I Will Always Have A Minute For You [Ereloy]

// 7 //

She continues on her journey to the cold zone of Ban-Ur, taking down Machines that notice her. As the night goes on, she continues to notice the shadow that was covering the moon get larger and larger. "What is that...?" She questions to herself, hoping a wandering passerby wouldn't hear. It wasn't just clouds; it was too dark and ominous of a shadow for that. She's surprised no one else has noticed this strange anomaly yet? It's never happened before. Aloy continues to ponder this, wondering if she's actually crazy or if everyone else could see this too. No one would be out and about right now other than her. Again, she puts it off to the side, hustling through her tribe's home area, the Embrace. Not much farther to go - now the real question is, would that shadow still be there in the day? Or is it just a nightly thing? All these questions would need to be answered... Whether she figured it out, or if someone else knew. She wasn't a small, curious child anymore, but there are always new things about the world that need to be answered. She'd sigh as she approaches Mother's Crown to just relax for a while. Being a Nora Seeker meant that she can pass through easily from settlement to settlement, but also still return to her home whenever she wanted or found something of interest without being shunned yet again by her tribe. This time to settle down for at least the night would also allow her to see what was happening... if this was anything to be worked up over, she would see everyone in panic around the settlement. Has she never seen whatever this was before? Or was no one paying attention? I guess it didn't matter. Aloy sat by the campfire there the rest of the night, pondering what was happening.

The morning came and everything seemed well. Everyone was around and doing things, and none of them seemed freaked out over the shadow she saw. Okay then... She stood from the campfire, stretching, then exiting Mother's Crown to head back on her journey to Ban-Ur. The sun was out, shining down on the area, no shadow to be seen. So was that... normal?

She decides that she should grab herself a Strider to make this trip faster, and thankfully, around here, there were Striders aplenty. She uses her Focus constantly, looking for the silhouette of one. Eventually, approaching a site full of Striders, she finds one with its back to her. She would crouch down, slowly approaching it; when she got close enough, she'd use the override tool on her spear to override the Strider. During this, it became friendly and allowed her to use it as a mount. She'd hop up onto the horse-shaped machine's back, bringing it to full speed to race through the rest of the Striders in the site, a set of two Bellowbacks (to her surprise, she managed to get through unscathed), and another Strider site. She'd slow the Strider down as she turns herself towards the cold.. We're almost to the extreme cold of the unforgiving north, she tells herself. You've done this before, but brace yourself for it - you'll be in it a while. She stops a moment to throw on her Chieftain outfit, then continuing her hike toward Longnotch. After a little while, she passes by the Grave-Hoard, and she knows she's approaching Song's Edge soon. She approaches the area right outside, and this is where she has to climb up the mountain and continue her journey on foot. That was the only way into Song's Edge. She'd hoist herself up onto a ledge, continuing to each one she could find up to the top of the mountain. Once to the top, she looks around, now noticing a familiarly-shaped shadow in front of the sun. Huh?

She seemed to recognize what the shadow was, but she couldn't put a word on it. Flighted machine, maybe? She wouldn't know, but it was still kind of weird. She looks away from the strangely shadow-covered sun, now passing through Song's Edge to get to Longnotch. There wasn't really any way around the machines, so she'd have to cut through them - daemonic or not - to get there. She'd try her best to avoid them, but she would probably have to take quite a lot of them down, considering the amount of Control Towers she'd already overridden. No worries, though, as she was always prepared for that. She'd sneak around a Broadhead or two, using her override tool once more to use one of them as a mount. Easy! Nearby was a patch of Bluegleam, and she'd snatch one or two of those before continuing. She looks toward the sun again, wondering if the shadow on it had moved. Nope, still the same.

She continues on her way, blowing by a Shell-Walker convoy and a couple of Scorchers on the back of the Broadhead. She had been able to keep her distance from both of those machines, especially since they're more likely to be daemonic around here - which is even worse than the corrupted ones. At this point, however, she was very close to Longnotch, and would be marching her way through what they called Thunder's Drum. Stopping only a second to dismount the Broadhead, she would approach Longnotch, talking to Ourea and Aratak to give a runthrough of what they were to do both before entering and once inside. She was the Werak Chieftain (for now), so they both had to listen to what Aloy had to say. But before they went in, she had to ask: "What... is going on over there?" She points to the shadowy sun, seeing if they, too, had the same question.

Aratak turns toward the sun, too, and then looks at Aloy. "I wouldn't worry about it too much, okay? Keep your focus on the task at hand."

"...Right. Good idea, Aratak. Why didn't I think of that?"

After this, Aloy turns to Ourea. "Aloy. This is it - my chance to reunite with the Spirit. And perhaps, to reunite her with the Blue Light. It's not a chance I would've had, alone. I needed an outsider... someone ignorant of our ways, but... No - not ignorant, I -"

Aloy cuts her off. "Are you trying to thank me, Ourea?"

"Yes, of course. That's what you do - untangle knots, create possibilities. Thank you for making this pilgrimage possible. I only wish it had not been necessary to humiliate Aratak. You were wise to let him come - he's earned the right. Stubborn as stone, but he's had to be. The war demanded it. And so have I."

"It hasn't been easy for you, Ourea - getting back to this point."
"It was all to hear her voice again." Ourea pauses. "This time, we both will." She sighs. "Are you ready, then? Once we ascend, it will be hard to turn back."

Aloy nods and Ourea begins to burn a small triangle in the ice. "Finally, we ascend."

"How? I don't see a way up." Aloy questions.

"Not up. Through." Aratak answers.

"Now, brother." Ourea commands, and the Werak begins to throw spears to burst through the ice covering the building. The ritual of smoke starts, and the door to the cauldron bursts open as an avalanche occurs. A voice begins to speak, saying to take cover. "Come. The spirit awaits."

"That's not all that awaits."

"So you see - I, too, can call upon the power of the Old Ones."

And so then, the three of them enter the battery facility of the cauldron. Aloy would be the one to guide Ourea and Aratak through the weavings. It's a long one to get through, and it definitely wouldn't be a quick trip. Many machines, daemonic and not, would be there to try to defeat the three. The cauldron's wiring was pink rather than the normal blue, which gave a different atmosphere to the place. It was pink because of the daemon who took over, and although the daemon seemed scary, Aloy doubted it was a real thing and that it was truly only a voice.

Many weaves and climbs later, the group reaches the very end of the cauldron. There, you could see a control tower that was the source of all the energy. This area was the core. But before Aloy could get around to overriding the core, the three are met by a Daemonic Fireclaw. Aratak and Ourea work together to take down the daemonic machine while Aloy goes to override another control tower that was summoned upon the appearance of the Fireclaw. Aloy was successful in overriding the tower, so the Fireclaw could no longer regain its health and could be taken down a heck of a lot easier. The three manage to take down the bear-like machine, and Aloy tries to override the cauldron core once more, but it was unsuccessful. An electric shock was sent through her body, and she was knocked back from the core's override point. Ourea, impatient yet determined to save the Spirit now known to be CYAN, grabs a hold of Aloy's spear and manages to complete the override; but not without having a surge of power be sent through her, too. She gets knocked back, her head crashing against the floor. Ourea had freed CYAN from HEPHAESTUS, but it cost her her life. Aratak races toward Ourea, worrying for his sister. With CYAN now in control of the cauldron, it began to self-destruct. The building begins to crumble above them.

"This entire place is going to go!" Aloy shouts, a bit worried if they'll make it out. "Aratak! Aratak!" She calls for his attention. Without receiving an answer, she gets closer to him. "Aratak... Survive. Prevail. You are Banuk. What else matters?" She pauses as Aratak picks up something off Ourea. "Aratak... she would never have wanted you to die here."
Another piece of the building falls as Aratak looks over at Aloy. "Let's go." They both stand up. "Let's go!"