I do not own The Road to El Dorado. I only own Scarlet.

Story Start

"Scarlet, get on the boat already, the tour is going to start soon, and the boat will leave without you. Now get on this boat," my stepmom screeched before clinging to my dad.

"Scarlet, honey, get on the boat," my dad pleaded with soft eyes before his eyes became focused on the fake balloons on my stepmom's chest.

"Fine, but don't gripe when we are on a boat in the middle of the ocean while it storms," I said sourly while stepping onto the boat. My long wavy black hair was pulled into a messy bun. I did not want to deal with my hair attacking my face the entire boat ride.

A few people were on the boat as well to get a tour of where Cortez first arrived when Mexico was still an undiscovered place to the Spaniards. I was excited for the tour because I loved history, but I wished that the weather was not forecasting for a bad storm. Bad storms while being on a boat is never smart. I tried to tell my dad this multiple times this morning, but my stepmother would give one whine and I no longer existed.

I could not stand the woman. She made my short temper so bad that I was going to start anger management after our vacation was over, dad insists. A sigh left me when my stepmom removed her dress to reveal a bikini. "This is a history tour, not the beach," I grumbled looking down at my own attire, which consisted of skinny jeans, flip-flops, and a comfortable t-shirt. I would have worn a tank top, but dad did not want me to show my tattoos.

"I'm twenty years old, I'll show them if I want to," I thought now, but earlier I did not complain because it would start a fight. My relationship with my dad was withering away to nothing thanks to the entrance of a stepmother into our family.

"Scarlet, those ugly spots are showing, pull down your pant legs," my stepmother screeched and my hands clenched into fists. I glared at her before bending down and I rolled up my pants legs to show more of my tattoos. My jaguar spots surrounded both of my ankles. I also had spots on my hips, ribs, spine, and shoulders.

"I said down," my stepmother insisted again and I just flipped my middle finger up to salute her. I could not physically hit her, but I enjoyed making her angry. All I really wanted to do was break her nose, her leg, shave her head bald, and shave off her eyebrows.

"These are so cool," a small voice said near me, and I saw a young boy around seven years old staring at my ankles.

"Thanks," I replied with a small smile. I was thankful for a distraction. The man running the tour started speaking into a microphone, and I let myself focus on the tour.

Time seemed to pass slowly, but dark clouds were quickly filling the sky. The tour had finally reached an area a bit away from the beach where Cortez first stepped foot in Mexico. People in the boat jumped when thunder boomed above the boat.

The waves had been growing choppier and the winds were becoming too strong. A curse left me as the captain quickly turned the boat around and the little boy from earlier started stumbling to the side of the boat.

"No," I yelled and ran towards the boy. I grabbed his hand and used my momentum to spin him around towards the center of the boat. However, my back was now towards the side of the boat. A large wave rocked the boat, and I lost my footing. I fell back and was lucky enough to grab hold of the side railing. My body crashed into the rough waves, which smashed my body against the side of the boat.

"Where is Scarlet?" I heard my dad yell as I tried to pull my body back into the boat.

"She fell off the boat," the little boy I saved yelled.

"She fell off that way," my stepmother called out before her face appeared above me. "Pity, I thought you would have drowned by now," she hissed staring down at me in twisted glee.

"Glad to disappoint," I growled trying to pull myself up again. My flip-flops were now swallowed up by the ocean, and my bare feet were not helping me push myself onto the boat.

"Guess I will just have to do the job myself," the crazy woman cackled insanely before she threw a bunch of heavy rope on top of me.

I was able to hold onto the boat even with the added weight, which was trying to drag me into the stormy waters around me.

"Let go," the woman on the boat screamed before stepping on my fingers with her stilettos. Pain flashed through my brain, and I felt my fingers slip off the railing. The ropes quickly drug me into the water. I was a good swimmer, but the heavy rope minimizing my movements was not making swimming easy.

"Get off," I thought angrily fighting against the rope. My breath was running out and black dots were clouding my vision. "Now," I screamed in my mind as I finally got the rope away from me. I struggled to swim to the surface, but my breath left me before I could.

"Tulio, over here," I heard a voice yell in Spanish. I knew Spanish because my family was from Spain, but we lived in the U.S. My father made sure I knew Spanish well so I could communicate with our family still in Spain.

"What is it, Miguel? First, we find some big rock instead of a treasure and now," another male voice started to say as I felt somebody crouch beside me and footsteps approached me.

"Where did she come from?" the first man, Miguel said pushing some of my hair out of my face.

"I don't know, but it had to be the river. She is soaked to the bone," Tulio answered and he was correct. However, his words confused me because I remember falling into the ocean, not a river.

A groan of annoyance left me as I slowly opened my eyes. I was surprised that both of the men and a horse were hovering over me. "Uh, hi," I said in Spanish and the men gave me relieved but confused looks.

"Hi, I'm Miguel and this is Tulio," the cheerful blond man introduced himself and his grumpy dark haired friend.

"What are you doing here?" Tulio questioned as Miguel helped me stand. I twisted out as much water from my shirt and pants legs as I could while still wearing the clothes.

"I fell off a boat, thought I drowned, and woke up here with you two," I said and the horse gave a snort. "Three," I corrected myself while ringing the water out of my hair more, which was no longer in a bun.

"Are you all right?" Miguel worriedly asked while Tulio kept giving me suspicious glances.

"I'm fine, just tired and confused," I said with a sigh before glaring at my still soaked clothes. "I need to get the water out of these better," I said starting to walk towards the trees, which would hide me. I was not ashamed of my body, and I had a bikini top under my shirt. However, I did not want to be stared at while ringing more water out of my shirt.

"We'll wait for you," Miguel said happily as he and Tulio jumped onto the horse's back. I raised my hand in a wave of acknowledgement before disappearing behind some trees.

"What is going on?" I growled to myself before remembering how my stepmother tried to kill me. "I don't know how I survived, but I definitely feel different," I thought while taking off my shirt. My jaguar spots shone proudly in the small amount of sunlight showing through the canopy. I felt as if I had pent up energy and rage that I needed to unleash. I knew the rage was because of my stepmother, but the energy was unexplainable.

A commotion was occurring on the other side of the trees, but I ignored it when I noticed my black fingernails were now black claws. "Something seriously strange has happened," I thought and felt fangs in my mouth. A hiss escaped me when my fangs cut my tongue and the metallic taste filled my mouth. Usually the taste of blood would make me gag, but now it made a strange hunger ignite in me.

"Wait, we have someone else with us," Miguel yelled and I heard feet rushing towards the trees.