Chapter Text
She groaned; straining to lift her head off the ground. She’d been absolutely blindsided by the last clawstrider, it’s tail throwing her body back like a child’s toy. Shit shit shit . Aloy reached desperately for her spear as the machine came closer. Out of her reach, and her unable to move, she was doomed. About to have her head ripped off by an angry machine when a barbed spear thrust through its chest, piercing it’s heart and rendering it useless. The clawstrider fell to the ground at her feet, and she rolled her head to the side to see if it’s victor was there to help her, or kill her themselves.
Aloy breathed a painful sigh of relief, as Kotallo made his way over to her. His expression was dark and unreadable.
“Aloy.” His voice was low, “are you able to move?”
Aloy again tried to lift her head, her torso, anything, but all she found was pain and resistance. His face darkened even more and for a moment she wondered if the damage was worse that it felt. He knelt beside her, “I need to check your body. May I touch you?” Her stomach clenched, a wave of emotion hitting her as she slowly nodded. “You may.”
He gently ran his hands over her body, one like ice; the other warm and comforting, despite the excruciating pain.
Must be bad if he’s wearing the arm. She thought to herself. “How did you know where I was?” She asked as his warm hand snaked under her, gently checking the bones in her lower back and hips. Frowning as he moved to her legs, “broken. Both of them. You’ll be on bedrest once we return home.” Home. She thought with a start, the base is home. Warmth filled her body at the thought.
“To answer your question, Gaia told us. As soon as you ran into an unusually large pack, she pinged your location to Erend and myself. I was closer, but he’s coming. Gaia mentioned your vitals were lower than you usually allow them to get” a very pointed look from the Marshal, “he’s bringing a cart.”
He stood, finished with his field check. It would be more in-depth once back at the base, but for now, all he could do was wrap her visible wounds, and splint her broken bones. Ripping pieces of plating off the body of the closest clawstrider with his machine arm, he laid them out beside her, then gently, effortlessly; he cradled her neck and snaked his other under her thighs to slide her entire body onto the largest plate. He stabilized her neck, then moved to the rest of her, working silently. She started dozing, and Kotallo let himself gag as he tied the tourniquet around her bicep. Ten please, please save her from my fate. Please. The sound of wheels on stone around them and a loud “By the forge! Aloy!” took them both by surprise. She had completely zoned out, becoming delirious from the excruciating ache . The last thing she thought before letting herself slip into the dark was, “I want to go home”
Kotallos’ face was grim, even by his usual dower standards. They’d loaded the now unconscious Aloy into the cart, and were beginning the trek back to base. Erend touched his friends shoulder, “she’ll make it.” Though he fought it, his voice was filled with emotion. Kotallo turned to his drinking buddy-turned closest friend, exhausted. “She must.”
Zo and Beta were turning her bed into a healers workplace. Medicinal herbs and salves lined the shelf behind them, bone and steel needles prepped with fine thread for sutures. Piles of clean cloth bandages and sterilized machine plating they’d collected since their arrival at the base. Beta was pale, they had heard the strain in Erends voice as he called in, asking them to prep. It had been months since Tildas’ defeat, and she finally felt like she was home. She could
not
lose her sister. Not after everything that happened, everything their family had built.
Varl entered the room, putting his hand on her shoulder. She tucked into him, feeling safe. He and Zo had been the first among her new family, and she was grateful for them. Gaia alerted them that Aloy had arrived, and Beta froze. She didn’t know if she would be able to see the state her genetic twin was in, let alone help operate on her. Zo saw her expression, and her face softened, “Beta, you don’t need to stay if you feel it will be difficult for you. We all have a role in life, and not everyones’ is to be a healer.” Beta embraced Zo tightly, “thank you” she whispered, then bolted from the room.
Zo looked at her lover, who took her hand bringing it to his lips. “She’ll survive.” Varl smiled at Zo, eyes soft despite the circumstances. “I’ll be with the babe; ping if you need anything, my love.”
Despite giving birth only a month prior, Zo was stubborn as a Plowhorn. As soon as Gaia pinged them, she was up from her own bed rest preparing. She arguably had the most experience in healing, and would not let anyone forget it. Alva brought in clay jugs full of clean water, with separate bowls for the eventual dirty rags. As Erend carried Aloy in placing her more gently than Alva had ever seen the large man move; Kotallo brought in a keg of strong alcohol for sanitization.
Zo nodded at their assembled family; “let’s save Aloy”
Varl wrapped the baby in a long fabric sling, close to his chest. Her tiny hands reaching for the exposed skin from the neck of his linen tunic. She was so small, so perfect. He found Beta on the floor of Gaias sanctuary, where they’d one day, about a week after they all returned to the base, created a large nest of pillows and soft blankets found in the storage vaults. Varl and Aloy brought furs from the Sacred Lands, Erend bringing back Carja silks from Sun-King Avad. It was where they’d all join together, limbs falling over limbs, heads resting on chests and shoulders. It was were they all felt the safest. All of them far from home, but a family through and through. Beta turned to him, tears rolling down her cheeks. It was with a start Varl remembered just how young she was. Despite being a genetic twin, she was created later than Aloy, she was still a child. Were she raised Nora, she’d be too young for the Proving. His heart broke for them both. While life was hard for all the tribes, Aloy and Beta had lived through so much more than he could ever imagine. He sat beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her in. They sat in silence, watching the drone footage around Hidden Ember; Stemmur lighting up the sky with projections of the Old Ones holiday symbols. Eventually, Varl realized she’d fallen asleep, as had the babe, and he sat holding on to them both tightly; unwilling to even hint how scared he was. He would keep them safe til his dying breath, and that was a Braves’ Vow.
Kotallo held his breath as Alva checked her vitals. Erend wrapped his arm around him; holding Kotallo as tight as he was holding himself. Zo was washing the carnage off her hands, preparing to sanitize the tools. No one spoke until Alvas’ soft, “stable. She’ll be out for a while yet, but we’ve stopped all the bleeding; her bones are set; and Gaia confirmed there’s no signs of brain-damage.”
Kotallo raised his arm to Alva, who grabbed Zo on the way to the large men. The four shared a tight embrace, all letting the relief wash over them.
“I will take first watch, and clean up. You all rest.” Kotallo spoke first. Zo was too exhausted to argue, nodding at him as she left to check in with Varl and Beta before letting herself sleep. Alva and Erend flipped a carved shard for who would use the blessedly hot showers first, and then both laughed hysterically, half as it landed on its side. They headed out of Aloys’ room, their chatter growing quieter as the made their way into the heart of the Base.
Kotallo, true to his word, cleaned first. He sterilized the tools, the metal plating. The cloths used would be run through the “laundry” as Gaia called it. A metal drum that filled with water and Zo’s soft pine soap, that agitated the fabric to clean it. True Luxuries existed in this bunker, so much so that Kotallo felt like he was growing more soft day by day.
You deserve it. The voice in the back of his head spoke. You’ve fought your whole life for everything you have. Your blood is gone, your Marshal Brothers and Sisters gone. Exiled from your Clan, a stranger in the Grove. Allow yourself a new family; a new home. Allow yourself this.
He sighed, piling the cloths into a small woven basket. Once he felt the room was significantly clean, he sat beside her bed. Kotallo looked at her face, despite how pale she was; she looked better than she had when they found her. Letting out another exhale he didn’t know he was holding, he took her hand in his own; bringing it to his lips.
“I will be here with you. It is and will always be my choice.”