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Chapter Text

Erend loved his sleep inertia. It was his time to relive his dreams. His nights were once so often plagued with hellish nightmares about battles fought or friends and family lost. Ever since he’d joined up with Aloy and the others, he’d been sleeping like a long forgotten forge, solid and silent. His nightmares were quickly replaced with dreams of Firegleam and Greenshine. He used to block out the dreams, not wanting to fuel a fire that could never really be fed. He’s not proud of it but the dreams were starting to become the only time he really felt alive. As it turns out, he wasn’t just forged for the hammer or forged for the fight. Each dream felt like another step into a Cauldron. He’s searching for answers with each step and last night’s step showed him the truth: He was forged for her.

In the grogginess of the morning, the time between wakefulness and sleep, he reviews the dream he’s coming out of. Last night’s vision was especially beautiful. She had come back to him.

He had been in his usual spot looking out over the vast desert surrounding Hidden Ember. After waiting as long as he felt he could, he finally resolved to leave her a message and then head out to the Claim. If he was honest with himself, he wanted nothing more than to beg her to come with him. His hammer and her spear could convince a lot of Oseram to join the cause after all. As he was putting the finishing touches on his note for her, his heart sped up as his subconscious processed the sound of her arrival before his brain had time to put the pieces together. The Sunwing set down on its usual perch and he stood his ground in shock. As she walked up to him with the brightest smile on her face, he was overcome with the idea that this was a dream inside of a dream.

“Erend,” she said with a relieved sigh. “It’s been too long. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to catch up as often as I had been. The Burning Shores proved to be an unexpected challenge.” Her eyes trained in on his and she casually placed her hand on his bicep. This is when Erend lost all ability to think. “I desperately need to wash up. Can I use your place? Maybe we could grab some food after and catch up? That is if you can spare a minute or two.” Her wink while referencing their promise nearly undid him.

“Sure! Ummm yeah! My place is uh over this way. It’s there. Yeah… time, I um, I have it. Sounds good. Yeah.” Had he completely forgotten how to speak? He reminded himself to get it together. Just because she touched him, doesn’t mean anything had changed. Right?

“Okay. Great!” Aloy gently pushed on his shoulder to get him to turn around and start heading toward his place. “So what’s new around here?”

“Basically the same old things. Boomer got herself into some…” He froze. She moved on until the tether she had created pulled her back. He stood stark still staring down at someone else’s hand. It surely wasn’t his hand that she had grabbed onto as casually as if their hands were always connected. Then again this was his dream. She could grab his hand anytime she wanted in the safety of this dream bubble.

“Oh! I’m sorry.” She pulled at her hand to remove it from his but his hand clenched harder so she couldn’t. “Is this okay?”

“Um yeah! Yes.” He softened his startled gaze so she would be more reassured. “Yes, it is. Of course it is.”

“Good.” Her shoulders dropped from the tensed position they had been holding and her green eyes met his blue. “I really missed you Erend.”

He couldn’t help himself at that point. He wrapped her in a full body hug. “I missed you too.” He began to pull away so as to not push his luck and was further shocked as she pulled him closer into a tighter hug. He didn’t have to be asked to stay in her arms. He’d take all he could get.

He could barely hear her as she pressed her face into his shoulder and whispered. ”I missed you so much. Sometimes it scares me.”

His brain went numb. She had never been this touchy with him before. He realized just how thankful he was for that. If she had been this way with him before, there would have been no way he would have been able to maintain his friendship facade with her. The slight pressure of her in his arms was draining all the blood from his body. They may as well have been floating amongst the stars. Was she actually leaning deeper into him now? What kind of sweet torture was this?

“Erend?”

“Huh?” Forge and fire! Had she asked him something?

“Which way is your place?”

“Oh right. Umm yeah. This way.”

As they walked into his apartment, he scrambled to get her the things she would need for her bath and she began stripping off her mud clad armor.

He cleared his throat. “Well um there’s the soap and the cloths you’ll need. We were able to rig up a heated water pump so you’ll be nice and comfortable. I’ll just run out and grab us something to eat. Take your time and I’ll be back soon.”

She reached up, placing her hand on his chest, and hit him with her full attentive stare. She seemed… nervous? He certainly was. Why was she touching him so much? He didn’t dare let his heart answer that question.

“Thanks, Erend. I knew I could count on you. I really needed a break.”

He grabbed her hand in both of his. “Anytime Aloy. You know, Stemmur has been working on a new light show. I think he said he’d be doing a run through of it tonight. Do you want to watch it,” he gulped, gathered his courage, looked her in the eyes, “with me?”

“Of course! That sounds like just what I need.”

He beamed. “Well then I’ll let you get to it and I’ll be back with dinner soon.”

“Perfect.”

Sitting side by side on his private balcony later with Aloy, his mind was racing. Was this a date? Had he been clear enough about what he was asking her? Did she like the food he had chosen for them? Why did she keep looking over at him? He knew why he kept looking over at her. The colorful lights of Stemmur’s show cascaded over her features in the most appealing way. As much as he tried to be amazed by the light show, it was nothing compared to its effect on her.

She set her plate down and leaned her head onto his shoulder. ”I think we over ordered, Erend. There is no way I could eat any more!”

He chuckled. “I guess we’ll have to hang out here until we get hungry again then.” Oh if only she would spare that kind of time for him.

“Alright. Let’s do it.”

“But don’t you have somewhere to be?” She sat up straight to look into his eyes. Did she look disappointed? Why would that be? “I mean it’s just that you usually don’t stay for very long when you visit. I guess I’ve gotten used to it.”

“There is a lot to be done still but…” she reached out and took his hand. “I owe you a minute or two.”

This dream was easily shaping up to be his favorite. He knew he would play this on repeat for months especially during his long night watches. When had she gotten so physical? He pressed his luck and turned his hand over to take hold of hers and she responded with another smile. Was she blushing too? If only, he hoped.

He cleared his throat. “Speaking of your time away… What did you learn while you were out on the Burning Shores? Any new machines I’ve got to prepare for?”

Aloy shifted in her seat and looked around the balcony. Had he said something wrong?

“Sorry, Aloy. You don’t have to tell me if you…”

“No! Erend, I want to talk about it but I don’t really know where to start.”

Chapter Text

“I feel like Burning Shores was a life changing experience for me. It really got me thinking deeply about what’s important. I guess I’ve never really felt free to think about that before. I’ve always been driven toward my purpose, a purpose that I didn’t choose for myself you know?” She braced as if ready to deliver bad news. “I met someone there.”

There it was. His heart dropped. She had been trying to connect with him through small physical touches so she could comfort him as she let him down softly. He pulled his hand away from hers. He tried to rub the rejection off of his hands as he clasped them between his knees and slunk into a defeated position. He couldn’t look at her so he chose to stare at a chipped tile on his floor. This dream was quickly turning into a nightmare.

“They didn’t know anything about me. They didn’t know me as a Savior or as an Anointed one or anything really. They just saw what they saw before them and they told me they had feelings for me.” He felt those words like her spear through his heart. “It was freeing but it shocked me more than anything. I realized I could never return their feelings. I didn’t know anything about them and I didn’t want to get to know them in that way.”

Wait? What?

“It did get me thinking about who I could see myself being with though.” She took his hand in hers again and softly grabbed his chin to force him to look at her. “I had always thought that there would be more time to think about those kinds of things after we fought at the Spire but then there was the search for Gaia and now there’s even more to prepare and to fight for. I realized I can’t waste my time anymore waiting for peace that may never come. I’m sick of waiting for my circumstances to change so I can live my life.”

“What kind of life do you want to live then?”

“I still want to fulfill my purpose. I still want to work on Gaia and fight against Nemesis. I just don’t want to do it alone anymore.”

“But you’re not alone, Aloy. You have so many people ready to fight right by your side.”

“I know that but I want… more.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

The hand on his chin gently prodded his face into motion. Inch by inch the space between them closed until they were a whisper’s distance apart; lips ghosting over each other.

“I want you and I need you,” she whispered as she closed the final distance.

The dam burst open. His hands tangled into her hair, traveled down her back, pulled her into him. Her hands tangled in his hair, traveled over his arms, pulled him into her. Their lungs screamed for air by the time they broke apart. Foreheads touching, arms still tangled around each other, gasping for breath.

“Is this really happening?” Even in a dream, he couldn’t believe it. She blinded him with the biggest smile he’d ever seen on her face. He couldn’t believe he had been the one to put it there.

“I can’t run from this anymore,” she breathlessly admitted. “Can you?”

“I’ve never been able to.” Erend grabbed both sides of her beautiful face so she would understand the seriousness of his confession. “Aloy, I need you to know I’m all in. I believe I have been since the day I met you.”

She sucked in a deep breath. “Remember when I saw you in Meridian after I had spent all that time in the Banuk lands?”

“Yeah. How could I forget? You were just made a great Banuk chieftain,” he mocked. As expected, that earned him a punch to the shoulder and they laughed together at the familiarity of the joke.

“Well you remember how I said that I had lost a lot of my gear when a bad storm blew in and it left me trapped in the winter wilderness for days until I was able to make my way out to Meridian to re-supply and thaw out?”

“Of course! You spent days in Meridian waiting for the merchants to get your new gear in order. It was the best week of my life. I think about it all the time. You were really frustrated with those poor merchants and…”

“I lied,” she interrupted.

“What?”

“I lied. I never lost any of my gear. I just couldn’t wait another day without being near you. I guess that was when you could say it all started for me.” His heart soared higher than any Stormbird had ever dared to fly. He reached for both of her hands in his. “I had started to feel things I had never felt before. I couldn’t get you out of my mind. Everything I saw reminded me of you and I just felt this incredible pull to be near you. I didn’t really know why at the time but I couldn’t ignore the pull so I made up the story and bought myself some time with you.” She began absentmindedly drawing circles in his palms as she continued. “Talanah helped me realize what I was feeling. I wasn’t ready to do anything about it though so I thought if I put some time and distance between us, I’d be able to manage the feelings better. That didn’t work. They only grew stronger and stronger and then there was Varl and Zo. I wanted what they had.” A familiar sadness washed over them. “I can’t go one day without thinking about you. Burning Shores almost broke me. I missed you constantly. With every new challenge I faced, I just kept thinking how much better I am when I’m with you. I need you, Erend.”

He thought of the note he wrote for her and smiled. “Whenever you need me, you got me. Just say the word and I’m there.”

She stood up and offered her hand to him. “Follow me now then.”

He took her hand and he did.

Chapter Text

Erend knew following Aloy would not be easy but he didn’t think he’d have to face his fears this soon. The Sunwing!? Really?

He had always been struck in awe every time he had seen her mastering the machine but never had he ever wished to ride the fire blasting thing! The only appeal the machine held was the size of its saddle; close quarters with Aloy were what his dreams were made of after all. He guessed that in this dream, he was going to be particularly adventurous. What was the worst that could happen? Oh that’s right— his Oseram bulk would pull him from the skies just to prove he was better suited on the ground.

Aloy had already mounted and was doing her pre-flight checks he assumed. He stood, gathering courage. “You can sit right behind me, Erend.” She finally turned to him, noting his trepidation. “It’s perfectly safe. I’ve got you.”

That was all he needed. If anyone could convince him to get on a Sunwing with one sentence it was her and it was that sentence. “Alright but don’t be surprised when she refuses to take off. I think even Sunwings know the Oseram weren’t meant for the skies.”

Aloy giggled. “You’ll be just fine.”

As Erend settled in with his hands pressed firmly on Aloy’s waist, she began lift off.

“Woah! I know I said that I’d follow you anywhere but am I allowed to” he shifted closer into her, gripping tighter and tighter, “ask where we’re going?”

“I thought that was pretty obvious Erend.”

He flinched as altitude was reached and the Sunwing pitched forward to level out and begin it’s journey. “Oh! Woah, woah woah!” He was very well near panic. “Not to me!”

“The sky, Erend. We’re going into the sky.”

“Oh good. Good. A clear destination. Great.”

“I’m sorry Erend.”

“For what?”

“This!” She spun him right into a barrel roll.

Erend didn’t know what to feel. Every fiber of his being was standing completely on edge. He was electrically charged which really confused him since as far as he knew only Stormbirds could do that. If Aldur or Joruf had pulled this stunt with him, they would be washing out every outhouse between here and the Sundom. But with his arms around her, he could feel the excitement dancing off of her skin. Her whoops and hollers were some of the sweetest sounds he’d ever heard. She was free. That’s when he realized what this meant to her. She wanted to share this feeling with him. He knew what it was to face your fears; compartmentalize, analyze and redirect. Just like that, he only saw the wind in her hair and her body pressed into his. What a beautiful mess he’d gotten himself in.

“Erend?” she yelled over her shoulder as she brought the Sunwing to a halt, floating in midair.

“Yeah?”

“Could you hold here and here?” She guided his hands from off her to each side of the Sunwing. He didn’t like that as much.

“Um… sure.”

“Thanks.” She spun around in her seat completely catching him by surprise.

She steeled herself, taking a breath and then pulled her eyes to his. “I’ve often thought about bringing you up here with me. It’s one of my favorite places. I feel like up here I can be myself. It’s just me and my thoughts. It’s where I realized I wanted to do this. I’m so glad you agreed to come up here. With anyone else, it would have taken more convincing but that’s not really you is it? You’ve always been there for me. You were my first friend, the first one to see me. I love you Erend. If I’m honest with myself, I’ve been in love with you for a very long time. What if we gave it a try? No. Not a try. I don’t think either of us want that. Let’s not wait any longer. I want to be with you forever. What I’m trying to say is: Be mine so I may be yours?”

Shock coursed through his body. He had always thought he’d be the one saying those words to her. Of course he wanted to be forged to her for life! He went to reach for her forgetting where he was altogether and slipped right off the Sunwing.

Down, down, down his heavy armor pulled him. It was great for taking hits but this hit might not be one he could survive. Just when he’d given in to the idea that this was it for him, he caught a flash of red. Aloy seemed to move through the air as if she herself were the Sunwing.

This was it. This is how the dream would end. He’d wake up in his bunk in a panic and even worse: alone.

“Put your arms around me!”

He’d already been in the process of doing that as if holding her would hold both of them in this dream, in this beautiful timeline where he was being gifted everything.

The flash of blue stunned him then, pulling him as if being ripped from the sky; ripped from the dream. The panicked waking gasp never came. Erend floated down to the ground wrapped around his love.

Her worried fingers grabbed all over his body. “Are you okay? Did you hit anything? What happened?”

Why hadn’t he woken up yet? Big falls usually did the trick.

“Erend! You’re really worrying me! Come here.” With that she led him away by the arm. “We landed right next to a shelter. It’s just behind this waterfall here.”

“What do you need?” She yelled over the crashing of the waterfall once they had entered the shelter. “I’ve got almost everything hidden in this stash.”

“Aloy, I’m fine.”

She began frantically digging through her stash. “Are you nauseated?”

“I’m fine.”

“Bleeding? In pain?”

“Aloy!” He grabbed her arm and spun her to face him, finally waking from his shock. “What was that?” Her brow furrowed as he continued, “On the Sunwing? What did you say?”

“It’s fine Erend. I just got ahead of myself. We can just forget it happened. I thought you wanted to skip to the good part with me but we can take it slow. I’m happy either way.”

“No!” he grabbed her face in both hands. “Aloy, ask again. I wasn’t ready before. I am now though I promise.”

“Erend, you don’t have to—”

With the smile he reserved only for her plastered on his face he gently commanded, “ask again.”

“Be mine so that I may be yours?”

He presses his forehead to hers and lets out a big sigh. “So that is what you said? I hoped I hadn’t misheard you. I didn’t even know you knew the Oseram commitment vow.”

“Misheard me? You jumped off the Sunwing to get away from me!”

"No, I did not!”

“Erend, I was there. I know what I saw.”

“I was surprised and I didn’t think. I went to move toward you and I slipped.”

Laughter; that was all Erend could hear. Aloy was doubled over on herself laughing the hardest he’d ever seen her laugh. She coughed out, “You… slipped?” between a couple bursts of giggles.

“Well yeah. I’m not that well trained on Sunwings, you know?”

Then he was laughing and crying and reaching for her. As the laughter died down, they found themselves in each other’s arms staring softly into each other’s eyes.

“Ask again please.”

“A third time? I don’t know how much rejection a woman can take, Erend.” She said with a mischievous glint in her eye. “Be mine so that I may be yours?”

“I’m yours so that you may be mine.” With that, the commitment bond was forged and sealed with a soft kiss.

Chapter Text

“Erend?”

He would never get over how she looked post kiss. With her still in his arms (as if he would ever let her go again), he gracefully responded, “huh?”

“I’ve had my mind made up about this for quite some time now. I was just waiting to finish some things in the Burning Shores first. Otherwise, I would have been here much sooner. So,” she turned her determined look straight into his eyes, “where is the nearest ealdorman?”

Erend let out a deep chuckle. “I love that about you. You get right to the point whether it’s with words or with arrows.” He couldn’t help the movement of his flirty eyebrows when he next said, “Can’t wait to make an honest man out of me, eh?”

He was hit with Aloy’s signature eye roll. “Something like that.”

“Okay. Okay. I’ll make an honest woman of you tonight. If that’s what my betrothed wants, then that’s what she shall have!” Erend gestured wildly, pointed his finger to the sky to emphasize his silly tone.

“Tonight? Which ealdorman could possibly be that close?”

“Leave the details to me, love. I’m going to make a couple calls, get things arranged. Wait right here. Craft some more ammo. You did say you have plenty of supplies in your cache over there. Give me a few minutes.” With that, Erend smashed his lips excitedly to hers and left the shelter.

~~~

Erend wasn’t often proud of his culture. There certainly were some things some ealdorman needed to change. When it came to rallying around a new couple, however, the Oseram were a romantic force that couldn’t be stopped.

He was thankful he had run into newly appointed Ealdorman Petra just yesterday. She had come to Hidden Ember to discuss trade routes and he was able to supply her with a focus. This fortunate occurrence was the stuff dreams were made of. The recall that this was simply a dream should have made him sad but the chance to commit himself to Aloy in any way made him too giddy to dwell on what was real.

“Don’t you worry, my friend, by the time you two rabbits return, we’ll have the ceremony of the century ready!” Petra had assured him. “Do you have your crest design yet?”

“Actually, it’s on a scroll in the chest by my bed.”

“Well well well… How long has that been in there?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I guess there are perks to pining for your love for years.”

“Whatever Petra! Just do what you have to do. You know Aloy doesn’t like waiting around too much. I’d better get back to her. I’ll see you soon and Petra?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome and by the way, your sister would be very proud of your choices.” The Oseram weren’t known for flowery speech like that of the Carja so with that little encouragement, Petra clicked off her focus, not waiting for a reply.

~~~

As soon as the Sun Wing set down, the cheering began. All of Hidden Ember had been roused for the celebration. What Oseram would miss out on a party of this magnitude? Erend and Aloy were rushed to the tavern. The ceremony was loud and festive and after a wild night of dancing and fireworks, Erend took his wife home.

Chapter Text

Erend and Aloy barely made it back to his front door in Hidden Ember. After leaving their celebration, they could only make it about ten paces before being drawn into each other. Like one of Aloy’s arrows, they were drawn to their mark.

They stole kisses in this alleyway and whispered affections on that path. When they could no longer tolerate being in public, they sprinted for Erend’s apartment.

“I’ve never been so out of breath but I feel like I can finally breathe again!” Erend giggled as he struggled with the lock.

As soon as the door slammed behind them, the real fun began. Erend picked Aloy up and slammed her against the nearest wall, crushing her with his kisses. He was just beginning to strip his armor off when he felt something shift beneath his arms. He felt dizzy and incoherent and the Aloy he had been kissing disappeared from before him. Melting away as if it had all been a dream…

A dream! He really had been dreaming the whole thing!

He slowly began to wake up. He felt the sun streaming in from the nearby window. He heard the usual sounds of the market coming to life. He smelled the machine oil and earthy mixture that was Aloy. His eyes shot open.

How could he be smelling Aloy in his bed? He immediately recognized her wild, red hair splayed out on the pillow before him. It dawned on him that she had been what he had felt shift under his arm. He was currently snuggled up against her and that’s when it hit him. They were undressed.

For all his bulk, anyone would have been impressed by the speed in which he managed to extricate himself from the blankets and race to the opposing side of the room. This move, however, did not go unnoticed by the barely awake Aloy.

“Erend, where are you going?”

Panic overcame him. He grabbed the nearest scrap of fabric to cover himself with.

“Aloy! I’m so sorry! I don’t know what happened. I must have drank way more than I thought last night. I’m sure I offered you a safe place to rest up and somehow I must have forgotten that I’d given you my bed. I’m so so so sorry. I didn’t mean to get into the bed with you. It was an accident. Please forgive me. I don’t…”

“What are you talking about, husband? Is this how you always are in the morning?” she asked groggily.

“Husband!? Aloy, are you sick? Did you get injured in the Burning Shores?”

This reaction woke her right up. “Erend, have you completely forgotten the past couple of days?” As she turned in bed to speak with him, he swiftly averted his eyes to the ceiling. His blankets were not very concealing over her.

“Hmm?”

“What happened yesterday?”

“Yesterday? Yesterday, I…” he paused, gathering his thoughts. “I’m sorry, Aloy. I can’t seem to remember. The only thing coming to mind is the dream I had last night.”

“Well, what happened in this dream?”

Erend immediately full-body-blushed.

“Did we watch the light show together?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Did we fly on the Sunwing together?”

“Yes.”

“Did you fall off of it?”

“Yes.”

“Did I ask you to commit to me?”

“Yes.”

“Look at your wrist, Erend.” She rolled her eyes.

“What is this!?” He frantically rubbed at the marking on his wrist. With all his might, it would not budge.

“I don’t think that’s coming off anytime soon. At least, I hope not. I want to keep mine forever.”

“Yours!?”

“Yes, Erend.” She lifted her wrist to him where he could plainly see they had matching marks. She lightly touched her fingertips to her mark. “I still love that you designed our crest before we even came out east. You’re such a romantic.”

“Our crest… For our family… The crest we got marked on our wrists… Is this real? Do you know what this means?”

“Erend, quit messing around. It was funny at first but I’m cold now. If you really want me to convince you, get back over here and I’ll show you just what I mean,” she said with a wicked smile.

“You don’t have to ask me twice!” He jumped back into the bed.

As they began to snuggle again, Erend breathed out, “mmm, this feels like home.”

“Ouch! What was that for?”

“Sorry, Aloy, I was just checking something.” He pulled his pinchy fingers back and was finally able to rest in tranquility.