The Ties That Bind

[Kai and Gerda]

Theo Vathek sat in the cockpit of the Harlock, playing pazaak and smoking a death stick. Through the windows, he could see the lush and verdant landscape of Weik, a planet that was quite literally on the edge of the galaxy.

His boss (and, if he was being honest with himself, his only friend) Alyosha had left the ship and headed out into the wilderness, accompanied by his brother Val Drutin. Theo didn’t completely understand why the two of them wanted to come all the way out here (something about exploring some old ruins?), but he wasn’t about to argue. Alyosha had a good head on his shoulders, and whatever he was doing, he must have a good reason for it.

That didn’t change the fact that he’d been waiting for some time. The engines were primed and ready to go the moment the two brothers returned, yet there had been no word from either of them all day. Reflected in the cockpit window, the multi-colored pazaak cards painted the glass in garish shades of red, blue, and green. Theo straightened, grimacing. Not even the death stick dangling from his lips could keep his worries at bay.

“Don’t you bounce on me now... I’m just starting to get back on my feet. I actually like this job, for once—”

His muttering was interrupted by the sound of knocking on the outside of the ship. Eagerly he leaned forward to lower the ramp and turned in his seat, ready to greet his employer. “What took you so long? I smoked half a pack of death sticks in the time it took you to get in and get out. I feel like ten thousand people, and I don’t know if I can get ten thousand people to work together and fly this thing.”

Alyosha blinked wide eyes at him. Val was nowhere to be seen. Theo felt a sudden wave of uncertainty. His gut told him something was up, but he didn’t know what it was.

“You all right, man? Where's your brother?”

“I dunno,” Alyosha replied. He was wearing different clothes—actually, it looked like he had swapped clothes with Val and was now wearing a gaudy dancer costume—and he seemed a bit disoriented. "I thought Yoshi would be here..."

“Uhh… you sure you’re feeling all right?” Theo repeated. “Did ya hit your head or something? Eat some weird native plant?”

Alyosha looked around, his expression puzzled. “I need to get back to Coruscant,” he said softly.

“Okay.” Theo started plotting the course in the navicomputer. “Coruscant’s two weeks away—”

“Two weeks?!”

Theo paused. That was a decidedly un-Alyosha-like shriek.

Every now and then Alyosha would get into a kind of funk. Sometimes it was a fun funk that led to harmless misadventures, and other times it was a bad funk where he was an emotional wreck. It could last a few minutes, or hours, or even days; there was no predicting it. This might simply be the latest manifestation of a funk—but somehow it seemed far worse than the usual wishy-washiness he had come to expect.

It took the stoned Wroonian several seconds to compute the possibilities at play here, and in that time Alyosha burst into tears.

“I’m going to get fired again!” he wailed. “Last time they let me come back, but now they’ll never take me on again!”

“Hang on,” Theo said, squinting. “...Did you say ‘Yoshi’ earlier?”

“Where is he? Why isn’t he here?”

“He is here, because you are him, man.” Theo smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand in disbelief. “You’re talking like his kid brother Val. He’s the only one Alyosha tolerates callin' him ‘Yoshi’... Oh chit. You must be Val, but in his body!”

The blood drained from Alyosha’s—er, Val's—face. He turned and ran down the hall, presumably to the ‘fresher, where the mirror would tell him—

“AHHHHHHH!”

A few seconds later, Val returned to the cockpit. He grabbed Theo by the shoulders.

“Why did this happen?! How do I fix it?!”

Theo didn’t appreciate being shaken, especially since the death sticks were starting to make him feel like he was breathing liquid water. “Quit jerking me around! I don’t know what’s going on here. All I know is that you and Val… I mean, Alyosha wanted to come here, and you both went out to look at some ruins or something.”

“We have to find him and fix it!” Val insisted. Running back toward the ramp, he shouted, “Come on!”

Theo grunted and managed to stand up, though he felt like if he didn't cling to something he'd fall off the planet and float off into space. Barely able to feel his legs, he staggered after Val.

 

[Val Drutin]

Alyosha awoke with a splitting headache.

He was lying face down on grass, the blades tickling his nose. Stifling a sneeze, he peeled himself up off the ground and looked around, trying to get his bearings.

Having landed right smack in the middle of a forest, he was surrounded by trees and wildlife. There wasn’t a sentient in sight, human or alien.

He hoisted himself into a sitting position, brushing dirt off his… costume?

His clothes were different. He’d stepped out of camp that morning in a t-shirt and jeans, but now he was wearing some sort of theatrical getup. He looked like he was about to start spouting Shakespeare to a fake skull.

Also gone were his shoes, replaced by moth-gray tights and dancer’s slippers.

A feeling of profound dread came over Alyosha as he stared at his legs. Somehow, they didn’t look right. They didn’t look like his legs. They were disproportionately muscular, overdeveloped at the thighs, with long feet like a bird’s. They looked like Val’s legs.

Where is Val?

He stretched out at once, twitching upon the thread that bound him to his brother. The answer was swift and overwhelming, a chaotic tangle of emotions that came tumbling down the line. Val was confused, disoriented, upset, offended—

Offended? Why?

Because you dragged me out here, and now I’m you and you’re me!

Alyosha’s hands flew to his face, feeling his features. They were not his own. His fingers tugged on locks of hair that were longer and darker than his was supposed to be, blown back from his face rather than falling in it. His hands, too, were softer and more delicate. Not used to the rough trade of an assassin.

“I don’t like this,” he moaned. “I don’t like this at all…”

“Me neither!”

He turned and beheld the trippy sight of his true body crashing through the undergrowth. Blue eyes blinked at him from behind shaggy hair, mirroring his own sense of shock and uncanniness. But it was Val in there, behind those blue eyes. He could feel it.

“What the hell are you wearing?” Alyosha demanded, glaring at his brother.

“One of my other costumes,” Val replied. The costume he had clad Alyosha’s body in was very similar in design, but it looked tighter on him than on Val's shorter figure. “It’s the only thing I’m comfortable in, okay? You can take it off when we fix this.”

Alyosha winced at the sound of Val speaking with his voice. Do I really sound like that?

Theo arrived right around then, panting and resting his hands on his knees. “Oh, that hurts… that hurts… oh, I’m never doing death sticks again…!”

“Wow, I’m even littler than I thought!” Val said, tilting his head and grinning in spite of everything.

“Gee, I sure am a strong, handsome, manly guy!” Alyosha mocked him. He stood up, brushing dirt off his backside. “What the hell happened to us?”

“You tell me,” Val replied. “I don’t even remember why we’re here.”

Alyosha frowned, searching his memory. There was a similar blank spot where the last few hours should have been, but he did remember why they had come to Weik.

“We’re here to sever our bond.”

“Sever our bond!” Val echoed, horrified. “Why?!”

Alyosha grimaced. He had lied to Val about the trip, claiming they were coming here just to benefit from the planet's Force nexus, because he was afraid of this exact reaction from him. But he was tired of the “episodes” wherein he lost control of his emotions while Val became the unstoppable, uncaring juggernaut in his stead. They were becoming more and more debilitating, especially now that he had awoken his Force powers. What’s more, he didn’t like being able to feel everything Val felt, or vice versa. He craved privacy and isolation. He didn’t want to be any more vulnerable than he already was.

“Look, Val—” he began, but couldn’t find the words. What was he supposed to say? No matter what, Val would take it as a rejection, a kind of emotional divorce.

The tears spilling down his cheeks confirmed it. “Yoshi, how could you?” he wailed. “What did I do wrong? Do… do you hate me?”

“I don’t hate you,” Alyosha muttered. “I just don’t like being bonded to you. It’s more trouble than it’s worth.”

“Well, look where it got us now!” Val spat. His hands were balled into fists at his sides, trembling with anger and indignation even as his voice broke and tears continued to leak from his eyes. “If you hadn’t tried to cut me off, we wouldn’t be trapped in each other’s bodies!”

Theo watched this exchange with a mixture of stoned fascination and bewilderment before interrupting. “So neither one of you knows what happened to make y’all switch?”

Alyosha shook his head. “I don’t even know how I got here. Where did you two come from, anyway?”

“I was on the ship,” Theo replied.

Val hesitated, thinking. “I woke up in the middle of a field. I walked back to the ship, cause I thought you would be there…”

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to have a look around and see if we can find anything, then,” Alyosha murmured, resting his hands on his hips. He didn’t like the idea of hiking around in this getup, but he didn’t think any of his own clothes would fit Val’s body properly. Besides, it wasn’t the worst thing he could be wearing...

Alyosha Drutin

 

[Kai and Gerda]

Having discovered Alyosha's true intentions in bringing them to Weik, Val was, understandably, quite upset. More than that, he couldn't believe how stupid his brother was.

"Who told you it was possible to sever a Force bond by going to a Force nexus? That's got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard!"

He had been complaining like this for the duration of their search. So far Alyosha had tolerated it penitently, but he was growing more and more frustrated as the day wore on. The endless landscape of Weik offered no answers and no solutions to their predicament.

Eventually it became too dark to see properly, and the trio had no choice but to stop and rest, if not make camp for the night. A sobered Theo, his shortened lifespan notwithstanding, was strong enough to help in building a small campfire to cook with and ward off any potential predators.

While dinner was roasting, Val started up again. "You can't sever a Force bond without one or both of us dying first. Didn't your master tell you that?"

"Leave Themis out of this, all right?" Alyosha growled.

"Did that batty old skinshifter put you up to this? I knew she couldn't be trusted! Light Side Sith, my foot!"

"No one put me up to anything. I decided to do this on my own."

"But why?" Val spread his palms, staring at his brother in confusion and hurt. "What would make you want to do such a thing?"

Alyosha would not answer. At least, not until Val started swatting at him.

Theo, who was spinning their dinner on a spit, sighed as the two brothers started fighting. "Not again..."

"Stop it!" Alyosha grabbed Val's wrists and shoved him away. "What the hell's the matter with you?!"

"You jerk! I can't believe I ever thought you cared about me!" the mad dancer shrieked through tears. "You were the only person who ever cared. That was the whole basis for the bond. That's why we're connected. It was the two of us against the galaxy!"

Val broke down, unable to speak. Theo looked on in awe. While it was Val in Alyosha's body, he still found it eerie to hear Alyosha's voice wracked with sobs like that. He'd never seen the assassin weep so.

 

[Val Drutin]

"Val..." Alyosha began, swallowing hard as waves of pain and sadness echoed through their bond. "Val, come on. This is no time to get all wishy-washy. Please, stop crying."

But Val had sunk into such depths of misery that even Alyosha was at a loss. Furtively he searched for something to say, something to assuage his brother's suffering.

"I'm sorry," he said at last. "I won't ever do it again."

The sobbing abruptly ceased. Val's head snapped up. His eyes were inflamed and his cheeks still wet, but the sorrow had vanished.

"You really mean that?"

"...I guess," Alyosha muttered, shrugging sheepishly. "I mean, if there's really no way to sever the bond without hurting you... I never wanted to hurt you. I just don't like being so... so vulnerable."

Val blinked and tilted his head to the side. "But a Force bond isn't just a vulnerability. It can strengthen both of us. We build each other up."

"I know..." Alyosha admitted through grit teeth. "But it also causes lots of problems. Especially between you and me. Remember how you almost murdered Yori in cold blood, back on the Firewalker? And do you know how many times I've almost gotten killed because I had an 'episode' at the worst possible time?"

"Yeeeahhh..." Val drawled. "But pulling strength from you got me out of that insane asylum. I'd still be trapped there if it hadn't been for our bond. Just because you haven't been able to lean on me yet doesn't mean you won't ever have a chance. You're still learning, still being trained... you'll get there eventually."

Alyosha sighed. He had mistakenly believed that going to Weik, with its neutral-aligned Force nexus, would allow him to cut the cord binding his Light Side from Val's Dark Side. But he was beginning to realize that the nature of the Light and the Dark wasn't so cut and dried. Val might be a Sith by training, but he was about as far from evil as you could get. The Dark Side was all he had ever known of the Force, yet its corruption had never truly touched him.

As for Alyosha, his master Darth Themis called herself a "Light Side Sith", someone who used Sith methods to draw on the power of the Light Side. His eyes had yet to turn bronze like hers, but he remembered the bitterness he had felt the first time he opened himself to the Force with her assistance. He was repulsed by his own vulnerability. And on Atrisia, she had said nothing when he talked about the merits of having a heart of stone, claiming it would make him invincible, but he could sense her disappointment...

Maybe this wasn't about the dangers of his link with Val at all. Maybe it was really about him, his personal problems, fears, and shortcomings. His attempt at severing their bond certainly seemed myopic now that he had a chance to stop and think about it rather than just going with his impulse to remove whatever made him feel weak.

"It seems to me that what you two got is something with both pros and cons," Theo remarked, stirring Alyosha from his thoughts. "It's unique to you, sets you apart, gives you an edge and holds you back. You're just going to have to learn to live with the drawbacks and appreciate the benefits."

Alyosha grunted in quiet assent, then changed the subject. "When's dinner gonna be ready?"

 

[Kai and Gerda]

Val was forcefully awoken by Alyosha shaking his shoulder. It was some time in the early morning; the sun was just beginning to rise. "Huh? What..."

"I think I know how to fix this," Alyosha said. He hauled his brother to his feet. In the half-light, the two of them looked strangely alike in their similar costumes. "We just need to find a secluded spot. I scouted one out by a stream. It won't take long."

As they started walking, Val gently reached for Alyosha, clasping his hand. The assassin looked down, frowning, but didn't pull away.

They reached the stream within ten minutes. Letting go of Val, Alyosha deftly jumped across a pathway of rocks jutting above the water, making his way to the other side. The water bubbled and foamed, but the noise it made was a low hum to their ears.

"The water has trace amounts of the Force in it," Alyosha explained. "Well, that's not exactly it... it's concentrated in all the bits of earth and sand from erosion and rain. The whole planet is a Nexus, really... but it seems to be strongest here, in the groundwater."

Giggling at Alyosha's fumbling response, Val stretched out with the Force, easily discerning what his brother was referring to. "It's neither the Light or the Dark here," he said. "It's a physical manifestation of that split between the two sides of the Force."

"Yeah, yeah. I think that's the reason why we swapped bodies." Alyosha sat on the ground. "So it should also be the way we'll switch back to normal."

Val knelt on the ground across from him, and both brothers fell silent, concentrating on channeling the energies around them into themselves. Several minutes passed, but nothing happened. At last, Val opened his eyes and met Alyosha's. "What are we going to do now, Yoshi?" he asked.

Alyosha was hit by a feeling of deja-vu. He'd dreamed of this exact moment back on Atrisia. And just like in his vision, he looked down into the clear water of the stream, and saw Val’s face staring back at him with dark eyes that were cold and hard as stone...

He stood up. Val did the same, mirroring his brother's movements. The waters of the living Force surged between them.

"On the count of three," Alyosha began. "I want you to jump across the water. Use the Force to propel you all the way forward. I'll do the same, going past you in the opposite direction. Got it?"

"Yeah."

"One..." Alyosha splayed his feet, ready to leap forward. "Two..."

He jumped. Yelping, Val did the same.

 

[Val Drutin]

Val stuck the landing as gracefully as if it were one of his ballet leaps across the stage. At first, he wasn't sure what had happened, or if anything had happened at all. The trees in front of him looked identical to what he had been looking at from the other side...

But then he turned around and saw Alyosha, now in his proper body, running across the stones again. Jumping for joy, Val laughed and cheered. "We did it!"

Even Alyosha couldn't help smiling. "Good job, kid. Now let's go back and get Theo. I can't wait to get out of these clothes..."

Still buoyant at having his body back, Val practically skipped all the way to camp. The sun was out, warm golden light filtering through the trees, and for once everything had gone right.

Alyosha wouldn't try anything like this again. He had come to terms with their bond and would find ways of using it to benefit himself, rather than letting it drag him down. And Val would do as he always had, deriving the strength to go on from his brother. His friend and true family.

"Thanks, Yoshi."

Alyosha blinked. "What did I do?"

"For being my big brother."

"Don't get sappy now. It's not like I just agreed to be the best man at your wedding."

"I'm never going to get married."

"Never say never." Although Alyosha had no doubt that Val was telling the truth when it came to that matter. "My point is, save the gratitude for an occasion where I didn't try to sever our bond and screwed it up horribly."

"Was it really that bad, being in my body for a few hours?"

"It wasn't hellish, but I wouldn't want to do it again. C'mon, let's make sure Theo didn't get eaten by the natives."

With that, Alyosha broke into a jog. Val followed him, leaping like a deer through the forest, himself once more.