervous at the same time because it's been so long since I've posted any fanfic work on a website. In fact it's been years. I wanted to make something good, and then this incredible video game came out and I decided this is a perfect opportunity. It's just so fascinating!
But first thing's first. Yes, my own original character is going to play a huge role in this fanfic. It's not centered on them, most chapters are from Aloy's perspective, but a few choice chapters will involve the other party's side of things.
Second, I'm trying my damnest to NOT make this a Mary Sue type. I've risked that in the past and I hate myself for it.
And third, this will absolutely wind up an Aloy/OC pairing. But this is tagged as a slow burn, and I mean slooooooooooow burn, like, maybe not even this story slow. heck, maybe not even the second. I just want to flesh out the details and reveal as much characteristics to my OC as possible before any romance happens. And yes, I am planning on writing that much.
All that said, I hope you guys enjoyed reading this. I started writing as soon as I requested an invitation to this site (about a month ago) so I have plenty to post. Almost ten chapters worth in fact, so I consider myself pretty ahead. As far as updates go, likely once a week, until the posting catches up to me. I work with the Word app on my Iphone 6, so I'm always writing something down. And I mean ALWAYS. So leave a maybe a comment? Constructive criticism is always welcome!
Until next week.
MM.