Listen, And The Stars Shall Speak

"A Little Less Conversation..."

A/N: Finish the title the way it should be, and win a prize!

"Get away from here." Coal growled, his tail lashing slightly. Confused, Dusk, Dawn, and Haze stepped towards the door, trying to see who he was talking to.

"I'll leave once I've gotten the information I need." Fennec shot back.

"You're not allowed here."

"Yeah, well you're not allowed to murder Prickle, either!" Coal's expression changed and Haze and Dusk's eyes widened. Dawn frowned, tilting her head in confusion.

"Prickle's dead?" Coal repeated, his voice barely above a whisper. Fennec studied his brother's face, clearly reading that Coal had no clue what he was talking about.

"That's the general theory." He explained. "He's been gone for months. The whole gang's gone under. No one knows who killed him or why, so everyone's pinning the blame on each other." He gestured to the blood on his scales. "You can see how well that's going."

Coal hesitated. This wasn't a good conversation to have near potential eavesdroppers. Fennec was the only member of his family that hadn't hit him. Sure, he had been cruel, and had done other things, but never to the same level the others have. Coal glanced inside, spotting the three dragonets instantly.

"Go upstairs." He ordered. "And don't even think about listening in." They nodded, dashing up the stairs. 

Coal turned back to his brother, opening the door wider. 

"Note that this is the first and LAST time you are ever to enter my home." He warned. Fennec nodded.

"Coal, all I want is answers." he insisted. "I didn't come to hurt you and your family." Coal snorted.

"Fennec," he began, clapping his brother on the shoulder. "If you tried to hurt my family, your guts would be spread out across the desert by now." 

"Sure," Fennec said sarcastically. Coal's claws dug warningly into Fennec's shoulder as a silent reminder. 

*~*~*~*~*

Seeing as she never did anything she was told to, of course Haze listened in on their conversation. Dusk joined of course, just to make sure she didn't do something stupidly insane. And the two of them silently locked Dawn in her room, not wanting to corrupt the small dragonet any further by letting her learn about her father's abusive past in a gang. 

"C'mon guys!" Dawn shrieked, her voice slightly muffled  through the door. "I'm a big dragon- I can handle it!"

"NO." Dusk and Haze relied in unison. 

"Why not!" 

"Because last time you overheard something, you ended up in tears," Dusk explained. "And no one likes watching you cry."

"My heart hurts just thinking about it." Haze agreed. 

"I WON'T CRY!"

"No, you'll need therapy," Dusk insisted. "And I don't wan to be blamed for that." 

Ignoring the rest of Dawn's futile cries, Dusk and Haze snuck over to the top of the stairs, straining their ears in an attempt to hear Coal and Fennec's conversation.

"The Sting is nothing but chaos," Fennec was saying. "Everyone's turned on each other. If I don't pin Prickle's death on someone, it'll be anarchy!"

"Well you can't pin it on me!" Coal shot back. "I am out. I have a life- I have a family, and I don't need a vengeful gang pinning a target on my back!"

"And I get that. But face the facts. Your family got involved the moment your son showed up at our doorstep."

"That was a mistake."

"And his companion stabbing Prickle?"

"She had her reasons. That had nothing to do with my family."

"Well, somebody's got to be blamed, and it is't going to be me."

"I don't care WHO you blame; just keep me and your gang out of it." There was a pause.

"I'll have to take over now," Fennec said quietly. "Til Prickle's son is old enough anyway. It was strange. The kid's mother threw a fit when she heard, yet she's never even cared about him until that point."

"And where's she now?"

"Got caught up in the chaos." Another pause.

"You don't mean..." Coal trailed off. Dusk's eyes widened. He knew where this was going. Haze was eerily still beside him.

"I do." Fennec declared. "Rattlesnake is dead."