Darkness Within

My Point Of View

"You naive creature," he laughs and Kira cocks her head at him, recognizing a different voice than the one she was expecting.

"Zyan?" Kira asks and steps a touch closer, her eyebrows scrunching together. "What are you doing?"

"Fulfilling our family's destiny because someone has to," Zyan sputters through the mask.

"By playing dress up in our father's old clothes?"

"Must you demean me at every opportunity?" Zyan bites at her.

"Take the helmet of Zy," Kira orders. "Or are you too much of a coward to face me?"

As soon as the word 'coward' passes between her lips, Kira can feel a shift in him, knowing she just hit a sore spot as his frustration with her amplifies.

"Don't speak to me like that," Zyan mutters at her.

"Does it bother you that I truly know you and can see how weak and scared you are under that mask?" Kira asks and tips her head at him in the other direction. "You can't hide from me Zy. Take the mask off."

Zyan stands and stares at her for a moment, the activity around them falling into the background as she stares up at his mask, a small amount of fear sweeping in while staring at such a foreboding facade. Finally, he reaches up and grabs the bottom of the helmet, allowing it to release with a whistle before pulling it off.

Zyan glares back at her, his eyebrows knitted together, and he flips his hair around his head after it was compressed under the helmet. The helmet hits the ground next to him with a thud that is cushioned minimally by the sand that isn't entirely packed down.

"What happened to your face?" Kira asks, her eyes running up the cut trailing from his forehead, down over his eye, and down his cheek.

"Don't you remember?" Zyan asks with a mischievous smile. "You precious trooper attacked me."

"No, he didn't," Kira argues, her eyes squinting in confusion. "You helped us leave, why would we attack you?" She asks and allows her eyes to drop as she thinks, the realization coming to her. "You were trying to get rid of me," she gasps and looks back up at him, and takes a step backward.

"I was never going to reach my full potential while living in your shadow that everyone pushed me into," Zyan explains and paces to the side, looking at the entrance of the hangar as a tie fighter crashes down in a fiery ball and explodes just past the opening, shaking the walls and causing sand to rain down on them.

"You didn't have to go this way," Kira nearly whispers through the emotional pain her twin is placing on her. "You're a good person Zyan."

"Enough!" He bellows at her and in a fluid motion, grabs his saber, igniting the red blade at his side without thinking. In preparation, Kira lifts her hand to hover next to her own saber on her hip and she widens her stance to allow for a quicker movement in the event that he attacks. "I will fulfill this family's destiny and it is clear you are just going to stand in my way."

"Zyan, our Great Grandfathers were evil. They weren't good people. The First Order, Zyan, that's evil too."

"From my point of view, the Resistance is Evil and so are you."

"Give it up, you won't be able to kill me. Not your own flesh and blood." Kira challenges and bends her knees, knowing just how much under his skin she is getting.

"You underestimate my powers," he says darkly and leans forward.

"Don't try it," Kira warns and shakes her head. "You won't win this."

Anger flashes across Zyan's eyes and they turn almost a yellow color in response, a noticeable difference in color, tipping Kira off to move. With a swift motion, Zyan turns and brings his saber down on Kira right as she grabs her own saber and ignites it, his red blade crashing into her yellow with a sharp burst of light.

The two blades emit a crackling orange hue on both of their faces, and they regard each other, both of their breaths becoming more rapid as the adrenaline begins to amplify in them both. "You can't win against me," Zyan threatens through gritted teeth.

"We'll see," Kira whispers back with a cocky tone and pushes off of his.

After years of training together and sparring for fun, the twins know their opponent well, especially their fighting form and their tells, like how Kira always spins to the right more often and how Zyan steps with his left foot when he's going to slice down and steps with his right foot when he's going to slice up.

They move across the hanger in a synchronized dance as if they had rehearsed this exact battle for hours, both of them memorizing the moves to perfection so their sabers will clash just perfectly to allow them to propel their next motion. Jumping up against a crate, Kira throws herself back down at Zyan, bringing a surprisingly agile attack against him which she had never used against him since Finn taught her that during their training with Termiri.

Zyan pushes her backward, causing her to lose her footing and fall onto her back on the sand as both of their sabers disengage. Propping herself up on her elbows to visually locate where he is, Kira gets up slowly while Zyan shakes his arm that was holding the saber out and she pulls her disengaged hilt back to her.

She watches him, waiting to see his next move, not wanting to fight him, but willing to do it if she has to after what Finn told her earlier about being the only one that can beat her family. With a step, Zyan ignites the red saber to the side, and Kira returns the gesture by igniting her own, the yellow hue reflecting off his black clothing and chrome buckles.

Zyan charges at her, clashing his saber against hers and causing her to step back. Using her stance to her advantage, Kira pushes forward on her leg, channeling all of her strength to bring blows down on him in rapid succession, a speed she knows he will barely be able to keep up with. He steps back quickly trying to counter her, barely able to stay ahead of her, his feet slipping in the unfamiliar terrain.

Taking a step back towards her, Zyan is able to stop her swing, the friction of the sabers against the other freezing them in place. They glare at each other, their foreheads sprinkled with beads of sweat in the hot temperatures of the arid desert and their hair matting down on their foreheads as a result.

Kira looks up into her brother's eyes, the eyes of her first friend, and her other half, wishing like no other there was a different solution, sadness sweeping over her before the adrenaline takes over again.

Mid breath, Kira releases her saber, allowing it to drop from Zyan's, catching him off guard, allowing her a second to grab her saber in a backhand formation, and in a blind moment of self-defense, pierces it into his abdomen.

Zyan takes in a sharp breath, his saber falling from his hand and the disengaged hilt landing on the sandy floor. Kira clips her saber back to her belt quickly, her arms instinctively moving to catch her brother as he teeters forward, looks at her face, and pushes a strand of hair back off her sweaty forehead. Regret seeps in with the feeling of tears forming as she looks up at her brother, the color slowly leaving his face that is contorted in pain. "I'm sorry, K, I'm... sorry," Zyan whispers and falls forward with a heavy step, his weight going limp and he crumples to the ground, guided the entire way by her.

Kira lays over him, a sob escaping her lips as she feels him stop moving and an empty feeling rush through her as life leaves his body. Remembering what her parents had taught them about force healing, she sits up quickly and moves him the best she can, and closes her eyes with her hand on his abdomen.

Kira focuses as hard as she can, tears still streaming down her face and her face contorted from concentration, but nothing happens. She attempts a few more times, even though she knows her attempts are useless, and she lays forward onto him with another string of loud sobs as an emptiness she has never experienced before consumes her entirely.