Cyare (A Rexsoka SWTCW Fanfic)

36

"Yeild!" A familiar voice barked. Rex flinched and turned to see Caedus standing on the dais of a throne, a red saber in one hand and a.... black saber in the other? It was like no lightsaber Rex had ever seen before, black in cola or yet giving off so much light it was almost blinding to look at. It was shaped like an actual blade too, the tip of the blade coming to a sharp point. Rex looked around, and realized where he was. It made his blood run cold.

He was in the throne room of Mandalore.

There was a crumpled figure by the floor, shoulder length blonde hair matted with blood and her regal face stained with soot. Blood ran from a cut in her lip to drip on the blue-grey tiles beneath her. The duchess pulled herself to her feet and settled into a fighting stance.

"Never." She growled. Caedus's face shifted slightly, and he looked so much like Obi-Wan it hurt.

"My dearest Satine, for a pacifist you are quick to jump to violence." He tutted, almost gliding down the steps of the dais and stopping in front of the duchess. He extinguished both the blades so the only light came from the rather large windows on either side of the throne room.

"I'm mandalorian. Pacifist and coward are not the same thing." She growled, shifting her stance slightly. She waited for him to make the first move. He stepped closer and reached up gently. Satine turned her head away as his hand brushed her cheek almost... tenderly. "What happened to you Obi?" She whispered, shivering in disgust. Caedus's face hardened ever so slightly.

"Obi-Wan is dead. I am Caedus." He said, a note of bitterness in his voice. "He loved you until the end. And that was what eventually killed him." His hand fell away from her face.

Satine moved so fast that Rex almost didn't see it. The second the sith's attention was not entirely focused on her, she attacked. Pacifist or not, she was still mandalorian, and showed the same prowess in combat that her people were known for.

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him off balance while she twisted around and pushed, throwing him to the ground. She snagged the odd rectangular hilt of the black lightsaber off his belt as he stumbled past her and flicked the black blade into existence. She brought it up into a form two ready position.

Caedus laughed, long and low. "I always knew there would be a day when I regretted giving you lessons." He climbed easily to his feet and looked over his shoulder at her, a broad smile on his face. Satine flinched.

"Obi gave me lessons. Not you. You said it yourself, my jetii is dead." Her face was pained. Caedus chuckled.

"Beautiful, dangerous, and smart. You two were a match made in heaven." He brought his own blade to bear, the red light casting deep and strange shadows across his face. Caedus then looked right at Rex, as if he knew where he was. He gave a little smile, almost to himself.

Satines eyes flickered in the direction that Caedus was looking, and that was all the opening the sith needed. He attacked, and Satine just barely managed to deflect the strike in time. She was an excellent swordswoman and no stranger to the black saber, but she didn't have the force to aid her.

The pair circled each other, trading almost tentative blows. Caedus seemed to tire of this fairly quickly, and moved in. He pulled her lightsaber out of her hand with the force and shoved her to her knees. Caedus knelt before her, and embraced her.

"You should have asked me to leave the jedi while you could." He muttered, just loud enough for Rex to hear. Then he ignited his saber once more. Red watched in a sick fascination at the red blade protruding from her back.

Her mouth fell open with a little gasp of pain. Caedus extinguished the blade and she fell forward, slumping into his arms. She was fighting for breath, a hand covering the burning wound in her stomach. She carefully reached up and placed it on his cheek, leaving a bloody handprint.

"Obi... this isn't you." She croaked, running her thumb across his cheekbone. Caedus's eyes flickered losing their sickly yellow color for a few brief moments. The familiar gun smoke blue glittered cerulean, in the dark. He was crying. The tears rolled down his cheeks as the duchess was limp in his arms, her last breath rattling.

He stood up suddenly, scrubbing the tears from his eyes. They were yellow again when his arm fell back at his side. He spun around to face Rex. His expression hardened back to the smooth mask, but his voice was taunt with pain.

"Leave." He threw out his arm and shoved at the force. Rex found himself torn from the dream and thrust roughly back into reality.

Rex sat up gasping and scrambling, accidentally rolling off the bed. Ahsoka stirred and looked over to find him sitting on the floor and breathing hard. She slid from the bed onto the floor next to him, taking the blanket with her. She tossed it around Rex and hers' shoulders.

"Nightmare?" She asked sleepily, tracing small circles on his back below the scars. "I'sh ok, Rexie. 'M here." She slurred softly, leaning against him.

"No. I don't think it was just another nightmare, Cyare." He said once he got his breathing under control. Ahsoka looked up at him, frowning. He took a slightly shaky breath. "Duchess Satine is dead. I saw... he killed her." He pulled his knees to his chest and huddled close to her like a child.

"It was a vision?"

Rex nodded. "Yeah. That's what it was." He took a deep breath, feeling the scars ache dimly across his back. Kix called it phantom pains, from the damaged nerve endings healing.

"Did you see anything else?" Ahsoka asked softly. "Visions can be hard to interpret." Rex took a shaking breath, and nodded. He met Ahsoka's gaze.

"I think Kenobi is alive. And he's fighting him."