Xena stared at the water, black with orange tinges as the sun set.

She wasn't supposed to be here. It was an awful place, covered by water as to contain the evil within. The mountains looked like jagged spines and claws, as it tearing at the sky and the dying sun, as if some remnant of the ancient water monsters slain by Pitao Cocijo still remained.

But then again, she wasn't supposed to be in her tribe, either. Her people were maize farmers to the south, and while her new life as a nomad had its freedoms, it just wasn't home. Her new people were warm like their hearths, but still it wasn't the same. They even taught her their secrets, their traditions guarded against enemies, and she was grateful for that trust, a trust she'd never break.

But it still wasn't home.

She sat down by the rocks. She watched the oranges die, becoming red. Only, it wasn't just due to the sun setting. The waters began to turn into a red tide, thicker and thicker as if blood as if mother's blood was all there was. A sound like an insect's wings began to buzz in the air, except it threatened to scrape her eardrums. She shook her head violently, and using her feathered hands she grabbed two turquoises and slid them together, making a small fire on a pile of sticks. The light seemed so small and vulnerable before the black and red waters, but it made the sound stop.

Yes, she shouldn't have gone there. The waters barely contained what was beneath them. It was time to leave.

No sooner did she turn away from the lake that she saw it again. And no matter where she walked, she didn't go anywhere else.

Panic flowed through her veins, as a strange ripple cross the lake's surface. She made a grave mistake, and she was going to die there.

Xena stared into the waters, that almost seemed the color of obsidian at this point. She thought of a huge black pupil, glossy and pitch black. Was the lake an eye?

If so, maybe it could be appeased. The Meseta were no strangers to rituals, but perhaps it took her people's finesse to tame this thing.

She took a maguey thorn from her bag and cut her tongue with it, letting the blood flow through the thorn down into the earth, down into the water.

Nothing happened. She took it as a good sign, maybe she'd be fine afte- oh.

Out of nowhere, a red figure appeared before her. It looked like a red skeleton from depictions of Pitao Bezelao, but whereas the god was a promise of abundance from new growth, this thing seemed decayed beyond repair, part of itself fading like smoke. Its face was blank, just two voids were eyes should be and what could be charitably be called a mouth, but in truth a strange slit that made Xena's feathers stiff. It stared at her, emotionless, neither cruel nor kind, but evil all the same.

Xena stiffened. Tears run down her eyes, both from fear as well as the fact that she did not know what would happen if she blinked. Eventually, she did, and the moment her eyes opened again it glided towards her, striking her with a menacing claw across her chest. Blood and feathers splattered, but the cut was survivable, if Xena's legs unfroze. She was a rhea, she was supposed to run as fast as she could, but all she could do was tumble about. Her ankle made the most disgusting cracking noise, and she had no way out.

Eventually, she saw only one way out. Using her wing/arms, she propelled herself from the shore, jumping into the black waters.

She expected the monster to follow her down there, but it disappeared. She was light enough to surface for breath, but the moment her lungs filled she fell down. It wasn't as though she was being pulled; rather, it seemed as though she was now a rock, heavy. She watched wordlessly as dark waters passed her by, clouds of bile and blood and waste floating like she was in a strange sky. Fish swam, one moment salmon and another twisted beyong comprehension. A witch's laughter filled her ears, as loud as if it was on air rather than water.

She eventually reached the bottom. Was she going to die here, staring at the evils swimming above her, at fish tearing at each other to form monsters made of raw scum?

Above her the lake was pierced by starlight, surprisingly given how deep she was. Pressure began to pile, as if she was going to be crushed by the water.

 

You deserve this

It seemed like an intrusive thought, but there was a clawing malice, tearing at her heart, tearing at her mind.

You have no home. You are ungrateful, pitiful. And they know it. They will leave you do die here.

Yes, it was the evil talking to her. And it spoke true.

But Xena could do with a few lies. So she told herself she didn't deserve any of that shit, and began to paddle upwards. Her legs even worked, propelling her faster, but she winced as her bones ached. Some divers in her village called it "the bends", and they could be fatal if she swam too fast. But she was running out of air, so it was a risk she was willing to take.

With a final painful stroke, she surfaced, taking the deepest breath her lungs could afford.

She was dizzy and her vision blurred. But she could swear she saw plumes of fire and heard some one diving and swimming.

"No, please..."

***

Xena woke up in a Meseta house. The medicine woman's, to be exact. She was working on her cauldron, preparing a soup. The sweet smell of frogs and acorns filled the air, with a hint of pepper.

"You were quite foolish" she said, her pronghorn antlers hitting a charm as her head nodded.

"What if I am?"

"Then there's not much we can do to help. But I'll try anyway. Why?"

"I don't belong here. I don't belong anywhere. I wasn't thinking, maybe I hoped the lake would kill me. But I was too afraid to die, I guess."

"Good. You think you don't belong, but most of the tribe disagrees. The children love your stories, and their parents trust you. Askuwheteau was worried sick, he even thinks its his fault."

"Gods, no, he, he doesn't deserve what I did."

"He doesn't. And Bisahalani will tear you a new one, before hugging you with tears in his eyes."

And yet, despiste all the guilt, Xena felt empty on the inside.

"Child, you may never feel at home, and in that regard I cannot help you. However, please at least talk to your friends. They deserve better than to lose you and blame themselves for it."

Xena said nothing. She carefully got up and left the medicine woman's tent. As she did a pair of lynx arms hugged her like crab claws.

"Please don't do that EVER again!" Askuwheteau, sobbing as tears drenched Xena's feathers and clothes.

"Break his heart one more time and your legs are next" Bisahalani said, his eyes reddened after crying for hours.

"I'm sorry, I really am. You don't deserve someone like me."

"Xena, we love you" Bisahalani said, "Now can you please tell us what the flying fuck were you thinking?"

Xena sighed, and told everything.