The Cinders of Dezu

16th: The Tribe of the Lake (2)

Cairo looked back to the water as figures began rising from it again. This time the creatures all had weapons. There were two groups, one with what looked like caked on blue clay paint and a group that did not. They turned to each other and began to mock battle as Cairo watched, growing increasingly confounded. The ones in blue paint seemed to be winning the battle until the ones without paint began to retreat. Simultaneously, to the right of Cairo's view he saw a series of thick branches with foliage on them, clearly picked from the trees on the shore. They rose up from the water and moved toward the non-painted group as they retreated from the mock battle and ran in their direction. A forest, he thought.

The group went into the makeshift trees that were clearly being held upright underwater by unseen performers. As the unpainted group moved through them, the trees acted like a rolling treadmill. A row of trees would hit an unseen barrier at the left and then uniformly sink before reappearing on the other side of the staged forest. It was clear to Cairo this was symbolizing them traveling through the woods. A new set of performers appeared between the trees, these ones painted in a muddy yellow clay paint. The yellow men fought the unpainted ones and mock killed some of them so that the group of the unpainted performers grew smaller and smaller.
Eventually, the trees began to create an open circle in the middle revealing open water. In the center, a stone with green moss on it was lifted up to the surface. The unpainted performers simulated diving into this watery clearing. They came up and began a coordinated dance around the moss covered stone. The creatures on the edges of the wall began their high pitched cry and clicking again.

Cairo's eyes raised as he began to understand. This was their story. The clearing was the lake and the stone was the island. They were telling him what happened to them. But why? A drum beat began.
It was slow, deep and methodical. It's intensity calmed the cries of the creatures to a silence. Only it remained now. Cairo looked around to see where it was coming from. He couldn't tell and his search stopped when the female creature beside him turned his head again by his chin and directed him toward the watery stage.

The stone in the center sank to reveal a symbol. It rose from the depths slowly and sat on the surface. It was made of large bones and looked something like the symbol of a star. The trees fell away, until only the star symbol remained with the performers in a circle around it. They all seemed to be trembling.
One by one a performer was lifted up by the group and placed into the top triangular space in the star. He or she would cross his arms over their chest and close their eyes in resignation. They would sink slowly into dark below. They did this over and over to the beat of the deep drum. Cairo felt his heart sink deeper with each performer. He became sick with dread.