Listen, And The Stars Shall Speak

It's A Small Dragon World...

Haze stormed into her father's office, grateful to find it was empty. Qibli and Coal followed behind her, helping Dusk. 

"Stay here." She ordered before sighing. "I'll go find my dad." Without another word, she took off down a hallway, searching the various rooms. At the very back of the Doctor's office, she spotted a familiar dragon cleaning off tools. "Hey Dad," she announced, breaking the silence. Meerkat jumped, dropping the tool he'd been cleaning.

"Haze!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?" Before she could respond, Meerkat had crossed the room and pulled her into a hug. 

"Daaad." Haze complained, squirming away from him. She hated hugs. "I'm here for the doctor first. Then you." Immediately, Meerkat's grin faded. 

"What is it?" he questioned, eyeing her. "Are you hurt?" His eyes landed on her blood soaked talons, and then on her tail, which was still coated in Prickle's blood. "...Haze?" 

"It's my friend. He's been clawed pretty bad and he's already passed out from blood loss. He's in the lobby." Meerkat raced from the room, Haze on his heels. 

But as soon as they entered the lobby, Meerkat stopped dead at the sight of Coal, who did the same in response. Haze frowned at the strange reaction and then snapped her talons in her dad's face.

"Hey! Dying dragonet, remember?" she called. Meerkat shook himself and glanced around until he spotted Dusk. 

"Bring him back here." He ordered, leading them into one of the rooms. Qibli gently set Dusk down on a reed mat and Meerkat shooed them from the room. "Go, wait in the lobby. I'll talk to you when he's stable or dead." Coal's eyes widened in alarm, but Haze remained calm as she led them back.

"Don't worry," she insisted. "He says that to everyone."

"How comforting." Coal muttered. The three of them sat in a row in the lobby, waiting patiently. Haze glanced between the two older dragons.

"So..." she began, turning to Coal. "How do you know my father?"

"I don't know him." Coal protested. "We just met briefly once on not-so-nice circumstances. I delivered bad news, then I left. The end." 

"What was the news?"

"Why are you so curious?"

"Because obviously you had a connection to the gang that is holding my mother captive, and now you know my father. For all I know, you could've been the one to kidnap my mom, and I just maybe killed the wrong dragon." Coal snorted.

"Wrong dragon or not- if he's dead, I may throw you a party."

"Nice." There was a pause.

"I was the last dragon to see your dad's father alive, and I was the one to tell him that he had died." Haze fell silent. 

"Dad never talks about his father," she admitted. "I don't even know his name."

"Yes you do." Haze frowned. 

"What do you mean?"

"I named Dusk after him."  Haze stared at him incredlously. 

"Lemme get this straight." she announced. she pointed at Coal. "You grew up in the same gang that my mother," she pointed at Qibli. "Your sister, was forced into." Then she pointed back at Coal. "But then you escaped from the gang, informed my dad that his father had died, and then ran. Only to end up back at the gang a few years later to convince my mother to run away, get married, have me, and then get kidnapped and end up back in the gang. So, that makes you some weird dragon that I should pretty much blame for all of my family's unhappiness, and it makes" She pointed back at Qibli. "you my uncle and my dad's brother in law. And to top this all off, my best friend is named after my dead grandfather. Do I have this all correct?"

"Yes." Qibli and Coal replied in unison.

".......What the hell."