#also a first time drawing Erend’s from memory

[nerd-artist]

Which cutscene are you more excited to see in Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered?

Me:

I can’t wait to see what they did with the new mo-cap 👀

[somewhataveragefangirl]

Okay so the thing that was making me too busy to write or draw has ended! I'm editing my Aloy x Erend one-shot again! Because of that! here's a sneak peak to my first draft of the flashback of Erend’s marriage proposal to Aloy!

Erend proposes to Aloy!

Author's Note: This takes place at least 3 years after HZD, whatever events of HFW have already taken place, and Aloy now lives mostly in Meridian. Erend has a focus now as we saw he had one in the first HFW trailer.

ALSO this is literally from my barely edited first draft! There will be grammar errors! And still contains some [Insert stuff here] notes!

The final draft will definitely look and read differently! Please understand this does not reflect on my final draft writing quality!

This is also my first big Tumblr post with a fic so if it's formatted weird please forgive me (^▽^;)

And now without further ado!

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Aloy thought back to Erend’s proposal. 

Talanah had dragged her out of town for a Lodge Hunt, which ended with Aloy drenched in blaze. Instead of just rinsing off in a nearby lake, Talanah had insisted they visit a local bathhouse.

 As repayment for her getting drenched, Talanah had helped Aloy re-plait her braids and even gifted her some Carja Silks to wear home as her armor was still drenched and in desperate need of repair. Aloy had fought it every step of the way, but in the end, she was glad she had gone along with Talanah’s plan.

She returned to her house later than she wished, the sun already beginning to set beyond the Forbidden West. On approach to her home, she noticed the door open a crack, which was unusual as Erend had made her an Oseram lock. She activated her Focus, expecting an intruder, instead, it was just Erend, which wasn’t uncommon these days as they spent most of their evenings together, the uncommon part was his pacing. 

She pinged his Focus and she watched as his form whipped around to her direction as he received her signal with his Focus.

The first thing she noticed as she entered her apartment was that he had pulled her meal table away from the wall to the center of the room, and on it sat all of Aloy’s favorite Carja and Oseram foods as well as a few traditional Nora foods, where he had gotten those she had no idea.

“Aloy!”, he said on seeing her, his face lighting up into a huge grin. He was missing his traditional armor and was instead in just his Vanguard tunic and trousers. “You’re back! I was wondering if Talanah would ever bring you all back.” He laughed nervously, lifting his arm and rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “Well, now that you’re here, would you like to have dinner together?”

They’d spent the evening eating and talking. She learned that he had been the one to make the traditional Nora food. He told her that now that the Nora were free to leave their Sacred land and return as they wished, some had been visiting Meridian to visit the memorial. Erend told her of how he had noticed them on his rounds. When he mentioned to a few that he had wanted to surprise her with some traditional food, many had volunteered to help him please their Anointed. 

She had grimaced at the mention of her Nora title, and Erend had noticed, she was grateful when he stood and pulled her out of her thoughts and seat to take a walk around the city. As they walked they reminisced of their many adventures. They spoke of their travels to the ruins of the Metal World, their journey out to the Cut as well as the Forbidden West, and the final defeat of Hades and Silens. As well as Aloy’s continuous work at Gaia Prime. Erend also spoke fondly of their more calm adventures, the times they had traveled out to a Vantage point simply to watch the sunset or stayed in Free Heap to get away from the busyness of Meridian. 

As they were laughing at the memory of the first time Erend had ridden a strider, Erend had stopped to admire the view, he put his hands on the railing, staring out into the distance, still smiling but distractedly. Aloy realized they were on the middle of the bridge to the Palace; she hadn’t even noticed as this was a common path they took whenever she joined Erend on his rounds of the city. Out in the West, the final rays of sunlight could no longer be seen peeking from behind the mountains, above them, the moon was already high in the sky, its full-faced light shining down on them. 

“Aloy, we’ve had so many fun times together, I know I’ve definitely gotten my two minutes”, he said referencing her words after they had fought Dervahl, “and while I don’t know Nora customs all too well, this isn’t really Oseram traditional either, I was hoping it would be alright if I ask for more of your time” before she could ask what he meant, he held her hands in his and continued, “These last few years together have been amazing! Sure, we’ve both had our fair share of struggles, both ups, and downs, but it’s been us, side-by-side against whatever the world has thrown at us, and I was hoping that it could always be this way. If I’ve learned anything from our time together, I know it’s you I want to spend my life with. So,” he got down on one knee, leaving Aloy speechless, “Aloy Rostdaughter, will you do me the greatest honor and be my wife?”

[They kiss]

[saberswann]

Vanguard

Ereloy fic, I’ll probably continue writing this through Erend’s personal quest, and through the main quest-line that he’s involved in. I have plans to continue it post-canon as well, so we shall see how that turns out. Also, I have this posted and will continue to update it on Ao3, here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/10362906/chapters/22895724

The pinkish light of the dawn sun warmed Aloy's face as she crested the dune on her way to meet Erend. She lifted her hand to her forehead to shield her eyes and spotted Erend in the distance, standing with a shrub between him and a pack of grazers. Suddenly, a watcher walked around the bush and screeched angrily at the sight of the large man, alerting the pack and other watchers. Aloy immediately started running down the dune, her feet starting to slip through the loose sand under her boots. Drawing her bow she slid down the rest of the dune and trained an arrow at the second watcher's mechanical red eye. It toppled with a zap of energy and the nearby grazers yanked their heads from the sparse grass, snapping their attention to the red-haired woman.

  She leapt up at the base of the dune and leveled an arrow at the back of the closest grazer, aiming to knock off several of the blaze canisters protruding above its spine. Erend had killed the other watcher this point, and when the blaze canisters fell with a clink, the rest of the grazers bolted across the road and away from the two warriors. Aloy retrieved her prize from the grazers and started rooting through the watcher she'd killed, unaware of Erend's impressed gaze. He'd never get used to the ease with which she killed machines, he thought. She was always so calm, so collected, even when sliding down the face of a giant dune. He wasn't wrong when he met her, he thought, when he told her that Ersa would like her. Ersa and her were similar, he thought, in their bluntness and their unshakable confidence. A strong sadness bloomed in his heart at the thought of Ersa, a now-familiar feeling since she'd been gone. A simmering anger also flared with the sadness, at the state of Ersa's body when they brought her back to Meridian, at the people who would do such a thing to his big sister. He could feel Aloy's stare on his face while he was thinking, and pulled his face into a more neutral expression as he turned to face her.   "Why are you out here all alone Erend? Where are your men?" Aloy's expression was as neutral as normal, but Erend felt a tingle down his spine at the thought of her possible concern.

   "I'm not going to risk their lives. I don't mind putting my worthless life on the line. But not theirs. Sorry I had to drag you into this." Something tugged sharply in Aloy's chest at his self-hatred, and she fought the concerned expression that threatened to show itself, she knew Erend wouldn't want her pity. So instead, she deflected the conversation, shrugging off his apology to make sure he knew it wasn't an imposition on her.

   They followed the tracks to where Ersa's team was ambushed, Aloy moving slowly with her hand to her focus the whole time. Her concentration was palpable, and they took nearly all morning examining the site, walking back and forth across the site, looking across the river, and up the path. Eventually, Aloy found tracks that looked as if someone had dragged a body to the site, and followed the tracks to the base of a mesa. They made their way up to the top, before being ambushed by a team of rogue Oseram. Aloy was injured in the battle, an arrow piercing her armor in her shoulder, impairing her aim with her bow. Erend rushed over after he killed the last ambusher, just in time to see her rip the arrow from her shoulder and throw it angrily on the ground. He opened his mouth to offer her help but she'd already begun wrapping her shoulder with bandages from her pack.    "Are- are you all right? I don't know why Oseram would attack us, they're my people..." Aloy was having difficulty with the bandage and after struggling for a moment, accepted Erend's offer of help. His large hands were surprisingly gentle as he finished wrapping the bandage around her shoulder and tied it securely. His bright eyes scanned over her shoulder, making sure of his handiwork, a hand still gently resting next to the wound, careful not to harm her. He met her eyes after a few moments and suddenly realized how close they were, clearing this throat awkwardly and rubbing the back of his neck as he stepped back.    Aloy felt an unknown tension release from her shoulders as he stepped back, and turned away quickly to start examining the scene of the ambush. Her focus identified things that the normal person wouldn't see, and she quickly put together that something unusual happened to Erend's big sister. She explained and choose her words carefully, knowing that his psyche was in a precarious state, watching the realization dawn on his face as she laid out the attack. Erend felt hope spread its wings and take flight in his chest- his sister could be alive! He quickly put together who the likely culprit was- Dervahl. His fists clenched at his sides at the memory of the man making advances at his sister, and his anger at her denial, his vow of revenge when they joined Avad.    "It's Dervahl. That bastard! We have to tell Avad, he'll know how to track that fiend down. Thank you Aloy, so much, I'm going to head back to Meridian immediately and tell Avad the news. Will you accompany me back?" He added the last bit without thinking, a slight blush creeping into his cheeks at what she might think of the request.    Aloy, of course, didn't think anything of the request, thinking he just wanted to expedite the investigation to find his sister, and agreed. She suggested finding mounts for them to speed the return journey, and returned a couple hours later with two broadheads, not noticing the awed and admiring look on his face. He watched her ride back into their makeshift camp, the sun behind her shoulders, making it look as if she glowed from within. Not for the first time, he was amazed at how beautiful this woman was, how she didn't already have lines of suitors marching behind her. Her hair was glowing as if it was on fire, her light green eyes glinting with confidence, and Erend thought he'd never seen anything more beautiful.    The next hour was a struggle for Aloy, attempting not to chuckle when Erend fell off his broadhead not once, but three times, his uncertainty showing in the lines on his forehead. Aloy smiled as Erend finally found confidence in riding his broadhead and raced off ahead of her, throwing an excited grin back in her direction. Aloy finally let herself laugh out loud, and raced after him into the setting sun, back toward Meridian.

   Sun-King Avad wasn't nearly as radiant as he'd been described to Aloy, but that was a good thing. He seemed to be a reasonable man, never once looking down at her for being a 'Nora savage'. She decided that she liked him, and that his help would be invaluable to her and Erend's hunt for his sister. His second, Blameless Marad was an odd man, not only due to his title. He was reserved in a way that no Nora was, and had a sort of quiet authority that Aloy felt it would be wise to respect.    Erend watched from afar as Aloy spoke to Avad once more, anxiously awaiting the end of their talk. He wanted to make good on a couple of the offers he'd made while in the Nora lands, to show Aloy around Meridian, and to trade stories over a drink. He thought back to that day, how cocky he'd been... Stupid, he thought, trying to hit on a girl from another tribe. And then, she'd been dead, he was sure of it. He'd seen the explosion on the mountain as they were leaving the embrace, and the panicked faces of Nora tribesman rushing past them. He'd heard how most of the Nora made it off that mountain because of the "outcast", and how she hadn't been seen yet, then- boom. He assumed that day that he'd never see her again, that she'd died in the explosion or from the attackers- how wrong he was. How much he'd underestimated this woman - she was a force of nature, an avalanche on a cliffside, decimating every obstacle in her way, and doing so amazingly unscathed. Indeed, the only evidence he'd seen that she nearly died that day was a thin scar across her throat - from what, he did not know.    She emerged from the meeting room with Avad, and Erend nodded to them both respectfully, before trailing after Aloy. She stopped at one of the balconies overlooking Meridian and the great tiered plots of crops below the mesa.    "Beautiful, isn't it?," Erend leaned into the balcony next to her, gesturing across the city with a small smirk on his face. Aloy smiled and leaned over the railing next to him, but did not reply.    "If you'd like, I can give you a personal tour of the city - I did offer at the proving, but that feels so long ago now, I figured I'd repeat the offer." Erend looked over at her and smirked, attempting to commit her to memory. The way her green eyes sparkled in the midday sun, scattered freckles that covered her nose and cheeks, the way the corner of her mouth curved in what was almost a smirk but not quite.    "All right, since it seems I'll be visiting here more often than I thought, I'll take you up on that offer Erend," Aloy turned to him and actually smiled this time, and Erend felt his heart clench at the sight of it. He decided, then, that he would like to see that smile more often.