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Star Wars Roleplay: Chaos
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Private Brother's Virtue | Acier
- Thread starter Renn Vizsla
- Start date
Kenji Verd
Character
Wearing: Clothes
_________________________________________________
COURASANT
Tagging:
Acier Moonbound
_________________________________________________
Kenji kept his hood up as he walked through the bustling streets of Courasant, his hands in his pockets, a cigarette between his lips, the wisp of smoke rising from the end as he kept his pace up, his eyes fixed just in front of his feet as he moved.
Even though his eyes didn't look towards those around him, he moved through the crowds like water through a stream, twisting and turning as people moved by him, somehow present everywhere, but his mind stayed focused on the task at hand.
Glancing up, the neon sign lit up the water droplets as they fell from the sky. Kenji made his way inside the bar, glancing around before making his way towards the bar, finding a seat.
Looking around, he tapped his fingers on the bar, slowly making a beat absent-mindedly as the bartender moved to him. "Oi, what do you want?"
Kenji let his lips take a deep drag of the cigarette before his fingers grabbed it between his fingers pulling it down, "Just wanted to see if Shrya was around?"
The bartender snorted as he shook his head, "Ain't seen her here in ages, who's askin'?"
Flicking his gaze back towards the bartender, his frown was more than apparent, "Doesn't matter, friend, just gimme a glass of water."
His night was already starting off poorly.
Acier Moonbound
Wandering Wolf
Location: Coruscant
Ace didn't come to the bar for the drinks. The Covenant's newest Academy had been built in the ashes of the Empire's defeat. Outside its walls, the city still bled in quieter ways.
The purge had been efficient. Public. Absolute. Coruscant wasn't mourning the Empire, it was recalibrating. Places like this were where recalibration happened.
Mid-tier enforcers testing their new authority. Brokers negotiating new supply chains. Contractors deciding whether to pledge, disappear, or profit. Civilians learning how loudly they were allowed to breathe.
Ace sat with his back to the wall, one hand resting against the edge of the table, gaze drifting in idle arcs that missed nothing. He was here to understand where the next fracture might form, not for the Covenant's sake. But for his own leverage.
Then the entrance slid open, and rainlight spilled in with the new patron. Ace felt the presence before he saw the man's face, another Force-sensitive.
His eyes shifted just enough. Hood up. Cigarette. Movement too precise for a civilian. Awareness without tension. A man who knew exactly where everyone was without needing to look at them.
The name he asked for, Shrya, earned a reaction from the bartender. Ace filed it away. An unaffiliated Force-sensitive operating on Coruscant, now. That wasn't normal. Not when the Covenant had the tendency to kidnap strays and force them into the Academy.
You were either brave or stupid to come here. Or, assured.
Ace remained where he was, assessing further where this was about to lead.
Last edited:
Kenji Verd
Character
Wearing: Clothes
_________________________________________________
COURASANT
Tagging:
Acier Moonbound
Indirect:
Isley Verd
_________________________________________________
Kenji felt him before he saw him, the force bristled against his senses like a sharp dagger, his eyes glanced around the room as he clocked the boy causing him this... discomfort.
The feeling he got was familiar in a way he couldn't place. He had sensed plenty of force users across the galaxy, those with an immense wealth of power, and those with a drop in the well.
Suddenly, like a distant memory coming to the forefront, he realized why he knew this feeling. His mind drifted to his home of Shuiqui when a man came to visit him in his home, that is who this boy reminded him of.
His father.
Kenji slipped a few credits on the table before he got up and made his way towards the back door, tucking his hood down further as he moved, heat rushing to his face as he thought of the man who had abandoned him and his mother.
Another one of his Spawn. No matter where I am in this fething galaxy, I always run into his wake.
Slipping out towards the back door, he made his way out into the alleyway. A few souls moved around as he cut down, glancing behind him as he moved.
I don't care to meet another member of the family.
Acier Moonbound
Wandering Wolf
Location: Coruscant
Ace didn't stare. He let his gaze drift past the hooded man in slow intervals, catching reflections in the mirror behind the bar instead of turning fully. The cigarette ember flared and dimmed in steady rhythm. The way he shifted weight was economical. Balanced.
And the Force around him wasn't loud. It wasn't desperate or posturing, it was… contained. Ace felt it the same way you feel pressure change before a storm. That alone made him worth cataloguing.
Then the man looked up. For half a second their eyes aligned across the room. Then the credits hit the counter, the hood dipped lower, and he moved for the back exit.
Ace didn't move, not at first. He counted three slow breaths, letting the door slide shut behind him. Professional curiosity and suspicion braided together in his thoughts. An unchecked Force-sensitive on Coruscant was already a variable. One that clocked him and disengaged? That wasn't coincidence. Whoever he was, he understood threat assessment.
Ace stood, unhurried, adjusting the cuff of his glove as he crossed the floor. If the man was as capable as he felt, he'd know he was being followed anyway.
The back door slid open and the alley greeted him with damp stone and low light. Neon from the street bled in weakly, cutting thin reflections across puddles and rusted durasteel.
Ace stepped fully into the quiet, didn't bother masking his presence, he let the silence settle between them first.
"You bolted when you saw me."
His voice was even. Not accusing. Just factual. He took a few measured steps forward, stopping at a distance that suggested control, not challenge. Lowering his tone so it carried only where it needed to, he said:
"What's a drifter Forcie doing in the Covenant's capital?"
His tone implicated: are you brave or just ignorant to galactic affairs?
Kenji Verd
And the Force around him wasn't loud. It wasn't desperate or posturing, it was… contained. Ace felt it the same way you feel pressure change before a storm. That alone made him worth cataloguing.
Then the man looked up. For half a second their eyes aligned across the room. Then the credits hit the counter, the hood dipped lower, and he moved for the back exit.
Ace didn't move, not at first. He counted three slow breaths, letting the door slide shut behind him. Professional curiosity and suspicion braided together in his thoughts. An unchecked Force-sensitive on Coruscant was already a variable. One that clocked him and disengaged? That wasn't coincidence. Whoever he was, he understood threat assessment.
Ace stood, unhurried, adjusting the cuff of his glove as he crossed the floor. If the man was as capable as he felt, he'd know he was being followed anyway.
The back door slid open and the alley greeted him with damp stone and low light. Neon from the street bled in weakly, cutting thin reflections across puddles and rusted durasteel.
Ace stepped fully into the quiet, didn't bother masking his presence, he let the silence settle between them first.
"You bolted when you saw me."
His voice was even. Not accusing. Just factual. He took a few measured steps forward, stopping at a distance that suggested control, not challenge. Lowering his tone so it carried only where it needed to, he said:
"What's a drifter Forcie doing in the Covenant's capital?"
His tone implicated: are you brave or just ignorant to galactic affairs?
Kenji Verd
Kenji Verd
Character
Wearing: Clothes
_________________________________________________
COURASANT
Tagging:
Acier Moonbound
Indirect:
Isley Verd
_________________________________________________
He heard the voice reach out from the alleyway towards him, echoing off the walls of the confined space as he stopped in his tracks. Turning towards the voice, he let a soft sigh under his breath.
Strands of hair dangled in front of his face, licked with the wet rain as it stuck to his face, his eyes peering towards the younger man.
"Why do you feel the need to meddle in affairs that are beyond you. I can feel his stench on you, one of his mongrels spread out into the galaxy. I won't tell you a second time, don't meddle boy."
Without another word, he let two smoke grenades drop from his sleeves, smoke erupting from the small spheres as his form disappeared into the smoke.
Kenji let the force travel to his legs as he leapt through the smoke, grabbing onto a nearby railing as he began to climb the building with ease, looking down towards Acier, raindrops pouring down his face as he hung from the side of a balcony.
"Are you as engulfed in the darkness as he is? Or do you pretend to meddle in the light?"
He let his voice echo through the alleyway as he spoke, almost projecting outwards from himself.
"All of us fall in the end."
Acier Moonbound
Wandering Wolf
Location: Coruscant
Two things stood out to Ace when the stranger answered. 'His stench' and 'Mongrels', he didn't react outwardly but something behind his eyes narrowed.
His.
There weren't many men in this galaxy whose shadow carried that kind of language. That venom. Not like that. But how would he...? Unless...
The twin spheres hit the alley floor. A concussive bloom swallowed the narrow space, choking and dense. He didn't see the leap. But he felt the surge in the Force. Definitely trained.
Ace exhaled once and thrust his hand forward. The Force snapped outward in a compressed wave, parting the smoke in a violent column, sending it crashing against the alley walls in rolling curtains. Damp stone reappeared. Neon fractured through drifting haze.
The ground in front of him was empty. But the man's voice, calling from above, drew his gaze upward. There he was, perched above, rain tracing lines down his face, hanging from the balcony.
Ace said nothing to his question, but his jaw tightened.
All of us fall in the end.
That one lingered. This wasn't coincidence or random hostility. This man knew, and if he knew-- Heat flared low in Ace's chest, sharp and sudden. Images flickered; brittle journal pages in his mother's handwriting, ink pressed too hard into paper. The absence. The abandonment. Then the duel months ago, crimson and fury and a father who wasn't afraid of killing his child - while seeking retribution for his others.
The Dark Side swelled with the memory, eager, familiar. His voice cut upward through the rain.
"Don't you ever compare me to him."
It wasn't shouted wildly. It was worse than, tight, controlled, and burning. He didn't wait for a response, the Force gathered in his legs, coiling, and compressing. Then he launched upward in a clean arc, boots striking stone as he reached for the balcony, intent on closing the distance.
Kenji Verd
His.
There weren't many men in this galaxy whose shadow carried that kind of language. That venom. Not like that. But how would he...? Unless...
The twin spheres hit the alley floor. A concussive bloom swallowed the narrow space, choking and dense. He didn't see the leap. But he felt the surge in the Force. Definitely trained.
Ace exhaled once and thrust his hand forward. The Force snapped outward in a compressed wave, parting the smoke in a violent column, sending it crashing against the alley walls in rolling curtains. Damp stone reappeared. Neon fractured through drifting haze.
The ground in front of him was empty. But the man's voice, calling from above, drew his gaze upward. There he was, perched above, rain tracing lines down his face, hanging from the balcony.
Ace said nothing to his question, but his jaw tightened.
All of us fall in the end.
That one lingered. This wasn't coincidence or random hostility. This man knew, and if he knew-- Heat flared low in Ace's chest, sharp and sudden. Images flickered; brittle journal pages in his mother's handwriting, ink pressed too hard into paper. The absence. The abandonment. Then the duel months ago, crimson and fury and a father who wasn't afraid of killing his child - while seeking retribution for his others.
The Dark Side swelled with the memory, eager, familiar. His voice cut upward through the rain.
"Don't you ever compare me to him."
It wasn't shouted wildly. It was worse than, tight, controlled, and burning. He didn't wait for a response, the Force gathered in his legs, coiling, and compressing. Then he launched upward in a clean arc, boots striking stone as he reached for the balcony, intent on closing the distance.
Kenji VerdKenji Verd
Character
Wearing: Clothes
_________________________________________________
CORUSCANT
Tagging:
Acier Moonbound
Indirect:
Isley Verd
_________________________________________________
Kenji felt the emotions gather up inside the other man; his eyes stayed locked on his movements, sensing the next move before it was even taken.
As Acier lept towards him, Kenji gathered the force in his hand and sent a wave flying towards him, catching him mid-flight, and sending him tumbling to a nearby rooftop. Kenji did not wait for the response, dropping from the railing and landing into a roll before standing up and walking towards the younger man.
His fingers caught purchase inside his jacket, his hand dropping to the side as his thumb found the button,
Then he Ignited it.
The Hum of the blade sat at his side, each raindrop hitting the burning hot saber evaporated as quickly as it fell from the sky, but Kenji's focus stayed on the stranger in front of him.
"You must be a younger one of his line, pup. I am not comparing you to him, that would give you too much credit... clearly."
Even as the words escaped his lips, he could taste the disgust on his lips, his eyes hiding nothing of his resentment of the continued presence of another one of his fathers...
No...
Their fathers' mistakes.
"You have already played your hand, you bathe in the darkness. You should have stayed home..."
Brother
Acier Moonbound
Wandering Wolf
Location: Coruscant
Reckless. Ace saw it in Kenji's shoulders, felt it in the Force and knew, a split second too late, that he'd overcommitted. His arms snapped up instinctively, crossing in an X in front of his chest as the wave struck. The impact tore him off trajectory, sending him spinning sideways through the rain.
He didn't fight the tumble, he adjusted. His boot struck stone first, then his fingers caught next. He absorbed the momentum in a three-point crouch across the rooftop, sliding back half a meter before friction took hold.
His thumb depressed the activator and a clean blue blade snapped to life. He rose smoothly but didn't advance, rain hissing into steam as it met plasma.
Kenji dropped, rolled, stood, and ignited his own. Another hum cut through the rainfall, the two blades casting wavering light across wet durasteel.
Ace let out a short scoff through his nose when Kenji spoke, not rising to him this time. His grip remained steady, but when he claimed that Ace "bathed in darkness", something shifted. Not outwardly, but for a moment... internally. He remembered when he used to recoil from that accusation. When the word "darkness" meant loss of control. Corruption. Failure.
Now? He understood its utility. Darkness wasn't surrender, it was a tool.
The word brother cut cleaner than the hum of their lightsabers. Ace's anger didn't vanish, but it simmered. Ace studied him for a long moment through the rain, then his blade snapped off with a sharp hiss.
He straightened fully to his height, looking down at him. He wasn't shocked, Ace had made peace long ago with the idea that Isley Verd had left fragments of himself scattered across the stars. What did surprise him was finding them in the wild.
"Hmm. You sound like him."
There was no heat in it. Only irony.
"The grandiose. The posturing. Talking like you're better."
He clipped the hilt to the back of his belt, deliberate and unhurried. Rain rolled down his jaw as he held Kenji's gaze.
"Take some brotherly advice." He said, tone remaining calm. "Get off-world."
Ace took a step back, ready to leave, uninterested in engaging further with his newfound sibling. He was no Aether.
"The Covenant loves strays."
Kenji Verd
He didn't fight the tumble, he adjusted. His boot struck stone first, then his fingers caught next. He absorbed the momentum in a three-point crouch across the rooftop, sliding back half a meter before friction took hold.
His thumb depressed the activator and a clean blue blade snapped to life. He rose smoothly but didn't advance, rain hissing into steam as it met plasma.
Kenji dropped, rolled, stood, and ignited his own. Another hum cut through the rainfall, the two blades casting wavering light across wet durasteel.
Ace let out a short scoff through his nose when Kenji spoke, not rising to him this time. His grip remained steady, but when he claimed that Ace "bathed in darkness", something shifted. Not outwardly, but for a moment... internally. He remembered when he used to recoil from that accusation. When the word "darkness" meant loss of control. Corruption. Failure.
Now? He understood its utility. Darkness wasn't surrender, it was a tool.
The word brother cut cleaner than the hum of their lightsabers. Ace's anger didn't vanish, but it simmered. Ace studied him for a long moment through the rain, then his blade snapped off with a sharp hiss.
He straightened fully to his height, looking down at him. He wasn't shocked, Ace had made peace long ago with the idea that Isley Verd had left fragments of himself scattered across the stars. What did surprise him was finding them in the wild.
"Hmm. You sound like him."
There was no heat in it. Only irony.
"The grandiose. The posturing. Talking like you're better."
He clipped the hilt to the back of his belt, deliberate and unhurried. Rain rolled down his jaw as he held Kenji's gaze.
"Take some brotherly advice." He said, tone remaining calm. "Get off-world."
Ace took a step back, ready to leave, uninterested in engaging further with his newfound sibling. He was no Aether.
"The Covenant loves strays."
Kenji Verd
Kenji Verd
Character
Wearing: Clothes
____________________________________________
CORUSCANT
Tagging:
Acier Moonbound
Indrirect:
Isley Verd
____________________________________________
Kenji let his eyes narrow as he looked upon his brother, the steady hum of the blade at his side blending into the ambiance of Coruscant as he listened to Acier speak, his body unmoving as his brother spoke of the Covenant loving strays.
He couldn't help but laugh, not the laugh that would come from a funny joke, a laugh at something that was beyond irony.
"Is that so young pup? Is that why you are here? Are you a lost stray coming to chase after the other dogs that lead another accursed government?"
The elder man took a step towards the younger man, his violet blade still ignited as it hung beside him.
"I have seen countless of these Empires and Alliances rise, and Fall, I am sure this one will be gone in due time."
Without warning, he swung, his blade slicing at the durasteel between them, violent sparks of metal spraying towards Acier as deep streaks of molten metal appeared in the aftermath of the blades swing.
"Watch your tongue, boy, I am nothing like that monster that has damned his kin to a life of despair. Of death."
Kenji pressed closer, spraying more sparks towards his kin with each step, pressing the advantage that his brother afforded him.
"I see that your blade has not been bled yet, what a mockery you make of the kyber."
As the gap decreased, he swung, a wide overhead arc down towards his kin, the purple blade almost whistling as it went to strike his flesh and blood.
"Let us see if it bleeds."
Acier Moonbound
Wandering Wolf
Location: Coruscant
Ace didn't bite when Kenji called him stray, when he laughed at the irony, Ace only tilted his head slightly; a fractional movement, slow and deliberate. He studied him the way a wolf studies something that has just bared its teeth.
He didn't move when Kenji stepped closer. Not an inch. Establishments rose and fell he said, Ace absorbed the words without argument. He didn't disagree, but internally, the conclusion formed clean and cold. This one needed to fall sooner.
The sudden swing of violet carved into the durasteel between them. Sparks exploded outward in a violent spray. Ace's eyes tracked the blade and his thumb depressed the activator again in the same breath. Survivor's instinct.
He didn't retreat as molten streaks scarred the rooftop. He only adjusted his footing slightly, rain hissing against plasma as their proximity tightened.
Kenji's irritation was no longer masked. The disgust at Metus wasn't feigned. Seems like the wound ran both ways. Then Kenji finally committed.
The overhead arc came fast but Ace stepped in instead of away. Blue met purple with a crackling shriek, the blades locking above them as steam rose in frantic spirals. For a moment, they were eye to eye.
"I've got better things to do than turn my lightsaber red."
It wasn't righteous or defensive, but a matter of fact. This was twice now, first Metus and now this. Meeting blood, and ending in fire. Ace wondered, albeit briefly, distantly, if Aether had been the exception. If Verd blood was simply predisposed to test itself through violence.
He broke the lock with a sharp twist of his wrist, stepping back out of Kenji's immediate reach, but not empty handed. As he retreated, his blade dipped and angled low, slashing in a controlled line toward Kenji's torso. Measured escalation. Brother or not, If Kenji chose violence, Ace would answer in kind.
He completed the step back, settling into a Djem So stance as rain streaked down his face.
"You sure you and father aren't the same? First time we met, he wasn't against fighting me either."
Blue hummed steady in his grip, ready for whatever outcome this engagement may be.
Kenji Verd
He didn't move when Kenji stepped closer. Not an inch. Establishments rose and fell he said, Ace absorbed the words without argument. He didn't disagree, but internally, the conclusion formed clean and cold. This one needed to fall sooner.
The sudden swing of violet carved into the durasteel between them. Sparks exploded outward in a violent spray. Ace's eyes tracked the blade and his thumb depressed the activator again in the same breath. Survivor's instinct.
He didn't retreat as molten streaks scarred the rooftop. He only adjusted his footing slightly, rain hissing against plasma as their proximity tightened.
Kenji's irritation was no longer masked. The disgust at Metus wasn't feigned. Seems like the wound ran both ways. Then Kenji finally committed.
The overhead arc came fast but Ace stepped in instead of away. Blue met purple with a crackling shriek, the blades locking above them as steam rose in frantic spirals. For a moment, they were eye to eye.
"I've got better things to do than turn my lightsaber red."
It wasn't righteous or defensive, but a matter of fact. This was twice now, first Metus and now this. Meeting blood, and ending in fire. Ace wondered, albeit briefly, distantly, if Aether had been the exception. If Verd blood was simply predisposed to test itself through violence.
He broke the lock with a sharp twist of his wrist, stepping back out of Kenji's immediate reach, but not empty handed. As he retreated, his blade dipped and angled low, slashing in a controlled line toward Kenji's torso. Measured escalation. Brother or not, If Kenji chose violence, Ace would answer in kind.
He completed the step back, settling into a Djem So stance as rain streaked down his face.
"You sure you and father aren't the same? First time we met, he wasn't against fighting me either."
Blue hummed steady in his grip, ready for whatever outcome this engagement may be.
Kenji VerdKenji Verd
Character
Wearing: Clothes
_________________________________________________
CORUSCANT
Tagging:
Acier Moonbound
Indirect:
Isley Verd
_________________________________________________
The blades sparked as they met one another, Kenji pushing down towards Acier as he tried to force him back, trying to force the younger man off balance.
"The blade you wield is then a mockery of what you've become. Who is this facade for? Others? Or yourself?"
Acier twisted away, a retreating slash as he did, Kenji blocked it with a barrier of force before Acier slipped just out of his blade's range.
Twirling the blade in his palm, Kenji stared at his brother, pacing in front of him as he let out a soft chuckle.
"I see then that the old man must've let you live, because if he had shown his true face, we wouldn't be blessed with this meeting today."
Leveling his blade towards Acier, he looked at him, his brow furrowed slightly, "What are you, brother? No need to lie to yourself, no need to lie to me. What is it that you fight for? Every ounce of our being yearns for the darkness that our father has bathed in his whole life. And as I am unsure what woman our father bedded to have you, I don't know how much of your other half yearns for it as well. Do you parley with the Covenant that claims Courasant as their own? Or are you just another fool to be a martyr on the pyre?"
The rainfall streaked his face as he spoke; his blade remained as steady as the tallest oak tree in a storm.
Kenji moved in slower now, striding forward as he slashed towards Acier's torso before redirecting for a slash again his legs, his attack was unlike before, it was almost akin to a hunter playing with its prey.
What would little Acier do?
Acier Moonbound
Wandering Wolf
Location: Coruscant
Ace tracked the older man's pacing without turning his head fully, blade steady, eyes flicking only when necessary. Measuring rhythm. Distance. Intention.
"Wasn't aware this was a therapy session." He said, responding to Kenji's first array of questioning.
When Kenji suggested Metus must have let him live, his memory drifted to that day on Altier. Ace's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. Crimson light against the grass. The suffocating weight of Metus' presence in the Force. How he'd had Ace at his total mercy by the end of it.
"Probably."
The word carried no gratitude, only acceptance. His gaze dropped briefly to Kenji's violet blade and didn't leave it, tracking micro-adjustments of wrist and shoulder as the questions continued.
Every ounce of our being yearns for the darkness…
That one resonated. Ever since he had truly opened himself to the Force, he had felt it there... something coiled beneath the surface. Not always loud. Not always cruel. But present. He had never known if it belonged to his father... or to himself. He had feared it once. Feared losing himself to it. And he had lost control before. More than once.
Now? He wielded it, not as surrender, but a tool. He remembered Aether's voice, anger wasn't his enemy it was fuel.
Then his mind shifted, his other half. Orryn. Born to be nothing more than a vessel for something ancient and cosmic. Destined to be consumed by expectation. She had chosen otherwise. She had chosen him. That rebellion had been the first act of his life, and that same defiance lived in his blood.
"I fight for me." Ace said finally, calm, eyes still locked on Kenji's blade. "And the people I care about."
The first slash toward his torso came measured. The second toward his legs followed in clean redirection. Ace parried both with minimal effort - tight movements, economical shifts of weight. He noted Kenji's change immediately, less wild and more probing.
He answered with two counters of his own, one sharp diagonal cut to test Kenji's guard, the second a thrust aimed to force space rather than wound.
"What's with the third degree?" He asked, circling as rain streaked across their faces. "Why do you care? You've made it clear you don't want anything to do with our father and his "mongrels.""
He stepped in now, pressing forward with heavy, controlled strikes that carried real weight. But his footwork stayed precise, almost surgical, angling rather than charging. Pressure without sloppiness.
"You think you can show up here, call me names, attack me, pretend you've got the right to ask me all this like you're my older brother."
He twisted out, and reset his stance.
"We're blood. But you're not my brother."
Kenji Verd
"Wasn't aware this was a therapy session." He said, responding to Kenji's first array of questioning.
When Kenji suggested Metus must have let him live, his memory drifted to that day on Altier. Ace's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. Crimson light against the grass. The suffocating weight of Metus' presence in the Force. How he'd had Ace at his total mercy by the end of it.
"Probably."
The word carried no gratitude, only acceptance. His gaze dropped briefly to Kenji's violet blade and didn't leave it, tracking micro-adjustments of wrist and shoulder as the questions continued.
Every ounce of our being yearns for the darkness…
That one resonated. Ever since he had truly opened himself to the Force, he had felt it there... something coiled beneath the surface. Not always loud. Not always cruel. But present. He had never known if it belonged to his father... or to himself. He had feared it once. Feared losing himself to it. And he had lost control before. More than once.
Now? He wielded it, not as surrender, but a tool. He remembered Aether's voice, anger wasn't his enemy it was fuel.
Then his mind shifted, his other half. Orryn. Born to be nothing more than a vessel for something ancient and cosmic. Destined to be consumed by expectation. She had chosen otherwise. She had chosen him. That rebellion had been the first act of his life, and that same defiance lived in his blood.
"I fight for me." Ace said finally, calm, eyes still locked on Kenji's blade. "And the people I care about."
The first slash toward his torso came measured. The second toward his legs followed in clean redirection. Ace parried both with minimal effort - tight movements, economical shifts of weight. He noted Kenji's change immediately, less wild and more probing.
He answered with two counters of his own, one sharp diagonal cut to test Kenji's guard, the second a thrust aimed to force space rather than wound.
"What's with the third degree?" He asked, circling as rain streaked across their faces. "Why do you care? You've made it clear you don't want anything to do with our father and his "mongrels.""
He stepped in now, pressing forward with heavy, controlled strikes that carried real weight. But his footwork stayed precise, almost surgical, angling rather than charging. Pressure without sloppiness.
"You think you can show up here, call me names, attack me, pretend you've got the right to ask me all this like you're my older brother."
He twisted out, and reset his stance.
"We're blood. But you're not my brother."
Kenji VerdKenji Verd
Character
Wearing: Clothes
_________________________________________________
CORUSCANT
Tagging:
Acier Moonbound
Indirect:
Isley Verd
_________________________________________________
Kenji saw the redirections coming towards him, his blade moving without hesitation to block them, allowing for the Thrust from Acier to create a measure of space between the two.
Listening to his words, he let the corner of his lips turn up, a gentle shake of his head as he looked towards the younger Verd.
"That is what gets us all in the end, little brother, the wish to defend those that you hold close to your heart, those who you care about. What would they say about the monster you will become? When the darkness takes hold, and your heart no longer needs to beat, life provided by pure spite."
The strikes sailed towards him, his mind clocking them as if the world moved in slow motion, his movements gracefully switching to Makashi as he parried the blows before Acier twisted away from his reach once more. The world returned to the gentle hum of their blades as the rain fell between the pair.
"You wound me with your hurtful words. You do not choose whose blood you share. The galaxy has given us each other, and him as our father. That means we are brothers by blood, that is why we are here today, aren't we? Because only we could sense what was within one another."
Pressing forward, he flowed like rain as he moved towards his opponent, his strikes no longer the chipping of a woodsman; it was as fluid as a river, his strikes coming from different directions, a swing to the left side of his torso, then the right side of his leg, a slice downwards, wishing to cut the man in twain.
"Only we can feel the nawing of the darkness that wishes to consume us."
Acier Moonbound
Wandering Wolf
Location: Coruscant
Kenji's words slid between strikes, measured and deliberate.
What would they say about the monster you will become?
Ace didn't hesitate this time. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that they're safe."
Kenji's parries shifted. They were cleaner, narrower, more efficient. Ace saw it immediately, the subtle change in guard, the refined economy in the wrist. The stance elongated, blade alignment precise. Not brute pressure anymore, but elegant. Makashi. So he could refine it when he wanted to.
"Oh." Ace scoffed lightly as Kenji pressed forward again, fluid as rain. "So now you want to preach that we're family?"
The swing toward his left torso came first. As a left-hander, that angle was natural territory. He rotated through his hips, blade catching the strike cleanly along its strong axis, dispersing the energy outward rather than absorbing it.
The next strike shifted toward his leg. Ace withdrew a half step, letting his weight fall onto his rear foot as blue snapped down to intercept.
The downward slice that followed met blue in a sharp clash, and in that same breath he used the strength of his cybernetic arm to shove Kenji's blade away. He followed it, lifting his blade sharply toward Kenji's upper line to draw a reaction. Then, mid-motion, his wrist turned and the arc broke downward, carving a tight reverse cut toward Kenji's lead side as he stepped across the wet rooftop.
He felt it now, the effort behind Kenji's movement. No more toying. No more intimidation displays.
The preaching, however, was grating.
"You talk like we don't have a choice." Ace said.
He continued pressing the exchange, aiming to force Kenji to give ground by inches rather than meters.
"Father's shadow lives in me. Fine." He wasn't going to pretend otherwise. "But I choose what I do with it. This path I'm on's got nothing to do with him. You're not taking that away from me."
Kenji Verd
What would they say about the monster you will become?
Ace didn't hesitate this time. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is that they're safe."
Kenji's parries shifted. They were cleaner, narrower, more efficient. Ace saw it immediately, the subtle change in guard, the refined economy in the wrist. The stance elongated, blade alignment precise. Not brute pressure anymore, but elegant. Makashi. So he could refine it when he wanted to.
"Oh." Ace scoffed lightly as Kenji pressed forward again, fluid as rain. "So now you want to preach that we're family?"
The swing toward his left torso came first. As a left-hander, that angle was natural territory. He rotated through his hips, blade catching the strike cleanly along its strong axis, dispersing the energy outward rather than absorbing it.
The next strike shifted toward his leg. Ace withdrew a half step, letting his weight fall onto his rear foot as blue snapped down to intercept.
The downward slice that followed met blue in a sharp clash, and in that same breath he used the strength of his cybernetic arm to shove Kenji's blade away. He followed it, lifting his blade sharply toward Kenji's upper line to draw a reaction. Then, mid-motion, his wrist turned and the arc broke downward, carving a tight reverse cut toward Kenji's lead side as he stepped across the wet rooftop.
He felt it now, the effort behind Kenji's movement. No more toying. No more intimidation displays.
The preaching, however, was grating.
"You talk like we don't have a choice." Ace said.
He continued pressing the exchange, aiming to force Kenji to give ground by inches rather than meters.
"Father's shadow lives in me. Fine." He wasn't going to pretend otherwise. "But I choose what I do with it. This path I'm on's got nothing to do with him. You're not taking that away from me."
Kenji VerdKenji Verd
Character
Wearing: Clothes
_________________________________________________
CORUSCANT
Tagging:
Acier Moonbound
Indirect:
Isley Verd
_________________________________________________
His footwork flowed across the rooftop as he twisted out of the blade's way, his own falling to his side, as he twisted and turned from the cyan blade cutting towards him, his free hand reaching out as he sent out a push, sending Acier back away from him.
"They are safe from what, from you? Don't you think the moment you can no longer control the urges you hold within yourself, that they are the first people who will no longer be safe? Why are you here? Why are you not with them? Did they put you out? They don't want you anymore."
Pressing again, he let his slashes and thrusts assail Acier, conjoining his words with the strikes of his violet blade, pressing both his reflexes and his mind at the same moment, relentless, unyielding.
"Stop lying to me, stop lying to yourself. The hunger deep within the pit of your stomach, it consumes us all. You don't need to be mighter then this feeling that eats at you, so why continue this facade?"
Kenji slipped within Acier's guard, the man's eyes as violet as his blade stared down at his kin, a wicked smile adorning his face before he slammed his head against Acier's, the sound hit them both like a thundercrack, thwack.
Slipping back away from Acier, blood ran from a cut against his forehead, the crimson liquid caught in the rain and ran down his face, a laugh escaping Kenji's lips as he slid his form back into a standard Makashi stance.
"I have seen lies since before I understood my first words, do not think I cannot see through who you claim to be, and who you truly are. You're a monster too."
Acier Moonbound
Wandering Wolf
Location: Coruscant
Kenji's push came fast, but Ace didn't give it the satisfaction. The Force surged outward from him in a tight, braced shell as the impact struck and bled off around him instead of through him. His boots slid half a step across the slick rooftop, but he held.
Kenji's words hit the air. They didn't land. Violet then followed. Ace answered blade with blade, blue flashing in compact movements as strikes came in relentless sequence. He met them without retreat, deflections short, economical, answering each angle with a counter cut of his own, not wild, not desperate.
"What is this?" He said between clashes, breath steady despite the tempo. "You trying to get into my head? I've heard different versions of what you've said from people bigger and scarier than you, old man. I don't care."
Stubbornness sharpened into will. He had chosen his path knowing the cost. He wasn't afraid of the consequences. He wasn't afraid of what he might have to become. Not anymore.
Kenji's assault pressed harder, forcing adjustment. Ace shifted grips, blade rotating in his hand as he transitioned, stance tightening, angles changing. His lightsaber now moved in broader defensive arcs, redirecting pressure instead of meeting it head on, waiting for the gap.
"You ever get tired of your own voice?" He snapped, irritation flaring in the Force. Not because the words struck true, but because of the arrogance behind them. "Don't act like you know me. You don't. You're as big-headed as father."
Kenji slipped closer, inside his guard, Ace saw it and let it happen. He shifted his footing deliberately, compressing space instead of disengaging, closing the lane Kenji sought to exploit. He caught the shift in posture, the tell in the shoulders. A headbutt was incoming. Instead of recoiling, Ace leaned in, shoulder bracing and forehead angling to smother the motion.
The impact cracked between them like a thunderclap. Pain burst across his brow, skin splitting, warm blood mixing with rain. It could have been worse. Ace straightened slowly, rolling his neck once as rain traced crimson down his temple. He twirled his lightsaber once in his grip, the motion casual, almost bored.
"You're really full of it, aren't you?" He said, voice even. "I've known what I am for a long time."
Tapani. The moment he accepted that to destroy monsters, he might have to become one. He'd made peace with that long before tonight. Even before that, he knew what he was born to be.
"I'm bored of you." His words were dry. "What's the goal here? Talk enough bantha crap to break me?"
Then he snickered, brief, genuine, rare.
"It's funny…"
His fingers curled subtly at his side. The Force reached outward, wrapping around a loose durasteel panel bolted near the edge of the rooftop.
"You hate him. But you remind me of him. That's annoying, huh?"
The panel tore free with a shriek of metal and he snapped his hand forward. The durasteel launched toward Kenji in a violent arc.
"That why you're projecting all your shit onto me?"
Ace moved with it. The Force surged through his legs in a burst, closing distance in a blink as blue came down in a crushing, high-pressure combination - heavy, disciplined strikes layered one over the other, each blow carrying weight meant not to overwhelm, but to break structure.
Kenji Verd
Kenji's words hit the air. They didn't land. Violet then followed. Ace answered blade with blade, blue flashing in compact movements as strikes came in relentless sequence. He met them without retreat, deflections short, economical, answering each angle with a counter cut of his own, not wild, not desperate.
"What is this?" He said between clashes, breath steady despite the tempo. "You trying to get into my head? I've heard different versions of what you've said from people bigger and scarier than you, old man. I don't care."
Stubbornness sharpened into will. He had chosen his path knowing the cost. He wasn't afraid of the consequences. He wasn't afraid of what he might have to become. Not anymore.
Kenji's assault pressed harder, forcing adjustment. Ace shifted grips, blade rotating in his hand as he transitioned, stance tightening, angles changing. His lightsaber now moved in broader defensive arcs, redirecting pressure instead of meeting it head on, waiting for the gap.
"You ever get tired of your own voice?" He snapped, irritation flaring in the Force. Not because the words struck true, but because of the arrogance behind them. "Don't act like you know me. You don't. You're as big-headed as father."
Kenji slipped closer, inside his guard, Ace saw it and let it happen. He shifted his footing deliberately, compressing space instead of disengaging, closing the lane Kenji sought to exploit. He caught the shift in posture, the tell in the shoulders. A headbutt was incoming. Instead of recoiling, Ace leaned in, shoulder bracing and forehead angling to smother the motion.
The impact cracked between them like a thunderclap. Pain burst across his brow, skin splitting, warm blood mixing with rain. It could have been worse. Ace straightened slowly, rolling his neck once as rain traced crimson down his temple. He twirled his lightsaber once in his grip, the motion casual, almost bored.
"You're really full of it, aren't you?" He said, voice even. "I've known what I am for a long time."
Tapani. The moment he accepted that to destroy monsters, he might have to become one. He'd made peace with that long before tonight. Even before that, he knew what he was born to be.
"I'm bored of you." His words were dry. "What's the goal here? Talk enough bantha crap to break me?"
Then he snickered, brief, genuine, rare.
"It's funny…"
His fingers curled subtly at his side. The Force reached outward, wrapping around a loose durasteel panel bolted near the edge of the rooftop.
"You hate him. But you remind me of him. That's annoying, huh?"
The panel tore free with a shriek of metal and he snapped his hand forward. The durasteel launched toward Kenji in a violent arc.
"That why you're projecting all your shit onto me?"
Ace moved with it. The Force surged through his legs in a burst, closing distance in a blink as blue came down in a crushing, high-pressure combination - heavy, disciplined strikes layered one over the other, each blow carrying weight meant not to overwhelm, but to break structure.
Kenji VerdKenji Verd
Character
Wearing: Clothes
_________________________________________________
CORUSCANT
Tagging:
Acier Moonbound
Indirect:
Isley Verd
_________________________________________________
The durasteel panel came flying for Kenji, and Acier closely behind it, but instead of blocking or moving out of the way, he placed his blade in front of him, closing his eyes. The millisecond the durasteel would've hit, there was nothing but raindrops.
Footsteps came from behind Acier, and all Kenji could do was shake his head.
"You are so limited, brother, you have not even a sliver of the possibilities open to us. Your arrogance will be your downfall. There will always be someone stronger, someone wiser, and someone willing to lose more than you."
The violet blade extinguished, the sounds of the rain being the only constant left beside the voices that the pair shared.
The shift of his face was noticeable, the smile was gone, the laughter was silenced, all that was left was, him.
"Why are you here? It is clear that these people are not your own, and are not of your own heart. You wade in the darkness, and it will consume you, no matter how noble the cause. Even the heroic souls, even the truest of hearts, all of them fall when their world is smothered in darkness."
A gentle sigh escaped his lips as he looked towards his brother, his violet eyes piercing through the dark, rainy Coruscant night. His breath could be seen in the air as he exhaled.
"From one Son, to Another. The only thing that is inevitable in this life is that every happy moment you've ever had will be tainted, stomped on, and ruined for you."
Acier Moonbound
Wandering Wolf
Location: Coruscant
Ace's boots scraped hard against wet stone as he skidded to a stop, rain spraying outward from the sudden halt. The rooftop felt wrong for half a second... absence where mass should have been.
Then he heard footsteps coming from behind. His hands locked around his hilt, shoulders already turning, blade rising in a lethal arc meant to cleave before question. Then... the violet hum died, and Ace stopped the swing short.
He didn't deactivate, but the immediate violence paused.
Kenji spoke. Stronger. Wiser. Willing to lose more. He didn't argue, of course there would always be someone stronger. That was just math. This wasn't a revelation, but it wasn't a deterrent either.
Kenji's smile was gone now. Whatever arrogance had coated Kenji earlier had thinned, revealing something quieter. Something worn. Then came the final blow with it.
Every happy moment will be tainted. Ruined.
Ace didn't flinch, he... agreed. Not outwardly, but inside. He remembered a childhood spent fighting to survive, his mother dying in his arms, the blood of Clan Vethrisa on his hands, the loss of his arm, the first heartbreak, the slow drift away from people he once stood beside.
Then there was
Fatine von Ascania
... he already knew how that story probably ended.
Peace was never promised to him. Happiness? That had never really been his. He'd accepted that long ago. Rain traced the cut across his brow, and his voice, when it came, was quieter than before.
"…As long as they're happy. Safe. I don't care."
Blue light reflected in violet eyes as he held Kenji's gaze. For a moment, he saw it. The cynicism. The isolation. The distance. The certainty that joy was temporary.
He recognized those traits. In himself. A flicker of awareness crossed his mind, was he this exhausting to others? This convinced the galaxy only moved in loss and inevitability?
His jaw tightened, but not in anger. "You ever stop to think that people like us exist so it doesn't happen to them? We take the hit so they don't."
His stance didn't change, his blade didn't lower. But something in his tone made it clear that this wasn't rhetoric. It was a challenge, not to win an argument but to reconsider the premise. Because if Kenji believed ruin was inevitable, then Ace believed someone had to stand in its way.
Even if it cost them everything.
Kenji Verd
Then he heard footsteps coming from behind. His hands locked around his hilt, shoulders already turning, blade rising in a lethal arc meant to cleave before question. Then... the violet hum died, and Ace stopped the swing short.
He didn't deactivate, but the immediate violence paused.
Kenji spoke. Stronger. Wiser. Willing to lose more. He didn't argue, of course there would always be someone stronger. That was just math. This wasn't a revelation, but it wasn't a deterrent either.
Kenji's smile was gone now. Whatever arrogance had coated Kenji earlier had thinned, revealing something quieter. Something worn. Then came the final blow with it.
Every happy moment will be tainted. Ruined.
Ace didn't flinch, he... agreed. Not outwardly, but inside. He remembered a childhood spent fighting to survive, his mother dying in his arms, the blood of Clan Vethrisa on his hands, the loss of his arm, the first heartbreak, the slow drift away from people he once stood beside.
Then there was
Fatine von Ascania
... he already knew how that story probably ended.Peace was never promised to him. Happiness? That had never really been his. He'd accepted that long ago. Rain traced the cut across his brow, and his voice, when it came, was quieter than before.
"…As long as they're happy. Safe. I don't care."
Blue light reflected in violet eyes as he held Kenji's gaze. For a moment, he saw it. The cynicism. The isolation. The distance. The certainty that joy was temporary.
He recognized those traits. In himself. A flicker of awareness crossed his mind, was he this exhausting to others? This convinced the galaxy only moved in loss and inevitability?
His jaw tightened, but not in anger. "You ever stop to think that people like us exist so it doesn't happen to them? We take the hit so they don't."
His stance didn't change, his blade didn't lower. But something in his tone made it clear that this wasn't rhetoric. It was a challenge, not to win an argument but to reconsider the premise. Because if Kenji believed ruin was inevitable, then Ace believed someone had to stand in its way.
Even if it cost them everything.
Kenji VerdKenji Verd
Character
Wearing: Clothing
_________________________________________________
CORUSCANT
Tagging:
Acier Moonbound
Indirect:
Isley Verd
_________________________________________________
Rain continued down on the pair as they stood on the rooftop, staring each other down, each waiting for the other one to go first.
Kenji looked towards his brother, shaking his head gently as he gave another sigh,"Life isn't fair, the force might have a path for us, but it doesn't mean it's for our betterment or others. If good was meant in the galaxy, then why does all the bad happen aswell? The force is blind, it does not see good or bad, it does as it will, and that's how we lose those closest, not the force, life takes them away from us."
His hand rose towards his neck, his thumbs pulling out a metal chain with a small azure stone dangling from it, radiating a gentle calmness from the stone as Kenji glanced at it.
"My mother always told me not to let those around me drag me down, but it was hard not to let the words pierce me. Where I grew up, family was everything... without him around... I was the first one to take the brunt of their criticism."
Looking down at the pendant, his eyes no longer on his younger brother as he spoke of his own past. His eyes fogged over a little as he was transported to another time.
"He visited once... a long time ago now... right before she passed... I wish he had never come.... maybe things would've been different...."Z
The violet orbs glanced back towards the man across from him, "Ours is a life of pain and sorrow, mixed with fleeting moments of joy before getting them stripped away from us."
Kenji let his hand slip into his coat pocket, finding purchase on something before pulling it back out. A small violet crystal in his hand as he rolled it around in his fingers before flicking it towards his brother.
"Blue doesn't fit you anymore, at least purple aligns more with the force, what it truly is, no light or dark, the force is gray, somewhere in the middle."
They were always somewhere in the middle.