Mao Mao's Sisters

Ashaki and her Analyses

Snugglemane yawned into his hand, it had taken these past couple of days spending time curled up in his duvet, guzzling whole pints of rocky road to come down from all the excitement. He couldn't fathom why the sheriff and his family would indulge themselves in such barbaric activities.

Up ahead, Snugglemane couldn't help but noticed that the door to the archive was left ajar. Letting his curiosity get the best of him, he peeked inside, his expression turned sour. In the center of the room, Ashaki sat at a table, tomes and texts towering over her head, threatening to fall on her.

Snugglemane was infuriated with this woman, every day she was gliding through the castle, and every time their paths crossed, she showed no proper etiquette that is required when stood before a king. Despite how much he hated interacting with her, he wouldn't let that get to him. He approached the table, mug of coffee in his hand.

"You're still here?" Snugglemane spoke, looking at some of the books in the pile. Mostly a bunch of informative stuff, too boring for him to look at.

"Pure Heart Valley has been deemed a lost kingdom throughout history," Ashaki stated, turning the page of the book before her. "Now that I'm standing in it, I want to learn as much as I can."

Snugglemane rolled his eyes. "I would've assumed you'd be with the sheriff as well as your sisters."

Ashaki turned another page. "I'll reconvene with my sisters when the time comes, until then, I'll be here, reading up on the mysteries of Pure Heart."

Snugglemane could barely believe this. The green clad Mao sister had no intent on leaving his castle. He could order her, but if what Mao Mao said was anything to consider, she won't listen to authority.

While he was lost in thought, Snugglemane noticed something on Ashaki's head. Her fur was barely parted, allowing sight of the string that had been threaded into her skull.

"Goodness, that looks like a nasty injury," Snugglemane spoke aloud without meaning too. Ashaki finally looked up to see where the king was looking.

"It's no matter, a little work on it here and there and it will be like it never happened." Ashaki reached up a brushed her finger over the tissue.

"Can't you just heal it like you did with the sheriff and the tanuki woman?"

Ashaki let out a sigh, she hated to repeat herself, and everyone always asks the same questions. She even considered just writing it all down in a sheet of paper to hand out to people. "No I can't, if I were to attempt such a thing, the bone won't heal correctly, and then I'll have a misshapen skull."

"If you say so," Snugglemane turned back to the door of the archives, wanting for nothing more than to go about his day and indulge in a pastry puff.

Left alone in the archives once more, Ashaki went back to flipping through the pages of the book, finishing in a matter of minutes now that the distraction was gone. That was the last book she had in her current pile. By her estimate, it would only take two or three more sessions to finish reading the vast amount of tomes.

Gliding between the towering shelves, she floated before the final aisle of books. Ashaki found a row of books that caught her attention. The lack of detail on the covers compared to all the other books allowed the to stand apart from the rest.

Grabbing the first one, she flipped it to the first few pages.

The community has grown much larger than I had ever hoped. When we settled in this valley, it was a large forest fraught with mysteries. But now, we slowly learn and master them.

This village will need a name. After being driven from our homes I want it to have a great name. One that people can say is their home with nothing but love and pride in their heart.