Two Tails, One Rotten Heart

Old Grievances

Asherah was smart and deadly and at times fearless and so she didn't hesitate to once again throw Nala off the bed as a means of waking her up. Nala hit the floor and coughed up sand before throwing a bunch at the other girls face. Cari came in and ended the fight before it even started with one look and motioned for them to follow her. Nala swallowed and obeyed. The three sirens headed out to meet with the group of females waiting at the edge of Atla with sharp teethed grins filled with excitement and eagerness to begin the hunt. Cari led the group of murders, soon to be assassins and they all broke through the waves faster than any ship.

They stopped over a coral reef and the sirens positioned themselves around it. Nala looked up, she could almost feel the heat of the sun. She had not come so close to the surface since becoming what she was now. Would the sun feel any different after living in the depths for so long? She didn't really care to find out. Something brushed against her hand then squeezed her fingers. Nala looked to the side to find Asherah holding her hand, she winked at Nala and then released her before moving away. Nala paused to gaze at her hand and flexed her fingers before following the sirens. They paused a little ways way from the reef and began.

It was different watching the transformation take over so close. Even more different to experience but she did. Her tail strengthened, the fins becoming more leathery and the stinger ripping out, her nails felt like they were tearing as they became claws, the skin of her neck broke when the gills came out, the rest of her body felt on fire as the scales covered her like armor, her vision sharpened and finally her gums broke apart to make room for the fangs. Sirens let out roars of hunger, ready for the chase and so was she.

The boat was moving so slow but they couldn't act until it was too far from town, too far to call for help. She wanted blood, she could smell it and hear it from above. The sirens waited and waited until it came closer and then the song began. She had been practicing. The voices rose up beside her and the ones from above went quiet. They waited until they heard the splash and the frenzy began. One of the sirens dragged the boy under and all she could see was the red that was coating the water. She heard a groan and a break. They had broken the boat. Good, that would make it easier. There was screaming now as the men tried to swim but they were pulled down one by one. A blonde haired siren growled at her and they darted up together grabbing on to a leg then a throat, the siren ripped it out. Finally she could feed.

Something caught her attention. Another siren, her green tail swishing, her hand wrapped around a boy whose mouth was opened in a silent scream. She had felt that mouth. A name penetrated the haze. Samuel. Nala didn't remember ripping his throat out.

"Nala."
"Nala."

"NALA."

Hands were shaking Nala and since she didn't feel any claws she could assume the hunt was over but she didn't remember it ending. Something slapped her. Nala gasped in shock and outrage and finally focused. Asherah was standing to the side while Cari stood in front of her with her arm out ready to slap Nala again.

"I'm here" she gasped out because she hadn't been here before. The girls exchanged a look and then Cari went ahead and slapped her again. Ow.

"What did you think you were doing? Stealing the kill of another siren?" Asherah demanded. Nala was just noticed the blood and gore floating off of her in thin streams of red. Looking down she saw her hands were covered in blood too. Samuel. She had killed Samuel.

"Why did you do it?" Cari asked flatly. Nala said nothing. She had done nothing wrong but shame still burned in her leaving ashes. She was supposed to be strong. How could she tell them what had happened? How weak she had been unable to stop that boy from stealing something from her. He was dead now and a small part of Nala rejoiced but it didn't stop the anger and confusion burning in the eyes of her sirens. Once it became clear that Nala would not say anything they had no choice but to swim back to Atla and take the matter to Empress Aphrodite. Nala wasn't sure what Cari would have done if they were not surrounded by a crowd. If the other sirens were not shooting glares at her and the green tailed siren was not craving her blood.

Nala stayed in a detached state until they reached the palace and she was thrown forward only to look up and see Aphrodite staring at her.

"What happened." An order not a question. Cari was the one who told her, she had seen it all. Nala was posed to feed from a boy they had in their grasp when she suddenly looked up and saw the other boy. She ripped him from the arms of the sirens and tore his throat out, tore his body to shred with her claws and laughed. Nala didn't remember laughing.

The Empress stared at Nala and her lips twitched almost as if she wanted to smile, it was gone when Nala blinked but she knew what it meant. She had lost, she was no good to the sirens, a disappointment to Asherah, and a burden to Cari. It was crippling how much she cared.

"Well a kill was stolen today and it is only right that a price be paid." We all waited to see what she would say. "Twenty lashes." Nala fought the shudder working itself up her body. Flashes of an old woman and the spanking she delivered to Nala as a child went through her mind but this would be so much worse.

The siren, Amenate, whose kill she had stolen came closer with a smile on her face but the next words out of the Empress's mouth stopped her. "My daughter will deliver the blows."

"Mother?" Cari's voice was a question and plea. Don't make me do this. Despite the circumstances Nala felt hope light up inside her, hope that Cari might still want her, that Ash might forgive her. "The girl was your responsibility and so you will deliver the punishment. Obey me Cari." The crowd of sirens assembled in the room stayed silent as someone brought a whip over to Cari and two guards came to hold Nala in place. She didn't resist, there was no point really.

The first lash broke the mesh top Nala had on, the second froze her in place, the third set her senses on fire. Another and another Cari did not stop. Nala didn't know where to look. At Aphrodite with a knowing look in her eye that said I told you so I told you so I told you so, Amenate with her savage grin that grew bigger at each crack of the whip, at Asherah — Ash, she held Nala's gaze. There was no pity or comfort there but a simple truth. I'm here I'm here I'm here I won't leave.

By the time it was over Nala had all but escaped her body, her senses didn't seem to be working right, everything felt muffled as if she had a blanket over her head. She was aware of two people holding her arms and dragging her forward, her tail limp. More flashes came at her, people holding her arms dragging her forward to a dungeon, screaming behind her and someone's lips crashing on her own. Tears started crawling down her cheeks without her permission causing her anger and shame to increase, at least these emotions were familiar.

"Almost there Nala, we'll get you into bed." That was Ash's voice. Asherah was carrying her? What about...

"Hold on Nala, just hold on." Cari. They had come for her.

The girls took Nala to Cari's room where there was less chance of them being interrupted. They laid the girl on her stomach the bed already clinging to her and keeping her still as Cari fetched some herbal cream they used for wounds. They cleaned up her back and put in a salt solution to stop the bleeding that had Nala grunting in pain. Each girl took a handful of cream and massaged it into her back and wrapped it up once done. Nala expected them to leave after they were done but instead they laid on the small bed with her. Nala broke the silence.

"He was from my town. The boy. He took something from me and when I saw him...he took more than one thing from me. My life and also a kiss. That body and person I was is dead but it still...It may not matter to you —" she was cut off.

"It matters." Asherah's words were a whisper but it was all Nala needed. Cari interlocked fingers with Ash and they laid their hands gently on Nala. They were with her. Nala cried that night for the wounds, the boy she killed, the piece of innocence she lost in killing a person, her friends who cared and stayed for her, and the overwhelming feeling she could no longer deny. Nala missed her sister.