Two Tails, One Rotten Heart

When they welcome her home

The sun did not wake her today. No, it was the clap of thunder that made Nala jump up from bed mistaking the thunder for an angry mob knocking the door down. It's just a little storm go back to bed. Groggily, Nala climbed back into bed facing her sister's empty bed.

Empty bed.

Empty bed.

She once again sprang up and started ripping the cover up from the bed thinking Ula had somehow disappeared into the cotton. It had happened. They had come for her...but why Ula? It was Nala who had disrespected the most powerful families in town and how had they taken Ula without waking her up? Nala ran out of the room and down the stairs needing air, needing space to breath and think what next.

She was wrong again because it was not a little storm rolling in but a huge one, sent to destroy the town. Perhaps a sign that Nala had messed up so badly this time and she wasn't the one paying for it. Where was Ula? A scream sounded to her right and Nala spun around.

"Ula?"

"What are you doing out here you shameless rotten girl!"

A old woman was standing near the flower meadow staring in horror at Nala. She looked down at herself but nothing was wrong on the outside, it was inside that she was losing her mind and the ability to take in air.

"You think it's appropriate for a young lady to be walking around in nightgowns? You should be ashamed!"

Of course that was wrong. Not that her sister was gone but that she was in her nightgown. Nala considered going down there and giving the woman a piece of her mind but she didn't have time and so turned around and walked back into the house.

Rushing back up the stairs Nala put on the first dress her hand touched and put on some simple shoes practically throwing herself downstairs in her haste to talk to the one other person in this house. Her grandfather was still sleeping when she walked in and Nala didn't bother being nice about waking him up this time.

"Wake up! Wake up old man!" Nala yelled shaking him.

He choked on his snoring and fluttered his eyes trying to acclimate to the rude awakening.

"What is it girl? Why do you wake me up like this? Have you—"

"Where is Ula? Did you see them take her?" Nala interrupted. He blinked at her and so Nala asked again.

"Did you see who took Ula? She isn't here." Nala said once again, slowly.

The old man opened his mouth...and laughed. It kept going getting louder echoing all over the house and making the absence of Ula ache like an old stab wound. Nala yelled and begged her grandfather for anything but the laughter never stopped and so she left the room and didn't hear when his laughs turned into sobs.

There was only one more place Ula could be and for once Nala couldn't wait to reach the town square. She ran all the way there but stopped just before to calm her breathing, there would be no way to find her sister if Nala was thrown into jail for acting like a mad person. So she calmly walked into the square just to be met with stares and whispers, it was not unusual. Nala checked at all the stalls and cursed herself for not remembering Ula's favorites. There was the man who sold the bread, the shoemaker, the stall of ribbons, the butcher with the overwhelming smell of dead fish, but not Ula.

"Hey! Hey Nala, how are you doing?" There was a boy in front of her, smiling, how strange. Caden, the nice boy from the caves. He was nice, would he help her find Ula or accuse her of some strange crime and tell Samuel, his best friend. It was too risky so she gave him a strained smile and turned away.