Aloy rushed outside, the night air cooling her flushed skin. Her heart slowed down and her nerves finally calmed, but still, part of her regretted walking away. It was tempting to forget who they were, what their roles in the world were, out here, where it was just the two of them, but Aloy couldn't. She had seen the way Meridian had changed, how Avad had changed it for the better and she wanted to protect that. And her presence at his side would only undermine his position.

But was that really the reason why she had rushed out of that cave? Rather than stay and see what could happen?

"Aloy?"

Aloy jumped at the sound of Avad's voice.

"I'm sorry for startling you," Avad said with a faint smile. "I did not think I could surprise the machine hunter." Avad slowly approached Aloy, his smile vanishing.

"I... I apologize if I made you uncomfortable,"Avad said, clearly no longer talking about startling her.

Avad started to come a little closer, but then abruptly stopped. "I should not have..." Avad's voice trailed off.

"It's fine," Aloy said, "You have nothing to apologize for, I..." Aloy fell quiet as well. "We should really get some food and then rest before moving on." Aloy suddenly said. "We have to get back you back on your throne after all."

Avad narrowed his eyes. "My throne?"

"Yes."

Avad paused. "Is that why you..." Avad didn't finish the question, but Aloy understood nonetheless.

"The title of Sun-King, it's more than just a position of leadership isn't it? You're more than just a king to your people," Aloy said.

"I'm changing that," Avad protested.

"Yes, and that's you can't risk losing any of your people's support."

Avad frowned. "You think you would jeopardizes my people's loyalty?"

Aloy didn't speak.

"The people of Meridian have admiration for you as well," Avad said. "Even those who have… unfavourable opinions of the Nora realise what you did for the city." Avad stressed, stepping forward and almost reaching for her hand. "I promise you, Meridian still remembers how you fought for us."

Aloy smiled at that, despite herself. "I…," she started, meeting Avad's eyes. "I really should hunt for some food," she said, abruptly turning around.

"Of course," Avad said, clearly a little confused.

Aloy ran off into the dark night, as she heard Avad say, "I'll keep the fire going until you get back."

Aloy wasn't very far from the camp; the fire was still visible but she could not see Avad from here. The only light close to her was the light from her focus every time she equipped it to see if there was any wildlife nearby. Finally her focus showed a small creature closeby her location. It was one of the newer animals she'd only seen in recent years, since restoring Gaia. The animal wasn't much larger than a small rat, but it was faster than a longleg. Still, helped by the focus Aloy caught the animal in one shot. She collected the catch and headed back to camp.

"That was quick," Avad said as Aloy reached the camp.

"Hunger is a great motivator," Aloy said as she held up her catch.

"You rest, I'll clean and prepare it" Avad said as he held out his hand. "Seems only fair as you did all the work catching it."

"That's all right," Aloy said as she sat down and took out her small hunting knife.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm pretty sure you're not used to having to clean your own food," Aloy said. She regretted the remark when she saw the look on Avad's face, she realised he had taken it as a criticism, which she had not intended it as.

Avad and Aloy finished their meal in silence; both of them too famished to interrupt precious eating time with talking. After the meal was done they both got up, ready to retreat for the night.

"I can tell you were raised by one of the Nora," Avad said, "I've never met a hunter who could so quickly find their prey."

Aloy laughed a little. Avad looked slightly puzzled. "Can I tell you a secret?"Aaloy said after a short pause.

Avad smiled, "I'm intrigued already."

"It's the focus," Aloy said.

"The focus?" Avad came a little closer so he could take a better look at the small device.

Aloy equipped it briefly, just so Avad could see it light up.

"It lets me see animals from a greater distance, no matter how well hidden, and it let's me track them."

"Considering how it has helped us before, that makes sense," Avad said.

"When I equip it, it shows me all living things in my radius – among other things – and it let's me scan them."

"Scan them?"

"Yes, it tells me more about them."

"You could scan me?" Avad ased.

Aloy laughed. "Sure."

"Would you?" Avad asked.

Aloy was a little surprised by the request. The few people she'd explained the focus to had always specifically asked her not to use it on them.

"Well?" Avad asked.

"If you'd like."

"Please, I'm curious.."

Aloy equipped the focus and directed it at Avad.

"It's not very detailed," Aloy said as the focus scanned Avad. "It only shows some basic information, like what type of animal or machine I'm looking at, what its weaknesses are."

Avad reached out and touched the lit up focus. "What does it say about me?" he asked, his eyes meeting Aloy's.

"It just says that you're human."

Avad smiled.

"What?"

"Just human?" he asked wryly.

The focus was still scanning Avad and the familiar blue haze covered his face. Aloy switched it off. Avad was still looking at her, waiting for a response. His hair messy, his face dirty; he looked unrecognisable from the man she'd first met in the palace all those years ago.

Except for his eyes ., Aloy thought to herself.

Apparently losing his patience, Avad gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head before turning to sit back down at the fire. Aloy caught his arm, "Avad," she pleaded. Avad turned back to face her, his eyes searching her face, waiting again.

"Avad, I…" Aloy started, her voice barely a whisper before fading. Aloy lowered her eyes as she lost her nerve. The air around her was heavy with the scent of ochrebloom, Avad's scent. Her heart started racing as she forced herself to meet Avad's eyes again; her eyes darting from his eyes to his lips.

Avad slowly lifted his hand, his fingers brushing against Aloy's cheek as he gently pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, before cupping her face and gently pulling her in closer. Their eyes meeting briefly before he kissed her. Aloy's whole body froze; her heart was still racing. For one fleeting moment she felt free to just be lost there in the desert. For one fleeting moment, before Avad pulled away.

Avad studied Aloy's face, his brow furrowed, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have… are you-"

Aloy did not let him finish the question, she pulled him back in and kissed him. Avad let out a small surprised sound. Aloy ran her finger tips along his jaw as she deepened the kiss. Avad locked his arms around her waist, and pulled her body against his. A warmth rushed over Aloy as she was locked in Avad's embrace. She buried her hand in his hair, pulling him even closer; Avad let out a low moan. Aloy was barely aware she joined in; she was intoxicated by his delicious scent, the sweet taste of his mouth, the sheer pleasure of the moment.

Avad suddenly pulled away, "Did you hear that?"

Aloy felt confused and for a moment feared he'd made it up. But then she heard it as well, the soft snapping of branches, the crunch of old leaves beneath someone's feet; someone was approaching their small camp.

Aloy equipped her focus. Almost immediately she spotted the person approaching the camp. Aloy pulled Avad with her to hide in the cave. But before they'd even reached the opening, a familiar voice called out.

"Aloy!"

Aloy turned around to see Talanah, her Hawk.

"Aloy! I fou–," Talanah stopped dead in her tracks as she spotted Avad. Despite Avad being dressed as a civilian it was clear Talanah recognised him immediately.

"Talanah?" Aloy asked. Talanah didn't respond. "Talanah, what are you doing here?" Aloy asked but Talanah didn't respond. This was the first time Aloy had seen her truly rattled. Even when they faced Redmaw together Talanah had been steadfast.

"You're the Sunhawk, are you not?" Avad tried. Talanah nodded slightly and slowly started to unfreeze. "It's an honour to meet you Sun-King thank you for opening the Lodge to everyone," Talanah said in a rush of words.

Avad glanced at Aloy, who approached talanah and put her hand on her shoulder. "Talanah," Aloy said to get her attention. "How did you find us?"

Talanah seemed to finally pull herself together. "I'm a hunter, Aloy, I am perfectly capable of tracking two people," she said, "especially if they're not bothering to hide their tracks. I knew you were in Sunfall so from there finding your tracks outside of the city wasn't very difficult, especially as I knew your destination." For a moment there Talanah sounded like her own confident self again, but then when she glanced over at Avad she flushed red again and all her previous composure disappeared.

Aloy recognised the look on Talanah's face; she had seen a similar look many times before on the faces of the Nora. After everything that happened, many had started to view Aloy as the true daughter of All-Mother. Even those who resented her, or still hated her for her old status as an outcast. There was always this look of apprehension, uncertainty... or worse, a strange kind of reverence she neither asked for nor desired.

"How did you know to come find us? Or where we were headed?" Aloy asked.

"Vanasha," Talanah said, "she told me to go find you."

"Vanasha came to you for help?" Aloy asked. It had been days since they had left Vanasha to stay and protect Avad's brother.

"No, I came to her," Talanah said. "After the Sun-King disappeared the royal guard took over control of the city. They started implementing new rules and I didn't trust it. They said they were acting on behalf of the Sun-King, but..." Talanah glanced at Avad, "they were turning things back to the way they were before. It didn't make sense."

"Like what?" Aloy asked.

"The royal guard forced me out of the Lodge," Talanah said. "They said they needed it. They took many public buildings." Talanah paused. "And they have been claiming you abducted the Sun-King."

"They're claiming Aloy was responsible for my disappearance?" Avad stepped forward. "Did they provide any proof?"

"I don't think they needed to," Talanah said after a small pause, "there are enough people in the city who still feel suspicion towards the other tribes, especially the Nora. Even if there is more trust than there was before, I don't think many Carja would need convincing that one of the Nora tribe would want to take revenge."

"For the Red Raids?" Aloy asked.

"Yes, they don't know you never experienced those."

"But why blame Aloy?" Avad asked.

"I think it was just convenient. People were aware of Aloy's presence in the city, and then she disappeared at the same time you did," Talanah said. "Many people were eager to believe the lie, probably thinking this was proof their Sun-King had been too trusting of his outsider friend."

Aloy was painfully aware both Talanah and Avad were trying to protect her, the soft voice Talanah used to tell her all this, the way Avad looked at her with worry in his eyes. Soon he'd probably tell her it didn't matter what people thought, or how quickly they'd accepted her as the villain. But Aloy did not want to hear it. After all, it did matter. It did matter if she ever planned on calling Meridian home.

"I think they've been planning on taking over the city for a while," Talanah said. "For many moons I've been noticing some odd things at the Lodge; meetings guarded by members, hunters inviting non-members in every week. I didn't think much of it at first and I didn't stop it because I know some hunters still feel uncomfortable with me holding the position of Sunhawk; I didn't want to cause any more tensions in the Lodge. But now I can't help but wonder if that didn't ultimately turn the Lodge into a place where this group could meet undisturbed."

"These meetings that were happening, did they include members of the Lodge?" Avad asked.

"Yes, among others," Talanah said.

"Were they Shadow Carja?" Aloy asked.

"Maybe, but after Aloy defeated Helis many members of the Shadow Carja changed allegiances, so it isn't always easy to tell who was or still is part of them," Talanah said.

"What made you look for Vanasha?" Aloy asked.

"After both of you disappeared," Talanah answered. "When they started spreading the rumours about you Aloy, I wanted to speak to you myself. I hoped she knew how to contact you."

"Is Vanasha still with my brother?" Avad interrupted..

Talanah turned her head to look at him. "Yes, she's hiding him and his mother outside the city."

Avad nodded. "Thank you."

Aloy had not been in the Lodge for years, but she trusted Talanah's observations. "I think we need to get to the Lodge," Aloy said. "There has to be something there that can point us to who is leading them, or what their plan is. The Shadow Carja can't just take over the city now Avad is gone, the people would not accept any replacement without legitimacy. They have to have a plan to get the people on their side."

Aloy turned and headed for the cave. "I'll gather our supplies and then we go."

Avad followed her into the cave. "Were you planning on asking me to stay here?" he asked.

Aloy started to pack their packs. She briefly glanced up at Avad. "No."

Avad knelt down besides her. "I hope that what the Sunhawk told you didn't upset you," Avad said, gently putting his hand on her arm. Aloy kept her focus on packing the bags. "Aloy," Avad reached out and clasped her hand. "Not everyone will believe the lies they are told."

Aloy took back her hand and continued packing. "I've found most people are very willing to believe what they're told."

"The Shadow Carja took advantage of the situation," Avad said, "the lie was convenient."

"Yes, and people believed them because I'm an outca-," Aloy stopped herself, "an outsider."

Avad moved a little closer. "Aloy," he said as he cupped her chin and turned her face to him. "Once this is over I'll make sure everyone in Meridian knows you-"

Aloy shook her head. "The lie isn't the problem," Aloy said.

"There are many people in Meridian who would never believe a lie like this about you," Avad said. "No one will after this is through." Avad leaned in but Aloy quickly pulled away from his touch. She got up and took the packs with her. She quickly made her way out of the cave and back to Talanah.

"Do you want to find some striders?" Talanah asked. Talanah was one of the few people who carried a weapon similar to Aloy's spear, one equipped to override machines. She also really loved riding them.

"I…" Aloy stopped when she spotted Avad leaving the cave. "Just a moment," Aloy said to talanah before running up to Avad.

Aloy put her hands on his arms to gently stop him.

"Aloy, I apologize if I–"

"It's fine," Aloy said, "I... I just think we shouldn't... think about… what happened before," Aloy said. "Not right now anyway," Aloy quickly added. Avad was about to respond but Aloy stopped him. "Avad, I have to ask you something. I know this isn't something you want to do, but I think we need to use machines to get to Meridian. Walking will cost us a lot of time, not only because of the time to walk there, but the time we need to rest before we can leave" she said. "I know how you feel about machines, even tamed ones, and if you really don't want to do this, maybe we can find another way, but I think this is our best option."

Avad understood what she was asking; he was visibly uneasy with the idea.

"If I thought we could get there quickly some other way I wouldn't consider this."

After some consideration Avad said,"I understand. And I agree."

Aloy squeezed his arms. "You're sure?"

Avad nodded and even managed a weak smile.

Aloy took his hands in hers. "Good! Me and Talanah will override two striders and then we can leave." Aloy turned to leave but hesitated, she looked back at Avad, "It'll be fine," she said.

Aloy and Talanah headed out looking for machines they could ride. It didn't take long before they found a small group of striders. In the years since resetting Gaia the machines had become more docile and most of them no longer attacked people on sight. So when the striders spotted Aloy and Talanag they barely reacted to them and instead just kept grazing. It wasn't long before both Aloy and Talanah had sneaked up to a strider and blue cables spread along the striders' necks.

"Do we need to catch a third one?" Talanah asked.

"No, Avad can ride with me," Aloy said.

Talanah bit her lip. "How are you so comfortable around him?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"He's the Sun-King," Talanah said as if asked to explain the most simple of concepts.

"I wouldn't have expected you to be so big on tradition," Aloy said.

"I'm not," Talanah said almost defensively. "I just... what if..." Talanah's voice trailed off.

Aloy was genuinely surprised by Talanah's reaction to Avad but perhaps she shouldn't be. Talanah had after all grown up in Meridian, a city that deeply and truly believed that Avad was the representation of their deity. They had so much reverence for the position of the Sun-King that for years the city had accepted the rule of a tyrant, simply because he had been 'chosen'.

"I don't believe his status as Sun-King should make you uncomfortable around him, he's just a man, who happens to be a ruler," Aloy said.

Talanah looked uncomfortable.

"If I had to believe the myths around his position I would also have to believe what the Nora believe about me," Aloy continued. "And I don't. No one should. Their belief, that kind of belief , has let a lot of people get away with horrible things because that belief sanctioned their actions."

"You think I don't understand that?" Talanah asked, her voice tense.

Aloy chastised herself for not thinking of how Talanah had lost both her father and her brother to Sun-King Jiran's cruelty. "I'm sorry," Aloy said.
Talanah mounted her strider. "the people who supported Avad when he took the throne from his father did so because they believed he was chosen. Belief like that can lead to good things as well."

"Apparently only by luck. If the people happen to blindly follow someone who wants to better the world," Aloy said, mounting her strider.

"Yes, but people also chose to turn against Sun-King Jiran, maybe it wasn't their belief in his divine status that stopped them from acting before, maybe they were too afraid to act. They didn't follow Avad because of belief, but because he inspired them to be courageous. People still belief in Avad's right to rule, but he has also gained their loyalty."

"You're right, he does command a lot of loyalty among the people," Aloy admitted, she had seen it too.

"That's probably why the Shadow Carja haven't tried to kill him yet. They have to find a way to make their claim to the throne legitimate. Avad taking the throne from his father proved that divine right is no longer the only thing needed to rule. They need the people to stand behind whoever they want on the throne. Avad's blessing would grant them that."

"You think people will just accept a new ruler if the ruler is blessed by Avad?" Aloy asked.

"Hmm… maybe not, but it would at least give them a start," Talanah said. "If they can get Avad to cooperate that is."

"That's why they went after his brother," Aloy said.

"I think so," Talanah said.

They both spurred on their striders and headed back to the camp. As they reached the camp, Avad was already busy putting out the campfire. When he heard them approached Avad looked up at the machines and froze. His eyes fixed on the two striders, arms tightly crossed, all the colour drained from his face.

Aloy dismounted her strider and walked up to Avad. She put her hand on his shoulder. "It'll be fine," she repeated her own words. "The journey will be much faster this way."

Avad's eyes were still fixed on the machines. "Don't worry, once they're tame they stay tame," Aloy said, avoiding the whole truth, hoping to put his mind at ease. But Avad still looked petrified. "Avad..." Aloy started to say but stopped when Talanah approached them. "We should leave now, we might still reach the city before dawn," Talanah said.

Aloy nodded and looked at Avad. He didn't respond but slowly started to move towards the striders. Talanah quickly mounted her strider. Aloy turned to Avad. "I will get on the machine first and then you just climb on behind me," she said. "Once you're on it and we've ridden for a little while you'll get used to it," Aloy said. "I was scared too the first time I climbed on one of these."

Aloy caught Talanah glancing over her shoulder to look at them. Aloy mounted the strider. "Avad," Aloy said softly and she held her hand out to him. After a brief hesitation Avad took her hand and let her pull him closer to the machine. With his other hand Avad reached out and touched the strider, taking a moment to take in the machine. Avad looked up at Aloy. "It'll be fine," she said barely audible. Avad let go of her hand to place both hands on the strider. He took a deep breath as he ran his hands over the thick blue cables. Finally he slowly climbed on the back of the strider.

"You can hold on to me," Aloy said once Avad was seated. She took his hands and put them on her waist. "Are you all right?" Aloy asked, making sure her voice was quiet enough to not be overheard by Talanah.

"I am," Avad said quietly.

Aloy spurred on the machine and slowly it started moving. Aloy could feel Avad tense up, but he didn't say anything, just pressing closer against her, locking his arms around her waist.

They caught up to Talanah who was confidently riding her own strider. Aloy slowly increased the pace of the strider and Talanah matched her speed. Avad was still tense, but already a little less tense than he'd been before getting on the strider, and it gave Aloy confidence that they'd make it through this journey. Aloy tried to focus on the road but couldn't clear her mind from her conversation with Talanah.