There were many problems with Ferla being dead, but one of the newest Drought could see was the issue of his children. Ferla had always been in charge of their sons so that Drought was free to do other things and lead the Sting. With her gone, there was no one to look after them. Granted, Prickle and Fennec were old enough now that he could probably get away with just telling everyone to watch out for them and keep them inside without too many major disasters, but Coal was newly hatched. He needed someone to look after him, at least for a while, and Drought was not going to be the one to do it. Not when that little creature was the one responsible for Ferla's death.

But the only dragon capable of looking after dragonets in the Sting was Cobra, and she was definitely not willing to do any favors for Drought, not after he had killed her lover. Cobra was out, and there was no way Drought was going to soften up his heir by letting him babysit, so the job naturally fell to Fennec. Drought dropped Coal in front of his middle son with a small thud and left. If Fennec was responsible, everything would be fine. If he wasn't, then Coal would likely end up dead. Drought had no major qualms with either outcome. 

And so Fennec was left alone with his little brother, who after only a few weeks hatched, already looked way too small and weak for the place he lived in. Coal sized him up with watchful eyes, though, and Fennec took that as potential.

"You wanna get some food?" He asked, not quite sure what else to do with him. He had no instructions for caring for baby dragonets. Hell, he barely knew how to take care of himself. What had Drought been expecting him to do with Coal? What role was he to be raised to fill? Another heir, like Prickle? Another forgotten dragon, like Fennec? Or something else entirely? 

"Food," Coal echoed hopefully. Fennec shrugged. Food was a start. They'd figure out the rest as they went along.

*****

Ten months later, Fennec believed he had gotten a handle on the whole babysitting thing. Coal followed him around religiously, still wary, yet stronger. He was still small by dragonet standards, but Fennec had just accepted that that must be normal for dragonets his age. He had consulted with Rattlesnake on the topic, during one of the rare times when Prickle wasn't demanding all of her attention, and she had agreed that Qibli had been about the same size at that age, only much dumber.

Fennec wasn't sure how much he should believe that last part, as he was confident that Sirocco was the dumb one out of Cobra's dragonets, but if Rattlesnake thought he was doing a job job, then wasn't he? Didn't girl dragons have some sort of intuition about baby dragonets? Prickle certainly thought so, and he hadn't seen anyone else in the Sting deny it either.

They had passed by Drought one day, on their way to the kitchen to steal snacks. Drought had given his younger sons a passing scan, but hadn't stopped, and hadn't spoken. Fennec wasn't surprised. His father rarely made an effort to speak to them these days. Once Drought was out of earshot, Coal tugged on his brother's tail, looking upset.

"Why doesn't he like me?" Coal asked innocently. Fennec made a face.

"It's complicated." He said.

"I don't know what that means."

"It means it's a lot of different things mushed together."

"But how can it be lots of different things if I didn't do anything?" Coal tilted his head. "I don't think I did anything."

"You didn't." Fennec assured him. "It's more about Mother than you. Like I said, complicated."

"What happened to Mother?"

"She died."

"What's that mean?" Fennec stared at his brother, innocence staring back at him. It occurred to him then that anything he didn't teach his brother would never be taught to him. Coal had no other teachers. Not when Drought ignored his existence and Prickle did whatever Drought did. 

"Come with me." He tugged his brother along, leading him outside, to the small grave in the edge of the yard.

"What's this?"

"This is Mother's grave."

"What's that me-"

"It means she's here." Fennec cut him off. "It means she died and went back to the sky. Father buried her here and she'll never come back and we'll never see her again and that's why Father doesn't care about anything anymore, least of all us." Coal fell silent, and they stared at the grave.

"Oh." Coal said quietly. 

****

A year later, Drought decided that Fennec had done enough babysitting. At nearly two years old, Coal was old enough to find for himself. Fennec disagreed, but he knew better than to argue with his father. It had been nearly two years since Ferla's death, and while her sons had adjusted to life without their mother, Drought had only worsened. He had gotten meaner, and more violent than Fennec ever remembered him being. The dragons of the Sting walked a little quicker now, their heads a little lower, not wanting to upset him. Prickle and Fennec shared a room now, but Coal's was on the opposite side of the Headquarters, in an attempt to help him grow as an individual, Cobra said.

Yes, Cobra was back. As a stone cold bitch, she hadn't needed much time to forgive Drought, and he had welcomed her back into his good graces with only the finest of manipulation tactics. Sirocco wasn't exactly pleased about it, whereas Rattlesnake couldn't have been happier to spend more time with Prickle. Qibli was nowhere to be found, and according to Rattlesnake, her voice a bit scared as she brought it up, her mother had sold their brother to the leader of the Outclaws. Sirocco was convinced that Thorn had roasted and eaten their brother, but he didn't seem very concerned about it.

Fennec, on the other hand, was highly concerned. If Cobra had sold Qibli, and had done it so easily, what was there to stop Drought from doing the same? Prickle was the only son he wanted. What would he be willing to trade in exchange for Fennec and Coal's lives?

On the two year anniversary of Ferla's death (also Coal's birthday, but nobody brought up that fact. Not even Coal himself), Fennec and Prickle lay awake in their room, listening to dragons of the Sting wander around during the night.

"I don't think about her anymore," Prickle said suddenly, breaking the silence. Fennec didn't have to ask who he meant. "I don't even remember what she looked like. How awful is that?"

"It could be worse," Fennec whispered back. "Coal never even got to see her alive."

"Who cares about Coal; he's the reason Mother's dead anyway." Fennec kept his thoughts quiet. The assassin was to blame, he reminded himself. The assassin. Coal was innocent yet convicted guilty of so many crimes. He knew better than to argue with Prickle. It would only end with him getting his head smashed in the sand.

"I think about her a lot." Fennec admitted. "I can't help it." It was true. His mother was the only good thing he had in his life, and he had realized it far too late. 

"I've forgotten so much. Whenever I want to talk about her, it's like Father randomly appears and shut it down. It's like he's got a sonar for it or something."

"He doesn't want anyone to talk about her. It hurts too much."

"That's just you being girly. Nothing hurts Father."

"Mother's death hurt. Even you have to admit that."

"No I don't. I don't get hurt. It was a shame, yes. It was sad. But it happened and it's over with, and I can't even remember what she looks like so why should I get hurt and injured over it?"

"Because being hurt is how you know you really cared." Fennec insisted. Prickle scoffed.

"Being hurt is for pussies. You've been babysitting Coal for too long. You've gone soft on me." Fennec didn't speak again. He shut his eyes, the image of Ferla, sunlight dancing around the edges of her scales flashing through his head. He understood how Prickle could forget her face, but Fennec knew he never would. He wouldn't let himself. He couldn't.

A knock on the door prevented him from drifting off to sleep and Prickle let out a groan.

"Get that." He ordered, flopping dramatically on his bed. Fennec got up and opened the door, only for his heart to sink.

Coal stood there, somehow stood. Fennec wasn't sure how. His little brother was covered in blood and shaking like he was freezing cold. There were scratches on him, some small and shallow, others large gashes. He looked like he'd been whipped, or attacked by a wild animal that was nothing but claws. Maybe both. There were tears brewing in his eyes, but Coal didn't let them fall. Fennec wasn't sure how he was still breathing. He wanted to vomit.

"What happened to you?" He finally managed to ask, the words choking out his throat. Prickle looked over from across the room and let out a swear.

"F-f-father," Coal squeaked, looking more terrified and shaken then any dragon Fennec had seen in his life, and he had seen a decent number of tortured dragons for his age. 

"Father did this?" Fennec echoed, Prickle's eyes widening as Coal nodded. "Prickle, go get some bandages from the infirmary-"

"You get them." Prickle scoffed. Fennec ripped his eyes off his little brother to turn to his older one. 

"What?" Prickle shrugged.

"If Father beat him, then he must have done something to deserve it, and thus, doesn't deserve our help." Fennec stared in disbelief.

"He's two! Look at him! He could be bleeding to death!" Prickle shrugged again.

"Not our problem."

"He's our brother!"

"And the reason Mother is gone." Prickle snapped back as Coal sank to the floor, wincing in pain. "Besides, he's got to learn how to take care of himself. Bandage his own damn wounds. You're only gonna make him weak by babying him the way you do."

"I don't baby him," Fennec snapped back. 

"Yes you do. It's like you're trying to be his mother. It's ridiculous. Just let him go fix himself up before he bleeds all over my stuff." Coal looked up at them, the picture of helpless.

"I don't know how to fix myself up-" His voice shook as much as the rest of him did, and the tears were only getting closer and closer to falling. Fennec's face hardened.

"Come on." He practically carried Coal to the infirmary, where no one was stationed, of course. He grabbed a kit of supplies and cleaned his brother up.

"This is how you wrap a bandage," He instructed. "Watch carefully, cause I don't know if I'll be here to help you next time." Coal nodded and watched closely as his brother wrapped the shallower cuts, and stitched up the larger before wrapping them too. "You have to change the wrappings often, or you'll get infections and then we'll have to cut your leg off or something." All of it was advice Fennec hoped his brother would never need again, but if Drought was cruel enough to beat his two year old son half to death simply for existing, then he was cruel enough to do it twice.

"Why isn't anyone else as nice as you?" Coal whispered. Fennec paused for a moment, Prickle's comments flooding back into his head. Maybe he was babying Coal. Drought had separated them for a reason. Maybe his little brother did need to get tougher. Certainly not by getting beaten, he didn't think, but Fennec wasn't sure. There was no way for him to please everyone. If helped Coal, then Prickle and Drought got mad, but if he didn't help Coal, then who would? It was like an intense game of tug-o-war, and Fennec was the only rope in sight. He knew which side would win that game, and his brother was proof of what would happen to those on the losing side. Don't stick out, Ferla had told him. Stick your head out and they'll chop it off.

"I'm not nice," He said coldly. He looked at Coal, and his little brother stared at him right back, watchful as ever. "No one here is 'nice', Coal, and they never will be. Don't go looking for kindness in the place where kindness comes to die." He sighed, wrapping yet another scratch. "Life isn't going to be easy for you, brother. We knew that the second you hatched. But if you stay strong and quiet, then you'll make it out alive. Don't go calling attention to yourself. You'll only get it from the dragons you want to avoid."

"I don't want to be quiet," Coal said. "I want dragons to see me." Fennec gestured to the bandages and raised his eyebrows.

"You want to be seen? Then this is how you end up. Trust me, kid. Keep your head down, or you'll regret it."

"That's what I've been doing. We're still here."

"And that's why life is going to be rough for you. There's no way around it." Fennec shook his head. "What did you even say that got father so mad?" Coal looked down.

"I said I wanted to be in the sky with Mother."

******

The next day, Prickle followed Drought like a loyal dog. Not that Drought cared or even noticed, of course. He couldn't be bothered. Fennec trailed after his brother, seeing as he had nothing else to do, and if it got him back into Prickle's good graces then even better.

The three of them turned a corner in the hallway, and Fennec froze.

Coal had been walking- well, more like limping- on the other side of the hall. He froze at the sight of them too, and even Drought dared to stop. He examined the bandages slowly, as if making sure his youngest wasn't actually going to die from the clawing he'd caused. Coal started shaking slightly and Drought let out a huff.

"Still too weak." He muttered, walking away, and Fennec swore it was the first words he'd ever heard his father say to Coal.

"Yeah, wimp! Too weak!" Prickle, as always, echoed their father. He shoved Coal, and the small dragonet fell to the ground, letting out a cry that had Drought pausing, but not turning around to watch the situation unfold. Coal got up slowly as Prickle laughed and looked at Fennec, expecting him to do the same.

They were all expecting it, Fennec realized. Prickle was staring him down, a quiet peer pressure to shove Coal to the floor. Coal stared up at him, already resigned to some fate, and ready to hit the floor again. Drought waited ahead of them, waiting for the smack of scales on pavement once more before he resumed walking.

A flash of a smile and sunlit scales in Fennec's head, of a dragon who had never harmed another.

He nodded at Coal, a short, yet firm movement. Coal stared at him for a moment, and then slowly nodded in return. 

And that was it. Prickle scoffed and shoved at both of them, running to catch up with their father as Drought resumed walking. Fennec followed, not looking at his little brother again, although he got the feeling that Coal kept watching him.

It wasn't nice. Not by a long shot. But it was the first and one of the only acts of mercy Coal would receive inside the Sting Headquarter's walls.