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AU for @notathreat
Feb. 21st, 2023 03:53 pmIt was fucking cold.
It was always fucking cold, this time of year, of course. It was well into the end of autumn and into the start of winter. It was even coming up on the Winter Solstice as the Mothers referred to it. The darkest time of the year when nothing would grow and when everyone among the Nora huddled inside together near their fires to block out the chill.
Everyone didn't, of course, always include Aloy. When you were 'motherless' and your only parent had been dead six months, you did what you had to do to get by. At the least, she could count her lucky stars that she hadn't been driven away from what they called the Sacred Lands--she was tolerated, even if she wasn't well-liked by the High Matriarchs. Being an able huntress who had won the Proving handily the year before was a big help with that. When you could bring in fresh meat, no matter the time of year, your idiosyncrasies and oddities tended to get overlooked.
It was a cold, clear, sharp winter's day now and Aloy's feet crunched against the surface of the snow as she stalked along the game trail that wound through the evergreens hugging the flank of the mountains. There was no guarantee of catching anything, but she patrolled it regularly anyway, if only to make sure none of the Beasts had strayed into the Sacred Lands again. Besides that, there was the hope that some of her snares had caught something, even if she wasn't able to find a deer.
Aloy looked more like a creature than human being herself, swathed in furs draped over the battered old water-proof snow jacket to help disguise the too-bright artificial colors. As Aloy clambered further down the trail, she paused as she caught a glimpse of movement amongst the trees. Someone or something was at one of her snares. Her steps slowed and she stalked closer, tugged her toque up over her mouth to help disguise the puff of her breath.
There. Something had been caught in a snare. And someone was in the middle of pilfering it. Carefully, Aloy knocked one of the horrid broadhead arrows and began to draw the string back.
"Leave it," she snapped as if she was talking to one of the dogs back home. "Or at least ask before you take something that doesn't belong to you, Outlander."
It was always fucking cold, this time of year, of course. It was well into the end of autumn and into the start of winter. It was even coming up on the Winter Solstice as the Mothers referred to it. The darkest time of the year when nothing would grow and when everyone among the Nora huddled inside together near their fires to block out the chill.
Everyone didn't, of course, always include Aloy. When you were 'motherless' and your only parent had been dead six months, you did what you had to do to get by. At the least, she could count her lucky stars that she hadn't been driven away from what they called the Sacred Lands--she was tolerated, even if she wasn't well-liked by the High Matriarchs. Being an able huntress who had won the Proving handily the year before was a big help with that. When you could bring in fresh meat, no matter the time of year, your idiosyncrasies and oddities tended to get overlooked.
It was a cold, clear, sharp winter's day now and Aloy's feet crunched against the surface of the snow as she stalked along the game trail that wound through the evergreens hugging the flank of the mountains. There was no guarantee of catching anything, but she patrolled it regularly anyway, if only to make sure none of the Beasts had strayed into the Sacred Lands again. Besides that, there was the hope that some of her snares had caught something, even if she wasn't able to find a deer.
Aloy looked more like a creature than human being herself, swathed in furs draped over the battered old water-proof snow jacket to help disguise the too-bright artificial colors. As Aloy clambered further down the trail, she paused as she caught a glimpse of movement amongst the trees. Someone or something was at one of her snares. Her steps slowed and she stalked closer, tugged her toque up over her mouth to help disguise the puff of her breath.
There. Something had been caught in a snare. And someone was in the middle of pilfering it. Carefully, Aloy knocked one of the horrid broadhead arrows and began to draw the string back.
"Leave it," she snapped as if she was talking to one of the dogs back home. "Or at least ask before you take something that doesn't belong to you, Outlander."
