#ᚨ . ― Aloy . : . Horizon Zero Dawn

[warmaiidens]

Devil's Thirst was one of the first large Ruins Aloy had ever had a chance to visit. While heading toward Meridian, she stumbled upon this world of old as she wandered along the dirt paths. The Strider moved next to her as she looked at the old towering buildings, most likely once impressive structures; now they stood like trees of stone.

Aloy's head tilted as she steps around to look at something impressive though. A set of statues, and she took a moment to look at her strider and back to them. "You look a lot like those animals, Star," Aloy said, as she pressed her focus. The data point registered with her focus as a series of information popped up. "Pikes Peak Range Memorial Statue," Aloy scrolled through the information and even saw some pictures of what the statues once looked like. These were called Range Riders, depicting men back in 1949. From the data she had learned, it was the year 3040 now, which meant that this was nearly eleven hundred years ago. "They were trying to preserve the history of their past, and to think it's still here now," Aloy said, saving all the data and turning off her focus.

As she was walking around the statue though, something caught her eye. It looked like a man sleeping, his messy brown hair as she reached over and shook his shoulder. "Hey, you need to wake up," Aloy said, as this wasn't the safest place for him to rest after she had taken out a few robots just a few feet back. However, there was something… off about him. "Come on," / @innerwar

[warmaiidensmovingagain]

Tag 004.

ᚨ . ― Aloy . : . Horizon Zero Dawn ᚨ . ― Aloy . : . Horizon Forbidden West ᚨ . ― Aloy . : . Mass Effect 2 ᚨ . ― Aloy . : . Mass Effect 3 ᚨ . ― Aloy . : . Mass Effect Companion ᚨ . ― Aloy . : . Dragon Age ᚨ . ― Aloy . : . God of War ᚨ . ― Aloy . : . Assassin's Creed Odyssey ᚨ . ― Aloy . : . Assassin's Creed Valhalla

[warmaiidens]

Heavy breaths left the nora's lips as she looked over toward the crawl space. A brief red flash came from it, but being in the cover the machine continued, looking throughout the area. Aloy dropped back and leaned against the wall. It wasn't big enough to stand in, but at least she could sit up straight this way. There was nothing to do but look at the woman she had just helped.

"I'm glad to help," Aloy said, as she put her spear over her lap and her bow against the wall. Her question about the machines wasn't missed, it sounded as if she had never seen one before which was odd in itself as they were everywhere. "Aloy," she responded as she looked over toward the hole and heard the growl of the sawtooth. "Once they move on, I can get you back to whatever village or town you live in if you need the help,"

     Serah did her best to keep up with the pace, though it was clear that the other woman was the better runner, with more stamina – but it wasn’t often that Serah had to make a run like this, sprinting ahead for her life, but the dangers lurking in this place seemed far more threatening (and higher in number) than most monsters she and Noel had encountered on their journey so far. It only made sense for the inhabitants here to be trained and skilled, knowing when to fight, and when to run, like now – breathing heavily, legs tingling and her feet burning, Serah tightly held onto her bow as the almost deafening sound of the horde behind them became louder, the ground trembling beneath her steps. She let out a yelp as she pushed ahead and down to her knees – crawling into tight spaces wasn’t something she was used to either, but she faced it head-on, to survive, to learn.

     Catching her breath as she tried to settle into a more comfortable, seated position, Serah looked around, though there wasn’t a whole lot to look at it in this small space, until the other woman activated a small device sitting near her temple – something that reminded her of the tech on Cocoon and Academia, though the woman’s outfit initially reminded her of something more tribal looking, kind of like Noel’s clothes, but different. Perhaps in this place, it was a mix of both? Either way, now that Serah was settled and no longer out of breath, she figured it was time to talk.

          “So, uh… thank you. I wouldn’t have known where to go or hide from those… machines? Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, even in a situation like this.” She gave a gentle, but slightly exhausted smile. “Oh! My name is Serah. What’s yours? If… I may ask?”

[warmaiidens]

here

[warmaiidens]

“ someone’s been touched by the grace of apollo. damn girl. your hair is like a volcano of awesome.” - thalia

Aloy froze at the compliment. How in the world did she even respond to such a sentence. Her fingers brushed up against the braids over her shoulder, the bright red hue of her hair glowing in the sunlight as she passed over a few shards for some food from Meridian's market.

"I um…. thank you?" Aloy spoke though it was clear she was no use to such compliments or mentions of something nice to her in general. Savage, barbarian, outlander, but…graced and awesome? Yeah, those words were not something she was use to hearing as she held her food in hand and moved to sit down to enjoy the food.

[warmaiidens]

TAGS 005

aloy horizon zero dawn . ― . ᚨ aloy horizon forbidden west . ― . ᚨ aloy mass effect 2 . ― . ᚨ aloy mass effect 3 . ― . ᚨ aloy mass effect companion . ― . ᚨ aloy dragon age . ― . ᚨ aloy assassin’s creed odyssey . ― . ᚨ aloy assassin’s creed valhalla . ― . ᚨ aloy the last of us . ― . ᚨ

[warmaiidens]

Aloy tilted her head, intrigued by this. The old ones truly had marvels, to create something so human-like. Though she wondered if he had his autonomy; could he feel, could he see as she does? Not just that, but he would have information about the old world, things that she could not find or know of. It was an immense discovery, even greater than finding her focus. And to think that Nora would not enter these lands out of mysticism and belief of a curse. "So you are from the old world, during the time of the old ones," Aloy said, as she watched the human action.

"Chariot… war machines," Aloy was still learning, there was much of what was happening she didn't understand but she was determined to figure it out. The old machines, ones they called corruptors. perhaps that is part of it. They did not look like any machines she was raised around. "I don't know how either, but it was her when I was born. Grass, foxes running around, everything is still very much alive," Aloy twisted her spear and placed it on her back as she tilted her head.

"If you wish, you can travel with me until we get to a town that you want to stay in. I'm not sure how the machines will react to someone like you," Friend or foe? Not that Aloy wanted to test it out, machine or not; he was alive and speaking and that meant he had life in him. just like the other machines.

cauldrons? the android wasn't sure what she was referring to. then again, he had to be excused on that, considering he hadn't been active for almost a whole millenia. the amount of information he must have missed as time passed by must be immense.

he nodded when she mused that she must've turned him on. ❛❛ you did. ❜❜ she then stood up, and he decided to do the same. he had a lot of questions. the last time he was active, there had been a mass extinction. not a single human, or even animal alive that he could tell. plants too had been used for fuel for the swarm of machines. how it was even possible that life had picked back up again, he didn't know, unaware of project zero dawn.

but before he could ask, she took the word from him by asking a question of her own. ❛❛ you could say that. i haven't been active in 973 years and 58 days, ❜❜ he explained, a hand moving up to scratch the back of his head — not because it itched, simply one of many gestures he'd been coded with to appear more human-like.

❛❛ when i shut down, the earth had been overtaken by the chariot war machines. there was no signs of life anywhere. i didn't think i would see any plants, let alone people anywhere ever again. that's why i shut down. ❜❜

[warmaiidens]

Aloy's instinct nearly came with grabbing her weapon and jumping backward at the sudden shift of the person. What sprung to life was not what she thought, as her focus registered not a living being with a heartbeat, but something else. Android, the focus stated. It was not a word she had ever read before, in fact, she didn't even know how to pronounce it, but it registered as many of the machines did. Perhaps an Android was a type of machine, looking quite organic in composition but not underneath his skin.

Her fingers were still on her spear but something in his voice did not sound dangerous. Then he asked how he could be of assistance and it threw her for a loop. "Your not created by the cauldrons," Aloy said, as she looked him over. No, she had seen machines crafted by those underground machine shapers, he wasn't like that. "Ryen Grey," A very peculiar name indeed.

"I don't need anything, it was you who needed help. I guess, I activated you in some way, I turned you on," Aloy said, trying to process what he was. She looked up toward him, as she straighten to stand back up and waved her hand toward him. "Are you from the old world?" Aloy questioned, opening up for him to try and ask questions.

when he had shut his own system down, it had been the year 2067. the chance of finding any surviving organisms had been practically nil. all life-forms on earth had been extinct for three years. even if he did find some life form, on his own, there would be nothing he could do to reverse the damage the chariots had caused.

973 years had passed since then. his synthetic hair and clothes, while made to be more durable than that of humans, were naturally worn both from time as well as changes in weather as his body had simply rested against the statue all this time.

as his system was turned back on, he stirred, pale blue eyes fluttering open to a human face in front of him. the last thing saved in his memory was a barren land, void of any life. so to say he was surprised was an understatement. through the bright daylight it was more difficult to see, but his eyes pulsed with a faint blue light as his system loaded in information. it was the year 3040. month: june. day: 15. time: 2.49pm. it had been exactly 973 years, 58 days, 3 hours and twelve seconds since he was last awake. he was still by the pikes peak range riders memorial statue. and all around him, there was flora growing. all this, and more, he took in all in a couple of seconds after opening his eyes. his focus quickly returned to the person who had awoken him.

her attire looked almost... primal. with the exception of a few machine parts that appeared to be worn for protective reasons.

❛❛ ryen grey, at yer service. ❜❜ he introduced himself with a small nod as he pushed himself up a little more straight. at least his parts all still seemed to work. ❛❛ how can i assist? ❜❜ he asked, figuring she had turned him on because she needed something. he had so many questions, but... his first job was to help others. his own curiosity came second.