Listen, And The Stars Shall Speak

In The Desert

Meanwhile, in the Sand Kingdom...

Qibli, Haze, and Coal glanced up as Meerkat entered the room, still eyeing Coal cautiously.

"How is he?" Haze questioned.

"He'll be alright." Meerkat proclaimed. "But he should rest for a few days before flying." 

"Thank you," Coal insisted. Meerkat glanced at him and nodded.

"Now," he began, sighing as his gaze shifted to Haze. "Care to explain what the hell is going on?" 

"It's a long story..." Haze admitted meekly. She made a face, not wanting to here her father's response to some of the things she had done during her school year.

"I've got all the time in the world." Meerkat declared, sitting down. "And I assure you, Haze. You're not leaving until I get a few answers."

"I would tell you, but we don't really know the whole story either." Qibli offered.

"As expected." Meerkat didn't even glance at him, his eyes staring at his daughter. "Haze doesn't trust all the information to anyone but herself." 

"It's a reliable tactic." She retorted. 

"It is unless something happens to you."

"Not gonna happen." 

"What makes you so sure?" Haze shrugged.

"I'm me."

"How comforting. Now, explain." She let out a long suffering sigh.

"It wasn't my fault." she began. "Well, except for the part when I stabbed a guy."

"What!" 

"Shush! Anyways. Dusk found some gang address on the back of a scroll-"

"Dusk?" Meerkat repeated. "Who's that?"

"The kid you just sewed back together. Now can I continue the story you're dying to here?" Meerkat fell silent, glancing briefly at Coal. 

"So, Dusk being the moron he is, decided to go to the Scorpion Den to talk with the guy who had written the address, hoping, " Haze paused, glaring at Coal. "To find out more about his father's past. I saw him sneaking out one night and followed him because, let's be honest, he isn't too bright."

"Dusk is very smart." Coal retorted. "He knows all kinds of things." Haze snorted.

"Yea sure, he can recite textbooks. But he isn't street smart. Especially not the kind of street smart you need to have in the Scorpion Den. So, I went along to either babysit him or to talk him out of his plan. I assume you can figure out which part of the plan ended up happening. After I smooth-talked our way in so that we could see the guy, he dropped a few bombshells. For starters, he was Coal's brother. Secondly," she stopped, glancing at Meerkat. "He knew my mother." Meerkat froze.

"Haze, you didn't-" he whispered. 

"Yes I did. He knew where I could find her and I went and I spoke to her. Big deal, so what, she's not coming home, she loves us, she has a different life now. Cut, print, kill the pig." Meerkat looked at her sadly, as if there was more he wanted to say.

"Anyways!" Haze exclaimed, clearly wanting to change the subject. "As we were walking down the hallway, we ran into a jackass named Prickle. He got mad, started choking Dusk, I stabbed him, chaos ensued, and that's when these two showed up just in time to save our necks. Then I talked to Mother, left her and found that we were pretty much doomed and Dusk was hurt. But then some creepy hoodoo animus magic swooped in and we dropped to the ground just outside your door. The End. Goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the vipers bite." Qibli frowned.

"I wonder who the animus that helped us was." he thought out loud.

"It better not be the one I know." Coal warned.