The Chosen Ones.

3.

Aloy's POV:

I woke up to see Aylin laying peacefully next to me, facing me. I sat up and smiled, taking in her features. Her long, brown hair was messed up, some of it covering her face.
I saw her shoulders move up and down, as she breathed calmly. Those moments didn't last though. Her hand turned into a fist and she groaned. Her breathing got heavier and heavier.
All of a sudden she jumped up, sitting on the bed. She frantically looked around, then at me. I looked at her, not making any sudden movements as to not scare her. One of her shaky hands went around her neck.
"What happened?" I asked quietly. Aylin shook her head. "No... nothing, I'm fine." I sighed. "Did you have a nightmare?" She nodded. "Do you feel like talking about it?" After thinking for a while she shook her head. "It doesn't matter." She said, before quickly standing up, putting on her shoes and running outside.

Aylin's POV:

I ran outside. I had to get some air.
These thoughts have been haunting me for years, only getting worse. I looked around at the people in the village.
After a few minutes of walking, a tall boy approached me. "Hello there. You must be Aylin." I nodded shyly. "I'm Varl." He introduced himself. "N-Nice to meet you, Varl" He smiled kindly. "Varl, you're making friends with the new girl?" A feminine voice said. A girl, about my age, came up to us. She looked like Varl. "Aylin, this is my sister, Vala." I smiled back to her.
I talked to them until I heard my name being called. It was Aloy. I said goodbye to the two and headed towards her. "Aylin, we need to talk." She said. I tilted my head in confusion, but followed her anyways.
We walked out of Mother's Watch, since that was it's name, apparently. As I was looking around I heard her whistle, and then the sound of hooves coming toward us. In just a second two machines were standing in front of us. I backed away from them, but Aloy just laughed. "Don't worry, they're overridden. They won't attack." she said. I came closer to the machine. Aloy hopped on one's back, motioning me to do the same. This should be as easy as riding a horse.. I thought.
We got farther and farther away, walking slowly on the Striders. As soon as we were alone, she spoke up. "How was life like back then?" I thought about it. "It was... sometimes difficult. Especially in the last years, with the Faro Plague and all..." I said. "Did you know Ted Faro?" My breath stopped. Shit, not now. I nodded and smiled. "Yeah, me and Lis used to make fun of him, we both hated him so much." We laughed. "Well, we have that in common." I nodded.
"These new machines, HEPHAESTUS made them? They weren't around before." I asked. Aloy nodded. "Yes, it did. They weren't always hostile. They were usually scared of any hunter who came close to them, but now they kill anything on sight." But why? I thought. "19 years ago there was a glitch in GAIA's code and the subordinate functions went rogue. HEPHAESTUS started making more and more machines in the cauldrons-" "What about HADES? It was supposed to revert everything GAIA made if it went wrong, and now it's gone rogue?" She sighed. "That's our problem. HADES wants to kill me, apparently, for looking like Elisabet. And then destroy the whole world. Moreover, it has a cult called the Eclipse worshiping it like some kind of god." I snorted. Worshiping an AI who wants to destroy the world. Seems legit. "And how is it planning to destroy the world?" I asked. Aloy remained silent. "That, we have to figure out."
We talked about everything and anything for a few hours.
"Tell me, how good of a hunter are you?" I shrugged. "I'm good with a bow and arrow, but I haven't killed any machines yet." Looking at her, I caught a glimpse of a smile. "It's okay, I'll teach you all you need to know. We're in this together, after all." I smiled too as we headed back to Mother's Watch, the sun slowly setting.

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small a/n:

I know Vala died in the Proving Massacre but I wanted her to live since her and Aloy's friendship was so precious🥺