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[dapperdragon-ao3]

Erend eyed Travis. “Where’d she pull you out of? Everyone’s heard about the battle of the Spire. Well, that was her, raising hell against the Eclipse, against Hades. She saved the entire world that day.” He shivered. “Or, apparently, delayed the end of the world. But that’s still marked as a victory by my reckoning. She, uh, she didn’t tell you any of that?”

“Mentioned it. All she said was that it was a lot of hard work, and that a lot of good people got killed.”

Erend chuckled, shaking his head. “Aloy,” he muttered. To Travis, he said, “it was a horrible battle with a lot leading up to it, and a lot of good people did get killed. A lot of good people. But she saved the entire world up on that mesa. Sure, the battle was at Meridian--” which answered a couple more of Travis’s questions-- “but calling her the Savior of Meridian is like calling a rock a hammer. She’s the savior of the whole world. And if you and her pull a miracle out of the Forbidden West, then she’ll have saved it twice. What do you call that? Savior of the Globe Two Times Over? Aloy, The Only Reason Anyone’s Still Alive, And You Better Not Forget It? I think we should go with that one.”

“I like it, but I’ve got the feeling Aloy might not agree with us.”

Erend laughed, loud and clear. “No, she wouldn’t. But, hell, she’ll probably be too busy trying to save the world a third time to notice it’s catching on.”

[dapperdragon-ao3]

"I’ve been chasing down leads for months now, trying to find a GAIA backup I can use to resurrect her and keep the world from ending. Again.”

Travis shook his head. “Wow. You were right; that is a morning story, not an evening story.”

Angrily, she continued, “I thought I’d be able to find one in Far Zenith. I uncovered some communications implying that they stole a complete copy of Zero Dawn’s work, including an intact GAIA. When I finally got there, do you know what I found?”

He frowned. “I’m starting to get the feeling that you might be upset with me.”

“There was nothing!” she shouted. “Because of your pride, Far Zenith had nothing!”

“Don’t you know what they would’ve done with-”

“They would have died with everyone else! The Odyssey failed, everyone in the world died, and you left nothing for me to dig up that could possibly prevent it from happening again!”

“Hey, whoa.” He spread his hands. “That’s a lot of volume for a guy who just woke up from cryo.”

“Don’t pretend you can’t follow what I’m saying. You figured out I wasn’t Elisabet Sobeck after about ten minutes.”

“No, I follow you, my ears are just ringing, is all.”

She simmered, digging into her collection of berries and dried meat. She felt a little better after being able to yell at Travis Tate directly, but the situation still hurt.

He said, “Far Zenith aren’t--weren’t--just a crackpot bunch of scientists putting a lot of money into a dogshit idea. They were smart. Wicked smart. Whatever they would’ve done with a Gaia clone, it ain’t something that would’ve been contained by the end of the world, or by the destruction of the Odyssey. I don’t claim to know what their plan was, exactly, but I don’t regret putting a Travis-Tate-sized thorn in the side of it.”

“You might, when the world ends all over again.”

Shockingly, Aloy did recognize the face of the man lying peacefully on his back in the cryopod. She felt sour regret in the back of her throat, almost wishing she hadn’t come here at all; this was the last--scratch that, the second to last Old One she would have wanted to meet in person. The last Old One she would have wanted to meet was Ted Faro, and she was pretty sure that if she had accidentally opened up a flash-frozen Theodor “Ted” Faro in some basement of an ancient ruin, she would have kicked it back into the wall and left.

No; what she had instead was Travis Tate.

[dapperdragon-ao3]

Shockingly, Aloy did recognize the face of the man lying peacefully on his back in the cryopod. She felt sour regret in the back of her throat, almost wishing she hadn’t come here at all; this was the last--scratch that, the second to last Old One she would have wanted to meet in person. The last Old One she would have wanted to meet was Ted Faro, and she was pretty sure that if she had accidentally opened up a flash-frozen Theodor “Ted” Faro in some basement of an ancient ruin, she would have kicked it back into the wall and left.

No; what she had instead was Travis Tate.

[dapperdragon-ao3]

The river provided a serene note to the music of the wildlife. Our footsteps carried us rhythmically across the crystal-clear water and farther down the road, scuffing the dirt and startling rabbits out of their hiding places, and Finch grunted while he fought against his own forehead.

“The damn brrstr is annoying,” he huffed, both of his hands holding apparently nothing on either side of his face. “I’m not supposed to wear it for more than a few hours. You ask me, it’s not fair that it’s both bolted to my skull and irritating to wear--should either be able to take it off or it doesn’t give my forehead rugburn, not neither.”

“Is that the portal?” I asked. “The thing that sent you back in time?”

“It’s not-” he paused. “It’s more complicated than that, but you know I can’t explain it.” With an exasperated sigh, he dropped his arms. “Next I’ll get hand-cramps from holding the vpmytpaartd, as if I could bloody well put them down.”

“Sounds like you need to take your mind off of it. Let’s talk about something that we can both talk about.”

“I can tell you about your future, if you like.”

“No--something normal.”

Finch sighed. “My normal and yours are worlds apart, mate. I doubt I could say a single comprehensible word about it.”

“It can’t be that different. How much time lies between us?”

“An insurmountable number,” said Finch with certainty. “And it’s chiefly technology, you see—that’s round about the stuff I can’t talk about. The—ah—time stream doesn’t want you to know about vpzqiyrtd, innit? An invention like that would change the whole world fundamentally. Even if I could explain to you how to invent it.”

I tried again. “Even so, there must be something. Tell me about your family.”

“Alright, I can give it a shot. So--I live with my sister, Francie. We’ve inherited our gran’s place in the city and figured we could work out how not to fight for a few seconds a day if it comes with a free place to live. She works at a flower store, and she’s always coming home with poor little dying critters they can’t sell. She’s named them all, I cannae keep track of them. They get underfoot, you know, which is a feat and a half when it comes to plants. I had to clear out two square meter just for the space to qasudlutoz, moving pots around and the like. The fact I haven’t heard her come home is about as damning as the fact I haven’t trampled a single poor sod in roaming around here, even now I’ve gone back to using the kpudyovl. And that that’s not made me nauseated is a gift horse I’m not bringing to the frmyody anytime soon. What, do you not have frmyodyd here?”

Trying to bring the conversation back to his family, I asked, “I understand if you can’t be specific, but where do you-”

A wolf’s angry bark cut me off, producing a yelp from Finch; instinctively I whirled around and drew my sword. When the giant black canine lunged, teeth bared, I swung and caught it across the neck. Blood spilled across the ill-maintained cobblestones and the beast’s momentum threw it across my feet.

The thing hadn’t had a chance to touch me. Somehow, that made it more jarring than any of the other battles I’d been in recently.

“Oh, that’s good,” said Finch, in a higher register than before. “I apertrfyjrfoggoviayu--made the world easier on you, remember? I’ll wager that’s why he went down so quick, given you’re still arbrapmr. Scared the shite out of me, I’ve never actually qasurfdlutozpmbt before--damn, I will not get used to saying those words. I’m sorry, DB, I’m a wee bit wigged out right now, just give me a sec.”

He said the last with one hand outstretched toward me, and the way he turned away to get his bearings while staring out at the river, I’d have thought he was the one who’d almost been mauled by a wolf.

[dapperdragon-ao3]

“Ralof, this might sound strange, but do you see this Nord here?” I indicated the quasi-madman.

Ralof glanced back. “Aye,” he answered, and turned to the gate again. “Damn. No way to open this from our side.”

“This is bizarre,” the Nord muttered. “I wish I could pqrmyjrvpmdpar. Pqrmyjrvpmdpar,” he repeated, the same nonsense sounds as before, and he shook his head as though shaking himself out of a dream. “Pqrmyjr- I need the vpzqiyrt. What the hell?”

For the first time since before meteors rained from the sky and a dragon destroyed the city and burned innocent citizens to unidentifiable husks, the Nord looked frightened. His hand hovered by his neck as though to massage the nonsense out of his tongue.

“Soldiers, keep moving!” called a familiar voice. The captain who’d sentenced me to death, just as the strange Nord had predicted; she came running down the hall beyond the gate.

“It’s the Imperials,” Ralof hissed. “Take cover!”

His words came too late, however. The captain spotted us while a soldier opened the cage. “It’s the escaped prisoners!”

The door opened and everyone drew their weapons.

Fear and panic drove me into the fight; while the other three combatants were seasoned soldiers, I was little more than a refugee. My skills lied in running, begging, and pretending to be less desperate than I was. But I had no other choice, and I primarily focused on keeping the sharp part of my weapon between me and the sharp parts of their weapons.

Then they were dead, and Ralof and I weren’t. It felt like a miracle.

“Maybe one of these Imperials had the key,” Ralof sighed. He put away his weapon and began to search the bodies.

“I can’t get it off,” said the strange Nord. He held his hands beside his face, and there was panic in his voice. “I can’t take it off. I can’t take it off. Hello? Hello!” He stood with his eyes shut, and shouted those last words, reaching out blindly with one hand. “Hello, is anyone home? Damn, I can’t find my walls.”

He was mad after all.

“Calm down,” I tried, approaching him. I felt responsible for him, partly because I was apparently the only person who could hear him, but chiefly just because he, Ralof, and I were stuck in the same predicament and needed to stay together. I sheathed my weapon and spread my hands wide. “Calm down, now. Listen to my voice.”

He looked at me suddenly, true fear in his eyes. He looked around himself and outstretched both arms, and inched forward as though feeling around in the dark.

Ralof said, “Here we are, found a key. Let’s see if it opens that door.”

“What’s your name?” I asked the madman.

“Finch,” he answered, still hunting for something.

“Finch, the fighting’s over. We’re safe. Take a deep breath.”

“It’s not that, Dragonborn--the jyvbrrst is stuck- the jyvbr- damn it, what’s happening to me? Can anyone hear me? Hello!”

I stepped forward and held him by the shoulders. He let out a yelp at the contact and stared at me with the purest expression of shock.

“Take a deep breath, Finch. Breathe in.”

He inhaled.

“Breathe out.”

He exhaled.

“We need to go. Follow me and Ralof.”

Finch whispered, “This isn’t real. You’re not real.”

“This is real. Come with me.” I pulled him by the wrist, and he stumbled with me to where Ralof had unlocked the door.

[dapperdragon-ao3]

I'll mostly be posting snippets here from fanfiction WIPs!

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