One of Us

[Kyrinov]

​

Iridonia​

Family Home​

10 Years Before Present Day​

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As far as a nine year old Tevro was concerned, Khaori had always been there. She was just an older sister that was a lovely addition to their small family. He never considered her to be an different than his biological brother. In his little mind, she was an older sister that was always there to help him with whatever he needed. It wasn't until a year later that he learned from his father that Khaori was adopted. Her mother and father had apparently given her to Kegan and Rori to look after. He was, naturally, shocked by this news and began pestering her about her biological parents. All of which she answered quite patiently.

From that moment on, they grew closer and closer with each passing hour they spent playing and talking together. Sometimes, they'd run around, chasing Vuxae until the sun began to set in the distant horizon. The ground flowing into all sorts of colors that Khaori would later tell him were purple, pink, red, orange, and yellow. Few of those colors were ones that he could not identify, as he had not learned them simply for the fact that, even with his Force Sight, he could not see them.

Eventually, he and his older brother took to calling their sister Kha. Not that her name was hard to pronounce, it was just shorter and easier to call in case they needed to get her attention quickly. Slowly, but surely, they introduced her to some of their combat training, starting with basics. Vuxae helped her with defense and Tevro helped her with offense. There wasn't a day that went by that they weren't under the light of the blazing sun exchanging soft, playful blows in a practice bout.

Today, however, all three were indoors. All of them sitting on the couch, listening to the HoloNet news of the day. Tevro was beside Kha with Vuxae on his left. He smiled at her and tapped her shoulder to get her attention.

"Hey, do you wanna go spar behind the house in a bit? Mom and Dad won't see us back there."

[member="Khaori"]

 

[Valgærd]

Tevro was the coolest brother I could have asked for, even if he was kind of annoying sometimes.

I had been given to Kegan and Rori a long time ago. Given to? Sold to? Found by? They told me that mum and dad had given me to them because they wanted a better life for me. It was nice to hear, but I didn't believe it, not fully. The truth was I didn't remember what happened. Maybe I was too young, maybe something bad had happened and my mind just shut it all out, I didn't know. They had said it was alright for me to call them "mother and father" so I did. It... it helped a bit. I may not have the parents that made me, but no matter what happened from here on out, I had a family, a real one.

Tevro, when he found out, couldn't stop asking me about it. I was embarrassed, honestly. Who couldn't remember their parents? Did that mean I was a bad daughter? So I made things up.
What did they look like, Kha?
Well, Tev, mum was really pretty, like a princess. Dad looked like a knight.
What did they do?
They were powerful Jedi! That's why they gave me to mum and dad, because it's too dangerous out there for me.
And on and on it had gone. Sometimes I would go to sleep at night dreaming about what they might have been like, allowing myself for just a moment or two to truly believe the wild, fanciful tales I'd spun for my brother. He was a good little brother, the best, in fact. Even though he was annoying sometimes. He didn't seem to care that our parents had not had me the way they'd had him, it hadn't seemed to bother him at all.

Today, we were all sitting on the couch, escaping the heat of the day. I was next to Tevro, our other brother Vuxae on his other side. The holonet was playing the news, but I wasn't really listening, honestly. I had been learning to braid my own hair, so I had strands in my fingers, concentrating as I folded them over one another, recalling the proper order.

Tevro tapped my shoulder and asked if we wanted to go out and spar behind the house. I grinned back at him, biting my lip excitedly,

"Oh absolutely I do!" I replied, "I have my pride to win back!"

I glanced behind him to Vuxae,

"You coming?"



[member="Tevro"]

 

[Kyrinov]

"Oh absolutely I do!"

His red eyes lit up with excitement.

'Finally! We're going outside!', the boy thought as he offered a rare genuine smile to Kha.

Even at nine, Tevro absolutely adored the outdoors more so than his brother or even his father. There was something about the sunlight raining down on his skin as he moved through the dry air like a knife. Something in the way to sands shifted beneath his feet. The sharp contrast of movement and resistance that the sand offered.

Normally, his days were spent fighting, running, or helping out around the house after completing either of the former activities. So, naturally, after being holed up in their home for hours on end, he was more than ready to do something that required him to be out in the desert.

Vuxae spoke up, looking up from the holoprojector, "You think I'm gonna miss you getting your butt beaten by staying inside? Of course I'm coming!"

With that, Tevro jumped off of the couch and ran through the house, twisting and weaving his way through the various hallways and doors in their home until he reached the back door. He bolted out of it and into the blissful embrace of the outside world. It was simply and purely invigorating. He bounded across the sand, stopping after about 5 meters.

He turned on his heel and settled down, waiting for Vuxae and Kha. He smiled as Kha stopped a few feet in front of him as his feet sank shallowly into the sand underfoot. His stance shifted into a basic defensive position, hips low and centered, weight leaning on his left back foot, arms tucked and squared at the elbows. His form was tense but he had a confident calmness about him, fit for one with far more hand-to-hand experience than he.

Tevro waited, expectant of her first move that was most likely imminent.

 

[Valgærd]

I pulled myself off the couch as my brothers agreed to both come outside. Tevro was smiling at me… something I didn’t see often. Uh-oh, had he planned something? I didn’t stop to think about it as I followed him through the house, keeping pace as he darted around corners and down corridors.

Outside, I instantly blinked as my eyes adjusted to the sun and skidded to a halt in front of Tev. He had stopped on the sand, raising himself into a defensive position. I adopted the stance I’d learned as well, standing on the balls of my feet, legs spaced a shoulder width apart. I brought up my hands in front of my chest, palms open facing opposite directions. My elbows and knees were bent, but every muscle was taut. I was a coiled viper, ready to strike.

Or at least… one day I would be. Tevro was still a little better than me at fighting (not that I’d ever let him know that). So, I had to fight dirty.

After a moment’s thought, I darted forwards. I stepped swiftly with my right foot, using the single fluid motion to twist my body around right to left so I could aim a low, quick jab to the ribs on his left side. That’s what he was supposed to think, anyway. Hoping he would turn to deflect the strike, my hand actually continued towards the ground, where I could flick up a generous amount of sand into his face. It might not have been fair, but I’m a girl, what did they expect?

This fight was as good as mine.

[member="Tevro"]

 

[Kyrinov]

He watched her dash forward, with a much improved speed than she'd shown in their previous encounters.

He saw the hand aimed for a strike to his rib cage, it made him smirk.

Tevro shifted to the right and turned his body into the wind, allowing the breeze to push more sand on top of his feet. He smiled as he stood a few feet from her once again.

[member="Khaori"]

(OOC: Sorry about the short reply)

 

[Valgærd]

I spluttered as my move was turned against me.

Tevro stood grinning, as I came back up to a standing position and stood defensively, taking a moment to wipe the sand from my face. Well... that was a waste of time. I hated having sand in my mouth. It was horrible. As I spat it out, I glared at him and that stupid, smug grin on his face. I wanted to tell him that wasn't fair, I wanted to pout and cry and run to mum and dad... but I couldn't. For one, we weren't meant to be out here anyway. For another, I had been about to use the same trick on him.

So instead, I stood back from him, reattaining my fighting stance.

This time, I held my arms up defensively with my fists closed and held at chest-height. I didn't rush forwards but instead stood waiting for him to make the first move. While I was doing my best not squint, the sand had made my eyes water a little.

"You're in trouble." I warned him, preparing to face whatever he tried next.

[member="Tevro"]

 

[Kyrinov]

In trouble? Tevro? Him? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!, went the laugh in his head.

He clenched his jaw to keep from laughing but a smirk escaped and that turned into a cocky smile. He still focused on her as she appeared to be waiting on him. Fine. She wanted to try to get him down like he just did to her. He'd certainly give her to chance to try. Maybe, this time, she'd surprise him. Maybe she'd end up flat on her butt... again. He'd just have to wait and see how she reacted.

"You can try. A wolf in sheep's clothing is more than a warning, Kha."

Without another though, he bolted forward with slightly more speed than she presented during her first attack, noticing that she was momentarily blinded by the face plant in the sand she just recovered from.

His hand was hooked upwards to swing towards her chin. If it fully connected, she'd be knocked back or on the ground. If it glanced off of her face, she's likely stumble and catch a knee to the gut that would follow within seconds if his blow missed. His body was tense but his movement spoke of deadly grace if used properly.

[member="Khaori"]

 

[Valgærd]

Tevro was grinning.

I hated that stupid, cocky smile of his. Probably because I only saw it when he was about to win something or get me in trouble. I love my brothers, I do, really. But damn… I hated that smirk of his. So it was with a scowl that I faced him. My heart was in my throat, the sun beating down on my back. There was still sand in my mouth, but there was no way I was going to let him see me struggling to spit it out.

He spoke, making me roll my eyes at him.

But suddenly, Tev lunged forwards, a lot faster than I was expecting him to. Thanks to that, and the sand in my eyes, I wasn’t quick enough to completely dodge the strike to my chin. I squealed as it connected, pain suddenly jolting through me as my teeth smashed together. I stumbled, his knee then coming up to slam into my gut. Winded, disoriented, dazed, and hurting, I fell with a thud to the ground.

I sat, stunned for a moment. The pain in my stomach and my jaw screamed, making my eyes sting with tears that threatened to spill forth. But there was no way I was going to let Tevro see me cry. Nope. No way.

Sitting on the ground, I took a few moments to let my lungs recover from the jolt, wrapping my arms around my stomach. I kept my face turned down towards my knees, feeling my cheeks growing warm. Honestly what hurt most was my pride, I didn’t even mind the pain that much, it was losing to little Tevro that bothered me the most.

“Oooowww,” I groaned, my voice a little strained from being winded, “fine. You win that one.”

I short a glance to Vuxae,

“Don’t you DARE tell anyone what you just witnessed.”

Not that it really mattered, it was only the family that were around. Besides, they’d all seen me lose to Tevro before. In fact, it was winning against him that was the unusual occurrence.

[member="Tevro"]

 

[Kyrinov]

And in an instant, it was over.

Over long before it even started. Kha was outmatched, but she was determined.

His clenched hand swung upwards and connected square with her jaw bone, he heard the soft click as teeth pressed together as if she'd just taken a big bite out of a piece of meat and she'd had trouble chewing through it. She didn't have much time to recover as his rather bony knee launches up to catch her square in the gut. It was satisfying yet he felt a tang of remorse as she fell to the guard, the breath knocked from her lungs from the impact.

The boy moved to help her stand and walk her inside, offering a red hand to her up and a shoulder for her to lean upon so he could get her back to the living room easily.

He heard Vuxae laugh a bit before he saw his older brother nod, agreeing that we wouldn't tell anyone about this little beating Kha just received from their younger brother who was about 5 years younger than both of them. His hand was still extended to her, a soft smile on his face, a look of concern in his cloudy red eyes as his eyebrows furrowed in the middle of his forehead.

[member="Khaori"]

 

[Valgærd]

My face burned. My stomach hurt. My head was spinning.

But Tevro didn't laugh at me. No, he reached down and held out a hand to help me up. It wasn't some reluctant, token gesture either. He looked genuinely concerned. After thinking for just a moment, I reached out and accepted his help. Pride already shoved aside, I accepted his help and leaned on his shoulder as we began to walk inside. As we did, I let out a low sigh. I wasn't as much of a fighter as Tevro was. I enjoyed sparring with them most of the time, but he had always been better at it than me. Even though I was older, it often felt like I was struggling to keep up.

"One day..." I began, tilting my head to look at him, "one day I'll meet you in a fight... and I will win."

There was a little bit of a smirk on my face as I spoke, indicating I was only half-serious... if that.

We got inside and I sank back onto the couch where we'd begun, sorer, sandier, and generally a little more deflated and dishevelled than when I'd left. The place was relatively clean and although we'd done our best not to track sand through the house... it was noticeable that a little had made it inside with us. I glanced from the ground up to Tevro,

"Where are mum and dad?" I asked, before suddenly putting a finger on my nose and looking at him and Vuxae, "one, two, three, not it!"

I'd just lost a fight... there was no way I was going to clean up the floor as well.

[member="Tevro"]

 

[Kyrinov]

Tevro pulled Kha up as he clasped his fingers around her arm, pulling her up as she sprung up by digging her heels into the sand, the momentum of the push combined with his strength exerted to bring her to her feet. He brought her up, a soft smile on his lips. The boy wrapped a glistening arm across her shoulders as her sun kissed arm slung limply across his own shoulder, a formerly clenched hand now grasping his shoulder for support as he walked her to the house.

He looked at Kha as she spoke to him, her eyes peering at him. He nodded and gave another smile, more of a grin, really. "One day, you will, Khaori. When that day comes, I'll be more than happy to let you beat my tail." He let out a lighthearted laugh, smiling even wider to her.

He led her through their home, retracing him twists and many turns, albeit at a much slower pace than the sprint in which he tore through the hallways not even an hour ago. He helped her sit down on the couch, letting her lean back into the soft cushions as he found a stool to elevate her legs to about waist level. He then sat down beside her.

Then, he saw it. The sand. It was all through the house and pooled on the couch from their clothes. He shrugged when his sister asked where Mom and Dad where. He didn't know. Mom, obviously, wasn't in the house. Dad was probably in their front "yard". Tevro heard Kha's amused tone as she poked her own nose and shouted with excitement, "one, two, three, not it!"

No way he was doing to clean up tiny bits of sand all afternoon.

His finger immediately went up to the tip of his nose as a smirk lit up his usually enigmatic features. "One, two, three, not it!" He repeated as he laughed at Vuxae.

Their older brother scowled and pushed Tevro lightly as he grumbled and went to the kitchen to grab a broom to sweep with and a cloth wipe the couch cushions off with before using the same broom to sweep it all towards the back door. The young Zabrak chuckled and whispered about how long it would take Vuxae to clean up the mess.

[member="Khaori"]

 

[Valgærd]

Tevro smiled as he proudly stated that one day he’d let me win. Although as he laughed, I couldn’t help but laugh right along with him. It seemed that no matter what, Tev and I couldn’t stay mad at each other. After sparring, even after real actual fights, we couldn’t stay upset at one another. I liked that. It was like, no matter what, I knew I had a friend in him, as well as a brother.

I couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit like a princess as he grabbed some cushions to elevate my feet. Even though I was already feeling a little better, I made sure not to make it look like I was feeling too much better, just so he would keep being extra nice for a little longer. As he sat down beside me, I wrapped my arm around his shoulders, squeezing him as hard as I could with one arm.

“Thanks for helping me inside.”

He put a finger to his nose, saying the same thing I did. We both glanced to Vuxae and I smiled my sweetest possible smile as he grumbled before leaving towards the kitchen. He began to sweep as Tev whispered to me, wondering how long it would take our older brother to clean up,

“Probably ages.” I replied.

I felt a tiny bit bad, we had all tracked the sand into the house, but he was the only one cleaning it up. Although, my stomach still hurt a little. I couldn’t help because I was hurt… right?

I looked back at Tevro,

“Wanna watch a holovid?”

[member="Tevro"]