Thunderjaw Heart - Horizon Zero Dawn Fanfiction

Trip

The travel was really quiet the first day. Usually, like the way from Meridian to the Maker's end, Kïma and Aloy would talk happily about anything they could think of, but this time was different. Bast was the one who talked.
He found it really awkward and weird. He didn't especially wanted to speak, but he couldn't stand the heavy silence between them. He had to say something -anything !

"Seriously, what's wrong between you two ? You're not talking, and you act really weird towards eachother...", He asked eventually.

Aloy stayed mute, looking in front of her coldly. But Kïma looked at him desperately, and shook slowly her head, sighing :

"It was during the evening, it's erm...it's nothing."

"Nothing ? You didn't tell me that you dated the Sun King and now that I learnt that, you start to kiss him again. And it's nothing ? Seriously, Kïma ? I thought that... true... friends tell eachother everything. I didn't hide anything about my previous life, not even about Rost, you know everything about me ! And you just kept so many secrets ! And it keeps on going ! Even more secrets !", Aloy stormed, louder and louder.

Bast had placed his hand in front of his mouth, stunned. Kïma just stared at her, clenching her jaw. Aloy could tell she was feeling bad, but she also seemed to be angry. She declared lowly :

"I didn't mean to do it. I drank too much. And I don't know about you, but I'm not going to come shouting 'Hey I dated the Sun King once'. It's just stupid : he is a person like the others, I just don't think it's really important. Sorry if this is how you consider it."

Aloy didn't answer and stopped looking at her.
She couldn't believe it. Her excuse was 'I drank too much'. Was she kidding her ? Bast was trying to fix things shyly, but she didn't pay attention to him.

They finally stopped under a small cliff. They decided to light a fire, to boil some meat. Aloy volunteered to hunt, wanting to clear her mind, when Bast agreed to take care of their Broadheads and to cook once he'll have everything he needed. Kïma immediately declared that she wanted to take care of the fire.

After hunting for a bit and even finding some edible wild fruits and plants, Aloy came back to the small camp, quietly.
She heard Bast and Kïma talking. She wanted to know the conversation subject, even if she perfectly knew it.

"But... The sun king !"

"Yeah, the Sun King. A person like the other, as I said it."

"Kïma, you could've been the queen ! Doesn't that attract you ?"

"Hell no ! Let's stop here and talk about what we were originally talking about."

There was a pause and Bast replied :

"What was the first conversation subject ?"

"Girls, you dumbass. How to talk to them. How to be forgiven after doing something bad."

"I think you know more about it than I do, you are a girl..."

Aloy clenched her jaw and walked towards the fire. She didn't say anything and just sat there, placing the food next to Bast.
Kïma looked like she wanted to talk. She eventually said a small :

"That was a good hunt, Aloy."

"Yes.'', answered the redhead, starting to clean her weapons.

"Oh no, please don't tell me you're still mad.", Bast complained, grabbing the rabbit to cook them.

"I'm not mad. I just understood that sometimes people you trust aren't exactly who you think they are."

Kïma looked down, visibly struggling not to say anything rude. Bast sighed and continued :

"Yeah, to me, it sounds like you're mad."

Aloy looked at him and hissed between her teeth :

"What about you shutting your mouth ?"

He raised his hands, with a shocked expression :

"Okay, calm down, redhead, I was just trying to fix things up !"

Aloy turned so her back was facing both of them. She felt tears coming in her eyes again as she remembered the image of Kïma in the King's arms. She wiped them angrily and started carving a stick nearby, to release this hatred she was feeling.
She couldn't help but wonder why it hurt so much. She fought giant machines, didn't feel bad. She killed some people, didn't feel bad. Not after the first ones, at least.
But here she was, crying over a girl.
She shook her head and focused on the wood piece.

"Careful, it's still hot.", Kïma said, handing Aloy a bowl containing a rabbit piece with some berries.
A small steam was raising gracefully from it, drawing smooth curves in the night.

"I know."

She noticed Kïma furious glare and felt curiously satisfied. Satisfied but even more hurt at the same time.

"It's really good, Bast, where did you learn how to cook like that ?", Asked the collector.

"My mother taught me how to do it. She said it was a shame for a man not knowing how to cook, so she taught me almost every Nora recipes.", He answered, grimacing as he chewed a little bone, that he threw away.

"Well, she did a great job. You are officially our cooker. Don't even try to argue.", Kïma smiled. "What do you think about it, Aloy ?"

Was she kidding her ?
She could see she didn't want to talk and still wanted to force her to ?

"It's not bad. But it could be better if I could eat it in a quiet atmosphere."

"Sorry, I'll stop talking.", Bast said, apparently understanding she wanted to be left alone.

"Oh, I wasn't talking about you, Bast.", Continued the huntress.

All she could hear was a loud noise. She understood it was Kïma who had violently put her bowl back on the stone she used as a table.
She was staring at her, her eyes filled with anger.

"You know what, Aloy? Fuck you. Yeah, I did bad things and, if you can't see it, I'm currently trying to fix them up. So fuck you. I'm out. Sorry if I don't finish the rabbit Bast, but it's honestly delicious. Good night to you, boy."

She stood up, and walked towards the Broadheads. They could only hear her getting away, just staring at the obscurity where she was supposed to be.
Aloy didn't know how to react. She was even more mad against her, but... Her sadness also increased a lot. Like, a lot.

"What were you thinking about ?", Bast whispered, looking desperated.

"We don't need her.", Was all she could say, even if she didn't believe a word she pronounced.

"Of course we do ! Let's go after her !"

"She's going to go to the Grave-Hoard anyway. We'll leave tomorrow and we'll catch up on her. She's probably going to stop somewhere else to sleep as well."

"But..."

"I'm going to sleep. Good night, the rabbit wasn't bad.", She said, cutting the conversation short.

As soon as her head landed on the fabric she used as a pillow, tears came back. She decided to just let them out, to cry less tomorrow.

And she started thinking about Rost again.
By All-Mother, this night was going to be so much fun..