A/N: THIS DOES CONTAIN SPOILERS. I finished Zero Dawn a few days ago and found it nothing short of beautiful and amazing and wanted to write my own twist. This is assumes that Aloy never actually went to Sobek's home and found her body there. I always wanted the two of them to meet so I decided to write it myself. That's what FF is for, hey? :)

Aloy sat on the cliff side of Mother's Watch, her knees huddled to her chest as she watched the morning sunrise take flight over the horizon. The sky spilled into a multitude of colors as the warmth of the sun fell gently across her face and the cool mist of freshly fallen snow was carried up in a soft wind that soothed her skin from the heat.

All Mother's temple lay shrouded below her for she had climbed higher than normal simply wanting to escape the confines for a few hours and the pesterings of her tribe that so desperately sought her forgiveness for...well, everything; Lansra more than anyone. She didn't want this. She didn't want to be this "Anointed" character that was met with bows and praise and cries of exultation everywhere she went. She hated it, all of it.

These same people shunned her ever since she was born, refusing to even acknowledge her existence let alone make eye contact with her. And god forbid one of them actually speak to her. Rost was her only family. He was all she needed. And now he was gone too. She found hypocrisy to be extremely inundating but through her travels she met plenty of people who suffered from it. But this, all of this, was too much. And it made her angry.

It had been nearly a week since the destruction of Hades. She felt...lost, now. Ever since Rost was killed she had a goal of avenging his death, finding Helis, which turned into something far larger and more important than she ever dreamed possible: saving the world. Again. But it was a goal, wrapped into several mini-goals along her path to finding the secrets of Gaia to discovering the knowledge of Elisabet Sobek to learning the downfall of the old ones thanks to Ted Faro and his corporation to finding her own roots of creation. Everywhere she went, there was always something new she found, something new to accomplish or figure out or someone new to help. Now? Now there was just...nothing.

As a seeker she trekked across the entire state seeing lands and machines that did more than just take her breath away. She stopped the destruction of the planet, she destroyed Hades, she saved Meridian, she managed to keep all of her friends alive in the process. She then returned to Mother's Rise and was forever revered as The Anointed often seeking council with the Matriachs who deferred to her for everything. And now here she was, sitting way out of reach of all of them.

There was still one thing that constantly ate away at her mind, one she found silly but altogether refused to ignore. Elisabet Sobek. She saw the holo-vid, how she walked out into the scorching, machine infested Earth and sacrificed her life so the entire world could live. But a part of Aloy's nagging mind refused to believe that she actually died that day. She was too smart for that. And Aloy wanted to find her. Sylens be damned, she believed Elisabet was still alive and she was the closest thing to a mother Aloy had. She had herself a new goal.

She closed her eyes and sighed laying on her back as she watched the morning clouds roll by. A scrambling to her left caused her ears to prick on alert but didn't turn to see who it was that was climbing up to her and interrupting her brief moment of solitude. The figure slumped clumsily down beside her and laid back on his elbows.

"Hiding in plain sight so they won't find you?"

Aloy looked over to see Varl smirking down at her.

"Oh, you know me. Hide in the last place people will think to look. Plus if I climb high enough the matriarchs can't reach me."

He let out a small chuckle.

"They look up to you, you know" he said gently

"They were throwing things at me and ready to shun me a month ago."

"They fear what they don't understand which...is pretty much anything new. But you're turning that around. You're shedding off these old ways and traditions that really needed to change and people are actually listening to you and agreeing with you. You could make some serious headway if you keep it up."

"And what do you think of all this?"

"Personally? I think it's refreshing. Change isn't always bad."

"At least you stopped bowing at me."

"That's why you're so perfect for this, Aloy. You don't want all this power when you have no idea how much you really have. You're humble and that's something this tribe desperately needs."

"No pressure" she huffed.

"Look on the bright side, at least Lansra is terrified of you now. She bows every time you walk past her, afraid you're gonna smite her."

"Yeah...I'd by lying if I didn't find that a little satisfying" she replied, a guilty grin playing across her face.

"Have to say though, I'm surprised you didn't climb higher. Don't get me wrong, getting up here was a pain in the ass but you're Aloy the swift and nimble who can calm machines with her mind and shoot an arrow in half. This is sub par for you."

"Oh, is that what they're saying about me now?"

"They also claim you can sing a Thunderjaw to sleep and surf a Snapmaw's back down a waterfall."

Aloy rolled her eyes.

"Wait, are you telling me those things about you aren't true? Think of the children, Aloy."

She smacked him playfully on the shoulder and he pretended to look hurt.

They sat in silence for a few minutes simply staring out over the horizon before Aloy looked up and quietly said: "I just like the view from here."

Varl looked over at her realizing her face had become crestfallen. She was hard to read sometimes but Varl liked to think he almost had her figured out. Almost.

"You really miss him, don't you?" he asked softly.

"Everyday. I think about what he'd say if he could see me now. If he'd be proud or...betrayed. I don't know."

"Why do you think he'd feel betrayed?"

"Because I'm practically a sovereign of the very tribe that outcast him for trying to avenge his family."

"I didn't know him but he did a great job of raising you. You saved the world, Aloy. Not many parents can boast that of their kid. My mom would give me a slap on the back and say 'praise be to All Mother for assisting you' and that'd be it. He'd be more than proud, I know it."

"Except he wasn't my dad, not really. He raised me, taught me everything I know but if you look at blood-"

"Blood doesn't make someone you're family."

"I was made from a machine, Varl" she said, looking at him with saddened eyes.

He inched closer and let his arm drape over her shoulder.

"That doesn't make you any less human" he said gently, "It just makes you...you."

"I don't feel human. I didn't have a mother who raised me like you did or even any semblance of one. I was planted in some metal embryo and dropped out like a robot. I just wish there was someone I could be traced to, someone I could physically see and feel."

"What about Elisabet Sobek?"

"She died."

"But you don't believe that."

She looked at him surprised, like he could read her thoughts. He really was getting better at this.

Varl was her closest friend. He knew everything; Elisabet, Aloy's origins, how humanity was almost destroyed the first time. He even knew about Gaia. Aloy created her in a sense. She was made to finish was Elisabet had started and she was the only who could. Telling the rest of her tribe this would destroy them, however. There was nothing above All Mother and no one created All Mother. All Mother was just...All Mother. There was no questioning it. And as angry as she was at them for some things she could never just shatter their belief system like that. All Mother gave them hope, gave them a reason for living and fighting and for doing practically anything and everything. Aloy couldn't take that from them.

Varl had come to her a few days after the battle. He had had some doubts. He simply asked if there actually was an All Mother. Aloy had told him there was if he wanted there to be. But that didn't satisfy him so she told him the truth. He was taken aback at first and then just looked...sad, disappointed. But he believed her. All Mother wasn't as complex as he originally was brought up to believe but she still gave life to everything on the planet, including himself in a way and that made him feel somewhat better.

It was refreshing for someone else to know all this information. Aloy was eternally grateful for his friendship.

"I have hunch" Aloy relented.

"Tell me" he said excitedly.

"You know she walked out from Elysium and all the alphas in the room believed she had died?"

He nodded for her to continue.

"I don't think she did. I think she found a way to survive. Maybe she had another bunker or she never actually went outside and only wanted them to think she did. I think she's still alive. She found a way to stop an endless hoard of machines from destroying the planet, she could have easily found a way to preserve her life too. She was a genius, that would be child's play."

"But where do you think she would have gone?"

"I'm not sure."

"What was that thing you told me about once? How the old ones could freeze themselves and stay alive but...not?"

"Cryogenics?"

She had only heard the term once, she was surprised she still remembered it.

"Yeah. Maybe she did that. Uhh...how do you do that?"

"I'm guessing she was put into some sort of metal embryo like I was born in and...frozen somehow without being able to melt. She would have to be sealed in pretty tight. The question is, where do you go for something like that?"

"She was pretty close to All Mo-...Gaia" he corrected himself, "Maybe it was somewhere near her. Maybe Gaia was the one who monitored everything and made sure she was okay."

"But I've been there. I've been in her office, I've talked to Gaia. She wasn't there."

"She had to have gone somewhere no one would think to find her. So where's the last place you hide where no one will think to find you?"

Aloy paused and then looked him incredulously, "In plain sight."

"What say we go take a second look at that mountain?"

"It's a pretty hard climb" she mused.

"Pfft, don't insult me, Aloy" he grinned, "The real challenge is gonna be getting out of here without being seen."

"I thought Sona put you on guard duty for the week?"

"Oh, she'll most definitely try to murder me if and when she catches me buuuut...this is a little more important in my opinion. Uh, that is if you actually want company. I know you're used to doing these things on your own" he said, nervously placing a hand on the back of his neck.

"No, I want you to come. Maybe you'll see something I missed the first time. Plus singing to Thunderjaws is really tiring when I'm the only one doing it. Strains my voice, you know."

He laughed and answered casually, "well then lets go, can't keep them waiting."

They managed to make it halfway down the outcropping before diving into a flood of bushes as they waited for the matriarchs to enter the sacred mountain.

"Do I look alright? Am-am I wearing too many beads, is that allowed? Will the Anointed forgive me for bumping into her this morning...Oh All Mother I hope I didn't bruise her! she shrieked.

"Hush, Lansra" Teersa jeered, "You're giving me a headache" the old woman groaned, rubbing her temples as her sister matriarch fell to her knees for the twentieth time that day to ask All Mother to ask The Anointed to please have mercy on her.

Teersa dragged her up and into the mountain much to the old woman's protests who kept pleading to the heavens to not smite her for entering.

From the bushes Varl covered his mouth to stifle a laugh while Aloy pinched her nose in annoyance and shook her head.

He touched her arm and pointed out of the foliage indicating that their path, for the moment, was clear. They crouched behind a pair of tents, Varl leaning carefully around one side and then motioning for her to follow. He looked to the guard tower and noticed his mother standing resolutely at watch like a statue, a very deadly statue that he was sure was probably getting more than annoyed at his absence. He was supposed to have checked in ten minutes ago. Sona had upgraded. She still carried a bow but she decided that a sword made from the entrails of a Deathbringer was was not only a suitable war trophy but also a suitable weapon that made her look twice as fierce and ten times as intimidating. She kept it slung across her back for the most part but now she was twirling it in her hand.

Varl gulped and kept moving.

"You don't have to do this. I don't want to get you in trouble" Aloy whispered, following his gaze.

"This is way more fun" he smiled, "besides, she can't do too much. I'm accompanying The Anointed after all."

"Good point. If she murders you, I'll have to smite her. She scares me so I'll have to do it in her sleep."

"You, the all powerful Aloy afraid of the little ol' war-chief?" he grinned.

"She does this thing with her eyes. If looks could kill I'd be dead ten times over now."

"I know that look. That look froze me while I was taking a piss once and then it froze my piss."

"Do I-?

"Nope, probably not. I missed guard duty check in by a minute that's all you need to know."

Aloy shook her head in bewilderment before continuing forward. She could see the entrance gate in plain sight, it was only twenty steps away at most. It probably would have been easier to just tell her tribe that she was going on a journey for a few days and wasn't sure when she'd be back and was taking Varl along because she needed his help but a part of her still wasn't used to that form of regalia and she much preferred to be in her own element which was not only the hard way but the sneaky way. Varl didn't complain, he was the same way. They were hunters after all, sneaking was practically in their blood.

Rather than heading straight through the exit the two of them clambered over the side of the wall in the far corner of the village where no one could see and once they were both over and in the clear they shot off like whizzing arrows and headed toward Gaia Prime not even once looking back.