Chapter 3

Horizon Justice Calling

By McMysterio

3: A Gift from the Past III

"It did it!" Aloy exclaimed as the door slid open.

The air, She noticed. It smells different here. The earthy scent that had been present in the stone walls of the cave was no more. The sharp smell of pine, wet wood and the aroma of plants the outcast girl had grown so used to were nowhere to be found. Instead, the damp air she now walked through smelled of metal, stone and time. Like the ruin she had just passed through, pools of water gathered on the floor and stalactites grew from the edges of the corridor.

Unlike the cavern they had passed through, however, no sunlight shone through cracks in the ceiling, nor did roots of trees force their way through the walls. Here, the metal had resisted the test of nature and time. Despite many being covered in a layer of limestone, they stood strong in the forms their creators had left them in. A blanket of silence seemed to have fallen over her, broken only by the steady dripping of water from one of the stalactites.

"The man who raised you, Rost," The boy's voice suddenly broke the silence of the metal corridor, causing Aloy to wince in surprise. Jast's voice, Aloy corrected herself. In the face of the metal constructs of the Old Ones, she had completely forgotten that she wasn't the only one who was trying to find a way out of these ruins. "What did he say about the ruins of the Metal World?"

"He would tell me that such places were dangerous, and were forbidden by the law." She answered.

Aloy remembered the first time she had decided to go exploring without Rost's permission - While Rost had been repairing parts of his armour, she had snuck out of home and descended the hill where their hut was located. For the first time, she had gone into the wilds without the protection of Rost. Though part of her had feared what might happen without the presence of her guardian, another had been filled with excitement and a sense of adventure.

I won't get lost if I stay within sight of the hill, she had told herself. After all, that was how Rost sometimes knew where they were whenever they had to venture out of their hut. Aloy had felt brave as she climbed down the rocks. She wanted to go down to the river that Rost had forbidden her to go alone, as well as explore the ruins of the Metal World that she had heard of in the stories that Rost would occasionally tell her.

Of course, her adventure had not lasted very long. Only an hour into her exploration, Rost had found her on the trail leading to the stream, searching for her as soon as he realized that she was not at home. Rost had asked her why she had snuck away. I wanted to explore the ruins of the Old World, she had replied.

Aloy still remembered the stern look Rost had given her that day. Such places are forbidden, Aloy! He had reprimanded. You must never go into those ruins!

Why? She had asked. She could not understand why the tribe would forbid anyone from entering those ruins. As far as she had seen, the ruins were simply another place she could explore. What's wrong with them?

They are of the Metal World, of the Old Ones. Anything from that world is dangerous, Aloy. Aloy had wanted to argue at her guardian's words, but Rost's tone was clear that he would not have any form of argument from her. Promise me that you will never go into those ruins.

Despite the frustration she had felt, she had said through gritted teeth, I promise.

As she found herself recalling the events of the past, Aloy took a look around the construct of metal that enclosed them. So far, Rost had been wrong about these ruins - nothing dangerous had happened to either her or Jast so far. Could he have been told the same thing I was?

"How about you?" Aloy asked a fresh wave of curiosity washing into her head. "What did the woman who raised you say about the ruins?"

"Grata?" A pensive expression appeared on the boy's face. "She told me that the sins of the Old Ones linger in the metal and that anyone would be tainted if they dared to enter the cursed ruins."

Aloy giggled. "Why would she say that? We've been here for a while and nothing has happened to us."

"You're right," Jast said, a small smile appearing on his face. "Maybe she was wrong about this place." Raising his hand to his temple, he gently touched the metal device and looked around the lights that glowed from the walls, illuminating the dark corridor. "It's almost like..."

Jast's voice was cut off as another voice began to speak. The disembodied voice was seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere at once - The voice itself came from all around as if the very air itself had suddenly learned to speak, yet both outcast children knew that there were no other living souls within these ruins but themselves. "Director Evans - flash traffic from USRC. Black Quarts encryption. I've routed the message to your holo grid for viewing."

Aloy turned towards Jast, her heart racing in her chest. "What was that?"

"Aloy, look!"

Aloy turned to look at the location her companion was gesturing to behind her head.

Wait, that was new. A circle of light had appeared on the metal block that protruded from the wall. This was unlike the circle that she had seen on the doors; This circle was blue with a white hexagon inside and was much smaller. When she activated the small metal device on her head, the shape changed. The hexagon had transformed into a shape that he had never seen before - A truncated cone with a bump in the middle. Three curved lines lay in front of the bump, each one bigger than the previous. When the flame-haired girl's head turned towards the odd shape, a green line materialized in front of Aloy's eyes, growing longer and longer until it formed a perfect circle around the circle of light.

Once more, the cool, female voice rang out and repeated her words. Both Aloy and Jast looked at each other and raised their hands to the side of their head, fascinated by the construct of the Metal World that lay before their eyes.

"It must be the voice of the Old Ones," Jast said, examining the metal block over which the circle of light was located. "How does it do this?"

How indeed. Aloy wanted to speak her thoughts out loud, yet the words seemed to vanish as they came to her lips. Every time she thought it couldn't get any more unusual, the ruins kept revealing new things, things that she would never have imagined. First the lights, now the voice. What more things can this ruin be hiding?

And as the two began to once more walk deeper into the ruins, Aloy silently wondered what more forgotten wonders it might reveal.

The rhythmic dripping of water echoed throughout the metal shaft, only masked by Jast and his partner's footsteps. He shivered slightly as he felt a draft blowing down deeper down the shaft, and clasped his hands together. Every step he took downwards on this metal stairway, the colder the air seemed to grow.

It wasn't long before they had reached the bottom of the stairway, which revealed another corridor beyond a metal door. Like the first corridor, a thin sheet of limestone covered the metal of the walls. Stalagmites and stalactites grew from the corners and rose like spears into the air, blocking access to what used to be entrances to other rooms. The unnatural purple light was everywhere reflected off the icy pools that lay on the floor, filling the entire construct with the same purple light, mixed with tinges of blue and white.

What could possibly be here? Jast's mouth felt dry. It was as if he had lost the sense to hear. Apart from the dripping of water and their own footsteps, a layer of silence seemed to have fallen over the entire world. No chirping of birds nor sound of dirt crunching beneath his feet were here.

Is this even the right way? Could we have gotten lost inside these ruins? As strong as his desire to continue forward and explore this ruin was, a sense of unease was beginning to grow within his mind. The silence of the construct, broken only by the occasional howling of the wind blowing down the shaft gave the sense that something was watching them in the dark. Should we turn back?

No, he scolded himself. I can always retrace my steps. And besides, what's the worst that could possibly happen?

"What's that?"

Aloy's voice snapped the redhead from his reverie. They had reached the end of the corridor and had stopped in front of another open doorway. The room within did not seem very particular - several metal columns supported the ceiling. Beyond a mossy metal table lay another doorway. A dead body lay in front of the table, and a vaguely familiar shape was hovering above the dead man's head.

Another blue circle, Jast realized. And he's wearing a device just like mine. He suddenly felt breathless. If the blue circle was anything like before, he knew that the disembodied voice of the old ones might just speak again. Coming to a halt in front of the body, Jast raised his hand to his temple and watched as the intangible dome came into existence and the green light grew to a circle once more.

"You think I want it this way? It's the best I can do, he's right behind you."

Where seconds before there had been a blue circle, now knelt a man, made of the same intangible light that formed all of its like in the ruins. His dark skin was covered with a yellow shirt and black pants weaved from materials Jast had never seen before. He did not seem to be aware of Jast's presence. He stared straight ahead, arms raised and fiddling with something Jast could not see.

Jast's breath seemed to catch in his throat as he took a step away from the man, his eyes fixed on the apparition before him. He was hardly aware of Aloy doing the same, a small gasp escaping her mouth. Before he had a chance to process what he was seeing, the man stopped his fiddling, stared directly at Jast and waved. "Hi!"

Is he talking to me? Jast's mind suddenly seemed to go white. He look over his shoulder at the corridor, but could not see anyone else.

"Happy birthday Isaac! Daddy sure does love his little big man."

As far as Jast could remember, all the people seemed gruff and mean. He had once waved to one of the men with bows and spears, and the man had turned away, shooting a look of utter disgust as he did so.

This man was different. Never in his life had anyone waved to him before, nor had they smiled so warmly as the man did now. He wanted to reply, to say something to the man, but thoughts seemed to have abandoned him. As he stood, transfixed at the sight before him, the apparition shifted slightly. Now the man knelt in front of him, wearing a small cone-shaped hat and holding what looked to be a small pipe.

"Look, Daddy can't be there with you and mom, but... We can still have a party, right? Sure we can." The man placed the pipe in his mouth and blew, and Jast giggled at the funny noise it made.

Heat began to spread across his entire chest. It was unlike the unpleasant, painful heat that had covered his entire body when he had gotten sick. No, this was different. This feeling was the kind that he only felt when Grata held him in her arms; it meant safety, caring, and love.

The warm glow in his chest was suddenly joined by another, much more unpleasant sensation. It felt as if a part of his heart was tearing itself apart, as the unpleasant memories of what seemed like days ago now came flooding back to haunt the outcast boy.

The woman with the basket, and the way she had ushered the other children away.

Bast, and his taunts. Motherless outcast. No-mother.

How all the other children had simply watched from the sides as they had fought in that field, or even joined in the laughter.

"Show me... Show me again!" He wanted, no, had to see this once more - to see the man's wave, his smile, and expression, free of any anger, free or disgust. The apparition, whether he was aware of it or not, had given the Jast the thing he had wanted so much, and none had given him before.

His eyes widened in surprise when his hand brushed against not the cold, damp air of the ruin, but the warmth offlesh. Turning to his head, Jast saw Aloy's emerald-green eyes staring back into his own. So engrossed on the man had he been, he had completely forgotten that he was not in fact alone. The echos of a gasp on Aloy's expression clearly indicated that he was not the only one who had forgotten they had been not been alone. Their hands trembled against each other as both children processed what was happening.

You're the outcast girl, aren't you? The words that he had spoken what seemed like a lifetime ago suddenly floated to the surface of his memories. The look of sympathy, pain and anger that had appeared on her face when he first mentioned his status as an outcast, was so vividly clear in his head. Yes, Aloy was different from the other children. It was not only because she had been the only one who had shown him kindness, or because she was similar to himself in a way he and Grata could never be.

Outcast. It was something that no matter where he went, he could never truly escape. The members of the tribe refused to interact with him at all, and if they did, it was usually to either throw them scornful looks or insults. Several times, overwhelmed by anger and resentment, he had demanded to Grata why he was an outcast, and who his mother had been.

Somehow, Jast knew that it was something that followed Aloy as well, and could never escape from.

And that they understood each other's feelings perfectly.

Blinking several times, the outcast boy looked into the outcast girl's eyes, before glancing down to their hands, fingertips still pressed against each other. He felt Aloy's hand move forward, and he mirrored the motion, intertwining their fingers together. Aloy's hand was different from Grata's; it lacked the wrinkles and calluses of his caretaker, instead, feeling smooth and soft to his touch, yet it held the same warmth, comfort and steadiness.

Jast felt Aloy's fingers tighten around his own and savoured the feeling of his friend's skin against his own as he firmly held her hand, raising their free hands and waving it to the left.

"Happy birthday Isaac! Daddy sure does love his little big man..."

It was several minutes later they managed to tear themselves away from the apparition of the man and made their way deeper into the metal labyrinth that was these ruins, reminding themselves that they had to find a way out of. As they squeezed through a metal door that was left slightly open, Jast noticed another blue circle hovering over a metal table.

"I wondered if the Old Ones lived here," He wondered aloud, looking around the room. This room was unlike the others. Where the previous rooms of the ruin had been enormous and contained dozens of metal tables and boxes with contraptions he could not imagine the purpose of, this room was much smaller. Besides the metal tables, there were several chairs, along with several metal boxes which looked similar to the chests Grata used to store food. Jast silently wondered if these cases had been used for the same purpose.

"Maybe they did," Aloy said nonchalantly, placing a hand to her temple and looking at the metal object the blue circle was hovering over. A moment later, a voice began to speak from thin air.

"... I saw them lining up in the community room... like cattle in a slaughterhouse, but smiling at each other..."

Both children looked at each other. This was a new voice; what might this message of the Old Ones reveal?

"Chana handing out meds like being alive is just some kind of pain to be eased. Well, not me." This man's voice sounded nothing like the other memories of the Old Ones they had heard before. He sounded bitter, angry, and defeated, yet his words held a desprate kind of determination. "I don't want to go quiet. I don't want to trail off. I want a period at the end of my life sentence, not an ellipses. Hell, an exclamation mark. So if that upsets whoever finds this, too bad. I don't owe anyone anything anymore."

A sharp crack followed the man's words, followed by a thump. Jast felt a shiver run down his spine as some of the unease that had left him previously suddenly returned. Somehow, he knew that the source of that crack was the one that had ended the life of the Old One. He glanced at Aloy, but the perplexed expression told him that she understood the words as much as he had.

It was not long before they ascended another flight of metal stairs and found themselves in another room. Lines of metal beds lined the walls, several containing the hardened bodies of their occupants. As they passed through, they looked at every single one with their metal devices, listening to the various voices and memories left by the Old Ones.

"Might've been worth it if Skylar had gotten drunk again, but... I seem to be a mistake she doesn't want to repeat..."

"...the earth shall soon dissolve like snow... the sun forbear to shine... but God, who called me here below... will be forever mine."

"Why didn't I go with Owen when he asked? Stupid. I should have gone. Well..."

"Like I haven't done enough for posterity. Posterity can go..."

"... and pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our debt, I mean death. Sorry, it's been a while and hoo, these meds Chana gave us are really something."

"Why did they die here?" Aloy commented, examining one of the bodies with horrified fascination. "What happened to them?"

Before he could answer, another sound broke through the silence of the ruin. "Aloy! Are you down there? Aloy!"

The redhead girl whipped her head towards the direction of the voice. "He found me! Rost found me!" She said excitedly, moving towards the source of the sound. "Down here, I'm coming! I'm coming!"

Aloy paused in her footsteps, and turned to Jast, gesturing for him to follow. He hesitated for a moment, Grata's instructions ringing in his ears. You must not speak to anyone of the tribe, she had told him. We are outcasts.

But if they were outcasts, he reasoned. Wouldn't that make Rost would be an outcast as well? We were searching for an exit anyway - isn't this what we were doing?

Letting out a small sigh, Jast followed Aloy towards the voice.

A/N: Hey guys, it's been quite a long time since I updated.

I know I said that I would try to update more frequently... but once again, I failed to keep that promise. My most sincere apologies for the long wait - I've been down with one of the worst writer's block I've had in months, and no matter what I wrote, it simply didn't seem like it would be good enough. So despite the long wait, here's the version I finally decided I was satisfied with.

To those who are reading and have favourited/followed Horizon Justice Calling, I thank you all so much for reading my humble fanfiction. I must admit, I was quite surprised to see the number of favourites and followers increase despite the lack of content. Right now, I'm sitting at 24 favourites and 23 followers - and I thank you all so much for doing so. I never expected to ever get this far, and it means more to me than I can ever put into words.

Thank you all for your patience, and I hope you enjoyed the new chapter. As always, creative, constructive criticism is always welcomed. If you have anything to tell me directly, feel free to PM me.

Reviews:

Mcmayhem57: I'm going with the finger activation method for this story. Nearly every cutscene from HZD to Forbidden West shows her using her finger to activate the Focus, so I decided to go with that one.

Drinor: Thank you!

fanalis1995: I agree with you - it would be quite pointless to have a character with the exact same story as Aloy's. Don't worry, their story will take separate paths later down the line.

KarionProduction: True... I'm still thinking about how I should weave that into the story without making it just plain weird.

Jinx198: Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Sandford9687: I have plans in mind for what he would do later on.

DoctorWhoXX: We'll have to see :)