"Elizabeth!" Aloy shouted into her daughter's room. The small red-haired girl rises from her bed while scratching her eyes. A smile appears on Aloy face as she climbs out of bed. Leaning down to the ground to be at her daughter's height, he pats the small child head to say:
"Guess what today is?" Aloy asked. The sleepy child stared at her mother for a couple of seconds before gasping:
"Hunting!" She shouted, making Aloy nod her head.
"That's right, today is your first day of hunting." Aloy whispered. "Now get dressed, I want to be out the palace before your father wakes up."
The small girl nods her head before running back to her room. Now eight and skilled with a bow and arrow, the small girl was about to do something she had been waiting for years. Her first kill, with the help of her mother. She dressed in similar fur/mech infused clothing similar to that of a Nora. Once dressed, the two made their way to the forest, which annoyed Elizabeth.
"Why do I have to go after a watch? Why can't I go after a Thunder-Jaw! or a Rock Breaker! Oh, or maybe a Trampler!" Elizabeth said with stars shining in her eyes. Her mother sighs a little before she stopped walking to look at Elizabeth.
"Lizzie…" Aloy said. "You're not that skilled. To take down a Thunder jaw, or even a charger takes skills. Skills you haven't learned yet."
"But I am skilled enough!"
"Yes, I know your strong and smart enough to take down a machine, but nothing big to practically kill you." Aloy said before looking around the area. The sun was rising to the sky, creating an orange like lighting that reflected off the rocks and shined a little through the trees that could protect people from the rain. Aloy nods her head before turning back to her daughter.
"Alright, the hunting begins." Aloy said before walking past her daughter. Elizabeth begins to follow but Aloy stops her. "No, you do this yourself."
"What?" Elizabeth asked.
"The first thing about hunting is that you must know how to protect yourself. And in order to do that, you must be alone."
"You're leaving me alone in the forest!"
"Yes."
"But I don't even know how to get back home." Elizabeth shouted. "You can't leave me alone."
"Lizzie, if you want to be a hunter you need to learn how to survive on your own. I already told you this before you agreed to become one."
"Honestly I thought you were joking…" Elizabeth said with a small smirk that quickly disappeared when Aloy whistled for her ride. A second later a charger comes from the bushes. Elizabeth's eyes widen in fear as her mother climbs the machine.
"You're really leaving me!? What if a Death Bringer is in this area!?" Elizabeth asked.
"I will be waiting for you back at the palace." Aloy said. "Rember, if you run out of arrows or see an enemy you know you can't fight. Run and Hide." Aloy tells her daughter before kicking the charger's side. The small girls' eyes widen as she watches her mother disappear into the forest. The small child just stood there motionless as she looks at her surrounding.
"Oh mother…" The small child said before walking in the direction she thought was home.
(Seven hours later)
"You my dear love is a horrible mother." Nil whispered into Aloy ear. The red-haired woman just shoves him away as she watches her daughter from a high point. Aloy would NEVER leave her daughter alone in a forest full of mechs! But she would give the illusion she was gone by climbing up a mountain, connecting trees and rocks to each other with yellow rope and watch her daughter from above the tree branches, without Elizabeth knowing of course.
"She needs to learn how to survive." Aloy said. "So far though, she's doing okay."
Aloy said, and she was right. Although Elizabeth was not heading the right direction to home, she was evading mechs she could not fight. She also hunted down meat and skinned an animal. But to destroy a mech by herself, she had not done yet and it was annoying Aloy.
"Come on Elizabeth, one watcher." Aloy thought. "That's all I ask."
"You know, has it ever accord to you that Elizabeth might night be a hunter like you." Nil said.
"Possible, but I refuse to leave this world and not have my daughter known basic skills of survival." Aloy muttered.
"Oh, by the way, Avad is pissed." Nil said. "He sent out some Carja guards to find you."
"How that go?"
"They are looking in the desert." Nil said, to that, Aloy facepalm herself.
"I love him but…I worry." Aloy muttered to herself.
"I have to ask Aloy…" Nil started. "I always wondered why you went with Avad and not me."
"Vanasha." Aloy growled. "You were there when it happened."
"But why marry him?"
"Elizabeth." Aloy responded.
"Are you happy?"
"There is no such thing as happiness Nil, just responsibility, and my responsibly is Elizabeth and Avad."
"But if that night didn't happen…"
"We still would never be together because you're a…OH!" Aloy gasped, making Nil turn his head to her. "Elizabeth is preparing to fire at a watcher! Be quiet!"
Aloy ordered as she watches her daughter stiletto figure crouch down in bushes. Elizabeth's eyes watch the lonely machine scan the area. Searching for its prey with its giant eyes. Elizabeth's tiny green eyes begin to glow purple, creating tiny notes of the machine on it. Seeing its pattern, learning its ways. When the eye turns away from her, she rose from the bushes and fired. When the machine turns its head, an arrow went straight into its socket, making the machine fall to the ground. A smile forms on her face as she jumps up in the air. Cheering for her success, she jumps up and down in the air.
"Aww, she's so cute." Nil said with a smirk.
"Reminds me of the past." Aloy muttered. "Rost would have been proud."
A watcher not to far away caught Aloy's eye. It didn't seem to try to attack Elizabeth, but it didn't look friendly either. The machine watches the small girl run over to its fallen company but doesn't attack her. Instead, it looks to the sky. Aloy eyes squint in worry as its eyes begin to change from yellow to a…purple color.
"What is that thing doing?" Aloy asked herself. The watcher then gives Elizabeth one last glance before running away from the area. Elizabeth begins to walk in the opposite direction of the mech, only to stop when she heard a twig crack sound. Aloy's eyes go back to her daughter, she then gasped. Elizabeth didn't see, but Aloy saw a stalker slowly approaching her daughter. Rising to her feet, she takes a quick breath and shouted:
"ELIZABETH!" Aloy shouted, making Elizabeth turn her head to the sky to where the voice came from. Only to see an abnormal stalker jump towards her. The small child throws her body to the ground, rolling away from its attack. In haste, she pulls a metal staff from her back and holds it against her chest while pointing the blade at the end of the creature.
Aloy runs to the nearest holder and grable lines herself down to the ground as quickly as possible. Nil was climbing down the rocks. When Aloy's feet touch the ground, Elizabeth's head turns to her.
"MOM!" She shouted, not noticing the mech charging at her. Quickly turning her head, she blocks the mechs attack my swinging her spear to its face, only to clash with the claw that tried to attack her. Without a second to waste, Aloy runs towards her daughter. Grabbing her by the waist, she hoists the small child up into the air. She threw her quite high too, because Elizabeth found herself dangling from a tree branch.
Knowing she is safe, Aloy wasted no second firing at the stalker. Using electric arrows, she shot the mech multiple times in its torso and head. Sending it into a shocking frenzy. Elizabeth's eyes widen in amaze at her mother's skills.
"Wow." Elizabeth said as a smile forms on her face. Her mother wasted no time destroying the machine, ending it where it stood. Once down, the one takes a deep breath. She then looks up to her daughter, who was still dangling from the branch.
"THAT WAS AWESOME!" The little girl shouted from the tree. Aloy couldn't help but to smile at her daughter's words.
"Are you okay?!" Aloy shouted from below. Elizabeth nods her head. She was going to let go of the branch, only to stop when the ground started to shake. Aloy's eyes widen for a second. She then runs over to the bushes Elizabeth hid in. Looking up at her daughter, she presses her index finger to her lips and gives her a quit signal. The small girl nods her head before climbing up the branch. She hides behind the tree branch that had large amounts of leaves to hide her. Aloy smiles before turning her head to the direction the footsteps were coming from.
Then it came, a large machine, ten feet tall, something Aloy has never seen before. It had animal-like feet, a long tail similar to corruptor but it was wider for some reason, torrents on its back like scorchers, a flower head that twist and turns with a bellowback stomach that had no liquid inside. Aloy's eyes widen as her heart begins to beat. She never saw a creature like this before, and it terrified her to the point she could feel herself sweat.
"Don't move." Aloy thought to herself as she stared up at the trees. She didn't know what this thing was capable of and she didn't want to know when Elizabeth was near. Even those who don't fight get injured by one of these things. Plus, she didn't want to have an argument with Avad. The small girl watches the creature, she was at a high point but even she knew that mechs were smart and something you never mess with. The creature moves its head constantly, scanning the area. Aloy fingers grip the dirt she hovered over and tried to remain calm. If her heartbeat were to spike up, the machine would sense it and attack. If only it were that simple.
"MOMMY!"
Elizabeth shouted from the trees. Falling from the large branch she hid on, she small girl whimpers as she gets to her feet. Aloy's eyes widen as a metal flower like thing opens its mouth to her. The small girl runs over to her mother, but it was too late, the flower had swallowed her in a blink of an eye. Aloy gasped, eyes widen to the point it looked like plates on her eyes. Standing from her hiding place, she runs over to the tube-like tail to destroy it, only to stop when she saw her daughter slide down the clear tail then land straight into its belly. The machine head turns to look at Aly as the woman stared in confusion of what just happened.
"What in mother's name are you?" Aloy asked, only for her answer to be heard by a loud roar. Grabbing her strongest arrows she begins firing at the head but no damage was made. The tube-like tail swings at her, but she manages to dodge it with ease. The machine roars at Aloy with a high pitch sound that forced the woman to cover her ears, giving the creature a clear shot at her. Swinging its tail, it sent her flying into a tree. Her body becomes temporally limp, the creature seemed to laugh at her pain for a few seconds before crawling away from her.
but...not too far.
stepping on a thin wire, its body falls forward to a hole filled with bombs, courtesy of the sun queen. Aloy smirks as the creature falls to the ground, the chamber that kept Elizabeth begins to crack then shatter into tiny pieces. Elizabeth's eyes widen in shock at what just happened. It then clicked in her mind.
"THERE WERE BOMBS HERE!?"
(The Palace)
"I ask one thing of you Aloy, ONE THING!" Avad shouted in anger. Aloy and returned home not too long ago covered in cuts and bruises. The plan was to go home and tell Avad a lie, saying that they were mountain climbing, but Nil told everything. Now, Aloy was attending to her daughter's broken arm by wrapping it in branches and bandages.
"Avad you are overreacting." Aloy said before kissing her daughters head. she gives the child a small smile before saying: "You did an amazing job, I am so proud of you."
"But the machine." Elizabeth said, Aloy just chuckled.
"I told you, you weren't ready for the big guys. You did your job and took out the small mechs. That's all I asked of you." Aloy said. "Go downstairs and get something to eat. I must have a word with your father."
"Okay." Elizabeth responded before standing up from her seat. She leaves her parents bedroom, leaving the two alone. It is then when Avad continued his rant.
"What is wrong with you!?" Avad shouted.
"She is fine." Aloy responded.
"Fine, my daughter's arm is broken! She came here crying in Nil's arms about being swallowed by a machine and you say she is fine!?" Avad shouted. "She does not need to be a huntress Aloy!
"Elizabeth is OUR child Avad!" Aloy shouted. "She has a target on her back and refuses to let her be defenses if anything happens to her!"
"Nothing will happen to her."
"Don't think that way!" Aloy shouted. "Men have tried countless times to kill you, I hardly doubt they will not do the same for her."
"The eclipse are gone Aloy!"
"There are forces everywhere Avad. Forces that still hate you AND me. We will not be in our daughter's life forever, and I refuse to leave this world knowing that she does not have the skills to protect herself. There are things out there that even we can't comprehend that will come for her. And today just proves I am right!"
"Why are you so paranoid!? Nothing is coming after our daughter!" Avad shouted.
"Yes there is! Just trust me!" Aloy shouted at her husband. The older male stared at her before rolling his eyes at her. "What?"
"Forget it." Avad muttered. He begins to walk to the door that lead out of their bedroom.
"What?!" Aloy shouted at her husband as she stood in front of the exit of their room. Avad looks down in annoyance, trying not to make eye contact. But Aloy being Aloy refuse to be ignored, so she grabbed him by the chin and demanded:
"Tell me." She spoke with a stern voice. Avad removes her hand and said:
"Why are you scared for Elizabeth safety?" Avad asked.
"She's my daughter!" Aloy shouted, sounding a little bit insulted by the question.
"No, your hiding something from me and I want to know. What is our daughter, and what coming after her?"
Kikkie: Happy Christmas Eve! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please Review and have a lovely day.