“Aloy!” Teb cried and darted across the common room to greet her.

“Teb!” She gasped. “I…Zo said you were coming but I never thought…you’d actually…”

“Support you? Come when you called?”

“Travel into the forbidden west…” Aloy insisted. “Nakoa, it’s good to see you,” she paused, her eyes catching sight of the blue markings on their faces, “wait…what is this?”

“The mark of a Deathseeker.” Nakoa gestured.

“The matriarchs made you Deathseekers?” Aloy stared. “Why?” Teb and Nakoa looked at each other. “No…no, no, no…they did it so you can never go back!”

“Uh,” Alva put her hand up, “I’m not sure I understand?”

“The High Matriarchs of the Nora were concerned about Teb and Nakoa returning with the knowledge of the truth of our past,” Zo explained tactfully, looking distinctly rounder across her midriff, “they said any volunteers had to do so without knowing what they were volunteering for…and with the understanding that they can’t return to the Sacred Land.”

Aloy pushed her fingers through her hair. “Those…relentless…narrow minded…”

“Aloy,” Nakoa put her hand out and stop Aloy’s rant, “we knew the consequences and,” she glanced at Teb, “after hearing Erend and Zo explain it…we know just how damaging this would be to the Nora.”

“Just because it contradicts all their beliefs is no reason to stick their heads in the ground.” Aloy groused.

“They could have refused to let the Nora choose,” Zo insisted, “so while it wasn’t the best scenario…we could have been gagged, bound and thrown out of the Embrace without apology.”

“We knew it wouldn’t be easy,” Erend added, sinking onto a chair, ale in his hand already, “and Teb and Nakoa know the cost…more than any other. They’re good value.”

Aloy wanted to rant and rage some more but she realised it wouldn’t help anything. She saw a stranger in the background, with big, wide eyes. “And you are?”

“Sorry.” Zo gestured for him to come forward. “Aloy, this is Eamon. Eamon, this is Aloy.”

“Carja, right?” Aloy studied him. “You’ve come a long way without knowing anyone.”

“Actually I’ve been in the west before.” Eamon explained. “I escorted Marshal Kotallo and the Tenakth delegates to Meridian.”

“You were a soldier?” Something about that didn’t ring true. Eamon looked too spindly to be a soldier.

“I was a Sun Priest.” He smiled. “Eager Eamon they called me.”

Aloy’s eyes were round. “Well…that’s appropriate.”

“Talanah was still rallying volunteers,” Erend explained, “but Eamon was ready to leave as we were passing through the Sundom so we detoured and picked him up.”

“Now we need to get them settled and meeting Gaia.” Zo went to stand, unable to hide her grimace.

“Rest your feet, Zo.” Erend insisted. “Alva and I can handle this, right?”

“Right.” Alva smiled, her friendly demeanour always welcoming to the bemused newcomers. “If you want to leave your belongings here, you can come and meet Gaia.”

Aloy watched them go, feeling a sense of dread as the Nora took to the stairs.

“Are you alright, Aloy?” Zo asked quietly.

“They’re in a tainted old world ruin in the forbidden west, having been marked as deathseekers and are about to meet the spirit of ‘All Mother’, in a sense.”

“Teb and Nakoa have been extremely open minded to everything we’ve already told them.”

“They’d have to be to leave their homes behind.” Aloy rubbed her face. “So much for the Nora listening.”

“They did in their own way.” Zo groaned and slid her sandals from her feet, rubbing her soles. Aloy eyed her.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“How are you feeling?”

“I was extremely uncomfortable and nauseated.” Zo put one foot down and lifted the other. “Although the nausea is subsiding…”

“You don’t sound too happy about that?” Aloy sat beside her, studying the dark skinned Utaru with the white petals painted across her face. She had a wonderful sense of calm and warmth about her that helped Aloy feel grounded and not so anxious. Even after Varl’s death, Zo had been steadfast and sure.

“It kept me from getting too close…” Zo’s words petered off as her eyes widened. “Uh…never mind.”

“Too close?” Aloy raised her eyebrows. “To something or someone?”

“It’s not important…” Zo insisted. “And he’s too…”

All the blood drained out of Aloy’s face. “Kotallo?”

“What? No!” Zo exclaimed. “Aloy, I would never…”

Aloy swallowed…hard. “You know?” She whispered hoarsely.

“Well…now I do.” Zo winked. “It wasn’t hard to read before we left but as he refused to imply anything and you looked like you were doing everything in your power not to draw attention to it…”

“And you haven’t told anyone? Not Erend?”

“No, of course not.”

Aloy nodded. “Good. Cause we’re not.”

“Oh,” Zo paused, “but…you’d like to be?”

“Can we stop talking about this?”

“You and Kotallo or relationships in general?”

“The whole topic!”

“Done.” Zo laughed and shook her head. “How are things going here?”

“Well…we’ve got Oseram and Tenakth volunteers in the base now, going through FOCUS training.”

“Tenakth?” Zo winced, standing up. “I wasn’t aware of any volunteers?”

“Jira from the Lowland Clan, Soka and Gera of the Sky Clan and Arato of the Desert Clan.” Aloy recited, counting off her fingers. “It’s getting crowded.” She saw Zo shuffle. “Zo, you need to rest.”

“I can’t because of the ache…” She lamented. “Talk to me. Where are we putting everyone?”

“Alva and Beta have it sorted.” Aloy cleared her throat, hearing a sliding door open. “Uh…actually there is one other addition to our group I should have mentioned…”

“From the Quen when you went to Los Angeles?” Zo asked.

“No…not really…”

“Zo, welcome back.” Beta greeted warmly. She liked the Utaru who had spent so much time sitting with Beta in the early days. Now that she was adjusting to life outside of the Zeniths, she started to realise just how kindly and welcoming Zo was. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m…who are you?” Zo’s tone went from friendly to guarded and Aloy couldn’t blame her.

They’d all seen images of Ted Faro, all the holos from the data captured on FOCUSES and journal entries…everyone knew what he looked like.

And Tomas, while weedy compared to Faro’s forty year old body, had his jaw, his hair and his blue eyes.

“Zo, this is Tomas.” Beta introduced. “Tomas, this is Zo, from the Utaru tribe.”

Tomas nodded, eyeing Zo warily.

Zo looked at Aloy then back at Tomas.

“Clone.” He said bluntly as if it explained everything.

“Like me,” Beta added, “in secret.”

“Oh…well…”

Aloy cringed, feeling awkward. She couldn’t extol Tomas’ virtues. She didn’t believe he had any. And Beta and Tomas would know she was lying. She wasn’t sure she could stomach any accolades even in their smallest degree towards him. So the silence just stretched out.

Beta nudged Tomas. “Go on…show her.”

“Show me what?” Zo looked like she was ready to flee.

“Tomas made you something.”

He held out a pair of shoes to Zo. They were green and artificial, nothing like Zo’s woven sandals.

“Oh…thank you.” Zo said, understandably confused and possibly a little suspicious.

“I told him you were pregnant,” Beta explained, “and Tomas…had an idea…”

“It was Beta’s.” He insisted.

“We had an idea,” Beta corrected, “that you could use proper shoes.”

“Tomas isn’t too keen on our ‘primitive’ footwear.” Aloy muttered.

“It’s very thoughtful.” Zo eyed the shoes.

“You don’t have to wear them.” Tomas insisted arrogantly.

“I would like to try them.” Zo laid them on the floor and slid one foot into its artificial green case. “I’m not sure…oh…” Her eyes widened and her lips parted. Aloy watched as she put the other shoe on and to her sinking dread, she watched Zo relax. “That’s…so much better…”

“Seriously?” Aloy demanded, feeling inexplicably betrayed by the Utaru who was a believer in all things natural.

“They have cushioning and arch support,” Beta pointed, “they’ll give your feet a bit of a reprieve, especially as your weight increases.”

“And if your feet are comfortable, your legs and back will be too.”

“How did you know about these?” Zo asked, walking across the common room, no longer hobbling.

“The APOLLO database has a nearly endless expanse of knowledge when it comes to pregnancy, childbirth, child raising…”

“Tomas did his research,” Beta reassured them, “he really wanted to make sure you had something to wear that would help.”

“It is very kind of you.” Zo smiled at him. “Thank you so much.”

“I also compiled a list of dos and don’ts for when you’re pregnant,” Tomas tapped his FOCUS and sent Zo a file, “not that I think you’re foolish enough to drink the ale the Oseram seem to think is ‘good stuff’,” he made exaggerated quotation marks in the air and Aloy’s hackles went up, “but staying clear of anything fermented is a good start.”

“I could hardly stand the taste of it anyway.” Zo held out her hand and Tomas eyed it. “Go on.” He grasped her fingers and she shook his hand. “Welcome to the team.”

“Yeah, well…” Tomas drew his hand out of her grasp and Aloy noticed he wiped it on his pants. “I’ve got work to do.”

“Yes, because a good use of that printer matrix is making shoes.” Aloy shot before she could stop herself.

Tomas rolled his eyes and walked away. Beta put her hands on her hips.

“Really? Was that necessary?”

“He’s printing shoes!” Aloy exclaimed. “The whole world is at risk and he’s printing shoes!”

“He does something nice and you condemn him. He does something horrible and you do the same.” Beta threw up her hands and stormed off. “What does he have to do to get one word of approval from you?!”

Aloy nearly yelled ‘die’ after Beta but slammed her teeth together, silencing her retort. She felt Zo gazing at her then noticed she was taking off the shoes.

“Don’t…” Aloy shook her head. “Don’t…”

“I don’t want to upset you.”

“It’s not you, Zo.” Aloy muttered. “It’s him. It’s all his fault.”