Chapter Twenty-One: Hidden Ember
Nil breathed in the cool morning air and sighed.
Gray light streaked the sky in the east, casting away the glittering night with the coming dawn. Black shadows and silhouettes gained form and color. And the shimmering neon that shrouded the ruins faded, its brilliance becoming softer than candlelight under the might of the rising sun.
He sat on an old roof, his body leaning against a crumbling balustrade with his legs dangling through the gaps. His arms were crossed over the top, pillowing his chin as he watched the dunes turn gold. There was a stillness in the atmosphere. The kind of stillness where the world stopped spinning as time stretched, frozen in a moment.
He'd almost believe it to be true if it weren't for the herd of chargers in the courtyard below, grunting and bleating as they tilled the sand. Or the rowdy din of the Oseram camp thumping from the tiered tower across the strip.
But here, it felt like serenity. This bright, endless sigh after a dark night. And he realized as he watched the chargers shuffle along that he didn't hate peace as much as he thought he would.
Blazing white, the sun crested the horizon, and again the world began to move. The warm breeze brushed against his face, bringing with it the promise of another sweltering day. And from the pungent musk wafting from his armpits, a dip in the cool waters flooding one of the ruins to the north was in order.
But before he climbed to his feet, a guttural cluck reverberated through the air, and a shadow as heavy as its wingbeats passed overhead. Gleaming blue and silver, a sunwing hovered above the roof beside him, casting its own gusts of wind as it slowly touched down.
And Aloy slid off its back.
Nil sprang up before her boots hit the roof, his heart racing and his throat parched by more than thirst. She carried a heavy pack slung across her back, and as she turned to face him, he noticed the rosacea tinting her cheeks was a little brighter than he remembered. Her eyes glanced away when he met them, then he watched as she took a deep, steadying breath and approached.
"Good morning," he greeted.
"Look, I don't like how I left things when I saw you last," she began brusquely, her directness brushing aside pleasantries with fidgeting hands. "I was… shocked to find out you were alive, and with all the stress I've been under… what I said to you came out harsher than I intended."
He shrugged. "It was a truth you needed to speak, and I appreciated the honesty. I imagine it was as painful to say as it was to hear."
"Even when I punched you?"
He smirked. "Especially when you punched me."
A fleeting smile hinted at her lips then vanished. She unslung her pack over her head and held it out to him. "I want to be clear that I'm not apologizing for what happened after the race. Or for what happened on the mesa in the Spearshafts. But at the same time, I don't want to fight anymore or pretend you're dead to me." Her voice grew tight, and she cleared her throat. "An old friend of mine would have teased me for making more enemies in a world where I already have too many. So, like you said before… how about a truce?"
He raised an eyebrow, then reached out and accepted the pack. It was heavier than it looked, but there was something familiar about the weight. She watched him as he uncinched the flap, her nervousness spreading from her hands to her feet, and she seemed to hover on the verge of pacing. With the aid of the morning light, he peered inside the pack and grinned. He plucked out a fat sack by its knotted end and gawked at the stylized ear of corn stamped across it.
"Is this masa?" he blurted out, then he drew it close and inhaled its nutty scent. "It is masa! It's been so long… I thought I'd forgotten what it smelled like. Oh, it smells so good. You have no idea how much I've missed it. You are the Sun incarnate, and I am ready to worship on my knees. What else is in here?!"
She smiled as he ravenously dug through the pack.
Clanging tins and bottles followed, and he gasped, "Olives and olive oil... Dates... Coconut milk... Pumpkin seeds... Almonds... Dried mangoes and apples…"
"Given how particular you are about what you eat," she said, her words regaining the easy confidence he remembered, "I figured you might be missing the tastes from home. I lucked out when Barren Light had a few things stocked in their store room."
"Oh, you have no idea," he laughed, and a devious look kinked his brow. "There's nothing to eat out here but cactus and peppers. Shitting has been its own kind of violent battle if you know what I mean."
"Ugh…" she groaned, wrinkling her nose. "I didn't need to know about that kind of battle."
He shrugged. "To fully appreciate my gratitude, you deserve to know about all the bubbling pressure—"
She waved her hands fervently. "I get it! You're grateful. Please stop!"
"There were some nights where I was banned from sleeping in the camp—"
"Stop!"
He smiled at her, his eyes crinkling as he basked in her discomfort. Then his mischievous expression softened. "Thank you, Aloy. We have a truce, and to celebrate…" He waved the pack enticingly towards her. "…Let us share a meal together. With the right spices, cactus has better flavor than I let on, and their fruit can be refreshing. I scrounged up some yesterday—"
"I-I can't," she interrupted, shaking her head, and her fidgeting hands returned. "Not after everything that happened. I wish it was different, but there's no going back to the way things were."
"Oh…" he said, his smile deflating, and he cinched the pack closed. "I understand."
"So, where is the rest of your crew?" she asked hurriedly, and she turned to scan the dunes. "I didn't see them when I flew in, and you're not wearing your hood."
"They're gone."
Her eyes widened. "Did something happen? Did they see your face and you…?"
He chuckled. "Nothing like that. They went home. After you defeated Regalla, the rebels lost their bite. Yes, there are hold-outs here and there still hungry to fight, which I admit satisfies the bloodlust itch for me when I find them, but the rest have returned home. The machine riders weren't rebels in a pure sense, but they didn't act to protect their clans either. They have amends to make."
"Are they coming back?"
"Tough to say," he said, shrugging, "But they're survivors. Whatever judgements their clans might mete out, I'd bet on my crew to beat them every time." He thrust his chin towards the meandering chargers. "And until they return, I'll look after the herd and keep them safe."
She snorted and shook her head, disbelief hinting at her features. "We spent so much time sieging bandit camps, and you were always so thrilled about battle and slaughter, I'm just surprised that you're willing to do that. Not that you only spent your time killing, but to have your purpose be looking after a herd of machines instead, I never would have imagined it."
"Is it a good thing?"
She smiled. "Yeah… I think so."
He scratched his chin. "Well, I can't take all the credit. Red-Eye does most of the work. And I'm certain the herd belongs to it more than anyone else."
"Red-Eye?" she asked.
"My charger," he said, and he pointed towards the herd. The beast scythed between the others with its head high and alert. Then it paused, glaring at a shadow amid the ruins The air rippled in front of its blazing eye, penetrating it with sonic energy.
Aloy blinked.
And Nil grinned as he watched dissonance wrinkle her forehead.
"Did it just scan that building?" she asked hesitantly, almost ashamed of her question. "I mean, I know chargers can't scan but…"
He shrugged, then gestured towards the device hovering against her temple. "Use that if you're unsure."
She frowned at him, her eyes narrowing, then she reached up and lightly tapped her focus. A ring of glyphs haloed the device, casting blue light across her cheek. Slowly, she swiveled her head until she was gazing down at the chargers. She stared at them; her lips pursed thoughtfully.
And he watched her, suppressing his smirk.
After a long moment, she tapped the device off, then on again. She shifted her position, trying from a new angle, and finally, she shook her head. "It just looks like a normal charger. I don't understand."
He chuckled and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "That's the problem with chargers. They're always moving in herds. Get more than a few in one place, and they start to blend together in your mind. Are there five? Six? Who cares? They're just chargers."
She growled under her breath. "Why is talking to you is always a game? I have no patience for mysterious bullshit. Can you just give me a straight answer?"
"I'll give you a clue. With my eyes, I see six chargers down there, but can you tell me how many your device sees?"
Her lips moved as she silently counted. Then recounted. She shook her head and blew out a breath in conflicted surprise. "There are five. Only five light up, but there are six. I can see that there are six."
"That's the stalker stealth generator I scavenged and retooled," he explained, hiding his giddy enthusiasm behind a nonchalant mask. "Chargers are obviously not stalkers, so it wasn't entirely compatible. But then I didn't exactly want my charger to disappear. I'd rather hide it in plain sight than be seen riding across the desert on air."
"A stalker stealth generator?"
"Yep. And the scanning device behind its lens is from a scorcher's ear. Not quite as efficient either, but it'll find a rebel slinking through the grass without a problem. The motor and muscle fibers are also scorcher, but with all that power, its bones were starting to wear. I tried slaughterspine, but they're so heavy, and dreadwings were too brittle. Then I felled a stormbird, and their bones are surprisingly light. I thought with all those thrusters, they wouldn't have to be, but I suppose the demands of flight apply to them as well."
"How did you do this?"
He shrugged. "It's really not all that different from sewing or cooking. Break things apart into their basic parts and see how they fit together. Figure out the rules, and then combine them in new ways. There's always a little experimenting and failure at play, but Red-Eye is like us at heart and weathered through it all right. I think it can access instructions on how to apply the new components as long as I install them correctly."
Aloy glanced down thoughtfully and crossed her arms against her chest. "Probably a networked database."
"Sure."
"Still, amazing," she said, then she froze, and her jaw slackened. "Wait… you said it has a scorcher motor and muscle fibers?"
He nodded.
"Then how did I win the race?"
"The race?" he stalled.
"Yeah, the race!" she insisted. "The gauntlet run when I was last here. I won it. But every time before that, you were always out front. Even that race you were. I only gained the lead in the final stretch, and even then, it felt like it could slip away from me in a single stride. Because you were right there on my heels, and you were barely moving."
He grimaced.
She glared at him and waited.
"I might have… thrown the race for you."
She continued to glare at him.
"You really wanted to win, and it was rude of me to deny you that glory any longer, especially with my advantage." He raised his eyebrows, feigning innocence, and asked, "Truce?"
Something clicked behind her eyes, and her hardened expression burst into riotous laughter. It shook her shoulders and flushed her cheeks. It was light and buoyant, a sound he hadn't heard since they ate under the shady sandstone in the Carja desert, her mouth burning as she tried a hot pepper for the first time.
"Yes, truce," she grinned as she caught her breath. "I can't believe you let me win. It's almost incomprehensible because no one ever lets me win anything. Even if it's what I need for saving the world, people always make me work for it. Bleed for it. Risk my life for it. It feels like if I'm not hanging off a cliff and under fire, then I don't deserve it. Like every person on this planet would gladly let it all burn than to freely give me what I need to save it."
"Well, I'm not them, and you deserved it," he said, "And besides, you shouldn't have to earn a gift. I still have your prize if you'd like it. It's a very fine, warrior bow, and as a bonus, I had to kill a few assholes to get it."
She grinned, then nodded towards the sunwing still perched on the roof. "How about I give you a gift instead? How would you like to go for a ride?"