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The air was thin, and fresh with anticipation.
The hike up to the Cut was no less challenging than it usually was, but the biting cold mixed with a surge of newfound energy kept her more wise to the snow-slipped cliffside and frozen handholds as she scaled her own way up. Before no time at all had passed, it seemed, she was already cresting the tip of the ledge and splayed onto the soft ground beyond. She caught her breath, but she was far too buzzed to really be exhausted. Downtime at last…she’d forgotten what that felt like. The busy days tended to blend together til weeks and months barely bore a difference, and what a relief it was in this moment to just exist. Besides--
“Hey! You gonna throw me a line here, or what?”
--it didn’t hurt that she had company this time around, either.
Following the direction of the voice Aloy peered over the edge of the ledge to see her peer looking up at her some way below, smile bright even against the sleet and her dark ponytail flitting in the wind. Talanah, Sunhawk of the Hunter’s Lodge, wrapped head to toe in the thick furs of the region and shed of her usual regalia. Smirking, Aloy shifted so that she leaned over and Talanah could better hear her.
“Oh? I thought you said you’d be fine climbing all by yourself?” she sang, giving a short laugh when she could see the Sunhawk’s face scrunch at her words. She was being childish, she knew; Talanah deserved to have some slack cut, she’d fared incredibly well in the days’ long journey from Meridian. No amount of Broadneck-riding fazed her in pursuit of this hunt, and it was completely reasonable to assume a citizen of the blazing desert valleys would be thrown up over and sideways by the vistas of the frigid north. But teasing her was fun, and Aloy was ‘on holiday’, dammit. She was going to enjoy herself before the next world-ending inconvenience could knock at her door to throw a wrench into her plans.
She watched as Talanah scuffed the ground and tested the handholds, akin to those she would have used back home other than the fact that they, as Aloy knew, were completely slick with ice from any moisture that may have ever settled upon them. Despite her playful demeanour, she must have been apprehensive in the least.
“I can too! Just wasn’t anticipating it to be this slippery. Not exactly prime weather for a climb.”
“A bad huntress blames her circumstances~”
A scoff of mirth. “Oh, shut up! I can still demote you!”
Aloy laughed again, this time hard enough to almost jeopardize her standing on the ledge. She scuffled back to security before calling over, “Tell you what--you get as far up as you can, and once I can reach you I’ll haul you over. That good?” Talanah nodded, languidly folding her arms.
“First nice thing you’ve said to me all day. Let’s do it.”
She really was a skilled athlete: taking to the wall with notably more caution than she usually afforded her landscapes back on Carja land, but that was only to be expected. Her foot and hands lost grip only twice and by the time Aloy could reach over and pull her to solid ground she was none the worse for wear. They helped each other up, and brushed the snow free from their clothes. However, even with all her furs, up close Talanah still seemed to be shivering.
Aloy gave her a playful bump on the shoulder. “Told you you should’ve packed more than that jacket.”
She returned the favour in kind, and shook the flakes out of her hair. “Yeah, yeah.”
Falling into step the girls continued their trek, keeping their tread light on the sheets of white before them; while they were here on leisure, still no chances could be afforded with creatures as wild as a Fireclaw. Outcroppings of rock occasionally broke the landscape, as well as walls yet steeper and smoother than the one they had just overcome. With every stride they put more distance between them and the cliffend, until it could hardly be seen through the twisting dead underbrush. Aloy slowed her pace, and stole a glance back. As if on cue, her Focus hummed.
“Worry not, Aloy.” GAIA’s pleasant voice soothed over the line, “Elisabet and I are en route. I simply wished to take her for a spot of sightseeing. We will meet with you at the checkpoint shortly.” A pause. “She is being delightful, as usual.” The call then beeped to an end. Aloy smiled, and clicked off her receiver.
“Your mother okay?” She glanced aside to see Talanah had matched her step, and that they were steadily approaching the glazed footpath that would eventually lead to their rendezvous.
“Yep--she took the scenic route, apparently.” Aloy gave her a quick pat on the back and a motion forward, signalling a bit of what could only be the smoke of a campfire behind a shelf of stone. “She’ll meet us soon.”
***
“You girls doing all right?” It was the break of dusk when an older woman, bearing a spectacular resemblance to Aloy and similarly dressed for the unyielding frost, emerged into the firelight of the ready travellers’ campsite. They exchanged their greetings, reassurances, and bits of cooked meats and rations as they settled down for the evening. It wasn’t like they were going any further today; Aloy was no stranger to the night (in fact, her consciousness grumbled, there were times she wished they were a little less acquainted) but she didn’t trust the dark in the Cut farther than she could throw it. Especially with other people around to get caught up in it all.
No. It was far safer to wait it out.
“How about this weather, huh?” Talanah yawned, stretching out on her seat as fire lapped hungrily at wood, “Colder than a Glinthawk’s breast out here, but you two seem to be doing fine. What gives?”
Elisabet, who had been sizing up the cup of fresh tea in her hands, betrayed nothing. “Where I lived and worked, there was often your fair share of snow,” she said simply, and took a sip. “Never year-round like it appears to be here, however.”
“I grew up in the mountains,” Aloy added, “There it did snow year-round, but it’s far less….intense.” She pulled her hood further over her ears, which had started to tingle painfully even in this wind-stagnant stretch of space. “I’ve also been here before, multiple times. So I’m just used to it.”
“Ahh. Tell me, Aloy--through your experience, what’s there to see here?”
“Well,” Aloy’s gaze drifted as she began counting her list on her fingers, “There’s good hunting, which I know you’re here for--their resources are useful and they yield pretty interesting trophies.”
“Oh,” Talanah had an odd look on her face. She still seemed playful, but...almost ominously so. “And the people?”
“They’re good, of course, I’ve told you before about a lot of the--”...oh. Oh. “....I feel as if that question was trying to pry somewhat.”
Talanah’s face was the picture of innocence. “What? Nah, nonsense, whatever could you m--”
“Aloy, Talanah, if you two stay up much later we won’t be getting anywhere at all tomorrow!”
Thank All-Mother.
***
To: Elisabet
From: Aloy
[Subject]
How was your walk?
--
To: Aloy
From: Elisabet
[Subject]
Great--the views are beautiful. GAIA kept talking about the geological formations and the different kinds of rock that could be found. I did not understand a thing she said. Geology makes me break out into a cold sweat. But coming from her, it was bearable. She was so excited.
***
Varga slid the hot plate of buns over the counter to the three waiting, beaming. “Eat up! You’re lucky you came so early, you know? The shop isn’t typically a breakfast stop.”
Aloy blinked at her, mouth full of bread. “Why offer it at all, then?”
“Well, it’s cold.You all look hungry. And we had spare for the day, anyway.” She plucked her own off the pile and bit into it as she continued poring over her day’s blueprints. “One thing leads to another! Anyway, what can I do for you all today?”
“Actually,” Talanah hummed, catching Aloy’s gaze with the grin of a trickster, “We would be the ones that have something to offer you today, I’m afraid.”
Varga perks up, her face adorably set in surprise. “Oh?”
From beside her, Aloy feels a sharp dig in her ribs.
“I--Talanah--uh,” Painfully aware of her own fumbling, Aloy throws a withering glare in her friend’s direction before rummaging around in her pack “We ran into some Thunderjaw trouble, and gave these--got these--for you.” Carefully easing out three pale disks, she slid them across the counter to Varga.
She gasps, lifting one closer to inspect them. “Are...are these…?”
“Their probes, yeah.” Aloy could swear she felt Talanah’s smug look bore into her, “Think you could do something fancy with them? They’re small, but pack a p--”
Her words were cut off by a squeal, and before she knew it Aloy had been roped into a one-armed hug over the table and jumped up and down in the forger’s excitement.
“Yes! Absolutely! A million times yes! Oh, this is excellent, thank you--I could kiss you!” Twirling away, she eagerly rummaged through her shelves for space in which to fit them.
In her absence, Talanah looked at Aloy.
Aloy glanced sideways at Talanah.
Why dontcha go ahead and try?
Yeah, no, this conversation ends here, Sunhawk.
***
“Incredible. This entire time, you were able to keep the Yellowstone caldera in check?”
“Yes! For the purposes of Project Firebreak, my directive was to prevent its eruption.”
“Fascinating. And to think you were before my time...Please, tell me more about what you do.”
“Certainly. What would you like to know?”
“Everything.”
Aloy watched the two spheres of interlocking grid-patterned light pulse and shift excitedly at each other: one yellow in colour, the other a bright teal and comparatively larger. Their audible speech eventually petered out as visible streams of data not dissimilar to the kind the Corrupters shot out were exchanged between them. Probably a much more effective way of ‘talking’. Elisabet stood by casually leaning on the counter, observing the goings-on as well. Her Focus was active, and she had a look of soft amusement about her face.
“She’s older than you, GAIA,” she remarked, “2044...that’s way before any of our shit went down.”
GAIA’s voice promptly answered in Aloy’s Focus, too. “Yes, that would appear to be so. CYAN has done much in her time. It is most impressive.” Aloy toyed with one of the tiny icicles that had frosted over the shelves in the corner of this expansive room. If her eyes weren’t deceiving her, she could’ve sworn she saw the blue sphere shimmer just a little bit brighter at that praise.
“She was alone for a lot of it,” she murmured to herself, still picking at the bit of ice and hoping CYAN wouldn’t overhear. That was her story to share. But damn, program with ‘limited emotional capability’ or no, she felt for her. She couldn’t imagine being by herself, without Rost or anyone at all, for nineteen years--let alone a thousand. Losing Ourea on top of that, the first person to have broken through that solitude for her...oof.
Coming back to her senses, she saw GAIA and CYAN were still lively in conversation. They didn’t appear to be stopping soon, engaged as they were: now it appeared that GAIA were regaling her lifetime, and CYAN attentively listening. Sighing, she pushed herself off the shelf and made her way over to Elisabet, hands in her pockets.
“How much longer are we going to be here?” she whispered when she got close enough. To her surprise, Elisabet laughed. Her hair was ruffled, and an arm looped around her to draw her into an embrace.
“Five more minutes, sweetheart,” Elisabet told her, rubbing her forearm with the hand used to hug her, and pressing a kiss to her temple, “Just five more minutes.”
Aloy looked back, to the two glowing souls at the centre of the room.
It was not going to be five more minutes.
But that was all right.
***
Exhausted, aching, Aloy threw her spear onto the snow and collapsed on top of it like a ‘starfish’ (whatever that was). Panting, she tried to collect herself.
It wasn’t long before her party joined her, laid on the ground on either side. The Banuk Snow Ghost beside her let out a whoop. She let one out, too, albeit significantly less heartily. She was honestly beginning to wonder if she’d lost something important somewhere down in that ravine. Like a lung. Or maybe a couple of fingers. She’ll check in a few minutes.
Ikrie propped herself up on her elbows and glanced over to where Talanah lay across from her, brushing her hood out of her face. Her eyes gleamed. “How’s that for your first Fireclaw, huh?”
“Exhilerating,” Talanah breathed, trying to roll onto her side to face the two of them. Apparently she was too sore, as she froze mid-rise with a wince. “That’ll be a trophy to take to the Lodge, for sure.” She sighed, kicking a piece of Fireclaw gut aside with her free leg. “It’s too bad it’ll be too difficult to transport the whole thing, it would’ve made a nice mantlepiece.”
“Huh--nobody’s ever heard of them before down in Carja land?”
Aloy thinks of the body she found face-down in the road in the middle of making his way back to Meridian, and shudders. “I don’t think many were able to return to tell the tale.” she said flatly.
Ikrie whistled.
“...Huh. Yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised.” She straightens herself up, brushes the snow from her furs and offers a hand to her companions still prone on the ground. “Anyways--you’ll both be leaving soon, right? Back to your home lands?”
Talanah willingly takes it, and when it comes to her turn Aloy can’t help but scoff at her question before taking her hand. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but by this point I don’t exactly have one.” Hup. And she was up. “Closest thing I had cast me out. Twice.”
“Ooh, right, yeah.” Ikrie looks sympathetic. “You’ve told me about that. Setting out again with your mom. That’s really rough.” Before Aloy could reply, a thought seemed to strike her companion on the spot: “Ah! I almost forgot--” She pitched her voice louder, yelling to a figure sat some way away across the snowy embankment, “--MOTHER OF ALOY! What did you think of that hunt?”
A brief pause, then,
“RELIEVED TO SEE YOU’RE ALL STILL ALIVE, MOSTLY.”
The small hunting party broke out in laughter, Aloy’s faux-indignant teammates shouting back for Elisabet that she should ‘HAVE A LITTLE MORE FAITH’ or that ‘THANK YOU, IT WAS THE LEAST WE COULD DO’. Her Focus lit up, a comforting note humming next to her ear.
The light was fading fast from the sky now, streaks of ice blue and grey deepening to navy. At the very edges of the mountains, frays of luminous colours began their dance. If they didn’t act soon it would be much too dark to make it down the mountain until the next day, inviting the possibility of disaster into their upcoming travel plans. They did still have to haul it all back to Meridian in one piece. Out of the corner of her eye Aloy could see the faint silhouette of Elisabet gathering her things and making her way over as they spoke.
“I think we should be going,” Talanah stated, echoing the mood of the moment, “I got what I came here for. And, maybe something more.” She smiled appreciatively at Ikrie, who returned the expression in kind. “It was a pleasure hunting with you. I will be sure your prowess is known amongst the members of the Lodge for the capture of this kill.” She stepped back and Aloy joined her, just as Elisabet reached them too.
“A celebrity welcome if I ever decide to muscle on down there? Sounds sweet.” Ikrie’s hands fell on her hips, businesslike--before dropping the gesture all together to wave them off.
“Stay safe, you three. May we meet again--under similarly less ‘murdery’ circumstances as this one.”
“We couldn’t agree more.”