Notes: Today's event is the 1500 Word Dash (a 1,500-word story about your characters with any theme). The title for this one comes from the song "Casualty" by Hidden Citizens (feat. Tash), which really is perfect for the Chaos Twins.

This story takes place sometime after Forces of Gravity, maybe six months later, give or take. You don't need to have read that to follow this, but I figured I'd mention it for anyone interested in the timeline. ;)

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VII. "This Kind of Fire Don't Keep Us Warm Inside" | 55 ABY | 1500 Word Dash

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It's been four hours since the freak collision that brought their starship to a dead stop in the middle of nowhere. Four hours since they realized both the sublight engines and the hyperdrive were shot and that the ship was venting oxygen faster than the scrubbers could keep up.

Two hours since the atmospheric regulators failed, and they made a totally uncharacteristic attempt to hail for help across the emergency comm channel, only to realize comms were shot as well.

Thirty seconds since Ferrus flung a hydrospanner across the hold and finally gave up his attempts to repair the damage. By now the temperature and oxygen levels have plummeted, making any action about a hundred times more difficult than it should be.

His brother is curled up on the floor of the cargo hold, his arms tucked inside his jacket for warmth. He stares up at Ferrus, unfocused, head lolling back against the curved durasteel frame. "Did you really think someone was going to answer way out here?"

"I don't know, okay?" Ferrus snaps as he plods over to the opposite wall of the hold and sits down. "I had to keep trying. I don't really feel like dying today."

"You think I do?"

The words are out before he has a chance to stop them. "I think you don't care if you do."

Festus doesn't answer at first. He looks up at him, the rise and fall of his chest more pronounced as he struggles with each icy breath. "Of course I care. I wouldn't still be here if I didn't."

Ferrus stares back at his twin, an echo of old, buried pain dragging like a knife across the frayed edges of their bond. And that's all it's ever been. An echo. A shadow. A burden his twin refuses to share, even after all these years. Ferrus isn't an idiot; he saw the bodies, the ones that didn't survive. The other initiates used to taunt him with it. Talk to your brother lately, Starskip? What do you think the doctor's doing to him today?

I heard he cries like a baby.

The doctor's little pet… his little psycho…

He lost count of the number of fights he got into over those comments. Sometimes he won and sometimes he lost, but he always made them pay for it.

He blows out a slow breath and watches it condense in the freezing air. "Whatever," he mutters, turning away from his twin.

"If I didn't know better," Festus says as he closes his eyes, "I'd think you were mad at me."

Ferrus hugs his arms to his chest and thinks for a few seconds about the question he wants to ask, the one he's been holding onto for a while now. Ever since their master's betrayal. He figures now is as good a time as any.

"Do you want to die?"

His brother cracks both eyes open and stares back at him, unblinking. "That's gotta be the stupidest question you've ever asked."

Ferrus laughs at that, dark and bitter. Of course. What the hell did he expect? "Yeah, I know that's what you think of me. A dumb brute, right? Even though I'm the one who gets us jobs and takes care of the ship—"

"Yeah. You've done a great job with the ship, brother."

Fury races through him, a flame holding back the cold. "This is not my fault! And what the hell have you done for the last four years, huh? You train and you sleep and you stare at that stupid datapad every spare second." He pauses for a moment, feeling the shift in the space between them as he knocks up against an invisible boundary, one he's approached many times without ever forcing his way through. Knowing that he's about to barrel right through it now.

"What do you think's gonna happen?" he says. "That one day she'll wake up and magically forget you're a sick, murdering bastard? Or that you almost killed her? Or that you might still kill her?"

Festus draws a ragged breath, and the faltering connection between them closes off completely. Ferrus hates himself for how unprepared he is for that feeling, even now, even after experiencing it so many times over the last twelve years.

"Yeah, that's right," he says. "Shut me out. Does it make you feel better to be all alone in there? As if I don't already know. As if I haven't already seen how insane she makes you."

His brother's only outward reaction is a muscle twitching in his cheek. "Are you done yet?" he says in a quiet voice, completely devoid of emotion.

"Yeah. Sure. All done." Ferrus throws a hand in the air, ignoring the tingling sensation that motion sends shooting through him.

Festus looks down for a second, then back up. The muscles in his jaw are tight as he finally speaks. "If I really wanted to end it, don't you think I would?"

Ferrus exhales slowly. "Maybe not on your own, but I think you're daring the universe to take you out. Taunting that one Jedi in the temple when you knew how easily he could kill you, insisting on going after every psycho that comes across the notice, fighting serial killers with your dumb knife when you have a perfectly good lightsaber—"

"Okay, that was one time—"

"It only takes one time, you idiot."

Silence settles between them as they stare at each other. The air is freezing in his lungs, and he can barely feel his limbs.

Festus slips his arms back into the sleeves of his jacket and leans forward, one eyebrow raised. "Been a while since I've seen you get so emotional."

He imagines punching his twin in the face. "Shut up."

Festus cocks his head to one side, the corner of his mouth twitching up. "Honestly, I'm a little insulted that you think any of that stuff would kill me."

Gods, he's so fragging irritating. Ferrus shakes his head and tries not to grin, but he can't help it. "I really hate you sometimes."

His brother looks like he's about to shoot off another smart remark, when the ship gives a violent jolt. Ferrus climbs to his feet, head spinning as he realizes how much harder it's become to breathe. He staggers to the control panel and leans over it to look out the viewport.

Looming over them, its cargo bay wide open like the gaping maw of some hungry, lumbering beast, is a bulk freighter many times larger than their ship. And even though he's having trouble moving, he feels a surge of relief.

"You see something?" Festus calls out, still curled up on the deck.

"Yep. Looks like we're saved." He tilts his head back and notices the emblem painted in red across one side of the freighter: three claws wreathed in flames, drawn to look as if they've torn three giant slashes in the hull. Huh. That complicates things a bit.

"Correction," he says as he makes his way back to his twin. "We're still saved, but we'll have to work for it a little."

Festus blinks up at him, eyes still not fully focused. "What?"

"Pirates," Ferrus answers as he reaches down to help his brother up. "We must have hit one of their snares. Told you it wasn't my fault."

Festus drapes an arm across his shoulders and leans nearly all his weight into him as he struggles to his feet. "Dammit," he mutters. "I can barely stand."

Ferrus unclips his brother's lightsaber and presses it into his hand. "Like that's ever stopped you before."

The grin is slow to come, but when it does, it's as wide and terrible as ever. "Yeah," Festus says, extending his sword arm toward the floor. "I guess you're right."

His blade flares to life, filling their cargo hold with its deep, ominous hum. There's a heavy clank, followed by a screech and a sizzle as the pirates begin to cut through the hull of their ship.

Ferrus wraps his arm around his brother's waist to steady him, then he pulls out his own lightsaber and activates it. He hears his twin laugh under his breath. "What?" Ferrus says, glancing sideways.

Festus takes another labored breath. "You're actually gonna use it today?"

Ferrus rolls his eyes and fans the saber back and forth at his side, creating an undulating path of crimson in the air. "Despite what you think, I'm not a moron."

His twin pauses. And then, with a hint of mischief: "You still mad at me?"

Sparks fly as the pirates' plasma cutters nearly finish the oval they've burned through the durasteel. Ferrus takes a deep breath, imagining the rush of oxygen that will follow, and the sweet release of what comes after that. "Furious," he replies.

"Good." Festus pulls away from him and draws himself to full height as a section of their hull crashes to the deck. "Time to go to work."