But it hurts. Hurts to breathe. Hurts to open her eyes. Hurts to turn her head.

Hurts to lift up her arm to activate her Focus.

Hurts to panic when she can't find it clipped above her ear.

It's quieter when she wakes - she's still. There's no voices. No odd flashes. Nothing behind her except cold stone and a thin bed - almost a bier. The only light is from numerous warmly glowing candles, the only color beyond orange or brown from decorations woven from blue and yellow rope. There's no signs that anyone besides her is down here right now.

One good thing: there's no signs of any enemies, either. 

Yeah, but where's all her stuff? She's gotta find that first.

Ow. Moving still hurts. But it'll get better if she walks it off, always does. Okay threetwooneherewego-

She stands up.

It's a bit better when her spine is more-or-less straight, at least, which means standing is (for now) better than sitting. 

There's two paths leading out from where she woke up; one has a brighter glow of candlelight than the other.

Yeah, see, better already. Can't keep Aloy down.

She heads towards the light, on the assumption that light means people and people will have wanted to go through her stuff. Or she can ask the people about her stuff if she doesn't find it along the way.

Grrrr finding her Focus would be so much easier if she already had it

The next room over's empty of people - but her Focus and the pieces of her armor they must've removed to treat her are on a table. The armor looks like someone made an attempt to clean it, though it's still far more scuffed than the last time she put it on.

There's no sign of her bow, though, nor of the other Focus she looted off one of the killers.

Wow okay she feels a lot better already. She clips the Focus on and taps it to life while she puts the rest of her armor on again, scanning the area.

... Under all the candles and decorations, it looks a lot like the ruin she fell into as a child, actually.

It also looks a lot like a Nora sacred space. 

...Where did they bring her? She never saw a building like this.

Unless...

Is she inside the mountain?

There's no big glaring signs, but also not a lot of other places it could be. 

(And she's able to get a hint of a signal as she's scanning - seems to be from that other Focus.)

Well. Let's go exploring a bit. See what she finds.

She finds...

Her weapons, other gear, and the enemy's Focus on a table in what feels like the very back of the tunnels she can access - though there's a currently-locked door on the wall leading further inside. 

Cool, cool, cool, hey it's her medicine pouch, yum yum tasty leaves make her feel better. Hm. She'll have to restock after this. Oh well, problems for Future Aloy.

Problems for Current Aloy include: the locked door, the second Focus, finding people. All right, priorities. Probably people? Focus isn't going anywhere right now, neither is the door. Well, if this is the mountain chances she'll be able to come back to the door are, uh, low. But on the other hand, it's not like she has any strong reasons to consider the door exceptionally interesting. So scratch the door. Focus in pocket then she can head the other way and look for people.

She comes fairly quickly upon a people! Specifically, High Matriarch Teersa, who's coming from the direction Aloy was when she woke up.  "Aloy!" she calls. "You are awake?!"

"Uh. Yeah."

She steps up to Aloy, gesturing for her to come closer. "Quickly, you must follow," she says, before turning - back towards the hallway Aloy just came out of, actually.

Sure, whatever. Makes as much sense as anything else the Nora matriarchs do.

They come fairly quickly to the room Aloy found the rest of her gear in. Teersa stops next to the door, almost hesitates - then touches the red circle beside it. 

The door opens with a faint sound - it's in better condition than the bunker doors in the ruin from Aloy's childhood. They reveal a room bursting with candles, easily the brightest in the mountain - especially because of the thin shaft of light falling from the ceiling, where the enormous claw of a long-dead Metal Devil thrusts into the chamber. There's another large door on the opposite side of the room, of a design she hasn't seen before - circular, with a pyramidal design carved on the front. 

"What is this place?"

"This is the Great Chamber, where All-Mother slew the Metal Devil - and where we found you. Where you were born."

"I was... born here? What do you mean, found me?"

"We heard your cries, and when we came to look - you were lying right there." She gestures at the raised dais in front of the door. "Newly born. Your mother, Aloy, is the mountain Herself."

"That's not possible."

"All is made possible by the All-Mother's grace. And it is what happened - Lansra believes your father was the Metal Devil, but that is clearly ridiculous. You were created by All-Mother, and you emerged from the Womb of the Mountain - exactly as our ancestors once did, after the creation of the world."

"Is that why you brought me here?"

"Yes - you seemed to be dying, and to die near one's mother is sacred. And... Now that you live - surely the Goddess must have a purpose for you; one I hope is related to... Recent events."

"You mean the attack?"

"And everything that has happened since."

"What else is there?"

"...Quite a lot, child. The war party we sent after the killers was ambushed - the killers controlled machines that had gone mad with fury - and many were slain. Dangerous machines, dripping red with evil, have been reported throughout the Sacred Lands, more all the time. Our borders are unpatrolled, and I fear this is just the start of it all."

"Well that's terrifying," Aloy mutters.

"It is a matter of great concern to us."

"So maybe we should be out there instead of in here?"

"I was hoping you'd have an idea of what All-Mother intended for you."

"Why would I know that? I was never allowed even close to here before." What, bitter? Her?

Yeah. Maybe a little. She takes a few steps closer to the big door.

- And as she steps up on the dais, a red light sparks at top of the engraved pyramid, and a calm, feminine voice calls out, "Hold for IdentiScan." (Behind her, Teersa calls out 'The Goddess speaks!' and falls to her knees.)

And then the red light sweeps down Aloy's body, as flickering holograms fill the air - the face of a woman who looks like her, though with short hair and an older, tired face - two glowing pink lines twisting around each other, clusters like flowers along their lengths connected in pairs by bars, and a number that rapidly increases - 58.29% - 67.12% - 84.76% - it stabilizes at 99.47% - the red light running over her body fades away - 

And then the voice says: "Error. Alpha Registry corrupted. Identity cannot be confirmed. Entry denied."

Alpha Registry? What's that? And why is entry denied? She was so close!

"Hey, no, come back. Try again!"

"Error. Alpha Registry corrupted. Identity cannot be confirmed. Entry denied," the voice repeats - and then the red glow fades entirely.

Grr dammit!

Teersa slowly rises to her feet. "All-Mother spoke to you Aloy, as if she knew you..."

"But the... registry is corrupted."

"To heal that corruption must be your purpose! And then All-Mother will see you clearly."

"I... guess?"

"Though at this time I cannot say where to start - has the goddess given you any visions?"

"No, but..." Let's see if her Focus turns up anything on a scan.

Oh, and she's got that other Focus, might as well take a look at that too.

Her focus reports that the door is a sealed door, which certainly is very helpful.

As for the Focus: she has to get past a firewall at first, then sort through the files - but the most recent is fairly easy to find. 

And a holograph of the man who cut her throat appears before her. 

"All Commanders: halt excavations and proceed at once to the mission point. Avoid all contact with Nora savages - but if you are seen, kill every witness. Target imaging attached. Do not fail."

The 'target imaging' seems to be a map of the area, with red flags at the ambush site - along with a recording of Aloy herself from the night before, when she was speaking to Olin - 

And a recording of a woman appears beside her. She looks just like the woman in the door's recording; an older version of Aloy, in strange clothes with shorter hair. It's the same vibrant red as Aloy's, plus or minus a few silvery hairs. The same twisted lines graphic appears between them, the same counting up of numbers. 

And it's not a still recording. She steps up and says, "Then make it quick. I'm heading in."

The same even voice as on the door tells her to "Hold for IdentiScan."

And there's a flicker before the woman says, "You need to stop listening to Ted and start listening to me."

She freezes in place then, the recording paused, as the number under the double helix settles at that same 99.47%, and bright, glowing pink letters read out TERMINATE.

Okay that looks more like someone her mother could be.

"The attackers, they were here to kill me. Olin sent my face to them somehow, and they thought I was- someone else."

"But how - ?" She shakes her head. "If the goddess has sent you a vision - then it must be so. And if this 'Olin' is working with the killers - perhaps he is your lead."

"I'd say so."

"You will have to go beyond the borders of the Sacred Land..."

"I've been an outcast for seventeen years already."

She shakes her head. "There is another way. Come, and we will make it so."

"Uh, sure. Okay. Lead the way."

She does so!

And as they come near the exit, she says: "The other High Matriarchs are waiting for us. Let me do the talking."

Yeah, Aloy is fine with that. She doesn't much like the other matriarchs.

They emerge - the other two High Matriarchs, Jezza (who seems mostly neutral) and Lansra (who seems to actively hate Aloy) are waiting outside.

"It is done?" Jezza asks, evenly. 

"Yes, I showed her." Teersa steps up to the other two, reaching out to them. "Sisters - the Goddess spoke to Aloy! Told her to heal the corruption."

Lansra scoffs and turns aside, though Jezza furrows her brow and, after a glance at Lansra, asks, "But how is she to do that?"

"She will have to journey beyond our Sacred Land," Teersa says quietly.

Jezza seems suprised as she responds, "A Seeker?" And then after a moment she turns to Lansra and raises her voice to call out, "If the Goddess spoke, then it must be so."

Lansra whirls around and, in a low, furious voice, demands: "You would name this thing a Seeker?!"

"Sister," Jezza warns, reaching out to Lansra's arm.

Teersa steps up as well, placing hand on Lansra's other arm. "For once Lansra, join with us!"

Lansra tears herself away from both Sisters and spits on the ground. "This will be your sin, not mine," she nearly whispers. And, at a more normal volume: "Send her Seeking, and may she never be seen again." She turns away, then, and storms back into the depths of the mountain. 

Bye bye, then.

The other two  step up to Aloy, each putting a hand on one of her shoulders. Teersa begins, saying: "Aloy, by the holy grace of the One Goddess we hereby annoint you a Seeker of the Nora tribe," as Jezza pulls a vial of blessed oil (from the scent, made of medicinal flowers) from her robes and places a few drops on Aloy's forehead.

It is then Jezza's turn to speak, and she says: "No barrier can now stay you from your  sacred task. May All-Mother protect you and sustain you. Stay true," as Teersa spreads blue paint on Aloy's face, then lifts a circlet of colorful threads and bone beads around her forehead.

They step back, then, ending the ceremony, and Jezza says, "I will make ready for the Hymn," before, quietly, turning to Aloy to say, "Our hopes lie with you." And then she leaves, towards the village.

Yeah, no pressure or anything.

"Do you have any questions, Aloy?"

Well if she's about to leave-

"What happened to Rost?"

"There... Wasn't much left. What we did find - we buried him near the place where he raised you, with flowers on the grave."

"He'd've liked that. I think."

"It was home."

It would be silly to hold a grudge on Rost's behalf about him having been cast out when he didn't do it on his own behalf.

She still kinda wants to, though.

"It was."

"I am sorry we could not do more."

"Me too."

"Um, I should probably get moving."

"Leave through the North Embrace Gate and speak to Vala. She'll be able to tell you the way to Meridian."

Aloy nods and sets her sights on the gate out of town.

Said gate is currently closed! There's a few scouts giving a report to someone who looks vaguely in charge on the upper ramparts, something about a demon out in the valley.

(The Nora she passes on the way seem to mostly regard her with wariness - though there's some respect - and Teb greets her fondly when she enters the main courtyard. (He's at work repairing armor, looks like, though he also has a weapon on his hip.))

Hope he can stick with the needle.

"Excuse me, can someone open the gate?"

"Ignore her," the man apparently in charge says, "And continue your reports." 

(Now that Aloy hears his voice - this man oversaw the first part of the Proving. He did nothing when Bast effectively cheated by destroying her trophy, and he repeatedly scorned her.)

Oh, that asshole.

Maybe she can jump down from the top of the wall...

It's pretty tall, and it's also unclear if anyone would try to stop her. If they don't, she could probably use the same trick as when she rappels though. 

Any sign of that whatever-demon they're talking about?

There's smoke in the distance, and trees moving oddly; it's unclear with how short a time she's been up here if that's normal now. 

She's gonna hazard a guess that probably not; that's how her luck has been going lately.

A slow rumble does begin to build up, drawing the attention of lookouts - and then several striders burst out of the trees, galloping hard - 

They look like they're fleeing.

Yeeeah she's gonna stay on this side of the wall for now. Maybe shoot a tripwire down on the approach in front of the gates, just to be safe.

She's not the only one with that thought - and the area around the village's more heavily fortified than when she arrived for the proving, like they've been frantically preparing for a siege.

Preparations that turn out to be useful, when a bizarre machine - entirely black with only little flickers of red indicator lights, its movements somewhere between fluid and insectoid, running quickly on at least six legs, a long and vicious tail whipping out behind it - 

Most machines look like they belong in the world. Their shapes are plausible, like flesh and blood animals rendered in metal. This thing...

Is really, really not.

And it's attacking the Striders, too - it shoots beams of twisting red light at them, and they collapse and writhe and change - 

And when they arise, there's red light dripping from them like blood, and twisted bands of red wrapped around their joints, echoed in their eyes.

They seem under the spell of the strange machine, now, and they turn as one - eerily coordinated - towards the gate, before they begin their charge.

Uh oh. Can she get a quick Focus scan in while she's swapping to her bow?

The Striders aren't able to break through immediately, and the demon machine isn't attacking the defenders on the ramparts yet, so, yes. Her Focus informs her that it's weak to fire, and generally at high risk of overheating, and its heat core is mostly shielded but also a major weak point, especially since her Focus suggests that exposing it would be the main way the machine vents heat that exceeds operation parameters. Other weak points are its spike launcher and grenade launcher - which does mean it'll have ranged attacks as soon as it deigns to use them.

"Hit it with fire," she calls, nocking an arrow and taking aim at the grenade launcher. Aloy would prefer to not get grenaded, thanks.

There's an early volley of fire arrows at least, though their stocks aren't infinite - there's others trying to shoot down the Striders in the very front, especially the ones that have hit Aloy's tripwire, probably trying to make a log jam and slow down the machines breaking through - 

But they're not fast enough, and the Striders finish battering down the gates as more Braves rush into the open square and the non-combatants retreat back up the hill. The demon follows after them, immediately laying into the Braves around it. (Aloy's doing some damage to this thing, but it's also the toughest machine she's ever fought, and apparently that red stuff dripping off the Striders is highly toxic by how the Braves who stumble into it react.)

That's... not good.

She'll just have to keep aiming for the weak points her Focus identified, and be ready to swap to fire when that heat core pokes out.

She gets that chance eventually - especially as the Braves take down the Striders and open the machine to attack from more sides; it's fast, but spinning between targets uses up a lot of energy. 

Go go exploding arrow power!

She lands a direct hit, destroying the cooling mechanism - 

And after that, it's pretty easy to set up a feedback loop the demon can't escape from. 

Haha yes, that's how we do it!

It goes down, and the Braves set about securing the wounded and the gate in case of another attack. Aloy's got an opening to investigate the demon more closely if she wants. 

She does want. Must be some unique parts on this thing. Maybe she can figure out how it turned those Striders, too...

The part in question is fairly easy to find, given it's where the bolts of red light shot from to override the Striders. It's small, easily fitting in her hand - and when she scans it with her Focus, it looks like she should be able to override it, connect it to her Focus instead of the demon machine. 

Huh, that could be useful. Let's get that done, then, and maybe she can tie the part on to the butt of her spear. Shouldn't throw the balance off much.

This works pretty well, actually.

Course it does. She's kinda good at this sorta thing.

Around her, people are getting the bodies removed - pushing the Striders to the side - and the gate's mostly intact; it failed at the hinged, so they get it more-or-less working again just as Aloy finishes attaching the override to her spear.

Guess it's take two at trying to get out through it.

Unless she's really fast, she's either going to have to jump over the wall again or talk someone into opening it.

Yeah, she'll make the ask.

The same asshole who oversaw the first part of her Brave run is apparently temporarily War Chief now, and he also apparently doesn't want them opening the gate for anyone, even someone leaving - let alone her.

Guess she'll have to grapple down off the wall. Hope she doesn't pull any of it down behind her...

She doesn't! Though she does leave behind an angry, sputtering whats-his-name asshole.

Nice!

Okay, first she wants to see if there's any Strider herds that weren't disturbed by the corrupter, and try out her new toy.

The herd farthest from Mother's Heart is still there - they'd clearly been spooked, because they've pressed themselves into the farthest reaches of the Embrace, their Watchers a tight patrol around them. But they've calmed down since, slowly started to spread out again, and Aloy knows this herd because it's also the one closest to where she grew up. She's gotten about as familiar as it's possible to get with their patterns, and their Watchers have pretty set patrol routes when they do retreat to this area. All the Striders she'd expect to see are there, though, all uninjured, though they're missing a Watcher.

Poor babies. But there's a gap she can exploit, and she'll be gentle, she promises.

She's able to get one of the Striders that's wandered off from the others. It freezes a bit, blue cords growing around its joints - especially the neck - and intensifying its natural glow. It shakes its head when her Focus indicates the override is done, then calmly turns towards her. 

(The other machines don't seem to have noticed, yet, but that might only be a matter of time.)

Coooool. She hops up onto its back and kicks in her heels.

This draws the attention of the other machines! Fortunately for her, though, it takes them a few crucial seconds to log her as a potential hostile and then get past warning calls - and by then, she's already racing out of the alarm range of even the most aggressive Watcher. 

She is become the wiiiiiiiind!

Strider goes ZOOM!

Wheee wait shit how does she steer-

Well, the Strider seems to understand what roads are at least? But she's going to need to play around for more. (Though it's not too difficult - using her hands to press on the side of the neck opposite the direction she wants to turn does result in the Strider turning, and she could probably figure out something with her knees if she could get the coordination right, or something with her Focus with enough practice...)

Well, maybe she can work something out on the way up to- Rost's house.

Some fiddling reveals that the Strider can be sent map data and also a target location; exactly how advanced its pathfinding capabilities are will require more experimentation, though.

It'll also require more map data. Not like she's ever been outside the Embrace. For any significant length of time. Which is going to change in the near future, so... everything works out?

Is Aloy trying to distract herself from the part where she's almost home and still doesn't know what she's going to do at Rost's grave? Maybe a little.

Unfortunately one drawback of riding a Strider is that it gets close to Rost's grave far more quickly than she would have on foot. 

...Yeah.

She pulls the Strider to a stop outside the gates and swings down.

It's a nice place for it, anyway.

Whoever built the grave seems to have cared for Rost, too.

Another mystery he's leaving behind.

"Hey old man," she says. "It's- I-"

"Thanks. For everything."

"I'll live up to your expectations."

Only the low wind replies. 

"I'm leaving the Embrace, after this. But you can't yell at me, since the Matriarchs made me a Seeker first. They took me inside the mountain, too, and- whatever lives there spoke to me. Almost recognized me. Guess that's what you meant."

"Still wish you would have told me more yourself. Your secrets-"

"All they ever did was hurt and hurt and hurt. And now you're gone and you won't ever say anything again. Well, I'm gonna go, and I'm gonna find the attackers, and I'm gonna find the man who killed you, and I'm gonna find the fix to the Alpha Registry, and I'm gonna get the answers. And then I'm gonna come back and tell you all about it, because-"

"Because that's what I want to do, even if it's not what you did."

"Goodbye, Rost." And scrubbing an arm across her face, she goes back to where she left the Strider and makes for the gates.

The way is clear, at least - 

But she hears combat outside of the damaged gates. There's a gap big enough for her Strider, if she's careful with how she steers it - but she can't see from here what's going on with the fight. 

She'll ride the Strider through the gate, quick as it can go.

She bursts out very nearly on top of a fight between several Braves and a corrupted Sawtooth - just as one of the Braves drives her spear deep into a gap at its neck, killing it. It's the only opponent that big, though there's still two corrupted Watchers charging up attacks. 

Whoops well she can run down the Watchers at least.

Apparently when it's Strider versus Watcher, the Strider wins hands-down - her mount spins and kicks the first Watcher when she gets in range, throwing it into the other, and then charges them just to make sure they stay down. They're not quite dead yet, but Aloy can finish them off pretty easily. 

That worked out pretty good!

"How are you doing that?!" the Brave who took down the Sawtooth asks, voice somewhere between 'wary,' 'impressed,' and 'calculating.'

"With style and grace!" Aloy says, patting her mount's neck.

She looks a little amused, despite herself. "Thanks for the graceful help, then," she says. "You're the Brave that won the Proving, right?"

"That's me," she says. "Aloy."

"...The survivors told us about - what you did. Thank you."

"...Yeah."

"...Do you mind one more heroic favor?"

"For a pretty girl? No problem."

"It's about Warchief Sona. She and some Braves are still pursuing the killers."

"Which way did they go?"

"Last we saw her was after the massacre. A pack of crazed machines fell on the War Party, dripping that - red corruption. War Chief Sona called for volunteers, sent the wounded and a few others back here, and she kept pursuing the killers. But that was... Days ago. We haven't had any word since - not even the wounded trickling back."

"I can show you the massacre site on a map. You'll have to track them from there, though."

"I'm pretty good at tracking."

"You'll need it."

"What's your name, by the way?"

"I'm Vala."

"Oh, I was supposed to ask you about the way to Meridian."

She looks like she's about to say something, then pauses and squints at Aloy's forehead. "...The High Matriarchs made you a Seeker?"

"They did."

"Why do you need to go to Meridian?"

"One of the guests before the Proving, Olin. He's working with the killers. I'm going to find him and get some answers."

She frowns and nods. "You'll want to talk to go to Mother's Crown - it's north of here, a big settlement to the west of the road. Hopefully hard to miss. Ask for Marea; she'll be able to at least point you at the Carja border."

Nod.

"I'll do that after I look for the Warchief, then. The guy they've got taking her place back in Mother's Heart is a real dick, by the way."

"Yeah. Resh. He should never've been in charge. But with so many dead or wounded, and War Chief Sona missing... Don't think there's many other Braves older than me who can still stand on their own feet."

"Which is another reason he shouldn't be in charge. He's not the one putting his life at risk."

"You should have seen his face when I jumped off the wall after he wouldn't open the gates to let me out."

She laughs. "Knew I liked you."

Heee.

"Do you have things here under control?"

"Yes. The only reason I'm not pursuing War Chief Sona myself is that she ordered me to guard this gate with my life. We've got a good system in place here, though."

"Good to hear."

Nod.

"Do you need anything else from me?"

Kissies?

"I don't think so."

"I'll be here, then, if you do."

"Cool."

She'll hop back on the Strider and head out.

After a while, as she rides around a bend in the road while weaving through some boulders - she comes on a woman kneeling next to two bodies. Neither the woman (who's wearing a red headdress and only an open vest with a thin breast-band on her top) nor the bodies (dressed in mismatched armor with dusky quilted jackets under) look like Nora.

"Hello?"

She looks up. "Hello." She eyes Aloy's Strider briefly, but doesn't react as strongly as most people she's come across - doesn't mention it at all, actually. "Are you heading further north?"

"For a ways, yeah."

"The road gets pretty dangerous."

She looks at the bodies. "So I see."

"Two fewer dangers than there were, I suppose."

"Who were they?"

"Thieves, slavers, and killers - the kind that give honest killers a bad name."

"So, bandits?"

"Dead bandits, now. These ones at least did me the courtesy of coming to me - though hunting them down is its own fun."

"Haven't hunted people before."

"Then why not give it a try?"

"Well, I need to track down the Nora warchief and her party first."

"Whatever for?"

"They were chasing the group that attacked the Proving, and has been corrupting the machines."

"...Corrupting machines?"

"You haven't seen any of those? They're way more aggressive, and have that black-red rot stuff dripping off them."

"...Yeah, I know about that. If you're ever after bandits I'll help - but the people behind those machines? That's politics. I try to stay out of politics."

"Uhh. Okay."

"Though... If you help me clear out the camp nearby, maybe I'll have some information on those politics for you."

"Does that have to be right now?"

"It can wait a short time."

"Okay, I want to try to pick up the Warchief's trail before it goes colder, but I can meet you near the camp after that if you tell me where it is."

"Past those ruins." She then lists out a couple landmarks. 

She makes a note on her Focus. "Okay, got it."

"I'll be waiting with baited breath."

"I'll try not to take too long."

"Good."

Oh no why is everyone outside the Embrace so pretty

"See you in a bit, then."

"See you."

Aloy continues on her way to the site Vala told her about.

The exact site of the battle is pretty immediately obvious - there's a narrow pass between two outcroppings of rock, stained with blood and littered with broken arrows. Vala's directions indicate the main part of the battle occurred through that pass.

Yeah.

She gets down and switches on her Focus to take a closer look.

It's a bit hard to piece apart, but she can put together where the stampede of machines came from, and that it wasn't just the Striders and Watchers that are ubiquitous around here - there were definitely Sawtooths involved, and possibly a Corruptor in direct combat (going by damaged armor scattered about).

Yikes. What about the people, where'd the survivors go?

The tracks seem to lead back out through the area she entered in - 

And there's currently a wounded Nora Brave staggering up. 

"Are you okay?"

He makes a face. "I can walk, still."

"What happened to the others?"

"War-Chief Sona is still pursuing the killers. She sent me back after I was wounded."

"Oh, good. Which way?"

"All I can tell you is where we parted - near the metal tower, southest of the ruins at Devil's Thirst. Look to the rise behind it, with a lone boulder." He frowns, then. "Do you know where Vala is? War Chief Sona ordered me to report to her; I'd expected at least healers to still be here, clearing out the bodies, but it seems they moved quickly."

"She's still guarding the gate."

"Then I'll make my way there."

"Okay. Do you- need any help, or anything?"

He shakes his head. "My wounds are slowing me down, but they're not dangerous. I'll avoid any machines."

She nods. "Be safe."

Then once he's on his way, she'll be on hers. Firmer direction is nice to have. That's even kind of on the way to the bandit camp, she thinks? Maybe she can meet up with that woman again. And ask her name this time.

If she double checks her map - yeah, the bandits are actually camped out in Devil's Thirst. They should be somewhat to the north of her path.

Easy. Everything's coming up Aloy.

The bandit camp is easy to find, though Aloy wouldn't have seen the strange woman if not for her Focus - she's very well hidden, and her bright headdress and clothes actually blend into the tall red grass. She's crouched on a rise overlooking the camp; it's out of ordinary bowshot, though Aloy's newer sharpshooter bow should be able to make the distance. 

She'll try sneaking up on the woman before thinking about sniping into the bandit camp.

Unfortunately, the woman spots her just about right away. She's apparently a lot more observant than the average bandit. (She turns and grins at Aloy.)

"Hey. This is the place, then?"

"Exactly so. Did you already wrap up your business?"

"No, but you know about me and the Warchief doesn't, so it seemed polite to do you first."

Smirk. "Though doing me properly will have to wait until after we've settled the business at hand."

Wait huh?

Oh. Blush!

Giggle! "You're cute."

"Thanks?"

"My pleasure."

Goodness she's pretty

"So do you have a plan for the camp?"

"I'll follow your lead, how about?"

"Can you tell me anything about the layout?"

She does have a full map and a count of inhabitants, plus locations and number of prisoners. There's patrols, which she's still working on estimating the patterns of - Aloy will have to figure that one out herself - but she knows the leader's approximate location, plus the definite location of the camp alarm - "If they set that off, reinforcements will come. Up to you if that's a good thing or a bad thing; I usually try to take out the camp without them calling for help, then set up an ambush, trigger the alarm, and kill anyone who shows up."

"That seems, uh, excessive."

"It's better to root them all out now than to deal with them popping up later."

"Maybe they'd have a chance to learn their lesson."

"These sorts usually don't."

"That's kinda sad."

She raises an eyebrow. "You're a strange girl."

"I got that a surprising amount for growing up an exile."

" - I've heard about that custom. It seems strange, especially to exile a child."

"Won't catch me defending it."

"Why are you helping the Nora?"

"Because they need help."

"Huh."

"You'll help even people who've hurt you?"

"It wasn't- literally everyone. All the Nora."

"Still makes you more decent than most people I've met."

"Well, if most of the people you meet are bandits..."

"I don't talk much to the bandits!"

"Fair enough."

"Though, speaking of the bandits..."

"Right, I guess we should do something about them."

"I do wanna disable the alarm. So maybe let's get a bit closer and take out one of the watchtowers."

"Roger that."

Time to be Little Miss Sneaky Aloy.

Nil is exceptionally sneaky - 

And exceptionally good at killing people quietly. 

She's clearly got lots of practice. Killing people isn't something Aloy's used to, but it's not that much different from hunting machines, at least with a bow and arrow.

Once they get a vantage on the watchtower, she'll use her Focus to identify the alarm system and then shoot a hole in the gas bladder. Then... work from the outside in, she guesses.

Works for her. 

Aloy will use her Focus to scan for targets and plan an attack order.

The bandits here must be overconfident; other than the watchtowers, they don't really have patrols, and no one's actually checking with the sentries to make sure that, for instance, they haven't been killed by stealthy infiltrators. There's not too many, too - should be fairly easy if Aloy can move quickly and quietly. 

They haven't been keeping up with their gardening, either. Plenty of patchy brush for her to sneak between.

Their loss. (Literally.)

That wasn't so bad. A little fun even, maybe.

Aloy's good at this - and a pleasure to work with. 

Nil's not too bad either.

It's a passion of hers. 

Yeah?

Gets the blood pumping, the skin tingling... 

Fully engages the senses?

And it's especially fun to do with a partner. 

Aloy had a good time with her.

Nil would love to keep having good times together. 

Unfortunately, up next for Aloy is some apparently-politics...

They can meet back up after - and there's some other kinds of good times they could have quickly...

Yeah?

Like, for instance: kissing. 

Oh!

So? 

Let's do it.

Kisses!

Kisses! Kisses are fun, it turns out.

They are. One of the most fun things in life. 

Yeah!!

And another thing Aloy's very good at. 

She's just full of talent.

Do anything she sets her mind to. 

So far it works.

Luckily for Nil.

And Aloy!

Mutual benefit. 

Her favorite.

What about mutual benefit beyond just kisses - ?

Seems worth a try.

Yummy girl.

Note to self, find more chances to do this

Though she can't spend quite as much time as she'd like on this...

Nil would be more than amenable to meeting up later. 

That'd be nice.

And for now... She owes Aloy some information on her next targets. 

Oh yeah, she almost forgot.

Good thing Nil's on the ball, then. 

Mhm! So, what's she in for?

"The Eclipse. They're a cult within the Shadow Carja - rebels who object to Sun-King Avad's rule. Their leader's Helios, a ruthless asshole who makes me look like a saint. I don't know how they're controlling machines, but they've also been asking about and digging up dead ones, even the ones everyone else is scared to touch. They're a bit of a mess, though; Helios's a tyrant who thinks demanding things be done will magically get them done."

"So they're big trouble."

"Yeah."

"Well, I was going to Meridian anyway. Maybe I'll talk to the not-Shadow Carja."

"Sun-King Avad's probably the least terrible Carja noble, at least."

"Dunno that I'm actually going to meet royalty..."

"Then maybe stay away from the fancy types."

"If I can."

"It'll make your life better overall."

"Noted. Thanks for the info."

"Happy to help a pretty girl."

That's Aloy, she's the pretty girl.

"I should get moving."

"Then I'll catch up to you later, pretty girl."

"Bye!"

Then she's off to circle southwards and pick up Sona's trail again.

She finds a deserted camp first, with bloody bandages and unrepairable spears - right where her lead told her to expect Sona. It's tough, but she can pick up a trail from there with her Focus, that leads her over mountain ridges overlooking the valley - probably tracking the killers from above, since it seems unlikely any Carja could follow a Brave trail like this one. Once she's farther along the trail...

She finds the first definite sign of her quarry - a dead Sawtooth, broken arrows embedded in the gaps between plates.

Good sign, if they're still taking down Sawtooths. Means they can fight. And no human bodies.

As she's examining the scene - 

She hears a faint sound behind her, like the careful footfall of a large machine. 

Spin-duck-pull-her-bow-out-

A sawtooth lunges for her! 

- And is brought down as it leaps by a very precisely thrown spear in its neck. 

Whoa okay was not expecting that.

It seems to have been War Chief Sona who threw the spear, actually. She walks up. "A heartbeat later, and it would have killed you," she scolds Aloy.

"Half a heartbeat later and I would have shot it," she says, stowing her bow.

She pauses to retrieve her spear, then: "Why are you tracking me?"

"You've been out of contact for a while. The gates are still holding but people think you're dead."

"I sent a runner not long ago. And I can't stop until we've taken down the killers."

"Can I help?"

"This battle is the right of all Nora. They attacked you as well."

"Cool. How close are you?"

"Close. We've been preparing an attack on their camp, just beyond that ridge."

"Is there enough time for me to take a look around?"

"A quick one."

"Back before you know it."

And Aloy will suit action to words.

The enemy camp is nestled in a deep quarry - they seem to be digging for something, going by the tools and the high quantities of unsecured blaze Aloy's Focus picks up. The camp is also being patrolled by Corrupted machines, especially Watchers and Scrappers - luckily, it doesn't look like they have any Sawtooths with them. There's a good number of enemies present, but they're not at all set up for a siege, and archers up on the cliffs could probably take most of them out before they could get under cover. Going in person would be somewhat harder, as the narrow quarters means there's fewer places to hide - herself or bodies - and moving around between levels on foot will be slow going. 

The heights have decent sightlines, but they'll have to clear the quarry in person at the end anyway. If they time it right, catch the Corrupted by the Blaze with fire arrows, it could just be people left by that point. Which shouldn't be as difficult.

That would be Aloy's plan, anyway. She'll return to Sona to ask what hers is.

They can get better coverage with multiple archers, too - there's a lot less cover that's total in all directions, and it'll reduce survivability for their enemies.

Targeting the Blaze is a good move, too, and in her experience - if they catch the human enemies in those blasts, it'll cause more chaos than outright injuries, which will be a bonus in this situation. Confused and panicking enemies whose camp is on fire cannot easily resist an attack.

Be nice to put that shoe on the other foot.

The killers will reap what they have sown.

They will.

Is Aloy ready?

She's always ready.

Then it's time for the Nora's revenge.

Let's do it.

The killers really were not expecting to be targeted by a sudden hailstorm of fire arrows! The Nora war party can indeed sow so much chaos this way!

...Though the Corrupted Watchers couldn't all be taken out in the initial blast, and one is lining up a shot on Aloy and Sona's position.

Arrow right down the eyeball!

It sparks and collapses!

She's going to need a few more arrows for the Scrappers that weren't near Blaze barrels, too.

She's got a few more arrows. Going to need to restock soon, though. Power cell and radar are the weak spots, she'll try to hit those preferentially.

The prepared firing positions have extra arrows, but - yeah, they're probably going to need to close for the last few enemies. Still, some careful bow-work can ensure they'll only be closing with humans.

It's spears after that.

Her practice with Nil comes in handy here - fighting people is pretty different from fighting machines. (For one thing, people are slower, and they hit less hard and die easier - but they're smarter, too. Harder to get fancy with when fighting.)

She prefers to keep things simple with the spear, anyway. Hit them, then hit them harder.

This is a very efficient way to turn enemies into dead enemies!

And, soon enough, they have the camp cleared out. 

Mission success? See if they left anything useful behind?

That seems to be the plan - 

- Which is a little derailed by Vala having apparently shown up in the middle of the fight. 

Sona's not happy about this!

She steps up to Vala, and in a low voice that in no way prevents Aloy from hearing exactly what she's saying, tells Vala: "I ordered you to defend that gate with your life, Brave."

Uh oh. Mom voice and boss voice combination.

"And I did - until reinforcements came, and your runner brought news of  Aloy and your location. I left the gate well guarded. My place now is here, with you - and with the vengeance for our fallen. Am I not owed that?"

Sona frowns, but doesn't seem to have a good retort.

"And there's more blood to be spilled before that vengeance is claimed - this doesn't look like all the killers."

"It's not. I counted more at the War Party Massacre, and none of their leaders are here."

"Then let me hunt them with you. To the ends of the earth, if we must."