that bird ain't right // eilidh, metzli, & cass
TIMING: current PARTIES: @deathisanartmetzli , @braindeacl , & @stolensiren SUMMARY: while on patrol, cass and metzli run into eilidh and a big, vaguely bird-shaped problem. CONTENT: none
Robert should’ve stopped after the second failed attempt. The third. The fourth, even. But he was almost close to cracking it. He could feel it in his bones despite his hands refusal to produce. He was so close! He had studied the technique flawlessly — practiced the motions in a mirror until they looked just as the books. Success had been found in summoning birds, with time of course as it seemed to be now. And that now demanded something more. Something powerful — something he could really flaunt around town. But they kept dying. A great cockatrice who bubbled and bursted in blisters before it could so much as screech. A beautiful raróg who never got the chance to know flames before it turned to ash. A terrifying ker who quickly turned to eat itself rather than any of the corpses near. Until it joined that pile of bodies. A pile that seemed to have no end.
Eilidh had been called to the place as places often did — with the promise of death. There was that pull in the air again, like a great wind rushing passed. To that clearing that kept beckoning, who had given her gifts before. But this call was fresh. Her teeth chattered in excitement. Mind imagining the feast and the one who caused it. She donned her goggles. Followed that inner pull until it ended with that twisted use of magic. At first her sights were placed on the pile of bodies, and their rotted flesh called to her as any. But the hunger wanted the man. The man who used magic so cruelly — who invited death for no reason but delight. His ripeness was palpable. Her teeth chattered more, clicks of hunger soon to be fulfilled. Until there was a shift in the air and the hunger withered. It didn’t die, still craving the man as ever. But the pile seemed less appealing. And then it moved.
Success too seemed to be in the air, for Robert at least, as life returned to those fallen creatures. But not as a group of individuals, as one whole. The pile refused to separate; simply turned to become upright. The legs fused and torsos twisted together and wings joined at the same joint. At the end of the equation was a massive bird. A Chimera. One of many wings, of many heads all sporting fangs, covered in flames, and with an appetite that felt never ending. An appetite aimed at the father, who was devoured eagerly by this new child. But it wasn’t enough. No one meal would be enough. Its many eyes turned to look at the distant lights: the town. Those many wings outstretched; too many for just one body. Flapped against each other instead of together, forcing the great bird back to the ground. A piercing shriek of frustration bursted out those many beaks, making the air shake. But it needed to get to town. It needed to feed. The legs stumbled forward, merely tripping instead of crashing down when they too failed to work in tandem. Slowly shuffling to those lights. Those beautiful lights.
Eilidh had a fleeting disappointment watching the man fail prey to his creation. Her hunger still craved, but her mind knew he was more its kill than hers. But she could recognize that wanting — the need to feed more and more. The creature, still but a babe, had the matching appetite of a child. Enough for a town. Those insatiable eyes set on the very place and Eilidh let out a curse. Running down the hill she had been perched to give chase.
Patrolling was a lot more fun when you weren’t doing it alone. It was something Cass had learned pretty early on in her superhero career. There was so much sitting and waiting on a patrol, so much watching without acting. Cass was bad at that. It was so much easier to manage with a distraction, with someone to talk to. It was why Cass had been so pleased when Metzli offered to go with her tonight, why she hadn’t hesitated for a second in taking them up on it.
And it was probably good that she had. There was something weird going on in the woods tonight. She could practically taste it in the air, feel it buzzing beneath her skin. She all but dragged Metzli behind her, chattering all the while. “Tamara — that’s one of the girls I know from the shelter — said she saw some sketchy dude coming out here the last few nights. Apparently he’s a real ‘mutter to yourself under your breath’ kind of guy, which is, like, never a good sign. I just wanna see what he’s up to, you know? It might be nothing, but if there’s another cult starting out here we should probably catch it early.” She was rambling, largely just speaking to break the silence, but Metzli never seemed to mind it much.
She opened her mouth to continue, but a loud boom from the woods cut her off. Faltering, Cass turned to look at Metzli with wide eyes. “Okay,” she said, “so maybe it’s not nothing. C’mon!” It was all the warning she gave before she was running towards the sound without much regard for watching where she was going. It was thanks to this lack of attention to detail that she found herself hurtling into another person, someone who definitely wasn’t the man Tamara had described. Someone familiar. Stumbling backwards, Cass glared. “You,” she snapped, falling into a defensive position.
Metzli always liked when Cass requested their presence in her patrols. Not only did it mean she wanted them around, but she trusted them. There were unspoken meanings in such things, especially to those who had spent so much time alone. Being isolated meant that you were safe, which was true in a way, but the pair had grown to rely on one another, leaving that perspective behind. “Smart girl. In a town like this, nipping cults in the bud is the safest option.” They smirked subtly to themselves, impressed and proud at the initiative Cass took in her work. She truly cared about people and did her best to play a part in their welfare.
Walking carefully next to Cass, they halted abruptly at the sound of echoing shrieks and irregular stomps. They were expecting excitement, but not to this degree. It could prove too much for Cass, and her safety was their top priority. Metzli’s entire body tensed as if hackles were raising, on alert and festering with violence that needed to be executed. Soon that body tensed for a completely different reason, disregarding the beasts that were loose. Eilidh’s familiar scent filled their nose and they saw Cass running straight towards the origin. “Cass, espérate! Wait!” They reached out, grasping nothing but air. The collision was brief and they filled the space between the pair quickly in case Eilidh reacted harshly. If she were hunting for dinner, she’d be sure to lash out. Teeth and all.
The familiarity in Cass’s voice confused Metzli, displayed by the immediate tilt of their head and its subsequent turn to look at their partner, finger raised. “Hola, mi amor. Una momento.” They looked back at Cass, brows furrowed. “You know her?”
The beast was unstable, this was apparent. Eilidh could see those unsure foot placements, those wobbling knees. It tugged at something deep in her heart, for she had watched its birth. Barely a newborn and walking like one. And while she had come to this place to feed, and while a weapon did lay in her hand, the usual stirrings in her chest stuttered. She heard those distant sounds, but they felt distant too. Knowing whoever was near was either running away — like a squirrel by her feet — or running towards the beast — like her. The other didn’t matter, the beast was the focal. But what to do with it? One instinct telling her to bludgeon, the other telling her to nurture. Her feet at least knew its course: chase along. But those hands needed to make their minds. And they finally did, when she was bumped into.
Eilidh recognized the causing form, but the familiarity did not create excitement. She hissed at the sight of that damn mask. Her again. The one who couldn’t keep a simple deal. Come to interrupt another feed. If Eilidh could still call it such, but the point still stood. Finding a much closer outlet for aggression, her hand immediately jerked forward. But it struck another. Metzli. Metzli? This familiarity causing a burst of joy, once it was done combating her perplexity. A confusion that was lost on her face, concealed by goggles and fabrics, but came across in her voice. “You know Songbird?”
The distant lights were so tantalizing. But they were also so distant. Stuck in a body that was never meant to function and convulsing in a hunger that knew no end was a hell the Chimera thought was life. Yet, it wasn’t always so cruel. The three below would not be enough to calm its insatiable. But they were a start. Three bodies for three heads.
That stopped hand was still connected to Metzli, and Eilidh used it to push them away. Using that momentum to shove herself back in turn. Mostly eating air, the head that had chosen her gave a loud snap. But was punctuated with a splatter of black. Razor teeth managing to slice a bit of her chest. The heat was like a sunburn — sore and sweet. She let out a curt laugh from the sensation. Using the surge of excitement to whack her metal rod across the snapping head. Before remembering her confliction and letting out a huff. “Look for water, Datura!” Knowing their eyesight was better in the dark. She felt some was near, the feeling whispering in the back of her head. And she wanted, needed, to find one quick. She couldn’t watch another forest fire. Not so soon. “N’ be careful! Is just a babe!”
The other woman — god, Cass hadn’t even gotten her name before, had she? — seemed as ready for an immediate fight as Cass herself. She wasn’t worried about it or anything, because she could definitely hold her own the same way she had the last time their paths crossed, but she was kind of glad Metzli was with her, anyway. Just in case. It was never a bad idea to have backup, after all, never a bad idea to have someone else on your side. Except…
Metzli was looking at the woman with a gentle expression on their face, was speaking to her in quiet tones. Cass didn’t speak much Spanish, but she’d been around enough of it to recognize basic things like mi amor, enough to recognize the significance of it. “I’m sorry, what?” Was this the girlfriend Metzli had told her about? The one who left them, with no warning and no explanation? Who came back and was accepted so easily, as if nothing happened at all? Cass had been trying to give Metzli’s girlfriend a chance because she made them happy and they deserved that, but she’d already been struggling with it. But now? Now all she wanted was to give this woman a piece of her mind.
(Maybe she should find better phrasing for that. She was pretty sure the stranger didn’t take the corpse’s head just for meanness, before.)
But… now might not be the best time. Cass didn’t know what the creature was, only that it was large and daunting and… bird-like. Immediately, she felt a surge of sympathy towards it, a hint of a connection. It looked lost. And, okay, it was trying to eat Metzli’s girlfriend a little bit, but Cass wasn’t sure that completely put them on different teams. “What is it?” She looked to Metzli, pointedly ignoring the strange woman. “How can we stop it?”
Songbird? A chimera? Macleod? What the hell was going on? Metzli’s mind was reeling with a surge of questions that had to be left unanswered. They were pushed back just as they caught sight of the horrid creature that was looking at both the vampire and zombie as dinner. With a nod at Eilidh, they pulled Cass with them, “On it! Be careful, mi alma!” They could smell water a couple hundred yards away. They could help.
“That’s a chimera. It likes to eat dead things like me and…” Eyes darted towards Macleod, who was managing to keep the chimera distracted for the time-being. “Macleod. My girlfriend.” Metzli cleared their throat and sighed, “I’m gonna lure it to the water. You go with Macleod and be my backup. I have the best senses in this scenario and will need to lead it.”
There wasn’t just one meal anymore. There were three. But which one to pick? Why not all? But which first? The Chimera screeched, salivating from all heads, each pulling in separate directions. One at a time wasn’t an ideal option, but it was better than no option at all.
Metzli waved their arms, baring their teeth in reaction to the screech. “Hey! Over here!” Their simple yelling got its attention, and it ran in their direction with fervor. It didn’t scare them to have such a beast stampeding at them, but what did scare them was the possibility of two people they loved getting hurt. That’s why when teeth grazed their shoulder, they didn’t scream. They kept running, enticing the chimera with a trail of their dead blood to the river only they saw.
Eilidh’s limbs may’ve been distracted with the hungry child who thought her a meal, but ears were free to listen. In between stomps and shrieks, she heard her name fill the air. Spoken so casually. Spoken to one who shouldn’t know. An annoyance, enough to garner a hiss, but a minor one. She chose to be claimed to that name. But not to fucking ‘dead thing.’ Dead thing! Her feet faltered at that — growl like a mad dog’s bark. Anger blinding, letting the insatiable beast get another small bite of her. Symbolic, for her mind was equally torn. Oh, she wanted to stab everyone in this scenario. Except not really. Except very much yes. But, no, two kids and her love wasn’t the most ideal frenzy scenario. She looked to one of the formers. That poor stumbling thing. So hungry — too hungry for this place. Like the fires it had as skin.
When a great limb thrashed at Eilidh, she didn’t try for deep wounds. No sharp objects. Just another whack. Strong and forceful to match the great beast’s girth. The intention of one smacking with a newspaper. And in the stun it caused, she was able to gain on Metzli. She had noticed their purposeful steps. They had found something. But she wasn’t the only one closing the gap between. The chimera felt it had Metzli too, their distracting calls proving too persuasive. Her own calls simple background noise. Its stumbling soon gave way to a steady walk. Part of her felt a sense of pride in watching those first true steps. But they were leading to her lover’s demise. Her teeth clenched. The pride in mind was quickly replaced with a need to protect, just as her rod in hand was replaced with rope.
But it wasn’t a simple rope, one end tied in a circle. Eilidh lassoed one of the heads. Sort of. It got stuck in ones horn, but the stuck was her ultimate intention. It carried her along with ease, their differences in size demanding. But her weight, while smaller, wasn’t ignorable. The attached head began to thrash and she was lifted in the air. Learned to fly for a brief moment, just as the beast had. And in that echo, she too crashed just as soon to the ground. But when she gained purchase, she followed the momentum and shoved her end of the rope further down. Jerking the head, and this finally got its attention. That rope began to unfurl as the fires ate the fabrics. Just as it wanted to do of her. She ran: Metzli’s direction but at a slight angle. Giving them a moment to recuperate as she helped lead it forward. To that distant shine in the dark. Water. Probably.
It grated on her, the softness with which Metzli spoke to the woman, to Macleod. Cass knew it wasn’t fair, wasn’t right, but it did anyway. Her first encounter with Macleod, with the vampires and the bloody nose and the dead man she’d been too busy to save, it had hurt. It had been scary, even if she wouldn’t admit it. Macleod had been scary. And Metzli was supposed to be on Cass’s side against the things and the people that scared her. Weren’t they?
And Cass knew, on a logical level, that none of this was true. Cass had run into Macleod once, for a moment, and neither of them had been at their best. Metzli obviously knew her better, knew her well enough to love her. It wasn’t fair to judge someone entirely on one encounter and assume the worst when people who’d known them longer didn’t share in that assumption, but Cass struggled, sometimes, to be fair in her friendships. She’d had so few of them. There really wasn’t a lot of experience to draw on.
Whirling to face Metzli as they spoke, Cass sputtered for a moment. “What — Why do I have to stay with her? I want to go with you.” She trusted Metzli to watch her back. Macleod? Not so much. Given how things went the last time they met, she wasn’t entirely convinced that Macleod wasn’t going to feed her to the chimera as soon as Metzli’s back was turned. Just because she hadn’t killed her when those vampires got away didn’t mean she was trustworthy. But Metzli was already moving, because there wasn’t really time for Cass’s protests. There was a giant bird-thing trying to eat them all, so… Maybe being petty wasn’t the best course of action. Maybe.
Still, Cass was tense as she turned back to Macleod. She watched her for a moment, hating how impressive it was to see her lasso one of the chimera’s heads with her rope, hating how she seemed to know exactly what to do while Cass was at a loss. The chimera seemed far more content to focus on Macleod and Metzli than Cass, bringing Metzli’s explanation back to mind. It eats dead things. Cass wasn’t invisible here, but… She was an afterthought. Something the creature wasn’t focusing on at the moment. She could use that.
Slipping behind the chimera, Cass followed along with a watchful eye, waiting for the right moment. When the beast was distracted, both by Metzli’s shouts and by Macleod’s attacks, Cass took a running leap and jumped, climbing onto its back. There wasn’t much left of the rope Macleod had used to lasso the thing, but Cass grabbed it anyway. Like a harness, like a rein. She’d never ridden a horse, but she was pretty sure she got the concept. Control the head, control the body. This one just… had a few more heads to control.
Thank goodness Cass listened because that would’ve set off a whole different slew of problems. Ones that Metzli didn’t really feel like calculating for. Not when a giant beast was hurling one of its many mouths at them. The ground caved into the pressure of the attack, missing the vampire by mere inches thanks to their evasion. It continued to run past, leaving fire to spread on the grass, but being put out quickly by several swift stomps. Macleod didn’t want another fire. The greenery was too precious and had been hurt too recently. They knew she didn’t want to see the violence again.
“Cass!” Metzli took notice of her recklessness, frantic to get to her before flames ate away at everything. Macleod would be fine. She always was. Even while she was being pulled into the air, she would be okay. Like a cat, she’d land on her feet and continue. “Cass, you need to get down!” There was too much happening. They weren’t sure if Cass could even hear them. Growling, they ran as fast as they could, gaining on the creature until they could jump, landing next to their friend. “Amor, the river is just up ahead!” They pointed from their perch, planting a hand on Cass’s shoulder. “Jump off when I say.”
The chimera was hot, surrounding the pair with the raging scent of burning dead flesh. Metzli looked around with haste, seeing the rope fray with the fire. Control would soon be lost. What little there was anyway. They rushed to take off their hoodie, slapping the fire with it. It was hardly of any use, but it kept them from getting burned while they waited for the water to come into view. When it did, the vampire told Cass to jump, threw the hoodie onto a head and followed immediately after their garment to force the chimera into the river with a giant splash.
Eilidh watched the amount of people clinging to the beast’s back jump from one to two. She the only one whose feet knew of the ground. That and the chimera’s. Both beast and woman realized this at the same time, sharing a knowing look. Before the predator set its sights on the easiest prey. She kept her course true, trusting that the approaching twinkling was water. The one she wanted to swim was certainly growing into those legs, reaching speed previously unseen. She could hear one head breathing near her ear. Knew her flesh would very soon replace the breath if she wasn’t quick. No time could be wasted on retrieving a weapon. That great maw opened, the teeth prepared. But hers did as well. She bit into her own, severing an index finger. Spit it hastily into the air. And the beast wanted the easiest prey. It snapped at the offering, leaving her head untouched. In its moment of satisfaction, she was given a few more steps ahead. Until one made a loud crashing sound. Water.
The water was a thief. It stole the Chimera’s blazing skin, replacing with that of simple flesh. Fire was powerful, and its absence was strongly felt. The sudden weakness made the legs, who had just known stability, buckle and sway. The only remaining strength was the hunger. And it grew in full, roused by its newfound desperation. It began to bite at everyone and everything, not just the woman before it. Snapping and thrashing at the two who tried to leave its back.
The fire of the skin may have died, but not the flames of hunger. Eilidh could recognize the look, or looks, in its eyes. Such a hunger forced more teeth upon her. But she had already returned her rod to her hands. The teeth met it instead of her. Force pushing both her and the head down, submerged into water. With no lungs to cry out, she could stay down there forever. But the head kept pushing — kept inching the teeth closer. Until it started to tear into her abdomen. Fire filled her belly as her mouth filled with flesh. Her own teeth tearing at the beast’s eyes, the close proximity permitting. After both were lost passed her throat, the beast finally relented. Pulling out from the waters to release a scream on the wind. She stood, contents of her gut spilling further into the water. Surely tainting it with blackness, but she couldn’t tell. She only had the mind to attack the head again, another beating of her rod. And she knew she should go for more fatal wounds. Before the other heads remembered her. Before the first head recovered. The skin was exposed, revealing all those soft bits. But she found her hand hesitated. Found it only wanted to smack. The beast was only a babe.
Eilidh cursed under her breath. Goggles lost in the skirmish, she looked up at the great beast with clear eyes. “Bà bà, leanab! Fuck. Can find you food!” Her attempts at reasoning would be better spent on a brick wall. Reduced to just more whacking as a limb tried to swipe at her.
Even with her costume’s flame resistant fabric, the heat was nearly unbearable. Cass forced herself to stay on the beast’s back in spite of it, even as her skin blistered and sweat poured from every surface. Heroism was about taking everything you could stand to take and multiplying it by a thousand, was about doing the best thing even when it wasn’t the smartest. (It was never the smartest. Cass knew that.)
Metzli’s sudden presence at her side wasn’t as unexpected as she might have hoped for it to be, because Metzli tended to follow Cass’s lead even when it wasn’t a very good lead to follow. Cass felt a heat in her chest that had nothing to do with the flames surrounding them and everything to do with the guilt of knowing that Metzli might get hurt because of her, but she pushed the feeling down. It wasn’t important now. What was important was steering the proverbial ship into the water before it could set the forest and the town and everything between the two on fire with it.
Nodding at Metzli’s instruction, Cass closed her eyes for a moment. The heat was building, the fabric of her costume beginning to bend to it. It hurt. Everything hurt. And then…
Metzli yelled for her to jump, and Cass didn’t need to be told twice. She met the ground in a graceless tumble, wincing as her shoulder hit the dirt before the rest of her. That was going to hurt tomorrow. Probably the next day, too. Definitely the day after. What kind of health insurance did Spider-Man have? Cass wondered if there was a similar plan available in White Crest.
Forcing herself to her feet, Cass rushed to the river’s edge, trying to make out the fight happening beneath the surface of the water. It was hard to tell what was happening. The water was murky with more than just dirt, Cass suspected. A strange sense of concern tugged at her gut because as uncertain as she was about Macleod, she loved Metzli and they loved the zombie. Cass didn’t want anything to happen to her, even if she was still sour over their first meeting, over the heartbroken texts Metzli had sent after she left town.
Woman and beast surfaced together, and Cass rushed over, ready to jump into the fray again. Macleod looked hurt badly, but the wounds didn’t seem to bother her and Cass realized just how little she knew about how the undead processed pain. It seemed like the zombie was trying to speak to the creature, trying to reason with it. Cass, too, longed for a peaceful solution. This thing hadn’t asked to be born the way it had. It hadn’t asked to come into the world, confused and uncertain with wings that couldn’t keep it in the air and feet that weren’t enough to keep it steady. Turning to Metzli, she swallowed. “Can we help it?” She’d trust the vampire’s answer, whatever it was. She knew they’d be honest with her, just as they always were.
Water went everywhere as the vampire was flipped into the river, submerging Metzli and burying them below what could be called the chimera’s torso. They screamed, seeing walls surround them and hearing the splashes turn into grains of sand. Fists plunged into the creature over and over again, pulling thick, black ooze. Bits of flesh and random bits of god-knows-what splattered onto their face. A painful screech emitted from the Chimera and it began to move again. The body relented, much to their relief, but the sand persisted. Body shook, stuck in place as the chimera continued with its search for food. Pupils slowly grew from pinpoints, reality coming back to Metzli.
When they finally stumbled to their feet, red eyes fell onto their injured partner and scared sister who was asking them what to do. What else was there to do but kill it? The hunger would never cease, and wasn’t that a hell on its own? Poor beast didn’t ask to be made. Like Macleod said, it was just a babe. An innocent animal that was too broken since its birth. Metzli had worked on a farm long enough to know what the answer was. They didn’t like it, and they knew Macleod really wouldn’t like it, but it was the only way. Swallowing, they finally answered defeatedly. “We can’t, Cass. I’m sorry.”
The Chimera didn’t like the feeling of pain. It just wanted to eat. It needed to eat. Thrashing at the things hurting it didn’t bear any fruit. Only seemed to tire it out with each swing they evaded. But they had one of them in their sights now. It was on the ground, spewing delicious contents. The chimera wanted those contents.
Metzli crouched and leapt towards the swinging limb that was heading toward Eilidh, not letting it connect with their partner. The power behind it pushed their body a few inches, but they planted their feet well and had secured the head in their hands. Other heads snapped teeth, crashed into everything clumsily, and fought hard to move, but Metzli wouldn’t let go. The head they had in their grasp provided enough cover from the other two thankfully. “Amor, I think we have to put it down. It’s suffering. It will never stop suffering.” They waited for an answer, hoping it’d come soon as their fingers were sinking further into the decayed and burned flesh.
The trio reformed back on the ground. Eilidh hardly had the attention to spare to give them both their dues. Glancing only enough to ensure they weren’t dead or close to, before focusing back on the beast that wanted such things. Her hands continued in motion to stop that fate. Though her ears remained with the two, for those grunts and shrieks from the chimera were lost on her. Catching that opposition in tone. Words were hard to capture, but meaning was still found in the inflections. The hesitation of the masked one, which she wanted to nurture to opposition. Until it was shot down by the bleak resolution of Metzli. Want of coaxing died, replaced with a need for quarrel. Her own harsh tones readying to mix with the others. But the limbs heading her way grew in number. Making her waiting words become simple growls.
Eilidh kept up that constant whacking. Power from before lost as her energies were split between healing and defending. It was just enough to keep the claws at bay, but only enough. She nearly dealt one blow on Metzli as they jumped between. Letting out a bark of fear, she reeled back. Managing to merely clip Metzli instead of bludgeon. She hardly had the space to feel remorse, as Metzli continued their resistance. “They’re just fucking hungry!” That was what babies did: they hungered. Even the smallest wailed under its might, and this poor thing had the size to make it unbearable. But only until they were fed. The town a suitable offering, but she had already dashed that idea. Humans would crumble under its might. It would cause devastation — lead to too much bloodshed. And the hunters… Oh, they would love to kill this poor babe, wouldn’t they? She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction — those who killed for mere pleasure.
Eilidh looked to the one whose name still escaped her. “There is a thing to do.” Metzli may not see it, but she would sway both. All she needed was to find food. To the woods. The woods, yes! All hers came from such, a bearer of many. She stepped further back, practically swimming, and… swimming… Oh! All water leads to its Mother, the ocean. Yes. Yes. Yes. The woods would be convenient, but the ocean! Mother of all, and the protector of many. Embraced by her darkness — nursed by her creations. Yes! The babe would find many to eat and many to contend, for she’s a mother of dangers too. A death that would be put to use. But first, it could live. Eilidh went further into the depths until her feet no longer found the bottom. The current whisked her away; into a darkness she knew would end in salt waters. “C’mon, leanab! To food! To food!”
In the movies, the heroes always won. The losses happened, sure, but they were an afterthought. A thing behind the scenes, a quick shot of something tragic that was quickly swept away by the triumph that followed in the next heartbeat. Real life was never so cut and dry. In real life, being a hero meant that sometimes, you couldn’t save everyone. Sometimes, there was a bird and it was young and pained and suffering through an existence it hadn’t asked for, brought upon it by someone who’d never once considered what it might want, and you couldn’t help it. You couldn’t convince its wings to carry it off the ground, couldn’t talk its beaks into consuming something without hurting. There were some birds that would never fly. Cass ached with it, just a little.
But… in spite of Metzli’s words, Macleod seemed to have another idea in mind. She didn’t voice her plan aloud, and Cass certainly didn’t know her well enough to wager a guess, but the eagerness to her voice, the way her eyes lit up, it seemed to imply that there was something she thought might work. And Cass didn’t know if she trusted her, still, but she wanted a way to save this bird. She wanted to push away the idea that there were some things that were just lost causes, wanted to bury her head in the proverbial sand and pretend that any bird could get off the ground if only it was given a chance.
She couldn’t jump into the water with Macleod, not with the chimera thrashing about the way it was. Unlike the two undead in her company, Cass still kind of needed to breathe. And she enjoyed breathing. It was, frankly, one of her favorite hobbies. What she could do was run alongside the pair on the riverbank, ready to coax the chimera back into the water if it tried to climb out. Whatever Macleod’s plan was, it seemed to hinge on the bird staying in the river. And since it wasn’t one fire as long as it was soaked, Cass tended to like the concept.
“Where are we going?” She called, glancing back at Metzli and hoping that they would have the answer if Macleod wouldn’t provide it. Macleod might not be an entirely reliable source, but Metzli was. And they knew the zombie. Well enough to get that soft look in their eyes when she was near, well enough to seem to know what she was planning even when she didn’t say as much in words, well enough to trust her entirely.
“No! Macleod, they’re not suffering because they’re hungry! They’re—” Metzli sighed, realizing that their partner’s gears were going at full speed in her head. She was coming up with a plan, and the confirmation was given by her excited proclamation. Bleary eyes looked to her and then to Macleod. A haziness attempted to take over their senses, still reeling from the panic that came with being buried underneath the chimera’s weight. Shaking their head, they recentered themselves and smiled, a hint of weariness clinging onto their lips as they swiveled around to acknowledge Cass and her question with a shrug.
Metzli had no idea what the plan was, but if it meant making two people they loved work together and happy by saving the creature, they’d do anything. “No idea where we’re going, but I do know if she has a plan, it’s best to not ask too many questions or you’ll get left behind.” Their hand grasped Cass’s, pulling her with them to trail after the chimera as it chased after Eilidh while she made herself enticing with each exclamation. Whatever was going to happen next, they knew they could trust Macleod. Even if something went wrong, she would put their lives above the creature, regardless of how badly she wanted to save it. They just needed to put themselves at her disposal, for whatever plan she had in mind.
“Cass, I’m gonna throw you onto its back! You’re gonna try to stay on there to steer it wherever we go, okay?!” Metzli pulled Cass’s hand without waiting for an answer, shifting her to stand on their shoulder as they ran, and threw her into the air. Her trajectory was straight and true, landing her straight onto the beast. Metzli stopped to watch for a few moments, ensuring she was safely planted before bounding forward to run beside Eilidh with the chimera in tow behind them. “Just tell me where to be and what to do, and I’ll do it. Promise.”
The Chimera’s hatred for the water meant nothing compared to the hunger. It saw its prey slip into its hold, and it simply had to follow, letting that thief take it in full. Those screams and calls drew it closer; made it learn to swim in their persuasion. Focus fully placed, until there was a change in weight. The waters rising higher on its body as a force pushed it down. Small, but not unnoticeable. There was a piercing shriek in its throats, a start to turn its many heads. But the calls in the water grew louder and more frequent, beckoning them back to the current. The source, the prey, easier to see even in the dark.
“Aye! Look to me! Just me! Swim!” Eilidh called out, stubbornness not letting its eyes off of her. Keeping its course true. The fire in her belly was quieting, as if the waters could douse them too. Returned some strength to her limbs, for it was no longer divided. A much needed return — the current was strong but it was not swift. And the beast had many compared to her four limbs; all of hers needed to work to keep ahead. Yet, in the departing flow of her weakness, a hunger was left. Filled in the void in her stomach, same as that regrowing tissue. Teeth chattered at the babe, calling the predator inside. She wouldn’t let herself; couldn’t let herself. Except, perhaps, a little. A head stretched out, latching onto just water thrice as she maneuvered away. But the fourth struck true, and she bit in return. Its fangs latched onto her arm, her own gripping its snout. The great maw tried to break her arm, release it from the rest of her. Yet as it pressed down, those bones merely bent with the pressure instead of snapping. The flesh of the maw, though, slipped into her throat with the ease of decay. She grumbled in delight at the offering, as her other hand repeated that recurring rhythm: whack, whack, whack. The beast finally released her, but not empty handed. It too retrieved offerings; the maw dripping in black, leaving chunks of her arm bare. From those new voids birthed more chatterings in her mouth.
“THE OCEAN!” Eilidh tried to speak to her love in a normal manner, but it was hardly more than a snarl. The predator nestled in head, in her teeth. Wanted more flesh and saw one who had so much to offer. She mustn’t. It was a babe, it was a babe, it was a babe. And yet her eyes looked at the babe, the beast, the prey with the same look as it gave her. Only a matter of time before the two devoured each other, hunger finally satisfied in their shared deaths. She licked her lips, the taste so lovely despite the dread in her chest. She mustn’t. She won’t. Sounds of the approaching ocean reminded her of that gentle side, the one who still wanted to nurture. The one who saw a poor baby and did the most natural thing: try and help. The one who was struggling to keep her hands to swimming inside of tearing away that sweet flesh. Her teeth continued to click, her hands continued to paddle — both sides at a stalemate.
It was clear that Metzli didn’t like the idea of saving the chimera, but it was also clear that they’d go along with it so long as Macleod and Cass were in agreement. And despite the distrust gnawing at her gut, despite the unease she felt with Macleod near, despite the memory of that dark night and that dead man and those vampires who got away even though they probably shouldn’t have, Cass knew that she and Macleod were in agreement on this. The chimera hadn’t asked to be born from an egg, drenched in the confusion of an existence it didn’t understand. It didn’t deserve to die for that. It didn’t.
So they surged forward. Cass nodded at Metzli’s words, climbed onto their shoulders and let them launch her through the air without a moment’s hesitation because she trusted them so completely, so entirely. She grabbed at the chimera’s centermost head, used it to steer the beast while Macleod baited it from the front. She let herself think things would be fine, things would be good.
And then, Macleod started taking bites out of the bird.
The horror twisting in her gut had little to do with the chimera, despite how much she’d latched onto the beast and its neverending metaphor. Cass knew it had far more to do with that night in the woods, with the dead man and the guilt his bloody corpse left her with. The reaction wasn’t even entirely one she meant to have — it was instinctive. She saw Macleod pull away from the bird with flesh in her mouth, and she flinched back with her arms still circling its head. She flinched back, and she pulled the bird’s head back with her. It changed direction to compensate, but there wasn’t much space in the river, wasn’t much room.
It hit one side of the riverbank, panicking when it did. Swimming was such a new sensation for it; it didn’t know how to keep afloat among the chaos of it all. It was almost funny; Cass would have thought that, with the size of the thing, it would sink like a boat. Slowly capsizing, lowering itself down bit by bit. But the reality was quicker than that. It sunk all at once, flailing limbs it hardly knew what to do with, sending blood into the water, and Cass couldn’t tell which way was up. The bird’s panic felt contagious, seeping into her where she held it, spreading through her veins. She barely had enough time to gulp a breath of air before she was underwater, so tangled with the chimera that it was hard to tell which bird was which.
If it had been months before, Metzli wouldn’t have understood Eilidh’s snarl, but they spoke the tongue of her hunger now, and knew immediately what she planned for the chimera. Nature called for water to flow and congregate, this one just so happened to go to the ocean, where the creature could feed without hurting much else. Yes, that plan would work. For all parties. Darting forward on land, they watched as Cass managed to steer the chimera into a manageable position and how it even failed to find purchase to escape the current. It was just too deep. And that made panic set in quite visibly, sending Metzli into a panic themselves. Both Macleod and Cass were in danger and they went hurtling into the water. “Cass! Macleod!” If they weren’t quick, one would drown and one would lose themself in a way they’d regret. They couldn’t let either happen.
Metzli lost sight of both their loved ones, watching them be swept under. Without hesitation, they dove, causing anxiety to rise as darkness surrounded them. They too wanted to match the panicked energy that had been released into the air, but they couldn’t. Pushing past it, Metzli wrapped each arm around Macleod and Cass, kicking off of the chimera to shove them to the surface and provide momentum to its new destination.
Eilidh fought back, thrashing and wanting to be set free, but they didn’t budge, despite how exhaustion was beginning to set in. “Querida! It’s okay. It’s okay! It’ll get to the ocean. It will. It’s free. Cálmate, por favor. You saved it.” Metzli maneuvered their way to the edge of the river and helped Cass back onto land, staying in with Macleod as she continued to thrash. They knew how reactive she could get and wanted to ensure Cass was safe while they tended to their partner.
There was darkness. Swirling and churning — turning Eilidh’s world into its making. As if she was stuck in that growing void inside, the one where her hunger laid. Made herself lost to it in those moments. The light came, as it eventually did with varying degrees of urgency, but not by her own doing. Forced into it just as the dark, but that need to bite remained. The only thing that felt like a given choice. So, thrash and bash she did. Knowing nothing but that someone, something, was on her. Grabbing her. Wanting to steal from her; to cover her in so many cracks that only the hunger could remain. And she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. She still needed to help and the hunger was not compliant. But then, she heard that familiar voice. Close to her ears: urgent but soothing. There was a sudden pause, caused by a sudden confusion. More flailing followed, but they more like echoes. Softer. Simply wanting to be set free, so they could be used to swim. To guide. Yes! The chimera. She needed to guide the chimera. But she was no longer in the depths of those waters, her feet able to stand. No. That wasn’t right. She needed to return.
Eilidh twisted around in Metzli’s hold. Looking back out to that shimmer in the dark — to that current she wanted to be swept back up in. But there were breaks in the twinkling waters. Patches of dark that were moving, where parts of the submerged beast breached. All advancing towards the waves, until they wrapped the babe in their hold. Pulled it into the ocean’s welcoming embrace. Her growl was still there, having made its home in her throat, but her tone was lighter. Much lighter. “Go! Go, you fucking Eun Uisge!”
The waters were heavy and constricting. Nothing like the air the Chimera was made for. It knew so deep in its core even if the sky would never grace its wings. Knew so deeply it tried to go up, again, in a blind attempt to be free. But the current was unrelenting, and it had nothing to show for its efforts. Simply pulled further down and further out. Spat out into an emptiness, but it was not a lonely one. Nearby, the beast could see it. Movement. And wants of scurrying creatures or of distant twinkling left its thoughts. Hunger focused on the closest prey, and its limbs were sent into a frenzy trying to get closer. Those wings joined the excitement, and they all felt a give. A give that did not end in a crash, in a burst of pain and frustration, but in movement. Awkward bursts of such, as all its movements had been. But it was movement. Assured movement. And after many fumbles and incorrect directions, those wings found a rhythm. Made it feel, for the first time in its short life, deep in the waters of the ocean, that it could fly. And it flew. To the food that did not fight back, but surrendered to its many mouths. It wasn’t enough, not nearly. But it was a start.
The water was deep and cold and dark. Cass forced her eyes open, but she couldn’t see anything beyond murky shapes, couldn’t tell which way was up and which was down. She was a decent enough swimmer, but not when she couldn’t tell what she was meant to be swimming towards. Not when there was a patchwork bird flailing around and a hungry zombie snapping at the currents. Her lungs burned, and she pursed her lips together tightly to keep herself from inhaling the water instinctively, grit her teeth beneath them. It was pointless. She was going to drown, was going to die because of her own stupid mistakes, was going to —
An arm wrapped around her midsection. Foolishly, her first instinct was to kick against it, to fight her way free, but after a heartbeat she realized she recognized the tightness of the hold. Metzli. If there’d been air in her lungs, she would have heaved a sigh of relief. As it was, she only relaxed and let them do all the work to get her to the surface.
When they pushed passed the water and onto the shore, Cass sucked in a greedy breath of air, gasping and sputtering. She’d barely met the ground before she was turning back to the river frantically, searching for the creature. Beaks broke the surface, the current pulling the bird towards the ocean, and Cass understood now. In the air, the bird would never be able to fly. But in the water? It could. She sighed, swallowing around the lump that had formed in her throat.
Tentatively, she turned back to her undead companions. “It’ll be okay, right?” There was an apology hidden behind the words, but Cass was only good at saying those out loud when she didn’t mean them. She wasn’t good at apologizing when she was sorry. She only knew how to do it in moments of desperation.
She held her breath until Metzli nodded in affirmation, then let the air whoosh out of her lungs all at once. The bird would be okay. Maybe the rest of them could be, too.
