I Will Always Have A Minute For You [Ereloy]

// 8 //

The two race out of the cauldron as it crumbles, barely making it out. They ride on one of the boxes that are airborne to the entrance, Aloy almost completely losing her grip. Thanks to Aratak, though, she was able to get back on and make it out safely... Scarred, maybe, but they were physically okay. They roll down the snowy mountain outside of the cauldron, and for a while they're knocked out. It wasn't for too long, but the fall definitely would've done that. Both of them stiff, they slowly stand up and look toward the mountain. At first, Aloy's main focus wasn't the sun that was still shadowy, but to make sure Aratak's okay.

"Ourea is gone. But what of CYAN?"

Aloy, catching her breath, responds, "She said she was transferring herself to the "auxiliary center"... I think she meant Ourea's retreat, at the end of the Shaman's Path." She turns around to face that direction, and Aratak follows.

"Then I will meet you there..." He walks forward a little. "...For this last verse of my sister's song." And with that, Aratak gets sent off with a pat on the shoulder from Aloy. She, too, was having a hard time collecting herself after that wild ride. She stands still a moment more, remembering the weird shadow in front of the sun. It moved! And not the sun, but the shadow!

She watches it, noticing the shadow was still moving - so it definitely was something blocking the sun. It still wasn't easy to make out, but it was definitely just a large machine. What machine would be able to block the sun from out here?

She starts her hike to Ourea's retreat, wondering what machine - other than a Tallneck - would be able to block parts of the sun. Remembering that her surroundings are very mountainous, it could've very well been just about anything, but with these mountains so snow-covered and hard to climb, it had to have been one of the birds - either the Stormbird or the Glinthawk. She'd have to spend a while analyzing her suspect shadow to really figure it out - her Focus wouldn't be able to pick it up from such a large distance. She continues from Thunder's Drum to Ourea's retreat, which is basically halfway across the Cut. If she could find a non-daemonic Charger, then she would be able to override it and cut her trip time in half. Well, we'll have to see. She continues forward to Ourea's retreat.

Aloy basically took her time getting to Ourea's retreat. The area she was in was very cold, but that didn't stop her from stopping every now and then just to catch her breath. The snow was deep, which made it harder to travel through the Banuk's homeland. Now she really wanted to find a Charger - it was getting harder to walk through the snow. The farther she went, the deeper it got... or so she felt. It may not be that way, but it sure felt like it. She passes a control tower that's surrounded by two Bellowbacks. She would quickly take the pair of machines, along with the tower, down before continuing. Piece of cake for her!

She turns herself back toward the shadowy sun, taking a look at it again. Still not visible enough. Guess she'll have to wait until she reaches Ourea's retreat... that'll be the highest point she could check out the shadow. Plus, the sun would be right in her direction... or at least, it should be.... Right? Upon approaching a yellow and blue (strangely colorful) body of water, she notices a herd of Chargers. Perfect! She crouches into a patch of tall grass, hiding and waiting for one of them to turn their backside toward her. This was the hardest part. Waiting. After a few moments, one turns to another spot, facing away from Aloy. She takes this moment to sneak up and override the machine, now hopping up onto its back. Yah!

She and her new Charger friend take off past the strange-colored pond, and then past a second one. Actually, two more: one one each side of the path. She speeds through a Trampler site, just trying to get to her destination. From the looks of things, she'd have to take off from the path, and climb up a mountain for a quicker route. It wouldn't be difficult to get there, but climbing the mountain could possibly be, depending on the amount of ledges it had. Obviously, though, she had the upper body strength to make it ten times easier.