ATLA - Horizon Zero Dawn Fanfiction

Guess who's back

"And why exactly, may I ask, would her brother want to kill me ?", Camilla asked, with that raspy voice of hers. 

"We don't really know. He's ... weird. We can't understand his thoughts. He almost killed us too. He said you almost killed him and wanted revenge I guess", Aloy explained, helping the Falling Woman up the rocks. 

Kïma was ahead of them, scanning their surroundings and making sure they would not stumble upon a hunting group, guards or, worse, Shaw himself. They had found a path, hidden between rocks that not even the Sun could reach. 
A faint stream of water could be heard against the walls but they could not see it. They just kept stumbling on wet rocks covered with moss, forcing themselves to hold their breath to keep the awful smell of mold at bay. Here and there, several rusting carcasses were resting, unfortunate machines unable to find their way up the old walls. 
Aloy could see Camilla's focus flicker every time they found one. She would kneel and examine the body until the Nora had to remind her that they should get moving. 

Aloy was used to being on the run. She was perfectly aware that staying around Camilla's ship like the Old One wanted to was not a bright idea. She had had to convince her to seal her ship and to come with them so they could hide her and think about what to do now. The scientist had begged her to carry some of her gear with them but the Seekers had to refuse, it would just be more of a dead weight.
They were surprised that, even after a near-death experience, Camilla still wanted to take her time and hang around her ship. Besides a slight change in her tone of voice, now more raspy and dry, it was hard to tell she was on the brink of death an hour ago. Her vitals looked better than ever, enhanced by the wonder of technology the Old Ones had managed to create.

"Trust me, it's been quite a long time since I last came down here. I was in the Odyssey for centuries before he was born, I don't even know him. But why would he want to kill you ?"

"I figured out. We... Don't really know. I told you, he's weird. He did not even flinch when Kïma, who is, let's not forget, his own sister, traveled all the way from America to meet him. And then he sent us on a suicide mission. He just seems to love chaos", Aloy shrugged. 

"Tell me about it, I had a similar dickhead, up there... Guess there will always be someone to piss me off, no matter where I go..."

"Let me guess. Sven Larsen ?"

Camilla squinted her eyes, biting the inside of her cheeks and examining Aloy :

"You really know more than I think you would. I wonder if ... you even know what happened up there ?"

Aloy furrowed her brows. The way she was waiting for a reply without taking a breath gave away her anxiety, only triggering Aloy's curiosity. Crossing her arms, ready to listen, she admitted : 

"No, not really. We know about freezing beds, we know about you not wanting to go with the Odyssey... But about what happened in the ship, we have no idea. What are you talking about ?"

She could not help but notice the faint sigh of relief before a smile stretched her lips. She chuckled, gesturing her hand as to blur the conversation : 

"Nothing, it's no big deal. I'll maybe tell you about it later, once we'll be safe and all."

Before Aloy could insist, the Old One got away from her with big strides, using the... uh, that thing on her back to jump above a rock wall and join Kïma on the other side.
Aloy sighed, burying her fingertips between two moss pieces. A new mystery to uncover, as if they were not busy already...

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

"The thing is, I don't know where to go ! We don't know the lands and if we stay out in the open, I just know that we're going to get caught by Umarans before the evening !", Kïma hissed, pulling her own hair.