Chapter Two
"Rost! Kiara!"
Aloy called as she exited her and Rost's home, she was a bit annoyed at their absence.
"We said we'd go hunting today, where are they?"
Before she could step off the steps of the house, she was stopped by an upside down tan skinned figure with deep blue eyes and straight brown hair that reached the base of their neck.
"Woah! Kiara? What are you doing up there?"
Kiara giggled, she was hanging from the support beam of the roof by her knees.
"How else was I gonna surprise you?"
"More like giving me a heart attack! Where's Rost?"
"Don't know, I just got here a few moments ago. I was gonna get here early but I was caught up in making something."
Aloy raised her eyebrow.
"Making something?"
Kiara smirked.
"Well, more like two somethings."
Kiara then flipped off the roof which revealed that she had been carrying weapons.
"This one is yours!"
Aloy looked confused.
"But, this is your spear. Your parents made this for you, why are you giving it to me?"
"Well.. my mom always told me that it's better to make something for yourself, and she was right. I made myself this lance with some metals I got when I went to the Oseram camp a few months back. I was able to add my own personality to it, it feels more like an extension of myself in a way."
She then took the other weapon from her back and showed off her well crafted lance, Aloy was rather impressed with it.
"And since I can't be there with you in the Proving, I thought that giving you a special part of me would be just as good. I modified it myself and even engraved it here, see?"
Aloy looked and saw the phrase (Always together, no matter the distance apart.)
"It stands for us, my parents, and Rost. I thought it would be fitting. So, what do you think?"
Aloy looked at the spear and then back at Kiara, she was overcome with an emotion she couldn't identify.
"Wow.. this.. this is the best gift I've ever received. I don't know what to say, Kiara. I love you so much, thank you!"
Aloy exchanged her old spear for her new one, she then moved in to take Kiara's lips with her own. Kiara pushed her against the house with one hand in her fiery red hair and the other around her waist, Aloy held on to Kiara's hips in return. They pulled apart after a moment, Kiara smirked.
"I should give you gifts more often."
Aloy snorted.
"Don't get your hopes up."
"Too late~"
Aloy rolled her eyes and Kiara chuckled as they made their way to Rost who was at the top of the hill. He asked them to get fire arrows for Aloy's lesson that night and asked them to get food for Odd Grata, they agreed and went on their way.
"Want to split up to speed up the time?"
"No, I'd rather hunt with you. It may take a little longer but it would be more enjoyable."
"Aww~ I really do need to give you gifts more often, you're more affectionate. "
Aloy groaned as they descended into the valley. They gave Odd Grata the rabbits they hunted and got her prayer beads back after she left them on the mountain. They helped a woman find her troubled brother, a father find his daughter and helped get the daughter's spear back from a scrapper. Finally, it was time to hunt striders for the fire arrow parts. Kiara turned to Aloy to discuss the plan.
"Watchers first?"
"Yep."
"I'll get the one on the right then close in on the one in the back, you get the one on the left and the strider that's away from the pack."
"On it."
They simultaneously took down both watchers then Aloy waited for Kiara to take down the last one before taking out the strider. They met up near the edge of the field in the tall grass to strategize how to take out the rest of the herd.
"Alright, now what? There's five striders left and they're all grouped together, wanna try and lure them away? Or should I corrupt some of them?"
Kiara motioned to her bow and corruption arrows, Aloy shook her head.
"Best to keep this quiet, they may get startled and run off."
Kiara nodded and gave a salute, Aloy rolled her eyes and smiled.
"I'll lure the one closest to the rock into the tall grass, you throw some stones by the forest's edge to lure the one closest to the trees. Then, we strike."
Kiara nodded and followed Aloy's plan, she snuck into the tall grass by the forest and threw some stones at the nearby tree.
"Come on, a little closer."
The strider was looking around the edge for the sound, but wasn't quite stepping in the forest. Kiara had to strike when she saw the strider turn towards Aloy as she took down the one by the rock, luckily neither got discovered in the attack. Kiara had to lay low in the tall grass for a few minutes after the herd came over to investigate the noise. They repeated the same process again, moving around the field to not tip off the machines that they were being hunted.
"And.. now!"
They both pounced on the last one and took it out.
"That was easy. How ya doing, partner?"
Aloy looked up at Kiara after crafting the fire arrows.
"That was a cakewalk, I'm good. Hey, I wanna get a tripcaster from Karst, you up for a walk?"
"Always love."
They walked leisurely towards where Karst lived, enjoying the scenery and each other's company more than anything.
"It's kind of strange, we're so different and yet we connect so well."
Kiara was puzzled at Aloy's comment, she slipped her hand into hers and urged her to continue.
"Explain dear."
"Well, from a personality standpoint, I'm more serious. I can be playful and tease when I want to but I normally take a serious and rational approach. You're the opposite, you're serious when you have to be. You'd rather tease and goof off the entire day."
"That is true, making you blush and squirm is my favorite activity~"
Aloy groaned and rolled her eyes at the statement, Kiara chuckled and motioned for her to continue.
"And for battle tactics, you'd rather use stealth, elemental advantages, tricks, and other similar things for a fight. I'm more of a strategic takedown, damage enhancers, rush all in with my bow and kill enemies, things like that. There's other reasons but the point I'm making is that we connect so well despite us being almost polar opposites."
Kiara was quiet for a moment, then smiled and wrapped her arm around Aloy.
"Well, personality wise I guess it's true that opposites attract, we balance each other out quite well in my opinion. I get you to let loose and have fun and you keep me grounded, I'd always have my head in the clouds if not for you and without me you'd be absolutely no fun to be around."
"Hey!"
"Sorry, But It's true dear. You need to make a joke or something every now and then, you're too uptight. Anyway, back to the subject.
Aloy pouted but let Kiara continue.
"Battle wise it's just how we were taught. My parents always said that it was better to avoid fighting all together. They preferred to teach me evasion and stealth rather than battle. They did teach me enough about fighting to know how to defend myself and kill enemies, machines and humans alike. Rost wanted to make sure you could handle yourself against anything you may come across. He taught you how to use strategic takedowns to your advantage, how to use multiple arrows at a time with your bow, how to make your enemies hurt and use them to your own advantage. He also taught you how to look out for others, if a civilian or other hunter were in trouble he taught you ways to save the most lives. Between him and I I'd say you are quite the selfless hero."
Aloy snorted.
"Yeah right, I'm no hero."
"Of course you are! Your mine~ and as my hero I get to reward you in so many ways~"
"Could you go five minutes without flirting?"
"Probably not."
They were laughing as they approached Karst, after some quips back and forth Aloy was able to buy the tripcaster. Kiara examined it as they went off to meet Rost by the gate.
"This thing only has one type? It only has shock wires."
"Yep"
"That's weird, mine has shock, fire, and detonation wires."
"Uh-huh, you also have a Shadow Carja war bow that's equipped with freeze, shock, and corruption arrows. While my hunting bow only has hunting and fire arrows. You keep forgetting that while you're able to not only visit the villages and shops, you can leave the Embrace and travel. I can only get what Karst sells me. I'm an Outcast Kiara, you need to remember that. I'm not blessed with the luxuries you have."
"I didn't mean it like that dear, I'm sorry if I upset you."
"I know you didn't, I'm not upset with you. Just don't judge my gear, I can do a lot with very little."
"Oh, I know you can~"
"Oh for the love of!-"
"I'm just teasing love! Anyway, what I meant by my comment was that I saw Karst trading a tripcaster like mine a few days back. I was just surprised he sold you that one, I didn't think he sold the other one."
"Oh, I'm Sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."
Kiara kissed Aloy's forehead and took her hand in hers again.
"It's fine love, I do tend to make that mistake a lot. Like I said, you keep me grounded, I always have my head in the clouds. When I'm out and about I almost never pay attention to anything, unless I'm hunting or with you."
"Don't worry about it, we both make mistakes. Anyway, I did see that tripcaster but I didn't have the part for it, so I got this one instead."
"Oh? What part was it?"
"The heart of a machine called a sawtooth, I don't know what machine that is."
"Oh my, those things suck major balls. Not as bad as ravagers though, those shoot lasers."
"Excuse me?"
"Oh! Yeah sorry, my parents and I came across many machines in our travels. I don't really think about them though, I'd have to be prompted to mention them."
"You really need to be more vocal about these things Kiara."
"I know I know, sorry."
"It's fine, we can talk about that later. I see Rost up ahead."
Kiara sat by the fire to let Aloy have some alone time to talk to Rost, she knew it was going to be hard for the both of them after the Proving. When Her and Rost were done Aloy and Kiara talked about other machines that Aloy hadn't seen or heard of before, she also transferred the data of the machines she had scanned in the past to Aloy's Focus. Once it was nightfall Rost led them through the gate of the Embrace, Kiara sucked in a breath at all the destroyed sawtooths, she figured Aloy's lesson would be to take one down herself. She bit her lip, she knew Aloy was more than capable of taking it down but that didn't stop the anxiousness she felt in the pit of her stomach. Once they reached the edge of a hill above a live sawtooth Rost pulled Kiara away so Aloy could do this on her own.
"We're going to jump in if she gets in life threatening trouble, right? You only told her she was on her own to make her think that, right?"
"No Kiara, I meant it. If Aloy is to survive after the Proving, she needs to learn this."
Kiara gasped.
"That's insane! We can't just leave her."
Rost raised an eyebrow.
"Your parents did it with you, did they not?"
Kiara sputtered and looked down.
"Y-yes, but!"
"But nothing, would you take this important lesson away from her? She needs to learn like you did, she's not always going to have help. She also needs to learn how to stand up for others, not just herself. This will teach her to look after others, by killing this sawtooth she will save the lives of the Braves it would have killed tomorrow."
Kiara fell silent, they watched anxiously as Aloy set up a trap for the sawtooth with the tripcaster. She was hiding in the tall grass as it walked right into the tripwires, she then sprung to her feet and shot fire arrows at its blaze canister. Kiara smiled as it went up in flames.
"That's my girl."
Rost smirked at Kiara before turning back to Aloy. She took a deep breath when she saw her aim three arrows at the sawtooth's head, it still had half its health left according to her focus.
"Come on baby girl, you got this."
After almost two minutes of dodging attacks and firing multiple arrows, the sawtooth went down.
"Yes!"
Kiara exclaimed with pride and joy in her heart, she laughed with relief as she saw Aloy pump her fist in the air, she was perfectly fine. Kiara ran towards her and kissed her, she then held Aloy's face in her hands.
"I'm so very proud of you, I love you so much dear."
Aloy took Kiara's hands in her own and smirked.
"Wow, I need to impress you more often~ you're much more affectionate~"
Kiara snorted but smirked.
"And you accuse me of being an obnoxious flirt and a tease."
"I had to learn from someone, didn't I?"
"Mm, you did."
They pulled apart when Rost walked up, Kiara stood back to let Aloy strip the sawtooth for parts and let Rost talk with her. Once they were done they headed back to the Embrace, Rost left them at the gate and told them to meet him by the village. They parted from Rost and when down by the river for a small date, they had a few hours to spare after all. Once they met back up with Rost, he had said a sad goodbye to them both. He wanted to protect Aloy from getting in trouble after becoming a Brave and he knew Kiara would only help her get to him. He gave Aloy a necklace that belonged to his daughter, he then told them he was leaving his home and they wouldn't find him. Once he left they made an oath to find him after the Proving. The guards gave them trouble at the gate, but Teersacame just in time. They spoke for a while before Teersahad to leave.
"Thanks for your help aunty.
"No problem my child, I'll always be here when you need me. Oh! Aloy, you have a friend that's eager to meet you."
They looked at her confused, Aloy spoke up.
"A friend? Whom?"
"Oh, you'll see. He's a little ways up the path. I must go now, please enjoy yourselves. I'll see you tonight Kiara."
"We will, Love you aunty!"
Teersachuckled as she left, Kiara then turned to Aloy with a sassy expression.
"He? You're not going behind my back, are you?"
Aloy snorted and rolled her eyes.
"Yes, I totally am. Sorry you had to find out this way."
Kiara's face turned to one of mock shock as they walked the path through the village.
"Oh my! After everything we've been through? I'm going to have to punish you later~"
Aloy rolled her eyes but played along, she made a face of mock horror.
"Oh nooooo!"
"Oh yes!"
They couldn't take it anymore and bursted into fits of laughter, they then heard someone calling for Aloy. They saw a skinny pale man standing by the stitchers stall, turns out Aloy had saved him a long time ago when she was a kid. He made her a Nora outfit that could be modified, he gave it to her at no cost. She thanked him and they went on their way. They found a man who had a focus like theirs, it apparently malfunctioned and he left soon after. An Oseram soldier came up to them shortly after, he talked to them for a while about Meridian and other things, he told them he would show them around if they ever came by. They went off to the ceremony all future prospects did before the Proving, Kiara wondered who Aloy dedicated her lantern too. She was called a "no mother", so she didn't have one to dedicate too, maybe Rost? It would make sense, he raised and loved her like his own. Kiara wouldn't ask her about it though, that was a private thought. They found the man with the Focus again and questioned him, they were disappointed after they had left, all he did was lie to them and blow off the whole thing. When it was time for bed they had to part, Aloy went with the other prospects and Kiara went to her and Teersa's home. Kiara woke early the next morning to see Aloy off, they were only able to exchange smiles and waves before she was ushered off to the Proving. Kiara couldn't get past this awful feeling in her gut, she tried to calm herself by having tea with Teersawhile she waited for the Proving to end.
"Worry not child, have faith in Aloy."
"I know aunty, and I do.. it's just-"
That's when they heard the screams and explosions. They rushed out of the building to see the mountain where the Proving was being held covered in smoke. Prospects from the Proving came rushing in and screaming about killers attacking and killing everyone who was at the Proving. Kiara's stomach dropped. She started running towards the group of prospects looking for Aloy, when she didn't find her she started questioning the survivors. They said Aloy was leading the attack against the killers, Aloy had won the Proving when the arrows started raining down. She had led the defense so others could get away, at that moment a second set of survivors showed up. Kiara's heart filled with terror and dread when she still couldn't find Aloy, the other's had said that Bast and Vala had died along with most of the other prospects. Aloy was left alone up there. Kiara started to panic and hyperventilate.
"No, not again! Please, not again!
Teersa came over to her and tried to calm her.
"Breathe Kiara, it will be alright. We will find her."
"I can't lose her aunty, I just can't! I'll die without her, she was the only thing that kept me going after my parents. I love her so much aunty."
"I know, my child. But please-"
It was then that one last explosion was heard throughout the Embrace, the blast was so big that there wasn't any chance of anyone who was near to survive. Kiara stood in shock and horror before screaming and dropping to her knees, Teersatried to calm her down but it was to no avail. Kiara felt numb at the thought of losing Aloy, she went limp in Teersa's arms before passing out.