Nall ducked under the overhang of a building, sat, pulled her knees close to her chest and watched the lazy rain mist over the dark streets. Despite her best effort, she hadn't been able to keep her white cape white. Long streaks of dirt covered its hem, no matter how many times she cleaned it in the fountain. The ends of her red ribbon were starting to fray just a little, so she kept it in her pocket and went back to wearing a purple one that was once a scrap of her old robe. They were her momentos of them, physical memories to go with all the true memories. Momentos, because they were both gone.
And it was her fault one was gone. Nall sniffed and leaned her head against the wall, looking up at the overhang.
She had been mad at Atam. Mad because he was a jerk and made Akso leave. At first she thought Akso left to do some more training. Time proved otherwise, there was no sign of Akso anywhere. Then, Nall thought Akso went back to being a ghost and kept looking for signs that she was around. There were no signs. Atam agreed to help her look around Adela for any sign of Akso. It was while they were looking that all the peices snapped together. Akso and Atam were arguing before she left, at the moment Nall didn't think much of it, she didn't see any need to. They always argued, but it never got to them, she didn't think it did. Knowing made her mad.
Couldn't Atam have done something to keep Akso from getting mad? It couldn't have been that hard. She yelled at him, telling Atam how angry she was because he made Akso go away. Atam looked confused and that made her madder still.
So she ran. Yelling more would just make her madder. Maybe that's what Akso was thinking, that she had to go someplace away from Atam so she wouldn't be so angry. Couldn't she have told her she was leaving? She heard Atam running after her, calling after her and ran faster, weaving through a crowd. If he caught her she would get even madder.
Then she heard Atam scream. In surprise, in pain. She may have been mad at him, but she didn't want him to be hurt. Nall stopped running and turned around. She couldn't see Atam through the crowd and slipped through them. There was a big, dark green circle behind Atam and green chains coming out of it, wrapping around Atam's wrists, neck and waist. His legs were hidden in the circle.
When she saw him she tried to run to him, but Atam told her to stay back and was dragged into the circle, which disappeared in a blink, before she could get to him.
Then she was alone.
A few people tried to talk to her after he disappeared. She ran from them, running up and down the streets and yelling for both Akso and Atam until her voice was hoarse. They didn't answer. Akso was gone because she was mad at Atam. Atam was gone because of her. If she didn't run the circle would have gotten both of them.
She didn't want to stay at the Inn. It made her think of Akso and Atam, and she didn't have enough money to keep renting a room. She had to make her meagre valuables last until she found them again. For the last three days she would walk around Adela during the day, searching for any sign of them, trading her bracelets for food and sleeping when she found a reasonably safe place.
The building she was at now was too open. It was out of the rain but it was facing the main street. She could wait out the rain, but as soon as it let up she had to find a safer place. The clouds above flashed and rumbled faintly. Nall rested a cheek against her knees and clenched her teeth to keep them from rattling. As soon as the rain faded she'd find a better place to hide and sleep.
