It was around three when Jake slinked back into Dirt. The sight of the town caused fear to spread through his body, he knew something bad was going to happen and he could do little to stop it. He passed through the town like a ghost, sticking to the shadows, avoiding the boardwalk. He couldn't risk being spotted, even if it was three in the morning there was still the possibility of some drunk wandering out of the saloon and noticing him. He slowly crept along the back ally, hugging the wooden walls of the houses. A noise caught his attention; it was the sound of footsteps coming up from Main Street. Quickly he hid behind some barrels, the footsteps got louder. He could hear his heart begging to race as he armed his gun and prepared to fire.

"Pssssst Jake… ya there?" a familiar voice called out, Jake lowered his weapon and slowly slithered out to see who it was calling him. Waffles was standing in the middle of Main Street with his hands cupped around his mouth trying to whisper, but failing miserably. Jake let out a heavy sigh and turned around.

"Pssst Jake over 'ere!" Waffles shouted from across the street, this caused Jake to pounce on him and drag him into the shadows.

"You want te wake up the whole town you moron?" Jake said savagely as he uncoiled himself and glared down at Waffles. The horned lizard looked up at the rattler with a huge smile plastered on his face.

"I got something to tell you," Jake rolled his eyes and looked away.

"What is it?" he said dully.

"It's a message," Waffles said proudly, Jakes head snapped back and his eyes focused on Waffles.

"What kind of message?"

"A secret message,"

"Ok,"

"A super, secret message that know one should kno—"

"Just get to the point," Jake breathed out.

"Of what?" Waffles looked up at Jake dumbstruck

"The message"

"What message?"

"The one ye were just tellin' me," Jake could feel his blood begging to boil; he wasn't in the mood for any games.

"…Oh yaaaah, that message…the sheriff just wanted me to tell you that yer late comin' back ta town," and with that Waffles wondered down the ally way and into the darkness. Jake simply took a deep breath and wondered why he didn't just eat the lizard when he had the chance. Another sound caught his attention, he let out another annoyed sigh and turned around and came face to face with a pair of very seductive golden brown eyes.

"Bonjour Jacque,"

"Angelique,"

"I waz wondering when you were coming bach to town? Ze sheriff waz very worried," she said as she strolled up to an upside down crate and elegantly lowered herself down on it. Her eyes were enchanting, they could make a man forget his surroundings, make him forget what he was doing. She light her cigarette and took a long puff.

"Sorry fer the inconvenience, but I was delayed by the weather…as you very well know,"

"I am fully aware of zat, I have a message pour vous. From ze Général." She let out a long puff of smoke and looked at him with bedroom eyes.

"What's the message?" Jake shifted trying to get out of her line of sight, but those eyes followed him wherever he went.

"He iz coming tomorrow, and he wantz you there with him." Jake bowed his head trying to hide his scowl. The last thing he wanted was for anyone to be hurt, especially Sofia.

"Iz there a problem Jacque," she questioned lightly not seeming surprised at his response.

"No problem, I understand,"

"Good. Well zen, bon nuit Jacque,"

"Evenin' ma'am," Jake tipped his hat slightly towards her and then slithered off towards the Inn. Angelique stayed to finish her cigarette, enjoying the cool air against her fur.

"Itz going to be quite zome party tomorrow," she said with a chuckle as she stomped out her cigarette and headed towards her home.


The light leaked in through the heavy drapes of Sofia's room, lightly trickling into the room. The light danced around Sofia's face, making her twist and turn in bed. She pulled the covers over her head to try and block the sun but to no avail; it was time for her to get up. As she shifted in bed she felt something warm, and furry press up against her, she above her cover but saw nothing. Shrugging she laying her face lightly on her pillow and falling back to sleep.

'Boom'

"…Ow…" Sofia was lying face down on the floor. Slowly she lifted herself up and looked in the bed, Pricilla was curled up against the covers.

"Pricilla?" Sofia blinked a few times still trying to figure out how the girl got in her bed.

"Oh lord, I'm have coffee withdrawal symptoms," Sofia breathed out as she fell next to Pricilla.

"Sofia?" Pricilla slurred out as she stretched out her arms, Sofia lifted her head and gave the child a confused glance.

"What are you doing in my bed?"

"I had a nightmare that you had gone again…so I-I came in to yer house to make sure you were alright. But I was tiered to I fell asleep next to you…yer not mad are you?" Pricilla looked the rattler with worry in her eyes. Sofia's confused glance quickly turned to laughter as she nuzzled Pricilla's belly causing a stream of giggles to erupt for the tiny girls mouth.

"How could I get mad at such a cutie?" Sofia said between chuckles, and continued to nuzzle Pricilla; soon the pair were laughing on the floor.

"Hahah, oh that made me hungry. Want some breakfast?"

"Ye-y-yes please, hehehe," Pricilla managed to say between giggles. The two made their was down across to the kitchen. The coffee had already been prepared, Sofia looked on in amazement and a tear came to her eye.

"Oh, thank-you honey…its so-so wonderful!" Sofia quickly poured herself a steaming cup and slowly let the fumes engulf her senses.

"Adults are weird," Pricilla whispered under her breath as she poured herself a cup of orange juice.

"So what would you like fo—"

"Ahhhh!" A loud scream interrupted Sofia and Pricilla.

"Why do disasters always happen when I'm having coffee?" Sofia moaned as she set the cup down and joined her tiny companion by the windowsill.

"Hawks! Were being attacked by hawks!" Pricilla shouted in a mix of surprise and horror. Sofia looked out to see the town being ransacked, houses being torn apart, critters being flung in every direction, it wad happening again. She stood there frozen against the window; a rush of terror swept threw her, flash backs of what had happened that night were rushing threw her brain. A flash of light caused her to snap out of her trans, she peered into the sky. A tiny figure was speeding towards them, her heart sunk.

"Get away from the window!" She hollered to Pricilla as she snatched the tiny girl away and flung her across the room into the hall. Then there was a loud crash; it sent Sofia flying into the doorframe, causing her to lose her surroundings for a moment. A huge figure rose from the broken glass and wood, its eyes were blood red and its talons adorned with metal carvings. Its feathers were a rusty brown that seemed to drape over its gargantuan body. Slowly it turned in the direction of Pricilla, making eye contact with her.

"Ah, breakfast," it said in a raspy voice as it slowly lumbered over to where the small girl was. Pricilla's eyes were fixated on the creature; she had seen many hawks in her life but none like this. It didn't seem real; it mimicked the monsters she had seen in countless children's books, and that's what terrified her.

The monster lunged for her but was stopped by something; Pricilla opened her eyes to see Sofia sinking her fangs deep into the hawk's neck. Blood came gushing out covering most of the floor and wall, Sofia let out several blood curdling hisses as she held the hawk down with all her might. Wrapping her body even tighter around the flailing body in order to keep the sharp talons from hitting her or the girl.

The hawk let out several shrieks, but they were soon silenced, its body went limp but its eyes remained open. Slowly Sofia uncurled her body, and only when she was certain the hawk was dead, removed her fangs from its neck. Her mouth and upper body were covered in a thick spray of blood, she was breathing heavily, and her eyes had gone from loving to predatory. She turned quickly to face Pricilla; the tiny girl was shivering on the floor, her eyes wide with terror. Sofia realized that she was covered in blood and made her way towards the kitchen. She grabbed a rag and rubbed off the blood the best she could. As she was in the process of removing the blood, she felt tiny hands curl around her back. She shifted gingerly to see Pricilla clinging to her; she could feel the tears gently roll down her back. She lowered her head and pressed the tiny girl closer to her, whispering soothing words of reassurance. It took the child a few minutes to calm down.


"Now listen Pricilla, I need to go outside. I want you to STAY here understand?" Sofia said gently with a stern undertone. The child looked up and met the rattlers eyes; she noticed that they had gone back to their normal form. This made her feel safer, and she gave a small nod.

"Good girl, now come on. I want you to stay in the shop. Behind the counter, don't let anyone see you." Sofia said as the two raced down the stairs and into the shop via the back entrance. As the made it to the door Pricilla took hold of Sofia's tail jerking it towards her.

"Your promise you'll come back?"

"Of course I'll come back silly," Sofia chuckled and plated a feather light kiss on the worried child's brow before rushing out into the street.


The whole town was in a panic; people were running everywhere trying to escape the hawks. As soon as Sofia leapt from the shadows hawks surrounded her. She curled up into a striking pose and hissed savagely at the birds, bobbing her head and striking. Each time gently gazing the hawks legs and depositing a minuscule drop of poison, but that's all she needed to do. Soon the hawks were getting dizzy, some had already decided it was time to retreat and fight some other critter that wasn't so aggressive.

"BANG"

The sound of a gunshot caused everyone to pause. The hawks stopped what they were doing and flew towards the center of the town. The people looked on in fear and curiosity, in the middle of the town was a giant hawk dressed in military clothing. His feathers were a light grey, his beak was a stunning yellow and his eyes were sliver. He carried a gun on his left side and a long sword on his right, his uniform was black and silver, and it covered his entire torso. He took several steps forward before halting in front of Sofia.

"It's been a while my desert flower. You've grown even more beautiful since last I saw you." His gruff voice made Sofia's scales crawl; she slowly raised her eyes to finally put a face to the voice that haunted her dreams.

"You…" She breathed out in horror as her brown eyes met his silver ones; he let out a small chuckle to her reaction.

"You remember me, I'm so touched." He said as he lifted his wing to his heart. He turned away from her.

"What the hell do you want?" Sofia barked out, the hawk looked over his shoulder and gave her a sharp glance.

"So glad you asked, I'm simply here to claim what is mine," he said with a sigh. The towns people muttered to themselves exchanging worried glances.

"Nothing in this town belongs to you!" Sofia barked again and let out a bloodcurdling hiss. The hawk threw back his head and let out a huge laugh, slowly turning to face Sofia.

"Ah see that's where you're wrong my dear…the water in this town belongs to me. Ah sheriff Rango, how nice of you to join us," Sofia whipped her head around to see Rango being escorted by two hawks; she could see that he put up a heck of a fight. His shirt was torn and there were some bloodstains on his paints, the blood didn't belong to him though for there wasn't a single cut on his person.

"Who the hell are you?" Rango spat out as he jerked the two hawks off his arms.

" Yes forgive my rudeness, my name is General Ferruginous and I'm the one responsible for this towns water supply." A smirk formed on the general's face as he light a cigar.

"I do believe yer mistaken. These pipes come belong—"

"To me, did you not notice the stamp on each one of the pipes? It looks like this," the general reached into his breast pocket and handed a folded piece of paper to Rango. Rango gently opened the paper, his fingers trembling and his eyes widening in disbelief.

"You recognize the stamp,"

"I do…" Rango breathed out and handed the paper back to the general.

"I'm sure you do, I even had my man double check for me… in fact I'll let you meet him…" the general swung his arm outwards ushering forth a figure from the shadows of the ally way. As the figure approached the towns peoples eyes widened in disbelief, whispers and screams of outrage filled the air.

"Jake," Rango breathed out.

"No," Sofia said in a whisper.

"You see I had Jake here come and inspect your towns pipes, knowing full well that they belonged to me. I was going to wait until after you repaired them to take back what is mine, but something came up. So I sent Jake here to help you fix the pipes and then run all of you out of town." The general had his wind on Jakes shoulder as he spoke, Rango and Sofia stood there in utter shock. Jake's face was concealed by his hat but he could feel the anger and horror radiating from Rango, Sofia and the towns people.

"So it was all a lie," Sofia breathed out as she slowly approached Jake. The guards moved in to capture her but were waved off by the general.

"Yes,"

"Everything you said, a-and everything you did…all of it a lie?" Sofia was now right in front of Jake her eyes brimming with bright tears. Jake wanted to look up and explain, but he couldn't face her right now. The general rolled his eyes and looked down at the female.

"Yes, honestly how many times do w—"

" I aint talking to ye BRID BRAIN! Am talkin' te Jake so shut yer trap afor I shut it fer ya!"

"Uh-oh" Waffles turned to Wounded Bird; the two had been in the front of the crowd the entire time.

"Sofia using bad English…not good,"

"Well aint ya gonna say anything?" Sofia tilted Jakes head up with her tail and gave him a glare that could freeze the entire west.

"I'm so—"

"NOT sorry! Explain yer self! Why in the world would ye collaborate with this 'ere varmint?"

"It's complicated…"

"Don't use that guy excuse!" Sofia hollered, which made Jake rear up in anger.
"Well excuse me miss babysitter, but last I checked I don't haveta answer ta you!"

"Oh yes ye do! You've got a shit load of explain' ta do, and we can start with that bloody kiss in the desert! Was that ta sweeten me up so I wouldn't figure out yer plan?" Jakes face went beet red.

"C-c-can we talk about that some other time?"

"No!"

"Look Sof—"

"Was that a lie too?"

"No…"
"Then why didja 'magically' forget about it?"

"Cause…ya know…"

"If I knew then I wouldn't be 'ere talkin' te ya right now!"

"Honestly woman…"

"Don't you 'honestly woman' me!" Sofia pushed her nose against Jakes and gave another icy glare. The general cleared his throat, causing both Sofia and Jake to turn their heads towards him.

"Uh…excuse me? I hate to interrupt this couples spat but—"

" We aint a couple!" They both shouted at the same time.

"Cause this moron is too dumb to make a move!" Sofia turned back to Jake and lightly poked him in the chest with her tail.

"Look who's talkin'! Yer to uptight te show any sort of affection!" Jake pushed his chest up against hers so that his face was above hers.

"I've been waiting fer ye since we were teenagers you stupid, sorry excuse of a sea slug!" Sofia bellowed out, causing some of the towns folk and hawks to jump.

"Well how in the hell was I supposed ta know! Ye don't exactly make broadcast yer emotions!"

"Oh I'm sorry would you like me to write you a royal invitation? And while I'm at it I might as well set out tea and crumpets for his dumbness!" Jakes eye began to twitch.

" You make me so-so…"

"Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to wait around fer this moron to confess his feelings?" Sofia shouted to general who looked on in utter astonishment.

"Uh…" the general shrugged.

"It's bloody fucking frustrating! I mean its not like yer an expert at hidin' yer emotions or anything, I can see them as plain as day on yer face…" Sofia moves in closer to Jake, she could see the blush deepen around his cheeks, "but still you DON'T make a move!" She turned around and then turned back to him with another angry glare. He gave her one back just as bad.

"And what's stopping you?" Jake hollered back savagely.

"It's the guys job to confess you retard!" Sofia came slithering up right up to his face, her eyes filled with anger.

"No it aint"

"Yes it is"

"No it aint"

"Yes it is"

"This is better then cable!" Waffles whispered to Wounded Bird as he munched on a box of what looked like popcorn.

"Where you get popcorn?" The crow questioned the lizard.

"Ye don't wanna know,"

"No it aint"

"Ask any guy!" Jake whipped his head around and looked at Rango.

"Sheriff is what she says true?" Rango looked on in amazement.

"Uh…yes?" he blurted out.

"Ha told ya," Sofia said triumphantly Jake turned around to her with a pout beginning to set in on his lips.

"Know it all,"

"Sea slug,"

"Half pint,"

"Buck fang!"

"BANG"

"ALRIGHT that enough!" The General shouted as he lowered his gun from the air and placed it back in his holder. He turned to the two guards at his right,

"Take the Sheriff, and the loudmouthed one with us,"

"Yes general," the two soldiers saluted and quickly grabbed Rango and Sofia.

"Get yer claws off me ye lilly-livered pieces of vulture dung—" a piece of fabric was tightly wrapped over Sofia's mouth by one of the guards the general sighed with relief.

"Ahhh, that's better. Citizens of 'Dirt' if you ever want to see these two again then you will cut off the water! This map will show you where you need to go to shut off the valve. If it is not shut off by noon tomorrow then they both die! If anyone follows us they will die!" The general threw the piece of paper down to the ground as he flapped his wings and flew off into the sun. The other hawks began to take off as well, Jake got on the back of one of the guards who was transporting Rango and Sofia. The towns people looked up helplessly as their friends were being carried off into the sky.