The Aztec Clan
By Inspirationbynight
Disclaimer: I don't own Demona, who is one of the stars in this fic *gasp*. I don't own Gargoyles either.
Author's Note: Ok, please bear with me. This fic is #7. It takes place two weeks after Reunions…and Valentines (#5) and during Meanwhile, so this is late February-early March.
The Aztec Clan
"Priestess, who is he?" Cuauhtemoc asked Lily upon awakening. The clan formed a loose circle at the base of Malinche around the crouched figure before the leader and Lily.
The figure was a young man in his twenties, was on his knees holding out an offering that looked like a large bean.
He spoke very little English, so Lily spoke to the youth in Nahuatl while the rest of the clan and Demona waited in anticipation.
The youth spoke in a formal voice as he told his story of how he had come upon the site while Lily translated for Demona.
"I live with my mother and grandfather. As a child, my grandfather told me stories of our history, passed down from his father and mother and their parents.
He told me of the Empire that we lost and the Guardians, the ones who protected us. They were sealed inside this mountain until the day the sacrifices were ended by a priestess.
As a child I came here every week with my grandfather for his stories until I was allowed to come alone. A few years ago, I was searching the base for a legendary key that would open the mountain. As I grew into a man I could not come every week, but instead came once a month. A few years ago, I finally discovered the door's seal but could not open it. I never gave up believing the stories."
"You have shown much devotion to something that could have only been a story," Montezuma commented with curiosity.
The youth raised his curly black head and said, "I have seen the pictures that my ancestor made and passed down to his children. Both the girls and boys received them, so they would remember you and tell their children."
"What is your name?" Lily asked him, motioning for him to rise.
He revealed to be wearing a loin cloth-like skirt and a single cloth sheet pancho. "My grandmother named me Chicahua, but everyone and the people of the town call me Carlos. If you need anything, I am here to serve."
Demona's eyes lit up at Carlos' offer. Finally, a human who knew his place, she thought to herself.
The leader , his Second, whispered to his Second nonchalantly, "What is your opinion on the youth?"
"I have a good feeling from him. He may just be the bridge we need from our time to this one," his a red-orange skinned mate with bull horns answered with a confident smile.
Cuauhtemoc nodded his acceptance of the young man. In the strange land they had awakened to, allies and friends were most welcome.
Lily smiled and shook Carlos' hand. "Well Carlos, if you are able, we could use a guide. My friends and I are unfamiliar with the towns near the mountain."
"/I'd be honored to help the Guardians,/" Carlos answered with a smile.
^*^*^*^*^*
Demona paced on the slope of La Malinche, shutting out everything around her. The new development with the youth had started turning the wheels in her mind. There was a good chance she could use him to get closer to the clan.
"I'd be on my best behavior if I were you," Lily whispered to Demona, keeping a calm expression on her human guise. Demona hissed at Lily but said nothing otherwise. She was surprised not to have sensed anyone coming up behind her.
Lily continued as Demona gave her a sideways glare. "That means you can't treat humans as you have been doing, or you'll lose the clan before you've even been accepted."
That was easier said than done. After so many centuries of being alone...of losing her clan twice—three times if you included the Clones—the last thing Demona wanted was to lose Cuauhtemoc's clan before she was even accepted. As far as gargoyle hospitality went, they were not open to her as other clans had been when she approached them.
Lily was practically clan to them, and this human who had just shown up...! He was already more welcomed than she was! Her blood boiled but she kept it to a low simmer. She was on thin ice as the human saying went.
Demona turned suddenly to the owner of the hand that lay on her shoulder. The young black serpentine gargress slithered back. Demona felt chagrined at herself for allowing her thoughts to take her off guard again. That rarely happened to her, but ever since she came to Mexico, she had been getting lost in her thoughts more and more frequently...
The green-haired female began to communicate slowly in her native tongue and hand gestures. She asked if Demona would join them in the night's exploration. Demona agreed and was ushered back up the slope towards the mountain side for takeoff. They would forage, eat, and then follow after Lily and Carlos to the nearest town.
"Coaxoch," a pink male of the third generation sat beside his serpentine sister around the campfire. "/What do you think of the foreign female?/" he asked her in Nahuatl, referring to Demona.
The black gargress made a slight shake of her head to move her hip-length green hair from coming over her shoulder before answering her spiky brother, "/Achcauhtli isn't sure about her/," she said, meaning their leader. "/I look at her and she seems so angry. It is hard to approach her./" She adjusted her green and white sash over her brown V-neck sleeveless top as recoiled to a more comfortable position keeping her wings uncapped to gather heat from the fire.
Coaxoch was one of Tenoch's rookery siblings that swayed with the Leader's every mood and was hesitant to make her own decision without some form of input, advice, look, or word the Leader had recently said or done.
Tenoch picked at his goat meat, resting a triple-spiked elbow above his double-spiked knee. Holes were made around the knees of his kahki cotton capris not only to accommodate his knee spikes but to show them off.
Unlike many of his clan, he wore little in the way of jewelry. He claimed he was born adorned and any more would be gaudy. "/I feel it too, but I also feel she has a deep hurt inside her./" he confided to his rookery sister.
Coaxoch regarded her cactus-like skinned brother, aptly named for his appearance but a misnomer to his empathy. His head was covered in spikes as well similar to an artichoke down to the base of his skull where a tuft of black hair was tied into a long ponytail. There were three facial barbs on each side of his face starting at his jaw line and ending in front of his ears. His shoulders sported three spikes and wing hands had three digits and the elbows of his wings had two wing spikes.
"/We should know more about her before calling her 'friend',"/ Coaxoch said with a quick sideways glance to Demona.
