Listen, And The Stars Shall Speak

There's Something I Need

"Dawn! Darling!" Drought's voice called out. "I need something from you." 

Dawn had to admit, she was getting a bit creeped out by Drought. The Sandwing always wanted her to be near him. And he like to touch her- have his arm draped over her shoulder, have their tails forcefully entwined- It was CREEPY.

But Dawn played along, because she knew that the more comfortable Drought was with her, the more information he'd let her have.

"Yes, Leader?" she asked, a fake smile plastered on her face. That had been the latest order. Drought, as ruler of the Sting, was referred to as the Leader. No one was allowed to use his real name- not even Dawn. 

"I need to track down those pests that were in here a few days ago." He explained. "I've sent some small teams o some places I thought they might be- JMA, Coal's home, Meerkat's office, etc.- but no one has turned up, not even that Rainwing's corpse!"

"That's unfortunate," Dawn offered, internally breathing a sigh of relief. 

"No, it's IRRITATING." Drought corrected her. "But you knew those dragons quite well, didn't you?"

"Some more so then others."

"Well, I'd like you to give me some more addresses. More of their homes, places their family and friends might be- anywhere they could be."

Dawn paused. Revealing actual places would put her friends in danger, but if they'd already checked her home and JMA and found nothing.... perhaps they'd been warned somehow. And if she did lie about where someone lived, Drought wouldn't find out the difference.

...And if she sent them to certain addresses, there'd be no team to report back.

"Well, if you already checked those places, then I don't know where Coal or Haze could be." she said honestly. "Unless Coal took them to Queen Thorn's Stronghold, but it'd be impossible for you to get in there and look-"

"Drought cut her off, laughing.

"Darling, do you really think I don't have a spy in the Stronghold?" he asked. "Saguaro will check the Stronghold from top to bottom and report back to tomorrow. Any other places you can think of?" 

Dawn frowned, deep in thought.

"Perhaps Prince Shore took them all back to the rainforest." She suggested. "Since he's royalty, he may think they're protected there." 

Drought grinned at her like she'd just given him the winning lottery numbers.

"This is why you're here, Dawn." He exclaimed. "Anywhere else?"

"Princes are completely unimportant in the Mud Kingdom and Anaconda isn't loved, so I wouldn't waste time searching there. I have no idea where Boysen lives, so I'm afraid I can't help there. " A tiny lie compared to the next death trap she was about to spring.

"Although, Cypress's family lives not too far from the edge of the Sand Kingdom, near the Skywing territory, in a cave.  Her parents and siblings would be there, and you know how protective Mudwings are of their families." 

"This is what I'm paying you for, Dawn." Drought smiled. He patted her cheek and headed out of the room. 

"But you're NOT paying me," Dawn said in confusion, but Drought was already long gone. Dawn sighed and hoped her plan would work.

She silently pitied the group Drought was unknowingly sending to Peril's home. The Skywing probably wouldn't appreciate the fact that someone was trying to kill her granddaughter.

And Princess Joy would definitely kill anyone that even came close to harming Shore- whether he was hiding in the rainforest or not. 

 *~*~*~*~*~*

Shore, of course, wasn't anywhere near the rainforest. He was sitting with Orange in Kindle's hut as Coal and the others split up to make sure their families were alright.

Coal ended up at his home, or, what used to be his home. 

All that stood there now was a blackened heap. 

The scarred Sandwing forced himself not to panic. Surely Firefly hadn't been home when.....Surely she was okay and not-

"Coal!" A familiar voice yelled out. He whirled around and practically dropped to the ground in relief as Firefly ran towards him, looking completely unharmed. 

"What happened?" He asked.

"You tell me!" Firefly demanded. "Everything was fine, and then this dragonet was talking to me- I think she had a dreamvisitor, but I don't know how, and she told me to stay with Squelch and Adobe for the next few days or I'd die. Naturally, I did what she asked, and then some Sandwings showed up, broke into the house and then set it on fire!"

Coal stared at her as he processed her words. Someone had warned her. Maybe this dragonet had warned everyone else too.

Whoever she was, Coal was eternally grateful, and definitely owed them big time. 

"What happened with the rescue?" Firefly questioned. "Where's Dawn? Is she okay?"

"Firefly," Coal began warily. "....We've got a lot to talk about."