I do not own The Road to El Dorado. I only own Scarlet.
Story Start
A growl left my throat when men wearing loin clothes and animal furs, and carrying spears entered through the trees. I snarled at them when I saw their weapons.
"Wait," a new male voice said almost in shock. He appeared beside the largest warrior. He was dressed in priest or shaman attire that I had seen in pictures. His eyes took in every detail of my form. However, he mainly focused on my tattoos and my new claws.
"The year of the jaguar," he said almost reverently with a smirk on his face. "Welcome, my goddess, I am your servant, your priest, Tzekel Kan," the man introduced while bowing.
"My goddess," I whispered while following Tzekel Kan out of the trees to where Tulio and Miguel were still on the horse, but some woman holding a round object bundled in fabric was standing near the horse. The new woman gasped when she saw me. I was still without my shirt, which was being left behind on a rock. The woman looked fearfully at my jaguar spots.
"Three gods in one day, we have been blessed," Tzekel Kan whispered as he and the warriors led all of us behind the waterfall and into a cave.
The walk through the cave was quiet. I should have been cold the deeper we went into the cave, but my body was unaffected. We walked until we reached a boat. Many of the warriors stayed behind while everybody else entered the boat. My body felt tense when Tzekel Kan and the largest warrior sat on either side of me. A strange feeling started in my body after Tzekel Kan had been sitting by me for a bit. I sniffed and my face became curious. I looked straight at Tzekel kan and my eyes grew wide when I saw green wisps of smoke surrounding his body. The smoke entranced my eyes, and he began to change before my eyes and then he noticed my staring. The moment our eyes locked, his eyes flashed green and he had fangs and claws.
"Is there anything wrong, my goddess?" he asked and I shook my head to snap out of water had a hold of me.
"No, my priest," I said taking in the true sight before me of Tzekel Kan without green smoke around him, fangs, and claws. I called him my priest to play along because I was not sure what was going to happen. I looked around the boat. Miguel and Tulio gave me nervous grins before light stole our attention.
Vines moved away as sunlight welcomed the boat as it left the cave. Gasps sounded behind me and I heard Miguel and Tulio whisper, "El Dorado." The beauty took away my breath and my thoughts. Brightly colored flowers, fabrics, and some buildings were accents to the gold temples and buildings that were the main parts of the city. Exotic birds and large fish brought more life to this secret city.
The beauty first captured me entirely, but a sudden rage swept through me. My chest started rising and falling rapidly because of my breaths. I did not know why or how it was happening, but it was as if I could smell or sense everything bad that is happening in this beautiful city.
A small tickle started on my palms and I looked down to see my hands clenched into fists. A deep rumble started in my chest when I saw my claws digging into my palms. I unclenched my hands to see if I cut my hands. Little crescents showed where my nails had been, but I was shocked to see no blood in the cut. I could feel Tzekel Kan and the warrior on my other side staring at me so I tried to keep the surprise off my face. My mind almost shut down from shock when the cuts in my hands healed in seconds before my eyes.
"No blood," the warrior beside me whispered before a glare from Tzekel Kan made him look away, and I saw a dark glee in Tzekel Kan's eyes.
My body felt as if it was being torn in different directions. I was freaked out by what was physically happening to me. Fangs and claws I could deal with, but unexplainable feelings and no longer bleeding was crossing the line of comfort. I had bled earlier, but now my hands would not bleed. The cuts from my claws had been deep, but the area around the cuts was not even red. I also could not explain the strange connection I felt was beginning to form with Tzekel Kan. He called himself my priest, but the whole situation was so strange for me.
The boat slowing to a stop broke me from my mental breakdown. I stepped off the boat with Miguel and Tulio. The other woman on the boat stood behind us, but I felt her giving me nervous looks. Her presence was starting to bother me. The people of El Dorado were standing around us. One man, who looked like the leader of the people, was standing in front of us. Tzekel Kan walked forward to stand by the city leader.
"The gods have come to El Dorado," Tzekel Kan announced and I felt a sense of pleasure at seeing the people look around nervously.
"We're gods?" Tulio and Miguel whispered confused. I ignored them because I knew they were not gods. I did not think I was a god, but I knew something strange was changing me.
"Welcome to El Dorado, my gods, I am the chief of this city," the new man said with a tense smile as he bowed. The rest of the people bowed and so did Tzekel Kan, who gave me a grin.
"We're gods, play it up," Miguel said to me before he and Tulio started acting ridiculously.
"I am Miguel," Miguel announced.
"I am Tulio," Tulio yelled.
"We are gods, bow before us," they yelled together and the people bowed lower. They both looked back at me because I was not following the act.
"My god, what is your name?" the chief asked slowly.
My eyes focused on the chief, and I saw he was analyzing my tattoos. I looked at the bowing people before my annoyed growl left my throat. A few people shivered. "My name is Scarlet," I finally replied while walking to stand by Miguel and Tulio.
"My gods, welcome, but will you show us some of your power? We have never had gods visit before and we would like to see," the leader asked tentatively and Tzekel kan looked expectantly at Miguel, Tulio, and myself.
"Scarlet will happily go first," Tulio said putting me as the focus while he pulled Miguel to the side to talk. My fingers tensed as I felt everyone staring at me.
"What do you want to see?" I asked looking at the chief and Tzekel Kan.
The chief hesitated before saying, "Are your spots painted on your body?" he questioned.
I shrugged and walked over to the water. I splashed water on my ribs and shoulders to show how my spots did not wash off me.
"She doesn't bleed," the large warrior said, who had sat by me on the boat. He looked at me sheepishly before bowing his head.
Everybody was looking at me in anticipation. I did not agree with anybody hurting himself or herself, but a scratch in this situation would have to be acceptable. I used a claw to cut my left pam enough to draw blood, but no blood appeared. Gasps of surprise and wonder echoed from the people as the cut closed in seconds.
"Do you doubt her now?" Tzekel Kan yelled with an excited grin on his face. "Now, will the other gods show us their power?" he asked.
Tulio and Miguel were bickering to each other. A volcano in the distance began to rumble during the bickering of the two men.
"What a coincidence," I thought with a smirk as the volcano erupted until Miguel and Tulio stopped yelling at each other. Cheers erupted from all of the people.
"My gods, we thought maybe a celebration will be good to fully welcome you?" the leader suggested and Tzekel rolled his eyes.
"The gods need a ritual welcome, which do you prefer?" Tzekel Kan offered clapping his hands together in front of him.
"Both," Tulio and Miguel said sticking out their chests. The two men of the city then focused on me.
