Have you ever had one of those days where everything goes wrong and you like saying "screw you guys! I'm taking my ball and going home!" Yeah that was my day. First we got stuck on water hauling duty because Wuyi just HAD to test her grain-a-pult...and instead of it tossing it OVER the water it tossed it IN the water. So while we rested on the big hill some of the others spotted two things. First there was smoke coming from the way past the village, then Rhia spotted a dead body by tree line of the forest we aren't supposed to enter. After a short discussion we decided to go to the forest...after all we've been told not to.
The body was one of the villagers but it was a tad hard to tell who due to the fact he seemed to be suffering from lack-of-face syndrome...it's common among those that have had their faces gnawed off. We plunged into the forest to find out what did this. That place is seriously creepy...the leaves that fell turned from rich healthy to green, to gold, to withered. It was like watching the seasons pass as they fell. And the trees them self twisted in some sort of sick embrace.
We figured we weren't sure of where to go and once again Rhia spotted the tracks and blood before me...I was really getting pissed at missing this stuff, I'm used to be the hunter after all. Kelly seemed to get scared and I couldn't help but snicker. This was exhilarating, the most exciting thing to happen since whatever event took our memories from us. As I looked about one of the things that struck me though was the lack of animals. The forest should be teeming with them. After more discussion we went on.
Eventually we entered a clearing that looked like it was once a campsite...that had blood and bits of flesh strewn about. The smell was horrid and as I walked around I found sets of human tracks, and sets of goblin-ish tracks, like the ones in the stories...and the flesh was human. The goblin like tracks though had no entrance or exit from the area and my eyes immediately stared scanning the trees. Little grey skinned, green eyed creatures were in the trees around us and they spoke " Yoooouuuu are not to be harmed. Yooouuuu are safe from us. Yoooouuu shall not be gobbled up. Yoooouuu obey the ancient treaties and shall pass these woods. Nooooobody else." Wuyi asked what that meant and got a response "Weeeee are the ones that keep the borders, and gobble up any who stray from the valley of the righteous. Weeeee enjoy your delicious bones, succulent marrow, and weeee have answered one of your three questions. Aassssss the old treaties demand." And that's when people's brains seemed to shut down because Wuyi and Kelly both asked a question to the group. I shouted for them to stop, which got me the inevitable "Why?" and explained you don't know what questions they will answer and charge us for...and just as I finished saying that we heard them snigger at us and say "Yoooouuu should ask us why your village is lying to you these past few months. Why? Beeecauuussseee the treaty is compromised by your lack of knowledge. That is why.... HehehahAHAHAHAhaahaha... THOSE ARE YOUR THREE ANSWERS!" I cursed and just glared at the girls and we heard the creatures leave. At this point we decided to go back home and get some answers.
When we arrived Joshua the Elder was talking to a young boy. Wuyi, in her usual bravado, strode up to Joshua, ignoring the crowd, and proclaimed we had questions. Ben and I brought our buckets to the water trough and went to stand with her. Wuyi asked who the boy was and Joshua explained he came running to our village claiming his own was attacked by dark creatures. Wuyi kept pressing it and then started talking about what we saw. I looked around and saw the growing fear and horror on everyones faces. It seemed to me Joshua was telling the truth that he didn't know about a treaty or what we were talking about, besides our info came from monsters. Wuyi would have none of it though and jabbed a finger in his chest demanding the truth. It was a good thing Rhia grabbed her and pulled her back cause I was close to socking her then. It's one thing to grandstand in front of everyone accusing the village Elder of lying, it's another to lay hands on him. Joshua suggested we go to his home to discuss it and we finally got Wuyi to agree.
Once inside Joshua told us he had found books. Books we had all once owned. He had told three people about them before and they went off into the woods...apparently to be eaten. He said the books had to be fiction and then finally seemed to hear that we had been in the woods and allowed to pass. He dug something out of the couch he sat on, which turned out to be a leather bound book. I felt drawn to it and reached out, taking it from him and flipping through it. It told of a group of six fighting an ancient evil to a standstill, only triumphing by surrendering that which granted them power. The power couldn't be destroyed but was locked in a twisted forest with immortal guardians set over it till the end of time. As I fingered the leather I became more sure that it was made of human skins. Joshua laid out a map, also made of human skin, and showed us where to go. He begged us not to but we all felt a pull to go find out. I think deep down we all knew it was us, but we didn't really feel like voicing it.
So back to the forest we went, keeping mostly to ourselves as we traveled. We reached the ruins marked on the map that was said to hold the answers and the door had a knocker on it that Wuyi just couldn't resist knocking before we could check it out. The drawings on this place seemed so familiar to me it was uncanny...they felt...right, and I couldn't take my eyes off them. One of the drawings on the door came to life and asked who disturbed him. Wuyi answered and he said it was known to him; then asked why we were seeking entrance to the tomb that had been sealed for countless ages. We answered and he replied with a warning about the power within and required a test of wits to get in....what must you add to a bucket of water to make it lighter? We all answered 'hole' and that's what he gave us. The door shattered throwing stone and dust on us. A large chunk hit my face and cut it open and the others seemed to get various cuts and bruises too...except Rhia how somehow managed to avoid it all, not even the dust got on her.
We went in and Rhia clicked on a flashlight to reveal stairs leading down. A faint gust of wind burst up every so often. Her flashlight revealed a green fungus growing on the walls that when the light hit, it would release spores into the air...that make you fall asleep. I passed out and woke up in Wuyi's arms. I pulled out my bandanna and covered my mouth only to hear Kelly screaming. Rhia threw water on her to wake her and it started to bubble and burn her skin. After wiping it off we dashed down the stairs into a room full of the fungus and a wall of water. As we went through all of us but Rhia got a scalding on our skin. It burned like hell for what seemed like an eternity but was only seconds. In this room was six holes glowing with a different color, and a woman in a pool of water. After more discussion we each chose a color and reached in. There was a power that shot through my body like pure ecstasy but it was fleeting and it faded to a dull roar within seconds and I felt an emptiness at that. Suddenly I remembered meeting my father, Huitzilopochtili and him telling me of my new powers...and my duty...so much blood I spilled and so much more still needed. The lights died and the room was pitch black and I couldn't see anything. Rupper apparently could because he came over and helped me get out...cause the place was collapsing on top of us. When we reached the stairs I passed out again (WHAT THE HELL) and awoke in Rupper's arms as a rock hit me.
We all made it out, someone had grabbed the woman from the pool, and checked everyone over. The woman didn't know who she was at first (been there honey) or how she got there. She seemed to at least remember a name though, Kathy Taaleo.
When the day started I never thought it would end with me turning out to be a child of a god, let alone an Aztec god but it all felt right and I was ok with what I did, what I needed to do. If I failed in my duty I would be putting the rest of the world in jeopardy. Now I knew what my little obsideon knife was for...and now I knew Cal was so much more than an eagle...he was me.
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