Listen, And The Stars Shall Speak

~Flashback~ The Note

A/N: Remember, this is before all dragonets and I'm going to try to keep writing this story in a proper, grammatically correct way, but it's probably not gonna happen. On another note, do dragons have indoor plumbing? Fore the sake of this story, let's just say yes...

 Flashback- 4 years ago

 In the Kingdom of the Sand...

It started off as a normal day, but it ended as time that Firefly would never forget. When she looked back at this day, she wondered how she didn't see it coming. The week before it really began, when Coal started acting nervous, should've been her first clue. He was jumpier and he kept scratching at his old scars, like he expected the old wounds to be fresh. But he never said anything, so Firefly thought nothing of it. And besides, she had something else, something big, that nagged her brain at all times. 

They lived in the Sand Kingdom, it wasn't unusual for fights to happen, or even for bombs to go off. But this one day, that would forever stick out in Firefly's mind, her and Coal's year of hell began. It started with a rock. 

She and Coal were casually beginning their day when suddenly, there was a loud smash as a thick rock was thrown through their window. They jumped to their feet and Coal rushed over to the window, picking up the rock. 

"There's a note," he said weakly. Firefly stared at him as he read it. His face changed as his eyes scanned the page. He dropped the rock, a look of horror on his face. 

"What is it?" Firefly questioned. Coal adjusted his face and looked at her. 

"It's nothing." he said hastily. Firefly stared at him suspiciously. 

"It's not nothing, Coal." Before he could respond she snatched the note from it, scanning it quickly.

You have run

You can't hide

We have found you

Now you will die. 

Instead of it being signed with a signature, there was a rust-colored stamp of a Sandwing's tail. But just as quickly as Firefly had grabbed the note, it was snatched from her. Coal crumpled it up into a ball as he walked away from the window. 

"Coal. What is happening?" Firefly asked, growing fearful. She was terrified, for Coal, for their lives, and especially for the secret she was keeping. 

"It's nothing for you to worry about." he repeated, walking up the stairs in their house. Firefly grabbed the banister and glared at his back. 

"Coal, you tell me what is going on RIGHT NOW!" she demanded. He hesitated before glancing at her. The look on her face nearly killed him. She looked so....betrayed. He swallowed hard before facing her. 

"The less you know, the safer you'll be." 

"That doesn't matter!" she exclaimed, growing frustrated.

 "Yes it does!" Coal retorted. "That's the only thing that matters! Hell, I would've slit my throat with my own tail years ago if it wouldn't have broken your heart. I love you! And I don't - I can't have you getting involved in this." Her face turned sympathetic. 

"I married you Coal. Whatever it is, I'm already apart of it."

 "No you're not and I won't let you be." he proclaimed. "You're my weakness Firefly, and now is not the time for me to have a weakness." Firefly's face changed. She paled and looked sick before the color slowly returned to her face. He eyed her cautiously, unsure if she was going to pass out right there on the stairs. 

"Someone is going to kill you." she whispered. Coal lowered his head. 

"They're going to try." 

"I think I'm gonna be sick." she replied in a trembling voice before running to the bathroom.  Coal frowned. That was strange. Firefly wasn't someone who got sick very often...

The Next day....

Firefly stared into space, lost in her thoughts. Her mind raced, most of her thoughts entirely related to Coal and her hidden secret. Coal walked in, tossing the mail  on the table before stopping and studying her. 

"You okay?" he asked, jolting her back into reality. 

"What? Yes, I'm fine. Perfectly fine." she stammered. He frowned at her for a moment before shrugging and turning his attention to a wrapped package that had been on the doorstep. They never got packages, and this one didn't have a return address. Suspicious. Firefly flipped through the mail, her eyes landing on a letter. 

"I got a letter from Nightflyer," she began. 

"Oh? Is it an actual letter, or is it just one of his cryptic warnings about the future?" Coal questioned. Firefly read the letter with a frown. Even when he sent a warning about a vision he'd had, they were usually calmer and more explained than this one.

DON'T OPEN THE PACKAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was written hastily, very unlike Nightflyer. 

"Cryptic. He says not to open the package, whatever that means." She offered. Coal froze and held up a box.

 "You mean this?" he asked. Firefly stared blankly. Nightflyer's visions were a mystery to her. Coal studied the box. "I wonder why..."  It looked normal, the only thing odd was the missing return address. Carefully, Coal sniffed at the edge of it slightly and his eyes narrowed.

 "What is it?" Firefly asked. He sniffed again. 

"It smells like...Cobra." he admitted. 

"Cobra?" 

"She's basically the Sandwing/female version of Deathbringer. She's the daughter of the dragon who runs the gang my brothers combined with." 

".....And you know what she smells like?" Coal smirked. 

"She makes poisons. One of the things I noticed when I was a spy was that every poison maker had a distinct smell. That's how I know when things are spiked or dangerous. Cobra, for instance, has an odd scent of coconut." 

"Oh." she replied. "The things you know never cease to amaze me." Coal grinned. 

"It's what I'm here for."