Thunderjaw Heart - Horizon Zero Dawn Fanfiction

Chi, psi

"So, uh... How's Kïma doing these days ?"

Aloy blinked. It was the first time he spoke since they left Song's Edge. She had been mentally preparing for it. She knew he was going to ask about the collector. Obviously.
But she did not know what she could tell him or not until she would find out if his werak story was true or not.

"She was doing just fine the last time I saw her. But maybe she's not anymore. I don't know.", she replied flatly, focusing on the machine they were riding. 

The clouds were getting thicker, promising a cold storm in no time. She arranged the hood on her mane and used her teeth to pull on her gloves, making sure to keep one of her hands on the horns of the Broadhead not to fall.

"Where exactly are we going ?", he asked again.

"We're going to Meridian. If someone know where Kïma is, it will probably be the Sun-King."

"For her new conquest, you sure seem to like her exes a lot !", he mocked. 

"I also have informations to give them. We should be there in two days if we hurry.", she continued, not paying attention to him.

She felt her cheeks heating up anyway and decided to blame the cold for it. The wind was forcing her to squint her eyes and brought weird sounds to her ears. Almost voices... And drilling ?
A tap on her shoulder caught her attention and she turned to face Aveme, who leaned towards her, to tell her :

"Are you hearing this ? There are people here."

She nodded. As she suspected, they were not alone.
She used her focus to determine whether they were enemies or just wanderers. 

She was stunned to find a whole camp down a hill, digging in the frozen mud. There were at least thirty people, clad with dark fabrics and darker armors. They were accompanied by some machines, mostly Scrappers, but Aloy got worried when she noticed a Corruptor digging as well.

"Who are they ? They look Carja...", Aveme said when she stopped the Broadhead.

"Get down, we must not be noticed. I want to see what they're up to."

"Who are they ?", he insisted.

"They're Shadow Carjas. Part of a cult that worships some kind of demon named HADES. Now, keep quiet, I want to hear what they're talking about. I'll explain on our way to Meridian."

She could see a group of soldiers gathered around the Corruptor. They were pointing at the hole in front of them, visibly arguing. She could pick up the words "too damaged" and "not enough firepower". It was enough to understand they were up to no good.
They were interrupted by a huge soldier, entirely covered by a black armor. He pushed two soldiers with a simple swing of his arm and hit another one in the face.

"I said we don't lose time ! If it's too weak, we go away and find something else !", he stormed. Aloy could perfectly understand despite his voice being muffled by the helmet he was wearing.

"But we've been here for almost two weeks ! None of these Banuk Lands have good Kopeshes !"

"Then we move ! Fuck the Banuk Lands ! We're supposed to be in the Sundom in three fucking days ! How many of those do we have around Meridian ?"

Aloy could not get the exact number but knew it was big when she saw the soldier nod, apparently satisfied, and turned back. 

"What's a Kopesh ?"

"A huge machine, also called Deathbringers. Trust me, you don't want to fight one. And they apparently have a lot... That they're going to send to Meridian if I got it right.", she summarized, refusing to panic.