Chapter Text
“Aloy - I really don’t think this is a good idea. The Tenakth are hostile enough as it is with just our presence and you want to test that by talking to them? It’s insane!” The woman who spoke had gripped her friend’s shoulders, giving them a little shake.
The redhead in question, Aloy, gave her friend a smile and shook off her hands. “Don’t worry about it, Rilla. I need to get into the West and the only way I can is by talking to them. I’d rather not be fighting for my life every step of the way to GAIA.”
Aloy didn’t wait for Rilla to answer, already headed towards the small stone line that separated the East and West.
“Aloy!” she hissed, trying in vain to grab her friend.
She was no stranger to angry people but an angry Tenakth seemed far more dangerous than an angry Carja. Aloy seemed to know that subconsciously as she managed to get the attention of one of the nicer-looking Marshals. Rilla jumped as he pulled a knife from his belt, scrambling over to Aloy only to see the man offer it to her as a rite of passage.
Oh thank the Song
, Rilla felt dizzy with relief. Aloy wasn’t the most subtle warrior out there and had zero concept of not stepping on people’s toes to get what she wanted. Aloy looked over to her with a small grin, “This is Fashav, Avad’s cousin. He’s offered us rite of passage so we don’t get hounded on our journey.”
“Oh good,” Rilla breathed. “
Oh
! You’re Fashav! Avad is very excited to see you - it’s all he’s mentioned the past couple of days. Are you ready to be Carja again? It seems like being a Tenakth has served you well.”
Fashav opened his mouth to respond but they were interrupted by a loud bugle. In the distance she could see the Sky Clan totem being pulled up, signaling the last clan’s arrival and that the Embassy could begin. Rilla slapped Aloy’s shoulder a few times, hissing under her breath at the sight of the Sky Clan Marshal making his way over to the others.
“I told you they were gonna kill us! Lookit the size of that one! He could snap us in half with one finger!”
Aloy rolled her eyes, “You’re so dramatic Rilla. I won’t let any of the big, bad Tenakth hurt you. Let’s get going.”
Fashav held out a hand as the two women went to cross. “If you go now the Marshals won’t allow it. You’re going to have to wait until the Embassy is over.”
Aloy huffed under her breath but conceded, stepping back to where Varl had been patiently waiting the entire time. Rilla followed, her gaze lingering on the gathered Marshals and she yelped a little when the big one caught her looking. She didn’t care if the Tenakth actually drank their enemies’ blood or not - that man looked like he bathed in it.
The group of three watched as Studious Vaudis began his speech, gesturing for the Carja warriors behind him to bring forth a chest. The Carja had just set it down on the ground when an angry voice called out, commanding the attention of everyone. Rilla looked to the cliffs where a Marshal was pointing his sword, just as a machine she had never seen before came up by the woman’s side. She looked to Fashav as the woman named herself Tenakth.
“Regalla. Chief Hekarro’s greatest mistake - one he should have killed” Fashav answered without turning his attention away.
Regalla began yelling again, gesturing with a wicked saw-toothed blade, “Hekarro has betrayed the Tenakth! Betrayed his own people! The Embassy is proof! You who have joined it are no better than traitors to our people. For your accomplice, I condemn you all to die.” The woman said something else and Rilla’s mouth ran dry as others rode up on overridden machines beside her. She cast a glance at Varl and saw her own confusion reflected back.
“Where did they learn to do that?” he asked Aloy.
The redhead set her jaw in reply, “Sylens.”
Rilla shook her head at the mention of the exiled Banuk shaman. She didn’t want to know what knowledge this Regalla lady had that Sylens had wanted badly enough for him to teach her this. She heard Regalla shout something else and her eyes widened at the group of archer’s taking aim at the group below.
“ Get down! ” the huntress shouted, yanking Varl and Aloy behind a stone pillar just as arrows began raining down. She could do nothing but watch as those who hadn’t been quick enough were shot where they stood, no match for the volley. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Fashav and the Carja warriors making a run for it back to the gates and Rilla offered up a brief prayer as one of the Carja fell with an arrow to the back.
“They’re not going to make it,” Aloy whispered, pointing out a group of rebels on machines heading directly for the group. There was no way any Carja inside were going to open the gate with enemies that close. Rilla glanced up at where the arrows were still coming down - the rebels on the cliffs seemed to only be aiming for where the group of Marshals had met. Aloy is going to kill me for this and then bring me back so she can kill me again ..
Rilla looked at Aloy and gave her friend’s arm a brief squeeze before she booked it to the bridge. She ignored Aloy and Varl’s shouts of her name behind her, tackling Fashav out of the way of the rebel spear that would have skewered him. She dragged him behind a wagon, ignoring the burning across her shoulder that stated she hadn’t been fast enough to avoid the edge of the weapon. Peering over the edge, she pulled an arrow and let it fly, knocking a rebel off of its Bristleback. Her Focus said these were susceptible to Acid and Rilla wasted no time in exploding the Acid canisters located on its back as a follow up. She and Fashav emerged from the cover of the wagon and rejoined the fight to get rid of the last Bristleback rider. The rebel urged his mount faster at the sight of her and Rilla drew her spike thrower. It was her last explosive one and she would have to aim carefully.
She held her breath as the ground shook beneath her, ignoring the tremors happening in her legs. Rilla breathed out and snapped her arm forward, rolling out of the way and covering her ears as the spike detonated, blowing up the rebel and knocking the machine down. Fashav ran over and jabbed his sword into its power core, shutting it down permanently.
“You are
insane
,” Fashav breathed. “but that insanity just saved my life. I owe you my life.”
Rilla waved his words away, giving an angry-looking Aloy a cheeky thumbs up. “We need to get back over there,” she replied instead. “Regalla is sending more rebel riders down.”
The Tenakth nodded and they quickly made their way back over to her friends. The minute she was in touching range, Varl grasped her arm as Aloy simply gave her a look. The group made their way out of cover to take on the group of rebels that came from the cliff. She and Aloy took turns shooting Acid arrows at the Bristlebacks and finishing off what was left behind after the explosions.
“Rilla - watch out!” Aloy yelled.
Said huntress turned, dodging to the left just as a riderless Charger ran past. She turned and shot a flame arrow at its Blaze canister, ducking as pieces of metal flew by her hiding place. Ahead of her, Aloy was firing arrow after arrow at the rebels and she could hear Varl’s shouts a little ways away. Hearing a pained shout, Rilla looked to her right where she saw the Marshal with the headdress go down, two arrows sticking out from his chest. Before she could fire off any retaliation she saw the Marshal from earlier run up. The spear he threw skewered the rebel rider with enough force to make his body fly off the Bristleback. The machine didn’t stop its momentum however and the Marshal stopped it from trampling the other, holding it back by its nose
The man began screaming as the Bristleback’s saw cut straight through his armor to the skin beneath and she began running towards him. She couldn’t shoot the Bristleback’s canisters without dowsing both men in a deadly spray of Acid. Suddenly another shout joined the cacophony and the machine fell down in a spray of sparks. Rilla rounded the body and promptly gagged at the sight. The machine had landed directly on the head of the Marshal with the headdress and she could see bits of skull and brain matter spread out along the ground. A groan caught her attention and she looked over to see that the other Marshal wasn’t dead - yet.
Rilla hurried over to him, seeing that his legs were pinned by the Bristleback above. The ground shook as a rebel rider on a Charger came forward to finish what his comrade couldn't and Rilla used her spear to swipe the machine off of its hooves, flipping it forward and crushing the man underneath its bulk.
“Oh god okay, okay, okay, okay.. Uhm gonna have to get a man three times my size out from a giant machine while Tenakth rebels try to kill us. No biggie,” Rilla muttered to herself as she wedged the end of a spear between the man and the Bristleback. She leaned all of her weight onto the weapon, hearing the machine start to shift if only a little bit before there was a yell that could be heard over the sounds of battle.
“Enough!” the rebel that stood beside Regalla shouted. The noise dissipated as everyone, rebel enemies and her friends, looked up at him. The remaining rebel riders made their way back up to the cliff face as he and Regalla spoke and then Rilla could only gape as the male rebel leaped off the cliff, a blue digital umbrella slowing his fall.
What the fuck is that..?
She peered over the machine, seeing that he was aiming right for Aloy and Varl. She couldn’t even call a warning before he slammed directly into the Nora Brave, the full force of his decline sending Varl skidding in the dust. Aloy wasted no time, swinging her spear at the man. Rilla went to move and the trapped Marshal groaned again. She looked between him and Aloy for a moment - and then saw Aloy destroy Regalla’s champion’s digital shield. Blowing her cheeks out Rilla once again began putting her weight down on her spear. Once the machine had shifted enough, she braced her weapon between a piece of the machine’s armor and grasped the Tenakth by his shoulder bracers.
Rilla grit her teeth and yanked, her boots planted firmly in the desert dirt. With a nasty scraping sound, the man’s lower body was pulled from underneath the machine. The Marshal was thankfully unconscious as she pulled, though his eyelids fluttered a few times and she saw a brief glimpse of his eyes. She kept a constant chatter of panicked nonsense, keeping her own eyes on the rebels still on the cliffs. She could see archers still lined up and she could only hope that their attention was on Aloy and the Champion. With a final heave that sent her reeling into the dirt, the man came out from underneath the machine just as its weight snapped the spear, a cloud of dust flying up. Rilla coughed and rubbed her eyes, glancing down at the Tenakth beneath her.
His arm, or what was left of it, was still bleeding heavily. The Banuk cursed and frantically looked around for something to wrap it in. Anything medicinal that she’d had must have flown off her person when she dodged the exploding Bristleback. Shrugging off her overcoat, Rilla used her dagger to cut it into strips and wrapped them around the wound. The man groaned again, his eyes opening as she tied the fabric, frantically knotting one band and starting another. If he were to survive, and he was because Rilla wasn’t letting all that effort go for nothing, she needed to make sure that he didn’t bleed out before his clan’s healers could get to him.
She looked back up towards Aloy just in time to see her pulling her spear from the chest of the Champion. Her sigh of relief quickly turned into a choked gasp as the redhead immediately challenged Regalla.
“Aloy!” she yelled, but the redhead either didn’t hear her or chose not to. Regalla called something down to Aloy and turned her machine away, the red glow of the rebels disappearing from the top of the cliff.
“Get away from me!” the man suddenly growled, trying to jerk his limb out of her grasp. Rilla turned her attention back to him and growled right back as his movement tugged the wrapping from her hands.
“Stay still!” she huffed, planting her boot on his shoulder. “You bleed out in front of me and your buddies are going to skewer me on your totems. I chose not to die today, thank you very much!”
The man didn’t respond and Rilla saw he’d fallen unconscious again. She looked up again when she heard shouting, spotting several Tenakth warriors coming towards her.
“Nevermind they’re gonna kill me anyway oh my god.. Hey! Your Marshal is alive over here!” she quickly yelled, pointing down at him.
She held up her hands and backed away when they got there, already slinging him between two warriors and barking orders about healers. Before they could notice her or his blood on her hands, Rilla was speeding over to where Aloy was helping a wounded Varl up. The two Nora grinned at the sight of her and Rilla slung his other arm over her shoulder.
“You two are going to kill me one day with the stunts you pull ya know,” Varl grunted as the trio made their way towards the gates. “It’s ridiculous what you get away with.”
Aloy and Rilla shared a smile over the other Nora’s head and Varl groaned, part exasperation and part pain. There was no way he’d escaped the fight with anything less than broken ribs.
“You’re leaving me behind aren't you?” he suddenly stated. “Guess I’m stuck with Erend. For now.”
“Aw it’ll be okay, Varl. You and Erend will have fun in the Broken Ribs Club. I can already think of how many excuses he’ll give to drink to” she lifted her head to give Aloy a cheeky grin. “One of which will be that one’s amazing fighting prowess, yeah?”
A bright flush spread over Aloy’s face but she couldn’t do anything without jostling Varl and Rilla knew it. Between them, Varl chuckled, causing Aloy’s flush to run deeper.
“Glad to see you three made it!” a deep voice shouted from up ahead. Rilla looked up to see a familiar Oseram waiting for them at the now open gate. “Thought we’d open the gates and see them Tenkath drinking your blood!”
“I swear Erend,” Rilla shook her head with a rueful grin. “you come up with the wildest stories. They really weren’t that scary.”
Aloy and Varl both snorted in disbelief. “Do I need to remind you of how you were worried one of the ‘not that scary’ Tenakth were going to kill us for breathing in their general direction? I had to promise her I’d keep her safe!”
Rilla jabbed her fingers into Aloy’s ribs where she was pressed against Varl’s other side, causing the other huntress to squeal. “Serves you right,” Rilla sniffed.
The trio had finally reached Erend and he reached forward to take the bulk of the other man’s weight.
“Don’t even think about escaping to the Forbidden West just yet. By the Forge, you two are going to Avad’s healers and getting checked before you leave us behind again.” He gave a pointed look towards where Aloy had already turned and began heading back out to the battlefield that had been the Embassy.
The Nora huntress stopped where she stood and Rilla could see a blush climb up the back of her neck at having been caught.
“Come on now, miss Savior of Meridian. There was no way you thought I didn’t see you limping, did you?” Rilla asked as Aloy slunk back to the group. “If I have to suffer through the treatment, so do you. I’ll see if I can’t weasel those cakes out of Avad with the ole puppy eyes.”
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Two days later saw Rilla and Aloy stitched up and heading back out towards the wreckage that made up the Embassy. Erend and Varl had made them both promise to stuff their packs and keep their quivers full on threat of maiming and being sat on. While it had been hard to keep a straight face at the mental image of Erend sitting on Aloy to keep her still, Rilla still took them seriously and gave her own promise. Now the two women were walking amongst the dead machines and pyres that dotted the landscape. To absolutely nobody’s surprise, the dead rebels were not given any manner of funeral and as such were just piled up and lit aflame. To Rilla’s surprise however, Avad had expressed numerous thanks for saving his cousin’s life. When the Banuk had tried to wave him off, the Sun-King wouldn’t hear of it, not allowing her to downplay the actions Aloy and, now her, had done for his family. Fashav himself had been more quiet about the ordeal, only offering something that sounded like a blood vow when they had gone to say their goodbyes earlier in the day. It would have been such a tragedy after all. To have gone so long without even stepping foot in his homeland only to have it ripped away because of some bitter woman’s goal, Rilla thought as she passed the spot where the spear would have ended him. That man deserved to see his family after all these years. Can’t say I feel as bad for Vaudis… although, no one deserves to be shot in the back quite that many times.
“I feel like no matter where we go, all we see is more bloodshed Rilla,” Aloy’s voice cut through the quiet. “I guess this means Regalla’s Rebels are the new Eclipse. Let’s just hope that they don’t have their own version of HADES.”
“I’m sure she must have learned about overriding from an Old World Facility. Sylens always has his own agenda but I feel like an overpowered army of rebels would cut into whatever it is that he has planned.” Rilla replied as they walked. “According to what Fashav told us, she’s just angry about their Chief bringing peace to the three clans. Avad’s father did a number on all the tribes during the Red Raids - I can’t imagine he left the Forbidden West alone.”
Beside her, Aloy sighed. “I just hope that we can find a copy of GAIA somewhere.. Without it, it’s not going to matter what Regalla’s angry about - there won’t be anything to take over.”
Rilla slung an arm over her friend’s shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze. “GAIA is out there somewhere, just waiting for the baby she spat out all those years ago. Don’t you worry - you’ll be the world’s savior again and then maybe we can finally put up our spears for longer than 24 hours. You and Erend could spend more time together than yeah?”
Aloy spluttered, shoving the other huntress away. “I don’t have any time for whatever it is that you’re suggesting, Rilla. Now come on - we have a signal to follow.”