TW: death and shit :(

IT'S HERE, SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG I JUST COULDNT WRITE ANYTHING I LIKED BUT NOW I DID AND I LIKE IT IDK AAAA ITS HERE PLS ENJOY THX

Cozamalotl pushed through the dense foliage of the jungle as tears ran down her eyes. She couldn't look back and if she didn't keep going they could catch up to her. She heard distant screaming but at this point could not tell if she was hearing things or if the screams really did carry through the jungle like her mother said they did. Oh god, her mother, just the thought of that was enough to bring her to her knees sobbing. The slender girl knelt on a pile or twigs sharply poking her skin as she shook sobbing, with no one around to comfort her. She stayed there sobbing for her mother, cursing her luck, cursing herself and wishing for company. She stood there for what felt like hours until her sobs were nothing more than hiccups as she stared at the treetops with empty eyes wishing to be loved.

She woke up violently from a nap she did not remember falling into from the sound of twigs snapping. She shot up and looked for where to run but it was too late. They had caught up to her, her mom had sacrificed herself to give her a few hours to run and she had wasted it. She wasn't strong enough and now she was going to die. The assailant stepped out from behind a tree and tackled her to the ground. The assailant wore a hunters mask and was covered from head to toe in ceremonial clothes for the men of the royal family. If she wasn't about to die, Cozamalotl would have wondered why a royal was here hunting her, but she didn't have such luxury. The hunter was young and full of strength and completely overpowered Cozamalotl despite her best efforts to claw or get out and run. She was pinned and couldn't budge a muscle no matter how hard she tried. Eventually she couldn't struggle anymore and stopped moving, she lay there panting waiting for them to get it over with. In a move that surprised her completely at the moment, she didn't scream or cry, she felt completely empty and calm as she let out a sigh accepting her fate.

"My name is prince b̵̸̶̶̸̴̶̷̸̴̶̷̸̷̸̴̶̶̷̵̴̶̵̷̴̶̶̵̵̶̷̵̵̶̸̶̸̵̶̷̵̸̷̷̴̴̶̶̸̸̷̴̸̷̵̸̶̶̴̵̶̶̷ɘ̶̵̵̷̸̸̵̵̶̵̶̸̶̸̸̷̴̵̵̸̶̶̵̶̶̷̷̶̵̴̸̷̷̶̷̸̷̵̶̸̴̵̸̴̷̸̸̴̴̶̸̷̷̵̵̸̴̸̴̴̶̷̶ɒ̴̸̶̷̴̴̴̷̶̶̵̷̶̶̶̵̴̴̷̵̸̷̷̶̶̸̷̶̶̶̵̶̶̶̴̷̷̵̴̵̶̴̸̸̶̵̸̷̵̴̸̵̷̴̸̵̸̸̴̸̷̴̶b̵̵̵̴̴̴̸̶̸̴̵̷̵̶̵̶̷̴̶̸̷̷̷̷̵̷̸̵̸̶̸̷̶̸̸̵̸̶̶̵̵̴̴̴̸̸̴̸̸̶̶̵̵̷̴̷̵̶̸̷̴̵̶n̶̸̶̷̵̶̴̵̴̵̵̶̵̸̷̵̸̶̴̵̴̶̴̵̷̸̶̶̵̷̷̸̸̷̸̶̸̶̴̶̴̵̴̶̴̵̴̸̴̵̷̷̴̷̷̴̵̴̶̸̶̴̵ɒ̸̷̵̷̵̶̶̸̴̵̶̷̸̴̴̴̷̴̴̷̴̴̷̶̵̵̶̷̶̴̷̴̶̸̶̴̸̸̶̵̴̷̵̵̸̷̷̶̵̴̴̷̶̷̷̶̵̴̸̷̴̵̵m̵̴̸̵̸̴̸̵̵̴̷̵̶̷̶̸̷̷̷̷̷̵̸̷̴̵̸̶̷̶̷̴̶̴̸̴̴̶̶̷̷̴̷̶̴̵̴̸̶̷̵̴̷̵̵̵̵̶̶̴̶̷̸ɘ̶̸̴̵̵̵̴̶̷̸̴̶̸̷̵̶̴̴̷̴̵̶̶̶̷̸̶̷̷̷̸̷̷̷̵̵̵̶̶̷̶̴̴̶̴̷̷̴̴̵̶̸̴̵̵̶̷̸̸̵̴̸̷. Please at least tell me your name before I kill you." The hunter said in a very shaky voice as they pulled a knife from their pocket and held it to Cozamalotl's neck.

They was expected to be a miracle when they were born. The day they were born a thunderstorm was pouring on the little hut where their mother and father were in when a emerald green bird had flown in as the parents stared at their newborn child. It landed on the little cot where her mom was lying down and chirped as the entire family stared in awe. A spotting of the bird of Quetzalcoatl flying by would be considered good luck enough for a month, but one landing on the bed during a child's birth was tremendously good luck. The entire village had gathered and congratulated the parents and the child for how lucky and miraculous of a child this was.

For the next few years it really did seems like the omen was real. They grew up a happy child with happy parents. Everyone thought that the young blood in the small village had a happy life to look forward to. Then the night with the comet happened. It had been the night when they had woken up and cried at the lake. No one knew why, for all they know they had nothing bad going on and were very happy with their life. The father was off on a hunting trip, but he would return soon and she had never acted like this before, so why were they so distressed? The child had rushed back home into their mothers arms and told her what she'd been holding in for so long. She told her mom how much she hated her body, how she didn't want her body to change, how she was so so scared of everything and didn't feel safe in her own body. Through a miracle her mother understood, she held her daughter in her arms and assured her everything was going to be OK.

As the mother hugged her child the village caught wind of the conversation as was typical for such a close community. The rumors spread nearly instantly and everyone began to discuss what to do with what was a clear defiance of the natural order in their eyes. Then the comet flew past the sky and they all knew in that moment: the gods were telling them that this... person would bring nothing but hardship and bad luck to the village. The mother did everything she could for her daughter. She began to teach Cozamalotl healing magic under the god Quetzalcoatl to begin changing her daughters body to that of a woman's, although to Cozamalotl all it seemed like was collecting herbs for a concoction, regardless it worked and over time her body began taking a shape she could feel proud of. Sure they were now shunned by the rest of the village but at least they had each other, and soon Cozamalotl's father would return from the hunting trip and they were sure he would come to love his daughter. They were hated, but they had each other and her father, they would be fine.

But of course, the good luck never happened for Cozamalotl, the news came back a few weeks later. Her father had died during the trip after slipping on mudslide and landing on his neck. They mourned for him, but mostly, they mourned because they knew what would happen next. The only reason the village had still been relatively civil to them was because they had a great deal of respect for her father and feared how he would react. Now that he was out of the picture? They pulled no punched, they left animal organs outside their hut in an attempt to purify what they deemed impure. They yelled at her, called her an abomination, and tried to make her regret her decision. Despite all of this, her mother persevered, or at least pretended she did for her daughters sake. She told her how beautiful she was and reassured her that if the gods thought she was an abomination, they would not have made her like this. And so they stayed like that, living in the village that hated them and wanted them gone.

They could never leave, they had nowhere to go and they would die in the jungle either from starvation or being attacked by an animal. The people of the village at least had a moral code saying they could never kick someone out of their own house. For 3 years they lived like that, as Cozamalotl grew a thick skin and closed herself off from everyone but her mother to not get hurt. Then on her 16th birthday they heard the soldiers arrive. Unknown to them, someone had risked the incredibly dangerous trip through the jungle to arrive as the major city where they knew the priests were. They new what the priests did with people they deemed impure, and well, if it was a holy person justified getting rid of them, they saw no problem with that. So the soldiers arrived and demanded Cozamalotl be sacrificed for her sins. Then her mother had stood up, told them she had forced Cozamalotl into doing it and had threatened to kill her if she did not do it, that she had just wanted a daughter and that's why she did it. Somehow, they believed her and took her instead. As they hauled the mother out of the house she got to whisper only one word into her daughters ear before she never saw her again.

"run"

And she had, and she hadn't been goo enough, one of them had caught up to her, and now she had a knife at her throat and she was going to die and oh god the tears started now. She sobbed under the weight of her attacker, she sobbed for her father who never met his daughter, for her mother that had to endure so much for her and in the end paid the greatest price. For how much she hated the village and their stupid beliefs, for how unfair it was that she was never allowed to just be herself. That she would never be allowed to be happy, she was going to die, and her mom's sacrifice was going to be for nothing. She sobbed and she shook and she knew it was over. There was no one left to protect her anymore. Through her tears she saw the hunter lift the knife and she closed her eyes. She heard the knife go down and... fall into the dirt next to her. Shocked and confused she stared in disbelief as the hunter got up shaking.

"FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!" The hunter screamed in a broken voice. Their knees were wobbling and they fell up against a tree.

"I can't do this, of course I could never do it." The said as they began sobbing.

Cozamalotl stared as she scooted back and grabbed the knife. The hunter began heaving and shaking as they let all their tears out. Cozamalotl didn't know anything about this person, and continued to stare in shock as this figure who was about to kill her less than a minute ago broke down into a sobbing mess, just like she had only a few seconds ago. The hunter removed their mask and stared at her. A young ɘ̶̵̵̷̸̸̵̵̶̵̶̸̶̸̸̷̴̵̵̸̶̶̵̶̶̷̷̶̵̴̸̷̷̶̷̸̷̵̶̸̴̵̸̴̷̸̸̴̴̶̸̷̷̵̵̸̴̸̴̴̶̷̶ɒ̴̸̶̷̴̴̴̷̶̶̵̷̶̶̶̵̴̴̷̵̸̷̷̶̶̸̷̶̶̶̵̶̶̶̴̷̷̵̴̵̶̴̸̸̶̵̸̷̵̴̸̵̷̴̸̵̸̸̴̸̷̴̶b̵̵̵̴̴̴̸̶̸̴̵̷̵̶̵̶̷̴̶̸̷̷̷̷̵̷̸̵̸̶̸̷̶̸̸̵̸̶̶̵̵̴̴̴̸̸̴̸̸̶̶̵̵̷̴̷̵̶̸̷̴̵̶'s face stared at her, a huge scar going across their face. They two stared at each other with tear stained eyes, both worlds apart, but they could tell the other had gone through just as much pain as they had.

"I'm sorry." The Hunter said.