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Aloy paced outside in the dusky light, heart pattering beneath her ribs as her bare feet tapped a different, more impatient beat on the padded banana leaves that lined the floor of the balcony. The last of the afternoon sun warmed her skin, and although she could hear the people beyond the doors, she’d left her focus in the preparation chambers so she couldn’t see them. It was unsettling, and as their soft singing floated through the air, settling on the budding fields of Plainsong like morning frost, she shivered, leaning against a swollen pillar and wrapping her arms across her stomach.
Even though her clothes were soft and loose, they suddenly feel too tight, constricting her chest and forcing the air from her lungs as she leaned over, both hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. She wasn’t used to the softness of the pink, silken material against her skin. Not used to the way her hair flowed freely down her back, just a few simple braids fastened with golden clasps and threaded through with leaves and dusky pink flowers, to keep her hair away from her face. Not used to any of it.
She was so stressed that she didn’t notice him until warm fingers slipped between hers, and she jumped, yanking her hand back and twisting with a snarl. She almost lost her balance, forgetting about the billowing fabric that twisted in the breeze, tangling with her limbs and her mouth dropped into a little “oh” of surprise as she realised who it was. He didn’t look at her, just grabbed her hand again and gave it a gentle squeeze.
“You’re not supposed to be here.” She managed to get out, fingers tightening involuntarily around his because she couldn’t imagine anything worse than him walking away. He smiled, a little quirking of his lips that rustled his moustache and made her stomach flip.
He looked good. Better than good actually. His usual orange and white stripes and steel-locked armour had been swapped for a burgundy dress shirt that fitted like a second skin. She swallowed, mouth suddenly dry.
“Yeah.” He said, still not looking at her. “Yeah, I know. But there’s no way I’m letting you go in there alone.”
The song from inside the chamber beyond the door stopped and her heart sunk as she realised what that meant
“Erend.” She breathed, and she could hear the little tremor that caught in her throat as fear rippled beneath her skin.
“Don’t worry, Aloy,” he said, as the doors swung inwards. “We’ve got this.”
The people inside rose as they stepped through the door, and if they were surprised to see Erend with her, they didn’t show it. He pulled gently on her hand, leading her down a path that was covered in flowers, and the smell stuck at the back of Aloy’s throat, almost cloyingly sweet. She swallowed and looked up to see a familiar face smiling back at her. Zo stood on the Chorus stage, Vaara swaddled tightly to her hips, as she stepped back, giving them room to climb up onto the platform. Vaara gave a little giggle as she recognised them, her pudgy little fingers playing with the beads that lined the hem of Zo’s ceremonial armour.
“Aloy. Welcome.” Zo said, warmly, shaking her head as her gaze landed on the man at her side. “And Erend… Couldn’t stay away for even a moment?”
“What can I say? I know when my girl needs me.” Erend laughed, leaning forward and ruffling Vaara’s hair, and the laughter he got in return warmed Aloy to her core.
“Are you ready?” Zo asked and Aloy tensed but nodded. “Good. Then follow me.”
Zo stepped away from the stage, leading them to room off the side and Aloy frowned.
“I thought that all Utaru ceremonies were performed by the Chorus.” Aloy said, as she followed Zo off the stage.
“Usually yes.” Zo said with a smile, eyes flicking back to Erend. “ But somebody thought you might be more comfortable with something a little more… private.”
Aloy smiled, eyes shifting to Erend’s carefully blank face as she stepped into the room, and what she saw took her breath away.
The room was dark, barely lit, candles painting orange splashes on the wall and one a low lying table in the center of the room. It took a second, and Aloy’s fingers twitched for the focus that wasn’t there as she blinked and focussed on the objects on the table. From outside, the Chorus started up their song again.
“Aloy.” Zo’s voice is soft and reverent as she reached out and gently guided her to her table. “Take a seat.”
Aloy sank to her knees wordlessly, dress billowing around her, eyes fixed on the simple tray made from woven fire ember that sat in the middle of the table. The seed pouches and greenshine glass jar she’d been expecting, but behind that… She reached out, a strange feeling settling on her bones as she ran her fingers over the Nora prayer beads and battered old Vanguard helmet that normally sat on the mantlepiece of the home in Mainspring that she and Erend now shared.
Rost and Ersa.
Her eyes filled with tears as she realised what he’d done. A taste of home for both of them. She turned, not even sure what she was going to say, but the words on her lips dried up as her eyes caught his because his blue eyes were fixed on her, face soft and thrumming with love. He was looking at her like she was the only thing in the world worth looking at.
“Now you, Erend.” Zo’s voice interrupted softly, and he seemed to come back to himself suddenly, coughing as his cheeks flushed and he stumbled forward, collapsing onto the cushion next to her.
“I’ll be on the balcony when you’re ready.” Zo said, and Aloy stared as she stepped through a pair of heavy curtains and left them in the quiet of the room.
“Erend, I don’t understand.” Aloy breathed, turning back to him and he blinked at her, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.
“I, uh –“ he started, tripping over his words as his light blue eyes darted between hers uncertainly. “I didn’t think you’d be one for all those people and all that… singing crap.” He says, flapping his hands to the ceremony room behind them with a nervous grin. “So I spoke to Zo. She told me what to do.”
“Erend…” Aloy breathed, but he ignored her, a thin sheen of sweat breaking out on his forehead as he pulled the pouches towards them, knocking over his and spilling seeds over the table, but pushing hers gently into her hands.
“It’s a wildflower; Zo helped me pick it. It started to grow in the mountains past where that Land-God cave was. The conditions are brutal, right? People didn’t think anything would survive up there. But this flower.” He said, as he leaned forward and pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. “This flower. It didn’t just grow, Aloy, it flourished. And when it bloomed in the summer, its petals burned this bright orange, and it looks like the whole mountain was on fire.”
“And yours?” Aloy croaked, as she clutched her pouch tight to her chest, and he looked down at the table at the scattered seeds with a sheepish grin.
“Uh, yeah, right.” He said, scooping them into his hand and trying to tip them back into the velvet sack. “Some kind of reed I think.”
“Erend.” She sighed and he smiled, pushing up his sleeve to reveal scrawled notes on his skin.
“It was, uh, something about teamwork I think. Nowhere near as impressive as yours but, hey, that tracks.” He said, eyes crinkling, and her stomach flooded.
“You’re impossible.” She said, grabbing his arm. The words were almost illegible, smudged and smeared by sweat, but there were just enough for her to get the gist.
Foundation.
Strength.
Support.
Things that resonated through everything he did and when she looked up he was grinning down at her, blue eyes shining as he wiped the seeds stuck to his palm onto his pants.
“Okay.” She said, picking up the pouch in front of her. “So… Now what?”
“We pour our seeds into the jar. Something about joining the fields of our ancestors. To be honest, once Zo really got talking about all this flower stuff I sort of zoned out.” He said, dragging the jar toward them with a sheepish grin. “And uh, yeah, then it’s done, I guess.”
“You guess?” She giggled and he smiled, shifting forward and slipping his fingers into her hair.
“Well, yeah. I mean, it’s no big deal. It’s not like I’ve been, you know, waiting for this moment for years or anything.” He said with a grin that melted her heart, brushing his lips against hers and without another word, shoved his hand into his seed pouch and dropped them into the jar.
When he was done, he turned to look at her. The evening sunlight filtering through the curtains caught in his eyes, and for a moment, she couldn’t breathe.
He was hers.
She picked up her pouch and tipped it into the jar. The seeds tumbled down, clinking against the glass as they settled on his, and the smile that Erend gave her was everything. He grabbed her waist and pulled her toward him so enthusiastically that she had to grab onto his shoulders to stop herself from falling. And when his lips met hers, the taste of him, the feel of his beard and the smell of forge and leather was soft and electric all at once.
He was hers.
“Okay, come on.” he said, breaking away with shining eyes as he pulled her to her feet and out onto the balcony to a mixture of song, cheers and wolf whistles. Aloy’s cheeks burned as she looked out to see the faces of her friends in the gathering crowd. Her eyes met Talanah’s and the Sun Hawk made a lewd gesture, tilting her head toward Kotallo at her side and Aloy had to hide a grin. That was an… interesting development. She scanned again, and this time she couldn’t stop the smile as Beta waved shyly up at her from where she stood between Morlund and Stemmar, and just beyond that a grumpy looking Avad stood, surrounded by the palace guard.
Her friends.
Their friends.
She smiled and shook her head as Zo stepped forward and grasped her hands, warmth glowing in her eyes as she whispered her congratulations before turning to the crowd.
“Aloy and Erend have combined their pouches, to publicly and eternally commit themselves to each other. Life can bring hardships” Zo said, her eyes slipping briefly to her daughter on her hip with a smile. “But it can also bring great joy. And Aloy and Erend have decided to face the flow of life together by joining, committing your essence to each other, to begin a new season of your life, where the fields bloom with the joining of your flowers.” Zo called out and the roar from below got louder. “We will sing the song of joining as the sun sets on their lives as two separate people and joins them as one.”
“You know, by my watch you still got time to get out of this.” Erend murmured into her hair, his breath skimming along her temple and drawing goosebumps from her skin.
“I don’t think so.” She said, “There’s a only a couple of minutes until sunset.”
“What, you don’t think a couple of minutes is long enough for the Saviour of Meridian to break a jar of seeds?” He asked, eyes crinkling and voice teasing, and she smiled back.
“Sure, but I don’t have two minutes.” She said and he frowned.
“Uh… Why not?” he asked.
“I promised them to someone else a long time ago.” She said and his eyes lit up as she pressed her lips to his and the last warm beams of the light caught on the greenshine jar, dazzling brilliantly and briefly, before the sun slipped below the horizon.