Meditation was impossible at first, because whenever Kotallo stopped moving and closed his eyes, he thought of her. Of these unshed tears in her eyes, the patches of pink on her cheeks…the feel of her fingers on his face and her lips on his skin…how she’d clung to him, even as she let him go.
I’m not mad. I understand.
He’d caved in, eventually. Let himself feel the pain and the shame that came with what was said and done. Let the image of her haunt his mind the way Visions flicker through the Grove.
There might have been a time when Aloy would have rolled her eyes at such statement, not one to believe in the mystical. But something in her is soothed by the way the falling water shimmers in the moonlight, mesmerized by the pureness of this white upon his skin as he tells the story, the glimmers from the water reflecting in his eyes.
She’s willing to believe it, tonight, to let herself become devout; to have faith in him,if she believes in nothing else.
On the Wings of the Ten – Where there is pain, there is healing. In the darkness, there’s always a crack. That’s how the light gets in. A story about flying, falling, and letting go.
Chapter Summary: Aloy and Kotallo travel back to the Grove, where choices must be made.
(If you want to support me by buying me a coffee, I do have a KoFi page❤️)
Night is falling by the time they head for shelter.
They do so wrapped in silence, as they have been since Aloy agreed to take him back to the Grove. Her last spoken words were about them leaving at dawn and needing to find a place to rest for the night.
She’d then grabbed their supplies from the Sunwing before releasing it to the sky, starting a brisk walk through the trees. Kotallo followed, her Focus blinking in the growing darkness as she scanned their surroundings, the distance between them more than physical.
Even with his pain and discomfort warping his perception, he senses the emotions she’s exuding as she walks ahead of him. She’s agreed to fly him back, but she is not pleased about it—not that he blames her. He is not pleased about any of it, even though he made the request.
His resolve is stronger than it was when he first thought about it, though, most definitely intending on surviving the trial. He needs to see it through, even if it might mean losing her. This prospect is excruciating, but it is above all else…inevitable.
It would be for the best.
Having yet to put his own Focus back on, Kotallo has no idea where she’s leading them, following her blindly, until they reach the ruins of an Old World building. He does not get involved as Aloy scrambles through the place with her pullcaster, moving and shuffling things around until she unearths an entrance that opens up on stairs that plunge into the ground.
She goes in without a look back to check if he’s still following her.
On the Wings of the Ten – It starts with Sunwing rides, and evolves into much more. Where there is pain, there is healing. In the darkness, there’s always a crack. That’s how the light gets in. A story about flying, falling, and letting go.
Chapter Summary: Aloy and Kotallo travel back to the Grove, where choices must be made.
(If you want to support me by buying me a coffee, I do have a KoFi page❤️)
Night is falling by the time they head for shelter.
They do so wrapped in silence, as they have been since Aloy agreed to take him back to the Grove. Her last spoken words were about them leaving at dawn and needing to find a place to rest for the night.
She’d then grabbed their supplies from the Sunwing before releasing it to the sky, starting a brisk walk through the trees. Kotallo followed, her Focus blinking in the growing darkness as she scanned their surroundings, the distance between them more than physical.
Even with his pain and discomfort warping his perception, he senses the emotions she’s exuding as she walks ahead of him. She’s agreed to fly him back, but she is not pleased about it—not that he blames her. He is not pleased about any of it, even though he made the request.
His resolve is stronger than it was when he first thought about it, though, most definitely intending on surviving the trial. He needs to see it through, even if it might mean losing her. This prospect is excruciating, but it is above all else…inevitable.
It would be for the best.
Having yet to put his own Focus back on, Kotallo has no idea where she’s leading them, following her blindly, until they reach the ruins of an Old World building. He does not get involved as Aloy scrambles through the place with her pullcaster, moving and shuffling things around until she unearths an entrance that opens up on stairs that plunge into the ground.
She goes in without a look back to check if he’s still following her.
In honour of @elialys beautiful fic On The Wings of the Ten reaching a big kudos milestone, (so proud!! you deserve it) here is a sketch of one of my favourite scenes.
If you’re a Kotaloy fan, (or even if you aren’t, tbh) and you haven’t read this fic yet, you’re absolutely missing out! ;3
She’s quite aware of his presence against her, too, her senses heightened by the battle they just fought. She tries not to let it take over, tries to focus on her breathing as she leans heavily upon the fallen machine…but Kotallo’s breath is heavy, too, just as ragged, and it rushes in and out, so close to her ear.
She’s well acquainted with how fast this man can move, as proven many times in the last few minutes. Which means that he’s choosingto remain where he is, his hand still gripping the handle of his blade, pinned to her back, breathing against her skin, a thought that makes her shiver as much as the sheer feel of him.
She doesn’t consciously start leaning back, but she doesn’t stop herself either when she realizes she’s doing it, seeking more of him. She’s rewarded when his breath shifts, much closer to her neck. When warm air from his lungs pools upon her skin, the ensuing shiver that shoots down her spine is electric, her insides stirring, just like the other night when he’d held on to her and drank from her lips.
Fair warning my lovelies, the next couple chapters of “On the Wings of the Ten” will be angst!heavy. Personally I don’t think it’s terrible angst compared to some of the really horrible stuff I’ve written in the last two decades (and I mean horrible,my fellow fringies will remember), but I realize this fandom is new and angst has not been the main focus (I see you, E rated stories ).
You can trust me with your feels though. I do angst that goes hand in hand with character growth and people understanding each other better on the other side of it. Also, SOFTNESS in the aftermath of hurt and angst is the best softness and I will die on that hill.
But I do love the shit out of writing angst and I’m gonna press where it hurts
He surveys the men in front of him, hardly more than boys, purposefully adopting a slow, unyielding pacing as he stares them down. They are three, and he is one. Six hands. Three spears.
Still, he believes he has the advantage.
They are young. They have strength, and all of their limbs, but they do not have his years of training and fighting, their bodies still bearing the looks of children not yet done growing into adulthood.
For as much as he has been detaching himself from his own self of late, Kotallo is fully present now, aware of every one of his muscles and bones, of every strain and every ache and every woosh of blood against his ears.
One of the reasons why he’s remained a capable fighter in the aftermath of his loss is because he has always been the weapon.
A sword with a chip in its blade will still cut deep when wielded the right way.
Her fingers have grown numb from her tedious task, but she doesn’t let it slow her down. She’s so close to being done restoring her Sunwing, she doubts anything can stop her—save maybe a surprise attack.
Even then, the man standing guard only a few meters behind her would do best not to let it distract her.
Aloy had told him he didn’t have to be there, insisting that it would be long and boring, but Kotallo could not be swayed, merely shaking his head. As expected, his presence and her awareness of his gaze was somewhat distracting at first, until she got so lost in her repairs that little else mattered.
She never forgot that he was there, though.
Her muscles protest when she finally gets off the ground after at least a couple of hours spent working on the underside of the machine. She’d extracted a total of eleven bullets from its inside, all of which would have perforated her flesh, had the Sunwing not taken the brunt of the attack for her.
She wipes her hands on her trousers as she takes a step back to look at her handiwork. Considering what little she’d had to work with, it isn’t half bad, enough to get them back East to their base within a couple of days, where she would be able to do this properly.
“Moment of truth,” she announces, trying to sound jovial as she looks behind her at where she knows Kotallo to be standing.
