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One stormy night, Nuno split in two. By morning, two cloud cats had woken up on a rooftop. This is the story of Sora and Hana.

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The night Nuno split in two

They say clouds never break. Nuno did, once, and he has never regretted it.

It was a stormy night at the end of a summer that had been far too hot. The wind had pushed Nuno low, much too low. He got caught on the tip of a cat-shaped weathervane at the very top of an old roof. A flash, a crack, and two little scraps of cloud tumbled down either side of the chimney.

By morning the rain had stopped. On the still-wet tiles, two cloud cats woke up at the same moment, sneezed at the same moment, and looked at each other as if they had always known each other. They had the same grey ears, the same eyes the colour of a freshly washed sky, and at the tip of their tails, the same small white tuft. A piece of Nuno each.

Nuno, patched back together as best he could, floated above them. He left them a keepsake: a cloud-shaped clip tucked into their hair. They have never taken it off since.

They named themselves Sora, the sky, and Hana, the flower. One to look up, one to make things grow down below.

Sora, the sky

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Sora is the elder, by four minutes. He brings it up whenever he needs to be right, which is fairly often.

He is a slow dreamer. In the morning he needs two cups of tea and a long moment at the window before he says a word. He doesn't talk much, but he notices everything: the strand of hair that has grown, the jumper put on inside out, the cloud that looks like a rabbit for exactly three seconds. He collects odd mugs and refuses to throw a single one away, even chipped.

His big weakness is his ears. They give everything away. When he fibs, they swivel backwards. When he is happy, the tuft at the end of his tail puffs up like a marshmallow, and he pretends not to notice.

One thing still makes him jump: thunder. He calls it “a family memory”.

Hana, the flower

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Hana is the opposite. She is awake before her alarm, she speaks before she has finished thinking, and she already has a plan while Sora is still looking for his socks.

Her balcony is a small jungle. Every plant has a name, and a personality too: the basil is jealous, the cactus is shy. She sings while she waters them, loudly and off-key, and she owns it completely.

Hana is the more protective of the two. If anyone upsets her brother, she will find out, and so will they. On the other hand, she is a terrible loser at board games, and it is best not to speak to her during a close match.

She has a stubborn tuft of hair on top of her head that never lies flat. She swears it is an antenna for talking to Nuno. Sora has never managed to prove otherwise.

Two halves of the same cloud

These days, Sora and Hana share a little flat up under the rooftops, not far from the weathervane where it all began. Nuno often drifts past the window. He never knocks, he just settles in.

They finish each other's sentences, which annoys everyone except them. They have even invented an ear language: one ear down means “let's go”, two ears swivelling means “I'll explain later”.

They also have a cream cardigan they swear they never swap. And yet there is only one. Nobody has ever worked out whose it really is.

Of course they argue. Over the last marshmallow, over the end of the sofa next to the radiator, over whether a hot dog counts as a sandwich. But there is one rule, just one, they have never broken: never fall asleep cross. They call it the last cloud rule. When things really get stuck, Nuno settles it. He floats between them, casts a little shade, and they always end up laughing.

Their three moods

Like Nuno, Sora and Hana change colour depending on the weather inside. They have three favourite moods.

Little Me. These are the days when you feel tiny, in a good way. You build a den out of sofa cushions, watch cartoons on Saturday morning and eat sweets that fizz on your tongue. This is when Sora surprises everyone: the calm one turns into the sillier of the two. Hana does the organising. The den needs rules, a flag, and a password she changes every hour.

Dream Night. In the evening, out come the starry pyjamas, the kettle goes on and the lantern is lit. Hana reads stories aloud and does all the voices, even the dragon's. Sora falls asleep before the end. Every single time. He insists he is listening with his eyes closed, but the tuft at the end of his tail is gently snoring. Hana has never told him how a single story ends. It is her little revenge.

Cloud Soft. When it rains, they stay in. Big jumpers, one blanket for two, a mug in each hand and a strict ban on doing anything useful. It is the only mood in which Hana goes truly quiet. She rests her head on her brother's shoulder, they watch the rain run down the window, and Nuno presses himself against the glass so as not to miss a thing.

So, are you more of a Sora or a Hana?

The first Lil' Cloud collection grew out of their three moods: pieces for playing, for sleeping and for doing absolutely nothing, with Sora and Hana drawn on them. [Discover the collection → collection link]

Not sure which one is you yet? [Take Nuno's quiz → quiz link] and find out which mood is yours today. And if you can't choose between the twins, don't worry. They have never worked out who owns the cardigan either.