Sun, Moon, Star, and Sky

 

There was nothing like a good Kolto and Spice hangover in the morning. Tsuki had many of these days, usually followed by the lower half of his body also being incredibly sore. Pushing up from lying face down in a pillow, the aching from the arch of his lower back confirmed that last night had not been a dream after all.

The sounds of three or four places in his spine popping from stretching like a cat echoed the metal and surprisingly empty room. There were no signs of Torian to be found, not even an accidently piece of left behind armor.

Moving from the bed to the steam power showered stall in the room was difficult enough, and Tsuki’s frustrations were taken out on the old bent pipes that refused to run the water pressure correctly. What a piece of shit this ship was. Good thing it was free.

Out of the shower, the young man dressed in simple clothes; a long sleeve light blue shirt with thick black leather pants, straps dragging from the legs since he hadn’t bothered putting the armoring in place right now. The gun belt went on, blasters ready on each side. When the white hair was wet, it was bone straight and longer than usual, touching past the back of the dark tanned neck. Still, the one green eye was always covered.

Opening the door, there was an instant smell of spiced food in the air. So, that’s where Torian went. The mess hall area already had most of the crew sitting down and eating their meals. Gault sat with a mug of hot liquid, reading over the news on his datapad while Skadge stuffed his face while cleaning out what looked like meaty chucks from the inner panels of his vibrosword hilt.

Blizz sat close to Skadge, actually helping by cleaning smaller bits and putting them back together. The droid could be heard in the hallway, which left Torian and Mako missing from the scene. That was never a good sign.

“Mornin’ Boss!”

Blizz chittered happily, causing Tsuki to stop and give a wave.

“Where’s Mako and Torian?”

“Kitchen, Boss!”

“Thanks.”

Moving around the corner, Tsuki kept his steps light. The closer he got, the clearer he could hear the hushed whispering.

“Are you sure about this information, Mako?”

“I’m positive. I couldn’t find anything using just the name, so I ran a DNA sample through the grid. I got 4 separate hits with the same DNA! That’s basically impossible, but I triple checked!”

“…This can’t be right. Maybe the sample got corrupted...”

“Well I got it from you…All I’m saying is to be careful, Torian. We don’t really know who he is. He’s putting us all in danger…”

 

It got quiet as the only sound after that was the heavy breathing of Torian’s sigh.

“Thanks for the info, Mako. You’re done now.”

The blond turned to walk away, but was taken by the arm.

“Torian…We can still get out of here. Just the two of us before this gets any worse. We’re dealing with Sith and Imperial Business now. We don’t want to get in the crossfire…”

“Not leaving. Made a promise and keeping it.”

“What sort of promise could you have possibly made?”

As Torian opened his mouth to answer, Tsuki emerged from the corner as if he had just gotten there. He gave a yawn, fluffing up his drying hair before wiggling by to get to the fridge.

“Tsu…Tsuki.”

Mako stammered, trying to contain herself.

“Mako. Torian.”

“Vaa’tur, cyar’ika”

“What? Darling? Why would you call him…?”

Tsuki only shrugged a bit, giving a smirk to the blonde male. Grabbing a piece of fruit from the icebox, he gave a wave.

 “Need you guys in my office pronto. Got some info on a bounty.”

“Uh…okay boss…”

Mako was obviously suspicious since she was the one who would gather the intel on anything that went on, and while Torian shared her suspensions, he simply followed in silence.

The metal door to the bedroom closed again, isolating Mako, Torian, and their captain inside. Once closed, Tsuki hit the control panel next to the bed, locking it to keep both people from coming in and anyone from getting out. The Mandalorian’s eyes narrowed.

“So, you overheard us after all?”

“Yep.”

Mako’s face fell as she suddenly felt in danger.

“Look, we didn’t mean anything by it, boss.”

Torian moved to take a stand between Tsuki’s piercing, accusing gaze and Mako’s trembling form.

“Asked her to look into who you were in contact with before we exchanged vows last night, so don’t blame her. Blame me.”

The sharp green eye did look to Torian then, and it was taking every bit of self-control for Tsuki not to pull out one of the belted blasters.

“Why? Why are you trying to dig up dirt on me?”

“Because you won’t tell me anything.”

“You never asked!”

“True. Ni cetar.”

After touching the panel, the door unlocked. The head of silver hair gave a nod to Mako.

“You. Out.”

“Ye…yeah alright.”

Still, Mako turned to Torian, who only gave her a polite smile before she dashed out. Her heart felt like it was about to explode, for several different reasons.

The door shut behind her, a beep and the red light indicated it was locked again. Even if Mako wanted to go back in there, she couldn’t.

Sighing, Tsuki moved for a standing position on the wall to sitting on the bed. He was soon joined by Torian, who looked to him.

 

“So tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

“Rejorhaa'ir ni a. Everything.”

“What? The DNA thing? You think I’m some sort of freak clone like Mako? Ha, I wish.”

Tsuki had to laugh about that.

“Megin?  They are all you? You’re two different Sith Lords and something so secret that that Imperial Intelligence has your files on the highest alert. Funny this is, that this you…was the easiest to find.”

“…I’m just me. I’m not anyone else. It’s…”

“Kebbur ni, cyar'ika.”

“You’re stubborn.”

“Yeah.”

“So what did you say? Two Sith Lords and one hidden by intelligence.”

“All with exact copies of your DNA.”

“They are my brothers, and before you get smart about Mandalorian adoptions, I mean my real…brothers. I told you already. There were four of us before we got separated.”

“Wait…brothers? Even related, you would have different DNA.”

“No, we’re all identical. Minutes apart, but it might as well be years. Let me guess, you found Lord Solaris, Sith lord, fearsome warrior, bit of a pushover sap.”

“Record says he never lost a fight, but shows extensive mercy.”

“Yeah, he’s always been that…I’m going to save everyone sort of chump. He’s the eldest. Then Lord Seren, former slave turned Sith Lord.”

“Mastery of the Force and brilliant scholar, but reclusive. Keeps odd company.”

“Yeah, he’s second in line. I’m the third and Celi, the one who’s file is locked up, is the youngest.”

“The one you’re looking for?”

“As far as I know, he’s Imperial Intel. A deep undercover agent who vanished off the radar…He’s not dead. I can feel that he’s alive. We all can.”

“But… if you have two brothers that are Sith Lords, doesn’t that make you…?”

“I’m not a Sith Lord, that’s for damn sure.”

“Force Sensitive.”

“Oh. Right. Yes, I never embraced it. Too much magic mumbo jumbo. People die from getting shot a hell of a lot quicker than some mind fuck. Still, keeps my senses sharp, I guess. Something I was trained to hone when I was taken.”

“Taken?”

“You call it adoption. I call it getting the shit kicked out of me for the sake of trying to save my younger brother and being put through every bit of hell imaginable over the next 5 years.”

“What? But what about your clan?”

The loud laugh from Tsuki unhinged even the likes of Torian.

“Cl..Clan? Are you serious? Never saw them. Once I got picked up, we only stayed in places a few days at a time. Never spoke to any other Mandos either. Saw them, but he never took me to see them formally. Threatened me if I was seen, saying he was ashamed of me. Maybe that’s why he beat the crap out of me every day. Can’t complain though. Taught me everything I know about killing and Med tech…Well, maybe I can complain a little. Did things to me that ‘fathers’ aren’t supposed to do with their sons…”

Torian’s blue eyes widen, his eyebrows crunched in fury.

“That bastard! He’s dead! That’s not adoption. That’s slavery!”

“Yeah, he is dead…Died a few times actually…”

“Huh?”

“ First time, he got popped him twice in the head when I was out on a mission. Guess he figured right that I wouldn’t check the body for life when I saw him in a pool of blood. Took his guns and cred stick before I got the hell out of there.”

“And the second?”

“What’s it matter?  Bastard didn’t fake his death a second time.”

 “…Kaysh gai?”

“What?”

“What was his name?”

Tsuki looked away then, lips pressed as he didn’t want to answer.

“Tsuki.”

There was a noticeable wince as Torian called out the name.

 “The name he gave me wasn’t real back then. Didn’t know it until recently…Very recently, in fact.”

“…So what is it, then? What sort of hut'uun uses a fake name and…”

“Cadera.”

“What?”

For a moment, Torian had just assumed Tsuki was calling for him before the last name was repeated again.

“Cadera. The real name was Jicoln Cadera. I didn’t know it until I was face to face with the bastard again.”

There was a smirking smile from Tsuki, though it was obvious that he felt for Torian. Finding out his dad was more than just a traitor must have been a nasty shock. Surprisingly, Torian was quiet for a moment as his mind raced. Instead of lashing out, he was the type to hold something in.

“I knew it.”

“Huh? You knew what?”

“That’s I’ve seen you before. I saw you when you were a kid. You don’t remember. We met, actually talked for a bit…That…I wish I knew what was going on.”

Tsuki stared blankly before looking up at the ceiling. He had no memory of this at all, but that wasn’t surprising.

“We did? Well, it’s possible I guess. Your old man would sneak back to the Mandolores from time to time. Course, I didn’t know he had turned on them. I snuck out when I could, ya know. Not too far away, but I wanted to see what was out there.”

“I remember. You looked lost and I tried to speak to you in Mando’a. You didn’t seem to understand so I spoke Galactic.  You smiled, but looked a bit scared. Guess I see why now.”

“What…did you say?”

“Asked if you were lost. Who your parents were. Asked again so you could understand and you said you weren’t lost. You looked different…same scars though. No tats. Same hair and eyes. Definitely you.”

Reaching over, Torian touched the twin scars on Tsuki’s mouth.

“Had these for a while, huh?”

“Not my best day. Cut me on purpose, telling me I better learn how to heal them up before I bled out. Nasty training exercise, but I learned enough to seal the wounds. Scars remind us, don’t they?”

“They do.”

Leaning closer, Torian closed the gap between their lips. It felt as if it was almost sort of an apology.

“You feeling sorry for me? Don’t. If you didn’t shoot your old man, I would have but considering you’re his real son, you had dibs. Figured you went through a lot worse than I did. Good thing I never took on his last name, huh? Real or fake.”

“…Dad had this entire life I didn’t know about. Sneaking around, pretending to be some other Mandalorian to infiltrate the Empire. Snatched you.  What I knew about him before, I hated.  The more I find out, the better it feels that he’s not around anymore. Got your back, you know? Now and forever.”

“Just don’t go blabbing to Mako about me, alright? Girl has got it bad for you and hates my ass with a passion. Too much of a coward to turn a gun on me though. Guess she knows if she did, I’d shoot her down without hesitation.”

“And me? If I turned on you, would you shoot me too?”

“Yes.”

Smiling, Torian moved to pushed Tsuki onto his back. It wasn’t forced, as the bounty hunter laid down while keeping a gaze up.

 

“Good. If I turn on you, I deserve to die. Mhi me'dinui an.”

“Ditto.”