Heart Like a Machine

Chapter 43

I opened my eyes to see I was inside a lodging. I think it was the hunter's lodge since I knew it was the closest to the center of the tribe where we were. I slowly got up, but fell back down. There was bandages covering my chest and my left shoulder. My top was resting on a chair beside me and my boar cloak was covering my chest. I looked around, trying to find someone. My mom was sitting next to me in a chair, but she was asleep. I turned to see Aloy was resting on the bed next to me. My stirring caused Aloy to get up. She got up and sat beside me.

"Hey, you shouldn't get up just yet."

"I can tell," I said and pointed to the bandages on my shoulder. "Where else did he hit me?"

"Right above the heart."

"What?!" I yelled, waking my mom. 

"Yeah," she said and tapped her Focus.

"Do it. You won't, outcast," he sneered.

"You've given me every reason to give you more than just an arrow to the head."

"Then why are you hesitating? I can end you right here, right now."

"Then do it," Aloy said.

It showed me getting up to get in front of Aloy. The arrow lodged right above the heart and I fell onto the ground. The herbalists immediately came to my aid and that was when I watched Aloy shoot an arrow right in between my dad's eyes. Blood seeped out from the puncture wound and he fell onto the ground. Aloy looked down at him and sighed. 

"I didn't want it to be this way."

"H-He's dead."

"He's not going to hurt us anymore, Y/N. He has threatened my life ever since I met him. It was a good enough reason to fight back, but not strong enough. When I saw what he did, without hesitation and he didn't have a look of regret on his face, I knew it was time for him to go. As your dad, as your guardian, he put you in danger."

"You did the right thing, Aloy. I was just afraid that one of these days, he would have gotten you. I didn't believe he would get me."

"You're safe now."

"We're safe now," I said and pulled her into a light hug.

She nodded her head and tightened her grip around me, "We're safe."

I pulled away and looked at her, "What is the tribe going to do?"

"Sona is rallying a group of people. We're going to head back to the base and get the necessary preparations started. But first, we need to come up with a plan on how to stop Nemesis. Your idea might work, but we need to go bigger and beyond than just here."

I nodded my head.

"It seems like we can't fight it. I mean, we could, but it's like HADES: an entity, AI almost. We'll get there when we get there. Right now, you rest before we head back to the base. I don't want you getting hurt on the way back to the base."

"That's probably a good idea. What are they going to do with my dad's corpse?"

"They're going to bury him near the outskirts of the tribe. With how he treated you, he doesn't deserve anything better than that."

"Not just me, but you and my mom. Maybe some of the other tribe members suffered his foul mouth."

"Maybe so," Aloy said. "But it was the Matriarchs decision to bury him where they're burying him. He's not even getting a burial ceremoney."

"He doesn't deserve it," I sighed, slowly sitting up. 

"Get your rest, Y/N. Once you're ready to go, I will go out and override some Chargers or Striders for you. Afterwards, we can head back to the base. But not until you're in top condition."

"That's going to take a while."

"Alright," she chuckled. "Maybe when you're not struggling to get up. We don't want you to open up those stitches when you're riding back to the West."

"I'm surprised my stomach wounds haven't been giving me issues."

"Stomach issues?" my mom asked.

We both looked over at her and we both nervously chuckled.

"I-It's a long story," I said.

"We have time," my mom said as she gestured to the lodge. "What's going on with your stomach? I wasn't in here when Aloy came in to help the herbilist."

"I was stabbed three times in my stomach. And there are three big scars to prove it."

"By who?"

"A Zenith known as Erik Visser and another Zenith known as Tilda. Both of which are dead now since the Zeniths are all wiped out," Aloy said. "But Y/N, she did it to save not only my life, but to save my sister's life."

"Sister?" my mom asked.

Aloy tapped her Focus and an image of Beta came up.

"This is Beta. We're genetic sisters. The Zeniths made her like how I was made. Y/N did her best to protect her at a Cauldron in the West. That's how she got the two scars. The one was when she was helping me fight Tilda at the Zenith base. She took a big hit for me, but," Aloy reached underneath her armor and pulled out her half of the Thunderjaw tooth. "Her necklace she had let me wear helped protect me from getting hurt. Even though she was unable to protect me from Tilda, she was there in everyway I knew."

I smiled over at her and she looked at me, meeting my eyes. She smiled back and a small blush appeared on her face. It was a bit hard to tell since her cheeks were naturally red. But I think it was mostly from the time spent in the sun in the West. There was a lot more visible sun there than here.

"I'll let you two have some time together. Get some rest, Y/N. I'm ready when you guys are to head back. Sona and her group are heading out there now. There may be another group heading out as well, but only time will tell," my mom said as she got up and left the lodging.

"Well, we're going to be here for a while," I said. "Might as well get comfortable, Aloy."

"I was comfortable in my bed before someone woke me up," she chuckled.

"Sorry about that. But one bed is better than two."

She smirked and laid down next to me, closing our eyes and falling asleep in each other's embrace.