Private The Wolf and the Lion

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: Kenari-One, Kenari
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Cassian Abrantes

Aurelian burst into the medical tent. The canvas walls shuddered in his wake. The sharp scent of antiseptic stung his nose, and the low moans of the wounded pressed against his skull, but he didn't care. Every cot, every pale face that wasn't hers, only made the frantic pulse in his throat burn hotter.

When he finally pulled back the last curtain, he saw her. Sibylla was sitting there, battered and bruised, her cheek split and one eye swollen. Something inside him went mercilessly still.

For a heartbeat, he couldn't speak. The world shrank until it was just the two of them: her sitting up too straight to hide her weakness, and him standing rigid with unspent tension. Then his voice, low and shaking with a control that barely existed, cut through the silence.

"You told me you were helping Aiden. Looking for clues." His tone was soft, dangerous. "So why in the f-ck were you down there? In the middle of a shootout?" She tried to speak, but he wasn't listening.

"You think this is fair? Throwing yourself into a fight that you have no reason to be there for? You think...." His throat closed. His imagination of her lying broken beneath the mines flared too vividly to push aside. "There was a level of trust, Sibylla. I gave you that. And you..."

He broke off, chest heaving. Republic soldiers were already murmuring about what they had seen in the mines... a Gen'dai, of all things, tearing through the rock like death itself. And she'd been there. He didn't wait for her excuse, not trusting himself to stay. His jaw locked, and his fists curled until the bones ached. Without another word, he turned and stormed out, the tent flaps snapping behind him as he burst into the open.

"Cassian!" His voice was deep and sharp, slicing through the noise of the base. Heads turned. Good. Let them hear. Let them whisper.

The courtyard was crowded with milling soldiers, med-droids, and chaos he ignored. He spotted the General instantly: clean uniform, unreadable face, the perfect Republic bastard.

Aurelian's steps were long and furious, fueled by words that needed somewhere to land. "Why didn't your men pull her out!?" he shouted across the courtyard. "You had orders! You always have orders!" Cassian didn't even flinch. That calm only amplified Aurelian's rage.

"So careless," Aurelian muttered, his voice cracking under its own weight. "So f-cking stupid." He knew his hatred wasn't truly for Cassian. The man just stood there, representing every failure Aurelian couldn't admit was his own fault. The truth was unbearable: he'd allowed this to happen.

He reached him, and before Cassian could so much as blink, Aurelian's fist connected with his jaw. The sound was sharp and final, an impact that echoed across the yard. Soldiers froze. Thank Shiraya they were in the middle of nowhere, on a backwater planet. No holovideos, no diplomats, just whispers of these lowly soldiers.

​

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Location: Kenari-One
Aurelian Veruna Sibylla Abrantes
​

It shouldn't have come as a surprise when he led the strike team out there to find it was actually a Jedi Knight and Sibylla as well with them. There wasn't anything she could do these days that would surprise him anymore. Which is why he didn't bother with it. While he was still the protective brother and he did care for her more than anyone would ever know. There was only so much he could do. If she went so willingly into the lions den. Was he upset, yes. But it wasn't at a point to where he was mad at her. She was, who she was.

The events on Kattabis, Wielu, Nar Shaddaa, and even now have proved such. Few of these, Cassian had to figure out not from her but from his own sources....

He entered the tent and gave her a small smirk. "Sweet sister, I love you dearly. But you look like chit...." He chuckled lightly as he leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. "These things don't surprise me anymore, because you don't talk to me anymore, Sibylla. And I understand, truly I do. But I consider you one of my closest friends. I know there have been things I've kept from you, but at the current juncture, you are far surpassing me in keeping things to yourself." He said before he turned away and began to walk out of the tent, yet he did stop and turn back around with another smirk and laugh. "If you want, come find me after you ass chewing."

Cassian placed his rifled on the crate several feet away, as soldiers came up to him and he advised them on what needs to be done. In the information they found about Kalantha and with the mine itself and the Black Sun. It wasn't too long he then heard the shouting, that was unmistakable, and he couldn't' help but chuckle again.

Cassian heard the shouting and he couldn't help but smirk once more. And then what came after, it didn't surprise him again. But Cassian, doing as he was instructed, stood there, vigilant and took the berating, and then he took the punch.

Cassian didn't move at first. The pain came and went like a tide a dull bloom at his jaw, warm, familiar. The soldiers' gasps hung in the air, brittle as glass. There was a few that moved as if they were going to come to come between them and he held his hand out to stop them.

He straightened up, slowly. And he did nothing. The gesture was measured, almost polite. His gaze found Aurelian's, unflinching.

"So." Cassian said quietly, voice smooth as ice over stone, "You finally did it."

No anger. No outrage. Just the faintest curve of a smile, not amusement, but recognition. "I was beginning to think you'd never work up the courage."

The words weren't shouted, but they carried, slicing through emptiness around them. Cassian took a half step closer, his stance adjusting slightly.

"You think I didn't see it? The way you've looked at me all these years? Like you wanted someone to blame. Someone to beat. Congratulations, Supreme Chancellor. You've made it official."

He paused, eyes narrowing with quiet, surgical precision. "Feel better?"

A breath held as there was a pause for Aurelian's answer. Cassian didn't wait for it, he reached for his blades, and blaster tossing them to the side. "I truly hope that wasn't your best." He turned his head slightly, enough to make sure the watching soldiers saw how calm he remained.

"Come now, Aurelian. Don't let fear take hold now." he added, almost lazily, waiting for him to advance again.

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: Kenari-One, Kenari
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Cassian Abrantes

Aurelian reeled back, breath coming sharp through his teeth. Cassian's face barely moved; he wore that calm, infuriating smirk. It was the look that said you're beneath me, wrapped tightly in a veneer of politeness and military grace.

Rage burned behind his ribs, crawling up his neck and throbbing at his temples. It was the kind of heat that demanded ruin.

He watched Cassian toss aside his blade and blastar, speaking as if this were some noble duel instead of the reckoning it truly was. Soldiers lingered at the edges, waiting for a command. The air held still for a critical heartbeat.

Aurelian laughed then, the sound low and dark. It cut through the tension like oil through flame. He watched as Cassian assumed they would obey him, the General, over their Chancellor.

He flicked two fingers to the side. The clear click of safeties echoed around the courtyard as his guards raised their blasters in unison, red sights locking directly onto the General's chest. Aurelian didn't even glance back at them; his eyes were fixed entirely on Cassian.

"Who do you think you're speaking to?" he said quietly. "You might be the Naboo's golden soldier, but I am the one keeping it alive." The words dripped like venom. He turned slightly, shrugging off his obsidian cloak, the heavy fabric collapsing into the dust behind him as the crowd's whispers swelled.

"Pick up your blade, you honorable fool!" he shouted, his voice cracking with a fierce, feral undertone. "One of us isn't leaving Kenari..."

Aurelian reached for the vibroblade hanging from a guard's belt, pulling it free with a metallic whisper. He spun it once in his grip. The hum of its edge vibrated through his bones, grounding him in something fierce and certain.

He tilted his head back, his grin sharp and blood-hungry. "You always did like playing the martyr," he said, stepping forward. "Let's see if you die like one too."

​

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Aurelian Veruna Sibylla Abrantes

​

Cassian let the moment hang like a held breath, tasting it the stink of sweat, oil, and fear sharpening the air. He watched Aurelian with the same slow, deliberate calm as a hunter watches a cornered animal. Up close he could see the way his knuckles blanched around the vibroblade's hilt. Victory had a particular texture to it: raw, impatient, and stupidly certain.

Perfect.

He picked up the discarded blade, as if this were merely an inconvenient interruption to an otherwise perfect day. The murmurs braided into a single, sibilant thread. Soldiers shifted like tidewater. Aurelian's eyes seemingly stayed rock-steady, leveled, red dots as two twin stars across his chest.

Cassian's smile was small and polite the kind that made people fold inward. "Chancellor...." he said, voice silk over steel, "You've always had… ambition. Admirable, in its own way."

"Come on...." He gestured for him to come forward "Show me the true strength of someone who is keeping Naboo alive."

Cassian took a half-step backward not away, only enough to make the distance honest and let his shoulders slack. His left hand was visible empty, safe for the blade in his right hand which was closer to him. Whatever order Aurelian gave next would reveal the man: whether he commanded or commanded fear. Whether he would cross the line that separated a leader from a butcher. His left hand out forward in a defensive position, a deliberate refusal to play the part Aurelian expected.

There was an edge to the invitation that cut better than any blade. He waited, unhurried, letting the Chancellor choose whether to be the one to cross that thin, bright line.

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Location: Damnit, damnit, DAMNIT!
Aurelian Veruna Cassian Abrantes

It shouldn't have turned out like this.

How was Sibylla supposed to know that the so-called abandoned mines on that barren lifeless planet would turn out to be a front for a thriving slave trade, one run by none other than Captain Scour and his Ten Thousand Fists? The Gen'dai captain was already known across the Outer Rim as a psychopath, and his crew were every bit as brutal.

By all accounts, she should have been safe. She'd gone with Knight Aiden, backed by a full Republic Defense Force and a small team of Jedi. There was no reason to expect anything more than a tense but manageable operation.

Instead, she found herself face to face with one of Scour's lieutenants -- a Gen'dai pirate.

She'd asked Aurelian to trust her, promised him she'd be careful, that she could handle herself. But no amount of training could prepare her for something like this -- for the sick laughter of a creature that shrugged off a full blaster clip, or for the sheer force of his backhand that sent her crashing into a crate hard enough to see stars.

All her defensive training hadn't been meant for this. It had been for close calls in Senate corridors, for Black Sun enforcers, for assassins hired by rival Houses. Not for monsters.

But then again, a Nogri assassin had been sent out to kill her before. They were monsters among themselves.

Now, here she was. A bruised cheek, a swollen eye, ribs aching with every attempt of breath. She didn't look like the poised Interim Queen of Naboo, or the perfect Daughter of Abrantes. She looked like any other woman who'd taken a beating and somehow survived it.

Thank Shiraya for the personal shield, without it the hit would've shattered her jaw. Maybe worse.

The guilt came later, carried on the look Cassian gave her and the words that followed.

Things don't surprise me anymore. You don't talk to me anymore.

It hit harder than the Gen'dai's strike because he was right.

The medi-droid scanned the right side of her face, a faint hum filling the tent. Tiny needles hissed as bacta stims were injected beneath her skin, already dulling the pain. Without them, the bruising would take weeks to fade -- time she didn't have. The bacta patches would cut it down but the soreness would linger. Her choices always did.

Then came Aurelian in a frantic state that only burned in her memory the kind of wild eyed panic one could not fake.

He didn't need to speak for her to know how bad it was. The look on his face froze her before he even opened his mouth. Fury, yes but beneath it, fear. The kind of fear and anger immediately wrecked her. In the wake of everything... she couldn't blame him for being so livid. She'd be the same.

She tried to straighten, wincing as pain lanced through her ribs. She wanted to explain, to tell him she hadn't known, that there'd been no way to anticipate what they'd walked into. But he was past listening.

He had trusted her. And she'd gone and gotten herself hurt. Again.

The outburst came with a fury and even though her mouth opened, nothing came out. What was there to say? Running hadn't been an option. She'd done what she had to do.

But that didn't matter. Not now.

When he stormed out, she called his name, "Aur -- " the word breaking before the medi-droid moved to block her path.

"I'm fine, I just need to -- "

[ Treatment incomplete, ] the droid interrupted.

"Blast it, move!" she hissed, trying to push past it.

And then she heard him.

Aurelian's shouted bark that cracked the encampment outside, loud enough to carry over the hum of generators and the shuffle of boots.

Oh no.

That tone. She knew it instantly -- the one that meant he'd stopped thinking and started acting.

Sibylla felt her pulse kicked hard at her throat and a sinking sensation in her belly that overran the ache she felt.

Shiraya help her. This was about to get worse.

She wasn't wrong, because as the commotion caused everyone to remain quiet, it allowed her to hear from the distance Aurelian's shouted command.

Pick up your blade, you honorable fool!

And her blood went cold.

The tent blurred around her, causing the hum of generators and the droid's mechanical voice to remind her to remain seated. None of it mattered. All she could hear was the rest of it, distant but cutting clean through the chaos.

'One of us isn't leaving Kenari...'

It was at that moment that her heart dropped straight to the floor.

Shiraya, no.

Sibylla shoved herself up from the cot, pain tearing through her ribs, but she didn't care.

"Get out of my way," she snapped at the medi-droid as it moved to intercept. When it didn't listen, she slammed a hand into its metal chassis, sending a tray of instruments clattering to the floor.

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: Kenari-You're gonna lose, Kenari
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Cassian Abrantes

Aurelian's smirk returned, sharp and deliberate, the kind that promised trouble. Cassian was always so composed, so honorable. That practiced calm was a mask Aurelian had been waiting years to tear apart. He tilted his head slightly, his blade glinting under the harsh floodlights. "You really are insufferable," he murmured. "Still waiting for me to behave like one of your soldiers? You should know better by now."

Cassian's steady stance invited him forward, a taunt wrapped in discipline, and Aurelian accepted the challenge. He had never been one to sit still or wait. Patience was for men who doubted their own power, and Aurelian had no such doubts. He surged forward immediately.

The vibroblade sang as it met Cassian's guard. The first strike was fast and savage, cutting through the air with reckless precision. Sparks hissed as metal met metal. Cassian parried once, twice, maintaining his contained rhythm, but Aurelian pressed harder, stepping into him with the force of someone who thought elegance was just another form of weakness. "What did you think I learned in Parlay, Cassian?" he spat, his grin widening. "Just how to waltz?"

Each blow came quicker and wilder, forcing Cassian to shift his footing to keep pace. The courtyard was alive now with the crackle of blades and the whisper of boots sliding over dust. Aurelian's movements were not refined; they were strictly clever. He had learned how to win the hard way: by being faster, by being meaner, and by refusing to play fair. He feinted left, twisted on his heel, and slipped inside Cassian's guard just enough to throw a sharp, vicious kick toward the General's knee; a dirty little move that carried more insult than actual power.

This wasn't a noble duel; it was a message. Aurelian intended to make sure Cassian understood it, one brutal, clever strike at a time.

​

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Aurelian Veruna Sibylla Abrantes
​

Cassian absorbed the impact like a wall of tempered glass flexing, not breaking. The kick clipped his leg, enough to jar his balance and the pain that followed struck for a few seconds but not enough to take him down. He stepped back once, pivoting into his stance, his blade low and steady. The look he gave Aurelian wasn't one of anger or fear, it was something colder. Pity, perhaps. Or worse, understanding.

You think the galaxy bends to men who shout the loudest." he said, voice low enough that only Aurelian could hear over the hum of the blades. "But it listens to those who don't have to."

Another blow Cassian met it, parried, turned it aside. The rhythm between them became something more than combat: it was philosophy made visible, ideology hammered into motion. Where Aurelian struck to punish, Cassian moved to remind. Where Aurelian roared, Cassian breathed.

And when their blades locked again, Cassian gave a quick and abrupt quick strike with his forehead, headbutting Aurelian, and it made its mark sending him stumbling back. Cassian chuckled lightly and smirk followed, as he had to give him credit. "You are skilled, but not nearly enough."

"Tell me, Chancellor, how many people have to kneel before you feel tall enough to stand on your own?"

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: what a bish
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Cassian Abrantes

Aurelian stumbled back from the headbutt, stars flashing behind his eyes. A searing pain shot through his skull, but it only made him sharper. He wiped the smear of blood from his lip with the back of his hand, grinning through the haze.

"Oh, you mistake me, General," he said, his voice low and laced with laughter. "I don't need anyone to kneel. I just need them to remember who made them. Who allows them to play soldier."

He lunged before the words were even finished. The vibroblade hissed as it carved the space between them. Blow after vicious blow rained down, without pattern or restraint. Cassian met him, but Aurelian didn't allow him any space or time to recover his pace. He deliberately shifted tempo: high, low, a shoulder feint, then an elbow jab. This was dirty, close-quarters fighting.

Cassian blocked one slash, then another, but Aurelian was already inside his guard. He twisted the flat of the blade to scrape Cassian's armor, then drove his shoulder hard into the General's chest. The impact staggered him, just enough for Aurelian to hook a boot behind Cassian's leg, trying to sweep him off balance.

"Still think I'm just shouting?" Aurelian hissed, twisting away before Cassian could counter.

The clash of blades rang again, metal grinding in a brutal rhythm. They circled each other: power versus precision, chaos versus control. Aurelian feigned another frontal strike, but twisted his wrist mid-swing. Instead of aiming for Cassian's chest, he dropped the blade, caught the hilt's end, and flicked it upward toward the General's face; an ugly, desperate maneuver meant only to draw blood or force a violent reaction.

He grinned through his breathless fury, eyes blazing. "Come on, General," he goaded, his voice cracking with adrenaline. "Let's see if your calm bleeds like mine."

​

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Aurelian Veruna Sibylla Abrantes
​

Cassian didn't move when the hilt came for him. He could have turned aside, could have struck back but he didn't. The hilt cracked across his cheekbone, a flash of pain bright enough to clear the fog from the fight. The soldiers closest to them flinched. Cassian only straightened. A gash across his cheek, and the blood that flowed, as Cassian spit at the ground before looking back up to him with a small smirk.


When the Chancellor surged again, Cassian was already moving. The patience that had looked like restraint snapped into motion, measured, exact, ruthless in its economy. He parried high, twisted, and with one clean turn of the wrist redirected Aurelian's blade to the side, bringing their faces close enough for Aurelian to see the composure in his eyes and hate it.

He was fast, faster than most would expect a man of his bearing to be but the violence had no center. His blade roared with each swing, vibrating the air. Cassian absorbed each blow with precision, turning his blade in tight arcs, using Aurelian's strength against him.

The clash came once again as fast and vicious, a storm of noise and movement. Aurelian pressed in close, his strikes wild but deliberate, forcing Cassian to yield ground by inches. Sparks leapt between their blades, the air thick with the hum of steel and breathless fury.

Then Cassian broke the rhythm.

Aurelian's next swing came too high, too eager driven by bloodlust instead of balance. Cassian pivoted in, caught the motion with his forearm, and with a sudden, brutal precision, he snapped his hand across Aurelian's face.

The backhand cracked like thunder.

Aurelian's head jerked sideways, blood spraying across the dust. He watched him stumble back. Cassian smirked, watching him hoping he had that sting and that hot rush of brief humiliation. Cassian didn't pursue he simply stood there, blade at the ready, chest rising in steady, controlled breaths.

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: How dare you
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Cassian Abrantes

Aurelian hit the ground hard, the breath ripped out of him. The world blurred for a heartbeat, dust, blood, and the ringing echo of that humiliating crack still reverberating in his skull. He spat, crimson pooling against the dirt, then dragged the back of his wrist across his mouth. The copper taste only made him grin wider.

"Good," he rasped, his voice rough and dangerous. "I knew you had it in you." He rose to his knees, eyes burning like molten gold under the harsh floodlight. The crowd around them was silent now, the kind of stillness that comes just before disaster.

Cassian stood firm, steady as stone. Of course he did. Always composed, always above it all. Aurelian's right hand wrapped around his vibroblade, knuckles white, while his left slipped down, unseen, to the side of his boot. The cool hilt of the hidden blade pressed against his palm, small and cruel.

He chuckled again, low and humorless. Then he moved, impossibly fast. He lunged, his vibroblade colliding with Cassian's in a thunderous clash that lit the air between them. Sparks spat as they pushed, blades grinding, the raw force of their locked arms trembling. Cassian's focus was exactly where Aurelian wanted it: on the weapon and the fury of the spectacle.

That's when Aurelian struck. His left hand snapped low, quick as a serpent, driving the smaller blade up into Cassian's thigh. The impact thudded deep, the hidden weapon biting into muscle before Aurelian tore it free. He felt the shudder in Cassian's stance, the sharp intake of breath that followed, and satisfaction bloomed hot in his chest.

Before Cassian could retaliate, Aurelian twisted his vibroblade, parrying Cassian's weapon wide. He stepped in close, too close. His right elbow cocked back, muscles tensing, ready to drive it toward the General's jaw with brutal intent.

​

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Aurelian Veruna Sibylla Abrantes
​

The pain was immediate and sharp a white-hot line tearing through Cassian's thigh as the smaller blade sank deep. His balance faltered, breath catching between clenched teeth. The shock came first, then the anger not the wild kind that Aurelian carried like a torch, but something cold and honed, like steel drawn under moonlight.

He barely had time to reset his footing before Aurelian's elbow crashed into his jaw. The impact snapped his head sideways, a flare of red bursting behind his eyes. He stumbled back half a step, the copper taste of blood mixing with the acrid tang of dust.

Then he saw the moon's reflection flashing against drawn knives. Three assassins had come for him then silent, precise, unrelenting. He'd felt the same bite of steel in his leg that night, the same rush of blood down his leg, the same cold clarity that followed. Being left for dead in sea shore. He had survived because he'd stopped thinking and started moving. Because he'd stopped being a soldier and remembered what it took to live.

Now, here that same instinct rose like a tide.

But he didn't fall, he acted.

His hand shot forward, iron-fast, seizing Aurelian's arm. The lock was brutal, efficient his fingers clamped around the wrist, twisting until the Veruna's shoulder wrenched with a sharp pop of protest. Before there was any further resistance Cassian yanked him forward.

The first headbutt landed like a hammer, bone meeting bone with a sickening thud. The second came before he could breathe, quick and sudden, crushing his nose. The third, harder, final as he drove him into the ground once more.

Cassian stood over him, chest heaving, blood running from a now deep gash at his brow. His expression didn't waver, cold, steady, unrelenting. Cassian then backed away, slowly hitting the wound against his thigh. He let out a small groan, pure vigilance and the rage that Cassian hid all to well, that no one had ever seen.

"You always overplay your hand." Cassian said fiercly through gritted, voice rough from the exertion. The General ignored the blood trickling down over his face. "And when you run out of tricks… all that's left is the truth."

"Stay down, that's your only warning."

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Location: I swear to Shiraya…
Aurelian Veruna Cassian Abrantes

The medidroid beeped a warning and its metal arm jerked out to block her path, but Sibylla was already moving. SHe ducked beneath it and bit back a sharp gasp as pain lit up her ribs. The air left her lungs in a rush but she didn't stop.

A medic stumbled aside and nearly dropped a tray of instruments and a wounded soldier blinked up from his cot as she pushed past. Both had been watching the tent flap ever since Aurelian had stormed through minutes earlier, and the heat of his anger still hung thick in the air.

Now, seeing her bruised, limping and determined, their eyes widened.

Then came the whisper in a low but audible hush. Murmur of the Queen. "Is that… no. Maybe?"

Sibylla didn't slow down or look back. SHe didn't have the breath for it.

An impatient hand shoved the flap open and the cold night air hit her like a slap. It stung and woke her fully, the sharp scent of smoke and metal cutting through the lingering sickly sweet scent of bacta.

Shouts echoed across the camp and bounced off durasteel frames and fuel tanks. Floodlights cut harsh and shifting beams through the haze and cast long, trembling shadows across the dirt.

Then she saw it -- the crowd.

A ring of soldiers had formed ahead, dense and restless. Republic Army troops pressed shoulder to shoulder with the Chancellor's guards and their polished armor glinted under the lights. Intermixed were flashes of red and silver from the Royal Naboo Guard and there a few House Abrantes insignia caught the light.

And she felt her stomach twist.

This wasn't just a fight. It was a spectacle.

Then she heard him.

Come on, General…Let's see if your calm bleeds like mine!

Aurelian's words cracked through the air and carried a wild, raw infuriated energy that didn't sound like the man she knew.

Sibylla's pulse slammed hard in her chest and her mouth went dry as the sounds of feet skidding across dirt, and the crack of bone against bone prompted an equal wincing and grunt of empathic pain from the specters. Then the barest sounds of the low gravely murmur of her brother. The kind he used when he was teaching lessons to his subordinates with a reckoning.

Blast it!

Every instinct told her to move faster as she grimaced her way forward, knowing that if she didn't reach them soon, whatever line had just been crossed would become a chasm.

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: Counting Stars
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Cassian Abrantes

Aurelian's world exploded in pain.

Cassian's grip tightened, twisting until something in Aurelian's shoulder gave with a sickening pop. A raw, animal scream tore from his throat, echoing as his body buckled. The next second, Cassian dragged him forward, straight into hell.

Blinding pain shot down his side, stealing his breath just as the first headbutt slammed into him. Bone met bone, and stars burst behind his eyes. The second blow landed before he could even gasp for air, shattering his nose with a sickening crunch. Blood flooded his mouth, hot and metallic. The third impact was devastating, sending him tumbling backward onto the cold, unyielding ground. The world spun and tilted, fading at the edges.

He groaned, a low, guttural sound, forcing his body to move when every nerve screamed for him to stay still. His face was a swollen, bloody ruin, one eye nearly sealed shut. Aurelian's good eye flicked toward Cassian, red and swollen but still burning with a fierce light. A wet, broken chuckle rasped from his throat.

"Maybe," he croaked, spitting blood. "But the game's not over yet."

His fingers twitched, rising just barely from the dirt... just enough. The sharp crack of a blaster split the silence. Cassian staggered as the bolt tore into his shoulder, the impact jerking him sideways. The smell of scorched flesh filled the air, and Aurelian's smirk bled through the ruin of his face, twisted and triumphant.

He rolled, dragging himself forward through the dust, every inch a fight against agony. Cassian had dropped to a knee, clutching his wound, his breath heavy but steady. Aurelian's fingers brushed steel, the familiar hilt of his knife that he found on the ground.

He moved without hesitation. The blade plunged deep between Cassian's ribs, the resistance of flesh and armor giving way with a dull, satisfying crunch. Aurelian let go, leaving the knife there, his own breath rattling in his chest.

He collapsed backward, rolling once, reaching blindly across the ground. Blood dripped from his fingertips as he searched the dirt for his lost vibroblade. His voice came low, ragged, defiant through the haze. "Didn't… overplay a damn thing."

​

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Aurelian Veruna Sibylla Abrantes ​

The impact of the blaster hit spun Cassian half a step, the searing burn tearing through muscle and cloth. His teeth clenched against the pain an instinctive, wordless growl pressing out between them. He had taken worse. He had survived worse. But before he could fully recover his balance, the world constricted into the sharp, brutal intimacy of steel.

Aurelian's blade found its mark, punching between ribs, sliding deep. Cassian's breath hitched; the air left his lungs in a harsh, trembling gasp. He felt the blade's cold edge pulse against his heartbeat. Pain flared white behind his eyes.

Cassian staggered back, the knife still lodged between his ribs. Every breath came jagged, a rasp of fire that tore through his lungs and painted the back of his throat with the taste of iron. His vision blurred, edges dimming to shadow and smoke. The pain was total radiating outward in waves that made his knees buckle, then lock, then buckle again.

But he didn't fall. Not yet.

He forced himself upright, one trembling hand pressed against the wound, the other gripping his blade like a lifeline. The world tilted and swayed around him dust, floodlights, soldiers frozen in silent disbelief. Somewhere behind the ringing in his ears, he could hear Aurelian dragging himself through the dirt, could hear the faint rasp of his voice, broken and proud.

Cassian's chest heaved. Blood spilled past his lips, hot and light. He spit towards the ground he staggered forward a single step, his feet dragging in the dirt. Every heartbeat was a hammer.

The memory of the beach flared again, waves crashing, the smell of salt and smoke, the feeling of death close enough to taste. He had survived then. He had clawed his way out, drenched in blood and sand and moonlight. He would do it again.

"Not… yet." he gasped, voice hoarse, each word dragged up from somewhere deep and defiant.

Then his knees buckled, his blade slipped from his hand. . Cassian collapsed forward onto one knee, breath stuttering, blood pooling beneath him as the light above seemed to fracture into shards.

Still, even as he fell, his eyes never left Aurelian.

"This is what they'll remember." he said, voice quiet but carrying like thunder across the courtyard. "Not your speeches. Not your promises......"

Cassian rose again, stubborn idiotic defiance within him. His own will be damned, he should've stayed down. He couldn't, he wouldn't, until he finally did.

"Coward, hiding behind a blaster and a knife." He gestured to the dirt around them, to the watching soldiers. He turned away and fell to one knee again, as the few house guard Elite of House Abrantes rushed to his side.

"Leave me....."

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Location: What have you’ve done…
Aurelian Veruna Cassian Abrantes


Sibylla pushed forward, weaving through bodies, the crowd parting slowly once they realized who was forcing her way through. Every step jarred her ribs and she bit back a wince as she shoved past a young lieutenant.

As she stumbled closer, the murmurs around her rippled into stunned silence as she heard Aurelian’s savage guttural cry of pain. No! The floodlights caught the bruises on her face, the split along her cheekbone, and for a moment, the soldiers and guards nearest her just stared.

The House Abrantes guards were the first to react. One of them whispered, almost disbelieving, "Lady Abrantes… Your Majesty."

Then came a flurry of motion as they began shoving their way forward, trying to clear a path to her, but she didn't care, not when the cracking sound of a blaster shot sent everyone into alert. She finally broke into the open of the circle, and the world came into focus all at once.

She saw Cassian stagger to the floor on one knee, the knife still buried in his ribs, blood welling up through the tear in his bloody dirty uniform. Aurelian was on the floor, one arm at an odd angle against the dirt as his other reached blindly for his lost blade. Both men were bleeding from their noses, their mouths and teeth stained red, swollen eyes, and their uniforms streaked with dirt and blood.

It was a bloody disaster.

Sibylla's throat tightened and fear shot in utter panic at the sight of them both.

Shiraya no...

"Stop," she yelled in a rough and desperate voice clap. "Enough!"

"AURELIAN! CASSIAN! STOP THIS IDIOCY NOW!"

Sibylla didn't remember running, but suddenly she was there dropping to her knees between them, her arms curling around the staggering form of her brother amidst the knife still protruding from him.

"Cassian!" Her voice cracked under the weight of his name as the metallic tang of blood hit her nose in a thick and nauseating scent.

Cassian's breath came in ragged bursts, each one shallower than the last. Aurelian's hand twitched against the ground, his eyes in a glassy haze but burning with that same terrible stubbornness.

"Shiraya, no…" she whispered at the damage of them both, but her hands trembled as she pressed them against Cassian's wound, feeling the warm, sticky blood seep through her fingers. Panic flared at the unknown lethality of the strike.

Oh, Shiraya's sake!

"Medics!" Her voice cracked, echoing across the camp, sending guards and soldiers running and medics sweeping in to assist both men.

Then her gaze snapped back to Aurelian, his face a ruin of bruises and blood, one eye swollen shut, a dirty tangle of curls falling wild across his brow, every breath a ragged, defiant heave. For a moment she could only stare, her face draining of all color, the bruises on her cheek and swollen eye standing out in stark contrast against her skin.

Yet nothing was as piercing as the gold in her hazel eyes when she leveled them at him, so different from the look she'd given him at the masquerade before.

"What have you done?" she whispered, disbelief and horror tightening every word.

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: Game Over
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Cassian Abrantes

Aurelian's fingers brushed against cold metal, his blade. He clutched it, the weight grounding him in the chaos. Blood dripped down his wrist, each drop hissing softly as it hit the dirt. With a shaky breath, he dug the tip of the vibroblade into the ground and used it for leverage, pushing himself onto one knee. His arm trembled under his own weight, but that infamous, dangerous grin was still there, split through blood and ruin.

Cassian's voice reached him through the static of pain, still preaching about honor, legacy, truth. He always had something noble to cling to as the world bled around them.

Aurelian began to laugh, starting low and broken, a rasp from a throat thick with blood. Then it grew louder, unhinged, echoing off the courtyard walls.

"Honor? Speeches?" he spat, his voice jagged and hoarse. "You truly never disappoint, General." His head lolled back, golden eyes gleaming under the floodlights, mad and brilliant all at once. "I hope this is what they remember. Cassian Abrantes, the iron man of the Republic, dragged down to the dirt to die by a Veruna." He laughed harder, even as it tore through his lungs. "Truly, a riveting story."

Cassian called him a coward then, a word that made Aurelian bark a laugh so bitter it sounded like a sob. "Coward? There's no honor in a fight to the death," Aurelian rasped. "I'm no Ronin. I used every weapon I had, every resource, to win." He coughed, spitting red onto the ground. "And I did win."

For a fleeting moment, his grin softened into something akin to admiration. "But, by Shiraya… I didn't think you had it in you, Cassian. You met me blow for blow." His eyelids fluttered, body swaying with exhaustion. "Too bad," he whispered, "I promised I'd kill you."

He tried to stand. The effort sent agony through his body; his shoulder hung at a grotesque angle, his muscles screaming. But he managed half a rise before a familiar voice ripped through the haze.

"STOP THIS IDIOCY NOW!" Sibylla's cry, sharp and desperate, tore through the courtyard like lightning.

Aurelian froze. His laughter cut off mid-breath, replaced by a strangled sound somewhere between a sigh and a sob. He turned just enough to see her sprinting across the dirt, her face pale under the floodlights. The sight of her seemed unreal, a blur of motion and grace colliding with the horror of what he'd done.

He let out a breathless chuckle, sinking back to his knees. "Saved by the Queen," he murmured, voice cracking, half to Cassian, half to himself.

He watched her fall beside Cassian, the panic in her voice, the trembling of her hands as she pressed against the wound he'd made. She didn't even look at him. Not once. The realization hit harder than any headbutt.

Then came her words: "What have you done?" They carved through him like a blade.

Aurelian's smile faltered. His gaze dropped to the ground, shoulders slumping as the pool of blood beneath him grew wider. He felt the echo of his father's voice in the back of his mind: you'll ruin everything you touch.

He had. He'd ruined her faith, her trust, her image of him, all for the satisfaction of seeing Cassian bleed, for the satiation of his rage.

His vision blurred again, but not from pain this time. "Right," he muttered to himself, his voice barely audible. "No time for weakness." He exhaled, long and trembling, forcing the pieces of himself back into place: the grin, the arrogance, the mask. By the time he lifted his head again, it was all there. The Veruna charm. The dangerous glint. The hollow eyes.

"This has been a long time coming," Aurelian said, his voice steadier than it should've been. He glanced toward Cassian one last time. "He fought well… even if he did underestimated me."

Two of his guards rushed to him, catching his arms. One of them grimaced as he inspected Aurelian's shoulder. Without ceremony, he yanked it back into place. Aurelian's groan tore through the night, low and guttural, but he didn't curse, didn't falter. He straightened, blood-slick and barely standing, then began walking.

The courtyard was silent save for the echo of his boots and the low hum of the medics swarming Cassian. The air was thick with smoke, blood, and something worse: disappointment. Aurelian didn't look back.

​

 

[Cassian Abrantes]

Aurelian Veruna Sibylla Abrantes ​

The world around them seemed to collapse into noise and silence all at once boots pounding, voices shouting, the whine of med-droids rushing in but none of it reached Cassian. His vision tunneled until all that remained was Sibylla’s face, pale and stricken, framed by the chaos.

He tried to speak, but the air came in shallow, broken draws. Blood stained her hands and for a fleeting, painful heartbeat, Cassian wished she hadn’t seen this. That she would’ve been spared the sight of what he and Aurelian had become. Because for all that he could say, this was on him too.

“Sibylla…” His voice rasped out, little more than breath. The effort cost him, his body trembling as medic would try to assess the wound. He caught her wrist weakly, grounding himself against the panic that burned in her eyes. “Stop....”

Cassian’s eyes fluttered, the pain threatening to drag him under. “He’s not wrong,” he managed, a faint smirk ghosting his lips even through the agony. “But he’s not right either.”

The medics pushed in harder now, separating them, shouting for bacta and stretchers.

The floodlights glared, throwing long shadows across the field, the Chancellor, Queen, and the General caught between them.

The night had fallen quiet, save for the ragged rhythm of their breathing. And in that stillness, the truth hung heavier than the smoke, no matter who lived, something in all of them had already died. Just like a piece of him died on the beach that day.

"Stop Sibylla!" Cassian said fiercely to her. "Go to him, now. Leave me." Cassian stood up with the help of his Abrantes Elite. "You fought well sir, if Aurelian hadn't....You fought with-" Cassian chuckled and shook his head, raggedy breaths and blood seeping from his mouth. "I fought with honor, you see where that gets you. But I won't stop, because that's who I am."

"And he is, who he is."

"Exactly...." How did they Jedi say, there always had to be balance, and it seemed there always would be. Cassian with the help of Abrantes Elite, we helped over to the medical tent.

Cuts, gashes, punctured lung, severe concussion......

Cassian sat just staring ahead, same struggled breaths as he was tended to, but he couldn't help but smile.

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Location: Don't you dare walk away from me!
Aurelian Veruna Cassian Abrantes

Everything around her moved in frantic motions, the bark of orders, the hiss of bacta spray, the press of bodies. But even then, Sibylla saw it happen before anyone else did. The moment Aurelian changed.

How he dipped his dark head, those sweat-matted locks falling forward to veil his bloodied, swollen face before he looked back up with that hollow-eyed, arrogant grin. He was beautiful and terrible all at once, draped in the armor of charm and pride, the mask he wore when he didn't want anyone to see him bleed.

He was shutting himself away again.

The world became a blur of chaos as meddroids and guards rushed to take control. She barely heard Cassian beside her as the medic pressed her back to make room to work, a guttural cry ripping through the air that made her heart lurch and snap her attention at Aurelian's direction. One of his soldiers had just reset his dislocated arm.

Just the sight of him staggered her more than any blow could have.

Sibylla felt her heart tug in two directions, toward her brother and her sole anchor since childhood, and toward the man who'd she had given her trust as her ally, her counterpart, and perhaps even something more. Panic tangled with disbelief and fury, all burning through her veins until she could barely breathe.

But it was the sight of Aurelian as he slowly stepped away from his guards and began to stagger away that tore her from her shock. Her attention swung back to Cassian long enough to see the Abrantes Elite moving in, guiding him toward the medtent just as Cassian's voice reached her again, roughly telling her to go after Aurelian, that he'd be fine. That she had to move.

Only once she was certain that he wasn't at risk of death did she force herself to breathe and trust that the medics would keep Cassian alive.

"You better not die, Cassian," she rasped under her breath, her voice breaking. "Or by Shiraya, I'll hunt you down myself in the Netherworld."

Blood slicked her hands when she pushed herself up. Her body screamed in protest, ribs aching, head spinning, but she forced herself to stand. To move. To breathe. She turned toward Aurelian, searching for him through the haze. He was already halfway across the courtyard now, walking like a man holding himself together through sheer will.

And yet, as Aurelian's silhouette kept moving through the haze, she felt a hollow weight settle deep inside her -- a terrible realization that he wasn't just walking away from the fight.

He was walking away from her.

"Aurelian! Stop!" she cried out towards him. And even though her ribs screamed with every movement, she didn't care. The world around her tilted, the lights blurring, the noise fading. All she saw was Aurelian, his grimy, bloody back retreating into the dark, every cell in her body willing him to stop.

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: Ruined
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Cassian Abrantes

Aurelian stopped as if struck. Her ragged, desperate voice, breaking through the chaos, cut through him cleaner than any blade. His boots skidded slightly in the dirt, momentum halting mid-step. The air shifted. A sharp, cold gust tore through the courtyard, and then the first soft, almost merciful drops began to fall before the heavens opened fully.

The rain hissed as it hit the blood-streaked ground, washing away the sharp tang of iron, though not its memory. Aurelian stood there, shoulders slumped, his breath heaving in visible clouds. The floodlights shimmered against the downpour, painting him in fractured silver. He looked almost ghostly, a man unmade.

When he turned, it was slow, mechanical. His head lifted with effort, dark hair plastered to his forehead. Water cut new lines down his face that might have been tears, had the rain not been heavy enough to hide them. His eye was swelling shut, his lip split open. Beneath the running rivulets of red and rain, he looked both fragile and furious, beautiful in a way that hurt to look at.

"I would have killed him," Aurelian said quietly, his voice raw with exhaustion and confession, devoid of performance or mask. "If you hadn't stopped me, I would have." The words trembled in the space between them, drowned by the downpour.

He looked away, unable to hold her gaze. "I understand," he muttered. "He's your brother."

The rain slicked down his trembling hands, washing them clean even as he stared at them like he didn't recognize what they had done. His laughter earlier now felt like a sin he couldn't swallow. "You should say it," he said suddenly, his tone cracking, his eyes lowering again. "Say I'm worthless. That I've finally become everything they said I would be." His jaw clenched. "It would hurt less than the way you just looked at me."

Lightning flashed, outlining his ruin: his torn uniform, the blood mixing with water at his boots, the faint shiver he couldn't hide. Aurelian forced a smile through the wreckage of his face, the same dangerous curve that had once charmed senators and soldiers alike, now hollow. "At least then," he whispered, "I'd finally know what I am to you."

He staggered once, catching himself on his blade as thunder rolled over them, his silhouette framed in light and rain. "Go back to him, Sibylla," he said, softer this time, his voice almost pleading.

​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Location: You’re an Idiot Aurelian!
Aurelian Veruna Cassian Abrantes

The rain had already begun to soak through her clothes, the fabric heavy and clinging as her hair darkened and plastered against her bruised skin. Silver rivulets ran down her face, stinging as they traced over each cut. She barely noticed. All she could hear was Aurelian's uneven cracking voice as he spoke, trembling hand holding the vibroknife while the other hung uselessly as he stared at them.

And while words were barely audible through the storm, each confession landed like a physical blow that felt deep where she struggled for breath. Yet she kept moving toward him with a determined glint in her hazel eyes and a tight expression over her face, that cut lip pursed into a thin line.

Every step was fueled by a single, searing thought -- Aurelian was a blasted idiot and Cassian was too.

Sibylla could still hear the strain in Aurelian's voice even as she drew closer, until he then turned away from her completely.

At least then... I'd finally know what I am to you.

There was a tick along her jaw as it tightened, her teeth grinding together as fury and heartbreak collided in her chest. She watched him falter, catching himself on his blade to stay upright and that was it. She moved.

Sibylla closed the distance between them, her boots splashing through the forming puddles as the rain poured harder. He didn't hear her approach until her fingers wrapped around his wrist. The contact made him flinch, but she held firm that grip of hers tightening around his wrist with a strength that surprised them both.

"Enough," she breathed out through clenched teeth. The shock in his battered face was almost boyish for a moment as he turned to her, but Sibylla didn't hesitate; her other hand came up, seized the hilt, and yanked the knife free of his hand. The weapon slipped easily from his weakened grasp, clattering against the ground before the rain began to wash it clean.

The next thing he felt were her hands. Cold, trembling, but steady enough to cup his swollen jaw, her thumbs smearing the water and lingering thinning blood that was trickling from his skin. Her grip wasn't gentle either; it was a desperate attempt to ground him, to pull him back to her -- to this.

Right now, Sibylla only cared that he looked at her, that he saw her, that he stopped trying to look away.

"You are an idiot, Aurelian Marcus Veruna," she said in an infuriated, incredulous, disbelieving tone that shook her voice, wholly tempted just to shake him in place.

"You and Cassian, both of you, are blasted idiots." The words were hissed incredulously between them as they cracked with anger and the ache of everything and carried on the rain, but even as her hands trembled, she didn't let him go.

"I won't forgive or excuse what you've done," she went on, her tone quieter but no less fierce. "Because I know you can do better. I know you both can."

She swallowed hard, her breath unsteady as she looked at him through the rain. Lightning split the sky, briefly illuminating the wreck of them both, her soaked, bruised face and his broken, mangled, and bruised hollow one.

"You are more than your temper," she said, voice breaking, fury and heartbreak warring for space in her chest. "You are more than your hate. You are more than what you've cast yourself to be."

Her nostrils flared as she tried to hold herself together, the storm raging around them like an echo of her own unraveling heart.

"And for blasted sakes, Aurelian, how can you not see it?" she asked, the disbelief cutting through her words. "After everything, do you still doubt what you are to me?"