A Horizon Blog

Both of them are these weird hermits who view most social interaction as transactional, and are quite brash as a result; the main difference being one of them is doing it on purpose and the other is doing it because she hasn't quite figured out the whole social cues thing yet.

Aloy can be genuinely asshole-ish at times; more so at the very beginning, and it comes with a lot of extra confusion about how organised society works, having really only seen it from the outside, as well as a general distaste for pleasantries; she simply won't do or say something if she thinks it's stupid, and has no interest in softening any blows she might be dishing out. Sylens, on the other hand, has had much longer to learn how to act and has simply chosen the path of significant resistance. He knows exactly how he wants to live his life and has no interest in sharing it with others outside of what he can use them for.

And then they both spend the entire time yelling at each other over how they act and how stupid they're both being, as if they're not employing essentially identical social interaction methods with varying levels of success. Aloy's calling sylens out for being a prick and he's just standing there wondering if she's hearing herself speak or not.

It's the two ends of the spectrum of being isolated from community, sylens not giving a shit and aloy wanting to but not knowing how, one of them convinced that working with or even being around other people is a complete waste of time, and the other visibly stumbling at almost every hurdle whilst simultaneously refusing to give any grace to anyone else also struggling.

Aloy has such a strong moral compass and internal focus despite her general lack of experience with the rest of the world. She is almost never embarrassed, only ever uncomfortable, and something about other people not having the same drive and commitment she does clearly annoys her a lot. She doesn't like giving people the benefit of the doubt and often refuses to allow nuisance in any of her relationships, which makes a lot of sense for a hunter, someone who has spent their whole life in the wilderness where there is no place for second guessing or mixed signals. She tries to apply the mindset of machines to people; binary actions, clear signals and nothing hidden under the surface, and it trips her up when she's forced to put more thought into her interactions than she perhaps wants to.

Forbidden West takes a really interesting approach by actually making aloy more like sylens for the most part, and having that be her arc. Zero Dawn focuses on the big picture; aloy caring about people on principle and the objective 'good of humanity' angle, but Forbidden West sits down and says 'ok so in order to care about people you actually have to. You know. Care about them'. It makes it personal. You can designate yourself 'saviour of the world' and deal with the baggage and emotional toil that comes with that, and you can feel beholden to the past and the people in it, which aloy spends a lot of time doing in Forbidden West, but you do still have to be an active part of the community you're trying to save. Aloy spends so much time on people in the abstract and basically none on people in the real world unless actively forced and Forbidden West is full of people and plot points designed specifically to change that.

She is time and time again confronted by people whose narrative purpose is to show her that you can work alone, but you don't have to, and so much of the game involves that idea just refusing to stick. These people continuously give her a level of patience and grace that she rarely returns, some of them even confronting her about it (erend in particular doesn't put up with her shit as much as the others) but doing so in a way that shows her that they aren't going anywhere, because that is what having a supportive community is about. Having people around you who want to be there and want to help, not because they want things from you but because they care about you as a person. Its a feeling aloy still doesn't quite understand, because so much of who she is involves shouldering these huge burdens by herself and being the one people go to for help.

It starts with Sunwing rides, and evolves into much more. Where there is pain, there is healing. In the darkness, there's always a crack. That's how the light gets in. A story about flying, falling, and letting go.

Chapter 13 Summary: Kotallo's Kundrat, four years in the making. Thankfully, time moves faster for them than for fic readers.

Previous parts: Flying | Seashells | Colors | Ink | Gravity | Blood | Touch | Ache | Honor | Compassion | Growth | Courage

[READ THE NEW PART ON AO3]

Aloy is once again reminded of the night that preceded the Proving, less than two years ago, when she lay in that bed-house, surrounded by strangers. She hadn’t slept then either, listening to the others’ breathing, so many inhales and exhales within one room. Until then, all she’d known were Rost’s soft snores and the muffled sounds of the wild, just beyond the walls of their home. Her chest ached that night, waiting for morning to come, filled with grief and anticipation. There is no grief tonight, pressed to Kotallo’s side with his arm around her and his nose in her hair. There certainly is anticipation, though, as minutes then hours trickle by and his fight grows nearer. She suspects his proximity is not helping her find sleep either. They’ve slept huddled up together in various shelters, but she’s never shared a bed like this, with anyone. Every part of her body is so aware of him, still heightened by their time at the Falls. “D’you know what machine you’ll actually fight in there?” she eventually asks in a whisper. Although they haven’t spoken for a couple of hours, she knows he’s as awake as she is. She feels him shake his head against hers. “For a Kundrat, the nature of one’s foe is usually chosen by the Clan’s Commander. As a Marshal, I am no longer attached to one clan, which means the choice will be Hekarro’s, instead of Tekotteh’s.” Aloy gnaws on the inside of her lip, relieved that Tekotteh wouldn’t have a say in this. If it’d been up to the Sky Clan’s Commander, the Arena would be filled with Slaughterpines, along with some kind of trap that would ensure Kotallo failed. Her body tenses at the thought, enough for Kotallo to notice, tightening his hold on her. “Are you starting to doubt my ability to slay whatever I will face today?” His voice remains soft, a hint of teasing in it. She shakes her head. “I’m just a bit biased when it comes to fights in big, enclosed spaces. Could be because of that one time I was put in the infamous Carja Sun-Ring without any weapon, to be sacrificed under the hooves of an angry Behemoth.”

I've thought it through, and I'm not going to shun you after the Proving, okay? I'm just…I won't do it. I'm not about to pretend that you never raised me.

"Blegh."

Ereloy Week Day 1 - (out of) Sight

Prompt 8 - Fate & Future 🌱