Thunderjaw Heart - Horizon Zero Dawn Fanfiction

New Dawn

"Do we have everybody ?", Kïma asked Aloy, rubbing her hands together. 

"Erend and some guards are still expected to arrive later, I think. They'll bring water for Bast and Quatu's groups by the end of the day. There is already enough to drink here, for Aveme's and Losa's", Aloy told her as she watched the crowd gathering in front of the rock they were standing on. 

"Alright, then. Do you... Want to speak or do I..."

"Come on, you trained yesterday. You can do it. It's just like speaking in front of the Noras, in the Sacred Mountain, like you did a while ago."

"Right."

They crossed their arms and waited for the crowd to quiet down. It took a minute to contain everyone's excitement but they got their silence. 
Running her eyes on the people, Kïma could feel her heart warming and her guts filling with butterflies. Banuks, Carjas, Oserams... Even some Utarus had joined them, easily recognizable by the zigzags on their outfits and their yellow makeups. 
She was a bit disappointed that no Noras had agreed to help them but she was not surprised. They had managed to gather some outcasts, though. After a thorough background check to make sure they were not accepting true criminals, they had successfully sneaked them through the Embrace's borders, promising them a new life. 
No Tenakth to be seen either, which was probably a good thing, given their bloodthirstiness. 

"Kïma, they're waiting"

"Shit, yeah uh... First of all, I want to thank everyone here for uh, well, agreeing to help us. It means a lot, so... yeah, thank you", Kïma declared, spreading her arms. 

After a shy applause, she continued :

"Y'all already know what this is all about. We've already told you our main goal but before we really get started, I wanted to make sure everyone knows what to do and where to do it, because if you don't do what you have to do in the right area... I mean, that would suck, right ?"

"Get to the point", Aloy whispered, feeling her laughter growing in her chest. 

She had helped her the evening before. She had repeated her speech at least four times and she had done wonderfully but seeing her now, getting awkward in front of so many people just amused her so much. 

"Yeah, yeah... Uh... So, you're going to get separated in four groups, with a... I don't want to say supervisor, because I don't feel like so much hierarchy would do good here... Not that I don't feel like higher hierarchies are problematic, but..."

"Kïma."

The crowd let out a small chuckle, apparently enjoying her stress as well. 

"So, each group will have a... a supervisor. Losa, Aveme, Bast and Quatu. You've already been assigned, I think. Bast and Quatu are going to be responsible for providing the area with wood, therefore they're going to have to cut lots and lots of trees. Losa and Aveme are going to stay here and improve the trail leading to the top of the small mountain. Aloy and I are personally going to head north and we'll bring back some machines to modify the top of the mountain, to make sure its livable. We're talking Rockbreakers, Broadheads, Glinthawks, Scrappers and everything. So if the machines have blue lights, don't attack them ! What do I have to add..."

"The map", Aloy coughed.

She could not hold back a laughter and handed Kïma a piece of paper. That was the funniest part. Even though Kïma was one of the best artists she knew... It was just the most awful map she had ever seen. Sure, the background was nice. But the annotations... The small circles above every 'i', the doodles of machines... And, most importantly, the hearts around her name, at the top.