The suns rays beat down mercilessly on Aloy as she traveled at a gruesome pace through the ever lasting desert.
Wrapping the Carjan scarf tighter around her face, she kept a tunnel vision in front of her. Meridian was far behind and the idea of any settlements nearby was a doubt.
The feeling of being attacked by a predator at any given time thrilled her to no end. Her fingers itched for the bowstring as she surveyed the distance in front of her.
The charger beneath her galloped slowly. Which in return gave the huntress an opportunity to scan the radius for any human deceased.
Inhaling sharply she took notice of the sandstorm starting to swirl in. Cursing at her luck she scanned the perimeter, finding anything that could be deemed as shelter.
Her heel hit the metal belonging to the chargers ribcage. A thrill seeker she was, but reckless she was not. Together the machine and woman quickly carved out a path in between herds of ravagers and striders.
If she was to stay out here for sometime, than she knew better then to return to Avad empty handed. That would only devour her pride and secretly Avad's perception of her.
Tapping the focus gently she tried her best to increase the range. No matter the speed of her mount, the storm would still keep up. Cursing in Nora, Aloy untied the scarf and threw it over her head. Ensuring the knot in place, effectively creating a shemagh.
Finishing just in time to barely register an arrow pierce it's way through her personal space. Blood fled from her forearm as she halted the mount.
Her wound stung as she threw herself off, making a mad dash to the rock formation only a few feet in front of her. Momentarily praying to Rost to protect her from the onslaught of arrows.
"I thought bandits were fucking extinguished already."
She slid to the rocks, reflexively arming her bow by the time she braced herself behind it. Her vision was clouded as the sandstorm had made its grand entrance
The blue light from her mount could be seen through the dust. Quickly taking one hand off the bowstring she tapped the focus once again. A highlight of five bodies shun a bright yellow.
"Not exactly the type of bodies I was looking for."
Narrowing her eyes she concentrated on nothing else but the highlighted figures. Tagging all of them before she made her move.
Her fingers turned a ghostly pale as she gripped the back of the arrow between her fingers. They had no idea that the huntress before them stalked their every movement. Every step and every move of their head was seen before her.
A rather stupid technique for them to charge right before a storm. At least she'd take them out from pity now. Her fingers flew from the hardened arrow. In a grace that made it whip out in search for its victim.
She could feel the satisfying thunk of it hitting the persons core as their highlighted person drained from color.
Just as her adrenaline spiked in anticipation she felt the pressure of the wind. Quickly throwing her bow over her shoulder. With shaky hands she unstrapped her quiver and brought it to her chest.
Bringing a knee to the ground she squished herself as far into the rock she could. Thankful that the shemagh held its place. She told herself that she would only have to wait it out for a few minutes. That she was in a better predicament than her opposing counterparts.
An electricity like feeling shot threw her as she instinctively slammed a hand down to her exposed wound.
"Fuck I forgot about it."
She would have to use her scarf to cover it. A sacrifice that would only cost her more. Keeping her head down she desperately tried to scrape off the sand that mixed itself in the fresh blood. She had to take care of it before an infection would rise.
Moving the satchel behind her forearm she used her only free arm to dig into her pockets. Desperately she reached for the valley's blush. Munching on it greedily she then rested her head between her knees as the wind was starting to reveal above her eyebrows.
It felt like an hour ticked by as the air finally began to clear and the sand no longer threatened to blind her. The bleeding had thankfully stopped due to the medicine.
Aloy groaned at the position she was in. Rolling her head to the side she scooted over to the edge of the rock and peered over to try and distinguish for any life forms.
Relief flooded through her as she spotted only one figure. Even her charger was still mounted in its previous state. Perhaps the sandstorm was on her side after all. Remaining as quiet as she could, she began to reattach her quiver.
A stray arrow eagerly intertwined with her fingers as she lazily armed her bow. She figured stealth wasn't needed anymore. Supporting her weight on the smooth rock, she slid up and took aim.
Her pupils widened as she tried to zero in at the man a distance away. His back was facing her, while his teammates lay dead around him. A feature that made the huntress waver.
She had no doubt that sun storms could prove deadly, but an act of murder such as this? Aloy highly doubted it. The bowstring was pulled back tightly. No hesitation was plastered on her expression anymore. Their teammate was a murderer.
The feathers embedded in the arrow tickled her fingers as it was released. Her breathing stopped as she anticipated for the hardened tip to hit its mark.
What she didn't expect was for a sword to block its target. The man in front of her mocked her previous feeling as he lazily turned his head over.
Narrowing her eyes on his weapon Aloy bravely left the support from the rock. Her fingers never left the bow as she raised it at him, a new arrow in the prior ones place.
"Bringing a sword to an archer fight isn't quite the wisest of ideas is it?" She hollered.
The man looked uncanny to a machine scanning as he looked up and down at his opponent. It was then that she finally took in his clothing and noted that it wasn't bandit appeal. His wrist moved downward, the sword at his back being leveled to the ground. He comedically pointed to the fresh corpses littered on the ground.
"But I won didn't I?"
He made no move to attack her as she moved to the edge of the death circle he made. Aloy furrowed her eyebrows at the statement. A remark fitting for one hunter in mind. He wore a shemagh of his own that was tied in fashion that highly outdid her own. A wanderer most likely.
Ultimately she determined he wasn't a foe. For he would have made move to penetrate her with the sword that rested at his hip.
He slowly sheathed his sword, making no further notion in making a conversation. Who was this man. Their eyes met as he pushed past her. Both wearing a shemagh, unbeknownst to who the other really was.
Her hand wanted to reach out and hold him there, telling herself it was for interrogation purposes. It felt too long since she'd last encountered a hunter in the wilds.
She watched him leave, and admired how he kept his back to her. Never once looking back to ensure she didn't have her arrow up and ready to pierce between his shoulder blades.
Returning to her mount she untied the knots on her shemagh. It fell to her shoulders as the infamous red tresses revealed itself. She let the charger trot in the path they were originally taking as she laid her arm on top it's head and began to wrap the silk around the exposed wound that bore her flesh. Using her teeth to effectively tighten it until it stung. Her eyes crinkling in the slight pain
The front door almost collapsed from its hinges as Nil entered. Steel eyes taking in the abandoned room for The Voice of Our Teeth. He couldn't stay here any longer now that she was here.
The images of her shemagh slipping from her head haunted him. Red. The color filled his vision. It took all his might to not stop and tell her everything he's done. All the atrocities he committed.
He wanted to run back to her, inform her of the threat she faced. Of the threat they all faced. How he was trying to do good. That the man she was looking for wasn't him.
Nil slammed his hands against the wall and drooped his head. Why does everything go wrong, why did he have to carry such misfortune around him?
He didn't want to be caught up in all this. He had only wanted to do what Aloy would have. He wanted to "crash the network" as she once told him.
What better way to do it then gain intel inside? Nil groaned in the empty room at his stupid mistake. At the false hope that he'd eventually gain the upper hand.
Once fully armed he looked in the corner at his old armor and head dress carefully stacked. He knew the old man would take care of it as he did with his life once before.
Even if it'd be a short time.