Zo's is another tragic story. Loosing her family to the Red Raids, dealing with the trauma by helping others' passing, and falling in love with and losing Varl so quickly. Even still, she's a total badass: defying the Chorus twice, once for the Red Raids and the other to help Aloy, patching the Land Gods, landing the killing blow on Erik. She learns to use the Focus so quickly, and even threw down with Erend when he annoyed her too much. In this AU, her personality hasn't changed much, but there isn't much I can do to make her better. Her patience and empathy are some of the best traits about her, and probably why she and Varl got along so much.
(Sorry for the format; this site doesn't like me doing this like a bullet list.)
I own nothing except my AU. The characters of Horizon Zero Dawn and the sequel game Horizon Forbidden West belong to Guerilla Games, Sony Interactive Entertainment, and Mathijs de Jonge.
~Zoe "Zo" Granger~
Formerly: paramedic/nurse
Currently: florist
She was originally a paramedic, but moved up to nursing school to learn how to administer better care for patients. She stayed there for three years before leaving.
-After her family died in a house fire, she quit as a nurse. She couldn't care for her patients without remembering the sight and smell of her parents' burnt flesh and having a panic attack. With her new phobia, she requested she be released from her job for the reason that "she wouldn't put someone's safety and health at risk on the chance she might be rendered useless". She was allowed, but they told her that if she ever changed her mind, Utaru General Hospital would gladly welcome her back. Afterwards, she turned to floristry, opened her own shop, and tries to help others this way.
~-She gets to know her customers and lends an ear to their struggles. Her insight and empathy have been very helpful in resolving some rather troublesome issues.
She's been engaged to Varl for three months now.
-She met Varl when he was getting flowers for his sister her injury, and they connected quickly. She expressed her doubts about being able to handle her phobia if she returned to the medical field. "What if I freeze again, and someone dies because of me?" He reassured her that it's good that she was thinking so hard on the decision; it meant she was taking it seriously. "People make mistakes when they rush into things. But I think you'll be okay. You went through something horrible, but now you can either let it keep hurting you, or let it make you stronger. A friend of mine is like that. Every time something knocks her down, she just gets back up and uses it to be better than before."
She met the others through Varl, and has been another pillar of emotional support and comfort for Aloy and Beta when they struggle to communicate.
-When she met Beta, she was the one to suggest her new nickname and its meaning, and asked for her to give her one. She got "Zo" (Beta wasn't the greatest at naming) as a way to say that she is now less, but also more than before.
Hobbies include gardening (sometimes Beta and Alva join her), singing (not with Varl; he's horrible), archery (for the strength training and finesse), and stargazing with Varl.
She's their only vegetarian, but she acknowledges that it's a choice and doesn't pressure her friends to stop eating meat.
-She hasn't turned Varl, but she has noticed him trying to eat more greens around her since they became a couple. She thinks it's sweet and hasn't told him she knows.
She's currently reviewing with Varl to possibly go back to being a nurse/paramedic.