Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Meliva sighed. When she had taken in the jetii and their younglings, she wasn't expecting, well, this. This being the younger one, Siobahn, forgetting that walls exist. Already, the little one gave them enough…issues. Siobahn, according to Rhys, saw Too Much? and now couldn't see? Honestly, Meliva didn't understand much of that jetii kark but from what she was able to figure out was that Siobahn just couldn't see.

Zala said she'd learn how to, the med droid said there was nothing physically wrong, Sio just needed time. Now how the actual fuck that worked? Meliva had no karking clue. Kids didn't need to learn to see. ‘Except, jetii'ade , apparently,’ she thought, a little hysterically. It was bad enough Rhys would sometimes just clip through time and space, his only excuse being “I'm just stepping into the force!”

Which, again, made no karking sense. But it was fine. The jetii were adapting. Rhys was slowly learning, no you can't have wings or step into the force whenever you please, and Sio was…working on the seeing thing. Except she tried so hard to see that she ended up forgetting that walls existed and walked right through them.

Hence, Meliva's current freakout. Sio can't see, not in the way the rest of the aliit did. Sio could now walk through walls. Sio now had nothing protecting her from walking into traffic. Sio was going to expose the whole aliit.

Dasho, her amazing riduur, finally interrupted her slow spiral. “Well, we'll never have to worry about a speeder hitting her,” he joked. It did not help.

“Don't say that! We don't know if this this thing works on everything! All we know is that Sio can now just walk out of the house and tell the Empire where four jetii are!” She exclaimed.

“Cyare, it will be ok. Sio is our ad’ika and yes, she's small but she is smart. Even better, she has her ori’vod Rhys right there the whole time. I don't think that ad knows how to leave his vod’s side.”

Dasho spoke the truth. Rhys and Sio were connected in an almost unworldly way. Nothing could seperate them. They read each other's thoughts and always knew exactly where the other was. It was a little disturbing listening to Rhys rattle off what Sio was dreaming about one night or her going to Dra’avi to announce to everyone that Rhys was stuck in a tree because he “stepped a little too far.” He had “stepped” all the way to Kashyyyk. And somehow knew and told Sio this.

The two disturbed her, but in a good way. She had almost thought Sio was the normal one. Sio didn't “step” or forget her base species, didn't have too many weird prophetic dreams, and overall was a normal ad. The blindness, cryptic sayings, and weird thing with touching objects could all be explained as normal youngling quirks. Now she was walking through walls.

Bren walked in, Jawdat and Taegan’s youngling that Meliva debated stea-uh adopting one day. “Alor, Sio forgot she doesn't have wings and now won't put them back.”

“Kark.”

Chapter Text

Dra'avi had known since the moment the whispers of the littlest crèche member had floated around the temple that they were going to be Different. Already, there had been the Chiss youngling (Rhys Consumer Rejecter LightLightLight the Force had whispered) that had caused a bit of an uproar. A midiclorean count higher than of Skywalker, supposedly due to their alien biology rumor had stated, was concerning. Afterall, most jedi remembered the all-blue eyes that glowed and seemed to always follow, the fire that burned the skin, the way Skywalker seemed to be able to overpower any shields. It got better with his control but according to Corrand, rumors amongst the GAR spoke differently.

A General unstoppable, seemingly able to keep almost every member of the 501st alive, Unnatural in his speed, his viciousness, a thirst for blood one didn't see in other jedi. A name followed these battles, not General or Skywalker or one of the thousands of language variants but Ekkreth. A trickster of fire and consumption. Not everyone heard the name but Dra'avi did. His time on Tattooine had been…invaluable. He rolled his shoulders, the electrowhip scars aching with his memories of punishments by the Depur. Dra'avi knew that Skywalker wasn't human, not in the way most assumed he was. Physically, potentially at least half. But the Force had inserted itself, created itself new within the Tattooine slave child.

And had seemed to do it again. The chiss youngling had appeared on the temple’s steps, a force signature so sudden and bright screaming out at them, many thought he had simply formed that way. These rumors were not dissuaded as the youngling grew. His light was almost too bright, causing many of his peers to grow discomforted with xer’s presence. Even many Knight and crèche masters couldn't handle the intensity of his brightness. It didn't get better with age. Whispers of eyes watching them, extra arms appearing and Reaching in the corner of one’s eye only to disappear a second later, and a small youngling who seemed to always be Lurking around the temple. Dra'avi from his missions off Coruscant had thought of it as amusing, surely a small child couldn't cause This much chaos. Right?

He was wrong, a strong child absolutely could. It almost made him glad the temple had been spared the nightmare a young Skywalker would've been. At least he had gained instinctively control due to his time under the Depur. This small youngling, RhysRhysRhysMychildMyChildRhys the Force whispered, had none of that instinctive control. But it could've been worse. Temper tantrums were few but felt across the temple and into close planets beyond. The eyes and arms became rare and less noticeable. Personal changes, too sharp teeth and the Bright Bright signature that ebbed and flowed, didn't but that could be dealt with. But it couldn't get worse could it?

Yeah, yeah it karking could.

Siobahn was the name the babe was dropped off with. The whispers were intense, apparently the man that had surrendered her had spoken briefly in Mando'a. This set a lot of older Masters on guard. Mandalorian children weren't just rare, they were practically forbidden. The Temple could get in serious trouble for “stealing” a Mandalorian baby, even if the babe had been willingly surrendered. But Mandalorian-born children had occurred before, Dra'avi himself being one, so many kept their concerns to whispers behind closed doors. The midichlorian count being released only further caused hush up. The same count as Rhys and immediately everyone knew why the babe had to be surrendered.

Jedi had struggled with their Force children, Dra'avi didn't want to imagine what it had to be like trying to deal with a teething toddler who would grow to be one of the strongest Jedi to live. Siobahn quickly proved to either be more connected that Rhys or less able to handle the effect of the intensity of the Force. For one, she was blind. Nothing physically wrong, just…couldn't. Her eyes didn't respond to light, didn't track people, and wasn't able to feed her brain the visual stimuli. Zala had said over tea that both Master Plo Koon and Master Windu, her Master, had visited the youngling and felt Drawn In to the child. The Force guiding them closer and Closer. The brightness of her signature was Soft and Welcoming, the opposite of Rhys had been. According to Zala, after the two had left, they had felt extremely tired. Like something, or someone, had drained them of their energy.

The two younglings were a conundrum. A conundrum that only grew worse when the two met and immediately formed a bond that was so Strong and Bright that everyone in the temple felt it. With its strength, many were surprised to learn the two weren’t platonic soulmates. Also, Siobahn apparently was very tied to the Unifying Force because her crèche masters began reporting of her experiences of visions that turned into full blown seizures. The only person able to steady them during and post these…violent visions was Rhys. Rhys switched crèches. It wasn't spoken of. But the two were definitely spoken of, a lot. The whole temple and even those stationed off-world knew at least of the Twins as they were named. The epithet would stick.

It was decided around when Rhys would soon reach his fifth lifeday at the Temple and Siobahn her third that Skywalker, under no circumstances, was allowed to train them. His visits to the crèche had increased dramatically since the two joined the Temple and no one wanted to deal with Skywalker attempting to train both of them at the same time. Dra'avi always thought this is why he ended up having Padawan Tano assigned to him. A plot of the council to keep their three…strongest Jedi separate.

Though Sio was seemingly the calmer of the two, at least in toddler form. Largely, you were just beckoned in and stayed with her for hours, losing all track of time until hours had passed and you suddenly felt Exhausted and had to leave. It disturbed some enough that they spoke of it but it was largely believed to be a result of just simply taking care of the Initiates for so long. Nothing strange about the little toddler who's blue eyes seemed to occasionally be one solid color. That was a trick of the light. The Initiate floating themself was much more of a concern that how Siobahn’s shadow seemed to move and wander without Siobahn there. Or how she would find you if she wanted you, even if you were across the Temple and she couldn't walk. She was a normal, blind little babe who was much less of a concern than Skywalker or Rhys.

Then the Temple was attacked.

Dra'avi and Zala had been having lunch. Tzai shared between the two soulmates, though the bond was purely platonic on both their parts. Dra'avi was 100% a dick guy and she was a boob girl. The close friendship was all they needed. Then the Temple suddenly swelled with a Cold Oily Sticky feeling and Dra’avi repressed the urge to vomit. Corrand wasn't better. The two ran through the Temple. A Knight and a Shadow/Templar and their first concern was the younglings. To grab as many as possible and run. The troopers storming and shooting at them made it hard. Echoes that felt like plasma canon of deaths of their fellow jedi rocked their very core. Dra'avi cried. A lot. They almost lost hope of finding and protecting younglings when they came across the Twins. Playing in the hallway. Like nothing was wrong. Well, Siobahn looked fine. Rhys looked exactly how the two Masters felt. Gutted. But it seemed like Rhys was shielding Sio. Protecting them from the worst of it.

Dra'avi almost wished he hadn't. The child was clearly exhausted and his eyes fell shut as Zala grabbed him. Sio almost immediately started screaming. Dra'avi grabbed her, clutching her tight as seizures racked her body. The Force Screamed and Sio screamed with it. Dra'avi and Corrand ran, Dra'avi showing them down into the tunnels the Templars knew of to get through and out of the Temple with ease. It was a blur from there, hiding in the lower levels of the Temple for what felt like days, waiting for anyone. Then the two got the comm from General Kenobi. And wept.

They knew they had to get off of Coruscant. “And head where?” Zala had asked, frustrated as she instinctively clung to the distraught Rhys.

Dra'avi looked at Siobahn and a small smile grew. “Mandalore,” he said, “It’ll be safe. If we pose as travelers escaping from Seperatist rule, they'll accept us easy enough. Mandalorian culture is big on helping younglings. We'll be fine because of these two.”

Zala didn't have a better suggestion. All their political knowledge was worthless now. This Empire was new and changed everything. So Mandalore it was. They traveled carefully, hiding all evidence of their past to avoid the troopers that seemed to be around every corner. Once they finally reached Mandalore and met a very strange but helpful woman named Meliva did they relax. And then Rhys “stepped” from his bed into Zala’s arms. And Dra'avi had a sudden but horrible realization.

“Zala, we adopted the Eldritch Twins.”

“....You can tell Meliva and Dasho about it. I refuse to explain those two.”

“I think Rhys occasionally having Too Many Eyes and Sio’s shadow moving will do that for us. Should we just let her figure it out?”

“Yeah she can figure it out. It’ll be fine.”

Dra'avi would like to note it was not fine.

Chapter Text

Taegan was a Togrutan. An undisputed fact that had followed him as a youngling as something Other. It wasn't his buire fault. Their foundling was a predator who lived exclusively off of meat, preferably raw. As a human and Kiffar, they weren't entirely expectant of the needs a youngling such as himself had. From what he remembered, his parents supplemented his meals with whatever they were able to catch or buy. But occasionally, on off-planet trips, Taegan was allowed to Hunt. It was freeing and a practice he hadn't entirely kept up since his riduur’uke to Jawdat. Not that Jawdat wouldn’t be accepting of it. Mando’s all had that innate drive for a fight, for drawing blood. Taegan’s was just predatory, an instinct to stalk and hunt and kill.

He wasn't ashamed of it. It just was. It was a relief to occasionally tap into those instincts. Taegan certainly didn't hide the hunts he went on and if anyone asked, he would offer the information freely.

He just didn't speak of it.

It was all good. His ad’e were all human-adjacent and there was no reason to keep up the practice outside of an occasional stop after fulfilling a hunt. Meliva, despite often joining him as his fellow beroya of the aliit, seemed to either ignore or not notice the times he came back from a hunt a little more relaxed, his armor scrubbed more than a simple hunt should’ve needed.

It wasn't like he was ignoring his species' needs either. His buire would fight him themselves if they learned he dared have insecurities about what he was.

“You are Manda, first and foremost. Whatever anyone says differently is a hu’tuun. Being what you are only makes you a better beroya, a better buir.”

They were certainly proven right once Jawdat and Taegan had found the twins, their first foundlings. The twins were not mischievous but quiet and sneaky. The only thing that kept Loren especially from sneaking out as he got older was Taegan’s superior hearing. His ad didn't appreciate it as much as Taegan did.

With the rise of the Empire and the introduction of the Empire’s control to Mandalore, Taegan hadn't been on a hunt in almost six months. Additionally, the two jetii’ad Meliva had adopted and Dasho finding his second and third soulmates in the jetti’verd that had come with said younglings were now all apart of the aliit. It was fine. Taegan would find the time for himself eventually.

And then the jetii’ad got weird. Weirder than ad of their age tended to be. At first, he could chalk it up to being jetii. And then the jetii’verd started to get concerned. For one, the little girl Siobahn had seizures and was blind. Not a concern until one day after these seizures, she found Taegan and spoke in clear, full Mando’a.

“Your hunts will return soon. I wish to join you.”

Taegan was, reasonably, karking creeped out. Having a three-year-old act in such a way was terrifying. The fact she wished to join a seemingly private practice no one in his aliit had talked about before? Just…no. Then there was her vod, Rhys. The ad was a Chiss and no one had Any clue how to deal with his biology. They experimented as much as safe but it seemed Chiss biology was predatory. Taegan personally wasn't sure of that. Rhys didn't seem to share any traits of predator species, better resembling humans than anything else. Except for the fact he enjoyed raw meat and only raw meat. But none of the teeth for eating it except for when it was presented to him.

Taegan really needed a break from creepy little ad’e.

---

He didn't really think about going on a hunt until almost two years later. That's when life on Mandalore had finally settled enough for him to mentally validate going on a hunt. Everyone was beginning training and there was no reason to rush home post turning in his hunt’s puck. So, he stopped in the nearest system, Kashyyyk, and landed on Trandosha. It was a quick but good hunt. But for some reason, this time, he felt something was wrong about it. Almost like he shouldn't have gone on the hunt.

It was until he returned to Mandalore that he realized why. Or more accurately, it was when Siobahn stabbed him with the vibroblade she’d been training with. He ignored the Sight of her (long fangs, wild blood thirsty grin, sharp blue eyes Seeing Him Seeing His Hunt, wings and Too Many Arms, the tail that whipped and snapped behind her, the way her shadow moved to consume him-) and instead let out a small grunt. She huffed, displeased by his lack of reaction, and twisted the vibro a bit before yanking it out of his thigh.

“Good aim,” he told her. No reason to discourage good skills. She did have good aim, finding the weak spots between his beskar'gam and his blacks. He was suitably impressed.

She wasn't impressed and stormed off. Taegan’s attention was focused on her and therefore missed Rhys coming up behind him to stab him in the side. This time his grunt was a little more pained but he just looked down and behind him at the glaring face of the ad.

“Rhys, ad’ika, good aim but unless you mean to actually kill me, I’d recommend leaving your knife there. I’ll return it later once Dasho clears me, yeah?” He asked, a pointed eyebrow raised to emphasize his point to the ad.

Rhys scoffed. “Maybe be better and you wouldn't die,” he said but left the knife in and stormed off.

That's when Taegan realized Dasho and Dra'avi were there. ‘That makes sense. They were teaching the ad today. Meliva must still be on bedrest,’ he thought to himself before moving to pull out Rhys’ knife.

“Don't you dare!” Dasho's raised and vaguely angry medic voice sounded off through the doorway of their house.

Yes, Taegan hadn't even made it through the door before the ad’e were attacking him. He was so proud.

Dasho and Dra'avi assisted him inside, though he protested most of it. He was honestly fine. He had taken worse injuries than two little knife wounds before. Dasho did not accept this as a valid excuse. While the baar’ur worked on his side, Dra'avi sat on the kitchen table and asked the question that was on both their minds.

“So why did my paqor stab you? Rhys is normally violent but Sio is normally better than him with that,” Dra'avi commented.

Taegan sighed as the bacta patch was applied to the stab to his side. “They were upset that I didn't take them on my hunt,” he said which only got confused looks from the two men.

“What do’ya mean?” Dasho asked, moving onto his scabbed over thigh wound.

“I went on a hunt and they were upset about it. I had forgotten I was pressured into agreement when the two first came for them to come. I’ll make it up to them soon.” He said, wondering when the next time he could slip away with the ad’e to take them.

“But you've gone on hunts before this and they haven't been mad?” Dra'avi asked, sending Dasho a Look that clearly meant the two were using the soulbond to talk about him.

“No no, not like the geroya I do for bounties. A oya’karir. A hunt for tal’garar. To satisfy the need for tal that I and, apparently, your ad’e need.” He explained.

Dasho seemed to understand almost immediately. Dra'avi took another minute for it to click. Content that the two would let him leave, Taegan stood up and grabbed the bloody knife from the table. He did promise that he would return it and he didn't feel up to a third stabbing today. He ignored the way Rhys smiled and cleaned the blade using his tongue (too long like the Too Many eyes that flashed in and out of existence, the hands that were reaching for Taegan in the corner of his eyes). Taegan used to do the same after all.

Now how to explain to Meliva that her ad’e were more predatory than she had previously thought. Taegan was sure the aliit would adapt. Taegan would take responsibility for letting the ad’ike hunt. Afterall, he wanted to join them for as long as they would let him.

Taegan had missed having someone else to enjoy the thrill of the hunt, the spill of blood. And by the Need he could see in both Sio’s and Rhys’ eyes, he wouldn't find himself without someone to join him for a long time. A flash of fangs from the little ones and the two ran off, hopefully not to kill anything before he had the chance to take them on a true hunt.