Disclaimer: I do not own anything Star Wars.
With a melodramatic sigh, Chak Fel dropped into a crouch and used his elbows to drag him across his large bedroom, very similarly to how the soldiers here on Nirauan trained, Chak thought with a smug curl of his lip. He needed to reach his goal before his rivals did.
His goal: the kitchen.
Mother had made delicious ryshcate earlier that evening, and Chak was sure Davin, Jag, and Cherith would try their hardest to make it to the kitchen before any of the others to claim their prize that was stored in the pantry.
He stood as he reached his door, and he keyed it open, wincing as the door swished open; the noises reverberating through the hallway. He stuck to the wall like glue, side-stepping his way to the living room, and finally, the kitchen. The clock read 2401, he would be doomed if he was found out…
And with a startlingly awkward silence, he realized all three of his siblings were just as far as he was from the pantry door. While he stood in the entrance of the kitchen, his older brother, Davin, stood in the entrance to the dining room, the nearest route for him to take that was a straight shot from his bedroom. Cherith stood adjacent to Chak, in the entrance from the east side of the Fel Estate, where his parents stayed, and where she had undoubtedly coaxed their parents into believing she had a nightmare and was now able to go back to her own room to sleep. Jag squared off with Davin, just as equally far as he. He stood in the entrance to the living space; him and Davin the closest ones to the pantry.
Cherith, ever courageous, began walking towards the door.
The three brothers all immediately took up positions to match Cherith's movements. Then, they were all standing in front of the door, staring at it as if paradise was waiting on the other side, beckoning them to give into their temptations.
"Okay. I say we durasteel-paper-lasicutter this one out. Winner takes the prize," Davin offered in a hushed whisper, and being the oldest, everyone knew not to question his unquestionable logic. They all nodded, save for Jag.
"You cheat. I'm not playing a game I have no chance of winning." At six standard years of age, Jag was already rivaling Davin's intelligence. They stared down for a few seconds, Davin angered at Jag's accusations, but he nodded once anyway.
"Find the Rebels?"
Jag's head tipped down in agreement, and Chak felt himself doing the same. Cherith, only five, just smiled as she heard the familiar name of the game.
"1, 2, 3, not it!"
"1, 2, 3, not it!"
"1, 2, 3, not it!"
"1, 2, 3, not it!"
They all looked at Chak who frowned at his own tardiness in the ritual of being picked to be it. "No hiding in the south wing," he warned. They all nodded once.
He shook his head and headed for the island, planting his face down on it, closing his eyes tightly, and bringing his arms up to cover the sides for good measure. He began to count.
"1…2…3…4…"
He heard the hurried footsteps across the wooden floor, and hushed his countdown by a few pitches, trying to get a sense in what direction everyone was heading…
Davin chuckled to himself as he disabled the motion sensor, hidden very intricately beside the fireplace in the living space. Did Chak take him as a fool? It was clear that his younger brother had planted the sensors that evening, predicted that Jag would refute Davin, and that Davin would propose 'Find the Rebels'. It was so thought out.
Thrawn would be proud.
He had to hand it to Chak; always following their father's words, "To be one step ahead of your enemy is to be five ahead of all who ally with him". Davin smiled. He only hoped his 'allies' would be as cunning and smart as he was at figuring out Chak's plan…
Jag watched as Cherith headed down the corridor that led to the south wing of his family's estate. What was she doing?
"Cherith! Where are you going?" He asked, his voice low and whispered, "Chak didn't want us going over there, it's unfair!"
She turned to him and crossed her arms. "Nuh-uh. I'm going to dad's office, it's big and close."
"That's still in the south wing!" Jag said through gritted teeth. "If you aren't going to play by the rules, Cherith, then you'll be disqualified and you won't get your ryshcate."
Her lower lip began to tremble.
Growling, Jag silenced her with his finger. "You have to be quiet." He thought about it for a moment as her eyes continued to fill with liquid. Sighing, he grabbed her small hand. "I'll let you hide with me, and if we win, I'll share with you." She brightened and followed Jag gleefully up the stairs that led to the east wing…
Chak opened his eyes and straightened. "Ready or not, rebel scum… here I come," he said, grinning evilly. He kneeled down and opened one of the cabinets under the island. He had stored his datapad there earlier in hopes of his plan actually working. It did, and he was proud.
Two red blips were on his screen. Either one of them had not hit one of the sensors, it was out of commission, or it was disabled. Chak hoped it wasn't the latter.
He studied it for a second. The two blips were in the east wing, and very close to each other. Quickly memorizing it, he began walking up the stairs and towards their quarters. He was glad baby Wynssa wasn't yet old enough to sleep outside of their parent's room, or else chaos would ensue. She was a very loud baby.
He stopped at an intersection. Besides this being a military-like estate, their mother had done a very good job of decorating and making their estate look much more like very elegant home. Father had almost not let her re-do the flooring from the original permacrete to wood; the walls from the bland whites and greys, transforming them into warmer tones. It was a good thing. Chak would have enough of military compounds once he joined the Empire of the Hand's training grounds here on Nirauan.
One of the long curtains, hung on rods, rustled. Chak smirked. He walked calmly towards it, and with a jolt lifted it up to reveal his sister. She looked up at him with surprised, yet defeated eyes. He gave her a smile and leaned into her ear. "If you tell me where Jag or Dav is then I'll share some ryshcate with you."
"Two slices." He nodded once. "Dunno where Dav is. Jag is somewhere around here. He hid me first," she whispered, her slight lisp causing her to spit several times on the side of Chak's face. He grinned and shook her small hand, and began scanning the intersection, trying to find a big enough spot for Jag to hide at.
He spotted a small end table with a two chairs. He tip-toed over to the chair, climbed on, and leaned over the top to see a familiar black-haired boy. Jag looked up immediately and mumbled something about trying to be nice. He crawled under the chair and glared at Cherith who only offered him an innocent smile.
"Two Rebels down, one treacherous Rebel pilot to go."
He hurried down the stairs again, knowing Davin wasn't hiding in the bedrooms. He was much too clever for that.
It was possible Davin had found one of the motion sensors and destroyed, or disabled, it. There was one in the living space, one in Father's office, and one at the intersection where he found Jagged and Cherith.
He'd check the living space first.
And just as he rounded the corner, the unexpected happened. He took in the scene before him with a mixture of shock, weariness, and apprehension.
Davin stood in the middle of the living space, his face contorted in pain; his ear being tugged on by their father, the famous General Baron Soontir Fel, menacing as ever, clad in his sleep clothes, the clothes not hiding his massive torso, and eyes so dark and scary that they never cease to make Chak flinch. His mother stood next to the Baron, her curly blonde hair, that looked the same as it was when she went to sleep, donning a blue robe she had received from their father as a gift. Her blue eyes were blazing, as were their father's.
Chak had never been so scared in his young life.
Soontir dragged Davin over with him, and approached Chak, grabbed his ear as well, and led them towards the couch, sitting them, not so gently, on it. His posture matched his mothers and he said in his calm, yet icy voice: "Explain." And they did as they were ordered. Their father listened, unamused by his children's game. Chak could barely see the amused glint in his mother's eye, but she still carried herself as the angry mother.
Their father lectured them, and Chak could see Jagged and Cherith sneaking back to their rooms. He wouldn't begrudge them of this. They would get this lecture soon. Chak listened, but sleep was beginning to overtake him. It took all of his willpower not to disrespect the General by falling asleep during a lecture.
Next to him, Davin sat, his back completely rigid, and his face impassive. He took the General's reprimand with acknowledgment at his mistakes. Chak couldn't say the same. He shriveled under the General's unwavering and stern gaze, his eyes resting at the hands on his lap as the General discussed responsibility and the lack of it they displayed in front of their younger siblings.
The General dismissed them, and their mother smacked them on their buttocks, threatening to never make ryshcate for them again if they ever plan this sort of stunt again.
Chak walked next Davin who still had on an impassive mask. He wiped a hand over his tired face, then his shook his head and blew out a breath. "I suppose Father wins," he said softly, "he gathered up the most Rebels."
From the corner of his eye, he could see the corner of Davin's lip turn upward. He playfully slugged Chak in the shoulder. "You would've never found me…" he replied as they neared their rooms. He keyed open his. "I disabled the sensor, cheater," he said with a wink.
The door closed, and Chak turned towards his own room. He opened it and dragged himself to his bed, and even though his plan had been spoiled, he fell into the deep recesses of sleep, a smile left gracing his lips.
A/N: Sorry for the delay. I'll be posting (hopefully) by this weekend. Leave me some thoughts, and if you want, you could tell me what you want to see (and I'll try to make it happen). Hope you enjoyed! ^.^