I did not plan to push this story aside for a whole month lol
That Engineer: That's one way to see it. I'll let the readers decide *cough*Shetotallyis*cough*
JSPillow: Make me, bitch :weary:
The PhantomHokage: I actually considered it, but nah. I'll save that for another time ;)
As for everyone else; thank you. And thank you all for 109 faves and 122 follows. I feel like now is a good time to be grateful to you all. So without further ado; Lana and Lola's story…
It all started innocently enough. In fact, more than that, it was a downright normal series of events that led up to the incident. As Lincoln began narrating what happened to Ronnie Anne, he made it clear that the events in question took place one year after the previously discussed events. The secret of Lynn, Lincoln and Lucy was still that; a secret, unknown to all except for Lori, who employed subtle tactics to trip her younger siblings up, but that's for another time.
Let's take the focus off those four and focus on two…
The rancid smells and odors of the Royal Woods dump didn't bother young Lana at all, as she shouted "CANNONBALL!" while leaping into another pile of garbage. Her head snuck beneath the muck, but the seven year old eventually resurfaced, laughing to herself. "Alright, time to get to work," she said to herself, "There's always something good to find our here. If I sell enough of the stuff I find, I can buy an even bigger Froggie Fortress."
She patted the front pocket of her overalls. "You'd like that, wouldn't ya, Hops?"
The green amphibian stuck it's head out of her clothing, and gave an enthusiastic ribbit. Lana chuckled as she patted his head with her finger; she was grateful for his company, as well as the company of all her animal friends. "I always have better luck with frogs and fish than people, huh?" she muttered to herself, almost wistfully, before shrugging it off.
"Oh well. We can't all be like Lola."
The young tomboy resumed her searching, keeping a special eye out for an salvageable gears or screws or nails. Useful stuff. Of course, sometimes she'd come across a decent treasure; for example a small Gundam model, still unboxed. Lana grinned to herself. Only one kind of person would throw this away. "Thank God for the spoiled rich kids."
After she had gathered enough material, she returned to a small sack she left by the entry, and dumped her collection of trash in there. She smiled as she wiped the grime and sweat from her brow, and gazed back down at Hops. The frog looked up to her with wide eyes, and gave another quick ribbit to indicate that it was time to leave. "Hold on, Hops," Lana said, turning back to a pile on the far side of the dump, "I think we can still find something valuable…"
Ribbit.
"What, no? I'm doing this for you."
Ribbit.
"So what if I want to jump in the trash again? If it's fun for me, and gets you and the other frogs a bigger home… who am I hurting?"
If Hops could roll his eyes, he probably would've. Seeing how there was no arguing, he simply ducked back into Lana's pocket. And the girl eagerly rushed over there, so eager and excited she ran on all fours like Charles. And when she leapt into the pile, she leapt high… and dove in with high speed.
Unfortunately, in her excitement, the girl forgot one simple rule she followed; always look where you jump.
At first, she didn't feel much. But suddenly a sharp and stinging pain ran through her right leg, and she screamed in pain. "AGGH! That hurts!" she cried out as she inched her hand towards the source of the pain. The moment she touched it, she flinched. "Owowowowowowowow," she repeated, before looking down at her leg with teary eyes.
A long, red, bloody gash stretched from her knee down to just above her ankle. Crimson blood began escaping from the wound, dripping on the muddy ground Lana was lying on. The girl panted as she looked to see what caused the injury, and noticed that, as she fell, her right leg met with a broken pipe sticking out of the ground. It had a sharp end, dripping with a little of her blood, and the way the edge looked… it was incredibly dirty. Even Lana, the queen of mud, understood that when something that filthy penetrates your skin…
Get help as soon as possible.
"I'll call Mom and Dad," she decided, reaching to grab her phone from another pocket, but she paused, "Wait… if I, argh, tell them what happened… they'll never let me come down here again. I can't tell one of the guys either… they'd just tell our parents…"
Lana began panicking slightly, unsure of what to do, and the searing pain in her leg was not helping in the slightest. Thankfully, Hops could recognize the sound of his mistress' heart pounding and prompting slapped her cheek with his tongue.
"Thanks, Hops… I needed that," she said with a little chuckle.
Lana began rubbing her chin, her expression more serious than usual. Suddenly, a bright smile erupted onto her face, and she proudly exclaimed "I've got an idea!"
Clouds of sickly sweet dust escaped into the air as Lola Loud powdered her face in front of the mirror. There were no upcoming pageants for her, thankfully, so she had time to finally just sit back and rel- No! Lola Loud does not relax! She always had to look her best. "After all," Lola said smugly to herself, "Only someone as beautiful as me could attract such a wide social circle."
She wasn't wrong. Of the two twins, she was infinitely more popular, as her life was filled to the brim with adoring crowds, cheering her every step. When it came to her peers in the pageant world, the other girls were envious and the boys were love struck. Lola smirked at the thought.
Just as I like them.
Still, if there was one group she seemed to have a disconnect with, it was the animals. Seriously, just the other day, she tried to pet a cute cat in the park and it hissed at her. That was rude. Lola sighed; Lana always seemed to have more luck on that front. It was weird, in a way; Lana was by no means unpopular, but she chose to spend most of her time with frogs and snakes. And Lola was the opposite; while she had some animals that liked her (usually those around the house) she found more standing with people.
Lola shrugged. Oh well… anything goes as long as Winston likes me~
Lola inspected herself in her large mirror, and then in her pocket mirror for good measure. Finding herself as prim and proper as she should be, she made her way out of her room and down the stairs. She walked into the living room, to find Lincoln and Lynn… oddly staring at each other, their cheeks both inflamed red.
Lola scowled. She didn't know what was going on, but boy they looked weird…
"LINCOLN! LYNN! You didn't say 'Hi' to me," Lola demanded angrily, and the two immediately panicked and separated.
"Oh, uh… hey, Lola," Lincoln gave her a weak grin, "Do… do you want to use the TV?"
"Hmmm… I think I shall," Lola said, sitting on the couch between her two older siblings. She could've sworn she heard Lynn mutter "Fuck" under her breath, but that didn't matter to her. She had the remote. Lincoln was notorious for never giving up the remote.
"Hey Lana! Do you want to watch cartoons?" the diva called out to her twin, to no response.
"I think Lana went to the dump earlier," Lincoln said as he scratched his head, "Though, for real, she should've been back by now."
"Eh, she'll be fine," Lynn dismissed, "She's a tough girl. Taught her everything I know. And sometimes… the student became the teacher," she wiped a tear from her eye.
"Well… if you say so…" Lola said, "I'm sure she'll be back soon." And with that, Lola changed the channel to the latest episode of White Hare; a beloved cartoon about a rabbit furry named Warren and his 25 sisters. "Yes, this episode is about Bernadette!" Lola cheered, "She's my favorite."
"I'm more into Bertha," Lynn admitted, "And Bailey. Bailey's a champ."
"Honestly, I really like Warren…" Lincoln started, before Lynn and Lola interrupted him by bursting out in laughter.
"Of course someone as bland as Stinkoln would be a St. Warren Worshipper. Hey, how many No Such Woodchuck rewrites have you done?" Lynn mocked.
"I bet he thinks Barbara is Warren's guardian or something," Lola pitilessly giggled.
"Well, look, I'm not one of those fans," Lincoln tried to defend himself, "Sure those guys are crazy but I…"
"Oh, Brenda and Betty are so meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeean to Warren," Lynn interrupted again, squishing her freckled cheeks as she did a bad Lincoln impersonation, "I remember Betty called him twerp once…"
"Yeah, I think I'm leaving," Lincoln said in annoyance, grimacing as his sisters' hysterics only got louder. It would be a full minute until Lynn wiped a tear from her eye and noticed her brother was gone.
"Ah, come on, bro, we were just messing," Lynn called out, before hopping off the couch to run up the stairs after him. She paused in the middle, before glancing back at Lola. "Hey Lols… do me a favor and keep an eye out for Lans. Got big game plans with her."
Lola gave a curt and regal nod, and Lynn went back to running up the stairs. The girl in pink sat there for a little while longer, watching the funny rabbits (and beaver) do their thing; someone messes up, they learn a life lesson and then hug it out. It was a nice show, overall, despite its faults and repetition. Just an indescribable charm, Lola supposed.
She got off the couch, tossing the remote at Leni as the older girl entered the room. "TV's all yours," she said as she passed, "And you know our deal, right Leni?"
The blonde nodded. "If Blake Bradley breaks up with his girlfriend, call you even if you're on the toilet."
"I prefer 'in the little girl's room,'" Lola corrected as she rolled her eyes, "But yes. Thank you, Leni."
"Sure thing, Lola," Leni said, happy to always help, as Lola disappeared up the stairs, before glancing back at the remote control she was tossed, "Wait, I didn't even want to watch TV…"
The young girl walked down to her room, placing a gloved hand on the handle, and spun it to be greeted with…
"Lana?" Lola asked, surprised to see her twin sister. The tomboyish twin spun around, with hints of sweat on her forehead and wide nervous eyes. And despite Lana jamming her hands behind her back, Lola saw tape and red tissues in her grasp, and could still see her snake El Diablo stretched out in a perfectly straight vertical line, bearing lines of bandages on his scales.
"Uh, Lana, when did you get back?" Lola asked, ticking her head to the side.
Lana's breaths were ragged and heavy as she marched herself down the street, limping painfully. With a bit of wood she had found in the dump, she managed to make herself a makeshift split, and tied it tightly to her leg as she stood up to test it. She patted the straightened out leg; she grunted as it pained her a little, but at least she was walking again.
She made her way to her house, passing by Mr. Grouse doing some light gardening in his yard. Watching the seven year old girl walk painfully struck with a chord with the old man. "Are you alright, Loud?" he called, in a more caring and soft voice than usual.
"I'm fine, yeah," Lana lied.
"You sure? You look like you're-"
"Hey, Lincoln, why'd you throw that Frisbee into Mr. Grouse's backyard?" Lana suddenly called to distract him. Immediately, the old man's eyes glowed, and he immediately ran towards his backyard, armed with only his signature catchphrase; "MY YARD, MY PROPERTY!"
Lana snickered as she watched the fooled man go. And people say Lisa's the only smart one…
She turned back to her own house, though, and she immediately rubbed her hand against her chin. "How am I supposed to get inside without one of the guys noticing?" Lana thought out loud. She hummed to herself for a while, before her loyal companion Hops popped out of her pocket, giving a loud croak.
"You're right. I'll just use the doggie door in the back," Lana said, smacking herself lightly on the forehead, "Duh…"
"A little while ago, actually," Lana said, taking of her red cap and scratching her head with it, "I came in through the back."
"And why didn't you take the front door?" Perhaps it was the suspicious set-up Lola had caught her sister in, or her own personal ability to sniff out the bizarre behaviors and odd reads of the people around her, but something told Lola to keep pressing the older twin.
"I just like coming in the doggie door," Lana shrugged.
Lola squinted and Lana watched as her eyes scanned the entirety of Lana's body. Something was off, she could tell. If only Lana's long pants didn't fall to cover her wound, then perhaps Lola could've seen it and called over Lori or one of their parents.
Perhaps then, the entire chaotic and painful sequence of events to follow could have been averted. But, as time had proved before and would prove again in the future, the Loud House wasn't just home to their family… it was also home to inconvenient coincidences.
"Well… okay," Lola said with uncertainty, still trying to find something to point out to her roommate. Her eyes landed on the bandaged snake, and she pointed at El Diablo. "What about that?" she questioned.
"El Diablo… got into a fight with one of the snapping turtles. I was just bandaging him up. Um… you might not want to be here. If you think snakes are gross now…"
"Egh," Lola stuck out her tongue in disgust, "Oh, I will leave you to it."
Lana watched with a subtle bit of a smirk as Lola left, snickering to herself. "I knew Lola wouldn't remember we got rid of our snapping turtles," Lana muttered to herself with pride. It wasn't every day she could pull the wool over Lola's painted eyes. Her celebratory murmuring had to be cut short, as the girl clenched her teeth when she felt the cut begin to burn and itch. She began scratching at it, and groaned when she felt a bit of liquid pouring out. She had re-opened the wound, and when she rolled her pants back up to check, a nasty colored pus was flowing from it.
"Dang it…"
Lana looked back at her pet serpent. It seemed like El Diablo was staring at her with concern in his eyes. It was hard to tell, what with El Diablo being a cold blooded reptile and all, but Lana had spent enough time with the serpent to tell that, for once, it seemed to be worried about her. "Don't worry about a thing," Lana tried to reassure, extending a hand to rub its head gently, "I know what I'm doing. I promise."
Funny thing about the way she said it; it sounded more like she was trying to convince herself…
You know, Lisa's just down the hall. Maybe you could have her look at it. Maybe she could even keep it a secret…
I don't know if she can be trusted. Remember? That time Linc told her about Ronnie Anne sticking gum in his hair, and she went right to Lynn and then Lynn told everyone else… you know, that was a real nice piece of gum. I wonder if I could still find it…
Lana, focus. This is more important than you playing around in the trash…
I'm not going. End of discu… discush… Even in my own head, I can't seem to say it.
Over the course of the next few days, Lana would treat her deep cut in secret, and unfortunately with very little experience. When dealing with any cut, there needed to be an almost expert degree of care, and no rushing into it. Add to that fact that the cut in question was inflicted on a very important body part, and originated from the dump meant someone like Lisa or Rita should've had a gander at it. But young, inexperienced Lana took care of it herself, with her usually dirty, mucky fingers. So it was no wonder that… it was no surprise when… um…
Lincoln had to pause for a moment, a heavy swallow passing through his throat. Ronnie Anne said nothing, trying to come up with the right words to seem concerned but not pushy for him to continue. Unfortunately, words were not the tomboyish woman's strong suit, as she simply said "You alright?"
"Yeah," he said, reaching for a tissue box nearby, only to find it empty. Ronnie Anne gave a weak smile in apology as she handed him one next to her, and the young man accepted graciously, whispering a quick "Thank you," before wiping his face. Lincoln played with the little bit of beard stubble that was growing out, before clearing his throat to start again.
"Sorry, it's just… I hate remembering what happened next. How helpless and stupid I was. I couldn't even help out my own little sister…"
Beauty sleep was very important to Lola. She slept peacefully with a green tea face mask, two thick slices of cucumbers covering her closed eyelids, and an armload of curlers riding her blonde hair as proof. There weren't many things she'd allow to rouse her from her well deserved rest. Her siblings were one of those few things, though. If Lynn was bouncing that stupid ball she used to help her sleep too much... if Luna had forgotten to plug in her earphones while she listened to her nighttime music... if Lisa was leaving an especially noisy computer on overnight... that warranted her to get out of bed and scream at said noisy siblings until they cut the racket. There were two exceptions to this, of course.
One was Lily crying the night. Lola was slightly proud of the misdeeds she committed, but she wasn't going to add 'screaming at a baby' to the list.
The other was, unfortunately, something she could hear right peeled off the slices of vegetation to get a look at her roommate, Lana. The older twin was shivering and whimpering, sweat rolling down her face as she tossed and turned in her bed. Lana seemed to be gritting her teeth as well, and even from far away, Lola could feel an intense heat coming off her sister's body. "L-Lana?"
"AGGH!" Lana let out a pained cry as she arched her back, and Lola's mind immediately went into a small panic. She quickly got to the ground and ran towards her sister, and began shaking her.
"LANA! LANA! WAKE UP!"
Is she having one of her usual nightmares? No... no, this feels worse...
Suddenly, Lana's eyes shot wide open, and she looked around the room in shock, until her eyes landed on her worried twin. "L-Lola?"
That was all Lana could say before a wave of bile and chunks escaped her mouth, releasing everything she had stored in her stomach. Lola screamed at the top of her longs when, following that, the tired and sweating Lana collapsed onto the floor.
"Yep," Lincoln said sadly, rubbing his eyes with weary, "Lana's leg... was infected. And it spread..."