Listen, And The Stars Shall Speak

~Flashback~

Dedicated to That_one_Wyvern because the answer to your question was yes.

A/N: Just pretend dragons smoke....

From a secluded spot with the perfect view of Coal's home, an impatient Sandwing watched, awaiting any sign of his younger brother. This dragon's name was Fennec. But, when someone finally came out of the house it wasn't who he was expecting. Fennec smirked as he watched a female Nightwing leave. He inhaled another puff of smoke from a cigarette before tossing it to the ground, not even caring to stomp out the lit embers of its end. 

"Ah, got yourself a little Nightwing slut, have you brother?" he commented.  Well, hope you don't like her too much." With that he slithered away to report. 

Meanwhile...

Adobe screamed with delight, jumping up and down with excitement. 

"FINALLY!!!" she shouted. Firefly blushed and stared at the ground. 

"It's really not worth getting this excited over." she insisted. 

" Yes it is!!!!!" Adobe announced, hugging her friend. "Does Coal know?" Firefly's eyes widened at the prospect. With the ransom note and the daily threats they were receiving in the mail, it didn't exactly seem like the right time to tell Coal something like this. He'd freak, and probably not in a good way. 

"No." Firefly whispered. Adobe's jaw dropped. 

"Wait............" her friend paused, her dramatic and over-imaginative mind racing with possibilities that weren't even close to realistic. "It is his right?" she checked. 

"Of course it is!" Firefly declared, shoving her friend slightly. Adobe burst out laughing at the look on her face. She looked so horrified; it was priceless. 

"Hang on, You told ME before you told COAL?!" 

"Maybe?" 

"Firefly, you have to tell him." Firefly froze. What if she did tell him? If the circumstances were different, would he be happy? But they weren't, and Firefly was too afraid to tell him now. Coal would panic, he'd do something crazy without truly thinking it through. Deep down he might be happy, but in Coal's mind he acted instinctively on safety first, happiness second. It was how he was wired. 

"I....I don't know." she said shakily. "He might take it badly."

"Well, too bad for him then! It's gonna happen whether he likes it or not!" Firefly smirked at her. 

"Is that what you told Squelch?" 

"Yes, although I kind've screamed it." Adobe confirmed. Firefly let out a laugh, but it was short lived as an explosion went off further down the road. "Another bomb," Adobe whispered. 

"They seem to be getting closer everyday."  Firefly added uneasily. 

"I should head home. Squelch will worry." With that, the two parted down the road, each of them returning to their homes. But, unknown to Firefly, someone was watching her. Two someones named Prickle and Fennec. 

"She's there everyday?" Prickle questioned, smoking a cigarette as he leaned against a wall. 

"Every damn day. A bit boring if you ask me. The bastard must like her a lot to keep hiring her." Fennec explained. Prickle smacked him on the back of the head. 

"You watch the gal every damn day, and you never think that she might not be some prostitute?" Fennec looked at him with a confused expression.

"What else would she be?" Another smack.

 Prickle glared at him, wondering how he ended up with such a doofus for a brother. That was one of the things that always stung about Coal's betrayal. Coal was smart, and he didn't keep any idiots around him. Since the day he hatched, Prickle always felt confident that Coal would be the perfect dragon for him to pass the gang onto. But then he betrayed them, and ran like a coward to their lazy excuse for a Queen. Then Prickle had to make other arrangements. A gang was like a kingdom, it needed an heir. The Sting was strong and powerful, at least until Coal was found out. They took out traitors, after killing all the dragons the betrayer cared about. And Coal, even if he was their kid brother, was no exception. Stupid Coal had ruined everything. Now the Sting was nothing more than some lowlife extension to Vulture's Talons Of Power. Prickle could feel his father glaring at him fro the afterlife. The three boys were born into the gang, and they were to die by it. Coal had other plans, but one way or another, we would get what was coming to him. 

"And you're sure Coal won't be back anytime soon?" he demanded. Fennec nodded.

"He don't come back til 6, every day. She's alone in there, I'm sure." 

"Then let's go." 

Later that day...

Coal froze at the doorway to his house. He stopped breathing at it. There was a rust-colored stamp of a Sandwing's tail on the door. It was the same thing that was printed on the note that had been thrown through their window. The mark of the Sting. The rust-colored substance that it was printed with wasn't ink, and it wasn't paint. No.

The Sting used the blood of their victims to stamp their sign. And when that stamp was on your house, it meant that you were next.

Coal shoved open the door and stepped inside. The house looked ransacked, and it probably had been. 

"Firefly!" he yelled, rushing through the rooms. He searched for her, although he already knew the truth. "FIREFLY!!" Nothing. The house was empty. He found a note on the table. 

Want her back alive?

You know where we are.

You know what we want.

You have one week.

See you soon, brother. 

Coal sank onto the stairs and covered his face with his talons, the note falling to the floor. He sat there for a moment, and then began to cry.