Ask Why?

[Karys]

<That’s because it is unnatural.> Karys responded. <It is an heirloom, a Sith Warsword from my ancestor.> He lied. <But that does not matter, come we ha->
Karys’ words faltered, a tidal wave of grief and suffering overwhelmed him. He stumbled, dazed by the wellspring that flowed through link between Azar and him. He shook his head, trying to clear the emotional overload from his mind but he couldn’t.

He felt the four digited hand of the younger male assassin press against his chest to catch him. He was trained but inexperienced. <Kin? What is it?> He asked, what approached genuine concern in his voice.

Karys ignored him, he took a shaking breath and glanced at the older woman. She was the head assassin and she would know exactly what was happening the moment anything verbal or tangible was sent through their link. Karys took a deep breath to steady himself, looked down at the younger man with a faint smile on his face.

<Sorry for this.> He said simply.

The young man wouldn’t have time to speak, to question, or even wonder what Karys meant. There would be a moment where a glow from beneath Karys’ black robes was seen by the pair of assassins, and then a gout flame poured from the amulet. The younger assassin was consumed in fire, he screamed as he fell backwards to the ground, his face and upper torso burning away.

<NOOOOOO!> the woman screamed, tears streamed down her face even as she quickly flung up a barrier defense.

Karys cut the flames from the amulet once he realized it wouldn’t reach his other adversary. The amulet burned against his skin, searing through scars and causing his vision to blur for a moment from the pain. Karys watched as the woman disappeared into the shadows, the sound of two Massassi rounding the corner reached Karys. He extended the Warblade to tell them to hold.

Karys extended his senses, he could feel her grief, her pain, her anguish but he couldn’t tell where she was around him.

<A lover?> He asked, the taunt evident in his voice. <No…he was too young. Protégé?> He asked the shadows around him. Footsteps. <Not that either…reaction was too visceral. He was family wasn’t he? A nephew or perhaps…a son?>

She dove at him with a scream at those words. Karys knew he had to take the blow from her dagger to ensure he got his hands on her. He did just that. Her blade sank into his torso and his hand snapped out to close around her face.

He lifted.
She screamed as she stabbed.

Crimson lightning poured from his hand and into her face. Into her eyes, down her throat. Karys roared in reply until her body hung limply and smoke rose from her ruined head.

Only then did he drop her corpse and stumble backwards against a wall. He felt the burn of poison in his veins. He blinked, stunned by his own stupidity. He slowly sank against the wall, his hand cupping the trio of wounds at his stomach that bled profusely.

<Fuck.> He managed to cough out.

Karys pressed his hand against his wound and turned his mind towards Azar. He dove into their Bond, submerging himself in the connection between the two of them. While he couldn’t see what was occurring, he heard Azar’s cries and he felt the depth of his loss. He reached out and placed a spectral hand on his shoulder.

Azar, I’m here, the children, they are safe.

The words came as a barely tangible whisper through the Force. The touch to Azar would feel warm and physical, as if Karys was actually there with him. Where it laid, Azar would feel a surge of heat course through him. He would feel Karys’ might, he would feel his love, and the depths of his devotion as it flowed into him.

Karys ate away at himself to stand beside Azar even now. Strength ebbed from him and flowed into the other. His skin grew pale as this transfer began, he blinked in shock but didn’t resist it. This was his sacrifice, anything upon that altar, himself included.

Posts until unconsciousness 1/2 l Posts until death 2/2
@Sreeya

 

[Darth Arcanos]

He laid there on the royal rug, staring into his mother’s vacant eyes. He wanted to die here with her. He wanted to sink into the floor and disappear. Azar turned to lie on his back, gazing at the chandelier above. His mind drifted to the Massassi woman that attacked him and siphoned his strength away from him. It had to be an artifact with that kind of obscene power - to leave him so immobile. And yet it allowed him to reflect.

Was she truly wrong to do what she did?

He knew why she left him alive. She would execute every last member of his family and make him watch before she took him.

His thoughts drifted to some time before that fateful day years ago. Azar had only been 19, shortly before he found himself out in the wider galaxy. He had locked memories of Salini, his former lover, away. However, they flooded in just then, glimpses of moments and threads of thought weaving through his mind.

He could remember when they sat on a high ledge of a canyon just the two of them. It was where class didn’t matter, and they could gaze out over the endless dune seas. She seemed spooked and he couldn’t tell what it was. He could remember those words from her so clearly, and even today it felt like an icy dagger through his heart just as it had back then.

“Azi, I’m with child.”

He felt that panic, that anxiety, that dread of him being royal and her being of the desert tribes. He could hear himself asking a thousand times about those herbs she had been on. He could remember her saying it was an accident. He could remember him almost suggesting something else, but she stopped him before he could.

“What does it matter, Azi? I love you. Your sister is destined to rule. She is older. You can come away with me. We can raise the child together. We can show them, Azi..we can show them that we can rise above the divides between the nobility and the tribes..it’s all so silly..it doesn’t mean anything..”

He remembered himself going numb. He remembered himself vaguely agreeing. He remembered anchoring to how much he loved her. He remembered how he was committed no matter what. How he would do anything for her.

And then his thoughts went to the tu’kata. They were on their way back, hand in hand. He remembered her stepping in front of him to fight the tu’kata that launched at them. Even in her state, she was willing to die for him. Azar remembered the way he felt that rush to fight because this was his love. And then he remembered the child. And then he remembered the shame. Then he remembered the name Kressh. He remembered the lightning he had ready to go to so easily kill the distracted tu’kata. And then he remembered the lightning dissipating in his hand.

“Azi! Azi please! AZI HELP ME! AZI FOR OUR CHILD! FOR OUR BABY! AZI!”

He remembered taking one step back. And then another. And then another. He watched her torn to shreds. He watched her eaten alive. He watched her clawing in agony. He watched as her gaze never left his. He watched as even in that last, dying moment she had her faith in him. Up until her last dying whisper, she was so sure he would come for him. For their child. For their future.

And he watched frozen as she was dragged away and out of sight. And then he turned and rushed back to the fortress. His thoughts went to a flood of memories in the following days, memories of the desert tribes knocking at their door. He could remember Ashani herself, a simple, illiterate farmer that had never learned the ways of sorcery. He remembered her screaming for her sister, pleading to see ‘Azi’ and wanting to know what happened.

“Master Azar, do you know what this is about?”

“No,” He remembered himself saying as he gazed through the window of his fortress. As he saw Ashani get physically yanked away by the guards. He remembered her meeting his gaze in a brief instance when the curtains brushed aside from the wind in his window. He saw in her gaze a silent understanding. A dangerous realization. A promise.

Azar had told everyone it was fear that made him run away that day from the tu’kata. But it was never the tu’kata.

He had abandoned Salini when she kept her faith in him even in her dying moments. And now Karys was doing the same.

The Pureblood’s eyes snapped open, strength surging through him both from what Karys poured into him and what he forced within himself. Azar knew what was happening, the memories of his past clashing with the present. The irony of Karys’ own situation wasn’t lost on him. What curse did he bring upon himself by letting that child live? What curse would he have brought by killing it? None of that mattered now, because Karys placed that dying faith in Azar.

Fissures cracked through the ground where he lay. He rose to stand, turning towards the doors which cracked and shattered open. Azar leaped from the second floor and landed on the level below, sending a concussive blast on all sides as multiple Sadow warriors were thrown in various directions. He flexed his fingers and there was a sickening crunch as their bones collectively shattered. Limbs were forcefully yanked out of sockets, bones punctured through soft tissue and organs. He curled his fingers into fully closed fists and the bodies around him crushed inward in concert, caved into unnatural, disfigured forms.

Azar blasted his fist down on the floor below, sending himself into the level below. He rose up, the debris rising off him and floating away as he strode down the corridor. He saw the assassins, he saw them prepare their black sorcery. And he responded in kind, jutting his hand up as the blood of his brethren channeled through him along with the strength Karys lent him. Invisible garotes would coil around every single individual in that corridor, around their necks, their limbs, their bodies. It was a gruesome display as the garotes grew taught, resulting in an explosion of sliced and vivisected chunks of flesh into several pieces.

He moved through that corridor with blood and viscera, smelling that stench of copper. Azar could hear the surviving Sadow retreating. He knew Ashani was long gone now, but he didn’t care. Her time would come.

Azar came across the Sadow Kissai, and they prepared their own sorcery. He responded in kind, unleashing a charge of lightning unlike anything he had conjured before. He didn’t let off even as he saw them bubbling and melting. He fused the Kissai together in a grotesque display, leaving their misshapen form on the ground in his wake.

He turned a corner as he approached, finding his destination.

“I’m here,” Azar said calmly, speaking those words that Salini once wished to hear. He hadn’t said those words then. But he did today.

For Karys.

@Apollyon

 

[Karys]

Cold. It was so cold. Just like home was. In those moments Karys’ mind took him back to his childhood, his mother’s thick black hair bound into a bun with iron ringlets. Her hands hand gently encompassed his own as she taught him how to knead dough and roll tint loaves of bread. He remembered her soft voice as she steadily coached him, the way his mother made him giggle.

A genuine smile formed on his paling lips, hot tears warmed his cold cheeks. He felt the deaths of beings faintly above him as something grew closer. He wasn’t sure who or what, but to Karys in these moments it didn’t really matter.

His mind tossed him back once more.

This memory was more recent, he felt ashen ground beneath his boots as he trudged up a hill. There a smaller Pureblood, a man with black locks waited for him while smoking a cigarra. He couldn’t help but struggle as he dropped to a knee before he gave his report regarding the situation on Zygerria.

As he sat there, lifeblood pouring out into his weakening hands. The poison painted veins black as it coursed through him. His mind would run him through countless other memories. His first dinner with Param. Meeting Cyutadakyr. Azar’s nook and their first night together. Malachor and the joy he felt at finally being together. New Alderaan and the first time they had confessed love to one another.

Then came the darker times.

Nar Shadda and Karys’ fear of almost losing Azar. Trokein and his betrayal of Param. Thule, finding out he was a father only to break the woman who carried that child. Watching Azar walk away as he laid broken on the temple floor. Waking up alone in the bacta tank.

You’re unworthy of my love.

The assassin’s blade as it found its mark three times over.

Karys realized he was likely dying then. His chuckle wavered slightly at that. He always feared it would be a Sadow assassin’s blade that did him in and he was right. He was just off target for the reason. He was drawn from his cloudy thoughts as a figure crouched over him. His rapidly blurring vision took a moment to focus on the face before him.

<H-hey handsome> He whispered with a shiver. His voice was weak and tired. <I-I protected them Azar. T-they’re safe. Just l-like I promised you.> A faint smile touched his lips as he blinked away tears. <Y-you won’t leave me this time will you?> He asked, the fear evident in his fading mind. <J-just stay with m->

Karys never finished the sentence. His golden eyes rolled into the back of his head. His hand fell from the wounds on his belly. Hot black blood stained them. He wasn’t dead but the poison prevented his blood from clotting. Azar had his poisons and the infamous Sadow assassins had their own.

Karys life hung in a rapidly tipping balance.

@Sreeya

 

[Darth Arcanos]

Karys was dying.

There were no ifs or buts about it. There was no antidote on him. And yet Azar calmly watched the other man. He was here, he was present, he was in this moment. He thought of a multitude of things, his thoughts drifting back to that first day he met Karys - that lumbering, stupid Massassi with an infectious smile. It looked almost as adorable as the pout he wore as he plodded over with a broken nose. He remembered the look of wonder in his eye as Azar took Zygerria. He remembered the shy, sheepish look as Karys came over to give him those gifts. He remembered the way he took the time to remember where everything went in his little nook, how Karys always tidied up even if Azar seemingly didn’t notice.

He thought of the way Karys fell asleep standing up after staying up all night cooking Azar’s favorite things - something he had said only in passing. Azar thought of the way Karys looked at him, a way he never looked at anyone else. He thought of their moments of laughter, of watching those stupid and silly Holomovies Azar found terrible. He thought of the way Karys crawled to him with his back torn open from lighting, the way he held Azar even when he had the taste of bile in his mouth and even when he was so weak and pathetic as the Master.

Azar thought of the quiet moments they lay together side by side while gazing into each other’s eyes and talking about their big, galactic plans. But Karys always changed the topic back towards a quieter life, of just the two of them, of a place shielded and far away from everything else. He thought of all the times he spoke about taking Korriban, taking Ziost, taking Dromund Kaas. And he remembered Karys speaking of how he had no need to conquer for a home, because he already found his. Because it was Azar.

Azar had told Karys he didn’t know what love was.

He felt the life draining away from Karys, felt the poison taking a hold. It was Azar that hadn’t known. It had always been there in a language he didn’t quite speak yet. It had always been whispers and quiet murmurs, but now with Karys dying in his arms as a result of protecting Azar's kin, it was louder than ever. It was screaming in his face.

He closed his eyes, tears spilling down his face. Azar was in the halls of his fathers and his ancestors. He felt the Force pulse through him, and he could hear the whispers of his brethren both long gone and those that died this day.

Azar wordlessly took a dagger from his clothing and sliced it along his forearm. He kept his eyes closed as he pressed that bleeding arm against the wound Karys sustained. His mind delved into the realm of the Force, drawing from an ancient rite that existed within the Kressh household for generations. It was a tricky one and one that could only succeed with full devotion and unwavering faith. Kressh were practitioners of blood sorcery for centuries and many of their rituals and traditions drew from it.

Azar couldn’t know if his methods would work. He simply placed his faith in the Force and surrendered himself to it. Even as Karys began to fade.

Karys would fall to the very edge, almost delving into that permanent slumber. However, there was a soft pulse of the Force that channeled through him. Azar’s blood began to bind into his, going beyond the physical and into the realm of the Force and spirit. The black streaks in his skin from the poison withdrew, the inky black liquid expelled out of that very wound and harmlessly seeping aside. Karys would feel renewed strength, similar to what he felt on Malachor. He would feel the strength of not just Azar, but all his lineage.

Except this time it was here to stay. This time it was a part of him.

Azar slowly opened his eyes to gaze at Karys, moving his arm away. His own thoughts and suspicions were confirmed. This ritual would not have worked if not for that ultimate, deep faith and devotion to the Force and the act itself.

Karys would feel as if he were recreated, and in many he was. He would feel a different kind of power surging through him, and he would feel an ancient knowledge that he couldn’t quite explain channeling through him. He would hear the spirits of Azar’s kin, subtle guides and wisdom reverberating through his mind.

This act he performed would see Azar shunned and disgraced if it ever came to light. But he was the head of the house now, and it didn’t matter.

“You exist henceforth as Karys’ithar iv Kressh,” He said quietly, “My husband and partner until the Force takes us, upon when we will join there for eternity in the valley of the kings.”

Azar kept a calm resolve, grasping Karys by the chin to lift the Massassi's gaze to his own, “I am never leaving again.”

@Apollyon

 

[Karys]

Karys wasn’t cold anymore. He wasn’t in pain anymore. All his memories were steadily unraveling as he walked through a barren wasteland. In this realm between spaces Karys could hear countless whispers. Specters of forms darted the coiling mists of shadow.

Traitor. Betrayer. Kinslayer.

Karys felt his hairs stand on end at those words. They were all true and so painful to hear. He had forsaken everything and now his ancestors were here to make him pay for it. Karys felt his feet slowly sinking into the mire below him. He was being drawn down into an endless expanse of suffering.

Panic filled him as he tried to call out for Azar. A question filled his mind, was this worth it? The answer was yes, it was absolutely worth the cost. Karys didn’t even have to dwell on the answer. If the price for loving Azar was the nine hells, then he’d pay it a thousand times over just to hold him in his arms one last time.

But then there was a pulse. The steady beat of a pulse that his. A choir of angelic voices called down to him and Karys looked up to gaze at them. Their hands took hold and pulled him upwards, guiding him away from Sadow’s vengeance.

Karys took a deep heave of a breath.

He felt those same voices, the same whispers continually speaking to him in the back of his mind. Then he heard Azar speak before he even opened his eyes. A new wellspring of emotion erupted from Karys.

This was all he had wanted. Just Azar.

<Azar’ithar Shah’Zahan Emyr iv Kressh.> Karys whispered, his voice lacking all the weakness of the grave. One of his hands reached up to gently cup Azar’s cheek. <My husband, my home.>

With those waked Kary’ithar iv Kressh pulled the man he’d chased after into their first kiss as spouses. He felt Azar’s heart bear in rhythm with his own. Everything was in perfect synch.

When their lips finally parted Karys would smile at Azar’s reassurance. To have this beautiful man by his side for the rest of his days? What more could he ever want? Then he felt a final weight in a pocket on his belt and reached to fish it out.

It was a small wooden box that opened up on a single hinge. Inside of it was a golden ring that held a single massive stone that was flanked by two smaller ones. However the one in the center seemed to have a faint mist roiling from it. This was a rare stone only found in Ziost, Everice. Karys smiled sheepishly as he showed it to Azar.

<I was really hoping you’d say yes.> He told Azar. <But I guess we’re past that now.> Karys continued. <And don’t think this means you’re getting out of a ceremony!> Karys added quickly with a small giggle.

<I love you baby.>

@Sreeya

 

[Darth Arcanos]

It felt surreal to hear Karys say the same words, calling Azar his husband. But it was real, it was done, they were wedded. He felt an odd sense of calm and tranquility, perhaps because he knew this was where his heart leaned all along. It was why Karys had invoked such strong emotions from him at all times. Because Karys was the love of his life, the man Azar would have children and a family with, the man Azar would forge a new legacy with. His ancestors, despite the warring houses clearly did not oppose. Perhaps it was because Karys also, deep in his heart, had truly abandoned Sadow.

Azar’s thoughts were interrupted when Karys leaned in to kiss him. Of course, in all those Holomovies and in the wider galaxy, weddings were always sealed with a kiss. This was not remotely how he imagined himself wedded - covered in blood, sitting among the dead remains of Kressh and Sadow alike in his caved in home. And yet, this tender moment of kissing as newlyweds made his heart flutter. It reminded him of exactly what they had just become. The tears flowed freely now. Azar couldn’t cry near a lover.

But he would cry in front of his husband.

Azar didn’t hide it this time, letting Karys see the full stream of his tears. When Karys revealed he had planned a proposal and showed him the everice ring, Azar gasped and practically started bawling. He had only heard legends of such a rare gem. He vigorously wiped at his face, having to grab Karys’ ridiculously oversized robe sleeves to wipe his tears off. He was crying and giggling at the same time, “Excuse me, you don’t get out of proposing to me,” Azar said with a smile, closing the box again, “Surprise me with it when you’re not half dead,” He said with a smile. He was all about the theatrics and Karys wasn't going to weasel his way out of doing a dramatic down on one knee proposal.

After a moment the smile faded and he looked seriously at Karys, “Some of the Sadow fled. They would have realized what happened. Your father will act at once,” Azar explained, “You no longer have the element of surprise,” He said, looking down where he then entwined their fingers, “But you are now a Kressh. You will have the full backing of your family to take down any who oppose us.”

@Apollyon

 

[Karys]

Once the kiss had broken and Karys showed him the ring, Azar went from crying to bawling. Karys had never seen Azar cry, he’d been present for it, he’d protected him as he cried, but he never saw him cry. Almost instinctively, Karys began to gently wipe the tears away from Azar’s cheek with his thumb. The look of concern so clearly written on his face.

<Hey, hey, hey.> He whispered warmly, momentarily misunderstanding and wanting to comfort his partner, his husband. But at Azar’s words, Karys’ smile broadened slightly. <I wouldn’t dream of denying you that pleasure baby.> Karys replied, his thumb continuing to gently caress Azar’s cheek.

He sat there, gazing into Azar’s golden eyes for a long while. He heard the whispers of ancestors that both were and weren’t his own. The mixed blood pumping through his veins solidifying a union that violated the most infamous of blood feuds and yet, here they were. A Sadow and Kressh, tenderly holding one another, caring for one another, loving one another.

When Azar spoke of Sadow survivors, Karys didn’t blink or balk at the news. He was unphased by that, instead it was what came after that caught him in unawares. The full backing of family to take down any who opposed them. What was this synchronicity? This level of unity that allowed Kressh to stand so solidly together? It would have never stood within the halls of Sadow. Or perhaps it was just Ziost? Or maybe it was just his house.

Karys expression softened at the mention of being a member of Azar’s family, the confusion behind his eyes remained secondary. While his mothers had always loved him growing up, it had been largely from necessity. Their lessons ensured their clutch would grow to be strong and those that didn’t heed their lessons wouldn’t survive Ziost or the competition his father bred between them.

But the Kressh were different. They seemed to care for one another beyond the surface need for survival. Their family loved one another. He could hear it in the whispers that gnawed at the back of his mind. He could see it in the mourning survivors that had begun to file in. House Kressh was connected in a way he barely understood but was now a part of.

His gaze pulled from them and returned to Azar.

<They will not survive what is to come my love.> He whispered.

And they wouldn’t. Karys and Azar were unique, their blood had intermingled in a way that no other Pureblood ever had. Their bloodlines so potent and yet so different gave them boons in areas previously unexplored. It gave them an edge, it gave Karys an edge on his kin. He knew how they thought, he knew how they fought, and now he had a family that could bring final ruin to them.

Karys was Sadow no longer, he was Kressh. He was the first husband of the House. The primary partner and his duty was as it had been before, protect Azar and now protect their House.

Sadow and their holdings would burn.

@Sreeya

 

[Darth Arcanos]

There was no use striking at Sadow while everyone was reeling from injuries and assessing the damage. The Kressh fortress took heavy blows and the next morning, bodies were lined up in preparation for cremation. The Sadow bodies were discarded after they were stripped of armor and weapons.

Other Pureblood families that held alliances or traded with Kressh came by for support, bringing extra food and water. Karys would see just how communal Dreshdae was, people coming by to stand together. There were discussions and murmurs about what this meant, the war to come and what move Kressh would make next.

It all came down to Azar.

Becoming head of the household was something he never actually saw coming. He had lofty ambitions, but at first it had been his father. Then his sister was in line. It was always a long shot for him unless he challenged a member of his own family. And today, after Ashani systematically butchered his mothers one by one, it was just him left behind.

“UGH!” He heard a screech, “You made a real mess of blood and guts down there, Azi!” Nana Kressh complained about Azar’s attack on Sadow. How she survived the altercation was both surprising and also not. She was a force to be reckoned with and she clearly moved on from grieving faster than others. Despite Azar killing her son, she harbored little ill will, having considered Azar’s father a nuisance to begin with.

Azar was seated in a courtyard where preparations were being made for a pyre for his mother. He felt hollow and empty inside despite the would-be joyous occasion of his marriage. He vacantly stared at the pyre and the way his mother was shrouded with dignity in the Kressh colors and sigils. It was up to him to light the pyre and he had to muster up that courage.

Meanwhile, the children were surrounding Karys, remembering him vividly as the one that saved them.

“Uncle Kari Uncle Kari!” A little girl hopped up and down, “Can I get on your shoulders?!”

“No! Me first!” A little boy shoved her. A third child soon joined, all scrambling to get up on the tall Massassi’s shoulders. Kressh were almost entirely Kissai and most were around Azar’s height. Karys stood comically taller, bigger, and looked entirely different than the rest of the diminutive family.

Nana Kressh walked over to scowl at him, her hands on her hips. Technically Karys was family now and she had to come to terms with that, “You take good care of my Azi-poo. So help me Adas I will make your outsides look like your insides if you hurt him. The boy’s been through enough,” She hissed before stepping forth and adjusting his clothing, “Only one of you ought to be wearing a dress and it sure as hell isn’t you,” She criticized about Karys in robes, “I’ve sent our armorers to craft something your size so you don’t look so stupid,” She grimaced before speedwalking away to go complain about something to someone else.

@Apollyon

 

[Karys]

Sleep was fitful at best for Karys. For the first time in his life he dreamed of fire. He had tasted both sides of the amulet around his neck, it had burned him and seared his soul. Now in the quiet of his and Azar’s shared bed, the faintest whispers haunted the back of his mind. It was a voice that wasn’t a member of the Kressh ancestors that spoke with him.

It spoke of unending fire and a Galaxy caught in those flames.

When Karys awoke, he found himself alone in the bed. For the first time in a long time, Azar had woken up before him. His eyes glanced over to the nightstand on his side of the bed and fell to the amulet. He swallowed hard and slowly slipped it around his neck.

What was this power?

Karys was unsure where the kitchens lay in the massive palace and didn’t look. Instead, he made his way to the scene of the battle, he aided other warriors in laying out the dead and stripping Sadow warriors. He knew he didn’t have to do this, he technically shouldn’t be doing this. But his new family was dwindled and he didn’t want anyone to view him as unwilling to pull more than his fair share.

He heard Nana enter the courtyard as he tossed a pair of Sadow warriors onto a discard pile. He paused to gaze at them briefly. The words kinslayer echoed in his mind. He’d betrayed one family and gained a new one. But did that remove the stain of dishonor?

It wasn’t a thought he couldn’t dwell on for long. Tiny Kresshlings darted from within the compound and gathered around his legs. They tugged at his robes and demanded shoulder rides. Karys smiled at this and lifted them all in his massive arms. Uncle Kari places the little girl on the back of his neck and the two boys on either of his shoulders.

<Hold on tightly okay, little ones?> He instructed with a laugh.

Karys would spread his arms out and run around making starship noises between his own fits of laughter. It overwhelmed the cheerful giggles of the little Kresshlings as they took turns giving him directions on where to go. But eventually the little game had to come to an end. Karys crouched down to let kids slide down and scamper back into the compound where their caretakers or parents waited for them.

The inspection from Nana Kressh came suddenly. Karys hadn’t heard her approach him from behind. Instead, he’d been watching the little ones run back inside. His protective instincts only fading once he heard the echoes from them as they told adults about the game they had played. Karys turned before he stood and found himself almost face to face with Nana Kressh. Her scowl suddenly filling up his view.

<GODS!> He shouted in surprise as he fell backwards and blinked rapidly. He listened in perfect silence to what she had to say. A gentle smile formed on his lips as she spoke. <I couldn’t hurt Azar even if I wanted to.> He assured. But when she mentioned having armor made for him, Karys grew visibly nervous.

He’d slept in a shirt the night before with Azar, he’d said it was to protect the stab wounds but that wasn’t the truth. Since Thule, Karys perception of himself had been altered. His once flawless physique had been permanently marred. His chest and torso now looked like melted wax. An ugly mass of malformed skin and scars. He hated the way it looked and would have preferred to keep it hidden away.

He forced a sheepish smile onto his lips before replying to Nana.

<What kind of armor?> He asked the twinge of emotion written in his voice. But Nana was gone before he could get a proper answer.

Karys looked around for a moment, he hunted for his husband. While also from a big family, this felt different and almost overwhelming. He craved something familiar, he wanted the closeness of Azar. He didn’t have to look long, he eventually spotted his beautiful man sitting and watching as the pyres were built. He knelt behind him, kissed the back of his shoulder lightly once, and wrapped his arms around him.

<I missed you in bed this morning babe.> He whispered before kissing his shoulder once more. Karys’ eyes watched as Azar’s mothers, no his mothers too were placed on their pyres. A sadness washed over him, soon Karys would be an orphan by his own hand. He swallowed those thoughts down for now, Azar didn’t need to focus on his problems of tomorrow. Right now he just needed support.

<I’m here with you.> Karys assured his husband. <You don’t have to do this alone.> He offered quietly. <You never have to bear a weight alone again, Azar.> He said, accenting his offer with another kiss on Azar’s back.

@Sreeya

 

[Darth Arcanos]

Azar was deep in his thoughts, entirely oblivious to all the attention Karys was attracting. He vaguely heard Nana Kressh, but his eyes never left the pyres. He sighed, closing his eyes to hold back the tears that threatened to come again. As if on cue, he felt Karys arrive from behind him, feeling that gentle kiss on his shoulder. It was a trademark gesture of Karys’ and it sent a jolt through Azar every time. A simple kiss on the back of his shoulder, the way his arms wrapped around him from behind, and Azar was instantly pulled from the depths of any chaotic cesspool of his own making. Karys had done the same after that fateful night in that terrible refresher to remind Azar who truly had his heart.

“I couldn’t sleep..” Azar murmured, reaching up to entwine their fingers, “But it was amazing to share a bed with you again,” He glanced at Karys, quirking a brow, “Even if you wore entirely too much clothing..” He hadn’t ever known Karys to put on a shirt by choice. On the contrary Azar had to remind him to put clothes on at all. There had been more than one occasion where he strolled out with pants missing. They had been too tired and distressed for anything but crashing and sleeping the night prior, so he hadn’t raised it then.

Azar smiled faintly as he looked back at the pyre, “I know, love,” He whispered, “You’re stuck with me now,” He said before he turned his head to kiss Karys on the cheek.

Once it was finally time, he stepped off and was given the torch that would light the pyre. His hand trembled and he looked to Karys to hold it with him. Once his husband held it as well, the two men would walk towards the pyre. Azar almost collapsed, but it was Karys’ strength that allowed him to finally close the distance and light the pyre.

As they stood there watching the fire, Karys would feel the amulet whisper to him again. He would get gentle, almost convincing whispers to expand the fire he saw before him. It was such a beautiful, majestic flame. Wouldn’t it look incredible if everything was engulfed in it? If it rose magnificently across the whole compound? If it burned brilliantly and consumed in an awe-inspiring display?

“Baby?” Azar asked, nudging Karys when he saw the glazed over look on his husband’s face, “I love you..” He said with a sad, yet tender smile.

–​

It was a blizzard on Ziost outside. The door opened and a tall figure stepped inside an unassuming building.

“So few of you have returned.”

The tall figure unwrapped the binding around their face, revealing feminine features. Ashani glared at the man before her, flanked by two other Sadow warriors after a hasty retreat. The woman tossed over a helmet she had collected from one of the Kressh.

“It sang a song,” She said about the helmet, “It appears your littlest whelp got involved to sabotage our plans.”

The man bristled, his entire posture shifting. There was a shift in the Force as rage washed over him.

“You are certain?”

“Psychometry does not lie,” Ashani spat. It was, after all, how she picked up sorcery so quickly. She had been born with the gift of psychometry at an advanced and refined state. Objects, weapons and places all told their secrets to her. Exactly what made her the perfect assassin and a coveted Sadow.

“Disappointing,” The man said smoothly, exhaling smoke after drawing from a pipe.

“I will contact the forces on Murzana to mobilize that army and wipe out the Kressh stronghold,” Ashani said, “Your son is an unfortunate complication.”

“I have no son,” The man said curtly, “But rest assured, that little worm and everything he holds dear will pay.”

@Apollyon

 

[Karys]

Karys felt Azar’s fingers intertwine with his own as he kissed his husband’s shoulder. Karys listened as Azar explained that he couldn’t sleep, it caused him to pause in the midst of another affectionate kiss. <Mmm…I understand baby.> Karys whispered, pulling his lips away from Azar’s shoulder and instead resting his chin on it. His golden eyes gazed at the side profile of his husband and he smiled softly, it was amazing to share a bed again. <I missed feeling you sleep against me.> He replied, gently resting the side of his head against Azar’s cheek. However, when Azar mentioned him wearing too much clothes, the shade Karys’ cheeks deepened.

He didn’t reply. He didn’t know how.

When Azar’s gaze turned back to the pyre’s, Karys’ would as well. He watched in somber silence with the love of his life as their family finished their task. Karys’ attention was only pulled from the scene unfurling before him when Azar spoke in a hushed tone. He lifted his head from Azar’s cheek to look at him and gave his husband a reassuring smile.

<No, you are the one stuck with me.> He whispered in reply as Azar kissed his cheek.

The time came to put their dead to rest, to give their spirits the freedom only fire could offer. When Azar stood up to take the torch, Karys was right beside him. When Azar’s hand trembled, Karys was there to hold it steady. When Azar stumbled, Karys was there to catch and support his weight. He didn’t stumble nor fall nor stray away from Azar’s side in his most dire of hours.

He’d been Azar’s rock, his pillar of strength and consistency their entire relationship, that didn’t change now.

Karys watched as Azar lit the pyre. He watched as the flames caught the tender and steady burnt upwards. Karys’ arm wrapped around Azar’s waist to let him lean into his chest. He watched in conflicted wonder as the fire consumed everything. The whispers making such a blissful argument to consume the compound in an eternal glorious blaze.

But Azar kept him from that grim reality.

Karys’ eyes fell to Azar, there was fear that twinkled behind them. Something mere moments ago wasn’t there. He wanted to tell Azar what was going on in his mind, to confess the fear of this new echo whispering to him. But he couldn’t now, not yet, not in front of his new family. That would have to wait until they had a moment together, until Azar had finished grieving. Instead, he pulled Azar into his chest and blinked his tears away. He returned his husband’s soft sad smile.

<I love you too baby…> Came Karys’ hushed reply.

@Sreeya

 

[Darth Arcanos]

The rest of the events went as planned without any interruptions or fights. There was a big roast and a feast to honor the dead. Karys would realize that Kressh had its own incredible chefs that could put on a wonderful meal. Nevertheless, Azar mainly complained about not having Karys’ cooking, but he refused to let him cook on this day. His position in the household meant he wasn’t supposed to do any chores or work, but Azar would pout all the same.

The crowds were dispersing near the evening, and Azar was tired. He took a walk outside the fortress, venturing through the quiet streets of Dreshdae. He asked Karys to join him, holding hands as they took a quiet stroll. The next day meant he would have to make some decisions on how to deal with Sadow. Azar had little time for mourning, but he dealt with his grief in pockets during the day.

“Are you familiar with a city called Murzana?” He asked Karys once they were out of earshot. There were rows of empty market stalls and empty streets that would become completely packed the next day, “You may have heard of it as a legend…the same as the holy city of Ur,” Azar explained, “But I have seen it. I have been to Ur,” He stopped walking then, pausing to look at Karys.

“If Ur exists, then I assume Murzana does as well,” He concluded, “Murzana has remnants of Sadow and other bloodlines. For years we have had Sadow strikes on us and we were never able to conclude where they came from. We always assumed Ziost so we struck there,” His gaze lowered, “I myself was deployed there when I was barely an adult. My efforts…devastated an entire village..but now I’m not so sure they had anything to do with the strikes on our household,” Azar said, his thoughts briefly drifting to that day. Of course, he had no idea he was responsible for the demise of one of Karys’ brothers, “I’m inclined to believe that Murzana is the base from which these splinter groups operate. We must find it and we must take the fight to them.”

Azar paused there, considering his next words carefully, “We can pull our forces from here and also from Ur to march on Murzana once we have their location,” He chewed on his lip, “Karys… I originally came to Korriban with Trodai Adas. You recall him, yes?” He looked away for a moment, “I would like him to command the Ur forces. But you must know.. I am rather fond of him,” Azar admitted, wanting no secrets between them, “I have grown to truly care for him,” He said quietly, “And I do not wish for you to quarrel over that. You know where you stand with me,” Azar said as he looked at Karys, “If it is not all right with you, I will end things with him,” He said, his tone genuine and unwavering.

@Apollyon

 

[Karys]

After the pyres died down, Karys had joined the rest of his family in the dining hall. He sat next to Azar at the head of the table and ate. Tiny squeaky voices were often heard around the pair as Kresshlings ran from their table to Karys. They would have barely legible notes scribbled onto napkins for him. Karys would stop eating to make a show of reading each note, and then tickle the belly of child who delivered it. Even as he chuckled and played with the little ones there would be a pain that simmered behind his eyes.

He was father to a child that he’d likely never see.

When Azar complained of missing his cooking, Karys would slide his hand into Azar’s and kiss him on the cheek. He’d promise Azar to cook him whatever he wanted, later. Right now, however this time was meant to be spent with family.

When they finally retired for the evening Karys would take the time to meditate. It was something he hadn’t done since leaving Thule and knew he had to do. He had to not only retain but continue to strengthen his connection to the Dark Side. His mind floated between painful memories on Trokein, Thule, and even here on Korriban. Betrayal, anguish, self-doubt, self-loathing it all built into crescendos as Karys used the emotions to draw deeply on the Dark Side.

Despite this practice, he still heard Azar. He still listened to his husband as he spoke Murzana, his attack on Ziost, the city of Ur. He listened to his House Kressh had finally found the fabled city of outcasts, the city of vengeance. It was a place Karys had been vaguely aware of, his House had been exiled on Ziost and maintained alliances where ever they could. Murzana was one such ally.

However, when Azar spoke of Trodai, Karys froze. Care? His mind soared back to before Malachor, when he and Azar had fought over him caring for Param. Azar had called his friendship’s liabilities then, it was part of why Karys had betrayed everyone but Azar. Pain rippled through him for a moment, he embraced it and it brought clarity. Karys opened his eyes and looked to his husband.

<Murzana will not be so easy to crack.> Karys replied. <You will pick ten of our House and I will teach them all I know of the Sadow Assassin’s ways.> Karys told him, it was another betrayal of his former House. To give away such secrets was the final knife twist that he could never come back from. <They will become ruthless and cold but they will be one of our most effective weapons against our enemies.> Karys explained as he rose to his feet. <I will guide them in the attack, we will strike at leaders and commanders. We will destroy our enemies from within.>

He’d pad over to Azar, wearing only a shirt and his boxers. He’d gently lift Azar’s chin up so they could gaze into each other’s eyes. His words were calm and neutral but there was an undertone of ice behind them.

<So long as he is not a liability, I do not care baby. And if he becomes one, break him.>

The words would reveal so much to Azar. The poison of his jealousy had taken root in Karys. It was the reasoning why he’d betrayed his closest of friends. The reason why he was utterly alone outside of Azar and House Kressh now. The reason ice had begun to flow in veins that were once warmth and kindness. Azar’s own words had shaped him, had wounded him deeper than he could have anticipated.

And now there was none but him.

Karys would allow the words to hang between them. He’d allow them to settle there before he kissed his husband and walked towards the refresher. Karys’ pace was even despite his internal agony. He loved Azar but it was clear, he missed friendships that he could never get back.

He would turn on the shower and slowly pull the shirt from his body. It would reveal a torso and chest that was foreign to him still. Chiseled muscle was hidden beneath skin that fire had made run like melted wax. He stared at himself in the mirror with equal sadness and loathing, he hated the way he looked now. Surgeons on Thule had been able to save his face and graft skin to cover the scarring there. But did didn’t make the rest of his body any less painful to look at.

@Sreeya

 

[Darth Arcanos]

They made their way back shortly after the walk and began to prepare to retire for the night. Azar didn’t miss the emotions in Karys’ voice as he spoke about Trodai and liabilities. There were many things Karys harbored that Azar could only guess at. In that moment he wondered if Karys found him a hypocrite. The Pureblood kissed him back, but he was visibly distracted, his thoughts far away. He watched Karys step into the refresher, choosing to be out of Azar’s purview.

This time, Azar followed him, his gaze fixing on Karys’ body for the first time. The flawless, muscled skin he had known before was mangled and twisted. Initially, he felt a pang of blind rage, a sudden desire to kill Nevizkas wherever she was for causing this. However, that thought was quelled soon enough - she was already living an existence that would punish her many times over any kind of death ever could.

Azar stepped in and gently brushed his hand along Karys’ back. He slowly turned Karys around to face him, gazing up at him. He could tell this was why he had been hiding from Azar, “My husband is a survivor. My husband is a warrior. My husband is my soldier, my husband is my devotion, my temple, my home,” He said as he traced his hand along Karys’ chest, “This is your story, this is our story, and it is beautiful and tortured in all the ways that make us who we are. We are Sith. Never be ashamed of it, because you are the most beautiful being I will ever gaze upon,” He said.

He sighed as his gaze lowered, “I know this is not how you imagined any of this. To be taken from all you know.. To have me leave.. To then suddenly be married so abruptly.. “ He chuckled bitterly, “It was not how I imagined it. If we ever got there I imagined a proposal, I imagined a wedding night of love and passion, I imagined us getting away from everything..I imagined you truly happy and without regrets..but this has all been woven in pain and despair.”

Azar drew his hands back, “I have taken you from everything, Karys. You are changing into someone else and I’m helpless to stop it from happening. I know you love me more than your own life, but at what cost? How can I stand by and watch you destroy yourself to devote yourself to me?”

Azar's love for Karys was undeniable, but he couldn’t help but wonder if they were ultimately right for each other. They were married and nothing would change that, but would Karys be happy? Would Azar be happy watching Karys be unhappy?

@Apollyon

 

[Karys]

Karys felt Azar’s approach before he heard it. He felt Azar’s cool hand stroke against his back. Tension flooded from him. As Azar slowly turned him around to face him, Karys instinctively reach an arm across his body. But it was Azar’s words that caused his defenses to come crashing down.

As Azar described how he viewed Karys, the younger Pureblood began to weep. He’d cried before Azar in the past. Tears of happiness, tears in reaction to physical pain, but never tears from a deep emotional pain. In a moment a toxic build up of emotion was lanced and allowed to begin flooding from him.

Karys stood there with Azar’s hand on his chest and finally allowed himself to grieve. He grieved the decisions he’d made, the parts of himself that were dying with each choice, the impacts those choices had on those close by. But most importantly, he grieved how it had impacted them. Eventually, tears would cease falling and Karys felt the drain of emotion on him. He finally silently listened to Azar’s words, he heard the gentleness and softness they carried and the pain behind them.

<I never asked for perfection Azar.> He whispered. <I only asked for you. All of you.> He replied. <All of your imperfections, insecurities, and fears.> He continued. <How we came to this point doesn’t matter, only that we did.> He said in a hushed tone. <Despite everything, the love we share prevailed. That’s is all that matters to me.>

When Azar moved to pull his hand away, Karys encompassed it with his own and held it in place. Karys gently shook his head in reply when he brought to Karys changing.

<Azar, the Dark Lord’s eyes are upon me now, doubly so since the Kaggath.> Karys replied between sniffles. <The decisions that I have to make now will only change me further. Because they have to and I have no choice.> He continued. <If I fail to live up to her expectations, I will die.> He continued.

Karys’ golden eyes rose to meet Azar’s before he spoke again.

<The role I serve our Order is not pretty Azar.> He continued, tears welled up from fear. <A Sith Warrior is weapon that must be broken and reforged countless times.> He explained gently. <I am more likely to die young on the blade of an enemy than I am to grow old with you.> Karys said with a sad smile. <But that is my fate and I have accepted that.> He whispered. <I will have to make decisions that I loathe, choices that will rip me apart whether you are by my side or not.> Kaeys continued.

His words were selfish, perhaps the first time he’d been outwardly selfish since Azar met him.

<But without you? I will have no goodness left in me. You asked me to keep this place in me alive on the balcony. No matter what the Sith shaped me into. Do you remember?> Karys asked. <The costs I’ve paid and continue to pay, I do so without hesitation. Because if my life is to be hard and short, I want the fires of our love, of our joy, of our good to keep my soul warm.> He explained. <I want you, I need you, I love you Azar. To me, nothing else matters in the long run.> Karys said with a sigh.

@Sreeya

 

[Darth Arcanos]

Seeing Karys break down like that twisted Azar up inside, and it took a lot of willpower to stop himself from breaking down as well. His face reflected the anguish in his husband’s face, and he watched the tears streaming down the other man’s face. Azar didn’t wipe any of it away, recognizing that this was necessary.

He bristled when Karys spoke about the Dark Lord, “I would fight her myself if I must,” He stated curtly, venom dripping from his tone. Azar had positioned himself to become a strategic asset to Tempest. She couldn’t afford to keep losing all her Masters. She knew about his attachment to Karys, “If senseless harm comes to you on her account, I will collapse her and her entire powerbase just as I had done on Zygerria. Or I will die trying. And she knows that.”

Azar sighed, the rage slowly slipping away. For a moment there was nothing but the sound of running water from the shower.

“But are you happy, Karys?” He asked, “I want my Loth-kitten and my Kare-bear back. I want the man that giggles and can’t manage to stay on a couch and forces me to watch stupid movies back.. I haven’t seen that man for months, Karys,” Azar said, “I want that goofy, cheerful, sappy and gentle man back.”

@Apollyon

 

[Karys]

Karys smiled at Azar’s response regarding the Dark Lord. He knew Azar would do it too, he would burn the Order down for him. Karys would do the same for him. A small chuckle escaped his lips while he sniffled. His arms tenderly wrapped around Azar’s waist as he stood there in the shower.

When Azar asked him if he was happy, Karys nodded immediately. He didn’t speak at first though, instead he let Azar explain his thoughts. He hadn’t been filled with giggles or laughter lately. Since his elevation to Sith, there hadn’t been time for any of that. He’d been in conflict after conflict, it had left him numb or broken and sometimes both. He inhaled sharply, the breath was shaking.

<I am happy Azar. But I am only happy when I’m with you.> He admitted. <The last few months have left little room for joy. We’ve been apart and I’ve been in fights, skirmishes, and now wars.> He explained. <It’s all so numbing and painful. But it’s moments like this, these quiet moments that are ours that matter to me.> He said, his finger beginning to gently run up the center of Azar’s back. <I am your Loth-kitten, I am your Kare-bear.> He said with a small genuine smile. <I am just afraid.> Karys whispered. <But I am still him, I promise.>

Karys would fall silent as he looked into his husband’s eyes. He knew things were shifting and changing around them but he didn’t want them to change.

<You are my home and my foundation Azar.> His fingers slipping from Azar’s back to trace up his torso. <Are you happy Azar?> Karys asked while he tenderly played with and traced his husband’s facial tendril and ridges. <Do I still make you happy?> He asked after a moment of silence.

@Sreeya

 

[Darth Arcanos]

Azar couldn’t disagree with that - Karys had been thrown into one fight after another. While the Troiken incident was planned, everything else had been out of the blue with tensions running high. Even his visit here was plagued with bloodshed and near death. Azar smiled as he gazed at Karys, “It wasn’t until I tried to let you go before I realized how much I love you and need you,” He admitted, “An entire part of me was missing and I accepted that I would simply have to live that way for the rest of my life. I was eternally bound to you before we were ever married,” Azar said quietly, “No one has made me happy the way you do. And no one else ever will."

He tilted his face into Karys’ touch, having missed it. Azar gazed at Karys for a long moment, “Can we put it all aside for tonight? I want to forget the galaxy tonight and just be with my husband,” He said. Azar began to undo his own clothing, deciding not to subject Karys to further frustration, “I don’t want you to hide from me. I want to see and feel all of you again,” He whispered as he let his robes slide off his body and pool at his ankles. For once, he didn’t neatly fold and put everything away, simply grasping Karys by the hand to guide him back towards the bed.

The shower remained forgotten for now as Azar acted on his suppressed desires and urges. He would let Karys see just how much he missed him. His sorrows, his desires, his love, his passions all wove into the way they made love and consummated their marriage at last. Their bond through the Force was stronger than ever, pulsing with life and taking them to new heights of love and raw pleasure. They would take their time, fully appreciating that this was their home, their bed, their sanctuary.

Tomorrow they would have to think about a new war all over again. But tonight, nothing existed but each other.

@Apollyon

 

[Karys]

Karys felt the weight of the Galaxy slough off of him at Azar’s reassurance. The concerns of the Dark Lord, the upcoming wars, even the death and destruction he’d have to sow felt distant. Azar asked for all the issues of tomorrow to be forgotten, to let tonight just be about them. That was the moment Karys’ leaned in to kiss his husband. It was a deep passionate kiss, one they hadn’t been able to share since New Alderaan. Karys drank in the man he loved more than anything in the Galaxy.

<There’s no one else but you and I then baby.> He whispered as their kiss broke. <And I will never hide from you again.>

When Azar’s robes hit the floor, he’d find that he wouldn’t have the time to lead Karys to their bed. Karys scooped him up in one arm, letting his husband’s legs wrap around his waist. The only thing between them being the fabric of Karys’ boxers. Karys continued to hungrily and passionately kiss the only person that mattered to him. He let all the emotions that had been denied him for months finally spill out.

When they finally reached the bed, Karys discarded his boxers, tossing them across the room. They weren’t important, his scars weren’t important, nothing mattered but becoming one with his person. The unity they shared in that night was mind numbing. Months of unfulfilled hungers, passions, and lust were sated in gasps of pleasure and moans of ecstasy. A marriage consummated in the fires of love and passion. It was the perfect union with the perfect man.

At the end, Karys found himself laying on his back with Azar head on his chest. For the first time in months, he felt at home, he felt safe again. As his fingers gingerly ran through Azar’s hair a noise once so familiar escaped his lips.

Karys giggled in bliss.

@Sreeya